Raphael stared for a moment before slumping. "Man, you really are quite something, huh? This was supposed to be my super secret project."

"Ah," Nick smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry? It just felt like this was the direction you were going in…"

Huffing, Raphael shook his head. "No, it's fine. I should have known you'd figure it out when I brought you in."

I'm starting to develop a reputation, huh? I suppose that's a consequence of my efforts. It still felt a little strange to be seen as a genius, but the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, so I'd keep at it, especially now that he'd caught the attention of not just a high noble but also the Vice Tower Master.

"So, how do we do this?" Nick asked, trying to move on.

That seemed to pull Raphael out of his funk, and he hurried back to the equipment he had been setting up. "The first thing we need to do here is attune the rings to the Tower's spatial mana. Technically, this should come last, since normally, there would be no reason to attach them to one location, but its role as a nexus means it will also begin attuning them to the element."

At least he's quick to regain his enthusiasm. This is a pretty interesting project, though I wonder how he'll handle the wards once the initial connection has been established… I guess he could simply avoid the issue by having the user teleport to the plaza outside. That would probably be better anyway.

Watching Raphael work, Nick quickly understood why this project was taking so long. He had to manually attune every ring to spatial mana, a process that demanded his full focus and took at least half an hour for each.

Still, while his role here was mainly that of an observer to make sure the data from Raphael's equipment wasn't contaminated, he was learning something.

Raphael didn't have access to highly advanced sensory magic like Nick did, which meant he had to rely on his instincts just as much as on the basic spell he was using.

Secondly, he was using much more magic than he was used to. When Nick crafted his items, he usually prepared a single ritual that covered everything and only used secondary magic if he needed to hide or protect against something.

Raphael didn't have the benefit of ritual magic, so he relied on a dozen smaller spells instead. Some, like the ones used to turn the iron bands into malleable, superheated liquids, were fairly simple, and Nick could probably replicate them easily. Others, like the spatial isolation spells, and a bit of magic he couldn't quite understand but guessed was a unique creation of the Archmage to ensure enchantments would work properly.

Nick diligently did his job, recording the amounts of mana used, details of the spells he sensed, and the toll they were taking on Raphael.

It was fascinating work, even if a bit dull after the second ring, as things mostly repeated, but he figured that was just to be expected given the number of artifacts Raphael was trying to create.

I wonder why he's stopping at simple attunement now. They will work as focusing tools as they are, but they are not true foci, and they lack any active enchantment at this stage, so they can't even be relied upon as anything more than minor enhancements.

By the time three hours had passed, Raphael was sweating and clearly at the end of his rope. Nick helped him pack everything up, since the other seemed ready to collapse at the slightest breeze, and he only recovered after drinking a purple potion.

"Dang, I was hoping to finish them all today, but it looks like that's not happening. Still, this session was pretty solid. I got through a good chunk," Raphael said as they walked out of the room, and were nearly knocked over by the other apprentices who had been waiting impatiently for their turn.

They left them to their squabbling over who had the right to go in first, chuckling all the while.

When they reached the elevator, it swung open on its own, and Nick saw a familiar figure waiting inside.

"Master Lasazar!" Raphael greeted, bowing his head, and Nick followed suit soon after.

The jolly teacher chuckled, "Good afternoon, boys. Hard at work, heh? Good, that's good. Don't get distracted from your studies, and you'll go far!"

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Though his words were exceedingly banal, Nick had come to know Lasazar well enough to sense there was a hidden meaning behind them, and considering the events of the other night, it didn't take a genius to realize this was his light reprimand for going out and getting involved with the conspiracy among the gangs.

That wasn't a surprise to Nick. Most would have expected praise and thanks for exposing such a plot, especially if it meant averting chaos in the city, but the Tower mages seemed to think they were above it all.

Or rather, they believed that whatever happened in Alluria wasn't their concern, since the Tower was an independent institution and would only intervene if the city's existence was threatened or their assistance was explicitly requested.

Therefore, Nick wasn't naive enough to expect praise. He knew well that mages of a certain level of power often distance themselves from the world, caring only about their research and personal growth.

Anything that interfered with that was to be removed or ignored.

He bowed slightly, making eye contact with his teacher to show he understood, and the man smiled, pleased.

"I will see you tomorrow, young Nicholas. Same time, same place," Lasazar said as the elevator opened to his personal apartment.

Nick could admit he wasn't great at letting sleeping dogs lie. It was partly due to genuine interest, as he was the one who uncovered the full extent of the conspiracy after being alerted to it by One-Ear, and partly because he was concerned about how things were progressing.

Not that he thought the worst-case scenario of a full-on invasion was likely anymore, no. With the Duke directing operations to handle the local accomplices and Xander agreeing to serve as security against anyone truly monstrous in power, the worst-case scenario was avoided. However, between that and everything being resolved without issues, there was plenty of room for problems to arise.

A part of him burned at being left out. He wanted to sneak out and, at the very least, follow the operations to stay informed about the overall situation, so that he could know what to expect as the auction approached.

But he'd promised Tholm he'd stay put, and so he would. As long as nothing drastic happens.

Pushing the summoning chamber door open, Nick set aside those worries for the moment and focused on the much more urgent task of learning how to summon demons and then exorcise them with the power of the World.

Admittedly, his focus had been a little scattered lately. He still tried his best to meditate on the flow of power that the planet constantly released, as if it were a miniature star, but recent events had kept him from doing anything more than the bare minimum.

I still did it; it's not like I slacked off. But there's only so much meditation I can do before even the feeling of that much power becomes unimpressive. I've also been training with [Territory], so I've been busy!

It had nothing to do with his complete failure at seizing the World's power, truly. He was completely fine just having that immense amount of energy all around him, unable to do anything but watch it go to waste.

Alright, I might be a little annoyed about that. I should know better after seeing what messing with a leyline like the Dungeon Core can do, but for someone like me who has lived a life of scarcity, it feels crazy not to use it.

"Ah, welcome back," Lasazar said, rising from one of the chairs at the far end of the chamber.

"Good evening," Nick replied, looking around curiously. He couldn't sense any prepared magic, which meant he was about to get a lecture first.

He didn't mind because learning more about demons now meant less suffering later on.

"Last time, I introduced you to the concept of anti-demon magic, and you demonstrated your ability to handle minor demonic beasts. Today, we will review the steps to recognize a demonic summoning and how to address it, which is a fundamental application of Worldcraft. As I mentioned the other day, it's not often you'll be lucky enough to stumble upon a summoning before it's completed, but it's worth learning about." Lasazar began, walking to the center of the chamber.

"Now, the first thing you should know is that summoning a demon is not the same as summoning an elemental, even though the term is the same. The latter is the fulfillment of a contract between equals, a call for help between friends, while the first is the equivalent of cutting off one's arm to deal with a broken finger. It is an act of extreme violence against the World, and because of that, it can only be done through a ritual."

The way the last word was emphasized was clearly meant to highlight the seriousness of the situation, but Nick couldn't really show more than mild surprise, since he was very familiar with the magical practice.

Still, he was curious. During his time at the Tower, he had tried to learn more about the darker magics and which rituals they belonged to but hadn't been able to find much about them.

Admittedly, he'd been more focused on reinforcing his fundamentals, but he expected at least some books to reference them. Instead, there was nothing at all.

If I hadn't seen the results of two rituals with my own eyes—one to destroy Eztie's temple and the other that I'm pretty sure was cast by my ancestor, or at least a student of his, on that last beastmen temple before Floria—I would have thought it was an unknown kind of magic. But it's clear that such magic exists here too, even if it's not as common as on Earth.

It made sense, considering that rituals were ways to pay a price that wasn't pure mana to produce a magical effect. In a world as rich in power as this one, the practice simply wouldn't take off.

Lasazar eyed him seriously and continued only when he was sure Nick was giving him his full attention. "Now, I'm not talking about religious rites, which are quite different. Rituals are an obscure and dangerous area of magic, through which the caster can ignore or overcome many of the limitations of direct magic."

He then snapped his fingers, and a goblin materialized from the ring on his index finger. It was bound in chains, obviously unable to move much due to how tight they were, but it was still alive.

Nick looked at the creature with curiosity. He hadn't seen one of its kind in a long time, and it was just as ugly as he remembered.

Still, he didn't get distracted, and Lasazar nodded in pleasure at his interest. "As you can see, I have brought a sacrifice. Now, when summoning simple demonic creatures, sacrifices are unnecessary if one can supply enough mana, but for someone like you, who is limited in reserves, doing it this way would be best."

He hesitated for a moment before adding, "I had to think about whether to go this far with you, since many consider this kind of practice distasteful and even corrupting, but I know you have already been in the field and killed enough monsters that you won't flinch at adding another one to the tally, and I can assure you, I will be here to protect you should anything go wrong."

Nick glanced back and forth between Lasazar and the bound goblin before it clicked. "You want me to kill it and use its life as a sacrifice to power a ritual summoning of another demonic creature?"

"Indeed," Lasazar replied gravely. "I will not think badly of you should you turn back now, Nicholas. This is a dangerous art, and many prefer to stay away from it. Do you think you could do it?"

Nick had to suppress a laugh before it could give him away.