Magic District

"This will do nicely!" Nathan cheered, looking at his newly brought magic cauldron from a potion shop. It had the typical design of a regular cooking pot made of pitch-black iron with purple runes wrapping around it and stood on four oddly shaped legs that looked like a Dragon's, matching well with its dark bony horns used as handles.

"I'm glad you like it, sir!" Came from the warlock in charge of the shop. "Oh? No need to carry it, my dear, it has a command spell for that..." He pointed out to Gwyn, who was about to pick it up. "...and aren't you a bit...overloaded?"

"Huh? You think so?" Gwyn muttered in return with a chest filled with so many books that it didn't even close anymore on her right shoulder while wrapped around her left arm were three ropes with two glass jugs of strange glowing liquids tied to each one. Finally, on her back were two large baskets filled with jars of stuff such as; toad warts, bat wings, mandragora roots, Unicorn hair, snake tears, and other what-not used in potion-making. "Nah, this is nothing!" The knight smirked, giving the warlock a thumbs up.

"Be careful, would you!" Nathan yelled when some of the jugs clanged against eachother. "AH!" And he watched in horror as some of the liquid started to change color. "Those are very expensive and very volatile!" He warned, holding one of the jugs down as it was trying to float away.

"Well, maybe if someone wasn't such a wimpy asshole that wouldn't be a problem!" Gwyn snapped back at the mage.

It was the day before the Sigil Sect's recruitment summons, and surprisingly, Nathan's training coach of pain and gain decided it would be fine if the mage got a day to himself, which was used to go around the Magic District gathering up research materials.

"I told you the first time! I was perfectly able to carry all of my things with a levitation spell or port it all to my room but nooo! You insisted on having some extra training!" Nathan was at his wit's end with this beast of a woman.

Gwyn tagged along since she didn't have much else to do and for whatever reason Blake was taking his time with her sword after he remembered 'something' about it. However, even though all she did was help the mage carry stuff around much to Nathan's objections at first. She was having a good time for the most part...minus the many times when they started arguing about something such as now.

"Just get a move on already! Dumbass!" Gwyn barked at Nathan about ready to take back his rest day. "Eh? What's up with that?" But her attention was taking off Nathan and on to his cauldron which was at the moment wiggling its legs around.

"Oh? You guessed the command spell I used on it?!" The warlock looked on surprised then shrugged. "Then again, it's not that hard, I guess? I can charge it right now if you'd like?"

"Yes, I would like that, your command spell for it is...rather distasteful..." Nathan took the offer while giving the warlock a look, and again, the man shrugged. "...but I thought you told me this item would only allow its owner to command it?" He asked, turning back to Gwyn and the walking pot as it was trying to paw at her like a dog.

"Uhmm? I just thought the two of you were a thing? So, I linked it to the both of you?" The warlock answered with a raised brow as he switched between Gwyn's and Nathan's slowly reddening faces while 'their' cauldron stood slightly titled as if confused. "So you're no-?"

"Quiet you." Nathan pointed at the warlock with a bit of mana on his fingertip to shut him up. "I will be handling the command spell myself, thank you very much..." He stated in a low tone as he turned to the cauldron. "Dispel." He waved a hand over it, and a light mist of mana covered the pot, causing it to freeze up as the command spell placed on it was removed then Nathan put a hand to the pot. "Heed my words and follow my voice, I am your master, and you are my slave, your actions are mine to decide..." Nathan poured some of his mana onto the cauldron and stood up after he was done. "Now follow..." Called out to the cauldron but after a bit, nothing happened.

"You need to name it," The warlock pointed out, giving Nathan cause to stare at him annoyed. "Sorry! It's this new rule Le Fay has going around. They said it builds a better bond with your equipment or some junk like that."

"Hmph, whatever if it must be done..." Nathan muttered, looking at his cauldron and was trying to pick a name for it. "...ugh...why must I draw a blank at this moment?" He groaned, he was more interested in learning the names of things than giving them.

"What about Caul?" Gwyn offered by merely taking out the -dron part of cauldron much like she did with her own name. "Huh?" And like before the cauldron sprang to life jumping around her.

"Why?" Nathan ran a hand through his purple hair while staring at the warlock again.

"Don't look at me you used Dispel on the thing? The only reason it should listen to her is cause you want it to, friend," The warlock explained. "Heh," And broke out into a sly grin when Nathan's face went a bit red.

"Hey, can we leave yet? Didn't you say something about meeting up with someone?" Gwyn called out while she was playing with Nathan's cauldron now dubbed Caul and didn't hear the exchange between the two spellcasters.

"So, be it..." Nathan rolled his eyes at her, after all, he got what he wanted even if it listened to that annoying knight, but it wasn't like she would have any use for it. "...now follow...Caul?" He ordered Caul, and it scampered away from Gwyn to march behind its master with a bit of a sway in its step.

"By the way, who are you going to see?" Gwyn asked, coming up to Nathan's side with Caul between them. "Huh?" But her attention was drawn to a group of colorful bubbles that floated into her face. "Bubbles?" Following where they came from she found a mage putting on a show as bubbles danced in the air around a group of laughing children.

"Now watch carefully, kids!" The mage brought their bubbles in with a few gestures of their hands. "HAH!" Then with a swift clap of their hands, all the bubbles popped together in a rainbow of colors as sparking dust rained down on the awestruck children.

Stolen story; please report.

"Ah? Mermaid's Pastime put to good use." Nathan muttered with a bubble of his own on his finger that was giving off a light blue glow.

"Wait, you can use Bubble Magic?" Gwyn looked away as the children asked for another show and found Nathan doing his own little show with glowing blue bubbles circling around him that took on different shapes such as cats, dogs, birds, and people, all doing some kind of action in the air around them. "Heh, pretty good at it too!" She looked on as Nathan was telling some random story with his bubbles.

"Quite right, you are, Knight! One of the first spellbooks I mastered was one dubbed Caesar's Pride when I was only 8, hmm, hmm, hmm!" Nathan explained in his usual high and mighty attitude with his bubbly creations bowing and clapping to him. "Oh, no! You are all too kind!" He threw a hand to his forehead, acting as if he was shy.

"If you're so good at it, why don't you use it in a fight once in a while?" Gwyn questioned, thinking back to all the times she ran into Nathan and his most recent fight with Geel, and not once did the mage use any water magic.

Instead of some smart-mouthed retort or smug remark, Nathan went dead silent and let his hands drop to his sides, which caused his bubbles to splash to the ground in bursts of blue light.

While Caul hopped around each one that popped, wiggling itself all the while.

"Uh? Nathan?" Gwyn wasn't sure what was so bad about her question and raised a hand to the mage's shoulder. "Hmm!" But it was taken into Nathan's before she got too far. "HE-!"

"I made a promise to my father that I would only use it when a member of my family was in danger..." Nathan finally answered with his face giving off a grim look before he let go of Gwyn's hand. "...of course, since that is highly unlikely to happen at any time, I have not needed to use my greatest weapon so far!" He forced a smug smirk before continuing onward.

"Then why go quiet about it...?" Gwyn whispered as she stared at Nathan's back. and then her eyes went to the hand that he held. "...He was shaking..." And many other thoughts soon came to the knight's mind that she wanted to be answered, but the very scene they went through earlier wasn't something she wanted to do again. "Now follow, Caul!" She kicked the living cauldron left next to her and followed after Nathan.

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An hour later

"Whose house is this?" Gwyn was looking up at a small and simple-looking two-story cottage built near the edge of the Magic District but had a perfect view of Le Fay School Of Magic up on Mt. Gylch.

"It's my home..." Nathan muttered in answer as he went to the door. "...or it used to be before I went to Le Fay then that smith's Guild House."

"Huh?!" While Gwyn, on the other hand, was in a panic. "Did this guy just take me to see his family!?" Her mind went wild with all kinds of things as she asked herself the following questions. "Do I look nice?! What if they ask me why I'm with him!? Do they even like non-magical people...!?" And many more filled her head, leaving her in a small daze of fear. "Eh?" But thankfully she was pulled out of it by a light flick to the forehead. "Wha?" She looked down at Nathan with a hand at her forehead.

"You seemed like you were overthinking something," Nathan answered in a dry tone, not knowing what was going on inside Gwyn's head or even cared much about it as he turned to the door and knocked.

"Hmm? Coming!" Came a woman's voice from inside as some footsteps got closer to the door, forcing Gwyn to brace herself for what freak of a magic user was coming to greet them. "Ah! Nathan!" But surprisingly the person in question was a normal-looking woman in a simple purple sundress with a brown shawl over her shoulders while her feet were bare.

She was in her late 40s, as a few strings of white were in her otherwise purple hair which was put into several braids behind her neck while her eyes were a silverish yellow color with those same short but thick dot-styled eyebrows above them as Nathan. The last noteworthy thing about her was a small copper ring around her ring finger.

"Hello, mothe-mmph!" Nathan was pulled into a deep hug by his mother with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"What was that about coming to see me at least once a week, eh!?" Nathan's mother pulled at his cheeks while glaring at him. "I know that working for a guild and keeping up with your studies is very taxing, but I am important too, you know!?" She lectured or more like whined to her son, continuing to twist and pull his face. "And who's this!? Fine young lady!?" She snapped at Gwyn with Nathan's face pushed up against hers.

"Uh? I'm Gwyndolin?" Gwyn, of course, was sent for a loop or two by this woman's behavior if it weren't for her being Nathan's mother she would have guessed that this was the mage's clingy lover. "Wait! No! That's not right! I'm The Black Knight of the Rainbow Knights! Good day to you ma'am!" She did a bow and surprisingly and to her credit, none of the things she was carrying fell over.

"Oh? So, this is that knight you go on about when you have the chance?" Nathan's mother asked her son after hearing Gwyn's name, and title then let him go to fix her dress after it got ruffled by hugging Nathan. "I am Natula, former songstress, and ~this magical boy's dear mother~" She sang out in a soft key.

Causing Caul to wiggle around to her tune a in short dance.

"Oh! What a cute little cauldron you got this time!" Natula's eyes went from Gwyn to Caul and petted the living pot on its handle horns then she turned to Nathan's with a skeptical look. "This one better not have a mouth like the last few..." She trailed off, remembering those times when Nathan brought home some magical item that just so happened to have an appetite. "...then again this one isn't going be living here so that's your boss' problem! So? Are we going to just stand out here or go inside?" She went to the door of her home with a hand beckoning the mage and knight to follow.

"I am so sorry about her..." Nathan spoke up after his mother disappeared behind the door. "...Oh? You can leave those there." He pointed at a random spot where Gwyn could drop her load off.

"Nah, it's fine, she and Blake's mom would get along." Gwyn sat everything down nicely; in other words, she dropped them like they were bags of rocks. "Hey! Nothing blew up!" She barked when Nathan cringed at that. "Caul! Watch everything for us, okay!"

Caul stood guard over everything by marching in place like some weird iron guard dog.

"It still baffles me that it listens to you." Nathan eyed Gwyn giving Caul a thumbs up for its hard work.

"Well, you're the one that couldn't get rid of that part, Useless Mage." Gwyn pointed out, going for the door first. "Coming in!" She called out to Natula as she took off her boots to be nice since Natula wasn't wearing footwear either.

"Don't remind me...I'm sure that warlock must have put a curse or something on it." Nathan tried thinking up a better answer than what that warlock thought of him and Gwyn. However, that didn't stop him from glancing at the knight as she went inside and followed behind her. "Hmm?" Then set his attention on the now-closed door. "I know that, mana? But considering your magic that's not unsurprising," He shrugged it off as nothing before heading for the living room thanks to the laughter coming from there. "I have a bad feeling about that..."

And as Nathan went away, the door creaked open with mystical purple light behind it.

Chapter End