Wonsik often wondered what it would be like if he didn't have magic capability and was just a normal person.

Thinking about it freaks him out. What would he be doing with his life? Be a marketer? A bartender? Life seems so... boring without magic. He wonders how people can deal with it. Especially those in the cities with little to no magic!

Sanghyuk was a normal annoying teenager once. He didn't have a clue what magic was until Wonsik had come into his hometown and screwed some things up. Apparently the kid was amazed by it, and somehow poofed up the ability to do magic. Then the little crap chased after Wonsik for a solid year to learn from him because Wonsik was the only other mage he knew of. That idiot.

Speaking of that idiot, what is he doing? Wonsik thought, absently noticing the smell of smoke filtering through the room. He pulls himself out of his 'pondering' chair (graciously dubbed so by Sanghyuk) and hurries to the other room, ducking past countless things floating about. A handful of wind chimes hanging from the ceiling tinkle by the smoke brushing by, some dials begin spinning as he passes. He follows the smoke that looks suspiciously orange into the room where all their ingredients are: lined up uniformly along the shelves that take up just about all the wall space. 

Sanghyuk was leaning over the counter with some Rvakijivak powder sprinkled about the surface. A good portion of the table was a musky grey, the telltale sign of the property of Rvakijivak powder (the stuff  explodes at the briefest of winds and leaves a wicked nasty mark). Hyuk looks up, his face stained with an low saturated shade of orange. A dumb grin splits across his face and Wonsik, for probably the billionth time, thinks, why did I get this idiot as an apprentice. 

"Yo, Wonsikkie! How was your pondering?" Sanghyuk jokes, moving to swipe something else off the shelves. It's a jar of Nuulat crystal-- the polar opposite of the powder (it freezes over things like a mold). 

"What the hell are you doing," Wonsik asks, eyes narrowing at two items. Sanghyuk shrugs, picking up tweezers and unscrewing the jar. He carefully pulls out a crystal and drops it onto the table. The instant it touches the countertop, a web of ice shoots out in all directions. It goes over the powder, causing it to spark off a chain of explosions. 

Wonsik's grateful that he had that table covered in near indestructible charms. 

Both of the ice and powder are gone when the smoke disperses. Sanghyuk looks disappointed for a brief moment before beginning to put the crystals and powder back.

"What was the point of that?" Wonsik sighs, rubbing his eyes.  He waves at the trapdoor on the ceiling to open up; it does and all the smoke rushes out of the house into open air. 

"I wanted to see what would happen if the two mixed, ya know?" Sanghyuk says, once again shrugging, "Since Nuulat freezes over anything, I wondered if it could pause the property of Rvakijivak." He looks to the table and sighs, "It doesn't."

"Of course it doesn't. Nuulat freezes over things, not stopping them. When ice freezes over water, the water underneath doesn't always freeze too. Plus, Rvakijivak is a whole lot more powerful than Nuulat," Wonsik points out, "You're not the first one to have thought of that. Aren't you meant to be liquifying Arrowwood for Chonnasorn instead of exploding my damn table? We're near the city she's in." 

Sanghyuk grumbles, muttering something along the lines of, 'I was going to do it...' as a branch of the Arrowwood plucks itself off the plant and hovers onto the table. Wonsik pulls him into a headlock and gives him a noogie, ignoring his shrieking protests. 

"By the way, you have a little something... Everywhere," Wonsik adds, releasing the teen and motioning to his face.

Sanghyuk rubs his hand on his cheek and pulls it back. It's completely orange and he almost whines. "This takes forever to take off, though!" He grumbles, trudging to the sink and a towel unfolding itself for him.

"Your problem," Wonsik snickers, hurrying off before Sanghyuk shoots a bar of soap at him. 

Passing a window, Wonsik peers out to see the towers of Noguk seemingly touching the sky before a late afternoon sky. Noguk was among the top populated cities with magic activity in it. Compared to Daesam's single magic shop, Noguk had at least three shops every block. Chonnasorn, one of their most frequent patrons, is among the stronger mages there. She didn't do petty charms that warded off bad luck (the silly stuff-- it really only did things like not tripping or had fruits lasting longer); instead, she did things like potions for permanently enhancing eyesight or helping crops be more profitable. There weren't as many mages doing things like that in Noguk. She was maybe among the five mages who does commission potions while all the other mages did your cookie-cutter trinket shops. 

The building shuttered as it moved, making a chorus of wind chimes arise. Their traveling hideout (was it really a hide out?) was more or less a pale yellow, tiny house gliding across the terrain. Magic is some trippy stuff-- the house was a prime example of that. Anyone outside wouldn't notice it's movement until it was gone; they would think its always been there. There are so many more properties to the house that it'd be unbearably difficult to list them all. 

"How much does she need?" Sanghyuk calls, his voice carrying throughout the rooms. It didn't take long to liquify anything, but it doesn't always produce much. 

"A gallon," Wonsik shouts back. The exasperated groan Sanghyuk doesn't fall on deaf ears. What Sanghyuk doesn't know is that she actually needed roughly a pint, but Wonsik enjoys the occasional agony he puts upon apprentice.

...

Even Noguk's air was buzzing with magic.

Beside him, Sanghyuk's looking around the streets with a look of awe on his face. He always has that look whenever they're in Noguk-- the place always changes every time they're there. Wonsik grabs ahold of the messenger bag's strap and pulls Sanghyuk out of the way from running into a pole. Wonsik can't blame him for being amazed by all the things since he's just as impressed, but the kid does need to notice where he's walking.

Lanterns hover above the sidewalks as people buzzed about, string lights crisscrossing over the road. It probably looks magnificent at night. There was a light presence of magic that nudges people's emotions to a certain way (to like... have people be a bit more happier or something similar), but it was so light it wasn't anything to worry about. (That stuff could be so dangerous if in the wrong hands; then again, it's impossible to have it so strong that it could change people's emotions.) 

People of common hearth were messing about with magic items, like the newest edition of Hair Dye Changer or Limivisble, a product that could have one of your limbs become see through. (Sanghyuk had begged Wonsik to get him the Limivisible (for the first anniversary of me being your apprentice! He reasoned) but Wonsik never folded.) Wonsik pulled Sanghyuk out of the way from someone holding a broomstick, swinging it about and seemingly reacting a scene from something. 

"Man, can't we just not be traveling wizards and just settle here?" Sanghyuk asks Wonsik, gripping his yellow bag tightly. 

"Of course not, you idiot," Wonsik grumbles, "even though it's nice here, it moves too fast. We wouldn't get any business here because we've got the advanced magic stuff and no one likes that." He grabs the yellow bag's strap once again and pulls him down another road. "Even Chonnasorn and the other middle mages don't get commissioned often since everyone goes to the rinky-dink magic shops."

Sanghyuk frowns, gazing longingly at the group of kids who were trying to get enough Limivisble to turn someone completely invisible. Wonsik whacks him upside the head.

Sanghyuk scowls. "Why won't you let me be up to date with kids my age? Is it because you're jealous you're not as youthful as me, you wart?" he retorts, playfully shoving Wonsik by the shoulder.

"Shut up, Hyuk, I'm only four years older than you!" Wonsik shoots back, looking up to the storefronts. Before he can retailiate, he pulls Sanghyuk into the store labeled, "Clearly Lucky Commissions!" Not one of the catchiest names, but it brought customers in. (At least it wasn't those... goofy store names.)

The bell by the door rang quietly as they stepped in. The light from the doorway hits the potion bottles and a rainbow of colors projects across the walls, which made the store look more mystical. A lady behind the counter looks up from the magazine she's reading and Wonsik recognizes her as Seungyeon, Chonnasorn's store stand-in whenever she was mass producing potions. She grins in a welcoming way, asking, "You here to deliver?"

Wonsik nods and Sanghyuk motions to the bag hanging from his shoulder, "Liquified Arrowwood, ready to go."

"Sorn's downstairs," Seungyeon motions to the carpet, which moves aside to show bare floor. Lines appear in the shape of a box and a door flips open at another flick of the wrist. "She knew you were coming so she started the potion early."

They bow their head in thanks as they move down the stairs. Wonsik pops open the door and Seungyeon adds in quickly, "It's explosive, be careful. Wouldn't want to scorch those faces of yours."

 Sanghyuk scowls and Wonsik snaps the door close before the teen can say anything else. They trek down the stairs, and soon enough the sound of bubbling and sparks filled their ears. 

The room was casted in a orange glow as they enter and smelt vaguely like burnt honey. Similar to their own ingredient room, shelves upon shelves lined the walls with jars of miscellaneous items. Chonnasorn, or Sorn for short, was standing before something that looks more like a modern version of a cauldron (much smaller and less... like it was from medieval times), dropping in chunks of wood every couple of seconds.

She glances up at them before waving them over. "You came just in time!" She says as she dropped the last piece of wood into the mix. Sanghyuk hastens to pull out the Arrowwood from the bag (the jar looks almost too big to fit in the bag), and hands it to her.

Sorn looks confused for a second before she grins knowingly at the gallon, saying to Wonsik, "am I going to have to pay you extra for this?"

Sanghyuk looks bewildered, saying absentmindedly, "I did a gallon, right? Wasn't that what you needed...?" His eyes narrow suddenly and his head snaps to Wonsik, a nasty glare on his face, "You ! You told me she needed a gallon!"

Wonsik grins evilly and easily moves aside from a sharp punch on his shoulder. "Start doing things when I tell you and then I'll stop making you do more." He then says to Sorn, "You can keep it free of charge. I'm feeling gracious today." 

Sorn snorts, saying, "the world must be ending." 

"What?! What's that meant to mean!" Wonsik bursts just as the pot sparks. Sanghyuk lets out a shriek and dodges the hot spray while Wonsik moves a hand to cover his face. "What is this, anyways?" Wonsik grumbles, peering into the cauldron.

Sorn reaches out and pushes him back just in time for another series of sparks. "It's for some guy who wanted his car to never get dirty. Kinda dumb, if you ask me," she says, eyeballing a pint of liquid Arrowwood and dumping it in. The potion stops bubbling almost immediately and Sorn scoops up a bottle of it. 
She reaches into her trousers pocket and pulls out a handful of coins and bills, handing them to Sanghyuk. "That should be enough," Sorn says, screwing the bottle shut, "if it isn't, Seungyeon can give you the rest." Briefly glancing to a clock, she adds, "be careful, too, and stay out of alleyways. There's been a recent spike of night crawlers in the area. They're pretty nasty when they want to be,"

The warning seemed to have a thought pop up in Sanghyuk's mind. Wonsik tried to stop Sanghyuk before he said anything, but didn't make it fast enough. "Have you noticed anything weird with the night crawlers?" He asks eagerly, clutching the coins. Sorn looks at him with a bewildered expression.

"No? What's there to be different about them? I mean, they aren't dangerous here as they are in other cities, but there's nothing off," Sorn says, her eyebrows pulled together, "Why?"

"In Daesam, there's one night crawler that acts completely polar opposite of how they normally do," Sanghyuk begins, "they normally stay outside of buildings and aren't too aggressive. But there's one that enters buildings and speaks, of all things!" It's almost hard to explain a single city's version of night crawlers since they're all different and one type might do something that another's doesn't. 

Sorn looks to Wonsik for affirmation, who does nod. She frowns and looks up in thought. "Could it be another city's? I've never heard of one swapping between cities, though... I've heard of ones that are more powerful than the rest because of the negativity it was created from, but that's it," she shrugs finally, "it could be just a strong source of negative emotion that spawned it. That's genuinely the only thing I see can be reasonable, but magic always seems to bend the boundaries."

Sanghyuk's shoulders drop in dejection at the lack of a solid answer. Wonsik gives him a pat on his shoulder, saying, "thanks, though, Chonnasorn. Gimme a call when you need something. This time, it won't be free."

Grinning, Sorn waves them goodbye and they head up the stairs. She can hear them speak with Seungyeon and then the front door bell ring as the leave. She turns to place the bottle down, still in thought about what Sanghyuk told her. 

It's odd. She thinks, labeling the bottle and heading up to the storefront as well.

Seungyeon looks up from the magazine, giving her friend a smile. "You were two cents short," she informs, closing the magazine and motioning for the trapdoor to snap shut. "Should I begin to close up shop? It's getting late."

Sorn shrugs, "I guess so. I don't have any commissions to do."

Pausing, Seungyeon looks at Sorn's expression. (Sorn doesn't say anything because she knows exactly what she's doing.) She asks, "What are ya thinking about? Did Sanghyuk pull an rhetorical question on you?" she snorts, thinking back on a time where Sorn had tried to find an answer to a question that wasn't meant to be answered.

"That was so long ago! Don't mention that!" Sorn whines, pulling a sour face, "Sanghyuk told me about a night crawler in a city that defied the status quo. I'm trying to think of any way that's possible, unless the pulled another joke on me."

Seungyeon waves her hand dismissively, "didn't the Ministry come up with the answer for that? Too much negativity will expand its boundaries or something? Maybe it's the magic in the city. Don't get too caught up in it, I hate it when you're being philosophical over nothing."

Sorn scowls and swats at the other, "shut up, you nerd."

"Just leave it at that," Seungyeon says, "some weird magic and some negativity."

Reluctantly, Sorn says unsatisfied, "Alright."

a/n: ok clearly lucky commissions is the dumbest thing I've thought of but its the abbreviation for clc and I just I love sorn and seungyeon and clc I m so

the chapter was heavily inspired by howls moving castle?? the whole story was loosely inspired by howls moving castle but otl it was more prominent in this chapter

thank yo u for reading! :')