3 The best assistant a mage could ask for

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by morde24, OoalGown, Hermes, Priapus, Marethyu, Old man of the mountain, and TheDonFluffles

The Guild of Gamers: The Necromancer

Chapter 03: The best assistant a mage could ask for

— Yang Xiao Long —

She already liked Rowan, because having someone who could clean anything with a touch made her chores hilariously faster.

Having an extra set of hands made everything else faster as well because Rowan wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty despite being a mage.

She figured mages would have a dozen minions to handle all the boring chores, but maybe Rowan was the exception.

"This is the local store, it doesn't have the best stock but it's got a lot of stuff adventurers need, because Patch gets a lot of adventurers visiting its Guild," Ruby explained proudly, acting as a tour guide as they showed Rowan around the village.

It wasn't like there was that much to show. They'd shown him the tavern and the one general store, and they'd covered almost everything noteworthy already.

Patch was a boring place, filled with fishermen, farmers and rookie adventurers wanting to get started in a place known for having reasonably weak monsters.

The dungeon on Patch was said to be the least dangerous in the world, and it still had claimed a lot of lives.

She wanted to go and explore it herself, but the problem with having her dad be the unofficial leader of the Patch adventurers guild was that he could curate what quests she could get, and he'd not let her or Ruby go anywhere near the dungeon.

She got it, but it still annoyed her to be constantly held back from taking anything but the most simple quests, which was why she was still a copper-level adventurer despite her strength.

He kept promising that he'd let them take more dangerous quests when 'they were ready' but he'd been saying that for years.

"Ah, I see. That's good to know," Rowan said looking towards the store. "I'm planning on becoming an adventurer myself, so I'll need to pay them a visit once I've earned some funds."

"You are?! Mages almost never become adventurers, but when they do they end up becoming legends, like Glynda Goodwitch and the Guildmaster Ozpin himself," Ruby shouted, her fanatical love of adventurers making itself known.

"Oh, then I'll be in good company, won't I?" Rowan said cheerfully, not put off by Ruby's excited attitude.

Ruby had a habit of coming onto new people too strongly and putting them off, but Rowan didn't seem to mind Ruby's hyper nature and babbling.

"So, you want to become an Adventurer then?" Yang asked, already making a plan.

If she was in a party with a mage, surely her dad couldn't continue to hold her back?

"That's the plan, yes. I need money, but honestly? I like the idea of being an adventurer and travelling the world, fighting monsters and making a name for myself," Rowan agreed, making her grin.

"You too? Same. This world is far too big for us to stay in Patch all our lives, I want to see it all eventually," Yang said, giving him a look. "Why don't you join me and Ruby? We're still copper adventurers ourselves, and we haven't joined a party yet."

Not through lack of offers, quite a few adventurers liked the idea of having a pair of hot sisters in their party.

"That's a great idea!" Ruby said, her eyes wide as she rushed up to Rowan, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. "What'd you say, Rowan? Wanna make a party with us? Come on, it'll be fun! We can fight monsters, explore the world and become heroes! I'll even make you a weapon if you want, I know you have your magic but-"

"Ruby, calm down," Yang said with a quiet laugh, ruffling her sister's hair.

"Make me a weapon?" Rowan asked, tilting his head and making Ruby beam at him.

"Yup! I'm a blacksmith- okay, an apprentice blacksmith but the master smith agrees I'm really good… for my age," Ruby said, trailing off into a whisper at the end.

"Impressive, I actually have an idea for a weapon but it's going to be a little complicated. Still, I should probably acquire a melee weapon for when enemies get too close, even if it's just a dagger," Rowan said, making Ruby beam.

"You have an idea for a weapon?" Ruby asked quickly, making Rowan nod. "If you tell me everything I'll help you make it!"

Yup, there it was. Ruby loved three things, adventurers, weapons and cookies.

"I'll be sure to include you, but I'm still in the design phase. It's going to be a magical weapon but I'll need to either make the base or have someone else make it for me," Rowan promised, giving her a smile.

Yang mentally sighed, seeing Rowan's mistake.

Ruby had two life goals. She wanted to become a famous adventurer, and she wanted to learn how to enchant so she could make magical weapons.

It was Qrowe's fault, giving Ruby her beloved Crescent Rose, an enchanted scythe.

Enchanting was the only magical art that non-magical people could learn, since the magic was in the Dust.

Ruby had the chance to go to the Royal Academy to study enchantment thanks to their parents knowing the Headmistress, but she'd decided against it because she'd need to move to Vale.

"You better, mister!" Ruby said, hands on her hips as she gave him a stern look. She was trying to replicate Summer's stern look but Ruby couldn't quite pay it off, just making her look cuter. "…so you can enchant as well?" Ruby asked hesitantly, making Rowan pause.

"I'm not sure if I'd call it enchanting since it doesn't use Dust, but I can imbue magic into objects and craft runestones for a variety of purposes," Rowan explained, making Ruby's eyes grow wide in excitement.

Yeah, good luck getting Ruby to leave you alone now. She loved her sister but Ruby could get rather intense when it came to her hobbies, which had a habit of putting people off.

"When we have more time, I'll show you if you're interested, just remember that I'm still learning," Rowan said with a small smile, making Ruby beam at him.

"Yes, please! I want to learn how to enchant when I'm older so I can make my own enchanted weapons," Ruby admitted shyly.

Some people had made fun of Ruby for that, because Enchanting was an incredibly complicated art that took decades of dedication to learn, and the scorn some people had at the idea of Ruby becoming an enchanter had put her off telling people about her dream.

Of course, Yang had hurt those people a lot.

"An admirable goal, it's important to have an ambition to work towards," Rowan said easily, making Ruby's smile widen at his easy acceptance of her dream.

Giggling shyly, Ruby turned and started walking down the street as Yang paused. Was Ruby blushing?

Ruby never seemed interested in boys (or girls) before, but she had to admit Rowan was more handsome than the village boys. He had the distinguished noble look, and attitude, that would probably have most village girls dropping their panties for him.

She wasn't so impressed by some fancy words and good looks, because she was attracted to strength not looks.

Apparently, her birth mother was the same way, turned on by power instead of personality or looks.

Not that she didn't appreciate a good-looking guy (or girl), or that she didn't have a preference in personality.

Anyone she seriously dated would need to be interesting enough to not bore her, adventurous enough to keep up with her (in more ways than one), kind enough to get along with her cute little sister, and strong enough to turn her on.

She'd met a few guys and girls who met some of those requirements.

She'd dated one of the village boys, Brock Brunswick, for a couple of months, he was the son of the Brunswick family who owned a lot of the farms around Patch.

Brock was one of Ruby's friends, and she noticed his crush on her and decided to give him a shot. He already got along with Ruby, and he was pretty cute and built from all that farmwork.

But he ended up being so boring, all he did all day was work on the farms. He didn't want to do anything with his life but to inherit his family's farm.

He was good looking, a pretty good kisser, but he was just so damn boring. Plus, he wanted to take things slow, way too slow for her tastes. The furthest they went was a handjob while he played with her tits, and he barely lasted a minute.

Plus his family creeped her out, his dad, Rufus telling her that she had some 'damn fine childbearing hips' and 'a great set of milkers' on her.

Not that he was wrong, but she didn't need her boyfriend's parents hinting at her marrying their son or having a kid.

Sure, she got that having kids was important for them with how many people died every year, but it wasn't for her. She didn't want to be tied down to one place playing housewife.

She sure as fuck wasn't retiring to a farm, raising cows and chickens.

So she dumped him, and he didn't even have the balls to fight for her.

She'd also had a few small flings with some of the other adventurers who came to Patch to get some experience before they went to more dangerous lands, nothing serious of course since adventurers came and went, rarely staying in one place.

She was still a virgin, technically, but she was also pretty experienced.

Her favourite was when she went on a goblin extermination quest with a small party who didn't have a tank. Their celebration after they wiped out the goblin cave was something to remember.

Of course, that was when she realised that most parties ended up fucking, relationship or not. Her parents party definitely did, and they weren't the exception. Any party with both men and women would usually end with a lot of sex.

After all, when any quest could be your last, you should live life to the fullest.

So if Ruby, Rowan and her ended up in a party together, how long would it take until Rowan was fucking them?

She might be protective of Ruby, but at the end of the day Ruby was a big girl and could make her own decisions, if that decision involved bouncing on a handsome mages cock, so be it.

If anyone bullied Ruby, she'd break their legs. If Rowan broke Ruby's heart, she'd rip his out, but if Ruby had a thing for him? She'd just support her lil sis like a good big sister should.

Their dad might disagree, but that was because he was a hypocrite, because he certainly didn't waste any time in fucking all three of his party members and they had an… active sex life.

The number of times she'd been woken up by her mom's moans, or caught Qrowe wandering out of her parents' bedroom, naked and leaking cum.

She'd long since realised that there was nothing in their house that her parents hadn't fucked on, including her bed.

Why they fucked on her bed, she still didn't know, but she also wasn't going to ask.

They arrived at Ruby's work, the smithy, and she watched as Rowan spoke to the smith, exchanging some of the money Summer had given him (which he insisted was a loan that would be repaid) and taking some tools.

She didn't know what they were for, she didn't share Ruby's love of smithing. She just punched things, her spiked gauntlets did the rest.

"You're a smith as well?" Ruby asked, awestruck as she watched Rowan make his purchases.

"Something like that, I'm an Artificer and smithing plays a part in it. I never exactly studied smithing but I suppose you could call it magical guidance," Rowan admitted. "I don't suppose you know where I can get my hands on some good quality stone?" he asked the smith, making the older man run his chin.

"Depends how much you need, but your best bet would be builders guild, they've got a building here since they build and maintain the walls that keep the monsters out," the smith replied. "And the walls always need repairing."

"Are guilds common then, I've heard of the Adventurers Guild and now the Builders Guild," Rowan asked, making the smith frown in confusion.

"You're not from around here, are you? Just about everything has a guild, lad. I'm part of the Smiths guild myself, damn hard to do business if you don't join your trades guild, even out here" the smith scoffed. "Most of the guilds are based in the Capital, but they occasionally have offices in smaller towns like this if there's reason enough."

"Oh? Not fond of competition?" Rowan asked, making the smith laugh wryly.

"Hit the nail right on the head, I'm not saying they'll run you out of business, but if you aren't a part of the smiths guild, your supplies can get attacked on the road, and all kinds of rumours end up spreading and break-ins become awfully common if you catch my drift. Better to just pay the annual fee and save yourself the bad luck, besides it's better to do business through the guild anyway, less chance of you getting ripped off," the smith said with a shrug, practically screaming 'what can you do?'

Rowan wrote something down in one of the blank books he bought earlier, giving the smith a grateful nod.

"I see, that's good to know," Rowan mumbled.

"Aye, if you're smithing for your personal use or for your party, it won't be a problem. You start selling what you make and the guilds will take notice, mage or not," the smith warned, making Rowan give him a small smile.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," Rowan said gratefully. "And where is this builders guild located?"

She had no idea what Rowan was up to, but with his new destination he set off, with Ruby in tow as she pestered him about what he was planning.

Rowan seemed to enjoy teasing Ruby, refusing to tell her what he was up to as they walked, Rowan asking them to wait outside as he entered the building.

"So… what'd you think of Rowan?" Ruby asked the moment Rowan was out of hearing range.

"He's fun, kinda like a posher, smarter you actually," Yang teased, making Ruby grin excitedly.

"I know! He wants to be an adventurer, he can smith and he's designing magical weapons!" Ruby practically squealed, either ignoring or simply too excited to notice the teasing insult.

"Attractive too," Yang added with a playful smirk.

"Yeah, he-" Ruby started, immediately trailing off as her cheeks started to rapidly grow a deep red. "I mean, he's- shut up," Ruby mumbled, giving her a dirty look.

"Didn't even say anything," Yang said with a triumphant grin on her face.

"You were thinking it!" Ruby accused, making Yang shrug innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Yang replied with the same grin, making Ruby pout as she turned and looked towards the building Rowan had entered, making sure he wasn't listening. "Ruby's got a crush~"

Hearing the singsong tone, Ruby turned back to her with a huff of frustration. She'd support Ruby, but also she had the prerogative to tease her little sister.

"Shut up! You'd had seven boyfriends and four girlfriends at my age," Ruby shot back, making Yang blink, she didn't think those numbers were right but they probably weren't that exaggerated.

Well, they were but that was because Ruby assumed that anyone she saw Yang kissing was Yang's boy/girlfriend instead of just friends she was experimenting or playing around with.

"You're not denying it," Yang pointed out, making Ruby pout cutely.

Whatever Ruby was going to say was immediately cut off as the door opened, Rowan walking out with a grin of his own, Ruby's mouth clamping shut as she blushed deeper.

"…what?" Rowan asked, looking between them.

"Nothing! Yang is a filthy liar and everything she says is wrong. All her blood goes to her big stupid boobs so none of it reaches her brain!" Ruby immediately said, making Rowan blink.

"I do have fantastic boobs, don't I?" Yang 'agreed', looking down and making her girls jiggle somewhat, giving Ruby a smirk as Rowan's eyes immediately flickered down to her cleavage. Two could play that game.

She didn't hold his attention for as long as she had hoped, barely a split second before his eyes left her body, she'd have to try harder next time.

Maybe it was arrogant of her, but if she was shaking her puppies at a guy, she should be able to keep his attention.

"I see," Rowan said, looking between them for a moment. "Actually I don't but I also don't want to know," Rowan corrected after a moment.

"Did you get what you wanted?" Ruby asked, making Rowan nod.

"I did, I've also realised that Summer lied about how much the 'spending money' she loaned me was worth, either things are far cheaper than I expected or she gave me way too much," Rowan said with light scowl.

"Don't worry about it, my family is kinda loaded," Yang said, waving him off.

Her parents made a lot as adventurers, bringing home ancient relics and powerful artifacts from the dungeons they plundered.

"That's not the point, I-" Rowan started, before he sighed with a small smile. "Well, it has proven helpful in getting me set up so I'm thankful, I just don't like owing people."

"That's fair," Yang said with a shrug. "Anyway, I think that's pretty much everything. Patch isn't that interesting. The only part I haven't shown you is the farms, but you can't miss them."

"Perhaps it's not as exciting as one of the big cities, but it has its own charm to it," Rowan said simply, looking over the village as they headed back towards her house.

"I guess, but when it's all you've seen the charm wears off fast," Yang said dryly.

"Is that why you became an adventurer?" Rowan asked, making her nod easily. "I can't say I don't see your point, but it's always nice to have somewhere to go after the adventure is done."

"True," Yang said, going quiet. It wasn't like she didn't like Patch, but there was way too much to see and do.

Maybe in the future she'd do what her parents did and settle down here, teaching the next generation and crushing the monsters that were too strong for the rookies, or maybe follow in Qrowe's footsteps and wander the world as a solo badass.

That or they'd find her bones in a monster's den, or find her chained up and used in a bandit camp or goblin cave.

She wasn't delusional, she knew most adventurers didn't live to be old enough to retire, and while she was confident in her skills, the world was a scary place.

Ruby didn't seem to understand that, latching onto the tales of adventurers being legendary heroes, but for every legend, there were a hundred corpses.

Hell, her dear old mom was probably responsible for a few dozen of those corpses herself. Rumours of the 'Bandit Queen' uniting the bandits of the wilds had already reached Patch, along with the fact that most adventurers who went to investigate disappeared.

Plus she'd overheard Qrowe talking to her parents while drunk about occasionally offing adventurers who 'wandered down the wrong path'.

She didn't know what exactly Qrowe did, but she knew it involved a lot of killing. Qrowe was a mouthy drunk, which coincidentally was how she knew so much about her parents sex life.

Qrowe found it funny to tell her stories about their adventuring days, less about the adventures themselves and more about what happened at their camp afterwards.

"So, what did you think? I know it's probably not as fancy as wherever you came from but-" Ruby started babbling as they walked up the road towards their house.

"It's lovely, I can see why your parents settled here," Rowan said with a calm smile, Ruby blushing and looking away with a happy smile.

— Summer Rose —

Seeing the three teens heading up the path from her bedroom window, she gave a mental fist pump at the latest success in her master plan as she spotted them chatting happily.

"Okay, honey. Looks like you get a break," Summer said, grabbing her clothes as she looked over at the panting Tai, arms and legs tied to their bed poles with thick ropes.

He thought he could run away and hide from her? Silly Tai, he should have known better.

Untying her husband, she gave him a smile as he sat up.

"Already? It's not like you to be satisfied so quickly," Tai said with a laugh, they both knew the ropes had no actual chance of holding him, he'd break them easily if he tried to escape, or he'd break the thick wooden poles.

"Oh, I'm far from satisfied, but it'll do for now," Summer said, giving him a quick kiss as she tasted her arousal on his tongue.

"So, you're going to offer your… assistance tonight?" Tai asked, grabbing his own clothes.

"I am," Summer admitted easily.

She and Tai were very open with each other, they had very few secrets between them. She'd already brought him up to date on everything she and Qrowe knew about Rowan and her plans to approach him and offer to be his practice dummy for Eromancy.

"Have fun, honey," Tai said simply, watching as she used a finger to wipe the cum leaking down her leg up, licking it clean.

"This isn't fun! It's a very important part of my plan to make sure Rowan stays on the right side," Summer said playfully, making Tai scoff. "I'm sacrificing my body and dignity for the greater good."

"Summer, I love you but you're a horny slut," Tai said with a deadpan tone, making her gasp as she put her hand to her chest.

"How could you say such a thing to your own wife!" Summer said in her best offended tone, before she couldn't help giggling. "Okay, it's also going to be fun."

Playing with younger men was always fun, after all.

Like that cute farm boy whose heart Yang broke. Brock hadn't taken their break up well and kept finding excuses to visit, but he was also too intimidated by Yang to try and win her back so he just moped around nearby.

She'd felt sorry for him, especially since she knew Yang had already moved onto her next victim, so she'd called him inside for some tea and advice.

He was a nice boy after all, even if she could see why Yang dumped him. She'd given him some advice about how to move on and then gave him some help forgetting about Yang.

He wasn't moping when he left.

Dressing, she decided to not bother with any underwear given what she had planned.

Heading downstairs, she smiled seeing the heavy looking bag Rowan was carrying, apparently he'd found something to spend the money she gave to him.

As he looked at her, she gave him a soft smile even as she felt her loins stir. She was going to rock his world.

— Taiyang Xiao Long —

"It's nice to see you up and awake, Rowan," Tai said as he walked into the living room beside Summer.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Xiao Long. You have my thanks for coming to my aid against that… thing," Rowan said, making him grin.

Summer said the first thing Rowan would do is thank him.

"It's just Tai, I don't like being reminded that I'm old," Tai joked, patting Rowan on the shoulder. "And don't worry about it, it's just part of the job. After all, you want to be an adventurer yourself right?"

"That's right, I've been told you're the guy to talk to about that," Rowan agreed, making Tai give him an approving smile.

"We can head to the guild tomorrow and sign you up, it's a very simple process," Tai agreed.

Deliberately simple because some adventurers couldn't even read or write. They needed everyone they could get, which was why people like him existed to train those idiots so they wouldn't just die immediately.

"I see you actually spent the money I gave you, what happened to your claim you'd bring it back?" Summer asked teasingly, making Rowan sigh.

"I decided to not be stubborn for once and use it as an investment," Rowan said calmly. "I will be paying you back, but these tools will help my development immensely."

"Oh, you're a smith?" Tai asked, seeing a few tools he recognised and more he didn't. He was more of a weapons guy, specialised tools were outside his area of expertise.

"An Artificer, something like a magical smith I suppose," Rowan admitted.

Well, Ruby probably had her first crush.

He'd already heard of Rowan's runestones, but he didn't understand magical crafting enough to know how impressive it was. He just punched things, and happened to be very good at it.

"Sounds interesting, I'm sure Glynda would love to discuss it with you. She's an old friend who went on to become the headmistress of the Royal Magical Academy," Tai explained.

That was an understatement, Glynda would probably kill him if he let Rowan slip between their fingers without at least getting a chance to talk to him.

"Ah, Summer mentioned her. I don't think academy life is for me," Rowan admitted, making Tai laugh.

"You won't hear any arguments from me, I've been there a few times but it's way too stuffy for me. She'll still want to talk to you, she's made it her life goal to support young mages and magical craftsmen. I'm sure Glynda would understand if you didn't want to join and stay in one place," Tai said, deciding to help the plans to pull Rowan into Ozpin's circle.

He was telling the truth, after all; Glynda would want to meet him and support his growth. It just so happened that she was also Ozpin's right hand and one of his key supporters in the war against Salem.

"I'll keep that in mind, but for now I'm going to focus on my magic and making a name for myself as an adventurer," Rowan said after a moment.

"Well, as the head of the Patch adventurers guild, I definitely won't complain. There's always work to be done, and more hands are always appreciated," Tai chuckled.

He'd put the offer out there, but it wasn't his job to do more than that. If Glynda wanted Rowan to join the Academy, she could come to Patch and try to convince him herself.

It wouldn't surprise him if she did, to be honest. Glynda wouldn't be able to resist just two branches of magic alone, add in the fact that Rowan was an 'Artificer', whatever that was, and he couldn't imagine Glynda being willing to leave it alone.

"We've decided to make a party and adventure together!" Ruby added excitedly, making him blink. Yang seemed strangely triumphant as she returned his stare.

One guy in a party with multiple girls? Where did he hear that before?

Summer gave him a warning look as he went to speak, making him shut his mouth.

"That's nice, honey. I'm sure the three of you will be great together," Summer said encouragingly, making Ruby smile happily. "I'm going to start dinner, Rowan, why don't you put those tools in your room for now, no need to lug them around."

"Actually, why don't you put them in the basement. It's basically empty anyway, it should make a decent workshop and we don't use it," Tai added, making Rowan pause.

"That would be very useful, thank you," Rowan said, making Summer pause.

"Wait, when I offer you anything it's like trying to convince a brick wall, but when Tai offers something you just accept?" Summer asked, giving Rowan a dirty look before she gasped in 'realisation'. She was still in a mood, huh? "Ahh, I see. So, Tai's more you type?"

"…no, he very much isn't. No offence," Rowan added, making Tai chuckle.

"None taken," Tai said with a laugh.

"Do you just enjoy seeing me frustrated then? Ahh, so you're more of an S than an M? How exciting," Summer giggled, making Yang snort.

It caught him by surprise when Ruby blushed, fidgeting in place. He didn't think Ruby would even know what that meant.

It's not like he could expect Ruby to be innocent. When Summer got excited she didn't think about the time and place, other than 'right now and right here.'

Didn't matter who was home, or if they were in public. If they were in the village, it was time to find a suitably hidden spot because she wouldn't wait for them to get home. They'd gotten caught several times, but the audience usually excited her more.

Assuming she didn't invite them to join in.

Plus, she could get loud. He didn't want to think about what the girls had heard come from his bedroom over the years.

"That's for me to know," Rowan said simply, unaffected by her teasing.

"And for me to find out?" Summer finished, making Rowan glance towards him.

He wasn't surprised, Summer was blatantly flirting with him in front of her husband and kids, but he just rolled his eyes with a long-suffering smile.

"Perhaps, who knows what the future will hold," Rowan said, seeing Tai not concerned.

"Come on, I'll show you how to get into the cellar, we keep it locked but you can have the key, it's probably covered in dust," Tai laughed, gesturing for Rowan to follow him.

"That just means I need to clean it up," Rowan said simply, following behind.

Heh, with how long it'd gone unused, getting someone else to clean it up was worth letting Rowan turn it into a workshop.

Hell, the last person to use it with any regularity would have been his dad and he died before Yang was even born.

His old man had a hobby of brewing his own ale and might have been responsible for Qrowe's drinking problems, so he had a little brewery set up down here.

Unlocking the door to the cellar, he tossed the key to Rowan and opened it, immediately coughing as years of dust assaulted him.

Heading down into the pitch black room, he went to get a candle before he paused, watching Rowan hold up a rock that was glowing with a soft light.

"Nice trick," Tai said, heading down into the now lit up cellar.

"All I did was imbue the rock with a bit of magic, but it should glow… basically indefinitely I think. I'll probably make something more professional looking later," Rowan said, rubbing his chin as he looked around the dust-covered room.

A box with his fathers brewing supplies sat in one corner, a table against the wall. The rest of the cellar was filled with various junk.

The smell made him wince, he knew he should have cleared this place out because it smelt like something had died down here. It was probably his dad's brewing materials that had long since gone off.

"Feel free to use or get rid of whatever is down here, I'm certainly not going to miss any of this crap," Tai said, watching Rowan lay his new tools out on the table. "The stairs over there lead to a hatch behind the house, so if you've got any bigger stuff to bring down you can use that."

"Thanks, I think this will work out perfectly," Rowan said, looking around the messy room with a smile.

Well, he seemed happy and he probably knew what he was looking for in a workshop.

"Good, before I leave you to get settled in… we need to talk," Tai said, making Rowan nod calmly. Clearly he'd expected this, because he simply put his things down and turned to Tai. "I won't tell you to keep your hands off my daughters, as much as I wish they weren't, they're both big girls now," Tai snorted.

If Yang was a virgin, he'd be frankly shocked. Happy, but completely shocked. Ruby had her mothers silver eyes, and while Ruby didn't seem interested in sex… neither had Summer until he took her virginity in a celebration after a particular dangerous quest.

Summer's libido had sprung to life and no one could put it back to sleep. He ended up spending the entire next day in their tent,

Ozpin claimed that any silver eyed children would likely possess a similar libido once they got started.

"But if you hurt them, you'll wish I let that ogre eat you," Tai said simply.

"Entirely fair," Rowan said with equal simplicity, he was taking Tai's words seriously but he was also not overly intimidated.

"Good, if you and the girls end up together, treat them well. Break their hearts and I'll break your spine," Tai said, giving Rowan a pat on the back.

"Are harems common here? I've noticed a few hints but…" Rowan asked, making Tai shrug.

"Not that common, not overly uncommon. Us men are outnumbered quite a bit, so it's pretty common for a man to end up with a few women," Tai explained, before pausing. "Of course, it's more common with stronger adventurers since we're expected to pass on our strength to the next generation… and as a mage? Well, even if you don't become a noble, people will be more upset if you don't spread your seed."

"Ah, it seems I still have a lot to learn," Rowan said ruefully, making Tai laugh.

"You have to remember, our world is constantly on the brink of extinction. If you become truly strong, you can get away with damn near anything because you're the only thing standing between them and the countless terrors. The stronger you are, the more you can get away with," Tai admitted. "I could do pretty much anything to anyone in Patch because I've kept it safe for almost two decades, that's just how the world works. Someone strong enough to be seen as a national hero could do the same to just about anyone in the Kingdom."

Rowan frowned to himself as he leaned against the table.

"Survival of the fittest, the strongest rule, huh?" Rowan asked, making Tai shrug.

"That's not inaccurate, I don't buy into it that hard but I can't deny that a lot of people do," Tai admitted, he didn't see a reason to lie to Rowan about how messed up the world had become. "Sure, there are laws to keep everything civilised but if you're strong enough? The laws become more like guidelines you can bend, then suggestions you can ignore."

He'd lost track of the number of times Qrowe had gotten into trouble only to flash her adventurers guild card and have it all go away because the guards weren't willing to try and punish a adamantium adventurer.

Hell, he'd done the same to get out of a few public indecency charges when he and Summer were in a major city.

Salem was likely behind this particular mindset, apparently she succeeded in sealing Ozma away for a good few hundred years and a lot happened while he was gone.

"I see," Rowan said after a moment of pause. He was hard to read, because there was clearly a lot going on behind his gaze.

"But enough about the grim state of our world, no pun intended, there's one last thing I want to talk to you about," Tai said, making Rowan look at him. "I'll be blunt, my relationship with Summer is, and always has been, very open. I don't mind when she has fun with other men, or women, and she doesn't mind when I do the same."

"Ah, hence why you don't mind her flirting with me," Rowan said calmly, his lips twitching.

"Exactly. That's all I have to say, take from that what you will," Tai said, giving Rowan another pat on the back as he turned and headed upstairs.

Rowan seemed like a nice kid, and Summer would pout if he turned her down out of some mistaken belief that Tai would be hurt.

And then she'd come back to him, and frankly? He needed a break. Maybe he'd find some cute virgin farm girl to warm his bed, it'd be nice to actually be in control for once.

…Rowan, your sacrifice would be remembered. May the gods grant him unlimited stamina and an unbreakable pelvis.

He's gonna need it.

— Summer Rose —

She didn't see Rowan again until she called him for lunch, sequestered away in the cellar as he made himself truly at home.

Tai had been onto something with that particular idea, because even at the dinner table Rowan had clearly been itching to go back down into the cellar, to the point where she told him he could just take the food down there.

He refused in his usual stubborn way, then insisted on cleaning the pots (much to Yang's relief as it was supposed to be her turn), before he thanked her and power walked back to the cellar.

Ruby went with him, and she decided to leave them to chat, not interrupting them until she saw Ruby leave, a happy smile on her face.

Heading down to the cellar herself, she paused at the top of the steps as she saw how well-lit the room was, having heard how it was merely a few hours before from Tai.

Walking down the stairs, she marvelled at how clean everything looked.

All the junk had been neatly sorted into piles in one corner of the large room, the dust and cobwebs were long-gone and small unusually smooth rocks were hanging from strings attached to the ceiling, flooding the room with a soft white light.

"The lights are temporary, I plan to make some more permanent fixtures later," Rowan said as he spotted her staring at them. "But I've already made a small improvement to the design, watch this. Lights off."

As he spoke, all four lights faded, plunging them into total darkness, making her eyes widen.

"Lights on," Rowan said after a moment, making them glow once more, a proud smile on his face.

"You seem rather happy with yourself," Summer said with a smile.

"My old home had a lot of comforts that most places are going to lack, I intend to learn how to recreate them all. This is just proof that I can," Rowan explained, making her give him a soft smile. "Once I work out how to make a more professional-looking light, I'll make some for the house if you'd like. I already promised Ruby one for her room," Rowan offered.

"Is that what she was clutching?" Summer asked, she had noticed that Ruby was holding something in her hand.

"It's just one of the smoothed stones, imbued with light. It's not quite the night light I want to make for her but it'll do for now," Rowan agreed.

"Well, that'd be lovely. It looks like you've been busy, this place definitely wasn't this empty before," Summer said as she approached him.

"Yeah, a lot of the stuff here was just junk. Rotten, broken beyond repair, etcetera. I boxed them up and took them outside, Tai said to just put them in the back garden for now. I'll deal with them tomorrow. Everything else is either repairable, usable, or valuable, so I sorted them for you and Tai to go over; when you have the time, of course," Rowan said, gesturing to the neat piles. "Anyway, what's up?"

"Oh, that's simple. I'm here to be your willing and eager partner of course," Summer said with a playful smile, making Rowan's eyes widen before they narrowed in thought, recognising the words he said to her thrown back at him.

"Enjoyed your first taste of Eromancy that much?" Rowan asked, making her tilt her head.

"It was fun, and it got me thinking. This is a new branch of magic, and as Glynda always says, furthering the cause of magical research is of the utmost importance, or something like that… so here I am," Summer said, spinning around in place, aware that her short skirt flared up and exposed her pale upper thighs. "You need a… research assistant to practice your Eromancy on, and I'm more than happy to help."

Both her skirt and top didn't really fit her anymore, made for a much younger Summer, but she was sure he didn't mind the view as her breasts strained against their tight confines.

"You do realise the kinds of things that would entail, don't you?" Rowan asked calmly, leaning against his workbench as she smiled at him.

"Oh, I can only imagine," Summer said with a sultry smile. "But if you need me to convince you of my sincerity…"

Trailing off, she reached and undid the button on her skirt, letting it fall to the floor as she stepped forwards, her small top failing to cover her already wet slit.

Not that her top stayed on much longer as she pulled it over her head, tossing it aside as her breasts bounced free, Rowan's eyes lowering to her nude form.

"Then put me to the test, you can call it an interview for the position," Summer said as she walked towards him, her hips swaying. "So, sir, how would you like me to prove I'm the right girl for the job?"

She half expected Rowan to protest, but as he met her gaze, she saw the hunger in his eyes.

His expression became rather stern as he stared her down, a sly smile growing on his face.

— Rowan Blackwood —

I had no intention of cuckolding Tai after he saved my life, but with his words in my head and his wife naked before me, I have no reason to refuse.

I'm no blushing virgin, and if Summer is offering to help me practise my Eromancy, then I'll happily accept.

Stepping forwards, I reach up and place my hand on one of her breasts, gently squeezing the soft flesh as my fingers sink into it.

Summer continues smiling at me, a quiet moan slipping out as I toy with her body, her nipples hardening beneath my groping hand.

There seems to be two ways I can gain more Eromancy spells.

I can craft them myself, which is a slow process and requires me to have a firm idea of what I want the spell to do.

Or I can meditate, reaching out with my magic to get visions of former Eromancy users. It has questionable results, I have no control over what spell I witness and the time it takes to learn a spell varies wildly.

I've already done the latter, curiosity driving me.

I witnessed a rather beautiful elven girl with dark hair and purple eyes leading a blonde girl with massive breasts through a bustling fantasy city, the blonde wearing nothing but a collar and leash as nobody even glanced at the pair.

Then I saw a red eyed man with jet-black hair walk into a modern classroom, ignored by all as he guided one of the schoolgirls out of her seat and bent her over her desk, flipping her skirt up and having his way with her without her, or anyone, noticing the defilement.

Normality

Normality is used to alter the perception of those viewing the person it is cast on to make any and all lewd acts they perform seem as normal.

The trick to Eromancy is to make a school of magic dedicated to sex useful outside the bedroom, but that will simply take imagination.

"I'm going to cast a spell on you, and then you're going to do whatever I say. If you get through it without hesitation, you can consider the position yours," I say, making Summer smirk.

"You'll find me up to the challenge."

— Summer Rose —

As she was enveloped in a soft pink light, she blinked. Last time she knew what it did the moment it was cast on her,

This time she didn't feel any different at all.

"What now, sir?" Summer asked, deliberately sounding submissive. It tended to turn younger guys on to have a powerful older woman act submissive to them.

"Hm, let's go upstairs," Rowan said, making her brows raise as he walked past her, going for her clothes.

She figured he'd just fuck her right here on the spot, but as she went to grab her skirt, Rowan stopped her.

"Leave them, you won't need them," Rowan ordered, making her eyes widen as he gave her a challenging look.

Not backing down, her smile never slipped from her face as she followed him upstairs. It was already getting late but Yang and Tai were both still hanging around in the living room, which Rowan calmly led her into.

"Hey, Rowan. Taking a break from your work?" Tai asked, as neither even mentioned her nudity.

They could clearly see her, their eyes flickering to her, but while Tai might not have mentioned her nudity surely Yang would have?

"I'm just going to go take a walk around the area, all work and no play makes Rowan a very dull boy after all," Rowan said, making her gasp as he spanked her, his hand remaining on her ass as he molested her right in front of Tai and Yang. "Summer's coming with me so I'll be fine."

"True, still it's getting kinda cold out. You sure you'll be okay out there without any clothes on?" Tai asked, making her eyes widen.

They knew she was naked?

"She'll be fine, if she gets cold I'll warm her up," Rowan said, pulling her against him as he groped her tits.

"Fair enough, it's not like it's winter yet anyway. Enjoy your walk," Tai said, going back into a story about a hunt he'd done before as Rowan led her to the front door and out into the street.

"What was that?" Summer asked, looking back in shock.

"Normality, it alters people's perceptions of you and makes whatever lewd acts you're doing seem 'normal.' They know you're naked, but being naked just seems normal to them," Rowan explained as he walked towards the town.

"Where are we going?" Summer asked, her mind racing with the possibilities as they walked past a couple of farmers.

The farmers waved to them, again not mentioning her nudity as they moved towards the village proper.

"You'll see," Rowan said simply, giving her a smile. "Be patient, we can continue your interview when we get there."

Rowan might actually be as kinky as she was.

Glynda theorised that the school (or schools) of magic people were granted could be directly linked to their personalities. What did that say about someone who was granted sex and death?

"Hello, can I have a moment of your time?" Rowan said, getting the attention of a pair of patrolling guards.

"Sure, you're the mage staying at Tai's place, right?" one of them asked, before looking at her. "Evening, Mrs Rose."

"Hi, boys~" Summer replied, fidgeting in place. This was a different feeling, to be blatantly naked and yet have it be completely ignored.

"I am, I just wanted to ask you a question," Rowan said, making them turn back to him. "I'm currently deciding whether I want Summer working under me, and I was curious. What do you think of her body?"

"That's easy, she's got the best ass in the village," one of them said immediately, giving her a once over. "And she's always showing it off in her short dresses and skirts."

"Some of the best tits in the village as well, though Yang has her beat there," the other one added. "I know I'd love to have her working under me," he said with a lewd chuckle.

"True, she does have an amazing ass," Rowan added, turning to her. "Summer, turn around and bend over. Show them that ass."

Despite her years of depravity, she actually blushed as she turned around and bent over, sticking her ass out towards the guards.

Why was she embarrassed? It wasn't like she'd cared about being seen naked, and yet looking over her shoulder she could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Damn, Tai is a lucky bastard. If I had a wife like that, I'd never leave the bedroom," one of them groaned.

"I'd definitely have more kids than I could afford if my wife had a backside like that because I'd never be able to pull out," the other added, making Rowan smirk as he reached down and squeezed her ass.

"Thanks for your input. One last question, I'm going to make Summer prove she deserves the position later… So should I pump a load into her mouth, pussy, or ass?" Rowan asked, making her eyes widen at the crass words from the posh man.

"You lucky bastard," the guard laughed before he turned to her. "It's gotta be her ass, right? Just look at it, how could you not want to have it impaled on your dick."

"Nah, I'd say fuck her pussy. I bet she's still tight as fuck," the other said, making Rowan look over at her.

"Ahh, a tiebreaker. Summer, why don't you pick the winner? Is it your ass or pussy that's getting fucked?" Rowan asked, making both guards turn back to her.

"Why not both?" Summer asked, making them stare at her. "You're right, my pussy is still tight, but my ass is amazing as well. I said I'd prove I was up for the job, so why just limit yourself to one when you can flood both of them with your seed?"

One of the guards gulped, and they were both definitely rock hard as they stared at her, but Rowan just laughed.

"Good answer," Rowan said, pulling her against him as he kissed her, a rough messy kiss which she immediately returned as she pressed her body against his. Breaking the kiss, he squeezed her backside and then let go and turned to the guards. "Thanks for your input, gentleman. Have a nice night."

Continuing down the street, she quickly followed behind, giving the still staring guards a wave.

Heading towards the village square, still somewhat active, she stared at Rowan's back with a growing grin.

She might just love Eromancy.

Rowan was something special indeed.

— Bonus Scene — Joan Arc

Leaning against the railing of the ship she'd paid to take her to Patch, she sighed to herself as she looked back at Vale.

Her family would definitely come looking for her sooner rather than later, but she didn't want to face them until she had something to show for it.

Her parents hadn't even wanted her to attend the knights' academy, and while they'd let her go after much begging and pleading… she'd failed.

She, Joan Arc, descendant of one of the most powerful battlemages Remnant had ever known, was a dropout. Her family had a history of producing powerful knights, and their founding member was a legend.

But even with her family's power and influence, the tutors at the academy had written her off as incompetent and unteachable.

And the worst part is she couldn't say they were wrong. She'd lost every duel, failed most of her tests, and the tests she had passed were never related to the combat side of knighthood.

They'd suggested that if she wanted to serve the kingdom, she'd be better off putting down the sword and taking up a quill.

But that wasn't what she wanted, and with one door closed to her, she decided to go for a last gasp at achieving her dreams.

Patch, the frontier town on an island off the coast of Vale.

Her parents had even put out a notice that she wasn't allowed to sign up at the Vale branch of the adventurers guild, but she hoped that they'd not considered that Patch was only a few days away by ship.

Plus, everyone knew that Patch was a good place for adventurers to start out, the dungeon on Patch rarely spawned monsters too powerful for a rookie party to handle if they were careful, and it had two legendary adventurers living there.

If word hadn't reached, she could sign up as an adventurer and by the time they tracked her down it'd be too late. Probably.

So, with most of her money spent on passage aboard a merchant ship, she set off towards Patch to forge her own path.