Morning sunlight poured over Unity City's cobblestone streets, upon which sat guild halls for shoemakers, tailors, potters, and barbers. Sharath himself had taken the initial prototypes to each guild: enchanted trimmers, needles that stitched themselves, turning potter's wheels, wands for polishing, and magical measuring tools. The atmosphere hummed with excitement—and a subtle undertone of fear. Artisans had been assured of quicker, simpler work, but the guarantee of magical help also risked. unexpected consequences.
Sharath, his apprentices, and some of the elder guild members watched the bedlam from a secure distance.
Barbers' Guild
The first guild to try out the inventions was the Barbers' Guild, a large room with wooden chairs, mirrors, and racks of razors. Sharath set the automated trimmer on the first subject: a fearless young apprentice who had offered himself for the test.
The trimmer hummed to life, scanning the apprentice's hair with glowing runes. For a moment, everything seemed perfect—the blades adjusted automatically, curling locks fell neatly to the floor, and the small feedback vibrations guided the trimmer's path.
Then, there was a small calculation error. The trimmer saw a "pattern error" and decided the apprentice's cowlick was an act of deliberate asymmetry. It carved a sweeping zig-zag down the side of his head. The apprentice stood motionless, hair standing on end at peculiar angles, as the rest of the barbers collapsed into laughter.
Sharath strode ahead, grumbling rune changes. "It's. a style-forward creation! Highly cutting-edge!" he quipped, prompting laughter from the guild. Some hasty rune adjustments fixed the zig-zag, and the trimmer resumed flawlessly symmetrical styling.
Then the magical hairdryer sprang to life. Heat-blasted, magic-infused wind whirled around the room. A wayward gust swept a barber's hat off his head and a towel flying toward the ceiling. Children who had strayed into the guild shrieked with joy as hair strands danced like magical ribbons. At the end of the lesson, all apprentices sported well-groomed haircuts, some laughing at the surprise flying towels and floating combs, and others amazed at the speed and accuracy of their new magical shears.
Tailors' Guild
Sharath's next destination was the Tailors' Guild, a hall filled with fabrics, mannequins, and spinning wheels. The magical needles and self-tapes were arranged on workstations to test.
The first seamster, a fastidious man named Brom, tried to sew a plain tunic. The needle seemed to move on its own along the magic design, sewing faster than any mortal hand could do. But when Brom removed himself, the needle started to "fix" other closeby pieces of cloth, sewing curtains, aprons, and even a tapestry on the wall together.
Oh, the mayhem of innovation!" Sharath muttered, chuckling as he carefully guided the magic needles with slight rune tweaks. The guild apprentices doubled over in laughter, some ducking under whizzing bits of cloth.
The self-measuring tapes generated more laughter. They wrapped around a young apprentice twice before inflating slightly to declare a new, "perfect" measurement. The apprentice staggered in surprise, flailing arms, as the guild master attempted to remove the tape, finally joining in the laughter. By the end of the morning, tunics, robes, and cloaks were sewn perfectly, though a few curtains sported mysterious seam lines as mementos of the experimentation.
Potters' Guild
The Potters' Guild presented a quieter scene, but magical mishaps soon brought uproar. The self-rotating wheels spun clay vases at precisely controlled speeds—until one apprentice loaded a clay bowl slightly off-center.
The wheel, set on fixing symmetry, tossed the bowl halfway across the hall. It splatted softly into a bin of rejected clay, barely avoiding the boot of an apprentice. Sharath had to stifle giggles as the potter, a chubby woman named Kira, cried, "It's a flying vase! I always wanted one!"
The shape-directed modeling runes glowed, gently propelling the next clay vase into flawless spiral design. But as the spells attempted to "help" an overworked apprentice at a lopsided pot, a small magical backlash made the vase totter absurdly before stabilizing. Onlooker children gurgled with laughter as the vases spun and whirled before settling into flawless symmetry.
Shoemakers' Guild
In the Shoemakers' Guild, the polishing wands and self-molding shoes provoked even more giggles.
An apprentice set a boot on the magic polishing stand. The wand swept across the surface, leaving a flawless shine—then bounced unexpectedly, hitting the apprentice's elbow with a soft "boing" sound. The apprentice yelped, almost falling over, as the guild master laughed so hard he nearly dumped a bucket of polish.
The self-molding shoes were tried next. Each shoe magically grew and shrunk to fit the wearer snugly. One pair grew too enthusiastically, covering both the apprentice's foot and a portion of his cloak. Shrath hurriedly adjusted the runes, but the apprentice danced backward, helpless with laughter. By the end of the day, all the shoes fit perfectly, with some of the apprentices joking about assigning names to their shoes according to magical mishaps.
Humorous and Practical Discoveries
Amongst the turmoil, Sharath took meticulous notes:
Small magical errors could create brief chaos but were readily fixable.
Safety spells were necessary to avoid accidents from flying equipment or errant movements.
Apprentices of the Guild reacted best when orders were supplemented with levity, eliminating fear of magical failure.
Combining magic, mechanics, and human instincts created the best results.
Sharath also observed unexpected side effects:
Tailor needles sometimes stimulated creativity, creating patterns no human could conceive.
Potter wheels, being out of alignment, produced abstract forms favored in art trends.
Wand polishing sometimes produced shiny illusions that enchanted children and patrons.
By late afternoon, all the guilds had successfully tested their prototypes. The shouting, laughing, and flying materials had turned what might have otherwise been a somber assessment into an innovation festival of joy, mixing humor with functional learning. The guild members enthusiastically critiqued ideas for improvement and made recommendations for further features, already envisioning what their magical tools would mean for everyday life.
Sharath's Reflections
As the sun set low, Sharath stood outside in the courtyard, observing guild members taking magical tools home. Each guild had learned not just the power of the inventions but the necessity for controlled handling.
He smiled, saying to himself, "Even in chaos, there is progress. Even in laughter, there is learning."
His apprentices watched from around him, still rubbing away tears of laughter from their eyes, as guild masters thanked him times without number. Sharath understood that innovation wasn't just about lunar forests, magical computers, or journeys to other planets—it was also about changing the everyday, making drudge work into efficient, happy, and even magical experiences.
And out there, a flying vase narrowly dodged a young apprentice's head, whirling lazily in the night air—a little reminder that all inventions were a bit humorous, much like their inventor.