“Isn’t that your department?” Gabriel inquired blandly.

“Fortunately for you, yes.” Jadren sniffed the contents. Pouring some water onto his palm, he tasted it, brows climbing in what might be appreciation. “It’s pure?”

“Naturally.”

“Is that difficult?”

“Not for me.”

“Hmph.” Jadren sounded dubious. “How difficult for these wide-eyed, dewy freshwater wizards you’re signing up for classes?”

“That remains to be seen,” Gabriel allowed. That would be the real trick in attempting to teach these students Nic had wanted. He hardly knew how he did the magic himself; he had no idea how he’d teach someone else.

Jadren went to the window, nudged it farther ajar, and upended the flask. Water flowed out, then stopped. Frowning, Jadren glanced at Gabriel. “Turn it upright again,” Gabriel told him.

Doing so, Jadren made a sound of interest to find the flask full again. He emptied it several times, testing the effect. “Why do it that way?” he asked. “Why have it empty and replenish, rather than an unending stream?”

It had made sense at the time, though Gabriel didn’t want to admit he hadn’t considered doing it any other way. Inspiration struck him. “As you noted, my stopper mechanism is primitive. I didn’t care to risk a flask that, if accidentally spilt, would produce an unending flood.”

“Hmm. There is that, though—again, a better closing could prevent that. What’s the mechanism for triggering the refill?”

Gabriel didn’t know, and Jadren pointed a finger at him knowingly. “Ha! That’s what you get for going on instinct. Still, this is impressive for making it up as you go along. I can make it better. Is there a way to make the water colder or hotter?”

“I always handled that aspect for myself.”

“Well, you would, wouldn’t you? But in designing a product line, we want to think about what even a commoner would like to be able to do with it. I can see that being a feature people would want. We could charge more for extras like adjustable water temperature—have the basic model, then some with bells and whistles.”

“Sounds good,” Gabriel allowed, somewhat bemused by the other wizard’s didactic attitude, but not actually offended. Jadren’s approach was solid, anyway. “Nic mentioned she encountered a healer in—” Oops, he’d almost mentioned that Nic had made it all the way to Wartson and beyond. “At one point,” he corrected, hoping the cover was smooth enough, “who had a vase with a water elemental that made water placed in it continually pure, sufficient to disinfect wounds and so forth. Is that a variation we could consider?”

Jadren tugged on his lip thoughtfully. “We’d have to dance around the Refoel license, but as long as the water didn’t actually heal anyone, we should be safe there. House Elal has a monopoly on water elementals, but not water, full stop. I’ll give it some thought.” He turned to go, taking the flask with him, then turned back. “Where did your familiar encounter this healer? I can’t imagine a House Refoel wizard needing such a device.”