Silver Lining
"The reason we are struggling so much with things like Alchemy and Forgemastering is because we got it all wrong. Since we have stepped into the academy, we have been looking at the problem from the wrong angle.
"Fake magic and all its branches are strict, full of rules and boundaries that the mage can never overcome. Fake mages can't change the shape, size or even the temperature of a fireball, unless they rewrite the spell from scratch.
"True magic instead, is a free flow. There is no set number of steps or limits to what you can do, as long as you have the willpower and imagination to make it happen. Our problem since the beginning is that we are trying to beat a game at its own rules instead of making our own.
"Most of the things I have learned at the academy about tier four spells are redundant.