Bend But Not Break
"What you see before you is an ordinary glass ball," Professor Redek stated. "Today, we're going to practice the simplest enchantment there is."
He pointed to a student with his hand raised. "Yes, Steve?"
"But sir, we can't enchant objects. We're Apprentices," the student said with a frown.
"Of course, you can't," Redek replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But you CAN circulate your Mana. And that is what we'll be doing. Each of you will pull your Mana into the required pattern for this enchantment, and get a feel for what enchanting is. Yes, Berda?"
"Shouldn't we learn the basics first, like what enchantments even are and how they work?" asked a girl from the back.
"A good question," grunted Redek. "And the answer is no. By learning how the process works first, the answers to the questions you just asked will be much easier to comprehend. How are you going to learn how to swing a mace without first learning how to hold one? And how can you learn the proper forms without first learning how to swing?"
"But in this case, wouldn't these questions be the equivalent of knowing how to hold a mace?"
"You'd think, but no. The answers to those questions are more akin to the martial arts of a mace, not holding one. Rest assured, I will teach all of you the answers to those questions and more next week. I have been teaching enchantments for twenty years, and in that time, I've only had twelve students fail my class out of thousands.
"After next week, if you have an issue with my methods, you are more than welcome to complain. Until then, you can either follow along or leave my class. Anyone want to take the second option?"
His gaze roamed the sea of students before him, a satisfied glint sparking in his eye for an instant before it vanished, leaving him the picture of stoicism once more. "Good. Now, the enchantment the lot of you will learn is called the Break. Does anyone know what this enchantment does?"
He pointed to a student that raised their hand. "It's an enchantment that explodes when you put Mana into it, destroying the object. My dad uses it to crack walnuts when he's bored."
"Close. It doesn't 'explode,' it expands. The key difference here is that an explosion will generate a shockwave. This enchantment does no such thing." Redek told the class. "This difference is important, as the intent is one of the two things vital to enchanting. Comprehending how your Facet can perform an enchantment is the second.
"All of you will find some enchantments easy and others difficult. But no matter how difficult it is, you must remember: anything is possible with a Facet. Case in point…"
Professor Redek placed his hand above the glass ball that sat on the pedestal next to him. "My Facet is Pride. How many of you think Pride is capable of destruction?"
When no one raised their hand, his flinty expression was broken by a deep grin. "None of you?"
'It's a feeling,' Fate thought, tapping his foot under the desk as his mind raced. 'Or a sense of self-worth. While I can see how both can be harmful, how could either of those possibly break a physical object without a medium?"
"A shame. All of you are wrong," Professor Redek declared.
In the next moment, a wave of Mana rushed out from his hand and into the glass ball. It wove itself into an intricate pattern. Some parts were as jagged as lightning, while others curved harshly. When the Mana settled, they could all see the enchantment glowing through the glass, a perfect match to the copper wire that rested in their own glass balls.
Suddenly, the glass ball cracked down the middle as if struck by an axe, the sound bouncing off of the walls and amplifying from the acoustic wall panels. Many students winced and covered their ears, including Fate.
He never took his eyes off of the glass ball under Redek's hand, watching as the crack expanded to either side. It formed a jagged plus sign before those cracks spread further, and then again once more until the entire sphere was segmented into dozens of pieces by the crevices. Redek flicked a finger, and a small amount of his Mage Reach surged out and into the cracks.
With a bend of his finger, the orb burst apart from the inside, the pieces shooting outward, only to stop in the air before hovering back and obediently landing back on the pedestal.
"It's important to note here that the shape of my Mana doesn't matter in the way you think it does," he told the stunned students.
"The shape must have enough space within it to fit your Facet's intent within, while also embodying your Facet in one way or another. My pattern, for example, has sharp curves and jagged lines. This represents my understanding of true Pride, which may bend but will never break, and always strikes back with twice the ferocity levied against it.
"Against such ideals, how could the glass ball not give in before my Pride did?
"Now as for another Pride Mage, they may very well find these beliefs I have on Pride inaccurate or even moronic. Such Mages would have comprehended Pride in a much different way than I have, and because of this, their enchantments will look much different from mine. It's essential to remember that neither they nor I would be right in this case, but that's a discussion for your category classes.
Redek brought his hand away from the glass ball, a bottle of water appearing in his hand, which he proceeded to guzzle down in less than ten seconds. He threw the empty bottle behind his back, which landed perfectly in the trash can next to his desk.
"This is the biggest reason the patterns vary from Mage to Mage," Redek continued. "The smaller the shape you make, the more complex it has to be to fit your intent. You can't just stick a big ball of Mana into an object and expect that to work. Your Facet must also guide your hand as you form the pattern.
"Because of this, every enchantment's appearance will vary from Mage to Mage, and will even vary in shape for a single Mage depending on the size you are going for."
"While each of you has an identical sphere in front of you with the same pattern, Break could just as easily be done in over a million different ones, each with its own unique shapes and flow. This one will not work for any of you, even if you were an Adept, because your Facets did not create these patterns.
"Regardless, practicing this pattern will teach you how to have finer control over your Mana, and if you pay attention, it will teach you how one can imprint their Facet onto an object. Now, for today's class work, I want each of you to complete the pattern within your orbs by the end of the period."