Chapter 933 933 Start From The Basics
”In each desk you will find an assortment of clear quartz crystals, wire, and plain wand blanks. Please take out four crystal shards and one wand stick now.” The Professor instructed.
Other than the tools, that was all that was in the desks this morning, so the lesson was intended to take a while, and hopefully, he would get further into depth about the process. The more that they understood about why the process worked, the better they could adapt it to other spells without the dangers of trial and error.
There were also multiple spares, so it wasn’t expected that the beginner class would get it right the first time. But when you were doing the work by hand, there were bound to be slight flaws in the production process that creating it magically didn’t introduce.
“Did you want to move to the advanced class? You can make the most advanced form of the mana channelling wand already, so would this not be just too easy for you?” The young Noble in front of Wolfe asked.
“I can copy someone else’s detailed diagram, that’s not really an accomplishment. What I need to understand is why it works the way that it does, and how it is done by hand, without using magic to cheat. If I don’t know that, how can I teach it to others at home?” Wolfe replied.
The young man smiled, making him look even younger with his military crew cut. “You know, unless you’ve got a diamond mine turning out ten-carat diamonds in all the colours of the rainbow and more gold than you know what to do with, magical items won’t stand up to the level of power that a Saint, or even your wives can produce, right? Or is this a betterment project for your hometown?”
“A bit of both. My magic is a bit different from usual, so I’m not short on resources, but it is primarily to better my people’s lives. My goal is to find all the best things from every inhabited world and bring them all back.” Wolfe joked.
“Then by the end of the seminars, you should sit in on the astromagica course. That’s the one for going between worlds. They can teach you how to navigate more smoothly, not that I object to you having ended up here. After all, my family has a shop in Baron Southland’s markets.” The young man suggested.
The Professor continued the lecture. “The basic polygons are the perfect medium for basic crystal magic, as all their apexes are equidistant, and therefore it is easy to set up a focal point. There are also complex polygons, which are covered in the advanced crystal magic courses, but you will find that today, the four points will be hard enough to get perfectly aligned.
Everything from the slightest of flaws in your binding method to the wand, or in the shape of the crystals, can affect how your setting will function. The crystals that have been selected today should all be perfectly carved, but if you drop them, it is best to replace them with another, in case the quartz was damaged.
It shouldn’t be, but it is better to be safe than frustrated.
Now, the first thing you need to do is take out the jewellers hammer, the six sided setting punch, the precision pliers, and the smaller saw.
You will need all of those to properly shape the setting for the stones.
You will notice that there are multiple setting punches, be certain to get the correct one to match your crystals, and you can use it to adjust the base of the setting to correct alignment issues later without making the gem unstable.
Please place your gems in the container built into your desk first, so they do not fall off the table as you work. You will need to test fit them all multiple times as the process advances.”
Everyone got to work, and the room quickly filled with tapping and cursing as the students struggled to follow the diagram on bending the wire.
“There is a measurement strip on your desk, use it to ensure that the settings are exactly the same distance apart before beginning to bend the sides, you will thank yourself for it later.” The Professor reminded them, forcing many of the students to start over.
“Don’t worry, it is just aluminum wire, and you only need six notches of it per attempt, so even if you ruin a few in the attempt, it is fine. Just score your setting points and make your bends.”
The students worked in silence for a while, and Wolfe carefully adjusted the shape of his setting a few times before giving up and making a slightly smaller triangular pyramid out of steel to use as a form. The corners were flattened out, to allow the adjustment of the setting, but it would hold the wires in their proper shape.
Lula looked over at his tool in envy, then at her lopsided pyramid. She understood the concepts well enough, but this work needed precision motor control in the fingers, and she had never trained that. It wasn’t far from perfect, but her sharp eyes could see that hers was still wrong.
Not as wrong as some of the others who thought they were done, but still wrong.
Once he saw her staring, Wolfe quickly made them for the others, and handed them out, including to the Nobles sitting around him.
“Where did you find that?” The Professor asked curiously.
“I made it with magic when I got frustrated with the soft wire.” Wolfe laughed.
“Interesting, it just drops out the bottom when you’re done. It’s basically a jig for the forms.” He noted.
“Exactly. It wouldn’t work with most shapes, but this particular one, and a cube, could be done with a jig.” Wolfe agreed.
It still required precision work to get your settings pointed exactly right, but once you had the pyramid perfect, that part became much easier.
With the flattened wire at the corners bent to hold the gems in the same way that a ring’s setting did, the pyramids could be considered complete, if not functional, until they were tested. Still, by the time the whole group was satisfied, and the gems were set, it was lunch.
“Place your work inside your desk for safekeeping, and I will ask Saint Noxus to put a protective spell on the room so none of them is tampered with while we leave to eat. I know that not all of you get along as well as I might hope.” The Professor instructed.
Wolfe smiled and cast [Kind Intentions] on the room, ensuring that nobody stole their neighbours’ work, or destroyed an enemy’s progress.
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