Professor Redek's stern gaze landed on a student and his raised hand. "Yes?"
"What if we can't?"
Redek clasped his hands behind his back, straightening to his full height as he returned the student's gaze with an air of solemnity. His stoic face somehow turned a stage more serious, his eyes flinty as he continued his stare.
Fate felt the telltale sign of Mana leaking out from the professor, the veteran's Pride rearing in full force.
The student looked away first, eyes darting to the desk before him as he lowered his hand shamefully.
"What is before you is the easiest enchantment circuit this world has ever seen," Redek said with a matter-of-fact tone, gaze drifting over the students in the classroom. "A circuit made by yours truly after extensive research into the subtleties of enchanting.
"I do not expect you to do this," he stated, waving at the remains of his glass sphere, "at least, not yet. But if you cannot the circuit before you to a passable degree in the next hour and forty-five minutes, then you have no talent whatsoever in this field.
"If such an event were to occur, I'd advise you to drop this class before the deadline to do so expires, which is the end of next week. Because if you cannot complete the circuit I have given you, your chances of passing this class are slim to none.
"But I need all of you to relax," he said when he noticed the students' apprehensive stares. "I have only seen three Mages that have failed this circuit, and these three were so untalented in their Facet that even now, thirty years later, they are still but Apprentices.
"Be confident in your Facet and you will succeed. Fail to do so, and flunking my class is the least of your worries for the future. Now, begin, all of you." Having said his piece, he took a seat at his desk and pulled out thick stacks of paper, dipping a quill in ink and starting to write.
'Be confident in my Facet,' Fate pondered as he focused on the sphere in front of him. 'If only it were so easy. I haven't felt my Facet improve even once since I awakened it a few days ago.'
Fate was unaware that this was entirely normal for an Apprentice. The average Ziobrun Mage spent at least two years at this Stage, even the best of geniuses taking six months. On the other hand, many blazed through the next Stage, Journeyman, in a few months. This was common throughout the multiverse.
Unbeknownst to Ziobrun, the other worlds in existence took anywhere from five to ten years at this Stage, while spending less than a month as a Journeyman. Why would the Journeyman Stage take far less time to complete than a Stage much weaker than it?
The reason was simple. As an Apprentice, one's Facet wasn't primed to contain the comprehension of its user. It was akin to a computer that had all of the software to run complex math equations but lacked the hardware to support it.
An Apprentice's task was to "install" this function into their Facet, whether that be through intense moments where one's personality perfectly embodied their Facet or they experience the extremes present within, or through extensive study into the inner workings of their Facet.
Until then, a Mage could not strengthen their Facet through comprehension, and as such had the same power level from the moment they Awakened to the moment they moved to the next Stage. This is why the Apprentice Stage was viewed as the "fairest" out of all of the Stages. Everyone had strength on par with their peers, and advancement was reliant on hard work or extraordinary luck.
Ziobrun preferred the former option, providing in-depth explanations from those who have comprehended these teachings to a degree deemed passable by their Facet. While this method took longer than one extreme moment of pure embodiment of one's Facet, it was also much safer.
And the Royal Mage Academy had gotten quite good at teaching others enough about their Facets that they can advance Stages, so much so that any student attending the Royal Mage Academy soars through the Apprentice Stage at a rate many other universes would be utterly shocked by.
But again, Fate wasn't privy to this information. He could only think that he was utterly lacking in terms of Facets, but he decided to work hard anyway. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands on either side of the glass ball, careful not to touch it.
He closed his eyes, sending his Mage Sense into the ball. As the formless blanket of Mana that was his Mage Sense enveloped the object, he sunk deeper into its inner workings, tracing out every pathway of the copper wire with this ethereal sense as he pondered what Mage Sense was.
While it was a universal law that two types of Mana could not exist in the same space, there were always exceptions to every rule. Fate, like everything else in existence, was made of Mana, even while intangible. By all logic, he shouldn't be able to walk through walls and pass through stone like he did.
Mage Sense was no different. While made of Mana, it was the only widely available tool that could coexist with other Mana, or else how would it pass through the stone or, more importantly, the air? It was able to do this because the Mana was quite like a liquid.
Objects interacting with each other were akin to oil on water, unable to mix. Mage Sense differed from people and stone in that it was able to resonate with its surroundings.
The Mana of Mage Sense was able to match the 'frequency' of the Mana surrounding a Mage and thus pass through this atmospheric Mana as if it was the same kind of energy. Instead of oil on water, Mage Sense was water mixing with more water.
As Fate thought on this subject, unaware that he had just solved a problem that took many others weeks of study to realize, he flooded his Mana into the glass sphere, attempting to create the first part of the circuit within.