"It's next-level pattern magic," Desmond sniffs. "I doubt you'd understand."
"The theory's straightforward enough," you say. "I mean, you have a mind flower, so you're going to practice mind magic. See if you can alter a mind without, you know, actually altering a real person's mind."
"You'll need to watch out for reflected energy," Manish adds. "Since minds that haven't been configured by a pattern resist having magical energy imposed on them."
"Looks like some kind of sensory-disrupting magic." Darcy points at the closed petals of the finely wrought metal flower. "Judging from the grooves."
"That's—I mean…" Desmond sputters. "There's more to it than that."
"But they have the gist of it," Isaac says. "Enough that they might actually learn something by observing." Desmond opens his mouth to object. "It's why we let you tag along like a puppy," Isaac adds.
Desmond crosses his arms. "Fine."
Next