"Second, we must work out what runes we need to add, for the cube to condense into a sphere."
"Because we're merely condensing it into a sphere, we just need to write the rune for condensing. But if we would need it to condense into any other shape, it would need to be specified by another rune."
"Now, simply writing down the runes on the object's surface won't work; we need to carve them in. Since this is wood, I have brought a chisel."
Indeed, he brings one out and starts carving into the wood. Although something is odd; rationally, one would think that, since the magic system here is based on magic circles, artificing would also be done with circles.
But no, he chisels the runes into the wood in a line. Well, now that I think of it, it's not like it's much of a surprise; every enchanted item I've seen has similar-looking engravings.
When he finishes engraving, he starts talking. "Alright, now for most of you, this should look very odd: writing basic runes without a magic circle and expecting them to work."
"But this will function. This is because the circle part of a magic circle searches the surroundings for the element you specifically ordered it to search for when writing down the rune or runes on the top. But in this case, the runes will use the elements inside the wooden block to force the item into a different shape."
"Although just carving runes into this block of wood won't do anything, we also need something that will give the runes mana to use. For this, we have mana-infused ink."
He pulls out a familiarly light blue-tinted ink. "This is mana-infused ink. The academy will start providing this to you when your mana theory teachers deem you experienced enough to create actual magic circles."
"Now, we need to apply the ink into the carved-out runes; this will provide the whole enchantment with mana."
"Although using straight-up mana-infused ink is a waste, it's best to dilute it because after the enchantment activates, the runes engraved on the item will be destroyed along with the ink."
"There is a specific ratio that can be calculated to measure how much ink you should use, but I will teach it later."
He pours a little mana-infused ink and water into a container and stirs. After some time, he starts talking again. "Now that we are all done, we will apply this to the runes."
He takes out a brush and starts filling the insides of the carved-out runes.
After he is finished, he states, "Now that we are done, the only step left is to activate the runes."
He puts his hand on top of the block, and the runes start glowing with a blue hue.
The block starts condensing; its corners cave in on themselves, and the whole piece of wood starts shrinking. Eventually, the hand-sized cube turned into an orange-sized sphere.
"Any questions?" A couple of people, including me, raised their hands.
Unfortunately, as the teacher was picking which of the students they were going to let ask a question, the clock tower started chiming.
The teacher begins packing up his items, but before leaving, he states, "Oh yes, before I forget, the library boasts a dedicated section for artificing. Since you've selected artificing as your focus, the library will grant all of you access to its collection of books on the subject."
The teacher leaves, and I start packing up as well. I leave the class and start heading back to my dorm. While heading back, I idly realize that since Keswick and I chose different subjects with different classrooms, I could freely go back home without her ever stumbling across me—a very fortunate set of events.
I head into my dorm, and after feeding the idiot, I head out to the library to write my homework assignments. After finishing and having plenty of time left over, I check out the artificing section of the library. After a worker confirmed that I had chosen artificing as my chosen subject, they let me by.
The reason I chose artificing as my subject is because of the mana signature test, which is one of the only ways I can get caught off guard at this academy.
I scan through the books for some sort of design for a tool that can fool the test, but predictably I find nothing. The cowards of the academy don't want to give the students the designs of a tool that can help in committing subterfuge. Cowards.
So all that is left for me to do, is design one myself. Of course, I can't afford to waste time and wait until I learn how to make one naturally. The mana signature test can come out of nowhere and entirely ruin my plans. I need to make this tool as fast as possible.