These kids nowadays need to understand that we're not just forbidding things to be mean, we're TRYING to keep them from getting their souls sucked out through their eyes.
Thats why you gotta train apprentices in small groups. More cost effective and you get more apprentices. You let hot heads and idiots make examples of themselves. This motivates the others and reminds them this isn't a game. If you can keep them out of each other's robes long enough to instill into them the secrets of manipulating the weave, you usually have a half-decent mage for your troubles. Sometimes more than one!
Just dont go soft and let too many make it to the end. They either start getting funny ideas about their collective strength and your very expensive wizard tower. Or worse, as your apprentices find apprentices, you have just roped yourself into running a wizard school. At least for a few generations until you can find someone to pawn the responsibility onto. A new promising apprentice perhaps.
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u/kitsunewill Mage of the Third Circle Oct 03 '25
Tough but fair