Webster's classes did not cover anything substantive.
His rank was too high, while much of what these wizards who had come to study knew was merely foundational.
Teaching students who only understood the basics did not require Webster personally.
After the second day, the instructors were replaced by three other third-ring grand wizards.
One of those wizards would teach each session.
The first day's instructor was Maltz. His entire body was shrouded in a black robe, and even his appearance could not be seen.
His waist was bent, making him look like an aged wizard.
Yet no one underestimated him. In the wizarding system, the body was not the key; the soul and spirit were.
Behind Maltz floated one Mage Hand after another, writing all manner of runes.
These runes were not written on a blackboard or any other flat surface, but suspended in the air.
The runes were three-dimensional and complex, even layered into more than a dozen structures of differing forms.
Maltz said, "Today's course is Rune and Wizardry Array Engineering!"
"When constructing an interplanar portal, rune engineering is one thing you can never avoid!"
"Without rune engineering, interplanar transportation will forever remain nothing more than a single spell, and that is clearly not enough!"
"I will teach you to make use of various runes, to learn how to etch, infuse, and solidify permanent runic techniques upon different wizardry materials."
"At the same time, there is the drawing and activation of large-scale wizardry arrays!"
"The second course: Wizardry Material Mechanics."
Maltz continued, "Not every material can be used to construct an interplanar portal."
"Likewise, the materials required to build an interplanar portal have never been fixed."
"There are expensive materials—infused with mithril, adamantine, orichalcum. Materials like these are naturally the best. But if we are limited by