He rearranged, combined, and wove those structures of magic.
Then he held out his hand. Silvery-white light poured from his palm and slowly gathered in the air, forming a sphere no bigger than a fist.
Patterns emerged on its surface—the outer metal seal, its layers overlapping, winding together, and locking into place.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Will's forehead. The patterns seemed alive beneath his fingertips, possessed of wills of their own. They resisted his shaping and tried to break free of his control.
The sphere exploded.
Silvery-white fragments scattered in every direction, flashed a few times in the air, then vanished.
Will lowered his hand and rubbed his temples. He had failed many times already. This two-layer structure was far harder than he had expected—the outer seal and inner core were not independent. They relied on and constrained each other.
He took a deep breath and held out his hand again.
This time, he did not rush to build the outer seal. He started with the inside, gathering the silvery-white light into a long, slender thread. He wound it around and around until it formed a small, hollow ball.
The ball slowly turned above his palm. Patterns came into focus on its surface—not the mechanical lines of the metal seal, but something more natural, like the concentric rings of a tree.
Next came the outer seal.
Will guided another stream of silvery-white light to the core's surface. It flowed along the concentric rings and gradually formed a thin shell, like an eggshell.
The patterns of the metal seal began to emerge on the shell, line by line, overlapping, winding together, and locking into place.
Will studied the patterns for a long time, checking each one to make sure its position, depth, and angle matched those on the sphere