THE MOMENT
"Stop, stop, what is that?" Instructor Magus Clay approached the showboating student with a stern glare. The silvery flecks of age in his black hair twinkled under blue mana light from the immense ball hovering mid-air, partway to the target. Magus Clay had a dozen students lined up outside in the courtyard to practice their fundamentals. "I said basic magic only," he reminded the dark-haired lad.
"What? It's just a normal mana ball," the student replied with a smile.
"It's the size of a house," the Instructor answered.
"Well, to be fair, you said basic, not weak," the student chuckled, and his smart reply elicited giggles from the others also. But, they all stopped when Magus Clay laughed harder than any of them. He guffawed obnoxiously until he was sure he had all their attention, then stopped instantly.
"To be fair to you...," Magus Clay nodded at the boy. "...answers like that are precisely why we are out here today practicing our fundamentals," he spoke up and addressed the lineup of pre-teen wizards. At the same time, he started walking toward the giant ball. "I did in fact say, 'basic'," he talked to them as he stepped forward sideways toward the active spell while still watching his students. "And, arguably, the moment you changed anything, it was no longer the default, basic spell," he told them as he finally reached the blue orb. "That's the kind of detail you need to keep in mind when working with magic. And, another thing worth keeping in mind...," he smiled as he stepped backward into the azure sphere, and it popped like a magical bubble.
"... you didn't actually make it stronger just by making it bigger. All you did was stretch the mana thin. You can tell just by looking at it," he snapped his fingers, and immediately another blue ball of destruction appeared. It was the same size as the one he popped, except it wasn't nearly as translucent or ethereal. It looked more like a solid blue ball than the ghostly suggestion of one. "This one could do some damage," he nodded and let the spell disintegrate as he approached his students again. "But, you won't ever reach that level without mastering the basics first," he met the young boy's eyes.
"So, can we all try it again? Let's see the basic, default mana ball spell from each of you."