He drew a slow breath and gathered mana once more, but this time he resisted the instinct to spread it across the entire blade. Instead he stepped closer to the slab and closed his eyes, allowing his focus to narrow entirely onto the edge of the sword.
The mana flowed outward from his core and settled along the steel in a thin layer, familiar and easy to maintain. He held it there for a moment, feeling its shape and balance, before pushing more mana into the same space.
The second layer did not spread outward as before. Instead he forced it inward, pressing the energy tighter against the first layer until the coating grew denser rather than wider. The structure trembled slightly as he held the pressure. Mana did not like being compressed in such a crude way. It resisted him, trying to slip along the blade as it always had.
Ivor tightened his grip and pushed again.
