Magical Focus

The wizard Mallory was never as good as he had hoped to be. He was proficient in spellcasting and his rote memory was excellent, but the power of his spells always fell a little short. He advanced through the ranks mostly through technicality, but he never quite earned the respect of his peers.

That was until the day he created the focus. Mallory had always been good at making things. He enjoyed the simpler magic of crafting, and he found you could weave small threads of magic into the construction of something, breathing just a little bit more life and wonder into it than before. True craftsmanship, he believed, carried a little bit of the creator's soul in it.

The focus proved this theory and elevated it further. By creating a focus and subconsciously imbuing it with a bit of his essence, it would create a smoother, more fluid, channel of magic through the body, which created spells of greater potency.

Tragically, after sharing his knowledge with the other wizards, he was murdered by his mentor. Who then took his knowledge and claimed it as his own. Karma is a stern judge, however, and the offending wizard later found himself being swallowed whole and digested by a dragon.

Just punishment, I'm sure Mallory would agree.