'The Academy was too blind to see you as anything but experiment subjects,' says Dr. X with a rare smile. 'I wanted to pass on to you the same kind of superior nurture I received myself. There is no other secret to your superior performance. But there are two components to the nurture - and I could only give you the first one, the potential. To unlock it, you need to surpass your teachers, you need to learn by doing, just like I did. It is a warm feeling seeing you have done that... even though it is weird for me to no longer perceive you as children.
Oh - you say, that magical power, for once, is innate? It is hard to improve indeed, but the Shadowsphere can make it possible. I have crossed a Tannhauser Gate once, but how to get there on our own power? No idea.'