The symbols are connected by various lines flowing from a symbol that means input all the way to the symbols that define how the template makes light.

The first set of symbols in the flow after the input seems to be the limiter Maenik told her not to remove, it splits incoming magic such that excess input is just sent back out as unstructured magic. The remaining flow of magic is directed inward through a set of symbols which reads the shape she makes the magic into and based on that shape it can change from emitting in all directions to emitting in one direction specifically.

The symbols tell a story of it being based on the deviation from symmetry. If it's approximately symmetric around it's center point then it'll emit in all direction and if it's longer in one axis it will emit along that axis. In the axis mode it'll emit towards whichever end is wider or in both directions if it's sufficiently even.

From there there's more symbols which define the range of frequencies and the add a bit of variance to how the light is oscillating before feeding it into a final symbol which just means light.

"I am fairly confident that this is not the simplest possible working template," she remarks.

This template still doesn't let her change things around, but the next one does.

She's tempted to clip out the part that decides what direction to make the light, but she should really stick with what she was going to do, and what Maenik confirmed was safe. She takes out the part that specifies the frequency of the light, saves the altered bubble, turns it back into a template, and tries it out.

The result is... strange. It seems to be intensifying the light that was already passing through the space and distorting it a bit.

"Yeah, it's hard to balance simple and safe with each other."

"That does make sense."

She tries waving a hand through the space, trying to work out what its doing to the light.

"Is it ... defaulting to the properties of the light that are already there?" she guesses. "Hold on, let me find a blanket ..."

She runs inside and grabs a thick woolen blanket, to make a darkened tent in which to try the template.

"It is."

Even under a thick blanket there's still some light. Oddly enough the area under the blanket starts to feel warm sooner than she would expect.

Anþasta frowns at the little sparkles of light amplified by the template, because there are not a ton of things available to her that block light better. She notices the warmth, but doesn't really make the connection because A) blankets are warm, and B) there's a large difference between suddenly acquiring the technical vocabulary to discuss physics and having the intuitive understanding necessary to apply it.

"I might want to try it more on an overcast, moonless night," she muses. "To see what happens when there's really no light for it to mimic."

"There's more light around than you'd expect. Everything around you is giving off light all the time. Just not in colors you can see."