“Well, it would be easy enough to make a barrier that fire can’t cross, and to douse the fire afterwards,” you muse. “The problem would be heating the actual manacle. I suppose you could put a block of iron in the middle of the kindling, and avoid cooling it when you douse the fire. Awkward, but possible. Then you’d just touch the manacle to it to heat it up and make it softer.”
“And somehow I’d have to set this whole thing up without drawing attention,” they gripe in return. “Wouldn’t it be simpler to just put a block of iron in the torch? Fire is fire.”
“But different fires are hotter. The torches aren’t very hot because they’re designed for light, not heat.”
“So what you’re saying is, it’d take longer?” they ask.
“Most likely. What matters, from what I understand, is the material being burned. A forge is meant to reach much higher temperatures, so the kindling must be more potent.”
They think about this.
“So let’s say I have my staff here. I’m holding a torch in the other hand. I’ve got to light the kindling, then quickly cast a spell to contain the fire, preferably without dropping the torch.” They shake their head in disbelief. “Seems awkward, to say the least. I’m starting to think I’d have better luck holding my wrist up to the torch and waiting.”
You think a little harder. Silver doesn’t nullify magic completely, it’s just resistant. Casting a spell on it is difficult, but not impossible. You wonder if there might be a way to remove that resistance, or overcome it.
So you think back to your mentor’s explanation of why it’s resistant in the first place.
Something about silver results in supremely stable interlacing layers of earth ether and fire ether becoming embedded in the metal when it’s purified. This “bonded” ether is resistant to further manipulation, and actually repels unbonded ether.