Perfecting spells are the opposite of Fraying spells in many ways: they bolster, strengthen, and improve rather than weakening and eroding. A Perfecting spell might repair damage to an object or a person (Matter or Life), allow a machine to function perfectly with no wear and tear (Matter), or make a modest destiny into an earth-shaking one (Fate).
In Game:
Perfecting spells can be covert or vulgar in aspect, depending upon the blatancy of the improvements being affected.
Some Perfecting spells cost Mana while others do not.
Perfecting is a relatively intuitive Practice when it comes to classifying spells but tends to be a bit erratic in terms of overarching qualities. This is especially true of Perfecting magics cast upon non-material phenomena (such as luck, consciousness or Mana-based constructs).
Perfecting spells to be cast on potentially unwilling subjects (in the rare event that an individual resists the notion of having herself or her things improved in some way) are almost always resisted reflexively, with one of the target’s Resistance Attributes (Composure, Resolve or Stamina) subtracted from the spellcasting roll.
In Story:
Knowledge of the Supernal ability to hone substances and refine phenomena is so ingrained in human consciousness as to survive, after a fashion, in the popular legends of the Fallen World. Such tales as the legendary Excalibur, to say nothing of the lore of alchemy, remind Sleepers that there were once means of elevating base and crude materials, whether living, unliving or ephemeral, and elevating them to loftier, more advanced states. Among the Awakened, such means still exist, albeit in lesser forms than in those days.
Mages who focus on Perfecting magics often tend to be far-thinking and/or supportive types. They see the value in shoring up what exists, and in crafting better building blocks for the future. Some, however, do so because they’re paranoid and untrusting, disdainful of the works of Sleepers and unwilling to entrust their safety (or even comfort) to such “profane artifice.”
Others just know a good thing when they see it. Such mages reason that the enhanced substances and purified phenomena offered by the Practice of Perfecting are reward enough on their own, and don’t go looking for any fancier justification than that.
Younger mages skilled in the Practice of Perfecting are often sought out by elder willworkers of their Consilii, and given tasks using Perfecting magics that can eventually translate into official Consilium offices. At first, this sort of thing can seem like drudgery, but it has its practical side; continual practice prepares these mages for the more advanced Practices of manipulation (Patterning and Making) and helps older Awakened to get a handle on their ability to function within a support role (an important quality for any would-be leader to possess).