One way to aid beginners is by having an experienced Magus join hands with them before circulating their own Mana. The beginner should be able to feel the Mana circulating through the Magus' veins through the palms of their hands. This may help them sense their own pool of Mana by allowing them to become accustomed to the feeling of raw Mana.

“Should we try this?” I look over the lip of the book at Fiona and Talia sitting in the floor in front of Maya again.

“You can probably get one of the other girls to give it a try,” Shiva assents after pondering it for a few moments, “but you shouldn't be the one to do it.”

“I assumed as much,” I nod my head, “Why don't we have them feel one of you circulate your energy?” The girls look at me and I wave the book in my hand back and forth before reading from it, “The book suggests to take your hands and circulate Mana so that you can learn what it feels like.”

“That's similar to how we teach our children,” Melodiana nods and taps the table in front of her.

“Tell me those things sooner,” I squeeze the book and quietly complain. That was only written a third of the way into the book and would have been so much more helpful to know hours ago. I throw a quick glance around but they all avoid my gaze, so I can only silently sigh, “The rest of you can do so and I'll keep checking the book for any other ideas that will help.”

“You can't?” Leyla scoffs in a teasing tone and I flick a shell at her before I crack a walnut with my free hand.

The crisp sound of a failing shell rings out and both of the girls flinch slightly before staring at my hand in amazement. “My energy has been altered through my contract,” I shake my head and split the nut open and extract the meat, “So it shouldn't be used as an example for the girls.”

“Changed how?” Iris leans in and examines me closer.

“Why do you think my body is cold?” I laugh and shake my head, “The more energy I use the lower my temperature drops.”

“I've heard about that,” Maya speaks up, “Contractors have also been called Conduits in the past because they slowly attune with the element of their Spirits. So by that your Spirit must be an ice type?”

I nod my head to her question. It isn't quite right since I was only able to form a bond with Shiva since I was almost attuned to ice in the first place. I crack another nut in the meantime and Fiona leans closer while staring at my hand.

“How are you able to crack them without the doll?” She asks and points at the nutcracker in the middle of the table.

“Through Magik,” I reveal the ice wedge tucked between my last finger and palm, “It was a trick I learned a long time ago that is supposed to use two nuts to break one, but my hands were too small to do it. Instead I made this and by putting the wedge into the shell and squeezing I can crack them on my own.” I show them by lining another shell up and squeezing it tightly until it cracks, and I open my hand and show them the two halves.

“Why not just use the cracker?” Talia looks at the shells in my hand.

I can't tell her that if I didn't learn how to do it like this that I would never have gotten to eat them in the past. The thought itself brings me back to ferreting food away so that I wouldn't have to compete with other disciples so that I wouldn't starve or get stabbed. I wasn't the only one to do it but if we didn't mess with the utensils, or take too much, the others would leave us be.

“Secret,” I bring my finger to my lips and laugh to chase away the dark memories before I toss the two of them a half, “Alright lets do it like the book says.”

They both nod their heads as they chew on the nut and Melodiana stands up from the table and moves around in front of them before sitting down. “Go ahead and place your hands in mine,” She instructs the girls and offers her hands to them.

They twist around and slide their tiny hands into hers. “Now what?” Fiona tilts her head.

“Close your eyes and focus on my hands,” She takes a breath and I turn my attention back to the book.

“So when are you going to train their accuracy?” Shiva sounds like she is expecting a good show out of it and I shake my head.

“Once they have gotten over the excitement of learning Magik,” I skim through the pages but don't see anything interesting, “They are barely sitting still so I doubt they will be able to hold a bow steady.”

“You just don't want to go out in the cold,” She accuses me.

“That's right,” I don't even bother to deny it.

“OH!” Fiona shouts, and I look over the top of the book again.

They are both still sitting with their hands in Melodiana's but Fiona is halfway standing up and Talia's tails have puffed up to twice their normal size. “That's what Mana feels like,” Melodiana nods her head and the corners of her lips curve up as she looks at the girls, “Do you want to try and find your own again?”

“MM,” Fiona nods away and plops back down in front of her. Talia doesn't say anything but her fur slowly goes back to normal.

“I can't find it,” Fiona pouts after another quarter of an hour.

“It's normal to not find it right away,” Maya chuckles and shakes her head, “It might take a few lessons before you manage to locate your own Mana.”

“Did it take you that long?” Talia whispers.

“It took me even longer,” she shakes her head, “I wasn't able to find mine before my seventh lesson.”

They both turn towards Melodiana who shrugs with an awkward smile, “I don't even remember when I discovered mine. I was more focused on training with a sword so it took me a long time.”

I am apparently their next target as they both turn around and look at me, and I scratch my cheek. I don't have any lessons to measure by and I'm not even sure how long it took me to discover the energy around us, so I just shrug.

“It was around four or five sleeps I think,” I give them a rough estimate based on my hazy memory.

“Sleeps?” Talia repeats and I nod.

“I didn't have a teacher so I didn't have lessons, and I was inside a long time while I was reading so I don't even know how many days it was. I just slept when I was tired and studied when I had the time to do so.”

“You couldn't go outside?” Fiona seems shocked at the thought and I shake my head.

“I could. I just didn't want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because it was cold outside,” I tell another lie to settle her down and she nods her head.

“All right,” Maya claps her hands drawing their attention back to her, “I think that's enough for today.” They both grumble but she shakes her head, “Being tired isn't good for studying and we can continue during our next lesson.”

“Until then you should practice the runes that Lily taught you,” Melodiana also tries to convince them.

After a moment they both nod and look over at me, so I nod as well, “Lets listen to Maya and take a break for now. Next time we will continue and I have other things to teach you as well,” I point over to the bundle of gear for them to use.

They both nod again and look a little more excited. “What do we say to Saecir Lily?” Maya kneels in front of them.

“Thank you Saecir Lily,” Fiona shoots her hand up into the air.

“T-thank you,” Talia mumbles shyly.

“It's fine,” I shake my head, “Make sure you thank everyone else for their help as well.”