The wolf clapped to reset his mind before looking back at the rabbit. Her smile was bright, both excited and nervous. Lily bounced on her toes and gazed expectantly at Danniel. He turned his gaze away from her, trying his best to prevent a smirk from forming. 

"So, you ready to get started?" Danniel asked as he began stretching.

Lily watched silently as the wolf arched his back, only snapping out of it when she heard multiple pops from his back. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sure. When do I start casting spells?" 

"Eventually. Today will be just the basics. First, do you know about your core?" Danniel asked. Lily just stared back at him with a vacant expression. Danniel gave an exasperated sigh before continuing, "That's fine. In the simplest terms, it's where your magis energy flows from. It's located about here," Danniel placed a hand just under his sternum. 

Lily raised an eyebrow before doing the same. The tip of her finger only found a bit of hard cartilage and squishy stomach. "So you're telling me I've got another organ?' 

"Kinda. It's there, but it's not actually. It's hard to explain. Listen, sometimes it's easier not to overthink it. Just know you will draw your magis from it. It's said to be the anchor of all living things to the soul of the world. Observe," Danniel lifted his hand and pulled it up along his chest. He traced up his throat and along the underside of his chin. As his claw moved past his open maw, Danniel pulled a shimmering cloud of purple light. A similarly shaded light shone from Danniel's ringed gauntlet as the cloud followed Danniel's finger. The wolf relaxed his hand and let the cloud disperse as the gauntlet's light faded away. When it did, the cloud popped like a bubble into nothingness. 

"Wha- Wait, what element is that?" Lily asked as she watched where the bubble had last been. 

"Water. Technically." Danniel answered. He swirled his hand in the open air and pulled an orb of crystal clear water from the air. The roughly orange-sized sphere twinkled in the lights of the artificial sun.  "Though, I was born with access to a secondary magis type." He held the sphere close to Lily's face as the twinkling orb slowly darkened, filling with a cloud of stars. Eventually, it looked less like a ball of water and more like the wolf had scooped out a handful of the night sky. 

"Whoa…" Lily drew closer to the glittery orb, wide-eyed.  As she watched a star dash across its surface, it popped, and Lily was sprayed with a light mist. "And what element is that?"

"Turasi" is what we call it in Wolvi. In the general tongue, it translates to "Void".  Now, back to the lesson. The first thing that any Arcanist, or really magis user in general, must do is learn how to draw magis energy. It's quite simple and will become like breathing before too long. Now close your eyes and focus on the spot I mentioned before." 

Lily did as directed and closed her eyes. Try as she might, nothing came of her focusing after a few minutes. There was a wall of mental noise between her and the mysterious organ Danny mentioned. From being tightly closed to open again, Lily looked up at Danniel and sighed, "I'm getting nothing. Could you help?"

"Well, there is a trick my father used while training me. I have to ask, may I touch your chest?"   Danniel asked, apprehension clear in his voice. 

"Um, what?" Lily asked, her face heating up. 

Danniel pointed to the spot on her chest with a couple of inches between them, "It's just a formality. Your body is your ultimate territory, and we are taught to ask permission before accessing someone. Somewhere this intimate requires clarification. May I?" 

"Oh. I mean, of course. Wait, we hug all the time, and you never asked." Lily said as she felt Danniel's finger gently press against her. 

"That's because you started hugging me. I think I bought you something and you damn near knocked me over. You are surprisingly dense when you are moving quick. Now, close your eyes and focus on the energy I'm putting out. Take deep, slow breaths and try to clear your mind." 

Once again, Lily closed her eyes and focused on the spot. Her chest soon rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern. As breathing became more uniform, the rabbit's mind began to settle. Focusing on both the magical energy and the smooth smell of sandalwood that emanated from Danniel, a new sensation rose in her diaphragm. Under Danniel's finger, Lily could feel a cold static. It spread through her skin and up through her fur. With each inhale, it grew larger and fell back upon an exhale. 

"Do you feel anything?" Danniel asked. 

"Kinda. What am I supposed to feel?" Lily answered while opening an eye. 

"It should feel like tingling at first. Just keep breathing. It'll take a moment." 

Lily huffed and closed her eyes again. She returned her focus to the spot under the finger. After a few more rounds of breathing, the feeling in her chest started to change. Weak sparks in her chest actively pushed back against the cool water. They rose with an inhale, and were snuffed out on the exhale. Eventually, it grew too large to be quelled. 

"Whoa. Hey! Hey! Hey!" Lily spoke up, her foot excitedly tapping, "I feel something!"

"Good. Tell me what it feels like?" 

"Um, warm? It's right where you're pointing. That's where the core thingie is, right?" 

"That's right. Now relax and let it fade." Danniel instructed as he pulled his hand away. She took one last deep breath and relaxed her posture. An eyebrow rose as Danniel saw two faint jets of smoke puff out of Lily's nose. Orange eyes looked excitedly at him and drew a nervous laugh from the suddenly flustered wolf. 

"I think it's out. It's cold in my chest. Went pretty quick. Is that normal?" Lily asked, touching the spot where the warmth sprang from. 

"Do you mind a little jargon? It's tied to the next step," Danniel asked. He found Lily was telling the truth. The heat Lily felt was felt by Danniel as well. The rabbit's core seemed almost inert. There should have been at least something, as her body shouldn't be used to absorbing energy like this. 

"Hit me with it, Dreads."

"Magic is based around energy movement. Drawn magis energy needs to go somewhere. If it's kept in the body, it's absorbed back into the body over time. Pulling that energy out of your body and into the material world is key for spell work. Since your body is new to magic, it should be there at least a little." Danniel scratched the underside of his chin.

"It kinda felt like I did in that weird dream—the one I had in the basement. My breathing made the fire in my chest grow. It was causing me to breathe smoke, and it hurt like hell," admitted Lily. 

"Sounds like something a Dreamwalker could help with. I'm sure Gonzi knows one. We will worry about that later. Go ahead and bring your flame back up."

Lily nodded and closed her eyes but paused as a thought hit her. She looked up at Danniel with a slight tilt of her head, "Could you do that finger thing again? It helps me focus a little better." Being the friend he was, Danniel obliged and placed his finger at the base of Lily's sternum. It wasn't a lie; it was helping her focus. She also just enjoyed the touch just as much as the aid in focus. 

When the cool mist returned, Lily began taking slow, deep breaths. The heat sprang to life right away. Two cycles and the flame was back. Four and it was already overpowering Danniel's energy. Unlike the dream, there was no pain. Just a roaring fire that burned just below her heart. Both could feel it and were quite confused. While Lily's confusion was mixed with excitement, Danniel was dumbfounded at how quickly it not only started but grew. Even pulling his hand away, the heat could be felt a few inches away from her body. 

"Now, focus less on your breathing and imagine the heat moving from your core to your hand," Danniel instructed. 

Lily nodded in response and lifted her right hand. Unsure at first, she thought about the lock in the store counter. She gripped part of the heat, then pushed it down her arm and let it pool in her palm. 

"Alright, now what?" Lily asked, fighting the urge to peek at the wolf. 

"Now imagine it pushing out your palm and out into the world," Danniel watched her open hand intensely. 

Lily tensed up and put everything into doing just that. The tingling sensation spread through the rabbit's palm and out to her fingertips. Tingling turned hot as bright sparks popped. Spark turned to embers, and then, a massive jet of pure white flame tore through the air. The flash of heat startled both of them and caused Lily's eyes to fly open, just in time to see the fireball dissipate. Lily's joy sharply contrasted with Danny's stunned silence. 

To Danniel, this didn't make sense. A new mage was only supposed to be able to put out a little bit of energy. The sparks at first made sense. Maybe the first few sputters were acceptable. The near-explosion Lily just put out would be impressive for a veteran Arcanist. There was no way someone's first release should have looked like that. 

"Holy…" Lily started, staring at her still-warm palm, "Was that me?"

"I…am not sure I believe it either," Danniel answered as he watched the scorch mark fade away. He moved behind Lily and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Do it again." 

That was a request Lily was happy to fulfill. The flame in her chest hadn't dimmed, but she took the chance to build it just a bit more with a few deep breaths. The energy moved with ease, following the path of the first release. From her chest to hand, Lily watched in wide-eyed wonder as another burst of flame sprang forth from nothingness. Danniel, if he were able to speak, would confirm that it was just as large as the first. Another explosion happened as Lily let out a raucous burst of laughter at the sight of her own magic. 

"Holy shit, that was me!" Lily shouted as she jumped a few inches into the air. It would be a challenge to find another rabbit as happy as Miss Lily Thorne on the face of Aria. She ran to the spot where the new scorch mark was already fading away. From the spot, Lily looked back at her hands as the smile finally reached her cheekbones. She clenched her hands into tight fists and aimed her intention at the shaken wolf and pointedly asked, "What's next?"