[h2]Tyaethe[/h2]

"If you're pushing yourself physically, you already know the signs to watch out for," Tyaethe said with a shrug, making a good attempt at polishing off the remainder of the tart, "Here, you don't know your limits or even have any familiarity with approaching them. It's not something where you can get away with pushing yourself just a little further."

The talk of blood and death obviously didn't bother the vampire at all, as she chewed over another bite thoughtfully, "Not that there's the same impetus to push yourself as with exercise. How much mana you have is a trait of the soul, no matter how much you push it would always stay the same. It's why most mages use catalysts of some type to help focus it more efficiently or why rituals are even designed. You don't get more efficient by working yourself into a coma.

"Well, I can't say I know where beginners should start. I learned the standard fire-lighting trick back in the day, but since the dark doesn't bother me it was never something I needed..." she mused, stabbing the fork into the remnant of the chart and focusing on a raised fingertip. There was an imperceptible feeling of [i]something[/i] around Tyaethe as she frowned at the offending digit, a glimpse of an oily red sheen... and then, without any fanfare, a small fire dancing above her finger, connected to nothing. "It's something like this. There's words and everything, too; it makes sense the bookworms are the ones most concerned with lighting candles."

The fire winked out a second later, job done--and the obvious reason to not just start by teaching magical illumination. [i]Starting[/i] a fire was a simple task you didn't need to keep going for long.

[@The Otter]