Timur sighed, he had hoped that bringing Ruen to the roof and showing him the enormous city would calm him down a little, but alas, Ruen was still as excited as he was before.
Knowing that no amount of postponing or distracting could quench Ruen's thirst for knowledge, Timur started walking to the edge of the roof.
He swung his arm through the air, a streak of fire following his hand wherever it went.
"Magic is the manifestation of Mana" He waved his arm once more. The streaks of fire formed a detailed drawing of a person.
"Whenever people talk about casting magic, they're actually talking about shaping Mana", His arms moved through the air like snakes dancing to a flute. The streaks of fire changed shape once more, now forming intricate shapes in the air.
Ruen's eyes were shining with wonder. There aren't enough words in all the world's books to describe how amazed he was by the experience. He carefully looked at every move Timur made, trying to grasp how he was doing it.
"To shape mana, one must first draw it out from their body." He put the palms of his hands together, and when he pulled them apart a large string of fire had formed between them.
"Every magically-apt person has a Mana Tunnel from which they draw their mana." The shapes in the sky merged into a giant flaming ball, and a small tether extended from it, connecting the ball of flames to Timur's chest.
Seeing this Ruen suddenly remembered the warm feeling he got after touching the train for the first time. Though it was long ago, it had become a core memory to him.
"Whenever you draw mana, it travels from the source through this Tunnel, to your body.". He put his hands together once again and drew the same string of fire between them. This time the flaming ball in the sky shrunk, and the Link between him and it got visibly weaker.
"If you use too much mana in a short time" He snapped his fingers, and the tether exploded. "The Link collapses."
Ruen looked concerned. "Do you lose your Magic when the Link collapses?" He asked. If he could lose his Magic by using too much of it, he should rethink trying to practice on his own.
Timur grinned. He recalled having similar concerns when he was Ruen's age. "Only for a short while" He clapped his hands, and the Link slowly started regenerating.
Ruen looked at him with eyes full of wonder and admiration. Timur felt a sense of warmth flooding over him. He never thought that he would enjoy teaching this much.
"Now you try.", He said waving his hands to make the streaks of fire in the air dissipate. The rooftop quickly dimmed, only being illuminated by the bright moon and the lights shining from the city.
Ruen stood up straight, walked to the edge of the roof, and closed his eyes. He waved his hands and — Nothing happened. He tried again, and once again, nothing happened. No gust of wind, no sparks, and certainly no streak of fire.
"Why won't anything happen?", He asked, unable to mask the disappointment in his voice.
Timur started laughing. Softly at first, but louder and louder as time went on.
Ruen felt blood rush to his cheeks as he started blushing. "What's so funny?", He pouted.
"Nothing, nothing, it's just that you waved your hands around, and expected mana to stream out. You didn't even bother asking how to extrude the mana from your body!" He wheezed.
Ruen felt his cheeks tingle as his face turned even redder than before. 'Of course waving my hands around won't do anything, I've been trying that for 5 years and it's never done me any good.'. He shamefully admitted to himself in his thoughts. "Alright then, Si- I mean Timur. How do I get the Mana out of my body?".
Timur, still trying to recover from his laughter, started explaining. "I'm sure you've felt some energy deep within your body before. Perhaps a warm tingling right in your chest?" He exclaimed. "Focus on that feeling. Guide the tingling away from your chest. Guide it towards your arms and then out of your body."
Ruen inhaled deeply. He closed his eyes again and tried to pinpoint the warm feeling in his chest. Once he had found it, he locked his mind on it, trying to get a hold of the Mana. He then started to guide the Mana with his mind. At first, it barely moved, but with every mental nudge he gave it, it started to move a tiny bit more.
After what felt like an eternity of pushing and pulling, the Mana had finally reached the tip of his right index finger.
"What now?" He asked. "It's reached the tip of my finger".
Timur clapped his hands. "Wonderful, now force it out with as much force as you can.".
Ruen did exactly that. He pushed the Mana to the very tip and then tried to go even beyond that. It was like trying to squeeze the last drop of ink from your quill. He concentrated even more, and finally, the mana shot out of his finger.