Handy let out a breath, rubbed his shoulder idly and then, settling his thoughts again, set to work. The problem with the stone was that while it did prevent Handy from being flooded by magic and thus being knocked onto his arse, it took a damn long time to let any magic through at all when he wanted it to. That was the idea—let a controlled trickle of magic flow into him so he could redirect it, creating the loop up along his arm to his body, and then back again to the focus, creating a natural channel for the energy to flow. It was a bit like directing a river so as to not to break the dam before you built it. In this manner, a prospective mage was introduced to the flow and control of magic and the basic concepts of the crystalline method in a safe and reliable manner. Once he managed to do it quickly and reliably enough, he could move onto more pliant materials for foci and move on in his lessons. Unicorns had to do this since the day they left their mothers’ womb, what with their natural foci in the form of their horns. Magical surges in unicorns were well-known phenomena, and could range from anything from accidentally creating pretty sparkles every time they sneezed to a baby having a howitzer for a forehead.