A sly smile pulled across the corners of Lucius’ mouth as Xiu had willingly consigned herself to his tutelage and experimentation.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000"> “Very well, Xiu,”</span>Lucius said.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“I hope you will not come to regret this decision, as there is no backing out once you learn the smallest portion of what I have to offer you.”</span>As the platform continued to descend on its own accord, the reverse tower that sat in the middle of the compound began to… change.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“Since you chose to better yourself, there is something I require, more to ensure you do not kill yourself or cause entirely too large of a mess for me to want to risk having to handle than anything else,”</span>Lucius said, staring down and ahead at the reverse tower open entrance. It would take a moment even for Lucius -if he did not know what was happening- to realize that the light within that reverse tower was changing and the darkness receding. By the time the platform they were on reached the ground next to the reverse tower, a floor had risen with questionable dark splotches on its surface to cover the entrance save for a single path that was a staircase down. With a wave of his hand, an inclined table began to form out of the stone of this… cap to the reverse tower.<br/><br/>Next to this table, two bowl-like structures rose to either side of it, with the one on the left having a small shelf next to the edge of the water.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000"> “I shall give you some of my mana to hold on to,”</span>Lucius said, stepping off the platform and moving towards the bowl on the left.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“It will give you a… place to start your training, as even those naturally gifted sometimes are not given enough of their own.” </span>Lucius paused and muttered a few arcane words under his breath as the darkened moon’s reflection was encompassing most of the water’s surface. The water seemed to shift for a moment, before Lucius reached his hand in. Instead of behaving like water, it moved like sand, allowing his hand to sink into it and further than the bowl should have allowed.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“Given time, my mana will coax your body to produce more and more of your own, to the point where you will have the capacity to harness your own gift.”</span><br/><br/>With Lucius standing between Xiu and the bowl, he began to pull out a number of things, completely dry, from the water. A box, a number of rags, and a tome that seemed older than Lucius himself. Another string of arcane words came next and the water splashed as if a large drop fell into it and returned to normal. The box was soon opened and the sound of metal and glass clinking against one another came from in front of Lucius. With a content sigh, he turned to face Xiu, body still blocking proper sight of what he pulled out of nothing.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000"> “Now, strip and lay on your stomach on the table,” </span>Lucius commanded, arms folded within his sleeves as if he had asked for her to prepare dinner.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“Or at the very least, remove your top and whatever is underneath it.”</span>