[She stares at him, trying to hold a firm expression even though her resolve is rapidly crumbling. It's starting to become a pattern with him — he has a way of reading others with remarkable accuracy. Or at least reading her. Perhaps she should be more worried at how much sense he's making to her, how he seems to particularly press upon reasons that he already knows will resonate.]

[Instead...]

You've really given this a lot of thought, haven't you? [She's come to trust him as well.]

All right. The best place to start may be those differences, really, since our powers were more innate than the spellcasting you would find here.

Alteans are empaths. We can sense and manipulate energy through channeling — specifically, infusing our own lifeforce energy into other beings. We call that energy quintessence.