"Well, I meant more that he has a special knack for manipulating them," Xel explains.
He gives Gaav a completely hangdog look, taking this instruction as a punishment for allowing his old experiences to fool him. "How much nothing? I was giving some people who are already astrally noticeable a little training in protecting themselves." And has also, for considerably longer, been teaching staffwork to a group of local kids, but Gaav will have noticed that himself, since weapon's training is under his purview, and mentioning it would feel like... making excuses or trying to curry favor or something, since a Mazoku Lord isn't even going to notice someone coming at them with a piece of wood.