Lord of the Frozen Winter: Starting with Daily Intelligence Reports

"You mean—"

Leixier gently raised his head, a hint of hesitation and surprise on his face. "You want to learn magic?"

"Yes."

Louis didn't avoid the question; instead, he nodded.

At that moment, the expression on Leixier's face paused subtly.

After all, this was not a question that could be easily answered.

If an ordinary person wanted to dabble in the field of magic, he would first have to undergo layers of identity checks and talent certifications.

Moreover, teaching magic to others, especially outsiders not from the Magician Forest, was a clear violation.

This was not something he alone could bear the consequences of.

But he—couldn't refuse.

If it weren't for this person, he would probably be a cold corpse by now, his bones gnawed clean by wild beasts.

And to save him, Louis must have used a lot of resources, after all, he knew what kind of injuries he had sustained.

"Magic is not an ordinary skill," Leixier began cautiously, as if finding an excuse for himself. "It requires extremely high talent, mental perception far beyond ordinary people, and elemental affinity. Most people cannot cross that threshold."

"Then let's first test if I have the 'talent to learn magic'," Louis looked up at him seriously, as if he had already anticipated he would say that.

"......"

Leixier suddenly felt a headache.

He was actually serious.

But upon closer thought, a magic test was not actually difficult.

And people with aptitude were rare, one in millions, so Louis most likely had no magical talent.

So, since Louis was so insistent, a test wouldn't hurt.

He might also just be having a whim; if there was no reaction, this young noble would naturally retreat in the face of difficulty.

Leixier had already prepared himself, looking at Louis with a faint hint of apology: I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you very soon.

But Louis just nodded, as if he didn't care about the outcome at all.

Leixier looked into Louis's eyes and finally sighed softly: "To use magic, one must first possess magic power, and the first step to confirm whether one possesses magic power is meditation."

Louis nodded, his expression serious.

This, in turn, made Leixier more worried, fearing that Louis would be too disappointed when he learned the result.

"I will teach you a basic meditation technique. It is used to sense whether magic power resonates with you. However, the true difficulty of this spell lies not in the technique, but in the state of mind."

Leixier paused, his tone lowering, narrating like a teacher giving a lecture:

"First, you must let your consciousness enter an extremely pure state. Like transparent lake water, like the wind in the middle of the night. There must be no distracting thoughts, no restlessness.

Then, it's not about you grasping for magic power, but waiting for it to approach you voluntarily.

Magic power is not a wild beast that can be conquered by brute force; it is more like a tide that will slowly wash over you when you are quiet."

After he finished speaking, he said no more and began to demonstrate, closing his eyes and breathing softly.

A moment later, he reopened his eyes and said, "Give it a try, Lord. Direct your consciousness to the land beneath your feet, the air, the flow of the wind. If you truly have magical aptitude, it will respond to you."

Louis nodded and sat down cross-legged beside him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Of course, this was not his first time meditating.

He was even used to spending an hour practicing magic power using the Original Meditation Technique.

But he couldn't expose too much; after all, the origin of the Original Meditation Technique was somewhat special.

And he needed to know what this Archmage would teach him, and to what extent.

Using the meditation technique taught by Leixier, Louis's body indeed resonated with magic power, but he also felt a strange sense of disharmony.

The way this meditation technique operated—was very strange.

The process was correct, the structure was correct, and the rhythm was acceptable, but there was an indescribable awkwardness in the details.

The guidance path seemed to have been carefully trimmed, removing all detailed complexity.

Only a straightforward main route was retained, and even deliberate obstructions were added at several key nodes.

That kind of guidance path seemed to have been deliberately "weakened," like an overly simplified diagram of a legendary spell, retaining only the outermost skeleton.

It was almost like some emasculated version of the Original Meditation Technique.

He scoffed quietly in his heart.

Interesting.

No matter who originally designed this version of the meditation technique, he had a hunch that this technique was not a naturally evolved "simplified version," but rather one that had been deliberately trimmed.

The trimmer clearly possessed an extremely high understanding of spell structure, yet had to suppress it.

Was it because they were worried about the original technique leaking?

Leixier stood to the side, looking at Louis, who was sitting cross-legged, his brow slightly furrowed, seemingly trying to enter a meditative state.

"Is it still too difficult after all?" he murmured to himself.

He knew very well that the threshold for meditation was not low, especially for a "mortal" who had never been exposed to magic.

Even just the first step of guiding consciousness into "mental tranquility" was enough to stump ordinary people with talent for several months.

Sensing magic power was even rarer.

So he sighed softly, his tone as gentle as possible: "No need to rush. Not everyone can sense magic power on their first try. Well—in fact, it's quite normal for most people to never sense it in their entire lives."

Louis didn't answer.

He still had his eyes closed, his breathing slow and even, his entire being sinking into a state of near "stillness."

"—?" Leixier's eyebrows slightly raised. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

He had initially thought the other party was merely frowning out of frustration from failing to sense anything.

But he hadn't expected that the other party was completely unaffected by his comfort; instead, he was—sitting deeper and deeper, sinking further and further.

It didn't look like he was pretending; it looked more like he was immersed in it?

Pretending so well? Leixier thought to himself.

No, it should be said—it's impossible to pretend so well.

Ten minutes passed, and Louis still hadn't opened his eyes.

Twenty minutes passed, his breathing still as steady as an old monk in meditation.

After thirty minutes, he finally slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.

At that moment, Leixier was truly a little shaken.

"Did you feel anything?" he asked in a hushed, cautious voice.

Louis nodded slightly, his expression calm: "Just a little—a very faint, cool thing, as if it floated in from the air."

—Leixier was stunned.

His first reaction was: Are you kidding me?

Sensing magic power? Succeeding on the first meditation? And meditating for a full half-hour?

Are you kidding me!

But that serious, simple, unboastful tone made this "nonsense" impossible to easily deny.

Especially those eyes, calm as water, without exaggerated excitement or fawning flattery.

This didn't sound made up.

Leixier suddenly felt his throat dry. He was silent for a moment, trying to remain calm, "Can you tell me again what kind of sensation you felt?"

Louis thought for a moment: "It's like—when you breathe, what you inhale isn't air, but something 'lighter.' A bit like—mist?"

Leixier's pupils constricted slightly.

He wasn't talking nonsense; he really did sense it.

Although the description wasn't entirely accurate, that was the typical sensation when magic power permeated.

For a moment, Leixier felt complex emotions.

He had originally just wanted to find an excuse to politely refuse, but he hadn't expected to actually encounter a genius who could "successfully get started with magic on his first try."

And he was his life-saving benefactor.

Leixier pressed his lips together, lowered his head, his voice so low it was almost a whisper: "This is insane."

He still didn't believe it, so his gaze fell on Louis, his eyes sharpening a bit.

"Louis," he slowly began, "since you can truly sense magic power, then we can try a very basic exercise."

"What?" Louis looked up curiously, his eyes clear.

"Illumination Spell."

Leixier said softly, standing up straight.

He extended his right hand, palm slightly upturned, fingers naturally spread.

His entire being instantly became quiet and focused.

"This is one of the most basic Evocation spells, used to sense the flow of magic power and basic form control."

As he spoke, he began to slowly guide the magic power within his body: "Imagine a warm breath rising from your heart, flowing through your arm to your fingertips. There's no need to force it; just let it flow naturally."

He took a deep breath, his gaze slightly lowered, and softly chanted: "guang."

As the syllable fell, a soft, gentle white light quietly lit up at his fingertips.

The light was like a dewdrop in the morning, clear and quiet, yet carrying pure magic power fluctuations.

It floated like a star at Leixier's fingertips, its faint glow subtly outlining ripples in the air.

This is... Pinyin?!

Louis forced himself to maintain his expression, appearing focused, but his heart was already churning with a stormy sea.

Something's not right; isn't this just the Pinyin for 'light'?

And besides a slight accent, nothing else changed.

Was the designer of this magic Chinese?

And they just used Pinyin as a spell?

He subconsciously glanced at Leixier, who, however, looked natural, as if it was perfectly normal.

Leixier also noticed Louis's expression, but he only thought it was Louis's shocked expression at seeing magic for the first time.

He continued, "You see, it doesn't require forceful urging, but rather requires you to 'resonate' with the magic power and gently guide it."

Then he shifted his gaze to Louis: "If you truly have magic power, you should be able to do this as well."

His tone was light, yet it contained a test.

Louis suppressed the turmoil in his heart, deciding to think about it later and focus on learning magic now.

But he just smiled: "I'll give it a try."

He mimicked Leixier's movements, extending his right hand, fingers slightly spread.

But beneath his seemingly focused expression, Louis's mind had already begun to operate another system.

He first activated the superficial framework of the meditation technique, without mobilizing the core magic power circuit, only calling upon the small amount of magic power floating in the shallow layer, the easiest to control.

That magic power, like ripples under a gentle breeze on the sea, slowly flowed down his arm and condensed at his fingertips.

At the same time, he silently chanted the spell: "guang."

In an instant, he deliberately slowed down the flow of magic power and made its path slightly chaotic, simulating the state of a "novice magic apprentice."

His breathing was unsteady, his eyes slightly narrowed, and his fingers even trembled a little.

But the truth was: he only used less than 1% of his magic power.

Even so, his fingertips still glowed faintly after two or three seconds.

Leixier's eyes widened, almost thinking he had seen wrong.

"This is impossible," he whispered to himself.

The Meditation Technique had only been taught half an hour ago, and the perception of magic power was not yet stable, yet he could attempt magic projection at the guidance level?

And succeeded?

Even if there was only a tiny bit of light, it showed that this person could not only truly perceive magic power but also possessed extremely high control and precise mental strength; otherwise, it would be impossible to precisely guide magic power to gather at the fingertips without dissipating.

This couldn't be explained by luck.

Louis had a look of pleasant surprise, slowly withdrew his finger, and let out a slightly "tired" breath, "But it really seems quite tiring."

Leixier's throat moved slightly.

He looked at the young man who had completed the glowing spell with "a little effort" in front of him, and for a moment he couldn't tell if the other party was extraordinarily gifted or... incredibly lucky.

But his intuition told him one thing:

If this person truly wanted to learn magic, then he might become an Archmage in the future.

Leixier stood rooted to the spot, silent for a long time. His gaze remained on the faint light that had already dissipated, his expression complex. He had only intended to probe.

It was just a small basic spell; even if it failed, it would just be as ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) expected. But what he didn't expect was that this young man actually made it glow.

This was no coincidence.

Although the light was weak, it was extremely stable, with almost no trace of magic power leakage.

This meant that the user's mental concentration, magic power guidance precision, and even willpower had reached a rare beginner's limit.

He slowly frowned.

Who exactly was he?

The cultivation of a Magician was far more brutal than outsiders imagined, demanding pickiness in talent, testing of will, and scrutiny of background.

Not a single step could be omitted.

And this person, not only possessed magic power but could also successfully cast a spell on his first attempt.

More importantly, he was also a noble, a lord, with a clean background, identity, responsibility, and standing.

If he truly wished to embark on the path of magic, wasn't this a rare opportunity?

Leixier's brows relaxed, and he murmured softly:

"His talent is definitely qualified; he can even be called a genius.

His background as a noble of the Iron-Blood Empire is also clean enough.

And—he saved me."

Although Magician Forest had strict rules, if it was just "a little private guidance," it wouldn't be unacceptable to make up for it after he officially joined.

Thus, Leixier convinced himself, and so he said, "You do have magic power and the potential to cast spells, but magic is not something that can be discussed casually."

"So?" Louis asked.

"So," he paused, and said solemnly, "Before you officially become a member of Magician Forest, I cannot openly teach you more spells, and I don't want you to spread it around."

Louis didn't hesitate at all, immediately nodding, his expression serious and frank: "Understood, I won't tell anyone."

He even showed a childlike smile.

"So that means I can continue to learn, right?"

Leixier was stunned, not expecting his reaction to be so quick, without even a hint of suspicion or dissatisfaction.

He had thought that nobles would always show a hint of arrogance and unwillingness when encountering rules and restrictions, but Louis didn't; he was simply genuinely happy.

This made Leixier suddenly feel a little uncomfortable.

He cleared his throat and whispered, "I can only teach you a little. As preparation."

"Understood." Louis lowered his head and smiled, a faint light flickering in his eyes, but he hid it well, leaving only the barely concealed joy on the surface.

So, during his recovery period in Red Tide Territory, besides recuperating, Leixier also occasionally taught Louis some of the most basic magic.

Initially, it was just a test. Since Louis had shown magic resonance and could cast the basic "glowing spell," he decided to only teach some simple evocation spells.

Such as Fireball, Binding Spell, and Beam Spell.

The teaching progress didn't seem fast. For each spell, Louis needed about three or four days to master it.

He had to understand, practice, and adjust everything from incantation, breath regulation, release rhythm, to controlling magic power output, one by one.

He would make mistakes, he would fail. Sometimes he mispronounced incantations, sometimes he released too much magic power, and he even scorched a small patch of grass the first time he practiced Fireball.

But for Leixier, this was an astonishing speed. Students at Magician Forest on average took half a month to master a basic spell.

Moreover, Louis's "errors" were all very reasonable, and his growth was extremely stable.

Unlike some magic sensitives with poor talent who repeatedly got stuck at a certain stage, every three or four days, he would break through a layer of seal, cross a threshold.

It just happened to fall on the edge where he could gain experience but wouldn't harm his body or disturb his mind.

Especially after he initially mastered Fireball, Leixier casually mentioned, "Fireball doesn't have to be just a sphere. Magic power is fluid, and will can shape it. You can try to—extend it."

When he said this, he didn't expect Louis to understand; he just wanted him to listen for fun.

But five days later, when Louis summoned the flame again, Leixier saw that almost impossible outline.

The Fireball didn't disperse; instead, it extended and elongated, becoming as slender as a blade, with slight flames flowing on its surface, still unstable, but the outline was clear, like a crude "Fire Blade."

"...You did it?"

Leixier almost blurted out the words, his eyes wide with shock, as if staring at a cat pooping upside down.

"This is—Fire Blade Spell—"

His voice carried a complex emotion: disbelief, amazement, and even a hint of awe.

When he himself mastered the "Fire Blade Spell" back then, it took him a full month, and he relied on his mentor's three spell demonstrations and repeated mental guidance.

One must know that he was considered an elite among Magicians, and also a genius.

And Louis, this noble youth from a border territory with no magic foundation, managed to create a prototype with just a few pointers and one demonstration from him?

"His talent—is not just generally high."

Leixier stared intently at Louis, his gaze seemingly re-evaluating him.

This was no longer just the extent of 'suitable for learning magic,' but a physique born for magic.

Structural perception, magic power regulation, and the compatibility of will and incantation—each aspect was almost at the theoretical peak.

He even suspected that if Louis received systematic training, within a few years, this person would appear in the core of Magician Forest.

"If I bring him back, even several High Tower Councilors would be tempted, wouldn't they?" Leixier had this thought for the first time.

And Louis, standing before him, merely lowered his eyes slightly, extinguishing the flames in his hand.

He acted restrained and composed, showing no hint of pride, even deliberately frowning to feign an appearance of "still not quite stable."

"It's still not quite right. The lines always float," he murmured, a faint, almost imperceptible self-reproach in his voice.

This was him deliberately concealing his true skill, making the flame appear slightly unstable, its edges flickering, as if not yet proficient.

Louis could, of course, do better.

He deliberately slowed his pace, hiding ninety percent of his proficiency and depth.

Not to show off or deceive trust, but out of an instinct for self-preservation.

He couldn't let Leixier grow suspicious and question him "how he managed to do it."

Nor could he let him see the far-beyond-normal magic power reserves within him.

Even more, he couldn't let him know that the source of that magic power circuit was not the ordinary Meditation Technique he taught, but the Original Meditation Technique.

The magic power absorption efficiency of that Meditation Technique was more than twenty times that of the version Leixier taught. And when learning magic constructs, elemental perception, and will shaping, he hardly needed to memorize anything; he only needed to understand it once, and it would naturally reconstruct in his mind.

This way of learning was less like "learning" and more like remembering.

And this also made him even more cautious.

He couldn't explain where this talent came from.

He couldn't possibly tell Leixier, "An Archmage, before his death, infused a fragmented but astonishing mysterious memory into my body."

At that point, the other party would probably just dissect him.

So he learned a little slower, a little clumsier, made a few more mistakes, and failed a little more.

Even though Leixier was already incredibly shocked at this moment, what he saw was only the "part he allowed to be seen."

"I still have a lot to learn," he looked up, giving Leixier a humble smile.

And Leixier stared at him for a long while, finally nodding gently: "You will become a very powerful Magician."

So he taught more diligently.

Initially, he still held back, considering whether Louis could handle it or if he was learning too fast. But now, those concerns had long been cast aside.

From an initial one lesson a day, it became a teaching session in the morning and evening.

Occasionally, he would even discuss the flow structure of magic power or theoretical differences between certain factions during evening strolls under the moonlight.

Leixier rarely showed such enthusiasm for anyone,

But for Louis, he truly couldn't control himself.

Because he was too suitable to be a Magician.

His magic affinity was high, his breathing was as stable as a lake during meditation, his emotions were clear and his will concentrated when casting spells, and his comprehension was extraordinary.

With just a slight hint, he could always quickly grasp the key points.

He had seen many "smart people" learn magic, and also seen highly talented but impetuous noble children.

But none were like Louis, who took every step steadily, without the slightest waste.

He still harbored a trace of caution in his heart.

But that hint of suspicion gradually faded with Louis's repeated "reasonable mistakes" and "sincere inquiries."

He even began to convince himself: "With his conditions, entering Magician Forest is absolutely no problem. I am cultivating a future genius for Magician Forest—"