The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 64: The Loremaster of Frost Was a Terrible Teacher!

Chapter 64: The Loremaster of Frost Was a Terrible Teacher!

On a perch inside a steel cage sat a bullfinch, only as large as my hand. If not the magic coming from it, and the strange gleam of its feathers, Reynard could have mistaken it for an ordinary bird.

Marien gasped.

Frozen Balance turned its head, looking at Marien and Reynard with a black, round eye. The bird’s motions were jerky and robotic.

Reynard leaned closer and realized that its feathers sparkled because the bird was made from colored and textured ice. The replica of an actual bird was almost perfect, save for the way it reflected light.

"It really is a bird! I had my doubts," Marien said. "Does it speak?"

The bird opened its beak, and a female voice came from somewhere inside it.

"Who wishes to seek the wisdom of the unforgiving frost?"

"Worthy people, Frozen Balance. I vouch for them, as the heir of the Gelum bloodline," Amelia said.

"Then release me, and I will commence the lesson."

Amelia looked at Reynard and Marien, who watched the exchange in confused and anticipatory silence.

"From the moment I open the cage, follow Frozen Balance’s instructions to the best of your ability. You have a month until its presence is missed, but if it decides that you are hopeless earlier and flies away—I make no refunds." She smiled. "I wish you two the best of luck. Are you ready?"

"Am I?" Reynard smiled back. "I don’t even know what to be ready for. But my Inner Athanor is full for the current Cycle, at least."

He had a backpack with various magical ingredients that could be useful during refinement, as well as the most necessary travel supplies. The rest was carried in Marien’s Scroll of Holding.

And he paid a worker with a good reputation in the city and experience working near fire to take care of Chili while Reynard was gone. As long as the man stayed careful with the fire, both he and Chili would be alright.

"So is mine," Marien added. "But I can already feel Winds of Mana blowing around this place in case I need more!"

"Do it, Miss Amelia."

She nodded and opened the cage.

Frozen Balance immediately flew out and began circling over the forest clearing. A few seconds later, it landed on a low branch of a nearby tree.

Amelia hurriedly walked away, giving a goodbye wave as she did so. Reynard turned to her to say goodbye, but as he opened his mouth, a sudden gust of wind hit his face.

Out of nowhere, a blizzard vortex swirled around the clearing, separating Amelia from the other magi. And the magic that fueled it unmistakably appeared from the little ice bullfinch.

"What is the meaning of this?" Marien asked, scowling at Frozen Balance.

"My method leaves no place for distractions. You will study until you succeed, or until you fail. Tell me, have you prepared yourself for a new refinement method? Are you at the start of your current Cycle?"

"We are!" Reynard replied.

"Then follow me until you complete a calcination stage. Use the cold as your fire."

With these enigmatic words, the bird flew off to a tree farther away.

The wind changed directions. Now the wind was blowing directly away from Frozen Balance and at the two magi. It carried almost no snow, since there was little of it that didn’t melt into icy slugs already, but it was bitingly cold.

Reynard immediately felt his nose and ears freezing off.

"Ah! What—" Marien turned her face away from the wind, wincing. "This manual is sure... Nothing I’ve ever seen before!"

Reynard looked at the Frozen Balance. The bird seemed content to wait for them to approach, but for how long?

"We must keep up with Frozen Balance, my princess! If you use Spirit Armor, the wind won’t be so bad."

He raised his hands, going through magical passes. The wind threw off his motions, his words, and even tore through his mana, making the first attempt to dissolve into a small blast of mana.

Next to Reynard, Marien hissed as her own unfinished smell turned into a cloud of smoke.

’Damn it. This wind makes it nearly impossible to use magic! And how am I supposed to refine in these circumstances? It’s a process that requires focus! Concentration!’

Reynard turned his back to the wind, and on his second attempt, barely managed to finish the Spirit Armor spell. Immediately, he felt much warmer.

He stepped in front of Marien, protecting her with his body while she cast the spell herself.

"Phew! I’m so glad again that you let me learn this spell," she said, straightening her crumbled clothing. "Let’s catch up with Frozen Balance! I want to know where he wants to lead us."

Reynard nodded, and the two magi marched through the wind after the ice bullfinch.

Spirit Armor protected them from the wind itself, but it still pushed them back at every step. Just walking twenty paces felt like an exercise.

"Using magic to fend off the cold defeats the purpose of this exercise," Frozen Balance told them when they got close. "Remove your spells and try again."

"What?!" Reynard’s shoulder slouched. "But what IS the purpose of this exercise? Can you explain in more detail, please? You are a manual, aren’t you?"

"Use the cold as your fire to complete a calcination," Frozen Balance repeated.

"But how can COLD be fire?" Marien asked. "It’s like saying ’use your air as earth’. Or ’use your needle as thread’. Makes no sense!"

’Have we been scammed?’ Reynard wondered. ’The wisdom of the old Loremaster is surely powerful, but it’s so enigmatic that its value as a teaching material... Well... Or am I just stupid?’

"If cold cannot be fire, then how can cold leave burns?" Frozen Balance asked in response. "It’s so obvious, it doesn’t even need explanation."

Reynard stared at the bird blankly.

"Hey, Frozen Balance... You are speaking with words and the voice of your creator, Loremaster of Frost, right?"

"Yes."

’Welp,’ Reynard thought. ’It’s official. The Loremaster of Frost was a horrendous teacher!’