The snow was pouring heavily outside the window as a man stared at it. His gaunt eyes were filled with helplessness.

He grabbed the hem of his tattered robe and tightened it around himself, trying to breathe even though his entire body was shivering. He tried to rub his ear lobes, to create fiction and warm them up, but his numb fingers gave up.

As he breathed deeply, steam came out in the cold air. His jaws started clicking the teeth together involuntarily.

“I should have built a hearth last winter… when I had the coin,” he said, feeling like he would die from the cold.

It hadn't been this harsh from the start.

The months of Frosania were always jarring, but he had gotten used to it. This year, it had just broken all limits. He hadn't seen such a cold in the entirety of his life and a few people in the street had already succumbed to it.

Even children.

Unlike nobles and the wealthy, he didn't have the necessary means to survive the wrath of Frosania.

“If only I had my job, I would have been able to buy black wolf fur. That would have provided some relief.”

He frowned, thinking about it.

He used to be a miner in one of the mines located outside the city. But after the mines ran dry and another one was captured by bandits, men like him were left unemployed. And most of them were barely going through winter.

The smart ones had already left for other places. The only reason he stayed behind was because a new lord had come to the city six months back.

Unfortunately, he had done nothing for them.

“Cecilia, warm me some soup. The cold is worse today… I feel like a corpse already,” he yelled towards the kitchen.

Footsteps sounded out and soon, Cecelia walked towards with moist eyes. Her brown hair was in a bun and she was wrapped up in three tattered garments, but she still seemed to be shivering.

Her hands were just skin and bones and in the last few months, she had lost the shine in her eyes.

“There’s no soup left Gareth,” she said, looking down at him.

“What? Didn't I get some vegetables last week?”

“Yes, they all ended. We have been saving them and eating only once a day, but they are still not enough. We barely have food left. In this cold, I don't know how we will survive.”

“I will try to borrow some money,” he said, sighing.

“For how long are we going to borrow money? It will run out sooner or later.”

A tear threatened to roll down her cheeks as she looked at him.

Gareth wanted to say something. He knew he needed to say something, give her hope, but he didn't know any way to tackle the cold or get money. Like this, they were going—

A knock on the door took his attention away.

Cecelia blinked at the door, “Who could be at this hour?”

“Let me check.”

He stood up, walking up to the door, hoping it was not some beggar again, wanting some food and shelter. He didn't hate them, but they weren't in a position to live well.

“Who is it?!” Gareth opened the door and saw their neighbour standing with his arms wrapped around him. “Tomas, what happened?”

“Gareth, Lord! Lord Arzan is out in the street!”

The shivery voice squeaked with happiness. Like him, he was a miner who had lost his job.

In the past few months, both of them had crossed paths many times, but he had always seen the man with slumped shoulders and hopelessness in his eyes which was a stark contrast to his current demeanour.

Gareth frowned and asked, “Lord Arzan, what is he doing here? He hadn't shown his face since he walked into the city.”

“He is passing a few things in the neighbourhood. People are saying that it will help us with the cold. Everyone is going there to get their hands on it before he leaves.”

“What? Tomas, I don't have time for lies.”

Gareth’s disbelief-filled voice came out as he looked at his neighbour with accusing eyes.

“Come and see for yourself! Be quick! Hopefully, the stuff won’t end soon,” Tomas said and turned around, taking long strides towards the public square.

There could be no way that Lord Arzan is out in the streets. The man has no reason to be here after ignoring us for months.

He shook his head and then turned around to look at his wife.

“I'm going out for a while.”

“Is there any problem?” She asked, looking concerned.

“No, the lord is apparently out in the street. I'm going to see what's going on,” he said. “Don't open the door until I come back.”

Gareth grabbed the ragged coat that was hung beside the door and walked outside.

A cold wind hit him in the back, his clothes not enough to protect him from the snow and wind. He slowly made his way through the snow-laden streets.

Normally, people would stay inside their houses, warming up to survive through the day. But as he stepped outside, he saw more than half of the neighbourhood scattered across the area.

Most of them were whispering to each other. He perked up his ears to hear the conversation and noticed that all of them seemed to be moving towards the square.

Gareth walked past a few people and reached to the front.

After walking for a while, he saw a crowd gathered around a man. He had black hair and wore a robe that hid all his body. By the intricate patterns on the robe, Gareth could already tell who he was.

Next to him, a woman stood looking like a maid and a few guards. A carriage was standing on the left and a few people stared at it.

Gareth had never seen Lord Arzan before since the man had been a recluse, but he seemed like a typical noble.

He also noticed something else.

Stones were kept on top of a table. They were green crystals with symbols all around them. They shone under the snow and everyone kept looking at them.

He slowly walked up to the back of the crowd, listening to whatever the noble was going to say. He also saw Tomas standing just right next to him.

When the man saw him, he flashed him a smile.

Gareth ignored him and focused on Lord Arzan.

“Hello everyone, thank you for gathering here. I would like to show you a Heat stone.” Lord Arzan voiced out as he held the Heat stone in his hand, showing it to the people who surrounded him. “This stone can keep you warm during the winter and you can escape the wrath of Frosania.”

At his words, a commotion went through the crowd as questions and murmurs erupted.

“What? How much are those, Lord Arzan?”

“They look expensive.”

“They are shining.”

“How can they do that? Are they magical objects?”

Gareth frowned as he stared at the Heat stones. He had never heard of such stones before. Even the merchants whom he had talked to had never mentioned it.

If such a thing existed, then why were they still suffering from the cold? He simply refused to believe the words of a noble.

Lord Arzan stayed silent until the barrage of questions died down.

“These stones are expensive, but they are free for you all,” he said as more than a few people gasped in the crowd. “Yes, they are magical, but you don't have to worry about it. Simply form a line and grab them. Please only take one for each family.”

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Lord Arzan motioned to his right, where people immediately queued. The guards made sure that no one behaved out of line.

Gareth also stood at the back of it, looking at the line moving with suspicions.

He wondered why they were distributed for free. The last time he had gotten free things was when the previous lord's son was born. He had only been a kid back then and since then, the state of the city had just gotten worse and worse.

Still, if there was some hope to escape the cold, he would take it. He already didn't have money for food and if the weather didn't warm up, both he and his wife would be in their grave.

He shuddered as the line moved.

“Please, tell me how this would work?” One man asked as he reached the top of the line.

Now that Gareth was close to him, he could see that the man almost looked unblemished and well unlike any of them.

Lord Arzan handed the man the stone and smiled.

“This stone absorbs the mana from the surroundings and it converts it to heat,” he said. “You simply have to place it in a room and then, it will warm up the place. If you want to hasten the process, simply put your hand on top of it. Make sure to not touch it for more than a minute or you might feel a loss of energy.”

“Thank you, Lord Arzan.”

The man said and left, heading towards his home with the stone.

The line moved again and Gareth kept his eyes on the heat stones. Minutes passed by like that and he saw the stones becoming less and less.

Finally, when only three of them were left, he found himself on top of the line.

“I hope they help you out with the wrath of Frosania.”

Lord Arzan said, handing the stone to him. Gareth kept staring at him, again wondering if it was all a hoax.

A few words in his throat bubbled up and he wanted to ask him about the situation with the mines. Even before, a lot of miners had gone to the estate to talk to him, but he hadn't given them any time.

Now, he was in front, but his words never left his throat.

Wrapping his hand around the stone, he said, “Thank you, my lord.”

He turned back, briefly noticing Tomas who had also gotten a stone and seemed to be talking with a few other people. Gareth ignored him and made his way towards his house, keeping the stone in one of his pockets.

With every step closer to his house, he felt it couldn't be true, but a part of him hoped it was. He didn't want to die in this cold nor did he want to lose his wife.

It was strange, but he felt warmth coming from the stone as he ran.

He slowly got closer to his house and taking a breath, he knocked on the door.

“Cecilia, open up!”

His wife opened up the door, the gust of wind making her shiver.

He walked inside and sat down before taking out the Heat stone from his pocket.

“What is that?” she questioned curiously.

“Time to find out,” Gareth said swiftly and kept it in the corner of the room, on the small wooden desk. He placed his hand on top of the stone and waited.

Within a few seconds, he felt a slight pull of energy draining him, but soon, his hands felt warmer and warmer.

His eyes widened, and his mouth gaped. His hands started to shake. Just to make sure, he placed his other hand on the stone and it was still warm.

He snapped his head towards his wife.

She immediately walked up to him, wondering what was going on.

“Come! It’s warm! This is working! What a surprise! Ahahah!” Gareth yelled in happiness and hugged his wife. “We are going to survive this winter!”

***

Kai looked at the people who were still around the public square. The Heat stones had run out and they all looked disappointed with missing out on one.

He didn't have a choice since he was only able to make dozens of them. Even if Syphon stones were easily available, there were limits to his mana.

Sitting in his carriage, he turned his head away from people and sighed.

“Your Lordship, why are you distributing these to the common people?” Claire asked, her brows furrowed.

She was sitting in front of him and had been helping him distribute the stones. He had earlier shown how the Heat stone worked to Claire, and she understood their value in this cold.

“One reason is to help these people out. I heard how they are living from Francis,” he said and paused before continuing, “Also, I don’t have a reputation among the people. People have heard about me, but they never saw me. I'm known as a recluse and that's not a good thing.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Ignorance towards a lord is as good as the lord not existing for the people,” he said. “So, I’m trying to build my reputation among the commoners first. Apart from those two reasons, I wanted to hear how they liked it. Or if there were any immediate effects that I should know about. I would be sending guards to enquire if the stones are working well later on.”

Claire nodded her head. He didn't know if she got what he was trying to do, but she seemed smart enough.

Kai withdrew his gaze from her and turned to look outside. Soon, the carriage started to move from its halt.

He took a moment to process the surroundings outside the city which was simply filled with a blanket of snow. The roofs of the houses, their roads, and even farmlands were filled with it.

One thing he noticed was that a lot of garbage was just thrown around without any supervision. Hardly, a few people were on the streets in the morning and it felt more like a ghost city to him.

With turns on the carriage, he saw how some people were using different equipment to clear out the snow in front of their houses.

A few others were trying to use hay to cover large holes in their roofs. He also saw a few children out in the snow, clothes barely covering them.

A stream separated the town into two parts and the carriage took the bridge to reach the estate. The river was frozen due to the cold and he doubted the ice would melt anytime.

Kai stared at it until it passed from his sight.

“Are you going to distribute the stones again, Lord Arzan?” Claire broke the silence, looking curiously at him. “I believe the staff at the estate would be greatly alleviated from the cold by them.”

Understanding what she was implying, he smiled, “I will make a batch for them. Right now, I'm going to prepare enough to sell. If we delay it any further, the season might just pass.”

He had already talked in detail with Francis about it and if things went as planned, they would be able to start the production of it soon.

The estate got closer as they talked. He could see the gates from a distance. The road ahead was much clearer. The snow was cleared, and even the houses that were around seemed to be in a better state.

Those were the guards' quarters. Since the training for the guards started early, most of them stayed on the grounds.

Soon, they passed the gates and a few guards opened up the door to the carriage.

He got out of the carriage and immediately decided to go to his room.

As he walked, he could feel the exhaustion catching up to him. He had thought about it before, but this body was really not used to moving around much.

He had simply gone to the streets to distribute Heat stones, but just standing around for over an hour had him exhausted.

He opened his room's door and sprawled on the bed. He cast a Heal spell on himself and felt much better. Although the spell was for injuries, it would still help him recover his strength.

I really need to start exercising.

Kai thought back to his previous body. He had been quite athletic from the start, having lived on streets for most of his childhood, but once he had become a Mage, he had relied more on spells to power himself up rather than focusing on working out.

This time, he wanted to change that. Maybe, he could even learn a weapon. Every skill was worth it since he never knew what type of danger he might be in.

Kai lay and stared at the ceiling.

Deciding to focus on getting to the 2nd circle, he raised himself and sat in a lotus position.

He inhaled deeply and let the mana flow inside his lungs. The intentional mana intake soothed his nerves immediately.

He exhaled and let out all the air.

He inhaled once again, this time bringing in mana deeper enough to sour it through, and towards the heart. He let the mana outside of him once again.

His focus became stronger as he pulled mana back inside—this time, circling his Mana heart. His mind zeroed in more intensely. The mana flowed in circles around his heart.

He had only recently gotten to the 1st circle, so it would take time for him to advance. Kai also didn't want to mess up his basics by advancing too fast.

There were also things like starting his training and finding his elem-

Knock! Knock!

A knock on the door interrupted him and he opened his eyes.

“Come in!” Kai yelled and stood up.

He thought of opening the door, but before he could, the door opened and Francis walked in.

“Lord Arzan, I have gotten men to collect all the Syphon stones from the market. They’re cheap and not in demand, so it won’t take much time to get them all. I have created a workshop that you can use to enchant them,” Francis said as if he practised it all before. He certainly looked the type of person to do so.

“If you need anything else, please call me. I will make sure to get it to you as soon as possible.”

Kai noticed something immediately. Francis’s hands were clenched to a ball in front of him, and even the way he talked had a big difference from before. He stood much straighter than before.

Before, he used to treat him with respect, but now, it almost seemed much more.

“That is all well, but is everything okay with you?” Kai asked as he looked into Francis’s eyes. The latter barely looked Kai in the eyes throughout the time he spoke.

Francis blinked his eyes in confusion.

“Yes, everything is fine.”

“Then, why are you standing like that?”

“Your Lordship, you’re a Mage. I’m just trying to follow proper conduct. That’s all,” Francis said and shrugged it off. He didn't seem to mind it, but Kai felt uncomfortable with such conduct.

It seemed like it was the norm to treat Mages equally as nobles. Someone like Kai who was both a noble and a Mage seemed to have a higher standing.

Come to think of it, Mages around this time were like a rare horse breed simply because common people were hardly allowed to be one. Most of the Mages were from noble families or knight lineage.

Aside from that, few of the commoners would luck out if they came across a Mage that would take them as an apprentice.

This had only changed in the Golden era of magic.

“There is no need for anything of sorts, Francis. I would prefer it if you talked like before,” he said, sighing. “Did you manage to look for someone to handle the distributions? The time is thin in our hands.”

Kai quickly changed the subject.

The city was still not economically well and even though, he could sell a good amount of Heat stones here, it still wouldn't be enough.

Therefore, they needed to look elsewhere so that they could sell all the Heat stones for a hefty price. The more they sold, the quicker they could get over the debt that loomed over their heads.

Francis nodded, his shoulders relaxing a bit. “I looked for a few merchants. They were all good at what they did. Some are better than others. And, I found one that is exactly like the one you wanted.”