Wizard Spells and Yellow Phosphorus

The guard captain struggled to raise his head, forcing himself to remain calm as he jogged after him. "Prince, it has to be real, it has to be real. I saw with my own eyes that he could release flames..."

Richard, heading toward the deepest part of the dungeon, stopped before the last cell. Inside stood someone dressed like a wizard in a black hooded robe. He looked extremely mysterious, but... not at all comfortable. Four iron chains bound his hands and feet, leaving him unable to move freely, while a rope had been tied across his mouth, supposedly to prevent him from chanting spells.

The man looked fairly composed, without much panic. That set him apart from the three people who had been wrongly arrested earlier. But seeing the flicker in his eyes, Richard could guess that perhaps he did have some tricks, though the chances of him being a real wizard were infinitely close to zero.

"Prince, someone reported that this man caused trouble in a tavern, ate without paying, spread rumors about seeing a Fire-breathing Dragon, and claimed to be a wizard. That caught my attention, so I led a team to arrest him.

"When we captured him, I saw him release flames with my own eyes. He nearly burned one of my soldiers. He is undoubtedly a real wizard." The guard captain took a bundle from one of his men and carefully handed it over. "Prince, these are the things he had on him. There's a Short Staff inside, along with all sorts of strange Spellcasting Materials..."

At that moment, the imprisoned wizard spoke. Though the rope across his mouth made his words extremely muffled, he still threatened them. "You... you'd better let me go. O-or you'll suffer my wrath. I'm... I'm telling you, I'm a wizard. Do you know what a wizard is? I can ride a Fire-breathing Dragon and easily kill you with spells..." Richard ignored him. Taking the bundle, he opened it and first saw several black wooden sticks over twenty centimeters long and around a centimeter thick. The rest were bottles and jars containing unknown materials.

Richard casually opened one of the bottles. Inside was a yellow, candle-wax-like substance. He sniffed it, caught a faint garlic-like odor, and could not help letting out a soft laugh.

"Prince, you..."

"Were the flames you saw like this?" Richard asked. As he spoke, he picked up one of the Short Staffs from the bundle, dipped it in the yellow waxy substance, and scraped it hard against the nearby stone wall.

The violent friction generated heat. With a puff, a flame sprang up from the end of the Short Staff. At that moment, it looked like nothing more than an oversized match.

The guard captain's eyes widened instantly. "Prince, could it be that you... you can use spells too?"

"What do you think?" Richard asked in return. "I would like to figure out the principles behind spells, and then understand some other things. But... reason still matters. Spells are spells, tricks are tricks. If I could use spells, would I need to go through all this trouble to have you arrest people?"

"But right now..." The guard captain could not help looking at the burning Short Staff in Richard's hand.

"It's just Yellow Phosphorus." Richard tossed the Short Staff into a small puddle that had accumulated on the floor, extinguishing it. "Yellow Phosphorus?"

"That's right, Yellow Phosphorus." Richard explained simply. "This yellow wax-like solid is called Yellow Phosphorus. It can also be called white phosphorus. Its melting point is 44.1°C, and it can spontaneously combust at 34°C. Even in humid air, it can ignite at around 40°C, just like this. It can be used to make matches, smoke bombs, and similar things. It has absolutely nothing to do with the spells of legend. So... you arrested the wrong person again."

As Richard spoke, he lightly patted the guard captain on the shoulder. Strangely enough, as Richard's hand came down, the guard captain seemed to shrink inch by inch. Finally, with a thud, he collapsed onto the ground, his face pale and bloodless.

Looking up in terror, the guard captain saw Richard's utterly expressionless face and felt a chill rise within him. With a bang, he began kowtowing fiercely. "Prince, I was wrong, I was wrong! Please give me one more chance. I'll definitely catch the person you truly want."

"One last chance."

The guard captain froze for a moment, then hurriedly nodded. "Understood, understood."

Richard started walking away with the fake wizard's bundle, but suddenly his eyes caught something. He pulled an item from the bundle.

It was part of an entire snakeskin. Richard touched it and found that it carried its own warmth, as though it had just been baked beside a furnace. It was highly unusual, somewhat like something he had been searching for all along.

Richard's gaze sharpened. He abruptly turned back, walked to the cell, held up the snakeskin, and asked the fake wizard, "What is this? Tell me."

Unexpectedly, the fake wizard seemed to think he had something to rely on. He struggled to raise his head, his face arrogant and his nostrils pointed skyward, completely ignoring him. The guard captain cautiously asked from the side, "Prince, how should we deal with him?"

The wizard in the cell looked over with a dangerous, vicious gaze, as if saying: How do you think you should deal with me?! Let me go now, or you'll regret it.

Richard gave a cold smile. He pulled a second Short Staff from the bundle, dipped it in Yellow Phosphorus, struck it against the wall to ignite it, and threw it out the next moment.

The burning Short Staff traced an arc through the air, passed through the iron bars, and landed inside the wizard's cell. The cell floor was covered in straw, which caught fire at once. Flames and thick black smoke quickly rose up.

Under the wizard's terrified gaze, Richard turned to the guard captain. "How should useless people be dealt with? Release those patients you arrested by mistake. As for this prisoner, I dislike him very much, so... burn him to death."

"Yes, understood."

"Good." Tap, tap, tap. Richard walked toward the dungeon exit. Behind him came the wizard's muffled curses, but his tone gradually changed. "Kid, you... come back..."

"Let me down..."

"Please..." "P-Prince, I was wrong. I'll tell you what that thing you asked about was..."

"P-Prince, I know you're interested in things related to wizards. That thing is the shed skin of a Flame Python..."

Tap!

Richard suddenly stopped. Before the guard captain could react, he heard Richard order, "Put out the fire."

"Huh?" The guard captain froze, then immediately turned around. A furious roar rang out, and more than ten soldiers came stumbling over, each carrying a wooden bucket of water. They hurried to the fake wizard's cell and dumped the water inside without even looking.

Splash, splash...

The fire had not been large to begin with. After more than a dozen buckets of water were poured in, it was completely extinguished. Naturally, the wizard bound in chains had also been drenched like a soaked rat.

With a creak, the cell door opened. Richard stepped over the wet, dripping straw and entered, raising his eyes toward the wizard. At his slight gesture, the guard captain understood and stepped forward to untie the rope across the wizard's mouth.

The wizard let out a breath of relief, but before he could speak, Richard said, "You have one minute to persuade me not to kill you. If what you say cannot persuade me, rest assured, your death will be far more painful than being burned alive."

The wizard shuddered all over. "I... I..."

"Fifty seconds left."

The wizard jolted awake. Whether he lived or died was entirely up to him. He hurriedly said, "Prince, I'll tell the truth. I'm not a wizard. I'm just a fraud, I..."

Richard had no interest in his confession and reminded him expressionlessly, "Forty seconds."

The wizard raised his voice. "I know you're interested in wizards and spells. A few days ago, I personally saw a python whose entire body could burn with flames. I think it must be useful to you. The skin in that bundle was part of the skin it shed. I sold the rest..."

"You saw a Flame Python? Then tell me, exactly how many days ago?" Richard asked, staring fixedly into the wizard's eyes.

The next moment, he saw the wizard's eyes unconsciously shift toward the lower right. Richard knew that was an instinctive movement made while recalling something. The man was most likely telling the truth. "It was exactly three days ago."

"Morning or afternoon?"

"Uh... noon."

"What was the weather like? Sunny or cloudy?"

"Sunny."

"Where was the sun in relation to you? Front, back, left, or right?"

"Uh... to the left."

"What did it look like?"

"More or less like an ordinary python, except it was on fire."

"What color?"

"Red."

"Length?"

"Over three meters."

"How much over?"

"Over... half a meter."

"Exact location."

"On a small hillside more than ten li outside the city..."

After a long while, Richard stopped questioning him. The guard captain quietly asked, "Prince, what do you think..."

"Release him, then tie him to a horse. Take a squad with me and leave the city immediately."

"R-right now?"

"Right now," Richard said. "If we catch the Flame Python he mentioned, release him. If we don't... slice his flesh off piece by piece and feed it to the dogs!"

"Uh..."

"Prince, Prince!" the wizard shouted loudly, terrified of being killed. He hurriedly warned, "Prince, if you want to catch that python, you must prepare properly. After all, it's a Demonized Creature that can use spells. It's very dangerous."

"Then I'll have them bring more bows and arrows..." The guard captain thought for a moment. "And bring a large net..."

"No, you can't use a net." The wizard hurriedly said. "That python's whole body burns with fire. It'll burn right through the net."

"Then what do you suggest?" "I..." The wizard's momentum immediately faltered.

"Bring everything that should be brought. Pick some elite men," Richard decided. "Also..."

"Also..." Richard said, "send word to the KGB shop in the city. Tell their Third Steward to bring the goods I ordered earlier and join us in searching for the Flame Python."

"Yes."...

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