Chapter Summaries

Prince Richard visited the dungeon to inspect four prisoners captured as supposed supernatural beings and rebuked the guard captain for repeatedly mistaking ordinary people for monsters. He headed toward the deepest cell to examine the fourth prisoner, whom the captain claimed was a real wizard.

• Richard questioned the guard captain about the failed captures and whether the soldiers had received compensation for casualties.
• The guard captain identified the prisoners as a White-Faced Demon, a Halfling, a Vampire, and one other person.
• Richard recognized the first three as an albino, a dwarf, and a porphyria patient rather than supernatural creatures.
• Richard explained the porphyria patient's symptoms and criticized the captain for accepting the prisoners' claims as proof.
• Richard left the captain behind and went to see whether the fourth prisoner was truly a wizard.

Richard exposed the imprisoned wizard’s flames as a trick using Yellow Phosphorus, but found a warm snakeskin that the fraud identified as shed skin from a Flame Python. Richard left the city with a squad to hunt the creature and summoned the KGB shop’s Third Steward to bring his ordered goods.

• The guard captain brought Richard to the prisoner and claimed the man was a real wizard because he had produced flames.
• Richard ignited a Short Staff with Yellow Phosphorus, exposed the trick, and warned the guard captain that this was his last chance after another mistaken arrest.
• Richard found a warm snakeskin in the prisoner’s bundle, set fire to the cell to force an answer, and ordered the guards to extinguish it when the prisoner said it came from a Flame Python.
• The prisoner admitted he was a fraud and described seeing the Flame Python three days earlier on a hillside outside the city.
• Richard ordered the guard captain to assemble elite men and supplies, then set out immediately to search for the Flame Python and summoned the KGB shop’s Third Steward with his ordered goods.

Richard led his men outside Blue Lion City to investigate the Radiant Flame Python and found it hiding in the grass. After arrows wounded it, the python proved it could spray sparks and charged the soldiers, who prepared to capture it alive.

• Richard questioned the captured wizard and followed his directions to search for the python.
• Richard found scorched ground and used the smell of Yellow Phosphorus and Sulfur to confirm that a python had passed through.
• Richard’s soldiers discovered a brown python in the grass, and he ordered them to test its defenses with arrows and capture it alive if possible.
• Four soldiers fired at the python, and two arrows struck it, wounding it.
• The python snapped the arrows, sprayed sparks, and charged the group as the guard captain ordered the soldiers to keep shooting and prepare nets.

Richard and the guard captain’s men tried to capture a flame-covered python, but its fire burned through their net and arrows as it killed several soldiers. Richard used a bomb to cripple the creature, ordered it taken back to Blue Lion City for study, and told the black-clad strong man to improve the explosive.

• The python burst into flames, burned through the net, and killed several soldiers as they fled.
• The guard captain charged the python, but Richard shot near him and ordered him to retreat.
• Richard rejected the guard captain’s plan to use an iron net and told the black-clad strong man to use the latest product from his shop.
• The black-clad strong man threw a bomb that blasted the python apart, and the soldiers finished it off with arrows.
• Richard ordered the python taken to Blue Lion City for dissection and forbade anyone from speaking about the incident.
• Richard told the black-clad strong man the explosive was too weak and asked him to improve it.

Richard returned to the palace and inspected the maids’ attempts to distill high-concentration alcohol, dismissing Eve for failing to follow his instructions. He rejected Edward Anglie’s advice to focus on Crown Prince politics and entered his Independent Laboratory, leaving Edward worried about his family’s hopes.

• Richard returned to the palace with the guard captain and his men, who carried the dead python inside.
• Edward Anglie questioned Richard about going to the dungeon and warned him about William Austin while the King was ill.
• Richard found Eve’s distillation apparatus leaking alcohol vapor and dismissed her for failing to understand and follow his instructions.
• Edward urged Richard to let Eve stay, but Richard said Edward would have to complete all her work; Edward dragged Eve out of the palace and warned her to leave.
• Edward advised Richard to win noble support and prepare for the King’s possible death, but Richard insisted wizards and spells mattered more to him and entered his Independent Laboratory.

Richard dissected the flame-producing python and extracted a golden liquid he believed was the Magical Substance. He left Edward outside and shut himself in his bedroom and study to investigate it.

• Richard examined the python and found it resembled an immature Burmese Python, though it could produce flames as hot as 1,500°C.
• Richard dissected the python but found no crystal core or special organ, so he separated its skin from its flesh.
• Richard boiled the skin and discovered a yellow substance that burned with intense flames while the iron plate beneath it stayed cold.
• Richard distilled the substance and obtained a small bottle of golden-yellow liquid he suspected was pure Magical Substance.
• Richard told Edward to guard the palace entrance and keep everyone away, then went into his bedroom and study with the bottle.

Richard awakened the sealed Wizard Book with golden liquid and met its Book Spirit, which tested readers with a lethal riddle. Richard recognized the Sphinx’s Riddle and gave the answer, then questioned whether the test measured intelligence or wisdom.

• Richard found the black iron shell of a Wizard Book in the Royal Library and poured golden liquid into its depression.
• The shell opened, revealing a book whose animated skull introduced itself as the Book Spirit created by Master Monroe.
• The Book Spirit explained that readers had to answer its question and stump it in return, or face death.
• The Book Spirit began the riddle about a creature with four legs in the morning and two at noon.
• Richard interrupted, identified the riddle as the Sphinx’s Riddle, and answered that the creature was man.
• Richard challenged whether the riddle truly measured intelligence, distinguishing cleverness from wisdom.

Richard tested the Book Spirit with questions about advanced physics and mathematics, then made it crash by demanding increasingly precise digits of pi. He turned to the next page and began reading the Chapter of Munro, staying awake all night.

• Richard asked the Book Spirit about a unified theory of the fundamental forces and the Riemann Hypothesis, but it remained silent.
• Richard asked for pi and the Book Spirit recited it to seven decimal places.
• Richard demanded the 100,000th digit of pi, then tried smaller positions, causing the Book Spirit to scream and fall silent.
• Richard found the Book Spirit cold and motionless, then turned to the second page.
• Richard read the Chapter of Munro, which introduced the mysterious and dangerous world of wizards, and did not sleep all night.

Richard read about the wizard ranks and the Three Life Reshaping processes, then failed to demonstrate wizard talent and decided to investigate the Spell System through science. His plans were interrupted when Butler Delong arrived seeking an audience.

• Richard learned that prospective wizards needed rare talent and had to undergo Astral Projection, Mana Source Creation, and Energy Melting.
• Richard repeatedly failed to use his Mental Strength to lift a scroll and concluded that he likely lacked wizard talent.
• Richard decided to test whether scientific methods could overcome the barrier to becoming a wizard and help explain how he had reached this world.
• Edward told Richard that Butler Delong was waiting in the main hall, and Richard went to meet him.

Richard refused to reduce his palace expenses to match his elder brother William Austin’s display of filial devotion, then returned to the laboratory to pursue an anesthetic that might help him overcome the Wizard Book’s Three Life Reshaping barrier. He began experimenting while reviewing the three stages required before anyone could cast spells.

• Butler Delong told Richard that William Austin had cut his palace expenses by one-third to fund better physicians for King Donald and urged Richard to follow suit.
• Richard refused to cut any expenses, saying his staff and research needed the funds and that he would not engage in superficial posturing.
• Edward advised Richard to use spare palace funds and shop earnings, but Richard refused and went to the laboratory without eating breakfast.
• Richard found the laboratory cleaned after the previous day’s dissection and assembled equipment to produce an alkaloid anesthetic.
• Richard began heating plant powder as he sought a scientific way past the Wizard Book’s three stages of life reshaping: Super Body State, construction of a magic source, and formation of mana.

Richard tried to prepare an anesthetic to help him reliably enter the Super Body State, but his first attempt produced impure crystals. He realized Ether could serve as an anesthetic and began assembling apparatus to make it from Ethanol and Sulfuric Acid.

• Richard reasoned that drugs could help him achieve the Super Body State with a reliable success rate.
• Richard spent most of the day extracting anesthetic alkaloids, but the resulting crystals were contaminated by errors in his apparatuses.
• Richard concluded he needed a better way to remove impurities and realized Ether itself could be used as an anesthetic.
• Richard dismantled his equipment and assembled a new setup, then began combining anhydrous Ethanol with concentrated Sulfuric Acid.

Richard produced Ether and used it to attempt Astral Projection, successfully separating his consciousness from his body. His consciousness floated above him, connected to his body by a transparent ribbon, and he began testing its abilities.

• Richard finished producing five milliliters of Ether and returned to his bedroom after telling Edward not to disturb him.
• Richard reviewed the Chapter of Munro, then inhaled Ether and used Mental Strength to attempt Astral Projection.
• Richard's body became immobile as violent vibrations and painful lines seemed to pass through it.
• Richard's consciousness broke free and floated above his physical body as a cloud of white mist.
• Richard saw a transparent ribbon connecting his consciousness to his body and found that it stretched as he moved.
• Richard discovered that he could pass through walls, while thinking of his body pulled him back beside it.

Richard tested Astral Projection by separating his consciousness from his body, exploring the palace and Blue Lion City, and drawing energy from the stars. The energy passed through him without being stored, but it steadily strengthened his Mental Strength.

• Richard floated through the palace as a consciousness body and discovered that he could weakly affect objects by concentrating his Mental Strength.
• Richard returned to his bedroom and scratched a pattern into the wall before recalling that Astral Projection let him draw energy from the stars.
• Richard rose above Blue Lion City and watched a large predator chase away a Raven.
• Richard used the Chapter of Munro to draw astral energy into his body, but it flowed through without being stored because he lacked a Source.
• Richard continued absorbing astral energy above the city as his Mental Strength steadily grew.

Richard ate breakfast in the eastern palace of Blue Lion City Royal Palace and reflected on the poor quality of medieval food and drink. When Edward reported that Butler Delong had come to see him again, Richard agreed to receive him.

• Richard ate hard white bread, an overcooked pork chop, and boiled water for breakfast.
• Richard considered how commoners ate coarse black bread while Queen Bread remained a rare luxury.
• Edward told Richard that Butler Delong had arrived and wanted to see him.
• Richard asked Edward to bring Butler Delong to the dining room, and Edward led the elderly butler inside.

Richard declined Butler Delong’s suggestion that he visit his ill father, King Donald, and left the matter aside to conduct an experiment. In the laboratory, he enlisted two maids to help investigate how to enter the Highly Activated State required to construct a Mana Source.

• Butler Delong urged Richard to visit King Donald, recalling Queen Sophia’s wish that Richard not grow distant from his father.
• Richard implied that the King might not live until autumn, but gave Butler Delong no direct answer when asked.
• Richard finished breakfast and told Edward to put off the question of visiting the King.
• Richard summoned An Qi and Lu Na to the Independent Laboratory to assist with his research.
• Richard reviewed the requirements and dangers of constructing a Mana Source, then focused on figuring out how to achieve the Highly Activated State.

Richard tested whether electricity could help explain the creation of a magic source by having An Qi and Lu Na make fruit batteries. Even the strongest battery, made with a lemon, produced too little current for his experiment, leaving him searching for a better power source.

• Richard guessed that a magic source might form when Mental Strength altered the body’s bioelectricity, but he knew the idea needed testing.
• Richard had An Qi build a battery using copper, zinc, a wire, and a pear, then found that its voltage and current were too low.
• Richard asked An Qi and Lu Na to make batteries from a range of fruits so he could compare their electrical output.
• Richard tested the batteries and found that lemons performed best, but their current was only barely enough for a person to feel.
• Richard remained dissatisfied and considered how to produce a stronger current, while An Qi and Lu Na watched him anxiously.

Richard failed to make a battery with stable current for Open Source of Magic and searched for another power source. Noticing signs of an approaching storm, he decided to ask the palace craftsman to help him harness lightning.

• Richard made several kinds of batteries from the available materials, but none provided a sufficiently strong, stable current.
• Richard left the Independent Laboratory with An Qi and Lu Na after his experiments failed.
• Richard noticed Grey Finches flying low, a spider weaving a vertical web, rising humidity, and darkening clouds.
• Richard realized that rain and lightning were approaching and considered using lightning as an electric source, though he needed a way to control it.
• Richard told Guard Captain Edward to bring him the palace craftsman.

Richard used a lightning kite and Leyden Jar to test whether electricity could open his Source of Magic, but the brief charge failed to keep his body activated. After deciding he needed a stable current, he summoned the palace craftsmen to begin building a more reliable device.

• Richard had a palace guard launch a kite rigged with silver wire and a Leyden Jar as a storm approached.
• Lightning struck the kite, and Edward caught the falling jar as its electrical charge entered the bottle.
• Edward delivered the Leyden Jar to Richard before the rainstorm began, and Richard left without eating dinner.
• Richard tested the stored charge during Astral Projection, but the temporary electrical activation was not enough to open his Source of Magic.
• Richard decided to pursue a stable electric current and ordered Edward to bring the palace craftsmen to him.

Richard designed a windmill that could turn to face the wind and generate electricity, then assigned Hans to build most of it within a week. He began preparing the rotor himself in his Independent Laboratory.

• Richard showed Hans a complicated windmill design and ordered him to build it within five days.
• Richard explained the rotating tower, tail fan, centrifugal governor, and other parts of the design to Hans, while reserving the electrical components for himself.
• Richard extended Hans's deadline to one week, and Hans left with the design.
• Richard ordered Edward to find iron filings and rust powder, then received the materials at his Independent Laboratory.
• Richard prepared to make the windmill's rotor using the iron filings and rust powder.

Richard worked in his laboratory to build a wind-powered generator, making its magnetic rotor and a lead-acid battery from materials available in the medieval world. By evening, he had finished both components and left the laboratory, soaked with sweat.

• Richard chose wind power to drive a generator and began making its rotor from homemade tetrairon trioxide magnets.
• Richard combined iron filings, sulfuric acid, caustic soda, and iron oxide, then purified and magnetized the resulting material into black magnets.
• Richard fixed enough magnets into a circular mold to complete the rotor and gathered lead and lead oxide for a lead-acid battery.
• Richard put on protective clothing and assembled the battery from sulfuric acid, lead plates, lead oxide plates, and separators.
• Richard finished the battery and rotor by evening, placed them on a wooden rack, and left the Independent Laboratory after removing his protective gear.