"Ah." Du Wei nodded, snapping back to his senses. "Find her a room and let her undress on her own," he said with a faint smile, looking at the long-legged young woman. "I mean no offense—I'm simply interested in your leather armor."
"You damned little brat! If you touch me, I'll make sure you—" the girl cursed.
Du Wei approached her with a stern expression, confidently extending a finger to poke her face forcefully. "Oh, I touched you. Now, what are you going to do about it?"
The others were bound with ropes, and the hulking warrior had been restrained with heavy livestock chains, retrieved from somewhere by two of the knights. The long-legged girl, meanwhile, had been knocked out by the Rowland family guards and thrown directly into Du Wei's room—since their young master appeared to be particularly interested in her, his subordinates were more than happy to oblige.
Ignoring his subordinates' crude attempts to ingratiate themselves, Du Wei turned his focus to the magician, ready to examine him alone and with great care.
Stripped of his gray robes, the magician stood before Du Wei in nothing but his undergarments, his hands and feet bound. At first, he tried to threaten the young noble, saying, "Treating a magician like this? Aren't you afraid of offending the Magic Society?"
In response, Du Wei struck him across the face, the slap quickly silencing him.
Rubbing his slightly sore hand, Du Wei sighed. It seemed his current body was still too feeble.
"If you're willing to answer a few questions honestly, I might consider letting you go," Du Wei said, sitting down and eyeing the trussed-up magician. "That fireball spell you cast earlier—there was no incantation. Have you actually mastered the technique of 'instant spellcasting'?"
This, to Du Wei, was utterly fascinating!
Casting magic required incantations; every book Du Wei had read insisted on this as common knowledge.
True, in this world, a select few top-tier, exceptional magicians had mastered techniques that allowed them to channel incantations mentally without vocalizing them, a process often called "instant spellcasting." But this advanced skill demanded an extremely powerful mind and precise mastery of magic!
To achieve such proficiency usually meant one was among the most renowned magicians on the continent. This skill was certainly out of reach for a lowly Level One magician.
Of course, aside from achieving "instant spellcasting" naturally, there were other ways to simulate it. The most common method was through magical scrolls.
A magical scroll was a pre-etched spell in a scroll that allowed a magician to throw it in combat, instantly triggering the pre-stored spell.
However, magical scrolls were costly and consumable resources. The more powerful the spell, the more difficult it was to create a scroll. Typically, only lower-level spells were made into scrolls, and even mid-level spell scrolls were rare treasures. High-level spells were rarely, if ever, seen in scroll form.
Du Wei's curiosity was piqued by this low-ranking magician. During the battle, he had cast spells without incantations, as if using legendary "instant spellcasting."
True, it was only the most basic fireball spell.
In this world, a magician's rank was strictly defined, mostly by magical power and skill proficiency.
Using incantations was a widely accepted measure of a magician's expertise.
Casting magic required chanting, a known fact, yet high-caliber magicians had developed various techniques for shortening or speeding up incantations, even shaving off a few syllables. In battle, a quicker incantation could mean launching a spell a fraction of a second faster than an opponent—an invaluable advantage.
Research into alternate uses of incantations was often a magician's closely guarded secret, never shared lightly, as it was their edge in combat.
"Instant spellcasting" was a coveted skill that any magician would sacrifice much to acquire.
Du Wei was no fool. He doubted this low-level magician had mastered genuine "instant spellcasting." His guess was that this fellow had found some alternative method, a kind of workaround that resembled "instant spellcasting."
If this magician were truly capable of instant spellcasting, he wouldn't be tied up here now. In that case, Du Wei and his team would've been the ones to lose.
This magician undoubtedly had a secret, and that was what truly interested Du Wei.
The magician's face darkened as Du Wei questioned him. He looked away, clenching his mouth shut.
Du Wei smirked, not expecting him to cooperate immediately.
In the inn's back kitchen, it was just the two of them. Du Wei had all the time he needed to pry out the truth.
He began by examining the spoils from the magician.
One magician's robe—he glanced at it briefly, then tossed it into the nearby furnace, letting it burn like firewood. The silver-leaf badge, after a few moments of inspection, went in as well. This badge, a certification issued by the Magic Society, had a peculiar feature, from Du Wei's otherworldly perspective—a theft-deterrent charm.
The badge, authenticated by the Magic Society, could only be worn by its owner and couldn't be separated from them for too long without dissolving. It also emitted a faint magical imprint as an anti-counterfeiting mark, making it hard for ordinary people to forge a magician's identity.
This badge held no value to Du Wei, though watching the magician's pained expression as it burned was satisfying.
"You see, I'm not harboring any malice," Du Wei grinned, his youthful, pale face curling into a devilish smile. "I'm just a curious young man interested in magic. Answer a few questions, and I'll release you."
The magician remained silent.
Du Wei continued to sort through the spoils.
A small pouch from beneath the magician's robes held several unevenly colored gemstones. These were mere tools for storing magical energy to a magician, though priceless to others. Du Wei pocketed them without hesitation.
Then, there were two pieces of parchment, each inscribed with a basic magic spell. Du Wei's eyes lit up as he inspected them.
Though he'd read many books on magical knowledge, magic incantations were strictly protected—no book contained even the simplest spells.
Even the fireball spell was absent.
Anyone could read about magic, but without the incantations, it was impossible to become a magician.
Du Wei knew quite a bit about magical theory, yet he didn't know a single incantation.
This safeguarded the ancient tradition of magicians passing down spells directly through a mentor-student bond.
"Much like the gun control laws of 'that' world," he mused. In that world, one could read all about firearms' features, models, and mechanics but could hardly build a working gun alone.
"Oh, what's this?"
After taking inventory, only a few small sealed bottles remained, each filled with different colored powders.
Du Wei dared not open them recklessly, for anything a magician carried could be dangerous—one of them might contain something that could turn a person to stone!
"It seems I was right," Du Wei said, sitting up straight with a smile as he looked at his prisoner. "You're a low-level Level One magician. There's no doubt about it. Whatever instant-casting skill you showed earlier was probably some clever trick or a substitute, wasn't it? Now, here are your options: either tell me and satisfy my curiosity, and I'll let you go, or you can suffer a bit."
The magician attempted one last trick. "You're a noble! Surely you find treating a magician this way beneath your dignity?"
Du Wei said nothing.
A noble? So what?
The truth was, ever since being inexplicably transported to this world, Du Wei had felt detached. In this foreign realm, he found life devoid of purpose. Separated from everything he once held dear—dreams, friendships, family, love—he drifted without a goal.
Here, in this unfamiliar world, only magic intrigued him.
As for morals? Du Wei cared little.
He, Du Wei Rowland, or whoever he once was, had never been a "good man."