Chapter 14: Witchcraft: Ghost-Fire!

Over a dozen nights after opening his magic source, Richard meditated, absorbing copious amounts of free elemental energy and storing it in his magic source.

Utilizing the energy of magnetic fields, he fused these various types of free energy elements, ultimately obtaining pure elemental energy.

As time passed, the quantity of pure elemental energy in the magic source continued to increase until it was full.

\

Half a month later, late at night.

The castle was silent, with Richard sitting quietly in the side castle bedroom, motionless on his bed.

After an unknown duration, Richard's eyelids moved slightly, slowly opening.

Exhaling slowly, a bright light emanated deep within Richard's eyes, growing brighter until it almost illuminated the entire room.

Richard slowly stood from the bed, a serious expression on his face.

At this moment, following the descriptions in the grimoire, Richard had prepared all the prerequisites for casting the spell and adjusted his physical state to near perfection.

If wizards truly existed in this world, if magic could indeed be cast, now was the time for witness.

"Wizard and magic, ohh, come on!" Richard murmured softly, stepping towards the window. "Let me see what it truly looks like."

Outside, moonlight dimly lit the large main castle and the distant stables, their shadows almost blending together.

Richard squinted, breathing quietly.

The next moment, Richard slowly extended his hand, palm facing upward.

"Praesmucust wfuwgeou dwufcbwjuv…"

Obscure and difficult incantations from the grimoire flowed continuously from Richard's mouth, spoken not quickly but with absolute precision.

Simultaneously, under his control, the purified elemental energy flowed from his magic source within, accelerating through specific channels within his body.

By the time the mass of pure energy had circulated thirty-eight and a half times within his body, its speed increased drastically, achieving the required state for the spell.

Under Richard's control, this stream of energy, not particularly violent but sufficiently complex, entered his right arm, swiftly moving through arterial vessels to the fingertips of his five fingers, then bursting forth.

Under his gaze, Richard's five fingers suddenly trembled slightly, and five faint blue orbs, each the size of a firefly, illuminated at the tips of his fingers.

The dots flickered and flickered, then suddenly, like gunpowder igniting, they burst into a bright light, emitting a dazzling glow that quickly expanded into a head-sized flame.

Richard's pupils dilated slightly, his expression unchanged but his eyes revealing a thread of excitement.

Through his pupils, it was clear that the flame burned quietly in his palm. At this moment, the flame had no weight, no sense of heat, as if pure air.

But it was not air, absolutely not!

This was one of the magic recorded in the notes: Phosphor Candle!

Also known as the Ghost-Fire!

"Phosphor Candle, Ghost-Fire? Could it be a type of phosphorus fire, burning with red phosphorus?" Richard muttered to himself, his thoughts moving as the flame suddenly diminished in his palm.

In an instant, it shrank from head-sized to fist-sized.

Then from fist-sized to apple-sized.

Finally, it reduced to the size of a walnut.

Richard lightly raised his hand, and the walnut-sized flame flew out of the window, swaying in mid-air as it headed towards the distance.

Soon, the flame grew in the wind, rapidly expanding.

Under Richard's control, in just a few breaths, the flame expanded to half the size of a person, casting a deep blue hue over the surrounding ground and the side walls of the castle, creating an eerie atmosphere, slightly lowering the nearby temperature.

The flame continued to fly towards the distance, growing larger.

By the time it reached the stables in the distance, it had a radius of nearly a meter, resembling a sun falling from the sky.

The horses in the stables were startled, their eyes filled with fear as they watched the flame. Though they felt no heat, they were gripped by a profound sense of dread from the depths of their souls.

The flame continued to grow.

The horses trembled, retreating to the farthest corners of the stable, while the flame advanced relentlessly. Even the most spirited horse was terrified, trembling uncontrollably.

The flame showed no mercy, suddenly accelerating and striking like a cannonball at a chestnut-colored horse.

The horse neighed in despair, but in the next moment, a miracle occurred.

Just as the flame seemed about to strike, it suddenly dissipated, disappearing like a burst rainbow bubble, leaving no trace, as if it had all been a dream.

The horses stood stunned.

In the side castle bedroom, Richard had just snapped his fingers and was slowly lowering his hand.

As Richard looked towards the direction of the stable outside the window, a rare smile appeared on his face.

At this moment, Richard felt a surge in his heart because he knew very well that the door to a truly new world was slowly opening to him.

Wizard!

The mysterious and dangerous world of wizards had arrived!

\

The next morning was clear and cool.

The air carried a hint of dampness, dew still lingering on the ground. Richard walked out of the side castle.

Tuku, who was vigorously swinging a knight's sword at a wooden stake on the side of the castle, noticed him and looked over with some surprise, stopping his swings.

Wiping the sweat from his face, he asked curiously, "Lord Richard, do you have any orders?"

"Well, I do," Richard nodded. Having glimpsed a corner of the mysterious world, he was in a good mood.

"Prepare yourself. Later, you'll lead the guard and accompany me outside the castle."

"What are we going for?" Tuku asked, puzzled.

"A picnic," Richard said with a smile.

"Huh?" Tuku blinked in confusion, his expression becoming somewhat strange, but he didn't say more, just nodded and immediately went to prepare.

After breakfast, the first guard of the castle assembled on the open ground in front of the side castle.

When Richard walked out with the maid Lucy, he saw Tuku approaching with two horses from the stable.

Richard knew these were the horses Tuku had brought for him.

Without saying much, he walked towards the chestnut horse closest to him.

Unexpectedly, Tuku spoke up, pointing to the other horse.

"My lord, you should ride the white horse instead."

"Hmm?" Richard paused, looking at Tuku.

"Is there a difference?"

"Well, um..." Tuku hesitated for a moment, then finally admitted honestly,

"The new red horse just arrived at the stable a few days ago, and it's pretty young and full of energy, so it's not exactly easy to handle. On the other hand, the white horse is an old-timer, much calmer and safer."

Richard listened, his eyes flickering. He glanced at the white horse, then turned to look at the chestnut horse, dragging out his tone and meaningfully said, "Hahaa, really?"

"Yes," Tuku nodded earnestly.

"Well, not necessarily." Richard suddenly spoke up, stepping towards the chestnut horse.

Tuku was surprised, but saw that the usually fiery chestnut horse, upon Richard's approach, suddenly let out a mournful cry, as if sensing a great danger approaching.

It began trembling uncontrollably, retreating repeatedly until all four legs seemed rooted to the ground.

!

"How is this possible? This horse kicked me just yesterday afternoon, and now it's behaving so obediently?" Tuku asked in disbelief.

"Perhaps this horse encountered something frightening last night, who knows," Richard murmured softly.

In the next moment, he swung onto the horse and lifted Lucy onto its back.

The chestnut horse remained still, unmoving, until Richard lightly kicked its belly, prompting it to move forward timidly, like a startled rabbit.

Tuku, truly perplexed, could only attribute it to one of Richard's many mysterious powers, akin to the incident with the exploding flour earlier.

Shaking his head again in puzzlement, Tuku mounted the white horse and led the group, protecting Richard as they headed out of the castle.

"Click, click, click," the castle gate swung open, the drawbridge lowered slowly, and a group of people dashed out, speeding towards the southwest, kicking up a trail of dust, beginning their autumn excursion.

This autumn outing was Richard's way to relax and reward himself after spending a great deal of time and effort successfully casting spells, allowing his tense heart to finally unwind for a few months.

Of course, even with relaxation as the goal of this outing, Richard wasn't merely out for leisure.

In his view, there were far too many pressing matters demanding his attention, leaving no time or inclination for aimless entertainment.

Thus, during this autumn excursion, Richard also planned to pursue another task—collecting plants and creating specimens.