Chapter 9: Instant Spell

"Ah." Dwayne nodded and came back to his senses. "Then find her a room and let her take it off herself." Dwayne smiled and looked at the leggy girl. "I don't have any other intentions. I'm just interested in your leather armor."

"You damned brat! If you dare to touch me, I'll definitely make you..." the girl cursed.

Dwayne walked up to her with a serious expression, generously extended a finger, and poked her hard in the face. "Oh, I touched you. What are you going to do to me?"

The others had all been tied up with ropes. The warrior as strong as a bull was even chained with the chains used to tie livestock, which the two knights had somehow found. And this leggy girl had been knocked unconscious by the guards of the Rollin family and then directly thrown into Dwayne's room. Since the young master seemed to be quite interested in this girl, as subordinates, they saw it as an opportunity to please their master and were more than happy to do so.

Not caring about the lewd thoughts of his subordinates, Dwayne focused his attention and prepared to carefully examine the magician alone! The magician, stripped of his gray robe and standing in front of Dwayne in just his underclothes, had his hands and feet tied with ropes. At first, he tried to threaten the young nobleman: "How dare you treat a magician like this? Aren't you afraid of offending the Magic Society?"

In reply, he received a slap in the face. This slap immediately made the magician shut up obediently. Dwayne rubbed his slightly painful hand. It seemed that his body was still a bit too weak.

"If you can answer me a few questions obediently, I'll consider letting you go." Dwayne sat on the chair and looked at the magician who was tied up like a dumpling in front of him. "You cast those fireball spells just now, and I didn't see you chanting any incantations. Have you mastered the technique of 'instant casting'?"

This was what Dwayne was most curious about! When a magician casts a spell, there must be a process of chanting incantations! This was the common sense told to him by all the books he had read. Although in this world, there were already some top and outstanding magicians who could master a method of using their thoughts to activate the incantations, being able to silently recite the incantations in their hearts without chanting them aloud.

Such a technique was the legendary "instant casting". But this top-level technique required the support of extremely powerful spiritual power, as well as an extremely precise grasp and understanding of magic techniques. It was possible that only the renowned great magicians on the continent could achieve this. This instant casting technique was definitely beyond the reach of a low-level first-level magician.

Of course, apart from achieving "instant casting" relying on one's own ability, there were also other ways to achieve it. The most widely recognized method was: magic scrolls. The so-called magic scrolls were scrolls on which spells had been inscribed in advance. When a magician needed to fight, they could simply throw out the scroll, and the pre-stored magic in the scroll could be detonated instantly.

However, magic scrolls were also precious magic consumables. Moreover, the higher the level of the magic, the more difficult it was to make it into a scroll! Currently, the most commonly used magic scrolls were just some low-level spells. And those scrolls with intermediate-level spells were already rare treasures! As for some individual high-level spells, it was rarely heard that they could be made into scrolls.

So, Dwayne had developed a strong interest in this little first-level magician! Because during the fight just now, when he cast the spells, he didn't chant any incantations at all! It seemed to be the legendary "instant casting"! Although the only spell he "instantly cast" was the most basic fireball spell.

Basically, in this world, the levels of magicians were strictly defined. The most obvious aspects were the strength of their magic power and their proficiency in magic techniques. Among them, the use of incantations was an even more important criterion for judging the quality of a magician! Casting magic required chanting incantations, which was a recognized common sense.

And often, the same incantation, when cast by different magicians, could have different effects. Some highly skilled magicians had already studied different ways of using certain incantations. They could quickly recite those profound and tongue-twisting incantations in a special way, and even if they could simplify one or two syllables in them, they could cast the spell one step ahead of the enemy during a battle! This would give them the upper hand.

And the research results on some magic incantations were often the greatest secrets of magicians themselves, and they would never easily teach them to others. Otherwise, they would lose their advantages. As for "instant casting"… it was something that could make any magician go crazy or sacrifice everything to pursue.

Dwayne wasn't stupid. He didn't really think that this mere low-level first-level magician, who was only slightly higher than a magic apprentice, could truly master the technique of "instant casting". His guess was that this guy had probably mastered a method similar to instant casting, or an alternative method close to "instant casting"! Otherwise, if the magician in front of him was really a powerful person who could "instantly cast" spells, he wouldn't have ended up being tied up like a dumpling. Then, the result of the fight just now should have been a complete defeat for his own side.

This guy must have some little secret! This was where Dwayne's interest lay!

Facing Dwayne's question, the magician's face looked a bit ugly. His eyes seemed to dodge, and he tightly shut his mouth, refusing to speak.

Dwayne pursed his lips. He didn't expect the other party to be willing to cooperate and reveal the secret right away. This was the kitchen behind the tavern. Anyway, there were only the two of them here now, and Dwayne had plenty of time to wait it out with the other person.

He first began to carefully examine the spoils seized from the magician. He took a look at the magician's robe and simply threw it into the stove beside him. The magician's robe turned into a ball of flames and was burned as firewood. However, Dwayne played with the silver leaf badge in his hand for a while and then also threw it into the stove. This badge was the certification mark of an official magician issued by the Magic Society... Moreover, in the eyes of Dwayne, who came from another world, it also had a special property: anti-theft and anti-loss!

This badge, through the magic certification of the Magic Society, could only be worn by the magician who owned it and couldn't be more than a certain distance away from the magician's body. Otherwise, it would automatically melt. Moreover, this badge would also emit a trace of the magical power fluctuation engraved on it, which was an anti-counterfeiting mark! This made it very difficult for ordinary people to forge such a badge to pretend to be a magician. So, this badge was of no use to Dwayne. But seeing the badge being thrown into the stove, the magician tied up like a dumpling showed a somewhat pained expression.

"You see, I don't really have any malicious intentions." Dwayne smiled. There was a devilish smile on his young and pale face. "I'm just a teenager who is very interested in magic. If you're willing to answer me a few questions, I can let you go."

The magician still didn't speak.

Dwayne could only continue to examine the spoils. There was a small bundle, which was also found under the magician's robe. When he emptied the bundle, there were several gems of varying qualities. These were treasures to ordinary people, but to a magician, they were just tools for storing magic power. Dwayne took a look and unceremoniously put them into his pocket.

There were also two pieces of parchment paper, on which were recorded a few low-level magic incantations. Dwayne took a look and his eyes immediately lit up! Although he had read a lot of books on magic knowledge... due to the strict regulations in the field of magic, any real magic incantation could never be recorded in books! Books only contained some theoretical knowledge about magic, and there wouldn't be even the most basic real incantation!

Not even the incantation for the most basic fireball spell!! That is to say, anyone could read books to understand magic, but it was impossible to become a magician just by reading books. For example, Dwayne now had a lot of theoretical and common-sense knowledge about the field of magic, but he didn't know a single incantation. All these ensured the ancient tradition of the inheritance of magicians: the inheritance of magicians could only be passed down from old magicians to their disciples through personal oral instruction and demonstration! It could never be publicly spread!

"It's a bit like the gun control in 'that' world." Dwayne thought to himself. In "that" world, everyone could go online or read books to know a lot about the characteristics, models, and principles of weapons and firearms, etc., but it was impossible to make a real gun with their bare hands relying on their personal strength.

"Oh, what's this?" After inventorying the spoils, there were finally a few small transparent bottles left in front of him. The mouths of the bottles were sealed, and there were some powders of different colors inside. Dwayne didn't dare to open these bottles blindly because the things carried by the magician were likely to be dangerous! Maybe there was something in one of the bottles that could turn people into stones!

"It seems that my guess is right." Dwayne sat up straight and looked at his captive with a smile. "Your real strength isn't strong. You're a low-level first-level magician. There's no doubt about that. The instant casting technique you showed during the fight just now should be some kind of opportunistic alternative method... right? Now I'll give you two choices. Either you tell me obediently and satisfy my curiosity, and I'll let you go. Or... you'll have to suffer a bit."

The magician still tried to play tricks: "You're a noble! Don't you think your behavior of treating a magician like this is beneath your status?"

Dwayne didn't say anything. A noble? So what? In fact, Dwayne had always been somewhat dismissive of the fact that he had somehow come to this world. In this completely unfamiliar world, he felt that he had no goal in life! When he lost everything in his original world, lost his ideals, his friendship, family affection, love, and everything in his original life... and came to a completely unfamiliar world, it was almost like a brutal "cut"! In the past few years, Dwayne felt that his life had been muddled, and he hadn't found even the slightest goal in life.

Now, in this strange world, the only thing that could arouse the slightest interest in him was the field of "magic" in this world. As for other things... Dwayne didn't care at all! And to satisfy his curiosity about magic, was it moral to instigate his subordinates to attack these strangers in the tavern? Dwayne cared even less! Whether he was Dwayne Rollin or the person in his previous life... he had never been a good person.