章 8: 8 - Phosphorus
"Bishop Anluke, this is it. I saw that wizard and the Witch Hunter come out of the house a while ago, and they fought all the way here..."
A quarter of an hour later, in the lower town, a ragged scavenger, covered in dirt, hunched over and cautiously recounted everything he had seen to the clergy of the Church.
Anluke remained silent, his gaze lowered to the scorched marks on the ground. The bright red blood, vaporized by the high temperature, had turned into a dark red hue. The upturned earth and the scattered remains of flesh and bone bore witness to the ferocity of the battle.
The cause of such severe destruction was likely the second-tier magic spell, [Flameburst]
"Where's the body?" Anluke suddenly inquired. There were clear signs of a battle on the ground, but Blaine's body was conspicuously absent.
The scavenger swallowed hard and spoke with difficulty. "After the Witch Hunter died, the wizard threw him... threw him into the Yen River..."
"This is blasphemy against the gods."
Before Anluke could respond, a middle-aged priest behind him vehemently rebuked him.
In recent years, thanks to the Duke of Nordland's "enlightened" actions, the entire downstream of the Yen River had become a true cesspool.
Blaine's identity was not merely that of a Witch Hunter; he was also a member of the Church's divine punishment force and had even consumed the Elixir of the Gods in advance, making him an emissary of the gods in the mortal realm.
Participating in Witch Hunts so frequently was only to enhance his resume.
But the corrupted wizard, who had brutally killed him and tossed his body into the polluted Yen River, was undoubtedly a challenge to the Church's authority.
The scavenger's body trembled uncontrollably, and he lowered his head in fear.
Anluke tightened his grip on his staff, his anger simmering. He turned to the trembling scavenger and questioned him once again.
"Did you get a clear look at the wizard who killed Blaine? Did anyone else intervene during the fight?"
"I only saw glimpses from a distance, Bishop. There didn't seem to be another wizard involved... That person appeared to be just of age, with brown hair, about your height."
"Karl..." Anluke muttered to himself as he contemplated the information. Until now, he had paid little attention to this obscure wizard apprentice. After all, according to the information he had obtained, Karl had only been studying magic for about half a year and was not particularly valued by Mage Kora. He was considered the least threatening among all the targets.
But it seemed that the reality might be different.
Releasing a second-tier magic spell like Flameburst, and killing two Witch Hunters in quick succession, was not something a novice in magic could achieve. Unless he possessed a powerful alchemical artifact, or... he was a full-fledged wizard like Kora.
***
Several days later, on the border of Nordland, inside an inn in the Ur Town.
Lynn awoke abruptly from a nightmare and jumped out of the hard wooden bed. He quickly moved to the window, peering outside to assess the situation.
Seeing everything was normal, with no one coming to besiege him, Lynn finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ever since he had killed those two Witch Hunters in the slums five days ago, he had been constantly worried about being pursued by the Inquisition. He had taken a winding route to Ur Town, even planting false clues to mislead anyone following him
Perhaps his half-hearted counter-surveillance techniques had worked, or maybe the Inquisition simply didn't have time for a mere apprentice wizard. So far, Lynn has not encountered any pursuit teams.
Nevertheless, he could only describe his journey as grueling.
Accustomed to the conveniences of modern life, Lynn almost felt overwhelmed by the sudden transition to a place reminiscent of medieval Europe.
After all, here, there were no cell phones, no computers, no familiar family or friends, and no hot breakfast to start the day. He had to make do with a bite of unappetizing black bread along with water.
The only saving grace was that he possessed all of Karl's memories. He understood the language and script of this world, and he had decent combat skills to deter any would-be thieves, ensuring he didn't meet an untimely demise on the road.
After enduring several days of hardships, Lynn had reluctantly come to terms with the fact that he had been transported to this world. This was already his second day in the Ur Town.
Out of caution, Lynn didn't hastily search for the whereabouts of other wizard apprentices. Instead, after discovering the marks left behind, he had discreetly returned and spent a day familiarizing himself with the terrain. He also purchased a dozen new pieces of flint (rock) and a bag of black bread.
These few days of life on the run had made Lynn increasingly wary. However, after gaining a preliminary understanding of Ur Town, he immediately realized why Jenny had chosen this place for their gathering.
As a small trading town on the border of Nordland, it saw a mix of people, with merchant caravans coming and going. A few unfamiliar faces now and then wouldn't attract too much attention.
As Lynn contemplated this, he reached for a nearby mortar and placed the blocky flint stones inside. With a small wooden rod, he began grinding them into fine powder.
During his time at Ur, apart from looking for marks and familiarizing himself with the terrain, the rest of his time had been dedicated to the creation of white phosphorus.
White phosphorus was a chemical element with the formula P4, appearing as a white or pale yellow trAnlukeent solid.
There were two commonly used methods to produce it.
The first involved mixing calcium phosphate, silica sand, and carbon powder into a mixture, heating it to temperatures between 1400 and 1600 degrees Celsius, and then passing the resulting phosphorus vapor through cold water to solidify it into white phosphorus.
The second method was to heat red phosphorus to 416 degrees Celsius while excluding air, causing it to sublimate and cool, forming white phosphorus.
However, in this world without industrial systems, similar to ancient Europe, gathering these raw materials in a short period wasn't an easy task.
Though 071 had shown him some ancient and "convenient" methods for extracting raw materials, Lynn didn't plan to use them unless absolutely necessary.
Fortunately, Lynn soon stumbled upon a pleasant surprise. The surface of the flint he had used was interspersed with traces of red phosphorus.
Considering that red phosphorus had been used as an efficient flame retardant in the previous century for the manufacture of matches to enhance their safety, this wasn't entirely surprising.
It seemed that the indigenous people of this world had already discovered the element phosphorus, though their application was quite rudimentary.
As Lynn continued to grind the flint with the wooden rod, the chunks of flint gradually broke down, removing impurities until only clusters of red powder remained.
He didn't have professional equipment on hand, but the magical power at his disposal was much more convenient than scientific instruments.
[Mage's Hand]
With a thought, the fine red phosphorus seemed to respond to some kind of call, floating up on its own, and then, with the aid of Elementary Material Deconstruction, it broke down into its basic molecular state.
TL/n -
White phosphorus is a highly reactive and flammable chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. It is a soft, waxy solid that is pale yellow in color and glows in the dark.
*
Highly reactive: It readily reacts with oxygen in the air, causing it to ignite spontaneously.
Flammable: It burns vigorously in the air, producing a dense white smoke of phosphorus pentoxide.
Toxic: White phosphorus is extremely toxic if ingested or inhaled.
Phosphorescent: It emits a faint light in the dark, a property known as phosphorescence.
*
Uses of white phosphorus:
Chemical production: It is used in the production of various chemicals, including phosphoric acid, fertilizers, and matches.
Military applications: In the past, it was used in incendiary weapons due to its highly flammable nature. However, its use in warfare is now heavily restricted due to its toxicity and environmental hazards.
Research: It is used in scientific research for various purposes, such as studying chemical reactions.
*
Extremely dangerous: White phosphorus is extremely dangerous and should be handled with extreme caution.
***
Red phosphorus is another allotrope of phosphorus, differing from white phosphorus in its physical and chemical properties.
*
Key characteristics of red phosphorus:
Appearance: It is a reddish-brown powder or crystalline mass.
Reactivity: Less reactive than white phosphorus, it does not ignite spontaneously in air.
Non-toxic: Unlike white phosphorus, red phosphorus is not toxic when ingested or inhaled.
Combustible: It is still combustible and can be ignited under certain conditions.
*
Uses of red phosphorus:
Match heads: It is a common ingredient in the heads of safety matches, where it reacts with potassium chlorate to produce a flame.
Pigments: Red phosphorus is used as a pigment in paints, plastics, and rubber.
Smoke screens: It can be used to create smoke screens due to its ability to produce dense smoke when burned.
Chemical production: It is used in the production of certain chemicals, such as phosphorous trichloride.
*
Less hazardous: While red phosphorus is less hazardous than white phosphorus, it should still be handled with care.
***
Allotrope refers to different forms of the same element that have distinct physical and chemical properties. In other words, allotropes are variations of an element that exist in different structural arrangements, leading to different characteristics.
For example, carbon can exist as graphite (soft and slippery), diamond (hard and transparent), and fullerenes (cage-like structures). These are different allotropes of carbon, each with its own unique properties due to their different atomic arrangements.
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