Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 103 Turning point
In his worst-case scenario, he had not never imagined that his greatest secret would be revealed. Before entering Highhold, he had comforted himself with the idea that Tyrandeur was a decent person.

But when the time really comes, these expectations and comforts are of no use whatsoever.

A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and goosebumps rose all over his body. Zhang Yuan could no longer feel his body temperature, because he felt as if his heart and all the blood vessels in his body had been injected with liquid nitrogen, chilling him to the bone.

"Lord Tyrantir, are you perhaps mistaken? I am just an ordinary novice mage, how could I possibly have the ability to travel between planes?" The person forced himself to remain calm, trying to clear himself of suspicion.

"Oh, really?" Tyrantir smiled, a rare occurrence, but the smile was quite amusing, half playful and half as if he had seen something interesting.

"Then tell me, why can my divination spell only locate traces of you from less than a year ago? Why does my detection spell show that you have at least ten items that are products from another world?"

“But the Prime Material Plane has never lacked these foreign creations, and divination isn’t absolute. You can’t conclude that I’m an outsider from another world just because of that.” The person continued to struggle.

"Maybe so, but your theory just now couldn't have just appeared in your head out of nowhere, could it? Don't tell me you came up with it yourself, or that you accidentally saw it in some damn ancient book."

Zhang Yuan was about to make a defense when his words were abruptly cut off before he could even utter a sound.

Seeing Zhang Yuan speechless, Tyrantir's smile vanished, replaced by a familiar, cold expression:

"First, I want to tell you not to try to lie to the tower master inside the mage tower. Second, what you just described is interconnected and progressive. It is essentially one or several complete and mature disciplines, which have even developed to the point of being practical. This kind of knowledge could not have been researched by one or two people. There must be a civilization supporting it, and one that is still unknown to this day."

"Would you believe me if I said it was the legendary Imaska ​​civilization? They're also known for their construct magic." Zhang Yuan muttered under his breath.

Tyrantir was amused and annoyed. He pointed his finger, and a ball of light appeared above Zhang Yuan's head, rapidly changing from white to red.

"Kid, this is a constant detection lie within the tower. Try spouting nonsense again and see what happens."

Completely out of options, Zhang Yuan could only throw himself into a chair and resignedly ask, "Master Tyrantir, what can I give in exchange for my life and freedom?"

Upon hearing this, Tyrandeur scoffed dismissively:
"What do you take me for? A slave trader? A cult leader? Or a dissection maniac? You think you can exchange my life for your freedom? If I were one of those guys you use your brain to scare yourself all day, what do you think you'd have left to trade?"

With that, Tyrantir walked back to the ironwood golem and began dismantling its mind core, scolding, "If you're so scared, why didn't you do this earlier? You're carrying a bunch of otherworldly items, even your underwear is imported. Are you afraid people won't guess your origins?"

Hearing this, even Zhang Yuan's tough face turned as red as a monkey's bottom. He cursed under his breath for being an old scoundrel and subconsciously squeezed his legs together.

"Then why did you reveal my identity, Master? Aren't you surprised by this other world?" The person quickly changed the subject.

"You think your identity is rare? In reality, there are plenty of visitors from other worlds in the Prime Material Plane. Even the elves and orcs, who are the same races as humans, came from another universe by crossing the crystal wall. As for the Imaska ​​Empire you mentioned, if you knew more about it, you should know that those Mulhollanders were originally slaves captured from other worlds by the spellcasters of Imaska."

"And what was your reaction, Master?" "Visitors from another world are not particularly rare, but a soul from another world with a completely different knowledge system, worldview, and thoughts is extremely valuable."

Hearing the word "soul" from the Archmage made Zhang Yuan feel somewhat uncomfortable, but Tyrantir continued:

"If you didn't have some talent and had indeed provided some inspiration and help in my research, I wouldn't have bothered to say anything more to you. You deserve to pay the price for your own stupidity in the future."

Upon hearing this, even the naive Zhang Yuan understood that the other party had no ill intentions towards him, and there was no such thing as the horrific scenes he had imagined, such as dissection, soul binding, or soul interrogation.

So he quickly bowed to the high priest to express his gratitude, secretly rejoicing that he had escaped a calamity.

Completely ignoring Zhang Yuan's flattery and praise, Tyrantir seemed determined to give the kid a thorough wake-up call today:
"I really don't know how bold you are. Every mage tower has all sorts of detection spells inside, especially those divination guys. You wouldn't dare to visit them unless you cast several anti-detection spells on yourself. But you, not only are you covered in otherworldly items, but you also blurt out all sorts of information without thinking. Do you like to show off so much? Do you know that you are the kind of fat meat in the eyes of some unscrupulous mages? They probably wouldn't mind squeezing all the secrets out of your soul and then completely erasing them to prevent any resurrection."

Zhang Yuan, his head shrunk back like a turtle after being scolded, could only remain silent. After a while, seeing that the Grand Master had finished speaking...
"Then, Master, do you still need the theories I provided?"

"Nonsense, you're my assistant now, just call me Tyrantir. Put your study plans on hold for now, there will be plenty of time and books for you to read later. Now we need to discuss whether the circuit control and programming language you mentioned can provide a reference for designing a new core of thinking."

And so, just over a month after entering Highhold, this person miraculously transformed himself, achieving the incredible leap from a temporary visitor to an assistant to a Grand Mage. Although this was mainly due to his background (being a transmigrator), if this experience were to be passed back to his previous life on Earth, it would surely inspire programmers and aspiring programmers to work even harder, and of course, pluck even more hair from their heads.

As an assistant apprentice, Zhang Yuan certainly had less time for self-study and reading, but compared to the opportunity to discuss and explore with a grandmaster, or even receive instruction from him, it was insignificant.

It's obvious to anyone who isn't a fool which of the two is more important. Zhang Yuan, who had already acquired a certain foundation after months of self-study, was fortunate enough to follow a great master. This was like an undergraduate student being specially recruited as a graduate student by an academician. The benefits he gained were far greater than what self-study could ever achieve.

For a period of time afterward, Tyrantir did not teach Zhang Yuan anything. He didn't have the time to play any tricks of patient persuasion, nor did he bother to talk about any established knowledge or theories.

What the Grand Master did was simply to demonstrate his perspective on things, his logic of thinking, and his way of handling problems to the novices around him in a straightforward manner, which was already of great benefit.

Knowledge and theories can be acquired through reading and learning, experience can be accumulated over time, and skills can be honed through repeated practice. However, perspective and way of thinking are not so easy to change.

Many people, including those with exceptional talent, strive and believe they have achieved remarkable success. However, when they reach a point where they can no longer make any further progress, they realize that they have never seen the true view from the top of the mountain. They are merely frogs at the bottom of a well, unaware of where the road ahead lies.

This limitation in perspective and vision is what is known as the "insight barrier."

Thank you to Wanliu Tongyuan for your monthly ticket support, and thank you to all the readers for your company and encouragement.

Although I think the "encouragement" you'll give me after publishing this chapter might be a bit too much... I'll still explain anyway, it's about the protagonist's reaction. I did consider writing scenes of him being fearless, calm, and even jovial in the face of danger, but I felt it wasn't appropriate. Because what we see as "don't be afraid" from an omniscient perspective becomes "be afraid" for those actually in the situation. There are indeed many transmigrators from Faerûn, but how many of them didn't have powerful backers? What became of those without backers who fell into the hands of mages? Even on Earth, dealing with suspected alien species inevitably involves dissection, let alone in the far more unscrupulous Faerûn. As for Tyranitar's allegiance, that's certainly an important factor, but allegiance isn't a fixed, unchanging law of robotics. When one's secrets are revealed and one's fate is entrusted to the character of the other, some fear and emotional fluctuations are inevitable.

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(End of this chapter)