Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 276 Drow! Drow?
As the light intensified, the gray hue became thicker and more textured. When the light faded and the gazing spell ended, the two gargoyles looked as if they were made of cement, and they fell straight down like lifeless objects.

This brings us to the difference between the petrification of the Gorgon and ordinary petrification. The former is like applying plaster, covering you with a layer of cement so you can't move, but your body is actually fine. You can recover after a few seconds of effect. The latter, however, is a transformation from the inside out. Once it takes effect, it is permanent.

That's why you can put mud on a stone, but you can't turn a stone back into a stone.

"Don't do anything!"

Zhang Yuan stopped his teammates from launching a surprise attack with a single sentence, then stepped forward and arrived at the two large falling objects in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Zhang Yuan had already drawn Akalena. Instead of using his usual dual-sword style, he held the sword with both hands, gripping the hilt as if it were a two-handed sword. With the infusion of true energy, the dark golden color that was already shining from the refined gold became even colder.

It wasn't that Zhang wanted to steal kills; he simply couldn't bear to see these two valuable items easily turned into a pile of junk.

Gargoyles are divided into two categories. One category is wild groups that originated from accidental magical experiments. The other category is the kind of gargoyle in front of us, which has been deliberately studied and revitalized.

As a major category of constructs, gargoyles, due to their excellent flexibility and mobility, as well as their relatively strong offensive and defensive capabilities, have been included by many mages in their construct legions.

However, this design was abandoned due to a major flaw, and was removed from the list of candidates for mainstream architectures. This flaw was – battery life.

Everything has its pros and cons. Gargoyles do have an advantage over other golems in terms of flight and high mobility, but their endurance is enough to give their counterparts back their confidence in this regard.

Two hours of charging for five minutes of talk time—this phrase, originally used to mock the battery life of older mobile phones, couldn't be more apt here.

A joke circulated among the mage enthusiasts who loved tinkering with large-scale constructs back then:
Why do gargoyles, such agile creatures, spend all their time squatting on the ground like stone sculptures?

The answer was: They were catching up on sleep.

There's really nothing we can do about it. Think about it: even though gargoyles are much smaller and lighter than other golems, the problem is, they can walk, but gargoyles can fly!

The difference in energy consumption and driving force requirements between these two cannot be explained by reason.

Even more critically, the other golems are not getting enough power. But that's easy! Just add energy and drive components. As long as you're willing to spend the cost, nothing else matters.

But this is quite a headache with gargoyles. You can add components, but these things add weight and become a burden!

For every bit of extra weight you add, the Gargoyle's mobility will decrease by two points, eventually making it difficult to maintain its original agile flight advantage, let alone its endurance.

This is called neglecting the essential and pursuing the trivial.

After going back and forth like this, we've come full circle. After so many experiments and attempts, the mage players have discovered that the talent skill point allocation for the Gargoyle race is really terrible. Apart from a few special models with an energy cheat, most Gargoyle constructs have to endure a whole day of charging time in order to maintain a short two-hour activity time.

This is because they have limited space and cannot afford such luxurious items as alchemical reactors. They can only rely on the magic circuits within their bodies to slowly charge their energy through the magic network.

This character is unplayable! Despite the tireless efforts of many mage players, the problem remains unresolved, leading to players angrily deleting their accounts.

Gargoyles, originally intended as aerial rangers, mostly ended up as tomb guardians, sharing the same fate as the equally exquisite but impractical and even more expensive Shadowsteel Golem—treasures in the tomb.

But regardless, it's still a good thing, and studying it can be beneficial for gaining insights into other areas as well.

Zhang Yuan also had some understanding of the structure of gargoyles. Although he had never seen a real one, he had read about its general blueprint.

However, this gargoyle in front of me has some unique features. Its camouflage is quite extraordinary. Not only is its design deliberately made to look somewhat generic, but its obsidian armor, which serves as its body, seems to have undergone special treatment, as it can actually block my arcane vision.

The petrified state didn't last long, less than three seconds, before the two gargoyles shook off their petrified skin and struggled to get up.

Naturally, it was all in vain. Their internal structures were precisely destroyed by Zhang Yuan, and they flapped around like giant turkeys for a while, unable to even complete a single movement, let alone take off.

He took out the mixed iron wire rope that had previously served as the reins of the dragon carriage and tied the two gift packages that had been delivered to his door securely, thus bringing this matter to a close.

The pre-arranged plans were able to proceed. The new mansion was spacious enough that a courtyard at the entrance was specially set aside as an office, where Lawrence and Nancy were responsible for compiling financial data and providing daily information feedback.

This matter should have been handled by Kegan, a guy who seemed to have connections to a mob boss. However, this guy was keen on going out on the streets and showing off in front of others, and since he was a key fighting force anyway, they simply formed a security team with Kegan, Münster, and the half-ogre brothers to maintain order and security in their territory.

Putting aside Kegan, the Berserker trio's burly physique and battle-hardened demeanor might attract trouble, but not everyone would dare to cause trouble.

Not to mention, to prevent any potential spellcasters from appearing, Zhang Yuan specifically dispatched the Blood Demon, who possesses a wide-area silence skill; his barbaric priest attire was quite something!
Bard and Talinda stayed at the base to be on guard and protect, assisted by a two-star Tiny and a two-star Drow Ranger.

The former, when squatting in the garden, looked like a rockery, while the latter brought a huge surprise to Telinda.

To her surprise, the female elf was furious the moment she saw the chess piece appear, and drew her dagger to protect herself.

No wonder she was wary; with her dark purple skin, pale hair, and somewhat short stature, the Drow Ranger's appearance really did bear a striking resemblance to Faerûn's cousin of the same name.

Considering the captain's behavior of pulling my hair whenever he sees me these past few days, could it be that this guy couldn't control himself and, overcome by lust, was going to take advantage of me?
And to summon such an evil, lewd, and shameless being as Zhuo Er, is it to do this or that to this poor little thing?

Just as Talinda was lost in thought, the mage took two steps forward and closed in on her, disarming the elf of her short blade with a swift motion, followed by a gentle pat on the head.

Talinda froze, letting the wizard's claws happily pluck her white fur.

Thank you to Dark, Xiong Teng Si Hai, Huiyi Zishe Mengxiang, and Alukard for your monthly ticket support, and thank you to LEB for your donation. Thank you all!

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(End of this chapter)