Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 39 Meeting an old friend in a foreign land

The next morning, the group broke camp and set off. Ska found a certain newbie, who greeted them with a beaming smile—a smile so warm and friendly, so approachable, yet so chilling...

Looking at the cheap captain in front of him, Zhang Yuan, trembling with fear, inexplicably thought of the phrase "smiling tiger."

"Chanem, you've been with our team for quite a while now. What do you think of our team?"

"It feels wonderful, just like being at home," someone said, puzzled.

"Great idea! Why don't you stay with our team?"

Zhang Yuangang was about to politely decline when Ska continued, "You were quite the captain yesterday, weren't you? How about I let you be the captain? What do you say?"

Well, so they came to give me a warning. I quickly replied humbly, "How could a mere newcomer like me be qualified for the position of team leader? We should find someone more capable."

Seeing that the other party was sensible, Ska didn't pursue the matter further, patted the other party on the shoulder, and turned to continue walking.

After the farce, the group continued their journey. After three days of arduous travel, the Flame Fist Squad finally arrived at Belgost once again.

With the mission temporarily over, the Flame Fist team, not in a hurry, chose to rest in town for a day.

Feeling a little guilty at the thought of Eganon, the person didn't dare to continue looking for fun at the Feld Inn. Instead, they went to the clothing store from last time.

After paying a small fee to have the shopkeeper change the pink cloak to black, Zhang Yuan finally dared to wear it out. The usually unremarkable Zhang Yuan was now able to attract several glances on the street.

"What a pity about Feld's beautiful and alluring dancer!" This thought popped into someone's mind.

With a rare day of free time, Zhang Yuan felt it was time to put some of his ideas into practice.

I walked straight towards the city center, following the clear, loud voice, and found the messenger who was energetically reading out the announcement:

"Hello, sir. We have come from Baldur's Gate. May we ask you a few questions?"

The messenger, being a halfling, was known for his hospitality: "Oh, my polite little gentleman, he won't hide anything from old Maka."

"Then, Mr. Marka, are there any powerful mages residing near Belgost?"

“Powerful mages? Oh yes, they’re always so mysterious. Their power is as formidable as my Uncle George’s expired pickle jar, except poor Uncle George himself fainted by the jar.” The enthusiastic halfling went on and on: “Yes, I remember now, it’s just to the west. You only need to walk for half a day to see it. That ancient castle surrounded by forests and undead, the mysterious Lord Tyrantir lives there.”

Having endured the halfling's long-winded nonsense and endless nagging, Zhang Yuan, who had finally obtained information about the mage Tyrantir, quickly made his escape.

For safety reasons, someone who didn't have the courage to cross the forest of the dead alone to find the mage tower had no choice but to seek help from the two guardian generals.

Bud and Münster, those two clowns, were found fighting together, and the crowd of onlookers made the already small town center even smaller.

Zhang Yuan, who was still on the periphery of the crowd and unaware of what was happening inside, immediately spotted Münster cheering loudly. There was no way he wouldn't stand out; a tall guy over 1.9 meters was conspicuous no matter where he was. He pushed through the crowd and patted Münster on the back.

"Hey big guy, what are you looking at so intently? Where's Bud?"

Münster turned around and saw Zhang Yuan. He scratched his head and pointed, "Look, there's Bard." It was quite a sight to behold. Two short, stout men, as big as barrels, were wrestling together, without any weapons, just fighting bare-handed.

You punch me, I'll elbow you. Since they're all thick-skinned dwarves, no one took it seriously. They cursed and swung their fists at the same time.

Seeing his lively teammate still bouncing around, Zhang Yuan felt relieved and watched the show with the big guy: "Who's the other dwarf? Do they know each other? How did they start fighting?"

After scratching his head as usual, Münster said uncertainly, "I think I know him. I heard Bard yell, 'You dare mention the name 'sweet rice wine'?!'"

What the heck? Sweet fermented rice? Zhang Yuan asked the question that had been bothering him, but instead received a surprised response from Münster: "Don't you know? Bard's family name is Sweet Fermented Rice."

After a long silence, the man had no choice but to continue watching the dwarf wrestling performance. However, Zhang Yuan, who was gradually losing patience, couldn't wait any longer. If he delayed any longer, he wouldn't have enough time to visit the mage tower.

"Bard, stop wasting your time here. You two could fight all day and still not get anywhere. I'll buy you and Big Guy drinks!"

"Master, please wait a moment, just a little while. I'll be able to teach this scoundrel from the Sweet Fermented Rice family a lesson in no time."

“You? Your sissy fists aren’t even enough for me to massage! Bard, the easy life on the ground has corrupted you!” another dwarf roared.

"Damn Kegan, what you've done is as foul as the dung of the Loss Beasts! You've tarnished our emblem! Die!"

Kegan? Someone suddenly realized something. Could that short, barrel-shaped guy be the strongest warrior teammate that could be recruited in the Sword Coast region of the game?
Thinking of this, Zhang Yuan decisively began summoning chess pieces. As the incantation ended, the little stone golem reappeared: "Target: Quarry!"

The sudden appearance of the spells and the stone golem surprised the onlookers. Although they had seen mages before, few people had actually witnessed the casting of spells and the creation of magical objects.

The onlookers felt it was truly a worthwhile trip. First, there was the dwarf wrestling performance, and then the sorcerer performed a magic trick of turning people into real ones. Great! Well done! Let's give them a round of applause!
Feeling like he was being treated like a monkey in a circus, Zhang Yuan blushed with embarrassment. Without saying a word, he pointed to the two wine barrels that were fighting and told Xiao Shitou to go.

Upon receiving the order, Little Stone grabbed the shoulders of the two men and hung his entire weight on them. This was a stone man, and although he was only 1.5 meters tall, the weight of the high-density stone was enough to make it difficult for the two men to move.

Seeing that the two had stopped fighting and were staring at each other through the stone golem, Zhang Yuan quickly stepped forward: "You two are both tough and skilled shield warriors. Even if you were given a whole day, you still wouldn't be able to achieve a result."

Then he took out the bottle of medical alcohol disinfectant that had accompanied him on his journey, opened the cap, and a strong aroma of alcohol that the people of the main plane had never smelled before wafted out: "I am now heading to the western forest to visit Master Tyrantir and I am short of guards. Whoever performs better between you two, this bottle of wine belongs to the victor."

Seeing his mage pull out a strange jar, which, when opened, emitted a stronger aroma than dwarven spirits, Bard said with displeasure, "I say, Chanem, you actually carried such fine wine with you, and you've been keeping it a secret from old Bard all this time."

On the other side, Kegan was somewhat tempted, but how could a seasoned veteran be swayed by such childish tricks? "Forget it," he said, "who knows what's going on in the heads of you mages? If you anger Master Tyrantir, don't drag me down with you." With that, he turned to leave.

"Very good, congratulations, Bard! You won the match against that coward. As a reward for the victor, this bottle of wine is yours!"

Someone staged an award ceremony, pretentiously and slowly handed over the disinfectant.

But before Bard could even reach for the bottle with his joyful expression, a furious shout rang out: "Who's the winner? Say it again!"

But it was Kegan, charging towards them like a bull, his blood-red eyes blazing and white smoke billowing from his nostrils.

(End of this chapter)