Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 87 Getting Started
Zhang Yuan slept very comfortably that night. What reason did he have to be uncomfortable or dissatisfied?
With such a comfortable bed, a clean and luxurious bedroom, and no more urging from missions, he was about to begin his long-awaited study of magic. He really couldn't find any reason to be unhappy.

A dreamless night.

The next morning, Zhang Yuan, feeling refreshed, arrived as promised after washing up. Old Banter arrived a moment later as well. Without any greetings or pleasantries, he directly gestured for Zhang Yuan to follow him to the top floor of the Arm of Friendship—the fifth floor.

This place, which is never open to tourists or outsiders, is actually Old Bentley's library and spell lab. In other words, it's a rudimentary, beggar's tower, where all the learning and research during this period will take place.

The single-story spell research center naturally cannot compare to the mage tower in Tyrandeur that I saw before, but it is still much better than burying myself in books by myself. Besides, I have already finished reading those books, and there is a library here.

The entire floor of the Arm of Friendship is quite spacious. After entering the fifth floor, Zhang Yuan found himself in a place similar to an entrance hall. The floor, walls, and ceiling of the entire room were covered with runes of unknown meaning that emitted a faint glow.

Two tall, stone-carved figures stood on either side of a door opposite, very similar to those seen in Tyrandeur. They must be the stone golems guarding the door.

After taking a closer look at the high-end version of the little relative, I followed Bantley through the door and saw a corridor.

Magic lamps hung above the corridor, preventing this completely enclosed space, which had no windows for natural light, from being completely dark.

After walking a few steps and turning into the second door on the right, you will see a room that looks like a library. In this not-so-large room, there are nearly twenty bookshelves, almost full of books and scrolls.

Old Banter led Zhang Yuan around the bookshelves, pointing to two of them:

"Most of the books you'll be reading later can be found on these two bookshelves,"

He then pointed to a desk not far away, on which were piled many papers and scrolls:
"There are many books for you to read. If you can't finish reading them, that's okay. You can copy them down here before you leave. Of course, if you find it tiring, I can also sell you copying scrolls for one gold each. I suggest you try to learn this magic trick within these ten days."

Zhang Yuan was getting impatient: "Where should I start? This copying technique shouldn't be too hard to learn, right?"

"I'll tell you later. As for whether it's difficult or not? That depends on the person." After saying that, Old Ban Teli turned around and walked out of the room, gesturing for Zhang Yuan to follow.

Zhang Yuan, who had come to another room with the old master, looked at the various equipment and piles of parts scattered on the floor and felt as if he had returned to the internship workshop of the engineering students he had visited at Hans University.

"You're not going to dismantle my summoned creature into parts, are you? What I summoned is a contract construct, not some kind of projection." Zhang Yuan couldn't help but worry about his pawn.

Those who are family know their own situation. What others summon is just a projection; it doesn't matter if it gets injured or dies. What he summons is the real pawn.

If it's just an injury, the piece can automatically repair and recover after returning to the void chessboard. But if it's completely destroyed, Zhang Yuan doesn't know what will happen, but that doesn't stop him from trying his best to avoid such a situation.

"What are you worried about? I'm just doing some research, not using it as a magic target. But some normal disassembly and research is normal, isn't it? Don't worry, I can definitely put it back together for you."

At this moment, Old Banter was no longer as composed as before. He avoided Zhang Yuan's gaze and spoke somewhat evasively.

Zhang Yuan's face darkened, but things had come to this point, and there was no turning back.

At worst, he'd just recruit two chess pieces specifically for this old geezer to study, considering it tuition. Zhang Yuan steeled his resolve.

He couldn't bear to part with the little stone golem that he had made great contributions in his campaigns. Anyway, there were still two idle stone golems, so he could just use one of them as cannon fodder.

Upon arriving at a circular magic circle in the center of the room, Zhang Yuan, at Old Bentley's instruction, summoned another Xiao Xiao who had been idle at home. Then, Old Bentley used a book list to send him away. "These are the books that a mage apprentice needs to read. Start reading from top to bottom, step by step. Go to the library yourself. Remember, don't disturb me while I'm studying, unless I call you over."

After handing a piece of paper to Zhang Yuan, Old Ban Teli pointed rudely to the door, signaling him to get lost.

On his way to the library alone, Zhang Yuan unfolded the book list and began to look at it. Good heavens, there were a total of 25 books, and these were just introductory books.

Zhang Yuan realized that he had underestimated the difficulty of this path. For spellcasters, especially mages, knowledge is power—this is a truth, not an empty phrase.

Conversely, the price to acquire this power is naturally considerable. Even ordinary people in their previous lives who want to change their fate and gain the power to survive in society must go through arduous learning and unremitting efforts.

So, how can magical knowledge, which inherently contains mystery and power, be so easily mastered?
With a sigh, Zhang Yuan, having figured things out, carefully read through the book list and was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't seem to be too difficult for him.

The majority of the books I received were also for beginners, and they largely overlapped with this book list.

Zhang Yuan did a quick calculation and found that nine out of the 14 books he had acquired were actually listed on this book list by his teacher.

What is this? Basic textbook? A primary school textbook published by the People's Education Press? Someone thought to themselves.

If you remove the nine books that I've already memorized in the past month or so, there are only 16 left. That's still a lot, but reading most of them shouldn't be a problem.

Old Bentley's laissez-faire teaching style was exactly what Zhang Yuan was thinking. Anyone who has experienced it can understand that at the graduate or even undergraduate level, there is no such thing as a teacher breaking down the material and feeding it to you. You have to rely on self-study most of the time.

Especially at the postgraduate level, there is very little teaching involved; most of the time it is self-study followed by discussion sessions, report meetings, or practical classes.

However, all of the above only shows that Zhang is adapted to this teaching style, not that he can become a genius overnight by relying on this so-called learning method and devour all 16 books in ten days.

Zhang Yuan's true confidence came from the system: a full 18 points of intelligence and the mage class template. This was his foundation.

Intelligence is not entirely equivalent to IQ. It doesn't mean that the higher the IQ, the smarter a person is. In fact, many highly intelligent mages, who can learn all sorts of obscure and profound spells, are completely clueless in other matters, and even die in some foolish and ridiculous situations.

Of course, one might say it's due to a lack of wisdom and emotional intelligence, but in general, intelligence in the rules of Faerûn represents a comprehensive and concrete manifestation of learning ability and aptitude in the realm of arcane magic.

It can be a person's mental strength, the ability to sense magic networks, or it can be memory, comprehension and learning ability, or in other words, enlightenment.

If Zhang Yuan, with his 14 points of intelligence in his previous life, was merely an ordinary mortal barely qualified to learn magic, possessing only a little talent and comprehension, then his 18 points of intelligence elevated this comprehension and affinity for the magic network to a terrifying level.

With the added benefit of the mage profession, the basic knowledge in those books was not as obscure and difficult for him as it was for ordinary people, and he rarely fell into the confusion and misunderstandings of beginners. However, he still needed a tutor to answer his questions about some content that required reference to other knowledge points.

While studying on his own at the base, Zhang Yuan even tried meditation to train his mind. With his already sufficient foundation as a first-level mage, he actually managed to sense the magic network on his own. However, since there was no mentor to guide him, he did not dare to go too deep.

"And this time, I'm determined to unveil your true colors and see you clearly," someone secretly resolved.

Thank you to "Book is My Fate 2" for the generous donation.
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(End of this chapter)