Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 99 Research on Tyrantir

"Please come up here." The Grand Master's words were as concise as ever. Although he said "please," Zhang Yuan didn't feel he had any room for politeness or refusal.

Following the flesh golem down to the second floor, where the construct research lab was located, Tyrantir was already waiting there. Compared to a few days ago, the archmage's hair was much more disheveled, and his expression showed more fatigue and anxiety.

It was obvious that the master's research had made little progress, but what did he mean by calling him here? Zhang Yuan pondered to himself.

“I want to analyze in depth the structure, drive, and control system of your elemental golem.” Tyrantir got straight to the point: “But I also know that your construct is not in the prime material plane as a projection. Once it disintegrates, you will have permanently lost this summon.”

Upon hearing Tyrantir's words, Zhang Yuan remained silent for a long time.

The situation is clear: the archmage wants to pay a certain price to gain ownership of this piece.

From a purely profit-driven perspective, a level 1 piece only costs ten energy points, which is incredibly cheap. Just the group of skeletons we cleared up nearby contributed over sixty points. Ten points is nothing, if not a drop in the ocean, but certainly not a big deal.

In contrast, Tyrantir's actions and attitude are always incredibly generous, no matter what conditions he offers, far exceeding the value of ten energy points. This is actually due to the information asymmetry, as the other party doesn't know that his pieces can be summoned endlessly from the void chessboard.

But when it came to actually sacrificing himself as a pawn, he was still a little reluctant, even though this little one was someone he had specially summoned for research, rather than the stone golem that had always been by his side in adventures and battles.

It's ironic that this person, who usually talks about being decisive and ruthless online and on certain platforms, is extremely reluctant to throw away an old piece of clothing or an old phone.

Seeing Zhang Yuan remain silent, Tyrandeur simply revealed his trump card:
"If you are unwilling, I will not force you; you can leave now. If you agree, I can pay for it with a magical item, and I will also set aside time periodically for you to receive guidance and answer your questions."

After speaking, the Grand Master stared at Zhang Yuan, awaiting his reply.

"How often is 'regular'?" someone asked, starting to get interested.

"It happens once every five days, and I can only spare two hours at most."

"make a deal!"

At this point, the person no longer cared about reminiscing and decisively betrayed the innocent Xiaoxiao.

Back in the lab, Zhang Yuan was holding a cloak and looking at it with great satisfaction. This was the magical item that Tyrantir had given him.

The main body of this cloak appears to be made of velvet, its thick and soft fabric giving a very comfortable feel, especially the tiny downy hairs on it, which are as smooth and delicate as the fur of a fawn.

The cloak is two-tone; the outer side is pure black, like the night sky, so dark it seems to swallow your gaze, while the inner side is deep blue, like the ocean, adorned with numerous silver stars.

Tyrandeur has already entered the relevant appraisal information into this cloak, and Zhang Yuan only needs a reading spell to obtain it.

"Star Cloak: +2 Magic Cloak, adds a certain amount of protection to the user, roughly equivalent to a piece of ordinary leather armor; adds a little bit of spell immunity to the user. Item ability: Star Shield, when actively activated, can absorb up to 5 spell levels of negative and damaging spells."

!! This is only a +2 magic item? In Zhang Yuan's opinion, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to classify it as a +3 powerful magic item. It can only be said that Tyrantir is indeed a great mage, with a very high standard and a generous attitude.

Zhang Yuan looked back at the Echinon Cloak he was wearing. Although the +2 Charisma attribute was quite good, he wasn't a warlock who relied on Charisma, and the daily three Charm spells seemed somewhat useless now.

Ordinary enemies, like kobolds, gnolls, and goblins, are easy to handle with my own abilities, especially with the help of my pawns. However, powerful enemies cannot be defeated with charm alone; their will and spirit are strong enough to overcome the immunity of this mere first-level spell. Previously, I didn't have any other cloak-like equipment, so using this one was fine. Now, of course, I should equip it with my newly acquired powerful gear.

He took off the Ejin cloak, folded it neatly, and put it into one of his backpacks. He had gone to retrieve the packages that the two goblin heroes had been guarding that same day and also released the chess pieces from their summons.

After putting away the old cloak, Zhang Yuan shamelessly buried his face in the cloak and rubbed it for a long time before putting on the new Starry Cloak, thoroughly enjoying the soft touch of the new cloak.

Then a voice came:
"Upon inspection, the chess piece Little has been damaged. Its core remains connected to the administrator and the auto chess piece system, but it has lost its recycling function. If the administrator retrieves the remains, a portion of the energy can be recovered."

Alas, his little one is truly gone. At this moment, Zhang Yuan felt both melancholy and relief. Fortunately, the chess pieces he summoned only had some low-level intelligence but lacked emotions and consciousness. Otherwise, the guilt of betraying his subordinates and comrades would have forced him to painfully give up the cloak in front of him.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Yuan chuckled self-deprecatingly, "It smells so good~".

He then draped the cloak over his back and fastened the clasp at his collar.

Time flies, and the years pass like a song. This time, Zhang Yuan stayed in Gaolibao for longer than he had originally planned. Looking back, four months have passed. The harsh winter moon has gone far away, and the flowery moon has arrived with the end of spring.

One can only sigh that what the Void Chessboard produces is indeed not a simple thing. Back then, Old Banterte spent more than a month researching it and only managed to replicate a weapon. He didn't get the core technology and structure of the chess pieces themselves.

As an archmage, Tyrantir's abilities are undoubtedly superior to Bantli's, and his passion for constructs and golems is beyond question. Moreover, the construct research lab located in Highhold is well-equipped, and Tyrantir's knowledge and experience are also quite extensive.

However, the difficulty of the research work exceeded the great mage's expectations.

The little stone golem looked like an elemental creature, but also possessed some characteristics of a construct. At first, Tyrandeer intended to classify it as a rare construct, the elemental golem. However, when he disassembled its body and prepared to study its driving core, he realized that he had been too prejudiced.

It should be understood that whether it is an elemental creature or a golem construct, it must have its own energy core and thought core, and such things often appear in the form of elemental cores.

Because of the consistency between the soul and body of elemental life forms, or extradimensional beings, their souls are the source of power. An elemental core, bound by spells and oaths, can simultaneously serve as the core of thought and power, which is convenient and easy to use.

This is why mages favor elemental life forms as the core of golems.

Of course, some constructs are different; those that choose other souls as their core of thought have other methods.

The core of thought, which all golems must possess, is essentially a prison for the soul.

Mages use gems, crystals, or soul prisms to imprison the souls of sentient beings, then bind and control them with oaths and magic circles. This becomes a thought core, which is used to manipulate golems or other constructs.

Generally, mages with a modicum of moral principles will choose extradimensional creatures, spirits, or magical beings as their soul source. However, those without moral principles will be indiscriminate in their choices, and it is common for them to absorb the souls of living people.

In addition to the core of thought, an alchemical reactor is also needed as a power source. Only when the two are combined can a construct truly operate.

But what's going on here? Dissecting the small, hard stone body, they found no alchemical reactor, only a pale green crystal, which didn't look like an elemental core at all.

(End of this chapter)