Grifting mages for spells

Michael found the stairs leading down and joined the group of serious mages engrossed in their game.

He didn't travel for four hours in a bumpy carriage ride to the waste-ridden Kingsbridge City just so that he could see the mages spending their entire day playing chess.

He had come for magic spells.

"Haha! Checkmate, I win!" one particular game ended, with the winner announcing his proud victory out loud across the room. The loser quickly left the table, desolate and saddened by his loss.

Michael approached the winner.

"Excuse me, but aren't you going to perform magic spells in front of the crowd?" 

He pointed towards the spectators gathered on the second floor.

The victorious mage, still basking in his win, graciously answered Michael's question with a smug smile on his face.

"Ahh, there's no need for that anymore," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Instead, we hold daily chess tournaments to show our advanced intellect to the good people of Kingsbridge."

He leaned back, speaking as though explaining a fundamental truth.

"Normal people don't really understand magic anyway. If they see something flashy, they clap—even if it's just a 1-star spell. I perform a boring 5-star spell, and they barely react to it."

"With this chess tournament, though, it's very different. Even normal people could understand how the mages from the Guild of Arcana are superior in intellect to any other job. And through it, they also know how to play chess, so they recognize when one player is better than them."

Michael was so disheartened that he had to sit down.

He was so excited to analyze every spell he saw from the mages, only to find out they no longer performed spells for the general public.

If he hadn't invented chess… 

Michael sighed. He was his own worst enemy…

But he wasn't ready to give up. As his gaze fell on the scattered chess pieces, an idea formed in his mind.

He reached out and collected the chess pieces before arranging them into their correct spots.

The bespectacled mage shot a weird look at Michael.

"Kid, my next opponent is going to be here soon. You don't even know what you're doing…"

At first, the mage thought that Michael was just playing around with the pieces, but his expression shifted to surprise when he realized that the pieces were correctly placed without any mistakes. Even the Queen was in the right spot, which most rookies tend to forget.

Michael then took out a leather pouch from his pocket and plopped it onto the table, with a satisfying KACHING sound reaching the bespectacled mage.

"Gold coins," he muttered, already tempted.

"How about we play a game of chess? If you win, I'll give you 100 gold coins. If I win, you have to perform one magic spell in front of my eyes," Michael said, with a devious grin on his face.

The mage looked at Michael with suspicion. It seemed… too easy. All he had to do was beat a five-year-old kid, and he would win a prize equivalent to doing odd jobs through the City for an entire month.

And the consequences weren't that bad either. He just had to perform a spell in front of a kid.

It was too good to be true. It sounded like a trap. But…

"I could use more money to buy a new broomstick," the mage pondered.

Then, he looked at Michael with all seriousness.

"No takebacks," he warned Michael.

"No takebacks," Michael replied as he made the first move.

TAK!

_____

A couple of minutes later, the bespectacled mage sat with his head in his hands, staring at the board as Michael absolutely decimated his pieces with nothing but a knight and a rook.

"I can't believe it… I lost—to a kid, no less!"

He was entirely outclassed. The mage was mad for a second since his pride was hurt, but after thinking about the game, he became intensely curious at the advanced tactics Michael had used, something nobody had ever thought of before.

"Checkmate," Michael said, knocking over his opponent's king off the board.

The bespectacled mage went silent for a few seconds before suddenly bombarding Michael with tons of questions.

"Wait. During this part, why did you move your bishop to this place? Also, you could have taken my queen, but you didn't. I realize that it led to my downfall, but how did you think of that? I thought I was winning, until I wasn't."

Michael saw the spark of curiosity in the mage's eyes. He could see why intellectual minds like him were so taken with this game.

"Sometimes, it's better to sacrifice pieces to get a better position…" Michael answered with a smile.

He spilled out all the lessons he had learned while playing chess in his previous world, and the man listened to him without ever uttering a single word.

At some point, he no longer treated Michael as a mere five-year-old child. 

"I see… thank you. That was very insightful. I feel like my game has improved so much."

Michael appreciated the recognition. "You're welcome."

But of course, he couldn't forget their agreement.

"Ahem… now, about my prize…"

The mage had been so busy consolidating the lessons he had learned that he had nearly forgotten about their deal.

"Oh, right. I have to show you a spell, right?"

Michael nodded.

The mage thought long and hard as to which spell he was going to show Michael. If it was before, he would have simply shown him a 1-star spell and been done with it already.

But he couldn't do that to Michael. Not after how much he had taught him about chess.

"Watch closely. This is a 3-star spell called Cloud of Daggers."

Raising his hand, the bespectacled mage gathered mana at the tips of his fingers.

Then, a violet mystic aura swirled to life, forming illusionary daggers that spun around him at a high speed.

Michael reckoned that anyone who tried to get close to the guy would be ripped to shreds in an instant by those daggers.

[Analyzing magic…]

[Magic theory acquired.]

[Cloud of Daggers]

— ★★★

— Fire and Dark element

— This magic creates a sea of daggers, orbiting around the user in a 1-meter outer radius.

Michael read the spell's description and was satisfied with its defensive abilities. It would surely be very useful to a guy like him who didn't like to fight with his hands.

"Thanks," Michael said.

Just then, another mage walked towards them and got curious as to what they were doing.

"I just won my match, and we're supposed to be fighting next round—wait, looks like you lost your game," the scruffy man said as he observed the chess board.

The bespectacled man quickly explained.

"What actually happened was…"

_____

A few minutes later, the scruffy man was caught up with what happened in the match.

Then, he couldn't help but turn to Michael and ask with a smirk, "100 gold if I win, right?"

Michael's lips curled into a devious grin.

And so, the grift began…