Farming magic spells
A few minutes later, Michael had another victory under his belt.
"I…I lost."
The scruffy mage said in utter disbelief. He couldn't wrap his head around how easily a five-year-old kid had crushed him in just a handful of moves!
Michael almost felt bad for the guy. It was as if they were the kid, and he was the adult bullying them in a grown man's game.
As a consolation prize, he decided to give him pointers on how to avoid being checkmated in less than twenty moves.
"When I put my queen here, you should have been wary of my next move because…"
Michael replayed the moves on the chess board and taught the scruffy mage about what would have happened if he had made the right moves.
The man groaned and smacked his own head upon realizing how much he blundered. And he couldn't believe that Michael was able to think that far ahead.
With a sigh of resignation, the man put down his hat on the table, showing Michael the respect he deserved.
"You have bested me, clear as day. And as promised, I will hold up my end of the bargain and show you one of my signature 4-star spells."
Raising his hand, the mage snapped his fingers. Mana particles shot out, swirling in the air before forming a definite shape.
An animate crow with a transparent body entirely made out of violet mystic energy, yet strikingly detailed, appeared in the air. It flapped its wings and circled Michael's head, its glowing eyes brimming with clarity as if it were a real living being.
Michael glanced back at the man and noticed that his eyes had turned milky white.
"This is a 4-star spell called Mystic Crow Summon. It allows you to create a crow that you can completely control."
[Magic theory acquired.]
[Mystic Crow Summon]
— ★★★★
— Dark and Lightning element
— This magic creates a summoned crow. The user can see everything that the crow sees.
These spells could prove invaluable to Michael in the future. The [Cloud of Daggers] seemed like a powerful mix of offense and defense, while the [Mystic Crow Summon] was perfect for scouting ahead.
Even though he wasn't planning on putting himself in some danger, he couldn't deny that the danger could come to him at some point in the future. After all, this was a fantasy world.
"Young man, can I have a go next?"
Michael saw a couple more mages waiting in line for a chance to sit across from him.
They were part of the small crowd that had watched Michael defeat the scruffy magician with his chess moves. Amazed at his chess strategies, they wanted to fight him at least once.
However, perhaps the reason why they were so eager to play against him was the tutoring session that followed each battle.
The two mages that Michael had already defeated came out of the match with looks of excitement and curiosity instead of frustration. They wanted to experience it again. And the price to pay for this immensely helpful lesson was just a simple magic presentation for the little child.
It was more than a bargain, seeing that they were being personally tutored by a master of chess.
"As long as you show me your spells, I'm willing to take you on," Michael said, preparing the chess pieces for another game.
_____
Time passed by as Michael defeated one mage after the other without breaking a sweat.
These mages were so inexperienced with chess that they were falling for easy traps and set-ups that were extremely popular back in his previous life. Michael exploited all these weaknesses to defeat as many mages as possible, more importantly, with the express intent of farming their magic spells.
And as he defeated more and more, he started to attract the attention of the whole room.
Even one of the front runners to win the whole chess tournament was tempted to fight against Michael.
And as usual, Michael beat him as well, albeit after facing a bit more resistance than the others.
This skyrocketed his reputation within the Magic Tower, with almost all the mages lining up to try and get a chance to beat the unstoppable five-year-old kid.
[Magic theory acquired.]
[Magic theory acquired.]
[Magic theory acquired.]
[Magic theory acquired.]
_____
"Please, let me go next!" one mage pushed through the crowd, raising his hand.
"No, I'm next. I've been waiting for forever!" Another mage pushed him back.
"I should go next. I already beat you, so there's no chance you'll win against the kid."
"Winning isn't my intention. I just want to learn how to get better!"
Michael sat in the middle of the library, his small table now crowded by a sea of overly eager mages.
He was glad that he was learning a lot of spells, but at this point, there were just too many of them. Most of the spells he learned were cool but had little practical use. He had to get picky.
"The spells I'm seeing are getting boring," Michael announced. "If any one of you can show me an interesting spell, I'll play them next."
His single sentence sent the mages into a frenzy.
They immediately shouted over each other, revealing their most secret and sacred spells out loud just so that they could get a chance to play a round of chess with Michael.
"I can show you a 4-star spell called Duplicity. It creates three clones, making it virtually impossible to recognize which one is the real thing."
"That's nothing. My 4-star spell can summon a giant meteor from the sky to rain down devastation on the ground."
"I have a 5-star spell called Cloud Surf! You can summon a moving cloud under your feet and ride through the air like a bird!"
Michael was interested in a lot of them, but he couldn't decide which one he was going to choose.
Just then, amid all the chaotic shouting of the mages, an old, serene voice somehow won amongst the rest and reached Michael's ears.
"Gugugugu… if it's a spell you want to see, then how about an 8-star spell called Draconic Blaze?"
The rest of the mages went silent as they heard this voice.
No one dared to speak.
They then slowly parted, making way for the speaker as he walked towards Michael with unhurried, leisurely steps.