Reforged Chapter 19: Life is Like a Chess Game

At that moment, the system fairy suddenly appeared.

"Dear host, I've detected a harmless illusion and an unknown rule. Would you like me to filter it for you?"

A harmless illusion?

"Filter it!" Duke decisively answered.

The scene in front of him changed, and what appeared before Duke was still a chessboard and a bunch of chess pieces. However, each chess piece had transformed into a lively matchstick-like figure.

"What if I don't filter it?" The view changed again, reverting to the familiar Karazhan chess event from World of Warcraft that Duke knew best.

On Duke's side, the front row was fully armored and brightly outfitted Stormwind guards. The blue plumes and the blue-background, gold-threaded lion's head shield insignia gave Duke a sense of indescribable valor.

"Wow, can it change according to my imagination?"

This fantastical illusion was far beyond the immature 3D game technology Duke knew from before his time-travel.

Having seen through it, Duke was no longer shocked, and instead became increasingly interested.

There were six types of chess pieces in total. Although the appearance of the pieces was still divided into Alliance and Horde, it was different from the Karazhan chess event in the game for some reason.

The first type was the pawn, with a full front row for each side. On the Alliance side were Stormwind soldiers, while the Horde had armored foot soldiers.

The second type was the knight, with two on each side. The Alliance had heavily armored knights mounted on fully armored warhorses, while the Horde had wolf riders wielding massive maces.

The third type was the bishop, two on each side. The Alliance had two frost mages, while the Horde had two doom mages.

The fourth type was the rook, with two on each side. The Alliance had two healing priests, while the Horde had shamans.

The fifth type was a bit strange. In the queen's position, the Alliance had Azeroth's guardian and Chief Court Archmage of Stormwind, Medivh, while the Horde had a vague-looking archmage.

The sixth type was the king, no doubt about it! The Alliance had King Llane Wrynn clad in silver armor and wielding a mighty hammer, while the Horde had Warchief Blackhand with his axe.

Just then, the one who called himself the dormitory administrator, 'Raven', spoke up.

"Hehehe! Little one, not scared, are you?"

Duke sneered, "No, I'm already scared."

"I don't see any scared expression on your face. Well... don't take this little game to heart; it's just my little bit of wicked fun. Of course, your performance in this game will directly affect your status and living conditions at the Royal Academy of Magic. So, if you can, I hope you'll give it your all."

At first listen, Raven seemed to suggest he would use his position as a dormitory administrator to grant Duke some benefits. However, there were many hidden pitfalls in his words.

Duke didn't expose them, but instead revealed a mysterious smile, "Alright then. I think you wouldn't want me to play an ordinary game of chess with you, right? Show me some unique mage gameplay!"

Raven's face was almost entirely shrouded in shadow under his hood, and a knowing smile spread across the part of his face that was visible beneath it.

"This is the Academy of Magic, and those playing regular chess with my companions will live next to the bathroom for the next year."

"Oh, that's quite unfortunate."

Please allow Duke to grieve mischievously for those poor souls for a moment.

"Alright, you see the ultimate version here. First, you need to prove you're worthy of being a piece on this chessboard."

In Duke's vision, a massive golden scroll opened up, revealing numerous spell formulas written in Common. Above the scroll, a gigantic hourglass appeared out of thin air.

The message was clear: when the hourglass ran out, the scroll would close.

Almost immediately, Duke set his system sprite to work.

"System sprite, analyze and record at once!"

"Understood, my host... Beep! Preliminary analysis shows these are simplified versions of the spells Arcane Intellect, Frostbolt, and Blizzard. Formulas imprinting... Spell models recorded, now reverse-calculating the complete spell formulas."

Duke quickly realized this was a golden opportunity!

It seemed to be a game on the surface, but in reality, it was a test for admittance!

The trial wasn't necessarily about how powerful the apprentice was or how many spells they could master, but rather, it aimed to test the adaptability of the trial student.

Although the way these spells were being used was like handing a gun to the trial student and asking them to pull the trigger, pulling the trigger didn't guarantee hitting the target, and hitting the target didn't guarantee hitting an effective spot. Even if they hit the right spot, timing, method, and effect still mattered.

How to use the spells and in what manner tested the trial student's adaptability, elemental affinity, and imaginative and comprehensive understanding of magic.

This was, without exaggeration, a comprehensive magical test!

For most trial students, the sand in the hourglass was worth more than gold. Many recognized this as a fantastic opportunity to acquire spells for free, even if they were simplified versions that would make their future magical path much smoother.

Each student greedily stared at the scroll.

Except for Duke, who was truly unique.

He merely glanced at the nearly life-sized scroll before lowering his head in contemplation.

Only he knew that he wasn't actually contemplating, but rather enduring an information bombardment from his system sprite.

"Spell model Arcane Intellect detected. It can temporarily recharge your overdue intelligence, allowing your meager brain to temporarily hold more spell models. Rejoice—Level 1 Arcane Intellect's 2-point intelligence boost can temporarily raise your mana by 20 points, meeting the minimum intelligence requirement for Blizzard."

"Frostbolt: Hey, youngster, want to make your opponent eat an ice pop made of your foot-washing water? Level 1 Frostbolt can fulfill your needs!"

"Blizzard: Want to throw your opponent into disarray in the cold wind? Want to freeze them into a popsicle on a hot summer day? Level 1 Blizzard—you deserve to have it!"

Upon reading the first few lines of the advertisement-like descriptions, Duke had the urge to force his system sprite to eat excrement.

"What is this nonsense? Please, don't use that tone when explaining spells to me!"

"Oh, that's unfortunate. I extracted this way of speaking from the information in your brain. Considering this tone accounts for 70% of your daily conversations, I thought you'd enjoy it. Why are you complaining about me?" The system sprite rebutted Duke with the most solemn tone.

Fine! Duke was defeated.

To be continued