Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 116 Battle Qi Transforms into a Horse, the Phantom Steed Makes its Debut; Two Riders Arrive Together, Chaotic Luna is Perfect for Both.

The two left the city and headed towards the western Sword Coast.

Zhang Yuan hadn't walked more than a few steps when he started to feel the strain. Kegan was already short-legged, and coupled with his heavy armor and massive shield, his speed was... well...

Zhang Yuan, who had stopped, turned around and looked at the dwarf who was still trudging along with his head down. He shook his head repeatedly and said, "Kegan, you should stop for a bit. At our speed, it will probably take us a month to reach the coast."

"It's nothing, life in the wild is nothing to me, Kegan. Isn't that how all adventurers live?" The dwarf brother was quite easygoing and didn't seem to care at all.

Recalling the days when he and Flame Fist worked together, Zhang Yuan felt a pang of nostalgia, but—

"Don't compare us to ordinary adventurers," Zhang Yuan said with a smile.

After saying this, Zhang Yuan began casting the spell, and upon finishing, he shouted, "Battle Qi Transforms into a Horse!!!"

(O_o)?? Kegan, standing to the side, looked completely bewildered.

But as the summoning light faded, a strong and magnificent steed appeared before them.

This was the third-circle arcane spell that Zhang Yuan had specifically memorized in order to speed up his journey—Phantom Steed.

"Well, boss, you have a horse to ride, but what am I supposed to do?"

"Don't worry, you have a mount too, otherwise how long would I have to wait for you?" After saying that, Zhang Yuan summoned the Chaos Knight, the old driver.

"Let's go!" Zhang Yuan mounted the Phantom Steed, ordered the Chaos Knight's warhorse to extinguish its flames, and pulled Kegan onto the back seat.

The short man, now mounted, kept groping the warhorse beneath him. Its fierce, domineering appearance, its sinister aura, and its unique, unconventional beauty truly appealed to him.
"Boss, is this some kind of nightmare? You can even summon an Abyss Knight?" The dwarf couldn't help but think that the man and the horse had been summoned from a lower plane.

"That's about right, let's go!" Unable to explain clearly for the time being, Zhang Yuan simply glossed over the matter, pulled on the reins, and continued on his way.

The two traveled westward, through the woodlands of the suburbs, and when they passed near Highhold Fort, they could even see the spire of Highhold Fort.

The day's journey ended amidst the jostling on horseback, the banter and banter between the two, and Zhang Yuan's unscrupulous act of occasionally pointing at Gaolibao and using the name of Tyrantir to intimidate his dwarf brother.

As night fell, Kegan chose a dry clearing backed by a rock wall as his campsite. Zhang Yuan then took out all the necessary items for camping, such as tents, sleeping bags, cooking utensils, etc., and handed them over to the dwarves for arrangement.

Knowing that his wilderness survival experience was nowhere near that of the veteran adventurer Kegan, Zhang Yuan simply handed over all the trivial matters to him, only helping out as a gofer.

As a seasoned veteran, the dwarf brother was exceptionally reliable at this moment. He set up tents, built a campfire, cooked food, searched for water, and even laid a few simple traps around the camp before going to sleep. However, since he was not a wanderer by origin, these traps could only serve as an alarm.

Zhang Yuan then cast three level-one summoned monsters in a row. Anyway, he had plenty of level-one spell slots, and the summoning spells he remembered would expire if he didn't use them.

"The Axe King has answered the call!"

"The Giant-Toothed Seaman has arrived!"

"Raise your spears, raise your shields!"

The three Tier 1 Warrior pieces, Axe, Tusk, and Mars, are introduced in turn.

A hazy white light then enveloped the three soldiers.

Warrior Synergy - Greatshield: All warrior units receive a defense buff, roughly equivalent to an extra piece of chainmail.

The chess piece, which never sleeps and whose duration far exceeds that of ordinary summoned creatures, is truly perfect for the task of keeping watch. Under Kagan's yet another surprised gaze, Zhang Yuan, feigning composure, cast an attack on the chess piece, eliminating all nearby enemies except himself and Kagan, before crawling into his tent.

Nothing happened all night.

The next morning, when Zhang Yuan stepped out of the tent, he found that his dwarf brother had gotten up very early and was cooking oatmeal porridge for the two of them for breakfast.

Someone with a generous budget wouldn't skimp on themselves. The oatmeal he prepared included extra nuts like almonds and walnuts, as well as dried fruits like raisins, banana chips, and dried melon. He also poured in a can of condensed milk. Hmmm, the aroma is amazing.

With a slap, Zhang Yuan knocked the spoon that Kaigen was using to stir and secretly eat from his hand away, then snatched it back and repeated the other's actions.

After enjoying a delicious bowl of oatmeal porridge, the two felt refreshed and packed up their tents and luggage. As usual, Zhang Yuan summoned his mount from the previous day, and the three of them and their two horses continued their journey.

The journey ahead wasn't exactly peaceful, but it wasn't particularly dangerous either. Scattered skeletons, kobolds, goblins, and the like were like weeds, impossible to eradicate no matter how hard the adventurers tried.

After several dismounts to deal with these clumsy creatures, old Kegan was fine, even enthusiastically letting his axe drink blood once more. But the mage wasn't in the same mood.

Frustrated beyond measure, Zhang Yuan simply reined in his horse and, without dismounting, attempted to cast a spell without hand gestures.

Fortunately, the horse stood firmly, and the spell cast was only a level one summoning spell, so it was successful.

"Serving, serving, serving Celimoni..."

Three identical opening lines were uttered, and three female knights with identical appearances leaped out gracefully.

It was Luna, the Moon Knight, a first-class elven knight. These valiant female knights rode black panthers, wielding shields in their off-hands, their weapons the renowned Moon Blade from their previous life.
The Luna Riders are not only agile, but their moon blades can also bounce through enemies like boomerangs, eventually returning to their masters.

As Luna Knight appeared, cylindrical, almost transparent barriers flashed across the bodies of Chaos Knight and the Luna Knights.

Knight Synergy - Blessing of the King: When a Knight is attacked or damaged, a shield is activated every twelve seconds, greatly increasing the unit's armor and magic resistance for three seconds.

Now, the two adventurers in the wild have transformed into a knightly order.

However, the effect was immediate. The Luna unit is a typical bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong. They are easy prey in tough battles, but when it comes to harvesting easy kills, the Luna have something to say.

The increasingly powerful group continued their journey. Full of confidence, Zhang Yuan even hoped that some fools would run into them, allowing his knights to get a taste of their power.

Before long, the guest Zhang Yuan had been looking forward to arrived.

I, Sagar, am incredibly strong!
Strong Sagar—this was the nickname given to him by his fellow goblin brethren, whom he had easily knocked to the ground, their heads bleeding, out of fear, and he himself was quite proud of it.

After using his strength to persuade his companions with his fists, Saggs thus formed a large goblin gang, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a bandit group.

Relying on their numerical advantage, ordinary adventure teams that dare to provoke the Saga bandits often suffer heavy losses and their formations are scattered under the first volley of arrows.

After a few more rounds of firing, Sager led the charge, sending the wild adventurers fleeing in terror. Not only did he fail to wipe out the bandits, but he also ended up being a transport captain for nothing.

When faced with a large and aggressive group of adventurers, Sagar wouldn't be foolish enough to confront them head-on; he would naturally lead his team to retreat.

So the bandit gang led by Sagara made a living by robbing passing travelers and caravans, and they lived quite comfortably. It had been more than half a year since they were wiped out.

Sure enough, shortly after lunch, an adventurer team of only five people arrived (Kagan was too short and could not be seen by others while sitting in the back seat), which was a good opportunity for them to stretch their muscles.

(End of this chapter)