My Servant System

Chapter 683 682: Picking One Another's Mind

I hummed quietly to myself as I stared down at the chessboard, taking in the positions of the pieces and crafting a new strategy to counter Leone's ambitious, entirely offensive strategy that threatened to break down my defenses and swiftly capture my Queen and King.

The sun was slowly drifting down towards the horizon, the orange sphere of flames dangling in the clear blue sky warming up the Palace and gardens around it, bathing us in a nice warmth and leaving us feeling comfortable as we sat in the midst of a sea of green.

A nice floral scent wafted through the air, slightly sweet and slightly earthy, which complimented the simple red wine that we had brought out with us to further enjoy this nice day, especially with the added enjoyment of playing a good game of chess.

"So let's talk basics then. Your Fire Magic; you tend to utilize the explosiveness of it only on larger, area based attacks. Large blasts that burn down a set area. Only ever used to attack a group of enemies or used to separate a larger, stronger enemy from us. While invaluable..."

Picking up a bishop, I moved the piece across the board and nodded, looking back up at Leone and not letting her get a clue based on my eyes, simply smiling at her as she narrowed her eyes before looking down at the board, listening to me and thinking at the same time.

"It could be better. Why not infuse a spear or fireball with that explosiveness? Single target spell to pierce armor - be it metal, hide, or scales - and utterly obliterate whatever is inside. That explosiveness doesn't need to be the end of the spell; it can be the beginning. Utility to make something better."

"Mmm... so as a starter for my spells instead of a finisher? Give the ranged spells some more 'oomph' on a wider variety of my attacks? That's... certainly a good idea. Could use that to make my armory more versatile and deadly, that's for sure."

"Or you could compress the blast for something closer range, or as a trap spell. Not as explosive as you would think, but enough to cause serious damage to someone who was unsuspecting. Like my own close quarters spells."

Leone nodded, before picking up her rook and moving it a few spaces, trying to anticipate what I was doing and outplay it, only to frown as I made a move almost instantly, surprising her.

"Surprise can be quite the factor in a fight, and especially if that surprise is that a ranged attacker has something lethal up their sleeves for if they get dragged into the melee. No offense, Leone, but you aren't that great with that Estoc, even if your reflexes are abnormally swift and your strength is - occasionally - quite strong. Your footwork and melee acumen isn't that high..."

"Thanks, Kat, that's a wonderful thing to hear."

I chuckled at her dry response, observing the board closely as I continued to plot my next few moves, trying to anticipate the Vampire and begin sealing this battle in my victory.

"Besides the explosiveness, you could also begin to explore more personal support spells; things to bolster your own strength and increase your potency on the battlefield. That crest that you tattooed onto yourself all those years ago, the one that draws more mana from the air and improves your mana regeneration. Perhaps explore a few more spells that would increase your regeneration or improve the strength of your spells. Honestly, your current repertoire of spells utilizing only Fire Mana is extremely broad and potent. There's not much to improve besides the basics, which... honestly, you have a good grasp on and a grasp on what you need to continue working on."

"I guess that's true... besides, the basics are something we both have a deep understanding on, and unless we want to go quite in depth, then we should move on."

Stroking her jaw, Leone frowned before reaching forwards, sliding a pawn forwards and sacrificing it in order to gain a turn to continue setting up her strategy.

"Well then, your Moon Magic is perfect for support. Figure out how to alter the perspective of our enemies on the fly, corneal our locations, imbue your own spells with illusory properties to make them harder to anticipate and withstand... As for Blood Magic, it has an incredible offensive potential that is waiting to be tapped into. Learning to control the blood that was already spilled and crafting spikes and spears with them to attack the enemy from behind and below... Or using it to siphon off the life force of the enemy and heal yourself even faster while weakening them."

"True. Especially if I continue to explore my True Vampire Form and learn to harness its potential far quicker than I am able to do so now. Ah, and your Ice Magic, I notice that you almost always shatter it before it could impact someone; why is that?"

Studying the board, I answered "Shattering it into those slivers of ice to slice into the flesh of our opponents is the goal; I prefer crowd control and taking them out of the fight first before killing them afterwards. Besides, my Ice spreads a deep chill to anyone hit that makes it impossible to fight like normal. There's no need to kill one when I can take out multiple opponents with that same spell."

"And then when they get close you have that blast spell that sends shards straight into their body, right? On top of the swordplay that you possess... as well as the agility and dexterity... and the power..."

I rolled my eyes as I took not her pawn, but her rook, trading pieces with her and beginning to turn the tides as she had to assume a defensive stance on the board.

"Yes, I am a rather balanced fighter; something that Lady Fenryas has made sure to drill into my head... Comparatively, where you lack in physical prowess you excel in magical prowess. Play into your strengths, Leone. Bolstering your weaknesses is good and all, but not if you just simply can't get any progress in them. Currently, you haven't tried to improve your swordplay that much, so of course its lagging behind compared to your spells. Don't push yourself too hard to do something that you aren't great at."

She pouted at me, before letting out a sigh as she continued to trade pieces with me, our chess game continuing on alongside our casual chat, the wine and breeze creating a perfect atmosphere.

It was quite the evening to relax, and we continued to talk about our magics even as the game made its way down towards a conclusion, our minds clashing together and swapping ideas.