"Are you feeling alright?" Celestia asked with worry, "You seem... tired." she had only recently noticed that his eyes carried heavy bags under them and his movements seemed a bit slurred.
"It's alright." he waved a dismissive hand, "The raising of the tower took some toll on me but it is nothing I can not handle." he moved another figurine forward.
"It must have taken a lot of magic to create all of this..." she replied in wonder, "It is very impressive to think that you created all of this in one simple night."
"This?" he looked up, "Not at all. Simple conjuration and a few alterations... the spells needed to create all the rooms where a bit difficult I'll admit, not to mention the enchantments required to morph the space inside the tower..."
"That doesn't really sound as simple as you make it appear." she replied with chuckle as she moved a chess piece, "But even so, you look tired. How much of your magic did you use to create all of this?"
"Not an ounce of my own." he smiled at her, "There's so much magic in the surroundings here that all I had to do was simply grab it out of the air and use it for my purpose."
"The art of leeching?" she asked with an inquisitive look.
"Yup."
"Then why do you look so tired?"
He sighed, "Because my body can only handle so much magic." he saw her questioning face, "When leeching, my body channels the magic I pull out of my surroundings... But a mortal body can only handle a certain amount of mana flow before it strains the body and starts to damage it. And believe me, a lot of mana was required to build all of this."
She gave him an incredulous look, "You risked your own health to build this tower?"
"It's not as bad as it sound, it was enough to wear me out a bit but it is nothing a good sleep won't fix."
Celestia raised an eyebrow, "For the future, would you please refrain from doing things like this? I don't like the thought that you would hurt yourself simply to entertain others."
He shrugged, "Sure... shouldn't we continue our game?"
She gave him a disapproving glance, "You're taking this far too easy, it is worrying that you seem not to have a concern for your own life."
"Pfff... you're just trying to change the subject so you won't have to see me beat your flank all over this chess board."
She frowned, "Am I? Very well, let us continue then."
---
Calindria stepped through the door and into the hallway, cursing all the time.
"Bloody kraken had its sloppy tentacles all over me... How did it even know how to open my harness?" she shuddered as she repositioned it over her chest, "I bet this was his idea all along... wait till I get my hands on..." she stopped as another door in the hallway opened and a very smug-looking princess Luna stepped outside.
For a second, the two just stared at one another, "What happened to your armor and face?" Luna asked with a quizzical look.
Calindria pointed to her armor, "Flying baboons..." she pointed to the red ring on her face, "Kraken sucker..." she didn't dare mention that the red rings were, quite literally, all over her. She would strangle the necromancer for this. "What happened to your mane?"
Luna blushed, her mane was so drenched with sweat and... other things that it clung to her body, "I... had a workout..." and an exciting one at that, she still had to regain full control of her legs.
"Well..." the paladin sighed with a frown as she tightened another loose strap on her armor, "Seems like we get to do the next challenge together. I just hope he's enjoying this as he watches us, because I'm going to murder him when I find him."
Luna's face paled considerably, "What do you mean with... he watches us?"
The paladin raised an eyebrow, "He has like... this magic ball of light he uses to check all the rooms."
Luna's face became even paler and her pupils shrunk, "You mean to say... he saw..."
"Everything." the paladin shrugged, "He can even hear us, bloody bugger is probably watching us as we talk..." she looked up into the air, "Wait till I get my hands on you! You're as good as dead this time!" She turned back to princess Luna, "Are you alright?" she asked with worry, Luna looked like she was in some state of shock.
"Everything..." Luna whispered, "He saw... everything..."
"Hello?" Calindria waved her hand in front of Luna's eyes, but got no response. She gave off another sigh and started to pull Luna along, "Come on, might as well see this through..."
"Everything..."
---
"Hey! That's cheating!" he protested wildly.
"What?" Celestia asked in surprise, "I merely moved my pawn back a step."
"Exactly! You can't do that! Pawns only go forward!"
"Not in Equestrian chess." she replied with a witty voice.
"What?!"
"In Equestrian chess, the pawns may be moved backwards as well so you can protect them from the enemy's attacks."
He looked at her with a baffled face, "Why would you want to do that?"
"The sense of the game is to either conquer your foe by a single, well-placed move or bring him to an impasse while protecting one's own subjects."
"That..." he stared at her with an unbelieving face, "Is the single, most useless idea of chess I have ever heard."
She raised an eyebrow, "Then how do humans play chess?"
"Simple." he said, "Pawns go forward only, you sacrifice them to open up the ranks of your opponents and lure them into a trap."
"That is cruel." she replied with frown, "Why would anyone take such a civilized game and turn it into a barbaric slaughter?"
He gave her an annoyed look, "Because..." he made a motion with his hand, and before her eyes one of his pawns sprouted legs, arms and a miniature knife before dashing over the field and starting to brutally stab down one of her pawns, "It is effective."
She gave him a glare, and with a slight glow of her horn a miniature sun appeared over the chess board. Before he could react a beam of pure light shot out of the sun and turned his rampaging pawn into nothing but ashes.
"You incinerated my pawn! That's not allowed! Why did you do that?!"
She stuck out her tongue, "Because... it is effective?"
He gave her a glare, "I changed my mind."
She raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "About what?"
"You're getting a challenge like everybody else." he stated flatly.
"Whatever do you..." before she could finish her sentence, he snapped his fingers and a hole opened beneath her seat, Celestia falling through it with a yelp.
He eyed the chess board with disapproval as the trap door closed again, "Blow up my pawns will you... stupid game." He turned to one of the imps, a look of slight worry on his face, "Where did I send her anyway?"
"Maka zta kjuta." the imp replied with a broad smile.
"Room of the hundred paddles?" The necromancer chuckled, "Oh, that is going to be glorious... I wonder though what the paladin and Luna are up to..."