Gradually, Ruger was drawn into the game as well. An invisible yet powerful force seemed to pull him into the calculations of the two High-Rank Wizards, and he began working through the moves with his own rather crude chess skills. It was as though he had become a third player, sometimes taking his teacher's side, sometimes unconsciously becoming that unconventional hand, and even turning into a Bloodthirsty Escape Rabbit on the board.
Time passed. The pieces on the board dwindled, but the struggle grew fiercer.
Ruger stared wide-eyed at a piece being flipped. Suddenly, he swayed, feeling somewhat dizzy. He immediately closed his eyes and steadied himself.
He knew he had unwittingly become too absorbed. He was already hungry, and now a wave of weakness washed over him, accompanied by a little dizziness. He shook his head, trying to shake the game out of his mind. At the very least, he could no longer afford to think too deeply about it.
Simply watching for entertainment would have been fine, but he always subconsciously put himself in his teacher's place or the hand's. As he tried to figure out the game, he also tried to figure out what his teacher was thinking, and what the hand was thinking. Of course, the main reason was still his hunger.
The others who had been watching from the sidelines, on the other hand, were thoroughly enjoying themselves and showed no signs of discomfort.
Ruger pursed his lips and chose to watch for entertainment too, rather than try to keep up with a Four-Ring Wizard's thoughts.
In fact, using this game was already an excellent way to do that, under excellent conditions. There was a limit to its complexity, after all, so the thinking he was trying to keep pace with did not even reach