James found himself in a new place. It was like an open field as he could not see the borders of this field. However, he knew he wasn’t outside either since the sky was replaced with a high white ceiling. 

 

The young man looked around him and noticed that, other than the large platform before him, everywhere else was white. James approached the platform tentatively and saw its full proportions.

 

It was a large stone platform consisting of sixty-four stone blocks in an eight-by-eight square area. The platform stretched out pretty far and James could barely see the last two rows at the opposite side. While the young man familiarized himself with the platform, Amy’s voice echoed in his mind.

 

<A virtual coin will be flipped shortly to determine who goes first. Heads or Tails?>

 

“Umm…heads.” James blurted out after a slight pause.

 

<Flipping…processing…done! Tails! You will go second!>

 

As soon as Amy assigned the move order, a ray of light pierced through the white ceiling and landed on James’s card gauntlet, highlighting it with darker tones. Because he lost the coin toss, he would be using the ‘black’ pieces.

 

<Please proceed to the king’s position to start the match.>

 

Amy chimed in once more. James took a deep breath and approached the fourth block at his end. The block was rather large, about the size of a standard classroom. After he climbed onto the stone block, his opponent appeared on the opposing block.

 

The opponent wasn’t a real human being but rather a well-coded bot programmed to perform basic calculations and chess moves. The bot was shaped like a skinny human with lanky limbs. To save money, instead of a face, the developers installed a plain mask.

 

The bot touched its card gauntlet and summoned fifteen warriors – a standard deck of basic warriors decked in white armor. James also touched his card gauntlet and summoned fifteen similar warriors with black armor. Since they each have the same type of warriors, the test battle would boil down to whose skill was better.

 

Once James and his opponent lined up their warriors on the correct blocks, Amy commenced the match. The bot quickly raised its left hand and issued the first order.

 

[Clubman E2 to E4, march! Defend!]

 

The clubman standing in front of the bot swung his large club over his shoulder and sauntered ahead past one block. As he centered himself at the second block, the clubman re-positioned himself into a defensive stance.

 

James looked at the clubman standing a few blocks away with his club raised horizontally before him. “Let’s be cautious first. Clubman E7 to E6, march!”

 

The black clubman standing before the young man marched one block ahead and positioned himself in a neutral stance with the club resting lightly at the ground. The bot looked around and landed its attention on the horseman to its right.

 

[Horseman G1 to F3, charge! Stand at the ready!]

 

The white horseman reared back and galloped past two clubmen, stopping behind the white clubman on his left side. The horseman sheathed his sword and prepared to attack any time.

 

“Aggressive, aren’t we?” James mused as he stared at the two warriors. “Clubman G7 to G6, march!”

 

The black clubman near the far right moved forward one block and adopted a neutral stance. Meanwhile, the bot ordered the clubman standing before its elite warrior to march side-by-side with the other clubman, forming a defensive line.

 

In response, James ordered the bowman on his right to dive diagonally to the right and position himself in an attack position. With an arrow nocked, the bowman aimed his sights at one of the enemy clubmen forming the defensive line.

 

To prevent its clubman from certain death, the bot sent its horseman over as an intimidation factor. If James continued on and ordered the bowman to attack and kill the horseman, then the bot would send its clubman over to bludgeon the bowman to death.

 

Will James take it? Or will he try something else?

 

Contradicting to the bot’s predictions, James aggressively sent his left horseman near the white horseman, in hopes of baiting the bot into attacking his horseman. If the bot were to move its horseman towards his, then it would leave a clubman in his bowman’s attack range. If it doesn’t move the horseman, it could risk losing him.

 

The black armored bowman drew his bow at the horseman, causing the enemy to shift about restlessly. Because all of the warriors on the board were controlled by their respective ‘kings’, the horseman could not go against the bot’s orders and attack or retreat. It could only start a staring war with the bowman.

 

However, this could very well be James’s bluff. The bot calculated all the different possibilities and assumed that James might not really want to sacrifice his bowman for its horseman since it has a clubman protecting the horseman from behind.

 

Though a horseman has an erratic attack pattern, it does not beat a bowman’s attack range. And thus, the bot ordered the bowman on its left to move up to the horseman.

 

[Bowman F1 to D3, rush!]

 

The bowman stood at the right of the horseman with an arrow nocked but not drawn. James peered curiously at this move. Why did the bowman move there? Where does the bot want to move this game? What’s it planning?

 

James shook his head as he tried to stop overthinking. Too many questions could lead his thoughts astray. He must focus on the board and the next couple of moves. James wasn’t a genius who could think of all the possibilities and different ways to end the game like some chess players, but he was very adept at concentrating on the current situation and finding openings to different problems.

 

For now, the young man focused on the enemy bowman and realized that the bot must have been focusing its entire opening on the clubman defending at E4. The bowman was placed there to intimidate James from attacking the clubman with his bowman.

 

“Hmph, then, as an added layer of offense, take this!” James muttered as he aggressively pressed on. “Horseman G8 to F6, charge! Stand at the ready!”

 

The horseman on James’s left side reared up and galloped past the two clubmen onto the assigned square block. With sword drawn, the horseman directed himself menacingly at the clubman on E4. The enemy clubman fidgeted a bit as he glanced at the two opposing enemies staring hungrily at his position.

 

[Bowman C1 to G5, rush! Stand at the ready!]

 

The bot gestured for the second bowman to charge over and flank the opposing horseman, applying pressure on the warrior in hopes of moving him out of the way. However, if James were to move the horseman away, his elite warrior would be within the enemy’s line of sight.

 

Should James sacrifice the horseman in order to take the enemy bowman? No. James glanced over at the clubman at the far-left side. “Clubman H7 to H6, march! Stand at the ready!”

 

With a clubman forcing pressure on the enemy bowman, a decision had to be made. The bot weighed its choices and ordered the bowman to kill off the black horseman and claim the territory.

 

FIRST BLOOD!

 

Usually, if a player was able to unlock an achievement, he or she would be able to receive monetary gains, rating score bonus, or fame. Since the bot made the achievement ‘First Blood!’, it won’t be receiving any rewards. If it had been James who made the first kill, he might have received some money or a better rating score.

 

“Take him down, elite warrior!” James roared as he signaled his elite warrior to attack the bowman. “Elite Warrior D8 to F6, kill!”

 

WHOAA! The black armored elite warrior sheathed his sword and dashed towards the bowman. The bowman stood his ground and fired a couple of shots at the elite warrior. But, James’s elite warrior deftly warded off the arrows.

 

Even if an arrow luckily pierced through his defenses, the arrow would only bounce off of the elite warrior’s armor. Within a few seconds, the elite warrior arrived before the bowman. Restricted by the Cardist’s commands and the stone block’s borders, the bowman could only face death with unwillingness.

 

SLASH!