OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 74 Chess

A transparent force field surrounded the board, which thwarted his attempts to reach the pieces or even walk past it and leave through the door.

Emir stood there, mesmerized by the fluidity of the pieces' movements, each one seeming to possess a spirit of its own. The sounds they produced were not mere clacks and clunks but instead evoked the feeling of an actual battlefield.

Approaching the board, he noticed it light up with a message:

{Defeat the opponent to unlock the next passage.}

Intrigued, he took a seat on a chair that stood facing the board and surveyed the pieces with a sense of anticipation.

The room was silent, save for the sounds of his breathing and the occasional creak of the chair beneath him.

Then suddenly, a holographic figure materialized before him, cutting through the silence without warning.

The figure took on the form of a tall, young woman with long silver hair and piercing blue eyes that shone in the dim light, casting an otherworldly aura around her.

"Welcome to the first puzzle, Order's Chosen."

Her voice reverberated through the labyrinthine corridors of the ruins. The words lingered in the air, bouncing off the crumbling walls, repeating over and over again like an ominous mantra.

"So it's you who has been playing around with me? The AI manager of this place?" Emir asked with no sign of surprise on his face.

For a brief moment, the AI hologram remained motionless, her gaze fixed on him with an intensity that seemed to pierce through him.

Her eyes, a vivid shade of blue, shone with a light that illuminated the darkness around them. Not a single blink or twitch betrayed any sign of emotion, leaving him to wonder if it was even capable of such a thing.

"Correct," she replied.

"You are seen as a potential threat to the preservation of this ancient ruin and its inhabitants." 

"Your elimination is deemed necessary."

Emir scoffed.

"But why not just let me rot in here? Why put me through this maze?"

The AI paused again, its blue eyes never leaving his.

"That would be against my programmed code."

"All challenges must be fair, with some chance of victory. To simply leave you to die would be an unfair and unsportsmanlike solution."

"…So all I have to do is beat you at this game of chess to move on to the next passage?"

The AI smiled coldly, its metallic features gleaming in the dim light.

"Yes, you and only you must beat me in this game of chess."

"Be warned," she said, her metallic voice resonating with authority.

"I will detect any changes in your neural network waves if you attempt to communicate with your AI companion." 

"It would be unfair to have her aid you in any way during this or the upcoming challenges. Do you not agree?"

Emir nodded his head.

"Of course, miss?"

"You can call me Arcadia."

"If you win, I will release you to the next section of this maze. If you lose, well, let's just say that your fate will be left up to chance."

"And if I refuse to play?" He asked, wanting to know Arcadia's limits of control.

Arcadia tilted her head slightly as if she were confused by his question.

"Then you will never leave this place." 

She said simply, the finality of her statement pressing down on him like a weight.

"Fine," he said, his voice tight.

"Let's play."

With a deep breath, he braced himself for the challenge ahead, recognizing that it was his only hope of escaping this maze alive.

And as his words rang out, the chessboard and its pieces moved into a more traditional layout.

The chess pieces were unlike any he had ever seen before.

They were made of a strange metallic material, and they seemed to shift and morph as they moved across the board. The board itself was a translucent blue, with a grid of hexagonal cells instead of the usual squares.

"Let's play."

Inhaling deeply, Emir matched Arcadia's pawn to e4 with his own pawn, as was usual for him.

Arcadia's response was swift, as she maneuvered her knight to threaten his pawn, and he responded by moving his own knight out to block it, trying to maintain control of the center of the board.

"Not bad."

She was quick to counter, moving her bishop to threaten his knight.

"I play chess sometimes."

Emir wanted to know at which level they were playing, so he took his queen and moved her out to attack the bishop.

"…"

Arcadia responded with a series of quick, precise moves, forcing him to retreat his queen and defend his position.

He realized that it was around a B-class match at least, so he turned his focus towards being on the defensive, leaving the AI with a momentary piece-development advantage.

Emir, who showed no signs of stress, started to think several steps ahead, anticipating her next moves while looking for weaknesses in her position.

"So uh, what else do you do around here? Besides trapping hunters and shit."

He sacrificed a pawn to gain control of the center of the board, hoping to create opportunities for his other pieces to move.

"Not much, I just keep the place clean of intruding pests."

She responded with a flurry of attacks, but he managed to hold his position.

"You think that I'm an intruder? You've trapped me here you know."

"Yes."

Their pieces moved back and forth across the hexagonal board, each trying to gain an advantage over the other.

"You're not one to talk, are you?"

He moved his bishop out to challenge her knight, hoping to gain further control of the center of the board.

"No."

She countered by bringing her queen out, threatening to take his bishop.

"Boring."

He moved his knight to attack her queen, forcing her to retreat to a safer position.

"That's what time does to you."

Arcadia responded by moving her rook, attacking his knight, and forcing Emir to move it to a different square.

"But you're an AI. Time shouldn't affect you."

He advanced a pawn, trying to create a solid defensive line in front of his king.

"That's true for normal AIs, but I'm different." 

She responded by moving her own pawn, opening up a diagonal line of attack for her bishop.

"I see… mind explaining how?"

He moved his queen to a new position, trying to regain control of the center of the board.

"No. But if you survive, then you'll know soon enough." 

She countered by moving her queen, positioning it to attack his king.

"I hate you already."

Emir moved a pawn to block her queen's attack, but she was quick to respond, maneuvering her pieces to create new threats.

The game was highly tactical, with each move carefully calculated and thought out.

And as the match progressed, the board grew more and more complicated.

Pieces were captured, with both of them trying to gain an advantage, and lines of attack were established.

He was constantly on the lookout for threats and opportunities.

So he didn't notice that Arcadia was no longer just analyzing the board; she was studying him, wanting to know more about the thought process of the person before her.

Emir had played chess many times before, but this was unlike any game he had ever played.

'Arcadia is incredibly skilled, as you might expect from an AI, always seeming to be one step ahead of me.'

'It's like having a super-smart ex who always knows what you're going to say before you say it.' 

'Except, you know... Without the emotional baggage.' 

Emir snickered as he moved another piece.

The game was intense, with his opponent making strategic moves and countermoves that left him on edge. 

But he remained in the game, carefully planning each move to ensure he didn't fall into the AI's traps.

The holographic pieces moved fluidly as if they were alive, and the board was a battlefield.

He could almost hear the sound of swords clashing and shields breaking as the game progressed.

And finally, after several tense minutes, he saw his chance.

Arcadia had made a minuscule mistake, likely on purpose as set by her "fair" code, leaving her king slightly exposed.

So with his opponent's king cornered, Emir launched a series of coordinated attacks, using his bishop, knight, and queen to trap it.

Arcadia looked on with a calm expression, analyzing the situation on the board.

After several tense minutes of small movements that went back and forth, she retracted her hand from the board and said:

"Impressive. You actually managed to defeat me in this game of chess... It was a class A match, not something an average man would win."

She was forced to concede, and the chessboard deactivated with a satisfying hum.

Emir had won the game, but it had been a close match.

He let out a chuckle and said: 

"Thanks, Arcadia. That was quite the fun challenge."

"It was my pleasure," she replied, her metallic features gleaming in the dim light.

"You have proven to be a worthy opponent. I look forward to our next encounter."

The door in front of him creaked open, revealing the way forward as the holographic pieces disappeared and the force field around the chessboard dissipated.

Emir walked through the door, and he couldn't help but wonder what other obstacles lay ahead so he turned back to Arcadia and asked: 

"What's next?"

"That is for you to find out," she cryptically answered.

"But be warned, the challenges will only get harder from here on out."

He nodded, steeling himself for what was to come.

"I'm ready." He replied firmly.

"Good luck," Arcadia said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"You will need it."

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