Summer of 346, A.D.
“Psst. Kai.”
A whisper cut through the hush of the night.
Kai stirred, his mind sluggish, but something felt off. A silhouette stood at the foot of his bed.
His breath caught. He jolted upright, kicking off his sheets. In the dim light, he made out the familiar figure—Alex, standing motionless, his face unreadable.
“Alex? What in Balin’s name?”
“Get up. Tonight’s the night.”
Kai rubbed his face, his irritation fading into something sharper. It had been two weeks since Alex first teased this mystery, leaving Kai to stew in speculation.
Now, at last, Alex was making good on his word.
“Where are we going?”
“Get dressed. Follow me.”
Kai pulled on jeans, a hoodie, and sneakers. Alex waited at the door, hood up, hands in his pockets. The moment Kai stepped out, Alex started walking, his pace brisk and steady.
“We heading to see old Seth?”
“You’ll see.”
Alex didn’t slow, didn’t look back. They moved past Park Avenue, past the familiar streets where Kai had spent most of his life. Soon, the glow of the city faded behind them. The outskirts were quieter, colder.
Kai had expected them to turn toward Rebeltown, but Alex led them east.
That’s when the unease set in.
“Alex.” Kai’s voice was lower now, wary. “Where are you taking me?”
For the first time all night, Alex turned. He pushed back his hood, his expression unreadable.
“The Wall.”
The words hit like a brick. Kai’s stomach tightened.
He had questions—plenty. But something in Alex’s face told him to keep them to himself.
*
353rd Daisy Trials, Round of 128.
Kai set aside all zero HP cards, marking a section of the table as the graveyard. With that done, he turned his attention to his first planned experiment.
He reached for one of his new acquisitions:
Oryx Horn ???????? (Rare)
HP: 4
VP: 3
Last round, he had found [Big Flint] but no way to sharpen it. Unlike metal knives, which required a whetstone, stone blades had to be serrated—that was what gave flint its razor-sharp edge. The process, called flint-knapping, relied on bone tools to chip away at stone, refining it into a usable blade.
He hadn’t had the right bone before. Now he did.
Kai suspected the [Oryx Horn] would unlock a wave of new recipes. Following humanity’s technological evolution, this was his first step into the Stone Age.
He placed the [Oryx Horn] over the engraving on the table. A faint hum signaled that it had been accepted as a valid ingredient. Next, he grabbed one of his flint cards.
Without hesitation, he set it down. He had planned this recipe in advance. Now, it was time to see if it worked.
The table absorbed the cards, glowing brighter as the merging process began.
[Oryx Horn ????????] + [Big Flint ????]
Oryx Horn ???????? | HP: 4 → 3
Big Flint ???? | HP: 2 → 1
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Flint Knife ????].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Flint Knife ???? (Uncommon)
A brittle blade suitable for various tasks.
HP: 1
VP: 3
Kai studied the new card. Its serrated edge reminded him of the ancient artifacts Ariel had carefully preserved in the museum.
Interesting. I got a full knife. Not just the blade.
If Daisy had enforced strict realism, he would have needed to use something like [Acacia Tree Branch] or [Calligonum Shrub] for a handle, plus [Acacia Bark] to bind them together. But the crafting system seemed flexible, streamlining minor details in favor of functionality. He made a mental note of that.
More importantly, the [Flint Knife]’s point value was excellent. His scoreboard ticked up by three, but as his eyes flicked to his opponent’s score, he noticed something.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
They had gained the same amount.
Kai exhaled sharply. That meant his opponent was keeping pace.
Shoving the thought aside, he turned his focus back to the table. He had a lot more work to do.
A good thing about this recipe was that he had plenty of flint, and [Oryx Horn] had a generous amount of hit points. He had more than enough resources available to make several more of these. But that wasn’t the best part. The fact that Daisy had replicated humanity’s technology tree gave Kai several ideas of things he should look out for in future arenas.
The way Daisy structured this exam worked in Kai’s favor—and by extension, his people’s. Trial runners weren’t required to know how to build something from scratch this year; they only needed to recognize the key ingredients behind a given technology.
Kai’s people valued general knowledge over deep specialization. They might not have been master craftsmen, but they understood the broad strokes of many different skills. And in a system like this, where identifying components was more important than knowing exactly how to put them together, that mindset gave him an edge over opponents who relied on expertise in just one field.
Take that, Alex! See? Our culture does have potential.
Instead of mindlessly churning out [Flint Knives], Kai moved on to the next logical experiment. He picked up a smaller flint shard, the flaked-off remnant of the larger stone, and tested what would happen if he knapped it using [Oryx Horn].
[Oryx Horn ????????] + [Small Flint ????]
Oryx Horn ???????? | HP: 3 → 2
Small Flint ???? | HP: 2 → 1
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Flint Arrowhead ????].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Flint Arrowhead ???? (Uncommon)
HP: 1
VP: 2
Kai studied the new card and set it beside the [Flint Knife]. It had a slightly lower point value. From a point optimization perspective, [Flint Arrowhead] wasn’t the most efficient choice for mass production.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to settle with making knives yet. There might be better ones.
Flint could be used for a variety of tools. He had been hoping for two in particular. If his gut was right, unlocking them would open the floodgates for new recipes.
Kai closed his eyes, trying to recall Ariel’s practical flint knapping lesson. That had been a long time ago… but being in love did wonders for memory retention.
He drummed his fingers on the table. He remembered using a screw to serrate flint blades. But Alex had done something different. He hadn’t refined the edges—he had struck the stone at an angle, breaking off large flakes to make the whole edge of a flintstone thinner.
Kai opened his eyes and sifted through the pile of cards, searching for exactly what he needed.
Granite Brick ??? (Uncommon)
HP: 1
VP: 2
Good. It had one HP left—just enough to use. Kai grabbed the [Big Flint] he had worn down earlier, now at its last hit point. If he was right, this would get him exactly what he needed.
[Granite Brick ???] + [Big Flint ????]
Granite Brick ??? | HP: 1 → 0
Big Flint ???? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Flint Axehead ??].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Flint Axehead ?? (Uncommon)
A blunt and brittle axehead. It might be crafted into a functional tool.
HP: 1
VP: 3
It worked! Daisy included this tool in the recipes after all.
A whole new path had just opened up. Now, all he needed was a handle—and he already had the perfect match.
[Acacia Branch ????] + [Flint Axehead ??]
Acacia Branch ???? | HP: 4 → 3
Flint Axehead ?? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Flint Axe ????].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Flint Axe ???? (Uncommon)
A primitive cutting tool with a flint blade. It doesn’t look too sturdy.
HP: 1
VP: 3
Kai’s excitement faded as he examined the new card.
Only one HP?
He turned the card in his hand, running quick mental calculations. He had plenty of [Acacia Branch] HP left, and he still had [Big Flints], but… he should’ve expected this. Real stone tools were weak. They deteriorated fast. Both [Flint Arrowhead] and [Flint Knife] came with only one HP. Why would a flint axe be any different?
At least he had an axe now. That alone was a win.
And if he had an axe, the next move was obvious. Axes were meant for cutting wood, and this was the perfect test. He set two cards on the table, watching as the circuitry activated and motes of light condensed into a new form.
[Acacia Trunk ????] + [Flint Axe ????]
Acacia Trunk ???? | HP: 3 → 2
Flint Axe ???? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Acacia Log ????].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Acacia Log ???? (Uncommon)
A sturdy section of wood, suitable for various purposes.
HP: 2
VP: 2
Kai glanced at the new card, then at the long chain of steps that had led to it.
It was a lot of work just to get this.
The deeper he got into this trial, the more he realized how layered it was. Each recipe branched into another, requiring careful management just to keep things from spiraling out of control. It felt like a box inside a box inside a box—every step forward came with three more waiting to be unlocked.
Kai tossed the used-up [Flint Axe] into the graveyard and immediately got to work making another. He couldn’t afford to waste time.
[Granite Brick ???] + [Big Flint ????]=[Flint Axehead ??]
[Acacia Branch ????] + [Flint Axehead ??]= [Flint Axe ????]
With a new [Flint Axe] in hand, he turned to the [Acacia Tree].
[Acacia Tree ??] + [Flint Axe ????]
Acacia Tree ?? | HP: 3 → 2
Flint Axe ???? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Acacia Branch ????].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Acacia Leaf ????].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Kai blinked. Two cards? Nice!
If chopping trees generated multiple materials instead of just a single resource, that made crafting axes even more valuable than he initially thought.
Eager to test this further, he reached to make another axe—then hesitated. He had only two [Granite Bricks] left. Burning them on disposable tools meant they’d be gone for good.
However, there was still a recipe he wanted to experiment.
I won’t be able to make enough axes to cut every tree anyway.
[Granite Brick ???] + [Granite Brick ???]
Granite Brick ??? | HP: 1 → 0
Granite Brick ??? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Granite Shed ??????].
New recipe added to your recipe book.
Granite Shed ?????? (Uncommon)
A simple refuge made from granite bricks.
HP: 4
VP: 0
The card showed a small but well-built stone house, almost too perfect. The recipe had worked, but frustration simmered beneath the surface.
I should have tried this last round.
If he had known this combination earlier, he could have crafted it last round and avoided unnecessary HP loss across his inventory. Now, instead of gaining potentially four [Granite Sheds], he had only one.
That wasn’t even the worst part. The shed didn’t offer any victory points.
His fingers tapped against the table as he thought through the implications. The [Granite Shed] had high HP, meaning it was meant to be used in a future recipe. But for what? Did it store materials? Did it merge into something else? There had to be some function behind it.
Kai sighed and tossed the [Granite Bricks], [Acacia Trees], and the shed to the side. Maybe making more axes would have been the smarter move after all—at least then, he would have gained more points. No use second-guessing now. He’d figure out the shed’s purpose eventually.
For now, there were better cards to experiment with.
His fingers hovered over the shadow cards.
Time to find out what I can do with these.
[Reader ??] + [Rating ?]
?? | HP: ∞ → ∞
? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Author Motivation Boost ???].
Don’t forget to for this novel!
