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SNAP CRAFT | Ch. 7 - Daisy Blues
🕑 Added 2023-09-28 16:52:06 +0000 UTCSummer of 345, A.D.
Since Neil returned, he hadn’t been at any of the bonfires. When Kai asked Trudy about him, she shook her head sadly and told him that Neil probably needed some time. Against all recommendations, Kai was now standing before his door and knocking on it.
No one answered.
“Neil! Come on. It’s me, Kai.”
“Go away, lad.” Came a hoarse voice from the other side.
“Come on, I just want to talk to you.” Kai heard a very heavy sigh. He wasn’t sure if that had been a genuine sound or if Neil had forced it to let him know how exasperated he felt.
“It’s unlocked. Come on in.”
Opening the door, he saw a dark room with only a few dim lights turned on. Neil was sitting on an armchair facing away from him, with the cane lying against it. All around the house, some slashes cut through the walls, furniture, and upholstery. Only the armchair where Neil sat remained unscathed.
“I love what you’ve done with the place?” Kai smiled as he heard the man chuckle weakly.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Kai walked slowly toward the armchair and pulled a stool to look at Neil face-to-face. He had always seen him cleanly shaven, dressed as a valiant explorer, but now he only saw the man's shadow. He had grown a beard, and dark bags were under his eyes. He was in his pajamas. Kai wasn’t sure of what to say to a man suffering from Daisy blues, so he just remained quiet.
“Math.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The trial this year. It was all related to Math.” Kai’s lips curled, and he wrinkled his nose. Math was not Neil’s strong suit.
“Sorry to hear that, Neil.”
“I don’t think I have it in me to go out there again, Kai. I’ve tried many times, but the deck is stacked against me. I have never been called to a trial that tested my strong suits. Why is that?”
In Kai’s mind came a myriad of clichés he’d heard before. It was all probability. Daisy doesn’t target anyone personally. She just takes a sample from a sector at random. Focus on your strong suits, and eventually, you’ll be called to a trial where you can let your skills shine.
“What place did you get?”
“#342”
“Could have been worse.”
“I didn’t gain any hormones for the sector. I had hoped… I had…” The man’s voice choked, and he turned his gaze away. His eyes landed on a picture. As Kai followed his gaze, he noticed he was looking at a portrait. A younger Neil had his arm around a beautiful young woman.
It wasn’t the first time that Kai saw this picture, but seeing Neil’s eyes linger so long on it, he paid attention to it this time. After a few seconds, he finally understood. “You and Sunny?”
Neil nodded. “The trials tore us apart. I couldn’t keep my promise to her.”
Kai nodded sadly. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for couples to fall out because of the trials.
“So what are you going to do now?”
Neil pulled his eyes away from the picture and regarded Kai. “I’m going to ensure you won’t end up like me. A childless old man filled with regret, sitting in his empty nest, looking at a picture. I’m going to teach you all I know. That’s what the bonfires were started for.
Kai smiled because his conversation had sparked some energy back into Neil. “Will I see you tomorrow then?”
“You can count on it.”
Kai stood and got ready to leave. “Neil.”
“What is it, lad?”
“Thank you for trying.” He walked away. As he closed the door behind him, he heard Neil cry.
*
Present, 353rd Daisy exams.
It was a simple black notebook, similar to what he would use to take notes in his classes. He took it off the floating window and opened it.
Recipes:
[Bear Bread] + [Bear Bread] = [Mushroom Salad]
[Bear Bread] + [Dead Tree] = [Bear Bread]
[Fly Agaric] + [Dead Tree] = [Fly Agaric]
[Fly Agaric] + [Yellow Honey Agaric] = [Hallucinogen].
[Moss] + [Moss] = [Wound Dressing]
He was glad that Daisy helped him keep track of all his crafting attempts. In years when memory was tested, this kind of help would certainly not be given. The only thing that the notebook didn’t register was the failed attempts. He would have to take a mental note of them. The worst thing that could happen was to waste points down the road for mistakes he had made earlier.
He looked at the clock. The timer for the craft arena was almost up. With this, he had 52 points. He hoped that it would prove enough. As the clock kept counting down, he gave one last look at all his cards and paid special attention to the ones with 0 hp. He wanted to find out what happened to cards between stages.
Finally, Daisy sent him a notification.
Congratulations! You’ve earned 52 victory points!
The following cards will now be destroyed: 2x[Moss]; [Lichen]; 2x[Bear Bread]; 4x[Fly Agaric]; [Mushroom Salad]; [Dead Tree]; [Yellow Honey Agaric].
All other cards lose 1hp.
Ten cards on the table were set on fire and crumbled into ash. So that’s what happened when a card reached 0hp. It wasn’t immediately destroyed in the crafting stage. It was only once its points were counted in that Daisy destroyed them.
As for all his other cards, they had lost one precious hit point. That meant he couldn’t keep hoarding cards from one round to the next. He might risk them being destroyed.
With each discovery, the game became more complex. Having to weigh the benefits of keeping cards in the inventory or using them up in crafting immediately added another layer of strategy to the game. The mind games only became trickier. Could he afford to relax and save himself up for the next challenge? Or should he always give his all, no matter what?
He checked the cards that were left:
Pine Tree (Common)
Hp: 1→0
Vp: 1
Dry Pine Needle (Common)
Hp: 3→2
Vp: 0
Pine Bark (Common)
Hp: 2→1
Vp: 1
Pine Trunk (Common)
Hp: 3→2
Vp: 0
Bear Bread (Uncommon)
Hp: 2→1
Vp: 2
Wound Dressing (Uncommon)
Hp:6→5
Vp:0
2xHallucinogen (Rare)
Hp: 2→1
Vp: 5
1xLight (Legendary)
Hp: +00
Vp: 2
The might of the [Light] card was proving its worth. To always have 2 victory points to count on was reassuring. Also, to have an ingredient he wasn’t afraid of using in crafting was a good advantage over his opponents.
With the surviving cards, he already had 16 points for the next round, a number comparable to what he had ended the first round with. At the same time, he already knew some cards he couldn’t count on for the next round. For example,[Pine Tree] now had 0hp. The cards were inevitably going to be destroyed after the next stage.
Congratulations! You’re among the 512 participants who passed through to the next round. From now on, the trial will follow a knock-out format.
You have 52 minutes to select your upgrades and rest.
Kai gulped. This had only been an elimination round? Last year, there were over 550 sectors. Assuming none had died off this year, about 40 sectors had just been eliminated. Could the ones with the worst scores have been knocked out? He had a strong impression that he faced more than one competitor in the last round. He had been right.
The other notifications were also big news. If this was a knock-out style trial with 512 participants, he would have ten rounds until he made it to the finals. He cracked his knuckles and neck. This was going to be a long game. Every discovery about the challenge's rules could give him an edge over his next competitor.
He wondered how many rounds he had to go through before he could get the hormones he needed. What about the allcure. Would only the first 16 get it? Or the first 8? He’d keep going until he did.
Daisy had mentioned that he had 55 minutes for upgrades and to rest. He couldn’t help but notice that he was given as much time as the victory points he’d earned. Another nuance to the game. The better you did at this stage, the longer you had to prepare for the next.
He wasn’t sure how Daisy managed to keep all players in sync. Would she pair him with an opponent with a similar score? Or would it just speed up or slow down the trial runners' brain activity to ensure the passage of time coincided between players?
A buzzing sound caught Kai’s attention. In the corner of the room, a console emerged from the ground. He noticed it had a standard interface similar to the one he saw in delivery centers or countless other machines.
This had to be related to the so-called upgrades that Daisy had advertised. As he activated the console, a window appeared. He saw that the number of points he had gained over the last challenge was in the upper-right corner: 55vps.
Then, there was a list of objects and things he could buy.
Compass
Requirements: Reaching the northernmost point in the arena.
Description: A simple compass that points north.
Cost: 10vp
Failed Recipes (Recipe Book Upgrade)
Requirements: To have one failed crafting attempt.
Description: Your recipe book is now able to maintain a record of all failures in crafting.
Cost: 20vp
Map
Requirement: Complete one full circle around an arena.
Description: Shows you the surrounding terrain.
Cost: 50vp
Slow Shutter
Requirement: [Light]
Description: Lets more light into the camera.
Cost: 200vp
Kai gulped as he read through the description in the listings. For an upgrade to appear, there was a requirement to unlock it. Some requirements were hidden achievements in the snapping arena. The compass had been unlocked when he found the arena's northmost point. It wasn’t something considerably hard to do, and it made sense that that upgrade only cost 10 victory points.
The failed recipes didn’t seem particularly difficult to unlock either. All it took was to make a mistake while crafting. Probably, every other trial runner had that option in their upgrade shop right now. He doubted anyone would be stupid enough not to explore the crafting stage of the arena.
Surprisingly, cards could act as the key to unlock an upgrade too. He looked at the slow shutter upgrade. What was that? It had to be valuable if it cost 200 victory points. Additionally, only with the light card was it possible to unlock it. He wasn’t sure if anyone else had found the [Light] card. This could potentially be his biggest advantage over his competitors.
Kai was hit with the gravity of the decisions he was about to make. In this trial, his every choice would affect how the rest of the exam would go. Every small decision mattered. A small mistake could quickly cost him the victory, and one small bonus could snowball into a massive advantage.
Would he go for a build that focused on snapping? Or should he focus on crafting? Should he try a mix of both? As he scrolled down, he saw many more listings. They appeared blurred, hidden behind some obscure unlocking requirement. Hopefully, he could unlock those later on.
It was still too soon to say whether he wanted to focus on crafting or snapping. He wasn’t sure which would be best. He just had to make the best possible choice and make the most out of each moment.
He went through each one carefully. He skipped right over the cheapest upgrade. He didn’t feel like he needed a compass. He knew how to find his way using the sun, stars, or moss. After all, Neil had helped him develop an impeccable sense of orientation.
The upgrade to the recipe book was also something he could do without. Unless things got crazy complex in the rounds to come, he felt like he could memorize the recipes that didn’t work.
The last two were the most enticing. Kai had the feeling that the slow shutter upgrade was something important. But even if he wanted to buy it, how could he? He was still 150 victory points short of getting it. He could always try to save the points for the next round, but what guarantee did he have that he could win against his next opponent? He couldn’t risk doing the next round half-heartedly. Additionally, he wasn’t even sure that his victory points in this round would go through to the next one.
In the end, Kai decided that he would take the map. The fact that it cost 50 victory points hinted at how valuable it was. He wished he had a map for the first round. He had missed having something to help him find his way in the snap arena. He thought back to when he had found the dead tree. It had been such a treasure trove. If there was some correlation between finding these sites and finding the center of the map, for example, having a map would help him beat his opponents to the punch.
Now that he knew he would face off against one opponent at a time, the game became slightly different. There were enough common and uncommon cards to go around. He would have to dispute opponents only for rare cards and above. Finding such valuable sites first could make or break his game.
Are you sure you want to purchase [Map]? [Y/N]
Kai was satisfied with his purchase. The way Kai saw it, he wasn’t playing just to stay for one more stage of the trial. He was playing the long game, and a map would be useful throughout the full exam. At the very least, he wanted to reach the top 16 to make sure he got what he wanted. The earlier he started exploring and expanding the amount of cards in his database, the better.
With this, he spent in one go 50 out of the 55 victory points he had so painstakingly collected earlier. He was confident that this investment would give him bountiful rewards down the road.
Now that he’d purchased the map, he decided to close his eyes and rest his mind. It was time to get mentally prepared for the next stage.
