SNAPCRAFT | Ch. 22 - Army Recruitment

Hi, everyone. This chapter brings the downpour of chapters to celebrate this novel's release on Royal Road to an end. From next week on, I'll release two chapters of this novel weekly.

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Summer of 346, A.D.

Alex and Kai had been walking in silence for half an hour. Even though Kai was pretty sure that Alex didn’t mean to insult him by calling him a baby elephant, he still felt offended. Kai could see Eagle’s Peak to their left, meaning the wall was close.

Finally, Alex broke the silence. “Kai, don’t you think the stories about Daisy are a bit farfetched?”

“What? You don’t believe it?”

“I just think some things don’t add up.”

“What?”

“For example, I think it’s against human nature to surrender their independence on a silver platter, with no resistance.”

“It isn’t like they had a choice. You know the stories about the water wars, the earthquakes, and the storms.”

“Fine. But even by that token, it doesn’t add up. Think about it, Kai. If Daisy had to intervene to save a fractured society, isn’t it strange that that same divided society would come together and hand over control to her?”

Kai pondered for a few moments. He hadn’t thought about that. “What are you trying to say, Alex?”

He shrugged. “Daisy’s existence and power are undeniable. I’m just saying that I don’t believe everything is exactly as it is written in the books. As far as I’m concerned, Daisy might not even control the whole planet. Have you thought about that, Kai? What if not all humanity was willing to hand over control to Daisy?”

“But then, Earth would be gone.”

“Maybe they turned it around on their own. Maybe Daisy killed them off. Maybe there’s a whole war we don’t know about between Daisy and a resistance.”

“That’s ridiculous. Daisy can’t kill.”

“Really, Kai?” For some reason, Kai’s statement had set Alex off. He was puffing in heavy breaths. “Isn’t that all that Daisy does? Kill us off?”

“Alex, what’s the matter with you? You’re so intense about this.”

Alex took a few deep breaths. “Just because she destroyed all the guns doesn’t mean she can’t kill. She uses time instead of bullets to do it. Now, come. We’re here.”

Kai took in the sight before him. They had reached the wall.

*

Kai looked at all the cards he had and all the recipes he learned. What was the fastest track to gain more points? Kai decided to keep making flint tools and give them to the animal cards in his inventory. Before Kai went on a [Flint Knife] crafting spree, he remembered that it wasn’t the only tool he could gift his new army of fantastic creatures.

He looked at the [Flint Arrow Head] card. He had left it aside, but crafting [Wolf Warrior] had rekindled his interest. He only needed something to mount the arrowhead in.

[Acacia Branch] + [Flint Arrowhead]

Acacia Branch | Hp: 2→1

Flint Arrowhead | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Arrow].

Flint Arrow (Uncommon)

A rudimentary missile made with flint. It can fly almost straight but isn’t durable.

Hp: 1

Vp: 3

Kai laughed out loud as he felt more confident in following Daisy’s train of thought. Having unlocked his third flint tool, he was momentarily unsure whether to use [Wolf] or [Arabian Oryx] with the arrow. Following the logic that the wolves were carnivores and geared for fighting, he placed [Wolf] on the table.

[Wolf] + [Flint Arrow]

Wolf | Hp: 1→0

Flint Arrow | Hp: 1→0

Crafting failed!

What? Had the crafting failed? Kai wanted to slap himself hard. Not 10 seconds ago, he was feeling all cocky about having figured Daisy out, and now he had made a careless mistake. Of course it didn’t work. Where was the bow? Was the anthropomorphized wolf supposed to throw the arrow with its hand, paw, or whatever Daisy had imagined for the cartoon animal?

Did he have the ingredients to make a bow? The [Acacia Branch] was probably one of the cards required, but he still needed a string. He had nothing to make a string with. Kai sighed. He tried to stay positive. At least he had figured out how to make [Flint Arrows].

This wasn’t cutting it. His opponent was still ahead of him. He had to find a way to make points fast. What had helped him get ahead in the last stage had been the healing feature that some cards possessed. Combustible materials, healed [Fire]. [Lye] could be used to heal plants and heal rusted metal. All of that had shown him that it was possible to heal cards.

Kai grabbed one card sitting in his inventory since the first stage. He hadn’t known what to do with it and had at one point even considered using it as fuel for the fire.

Wound Dressing (Uncommon)

Medical aid for treating injuries made from moss.

Hp: 4

Vp: 0

He had a second one sitting in his inventory, that he had crafted last stage too. The title of the card and even its description were screaming at him to use it as a healing card. He had nothing to lose. [Wolf] had 0 hp, and [Wound Dressing] gave no victory points.

He slid the [Wolf] card, whose hp he had just depleted, toward one of the engravings. Nothing happened. He then grabbed [Wound Dressing]. As it approached the other engraving, the table lit up, and Kai threw his fist into the air, celebrating victory.

[Wolf] + [Wound Dressing]

Wolf | Hp: 0→3

Wound Dressing| 4→0

Crafting failed!

Kai broke out laughing. Crafting failed? No! It was a huge success. He had just saved [Wolf]. Even though he couldn’t make bows and create some wolf archer card, he could still mass produce [Wolf Warriors]!

It was time to build on the lessons that he had learned in this crafting round so far and make the most of them. He still had one [Big Flint] with three hp left and one with one hp left. That was enough to make four more [Flint Knives]. He decided to make three, the number of hit points that [Wolf] had left.

[Oryx Horn] + [Big Flint]

Oryx Horn | Hp: 1→0

Big Flint | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Knife].

Kai tossed the used-up [Oryx Horn] and grabbed the new one.

[Oryx Horn] + [Big Flint]

Oryx Horn | Hp: 4→3

Big Flint | Hp: 3→2

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Knife].

[Oryx Horn] + [Big Flint]

Oryx Horn | Hp: 3→2

Big Flint | Hp: 2→1

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Knife].

With the three new [Flint Knife] cards he had just made, he equipped his wolves.

[Wolf] + [Flint Knife]

Wolf | Hp: 3→2

Flint Knife | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior].

[Wolf] + [Flint Knife]

Wolf | Hp: 2→1

Flint Knife | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior].

[Wolf] + [Flint Knife]

Wolf | Hp: 1→0

Flint Knife | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior].

He looked at the scoreboard. That still wasn’t enough. He didn’t know what path his opponent was following, but he didn’t stop crafting! He was still 15 points ahead. Kai was beginning to grow desperate. He looked at the cards left on the table. As he consumed his resources, his options were dwindling. He decided to make arrows instead. They had an excellent point count, and they were more cost-effective to produce than flint knives.

He still had some durability on one of the [Oryx Horns]. He got flint knapping.

[Oryx Horn] + [Small Flint]

Oryx Horn | Hp: 2→1

Small Flint | Hp: 2→1

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Arrowhead].

[Oryx Horn] + [Small Flint]

Oryx Horn | Hp: 1→0

Small Flint | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Arrowhead].

Kai cleared his parched throat and tossed the spent [Small Flint] and [Oryx Horn]. He didn’t have any more materials to knap. Each [Flint Arrowhead] card had one hp. He could make two arrows out of this.

[Flint Arrowhead] + [Acacia Branch]

Flint Arrowhead | Hp: 1→0

Acacia Branch | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Arrow].

He grabbed one of the other [Acacia Branches] he had gotten from combining [Oryx Forager] with [Acacia Tree] and, with it, made one more arrow.

[Flint Arrowhead] + [Acacia Branch]

Flint Arrowhead | Hp: 1→0

Acacia Branch | Hp: 4→3

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Flint Arrow].

With these two arrows, he got six more points. It still wasn’t enough. Kai looked at the scoreboard and grimaced. While he was crafting [Flint Arrows], his opponent had reached 200 points. There were only 10 minutes on the clock, and Kai only had 171 points! How in the world was he going to catch up at this rate?

Kai threw all care into the wind. He couldn’t lose this. He grabbed all the cards that could burn and started to feed everything into [Fire]. He knew it would make his life in the next round harder, but what choice did he have? His opponent’s points didn’t stop climbing!

Fire (Rare)

Useful for creating and destroying.

Hp: 5

Vp: 5

[Fire] + [Acacia Branch]

Fire | Hp: 5→8

Acacia Branch | Hp: 4→0

Crafting failed!

Kai gritted his teeth. He had already known that not every burn created [Ash] cards. But he was sure that he would bump into some that did!

[Fire] + [Acacia Branch]

Fire | Hp: 8→10

Acacia Branch | Hp: 3→0

Crafting failed!

[Fire] + [Acacia Trunk]

Fire | Hp: 10→11

Acacia Trunk| Hp: 2→0

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Ash].

[Fire] + [Acacia Log]

Fire | Hp: 11→12

Acacia Log | Hp: 2→0

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Ash].

The leaves weren’t worth burning. They only had one hp. He turned to [Acacia Bark] next.

[Fire] + [Acacia Bark]

Fire | Hp: 12→14

Acacia Bark | Hp: 3→0

Crafting failed!

[Fire] + [Acacia Bark]

Fire | Hp: 14→16

Acacia Bark | Hp: 3→0

Crafting failed!

[Fire] + [Acacia Bark]

Fire | Hp: 16→18

Acacia Bark | Hp: 3→0

Crafting failed!

He also burned the other plants that he had found in the desert.

[Fire] + [White Saxaul]

Fire | Hp: 18→18

White Saxaul | Hp: 1→0

Crafting failed!

Kai clicked his tongue. He had just made a careless mistake. He should have tested whether shrubs granted ash, but he was freaking out, and he still needed to catch up to his opponent somehow.

[Fire] + [Calligonum Shrub]

Fire | Hp: 18→19

Calligonum Shrub | Hp: 2→0

Crafting failed!

Sadly, none of the bushes converted to [Ash] cards. Each [Ash] card gave two points, and the bonus added up. He gulped as he looked at the powerful stat line of [Fire]: it had been built up into a blazing inferno.

With this, his score had reached 185. His opponent, thankfully, had stopped at 202.

Kai still needed to come up with twenty points somehow. Looking at the two cards in his hand, he tapped his foot. If he wanted to be creative, there was a recipe that he had to try. It was risky, but he had no choice but to squeeze the full potential of his cards in this round. He couldn’t hold anything back.

Even twenty points might not cut it. What if his opponent was keeping a few powerful merges to the very last minute? Kai grabbed one of his favorite cards from this round.

Wolf Warrior (Rare)

Hp: 2

Vp: 5

Why would Daisy give this card hp? Was it because he could equip the warrior with more powerful equipment instead of just a [Flint Knife]? That seemed like a very likely possibility. But there was another one.

How could a general go about boosting the power of an army? One way was equipment. Many wars were won in the forge. Another way was with training. Outnumbered soldiers could outmaneuver and destroy bigger armies, provided they had received the training.

But there was one last way to do so. That was with the sheer power of numbers. The best soldier in the world, with the fanciest armor, would still be unable to resist a horde of thousands of unarmed, untrained people.

Following that logic…

[Wolf Warrior] + [Wolf Warrior]

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 2→1

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 2→1

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior Squad].

New recipe added to your recipe book.

Wolf Warrior Squad (Rare)

A small group of wolf warriors.

Hp: 1

Vp: 6

Just as he had imagined! It was possible to merge individual warriors and form teams of them. The victory points granted were very generous and might be what he needed to win this round. He had four [Wolf Warrior] cards with two hp each. After a round of crafting, he could make three more [Wolf Warrior Squads].

[Wolf Warrior] + [Wolf Warrior]

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 1→0

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior Squad].

[Wolf Warrior] + [Wolf Warrior]

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 2→1

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 2→1

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior Squad].

[Wolf Warrior] + [Wolf Warrior]

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 1→0

Wolf Warrior | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior Squad].

Now, Kai had four [Wolf Warrior Squads] in his hand. He looked at the scoreboard. He now had 213 points, and his opponent had 204 points. Kai allowed himself a smile. He had finally managed to overtake his opponent. The possibility of a last-minute climb in points still worried Kai, though. He needed to create a safety margin.

He wanted to take it a step further.

[Wolf Warrior Squad] + [Wolf Warrior Squad]

Wolf Warrior Squad | Hp: 1→0

Wolf Warrior Squad | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior Company].

Wolf Warrior Company (Rare)

A respectable number of wolf warriors.

Hp: 0

Vp: 7

He had created an even more powerful unit by fusing the two squads. He did the same thing with the other two squads.

[Wolf Warrior Squad] + [Wolf Warrior Squad]

Wolf Warrior Squad | Hp: 1→0

Wolf Warrior Squad | Hp: 1→0

Crafting Successful! You've crafted [Wolf Warrior Company].

From four cards worth five points each, Kai had just squeezed out 38 points. He had tripled the points the [Wolf Warrior] cards had. He wondered if this cumulative effect could be kept going. After companies, there were larger units in armies. How could he have given the [Wolf Warriors] more hp to form those? Did he have to heal their hp first?

Kai still had many things that he wanted to try, but the time on the clock was limited. He only had two minutes left to go. Kai looked at the scoreboard and sighed in relief, seeing that he had built a big advantage over his opponent. He doubted they could come on top with the little time they had left.

Kai had to start thinking about the next round. For that, the most important thing right now was to ensure his [Unicorn] card survived.

[Unicorn] + [Wound Dressing]

Wound Dressing | Hp: 5→0

Unicorn | Hp: 0→4

He went through all the cards again, waiting to see if he had missed any possible combinations. As he looked through each one carefully, the last minute elapsed, and a horn marked the end of the round. Kai looked up at the scoreboards. 227 to 204. He had worried for nothing. His opponent had given everything they had but hadn’t saved a nasty surprise to the end. He had come on top.

Kai collapsed on the floor, exhausted. What a rush. The scoreboard kept him informed on his opponent’s moves, but it brought along a tremendous amount of pressure, too.

Congratulations! You’ve earned 227 victory points!

The following cards will now be destroyed: 3x[Acacia Branch]; 3x[Acacia Bark];  [Acacia Log]; 2x[Acacia Tree]; [Acacia Trunk]; [Bear Bread]; 2x[Big Flint]; [Calligonum Shrub]; [Flint Arrow]; 3x[Flint Arrowhead]; 2x[Flint Axe]; 5x[Flint Knife]; [Flintstone]; [Footprints]; 4x[Granite Brick]; 2x[Hallucinogen]; [Mining Wagon]; [Oryx Forager]; 2x[Oryx Horn]; [Rusty Pickaxe]; [Shadow Bunny]; [Shadow Goose]; [Shadow Unicorn]; [Shadow Wolf]; [Small Flint]; [Spark]; [Wolf]; 4x[Wolf Warrior]; [White Saxaul]; 2x[Wolf Warrior Company]; 4x[Wolf Warrior Squad]; 2x[Wound Dressing].

Ch. 21 - Elephant Conditioning

INDEX

Ch. 23 - Love Blindness