Summer of 343, A.D.
“Neil, please tell me today isn’t another practical class.”
After the snakes and Damocles’ sword exercises, Kai dreaded Neil being firekeeper again. It had been too long since Neil had taught a purely theoretical class, and Kai hoped today would finally be his lucky day.
“Relax, Kai. It isn’t.”
Kai exhaled, relieved—though not completely convinced.
“The setup for the next practical class has been surprisingly difficult to arrange. I’ve got to say, I outdid myself this time. The next class will be amazing, Kai. You’re going to love it.”
His shoulders sank.
For Neil to say that meant he was cooking up the stuff of nightmares. What could be worse than snakes and swords?
Neil turned toward the group, completely ignoring Kai’s horrified expression. “Today, we’ll discuss Gestalt Theory.”
Kai blinked. Psychology? That was Trudy’s thing, not Neil’s.
Neil continued, “One of the keys to success in any survival or endurance-related trial is using every tool at your disposal. Often, you won’t have everything you need and will be forced to make do. Who can remind the bonfire what Gestalt Theory is? Alexander.”
Alex didn’t hesitate. “It has to do with how our brain interprets information. When I look at a car, I see the whole. I don’t see the wheels, the engine, or individual components.”
“Very good. Our brains are hardwired to recognize the whole, but that can blind us to valuable opportunities in survival scenarios. Looking at the whole isn’t always the best approach. You have to shift gears and see the parts.”
Neil pointed toward a potted plant next to the fire. Kai had noticed it earlier and assumed Neil had grabbed it for kindling. The trunk was as tall as Neil, with long leaves shaped like swords.
“What is this?”
Clara answered before anyone else. “Asparagaceae agavoideae.”
Neil stared at her.
“Fine,” she muttered. “A yucca.”
“Good. That’s the whole. Now, let’s look at the parts.”
Kai narrowed his eyes, trying to follow Neil’s train of thought.
“The leaves are strong crafting materials. You can make shoes, baskets, even ropes with them. The roots can be turned into soap, and the stems into detergent. The flowers and seeds are edible. The fibers burn well as tinder. So, tell me, is the whole really better than the parts?”
Kai raised an eyebrow. Yucca shoes? He tried to picture himself walking into a trial wearing plant-fiber sandals.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Sunny pressing her lips together, her fingers curling around the hem of her sleeve.
“Not surprisingly, the engineer disagrees with my jab at the Gestalt Theory,” Neil said, a sly grin spreading across his face.
Sunny’s expression darkened, her face heating up in the firelight.
Kai frowned. Sunny wasn’t easily rattled. What was it about this lesson that got under her skin?
“Settle down, Sunny. You’ll have your chance to prove me wrong today.” Neil turned back to the others. “Everyone can disperse. Remember, being stuck on the whole can mean life or death in a survival trial. Think about examples today and bring them back to the sunset bonfire.”
*
Present, 353rd Daisy Trials.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 13 of 20.
Lichen ?? (Common)
5 of 5
HP: 0
VP: 3
Kai exhaled, his pulse still racing. That had been too close. He had gotten the very last [Lichen] card. If he had been even a second slower, someone else would have taken it.
My opponents are figuring things out too.
Frowning, he studied the stats again. The card had zero HP. That couldn’t be good. Logically, if something had zero hit points, it was dead. But was that a bad thing? Or did it serve another purpose? Either way, at least the victory points were generous.
He wasn’t as fast at mental calculations as Alex or Sunny, but he had noticed something. So far, every common card followed a pattern—HP and VP combined never exceeded three. That had to mean something.
Finding nothing else on the tree trunk, he moved to the next one. The trees were spaced only a few steps apart, so it took almost no effort to reach it.
Circling the base, he searched for anything new. More moss, but no lichen this time.
Still no insects.
That was strange. He closed his eyes and listened, trying to catch any sounds in the silence.
Nothing.
No buzzing. No birdsong. No rustling of unseen creatures. Only the wind.
He opened his eyes and looked down, hoping to spot a beetle or an ant, but something else caught his attention.
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A cluster of mushrooms nestled among the pine needles at the base of the tree, half-hidden in the roots.
He crouched down for a better look. The stalks were white, the caps bright red with delicate white spots, almost too perfect. It was as if someone had carefully painted them, dot by dot, with a fine brush.
If memory serves me right, these are poisonous. What were they called again?
It had been covered in biology class, but he had never been good at memorizing names. Ariel would have remembered.
Still, if it was poisonous, that made it unique. He hesitated for only a second before lifting the camera.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 12 of 20.
Fly Agaric ?? (Uncommon)
1 of 4
HP: 1
VP: 3
Uncommon? That’s the first time I see this label!
He couldn’t let someone else get ahead. He quickly snapped another shot.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 11 of 20.
Fly Agaric ?? (Uncommon)
2 of 4
HP: 1
VP: 3
Kai lowered the camera. Two down. Two more left in the arena.
If his competitors were smart, they’d come looking for this soon.
Fly Agaric—that was the name of the mushroom. As soon as he saw it written out, more information surfaced in his mind. The fungus could be used to prepare a fly trap, useful in survival scenarios where disease-carrying mosquitoes were a problem. But it was also highly toxic. Consuming it could cause powerful hallucinations—or even death.
He glanced at his inventory, a small smile forming. His first uncommon card. That had to mean something.
‘One of four’ for uncommon cards, huh? Common cards say ‘of five.’ That means the rarer the card, the fewer there are.
His smile faded as his gaze drifted back to the [Lichen] card.
He had barely captured the last one before the pool ran out. If that card had been uncommon, he would have missed it entirely. The only reason he’d secured it was because there had been five copies in the system. The rarer something was, the greater the chance that another trial runner had already claimed it.
His stomach tightened.
Kai jolted upright and sprinted to the next few trees, scanning the ground at their bases. Moss. Lichen. More moss. More lichen. No mushrooms.
That confirmed his suspicion.
Things that could be captured as uncommon cards weren’t just lying around everywhere. It wasn’t just that the pool of available cards shrank—Daisy had made them a scarcer resource on the map, too.
The name of the mushroom...
Realization hit. He picked up his pace, dashing from tree to tree. There had to be other mushrooms out there.
[Fly Agaric] was an incredibly specific name—far more precise than [Pine Tree] or [Lichen]. That had to mean other types of mushrooms existed in the snap arena. If he could find another variety, he might secure even rarer cards.
One hour and thirty minutes left. I have to hurry. The longer I wait, the greater the risk that my competitors will deplete the pool.
Kai searched tree after tree, moving as fast as he could without losing focus. The competition was getting fierce. He had to stay ahead.
After several attempts, he finally found what he was looking for.
This time, the mushrooms weren’t hidden in the shade of the roots. They grew straight from the pine tree’s trunk—dark red, layered like small balconies climbing toward the sky. Almost like someone had started building a staircase up the tree.
He pulled out the camera and snapped a photo.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 10 of 20.
Bear Bread ???? (Uncommon)
3 of 4
HP: 2
VP: 2
His fears were confirmed—everyone was catching up.
He wasn’t the first to find these. Someone had already gotten two [Bear Bread] cards before him. Gritting his teeth, he took another shot before anyone else could.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 9 of 20.
Bear Bread ???? (Uncommon)
4 of 4
HP: 2
VP: 2
That was the last one.
Someone else was already chasing mushrooms. Maybe just one trial runner—if so, there would still be enough cards for both Kai and them. But if a third one joined the fray, things would get messy.
He had to think ahead.
Every time he spotted something, he had to ask himself: Is this obvious enough that my opponents have already taken it? If so, he was better off skipping it.
But what if his opponents had thought the same thing and skipped it too?
Then he’d be missing out on a perfect opportunity.
Argh! The mind games!
Kai pushed forward, eyes scanning every tree.
Minutes passed before he found another tree with Bear Bread mushrooms. His stomach sank. If he had just found another set, that meant mushrooms weren’t actually that rare.
His fears grew worse when he spotted another bed of Fly Agaric.
No wonder that other contestants have spotted them too. Should I skip this mushroom hunt altogether?
He bit his lip. It wasn’t as if he had a plan B. He would just stick with it for now.
After several frustrating minutes of searching, he finally stumbled upon something new.
Growing from the side of a tree was a massive, bright yellow mushroom, shaped like overlapping fan-like clusters. It almost looked like a cabbage stuck to the trunk. It was the biggest mushroom he’d seen so far, impossible to miss from the right angle.
That’s the problem.
The color was too bright. Too obvious. If he had spotted it, chances were that someone else had too.
He hesitated.
There was a little over an hour left in the challenge. If no one had already taken a photo of this, then they had either missed it or ignored it on purpose.
Had he arrived too late?
He scratched his head, hesitating for only a moment longer before deciding.
He lifted the camera and took the shot.
Capture failed!
Tries left: 8 of 20.
His stomach dropped. Too late.
He ran a hand through his hair, barely resisting the urge to curse. He should have trusted his instincts. He shouldn’t have tried. The odds had been against him, but he had taken the risk anyway.
Frustration flared in his chest. He swung his fist at the nearest tree—and missed. His hand went straight through the trunk. That only made him angrier. He clenched his jaw, staring down at his camera. Eight tries left. He couldn’t afford to waste them. The supply of things to photograph was dwindling fast.
He checked the time and pressed his lips into a thin line. The challenge was getting more complex by the minute. An hour of running through the woodland, and he had yet to find a single boulder, river, or new species of tree. Just pine trees. As far as the eye could see. He was running out of ideas.
For a few precious minutes, he just stood there, thinking. But standing still wouldn’t solve anything. He started walking again searching for anything that stood out. The problem was… did he want to find something obvious? If it was too noticeable, it was probably already taken.
What did Daisy hide out here that others might have ignored?
His shoes crunched against the pine needles. He froze.
The sound had been so normal that it took a moment to register. Why was he reacting to the ground? His hands had passed through the trees. Shouldn’t his feet have gone through the pine needles too? He bent down and tried to pick one up—his fingers went right through it.
His brows furrowed. He tried again. Still nothing. Then, as a test, he kicked the base of a nearby tree. His foot passed through the trunk effortlessly.
His mind raced. Why did his feet crunch the pine needles, but not make contact with the trees? It didn’t make sense. He could understand why he wasn’t falling through the ground—if that happened, he would just sink forever into an endless void. The thought sent a chill down his spine.
Still, this had to mean something.
He forced himself to refocus. The pine needles. They were reacting to him. Maybe that meant they were important.
Was this really worth a photo? What if he was just grasping at straws? But… the best discoveries weren’t always the most obvious ones.
He lifted the camera and aimed at the ground.
The machine whirred.
For a second, he thought the capture had failed again.
Then—
Congratulations! Capture successful.
Tries left: 7 of 20.
Dry Pine Needle ???? (Common)
5 of 5
HP: 3
VP: 0
The very last one.
He paused, staring at the text. [Dry Pine Needle]. His eyes lifted toward the treetops, where the needles were still green and healthy.
Gestalt theory!
Maybe he had been looking at this all wrong. He had been so focused on entire trees that he had ignored their individual parts.
Maybe that was the real trick to this game.
[Anticipation ??] + [Bargain ??]
?? | HP: 1 → 1
?? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [First Edition Buff ????].
Snag the pre-order while it's hot (and cheap)—your early support makes a real difference.
?? Amazon link
