Autumn of 345, A.D.

  Everyone wore red gowns, standing hand in hand around the crematorium pyre. Even though Kai held Ariel’s hand, his heart felt like a cold, dead stone.

  Albert was the only one in black. He opened his notebook and began reading.

  “Neil Ferguson was born on the 5th of January, 266. He died at the age of 79.”

  “He came as an exile from another sector after his foster mother placed #249 in the 309th trials and earned the score needed to bring him here.

  He was nineteen when he was summoned to his first trial. Since then, he participated in twelve more trials, always giving his best for the sector.

  He was a man who didn’t just teach us how to survive—he taught us how to live honorably.

  We shall never forget his crazy practical lessons, his explorer’s hat, his saber, and his love for us all.”

  Kai and Sunny stepped forward, each holding a torch. When Trudy told him that Neil had personally requested Kai as one of the torchbearers, he had been caught off guard. He hadn’t realized just how much Neil had valued him.

  Kai cleared his throat and spoke. “Neil was a good man. He did his best for us. I’ll never forget him.”

  The words felt hollow. They weren’t enough. But he didn’t know what else to say.

  Sunny stepped forward. “His stubbornness was the most beautiful and most hideous thing about him. His stubbornness was love.”

  The words struck Kai’s heart, leaving him momentarily dazed. She was right. Neil had been the most stubborn person he had ever met, but he had wielded that stubbornness for the sake of others.

  Sunny placed a hand on Kai’s shoulder, bringing him back to the moment. He nodded. Together, they cast their torches onto the pyre.

  The flames roared to life, consuming the remains of their friend. Around the fire, murmurs of comfort and shared memories spread through the group.

  After Kai had finished speaking with Clara, Albert approached. “Good job with the torch, Kai.”

  “That’s nothing compared to what you did,” Kai replied. “I don’t know how you managed to stand in front of everyone and say all that.”

  Albert adjusted his glasses. “It’s my duty as the historian.” He hesitated, then added, “Besides, reading is easier than speaking from the heart.”

  Kai swallowed down the lump in his throat. Bittersweet memories swirled in his mind—Neil’s relentless lessons, his impossible survival drills. A chuckle escaped him. “Remember when he locked us in a house with a skunk?”

  Albert huffed out a small laugh. For a while, they stood in silence, watching the fire. Then, Albert spoke again.

  “I still remember the day we arrived here,” he said. “Neil was the first face I saw.”

  Kai turned to him. “Arrived here? You mean the sector?”

  Albert nodded.

  “Did you two come from the same place?”

  “We arrived at the same time. But I don’t know if we came from the same place. Exiles have their memories wiped. It’s part of the deal with Daisy.”

  Kai considered that. “Then why was he so obsessed with survival? Do you think it was because of whatever happened before he got here?”

  Albert’s gaze stayed on the flames. “Probably. Whatever led him to sign up as an exile must have been a terrible ordeal.” He exhaled. “I didn’t share that drive of his. We were probably from different places.”

  “But doesn’t Daisy wipe out all your memories?”

  “So they say.”

  There was something in Albert’s tone that made Kai frown. “Albert… do you remember anything?”

  Albert shrugged. “Nothing specific. But there are… vestiges of memories. For example, some smells make me nervous, but I don’t know why.”

  Kai narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”

  “Shoe polish,” Albert said simply. “The smell terrifies me.”

  That was… strange.

  “Maybe some things can’t be erased,” Albert murmured. “Some memories are etched too deeply. Especially the ones that leave scars.”

  *

  353rd Daisy Trials, Round of 256.

  Kai closed his eyes but didn’t sleep. Instead, he let his thoughts drift, easing the pressure on his mind. After a few minutes, feeling rested enough, he opened his eyes and traced patterns in the air with his fingers, mentally reviewing everything he had learned about the trial so far.

  The dead tree from the first arena lingered in his thoughts.

  If I’d found it first…

  How many rare cards had slipped through his fingers because he’d arrived too late?

  As he refined his strategy for the next challenge, the timer in the corner of his vision hit zero.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  The next round was about to begin.

  Just like before, the world shifted in the blink of an eye.

  Gone were the pine needles and thick branches overhead. Instead, a vast blue sky stretched above him, unbroken by any canopy. Towering rock walls loomed in the distance, enclosing the battlefield.

  Boulders and broken stone cluttered the terrain, some stacked so high and densely packed they formed a stone forest—narrow corridors and jagged pathways carved between them. They didn’t block the sky, but they cut off the horizon, making it impossible to see beyond the canyon’s edge.

  No… not a canyon. The cliffs were too cleanly cut, the fallen rocks too cubical. This place hadn’t been shaped by time. It had been carved.

  A quarry.

  Kai took off at a sprint. He didn’t have time to stand around. If his new upgrade worked as expected, it would be his biggest advantage yet.

  A quick glance at the bottom right of his vision confirmed it—his map hovered there, displaying a small aerial view of his surroundings. A red triangle marked his position. As he ran, new sections of the map revealed themselves, expanding outward with every step.

  Good. This will be invaluable.

  The timer in the upper right showed he had two hours to explore this arena. Same as before. He barely spared it a glance as he flicked open his inventory mid-stride. His surviving cards remained, along with his recipe notebook and two purple coins.

  His suspicions were confirmed—cards and upgrade coins carried over between rounds.

  He vaulted over a fallen slab of stone, landing light on his feet before pulling up the next test. His camera.

  Mind games had made the first round brutal. Without knowing what his opponents had already captured, every decision had been a gamble. Every time he’d found a card, the same doubt gnawed at him—Has someone already snapped this? Is it still available?

  But this time, things were different. This wasn’t a battle royale anymore. It was a match between two players.

  And yet, something didn’t sit right. Would Daisy really remove the mind games from the trial? That didn’t seem like her. If anything, she’d make them worse.

  Had the number of available cards stayed the same? Or had the pool been adjusted now that there were only two trial runners?

  The answer to that could change everything.

  There was only one way to find out.

  Kai sprinted toward the nearest boulder, then skidded to a stop steadying his aim. He raised his camera, lined up the shot, and snapped.

  Capture successful!

  Tries left: 19 of 20.

  Block of Granite (Common) ??

  1 of 4

  HP: 1

  VP: 2

  He didn’t wait to analyze—his feet were already moving again.

  That answers a few questions.

  First, unused shots hadn’t carried over. His counter still started at twenty, same as before. If extra shots rolled over, he would’ve had twenty-one. That meant there was no reason to hold back—he needed to use every shot before each round ended.

  Second, the number of available cards had dropped. The first round had five commons; now, there were only four. The game was scaling down to match the number of players. If that pattern held, there would be three uncommons, two rares, and a single legendary.

  There were enough commons for both players and at least one uncommon guaranteed. The real fight would be the rare and legendary cards. With only two rares in the pool, both trial runners would be gunning for the same ones. Whoever found them first would have the edge.

  Kai picked up speed.

  Find the rares first. Snap the commons later.

  Even as his legs pushed forward, his thoughts sprinted just as fast.

  He dodged between the towering stacks of stone, his path twisting through narrow corridors. The maze-like terrain made it impossible to get a clear view ahead. Every turn led to another dead end, another jagged wall forcing him to pivot.

  This is slowing me down.

  A sharp turn. Another set of boulders. He weaved around them, adjusting his stride, but the problem was clear—maneuvering wasted precious seconds. His first instinct was to avoid slamming into obstacles, but… why?

  His mind clicked into place as his body moved.

  Back in the first arena, dodging trees had been pointless. The same logic applied here. Weaving through gaps, shifting his path—it was all wasted movement.

  He locked his eyes ahead, shoulders squaring. No more dodging.

  Kai barreled straight toward a stone outcrop. His chest slammed into the rock, but the impact didn’t slow him—his momentum carried him through, the system phasing him forward as if the stone wasn’t even there.

  There we go.

  With that, his pace exploded. He plowed forward in a straight line, ignoring the maze, crashing through stone stacks like a ghost. The only thing that mattered was speed.

  Then—the towering wall of the quarry came into view, its sheer face stretching impossibly high.

  Daisy had a habit of setting traps, and Kai was almost certain this was one of them. The real boundary had to be closer—an invisible wall disguised by an illusion. Any second now, he’d slam into it.

  But the barrier never came.

  His feet hit solid ground as he reached the base of the wall. His map confirmed it—this was the arena’s edge. No invisible force field, no sudden stop.

  Had he misjudged Daisy?

  He pressed a hand against the cliffside. The stone was cool, its surface rough with sandy grit. Real.

  So that’s how it is, huh? Now what?

  Was this the true boundary all around the arena, or was that just another trap?

  Daisy and her cursed mind games.

  At least it wasn’t like the 156th Games, when she’d used illusions to mess with human perception and abstract thinking.

  Either way, the southern edge being solid stone didn’t change his strategy. He pivoted, running alongside the cliff to map out the boundaries. Once he had the full layout, he’d work his way inward. His gut told him the center of the map held something important.

  As he ran, his eyes scanned for anything uncommon or rare—those were the cards that would decide the match. Patches of moss and lichen clung to the stone, but he ignored them. If they worked like in the first round, there would be plenty to go around.

  Then, something different.

  A cluster of thick-leaved plants spiraled elegantly against the rock face. Their waxy surfaces glistened in the light. They stood out against the rough stone, but there were too many of them.

  Succulents. Probably just a common card.

  He pressed on.

  A short jog later, a splash of red caught his eye. A flower. The first he’d seen in the arena.

  That’s promising.

  He slowed, raising his camera, but the bloom was too far. He shifted angles, trying to get a clearer shot, but the distance was too great. The camera had no zoom function—probably locked behind an upgrade.

  Frustrated but unwilling to waste a shot, he lowered the device and picked up speed. He’d learned his lesson in the first round when he’d tried to snap the pine canopy. If the picture wasn’t clean, it wouldn’t count.

  As he followed the cliffside, his map steadily filled in. The once-black space now outlined a near-perfect circle. So all snap arenas are circular… By the time he reached what he estimated was the northernmost point, his map had nearly completed half of a “D” shape.

  Another pattern confirmed. All arenas were the same size. Or at least, the first two had been.

  Checking his orientation, he adjusted course. His starting point had been slightly off-center to the east. That meant one thing.

  Time to check the middle.

  He sprinted toward the arena’s heart. The pressure gnawed at him—several minutes in and still no new cards. But he stayed the course.

  The center had to hold something. It just had to.

  Finally, he reached the midpoint and—nothing. Just more rock.

  Frowning, he slowed, scanning the terrain. His instincts weren’t wrong. There had to be something here. He widened his search, moving in a loose spiral.

  The second lap revealed it.

  A pool.

  Nestled in a natural depression, the water sat still and glassy, so clear he could see the rocky bottom. Lake was too grand a word. It wasn’t large enough. Pond felt more accurate.

  Kai let out a triumphant shout. “I knew it!”

  Heart pounding, he grabbed his camera and snapped the shot.

  Capture successful!

  Tries left: 18 of 20

  Pond ?? (Uncommon)

  3 of 3

  HP: 2

  VP: 1

  His breath hitched.

  He stared at the card in disbelief. Then, his knees hit the ground.

  I only got the last one?! No way. How?

  [Curiosity ??] + [Follow ??]

  ?? | HP: 2 → 2

  ?? | HP: 1 → 0

  Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Bonus Chapters ????].

  Click here and follow. As we reach certain milestones, I’ll post bonus chapters!