SNAPCRAFT | Ch. 56 - Fire & Fury (Patreon)

“He said that?”

“Yeah. He said…” Kai’s cheeks reddened. Should he say that Alex had mentioned that he and Ariel would get together one day, and he didn’t want to be their third wheel?

“He said what?” Ariel insisted.

Kai slightly altered Alex’s wording in order to avoid embarrassment. “He said that he didn’t want to stay alone for the rest of his life, and he wanted to find someone to settle down with.”

“He did, huh?” Ariel nodded sadly. “I wish he had come to me, you know.”

Kai nodded. He wished so, too. Perhaps he wouldn't have left if he had opened up to his sister.

“And what was this Cassie like?” asked Ariel.

Thinking of the girl’s pretty figure under the moonlight, Kai couldn’t help but look a little dreamy. “Super cute. A real looker!” he admitted promptly.

Ariel regarded him with a creepy smile, and Kai felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up. Somehow, he had committed a serious offense and had to choose his next words carefully. “Well, she seemed a little stuck up, too.”

“Stuck up?”

“Yeah. A little snobbish, you know. She looked at us as if she were of a superior breed.”

Ariel’s eyes were all fire and fury, but the feeling of danger receded. When Ariel got mad, she didn’t project her anger outward but concentrated all the pain within. Instead of burning like a star, she collapsed like a black hole. It didn’t make her moods any less scary, though.

“After your brother left, I went to the wall again,” Kai continued.

“Really?!”

“Yeah. I wanted to check if Alex had succeeded.” Seeing Ariel’s hopes up, he quickly finished, “I’m sorry. He didn’t.”

“Hi, kids! You’re both early again,” greeted Seth, interrupting their chat. There was a new breath of life in the man. It looked like he enjoyed being around people more than he cared to admit. “I see you two started the fire. Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome.” It hadn’t been a gesture out of courtesy. It was a chilly morning, and since they had arrived earlier, they thought it would be better to get the fire started. He didn’t know why, but he hadn’t been getting much sleep lately. Since the day he woke up early and bumped into Ariel near the sunrise fire, they had been meeting early in the day almost every day and chatting.

“Hi, Seth. What’s the lesson about today?” asked Ariel.

“I don’t want to rob you of the fun of seeing Trudy and Sophie’s faces when I tell them.”

“So be it,” Ariel accepted easily.

They chatted for a few minutes about Seth’s previous lessons, giving time for the other students to arrive. At the very last minute, Trudy and Sophie trudged in, leaning on their canes and sat, complaining about their tired bones and the morning’s moist air.

“Good morning,” Seth greeted with perfunctory politeness.

“Morning,” answered Trudy and Sophie in a barely audible register.

“Now that we are all here, we can start. Today’s lesson is about cybermonkeys.”

Kai frowned. Trudy was already voicing the doubts in the minds of the others, “What’s the point? There are no cybermonkeys inside the exams.”

“First of all, when Balin created the bonfires, he didn’t want them to be focused exclusively on the exams. He’d be turning over in his grave if he discovered that the fires degenerated into this unhealthy obsession with the exams. If I want to teach a lesson about anything else, it’s within my rights as a firekeeper.”

Trudy didn’t dispute it any longer. Kai and Ariel exchanged looks. They had never had a lesson about cybermonkeys before.

*

Kai studied the card he obtained from merging [Pirate] card with [Pirate Ship].

Loot (Rare)

Goods pillaged from wealthy merchant ships.

Hp: ??

Vp: ??

He wasn't sure what it did, but he was getting vibes similar to when he crafted [Mystery Box]. In the quarry arena, spending all resources to obtain two mystery boxes had been worth it; that was how he unlocked [Text Description] and [Scoreboard]. Those important upgrades had elevated his gameplay to a new level. Even now, he was crafting leisurely because he knew he was ahead of his opponent.

[Loot] didn’t grant hit or victory points, only question marks. He had no idea what that meant. It couldn’t generate upgrades like [Mystery Box], otherwise, why would the cards have different names?

Even though he wasn’t sure about what [Loot] did, he wanted to make more of it. [Pirate Ship] still had one hp left, and he had a healing card ready to make more [Pirates] if needed. But before he settled with this combination, Kai wanted to try a few things first. Kai grabbed one of his most recent cards, [Giraffe].

Giraffe (Rare)

A tall, long-necked mammal with distinctive spotted patterns and ossicones on its head.

Hp: 5

Vp: 2

Giraffes are herbivores. That meant that they were probably similar to [Arabian Oryx]. Thankfully, he had plenty of tools to give to this creature card. He grabbed the very first card he captured in the funfair arena.

Hammer (Uncommon)

A tool to break stones or to drive nails.

Hp: 4

Vp: 0

This looked like a good card to equip on the giraffe.

[Giraffe] + [Hammer]

[Giraffe] | Hp: 5→4

[Hammer] | Hp: 4→3

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Giraffe Technician].

Giraffe Technician (Rare)

A giraffe that can do repairs.

Hp: 4

Vp: 3

If he were to give [Hammer] to a carnivore creature, it would probably grant him some sort of hammer-wielding warrior. But in this case, he got [Giraffe Technician]. Seeing a giraffe in a uniform with a tool belt and a hammer, Kai couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew just what he would like this technician to repair.

[Giraffe Technician] + [Pirate Ship]

[Giraffe Technician] | Hp: 4→0

[Pirate Ship] | Hp: 1→4

Crafting failed.

By using [Giraffe Technician] to bolster the stats of [Pirate Ship], he would be able to get many more [Loot] cards. Before he settled on merging [Pirate] with [Pirate Ship], he had a few ideas that could elevate the potential of this combination further.

It was time to determine whether he could make something more out of [Pirate]. It was just an uncommon card. If it was anything like the [Wolf Warriors], perhaps he could make more pirates and create a whole crew. Or maybe he could find a way to get a better type of pirate - a captain or something.

There was one card that he believed would work well, and he hadn't known what to use it on until now.

Strength (Rare)

The power that be.

Hp: 7

Vp: 0

This card’s stats were begging him to use it in crafting.

[Pirate] + [Strength]

Pirate | Hp: 1→0

Strength | Hp: 7→0

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Brawny Pirate].

Brawny Pirate (Rare)

A strong pirate who instills fear in his enemies and allies.

Hp: 1

Vp: 6

Kai studied the new breed of pirate that he had just created. It showed a muscled pirate with a bare chest covered in scars, only partially covered by a vest. The card was certainly an upgrade. However, it was regretful that [Strength] was completely spent with this combination. [Strength] behaved like a healing card, but in this case, it helped his card improve by a whole grade.

If [Strength] worked, logic had it that [Accuracy] would too.

[Pirate] + [Accuracy]

Pirate | Hp: 1→0

Accuracy | Hp: 7→0

Crafting successful. You’ve crafted [Buccaneer].

Buccaneer (Rare)

A pirate with good aim who can operate a ship’s cannons.

Hp: 1

Vp: 6

This pirate portrayed in the new card was better dressed, wearing a fancy hat and a fashionable coat that looked presentable and ragged simultaneously. Kai noted how both pirates illustrated in the cards were bare-handed and wondered whether he could better equip them. He had the tools and weapons necessary to do that.

[Brawny Pirate] + [Hammer]

Brawny Pirate | Hp: 1→0

Hammer | Hp: 3→2

Crafting successful. You’ve crafted [Pirate Basher].

Pirate Basher (Rare)

A brawny pirate who has learned how to wield a war hammer.

Hp: 2

Vp: 9

The stats of this new card were off the charts. Compared with [Brawny Pirate], it had three more victory points and one more hit point. Even though it was better than other rare cards, it still wasn’t quite enough to break through into the legendary rank.

He went on to equip [Buccaneer]. First, he built on the lessons he had learned from operating [Funhouse Mirror]. He proceeded to convert a toy rifle into the real thing.

[Funhouse Mirror] + [Air Rifle]

Funhouse Mirror | Hp: 2→1

Air Rifle | Hp: 1→0

Crafting successful. You’ve crafted [Pneumatic Rifle].

Pneumatic Rifle (Rare)

Using air pressure, this rifle can propel projectiles at incredible speeds.

Hp: 1

Vp: 6

The description of the buccaneer card mentioned he had good aim. What better card to equip him with? Probably a cannon of some sort. Oh well, a rifle would have to do.

[Buccaneer] + [Pneumatic Rifle]

Buccaneer | Hp: 1→0

Pneumatic Rifle | Hp: 1→0

Crafting successful. You’ve crafted [Pirate Marksman].

Pirate Marksman (Rare)

A pirate that can shoot with incredible precision.

Hp: 2

Vp: 9

It looked like Kai was building along two parallel routes. These two pirates were remarkably similar in stats, and even the background of the illustrations in the card seemed to be the same.

Should he now merge both types of pirates with [Pirate Ship]? Or should he try something else? What would happen if he gave [Strength] to [Pirate Marksman] or [Accuracy] to [Pirate Basher]? Would this elevate the cards even further? He rarely came across cards like these, which offered several crafting options. Thankfully, he had enough resources to experiment with them.

[Pirate Basher] + [Accuracy]

Pirate Basher | Hp: 2→1

Accuracy | Hp: 7→6

Crafting failed!

Kai frowned. He wasn’t expecting it to fail. Since he had made this breed of pirate all about strength, perhaps he just needed to stay his course and give [Pirate Basher] even more of it.

[Pirate Basher] + [Strength]

Pirate Basher | Hp: 1→0

Strength | Hp: 7→6

Crafting failed!

Another failure. Scratching his chin, Kai tried to understand why these combinations hadn’t worked. By stacking emotions in [Child], he had continuously elevated it to a legendary grade. Why wasn’t he able to stack these traits, too? Could it be that they were on a different progression tree entirely? Or was it only the [Child] card that could absorb more traits?

As he scratched his chin, he noticed that he was cleanly shaven. He’d been in the Daisy Exams for almost two days. Had this been the real world, he would have grown  stubble already. It was an amusing thought. Feeling his face could tell him whether he was inside the VR simulation or the real world. He chuckled at the humorous realization, and feeling his mind veering off-topic, he slapped himself gently a few times.

“Focus, Kai. Focus! Just because you’re ahead doesn’t mean you should relax.”

He proceeded to heal [Pirate Basher] up.

Copy successful! You’ve exchanged [Crab] and [Cotton Candy] for [Cotton Candy].

[Pirate Basher] + [Cotton Candy]

Pirate Basher | Hp: 0→3

Corndog | Hp: 4→0

Crafting failed!

The next experiment was determining whether these upgraded pirates gave him more benefits than ordinary [Pirate] cards when merged with [Pirate Ship].

[Pirate Basher] + [Pirate Ship]

Pirate Basher | Hp: 3→2

Pirate Ship | Hp: 4→3

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Loot].

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Loot].

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Loot].

“Three?” The upgraded pirate could get him three loot cards instead of just the one. That sounded wonderful. Or was it? If Daisy was giving him so many [Loot] cards, how good could they be? But what did [Loot] even do? He moved over to the upgrade console to see if all the new recipes he’d tried had unlocked any new upgrades. Sure enough, there was one new entry.

Treasure Island

Requirements: [Loot]

Description: Generates a [Loot] card every turn.

Cost: 75uc

Another card generator, which didn’t provide any clue as to what [Loot] did. Not knowing the reward behind [Loot] made Investing too many resources in obtaining more [Loot] risky. In the end, Kai decided to get a few more, just in case they were really good.

[Pirate Basher] + [Pirate Ship]

Pirate Basher | Hp: 2→1

Pirate Ship | Hp: 3→2

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted 2x[Loot].

[Pirate Marksman] + [Pirate Ship]

Pirate Marksman| Hp: 2→1

Pirate Ship | Hp: 2→1

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted 2x[Loot].

Interesting. [Pirate Marksman] also awarded [Loot], but the number of [Loot] cards generated had a randomness factor to them. The first time he’d merged [Pirate Basher] with [Pirate Ship], he’d lucked out and gotten three, but now he only got two. He was satisfied with how many [Loot] cards he had.

After trying these different avenues, there was only one combination left.

[Pirate Basher] + [Pirate Marksman]

Pirate Basher | 1→0

Pirate Marksman | 1→0

Perfect merge! You’ve crafted [Pirate Captain].

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Mutiny].

Pirate Captain (Legendary)

The leader of a crew of outlaws who raid the seas.

Hp: 4

Vp: 18

Mutiny (Rare)

Conflict caused by the rebellion of a crew, resulting in the institution of a new captain.

Hp: 0

Vp: 7

Kai held up the legendary new card. In it was a pirate who was somehow the mix of [Pirate Basher] and [Pirate Marksman]. He sported an intimidating physique while keeping impressive garments and a tricorn hat that marked him as a respectable pirate leader. Sadly, [Pirate Basher] and [Pirate Marksman] had both disappeared.

Kai had to wonder about the perfect merge notification. It wasn’t the first time he had come across it. The first time was when he’d obtained [Mega Scrapdroid]. Back then, by combining two [Super Scrapdroid] with the same stats, they were upgraded into [Mega Scrapdroid].

In the previous stage, he had forced perfect merges by utilizing [Chemical X], thus allowing him to force the fusion of creatures together. Even though he still had many questions about what this meant, perhaps the results of a recipe changed depending on the stats of the ingredient cards.

Before trying this recipe, Kai had whittled down both pirate’s hp to one. Was that why it had become a perfect merge? Because the stats of both cards were the same?

In addition to [Pirate Captain], he received a rare new card, [Mutiny]. Checking the scoreboard, Kai felt kind of sorry for the competition. Even though they had done a good job closing the gap, Kai was leaving them in the dust with all these incredible recipes.

Now that he had a captain, he was curious to see what would happen once he merged it with [Pirate Ship].

[Pirate Captain] + [Pirate Ship]

Pirate Captain | 4→3

Pirate Ship | 3→2

Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Treasure].

Treasure (Legendary)

Hp: 0

Vp: 10

What an amazing recipe! Even though [Treasure] couldn’t be used in crafting, it still granted ten victory points. He had a pirate ship that could be fixed and a pirate captain who could be fed, meaning he could create a [Treasure] assembly line. His victory points would be off the charts this round!

Slapping his forehead, Kai ran toward the upgrade console. “How could I forget about this?” He’d just gotten his hands on two new legendary cards. That meant that he had two new upgrades in the console.

With a whetted appetite, Kai opened the upgrade and blew an appreciative whistle.

Captain’s Safe

Requirements: [Loot]; [Treasure]; [Pirate Captain]

Description: Open [Loot] cards immediately upon obtaining them.

Cost: 75uc

Pirate’s Den

Requirements: [Pirate Captain]

When a pirate’s hp reaches zero, they go into the den.

Cost: 150uc

Treasure Island II

Requirements: [Loot]; [Treasure]

Description: Generate randomly a [Loot] or  [Treasure] card every turn.

Cost: 150uc

Kai rubbed his hands as he read the new upgrades available. He could finally find out what [Loot] did.

Ch. 55 - Apologetic Loot

INDEX

Ch. 57 - Mind Control Acclimatization