Elder Chi was crouching in the corner, clutching a piece of blue-grey flint in his hand, carefully grinding a new stone hoe.
Stone chips rustled as they fell to the ground, but he had been grinding for half an hour, yet the hoe blade was still not sharp enough.
The existing stone tools in the Tribe, whether stone axes or stone hoes, were limited by their material; they couldn’t cut through hard oak or break up the frozen, compacted soil.
Every time they hunted or cleared land, it required immense effort.
“Elder Chi, take a rest.”
Yuna walked over, holding a bowl of warm water, and handed it to Elder Chi.
“This flint is too hard; grinding it for too long will hurt your hands.”
Elder Chi took the water, sighed, and looked at the dull, polished stone hoe in his hand:
“I have to keep grinding.
We’ll be clearing land in a few days, and with this stone hoe, it will be chipped after digging less than half a Mark of land.
If only we had harder tools…”
His words were like a needle, pricking Alex’s heart nearby.
Since refining fine salt, the Tribe’s food and health issues were temporarily solved, but the tool dilemma was becoming increasingly obvious:
stone axes required tremendous effort to chop hard wood, stone spears easily broke while hunting, and stone hoes were extremely inefficient for clearing land.
Alex knew that to advance farming and construction, he must have more efficient tools—and the “Seed of Civilization” System in his mind might be able to solve this problem.
While the Tribesmen were busy with their tasks, Alex quietly retreated to the innermost corner of the cave, leaning against the cold rock wall, and submerged his consciousness into his mind.
The light blue System Panel instantly unfolded.
The “Civilization Points” column clearly showed “560 points”—these were the points accumulated after finding rock salt and refining coarse salt, which, combined with the previous 340 points, were just enough to exchange for a crucial item.
He clicked open the “Basic Store,” and his gaze swept repeatedly across the shelves.
Although Medical Gauze (30 points/pack) was practical, the Tribe currently had no seriously injured people, so it wasn’t needed yet;
Coarse Grain Seeds (80 points/bag) had to wait for the Spring Plowing to be sown, so exchanging them now was too early;
The Simple Tanning Tool Set (60 points) could improve the quality of animal hides, but it wasn’t the most urgent need right now.
Finally, his gaze stopped on the gray “steel axe”—the exchange required 500 points, labeled as “Industrial-grade forging, extremely high hardness, suitable for cutting, excavating, and creating metal tool prototypes.”
500 points was almost ninety percent of his current points.
Alex’s finger hovered over the panel, feeling conflicted:
After exchanging for the steel axe, he would only have 60 points left.
If an emergency occurred, such as a Tribesman needing gauze for an injury, he wouldn’t have points for contingency.
But then he thought, the steel axe could solve the Tribe’s most critical tool dilemma—with the steel axe, cutting trees, making farm tools, and even searching for copper ore would be much more efficient.
In the long run, the benefits would far outweigh the 60 points of emergency reserve.
“I’ll choose the steel axe.” Alex no longer hesitated, tapping the “Exchange” button with his fingertip.
[Host detected selecting “steel axe” for exchange, consuming 500 Civilization Points.
Current remaining points: 60 points.]
[Item exchanging: 10%…50%…100%.
Exchange successful!]
[“steel axe” has been stored in the System Temporary Storage Space.
The Host can retrieve it via consciousness command.]
As soon as the system notification tone ended, Alex felt a slight warmth in the palm of his right hand, as if something was residing deep within his consciousness, ready to be retrieved with a single thought.
He suppressed his excitement and looked around—the Tribesmen were all busy with their own tasks, and no one noticed his abnormality.
Alex took a deep breath and silently chanted “Retrieve steel axe” in his mind.
The next second, a silver-bright steel axe materialized in his hand, its heavy weight causing his wrist to drop slightly.
The handle was smooth walnut wood, perfectly sized for his grip;
The blade had a cold, hard metallic sheen, with no trace of rust on the edges, and the axe blade was sharp enough to reflect his profile.
The edge shimmered with a faint cold light, clearly incomparable to any stone tool.
Alex swung it lightly; the axe head sliced through the air, making a faint “whoosh” sound, swift and powerful.
“Alex, what are you holding?” A crisp voice suddenly rang out.
Alex looked up and saw that A He had approached without him noticing.
She was staring wide-eyed at the steel axe in his hand, her small face filled with curiosity.
A He’s voice attracted the attention of the surrounding Tribesmen.
Elder Chi was the first to put down his stone hoe and quickly walked over.
His clouded eyes fell upon the steel axe and instantly lit up;
John also walked over, carrying a stone axe.
The moment he saw the steel axe, his steps halted abruptly, and his eyes were full of disbelief;
Yuna, Mark, Ashi…
more and more Tribesmen gathered around.
The murmuring in the cave gradually ceased, leaving only the continuous gasps of astonishment from the crowd.
“What…
what kind of tool is this?” Elder Chi tremblingly stretched out his hand, wanting to touch the body of the steel axe, but was afraid of damaging it, so his fingers hovered in mid-air for a long time.
“How is it silver?
It’s brighter than flint.
Is it made from the ‘Divine Stone’ from the mountains?”
John also came closer, reached out to weigh the steel axe, and his brow furrowed instantly:
“So heavy!
It’s more than twice as heavy as my stone axe, but the feel…
it’s much more solid than a stone axe.”
He lightly tapped the axe body, and the steel axe emitted a crisp “clang,” unlike the dull sound of a stone axe.
This sound shook him—in his thirty years of life, he had never heard such a crisp “stone” sound.
“It’s not made of Divine Stone, it’s’steel.'”
Alex held up the steel axe and said to the surrounding Tribesmen,
“Steel is much harder and much sharper than flint.
Using it to chop trees and make tools will save ten times the effort compared to a stone axe.”
“Is it really that amazing?” Mark couldn’t help but ask,
“Alex, try it quickly!
There’s an oak log over there that no one could cut.
Try using this ‘steel axe’ on it!”
Alex nodded and walked to the corner of the cave, holding the steel axe.
Standing there was an oak log as thick as a bowl, which John and the others had struggled to carry back yesterday, intending to use it as a beam for a wooden house.
But the stone axes had only left a few shallow marks after chopping at it for half a day.
Alex stood before the oak log, gripped the steel axe handle with both hands, aimed at the base of the log, and swung lightly—
“Crack!”
A crisp snapping sound rang out, and the oak log broke instantly, the cross-section as smooth as if sliced by a knife, without even a single splinter.
The broken oak log crashed heavily to the ground, shaking the stone chips up.
The cave instantly fell silent.
The Tribesmen all widened their eyes, looking at the oak log on the ground, and then at the steel axe in Alex’s hand, their faces filled with shock.
Mark ran over, touched the cross-section of the oak log, then touched the blade of the steel axe, muttering:
“It’s too sharp…
Elder Chi also rushed over, crouched down in front of the broken oak log, carefully inspecting the grain of the cross-section, then reached out and touched the body of the steel axe, suddenly bursting into tears:
“I’ve spent my whole life making stone tools, and I’ve never seen a tool this good…
With this, we can build sturdier wooden houses and sharper weapons.
We won’t have to struggle with flint anymore!”
John walked up to Alex, his eyes full of reverence:
“Alex, where did this ‘steel axe’ come from?
Did you receive it from our ancestors?”
In his view, a tool far surpassing stone tools could only be bestowed by ancestors or deities.
Alex did not directly explain the existence of the System—he knew that concepts like “Cross-Dimensional Store” and “System” were completely incomprehensible to the Tribesmen.
He thought for a moment and fabricated an explanation that fit the Tribe’s understanding:
“I ‘exchanged’ this after our ancestors taught me how in a dream.
The ancestors said that for our Flame Stone Tribe to survive, we must have better tools, so they ‘exchanged’ this steel axe to me, so I could use it to help everyone build our home.”
This explanation both accounted for the steel axe’s origin and aligned with the Tribe’s faith in their “Ancestors,” and the Tribesmen were instantly convinced.
The Old Shaman walked over, leaning on his wooden staff, and bowed deeply toward the steel axe, muttering:
“Thank the Ancestors for their protection!
The Flame Stone Tribe is saved!”
The Tribesmen also bowed, their eyes filled with piety and gratitude.
Only Yuna quietly walked up to Alex and whispered, “Alex, did the ancestors really teach you this in a dream?”
She always felt that Alex held many secrets, such as the method for making fire, the skill of weaving fish baskets, the technique for refining salt, and this magical steel axe—none of it seemed as simple as “taught by ancestors in a dream.”
Alex looked at Yuna’s intelligent eyes, knowing he couldn’t hide it from her, yet unable to tell the truth.
He could only gently pat her shoulder:
“No matter where it came from, as long as it helps the Tribe survive, that’s enough, right?”
Yuna paused, then nodded, a smile of understanding appearing in her eyes: “Yes, as long as it helps everyone survive, that’s enough.”
Elder Chi volunteered to make a sturdier handle for the steel axe—he felt that although the current walnut wood handle was usable, it wasn’t thick enough and might break if used to chop larger trees.
Mark and Ashi gathered around the steel axe, discussing how much wood to chop and how many farm tools to make with it.
John stood aside, watching the Tribesmen’s excitement, and then looked at the steel axe in Alex’s hand.
He suddenly felt incredibly secure—with this “Divine Axe,”
and with Alex, the Flame Stone Tribe would surely endure the winter and even become stronger than before.
Alex held the steel axe, feeling its weight in his hand, and then looked at the “60 points” remaining on the System Panel in his mind.
His heart was filled with confidence.
This was his first time using the System Exchange, but it had brought effects far exceeding expectations—not only solving the tool dilemma, but also further solidifying the Tribesmen’s confidence.
He knew this steel axe was just the beginning.
Next, he would use it as a prototype, instruct Elder Chi to look for copper ore, and usher in the Tribe’s Metal Age; he would use it to cut trees and build houses, allowing the Tribesmen to live in sturdier wooden houses; he would use it to clear land, preparing for the Spring Plowing.
The charcoal in the fire pit was still burning, reflecting the cold light shimmering off the steel axe’s edge.
The Tribesmen gathered around the steel axe, excitedly discussing future plans.
The warmth and laughter in the cave were richer than ever before.
Alex looked at the scene before him and thought silently: This first System Exchange was worth it.