Arthur sat down hard on the cold gray stone. His chest rose and fell as he took deep, slow breaths of the chilly void air. The adrenaline was slowly fading away, leaving a dull ache in his left shoulder where the beast’s claw had grazed him.
He looked down at his hands. They were stained with gray dust and a smudge of dark beast blood. Just a few minutes ago, he had been a helpless orphan standing on a floating rock with nothing. Now, sitting beside him on the ground, was a small wooden box with a brass lock, a shiny metal dagger, ten heavy copper coins, and a soft loaf of white bread.
Arthur’s stomach gave a loud, hungry rumble. He hadn’t eaten a proper meal since yesterday morning, back in his cold, drafty room in the city of Neo-Veridia.
He reached out and picked up the loaf of white bread. It was fresh and warm, as if it had just come out of a village oven. He broke off a piece and put it into his mouth. The bread was sweet, soft, and delicious. It tasted like butter and honey, melting on his tongue. As he chewed and swallowed, a warm wave of energy spread from his stomach all the way to his fingertips. The dull ache in his shoulder vanished completely, and his strength came rushing back.
"That magic water and this bread... this place is strange, but it is real," Arthur whispered to himself.
He set the rest of the bread aside and picked up the metal dagger. The blade was about eight inches long, made of polished steel that gleamed faintly in the purple light of the void. The handle was wrapped in dark brown leather, fitting snugly into his palm. It wasn’t a legendary magical sword, but to an orphan who had never held a real weapon in his life, it felt like a treasure.
He slipped the dagger into his belt. Then, he picked up the ten copper coins one by one and dropped them into his trouser pocket. They clinked together with a cheerful, metallic sound—clink, clink, clink.
For an orphan who used to count every single copper coin just to buy a bowl of thin vegetable soup, holding ten coins felt like holding a fortune.
He stood up and looked around his tiny territory. Thirty steps by thirty steps. That was all he had. The gray stone floor was cold beneath his boots, and the dark purple fog still rolled lazily around the edges of the platform like a quiet ocean. In the corner, the half-broken stone well still glowed with its soft, peaceful blue light.
I survived the first test, Arthur thought, his eyes narrowing as he stared out into the endless void. But the voice said the real storm is only just beginning. I need to make my territory stronger.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the air in front of him shimmered.
The small golden box that the wandering merchant had left behind suddenly opened wider. A bright beam of golden light shot up into the dark purple sky, forming a glowing column about three feet wide.
Inside the light, a small, floating wooden tablet appeared. Words appeared on the tablet, glowing in bright blue letters:
[ Basic Dimensional Trade Window is Active ] [ Time Remaining: Two Minutes ] [ Available Trade Offer: One Cup of Well Water for One Wooden Fence Blueprint ]
Arthur’s eyes went wide.
A trade window!
Back in Neo-Veridia, people talked about Global Lords who could trade with merchants from other worlds, exchanging local resources for rare treasures, building blueprints, and magical items. But those were always powerful nobles or students from rich families who started with huge trading posts.
Here was Arthur, standing on a thirty-step rock, and a merchant from another universe was offering a building blueprint for a simple cup of well water.
Without wasting a single second, Arthur ran over to the stone well. He grabbed a small wooden cup that sat on the stone ledge—which must have appeared with the well—and dipped it deep into the sparkling blue water. He pulled it up until it was full to the brim, glowing with a soft, beautiful light.
He rushed back to the floating golden column and held the cup out.
"I accept the trade!" Arthur said clearly.
As soon as his words left his mouth, the cup of water vanished in a flash of golden light. A second later, a rolled-up piece of brown parchment fell out of the light and landed right in Arthur’s open hands.
The golden column disappeared, and the trade window closed with a soft pop.
Arthur looked down at the parchment in his hands. He unrolled it carefully. Simple words and drawings appeared on the paper:
[ Blueprint: Simple Wooden Fence ] [ Description: A sturdy fence made of basic wood. Can be placed around the edge of a territory to keep small Void Beasts out. ] [ Requirements to Build: Ten pieces of wood, two copper coins. ]
Arthur stared at the paper, his heart sinking a little bit.
Ten pieces of wood? Two copper coins?
He looked down at his feet. There was no wood on his floating island. There were no trees, no bushes, and no lumber piles. There was only gray stone, the stone well, and empty air.
How am I supposed to build a fence if I don’t have any wood? he thought, frowning.
He walked to the edge of the stone platform and looked down into the endless purple fog. Nothing was there except swirling smoke and distant, twinkling stars.
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed from beneath the stone platform.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It sounded like small footsteps walking on stone, coming from right underneath his feet.
Arthur stepped back quickly, his hand dropping to his belt to grip the handle of his new metal dagger. He crouched low, his eyes fixed on the edge of the gray rock.
The tapping sound grew louder. Then, a tiny head popped up over the edge of the stone.
It wasn’t a terrifying monster this time. It was a small, round creature about the size of a rabbit. It had fuzzy brown fur, long floppy ears, and a tiny pink nose that twitched back and forth. In its tiny front paws, it was holding a bundle of old, dry tree branches tied together with a piece of rough vine.
The little creature blinked its big, black button eyes and looked straight at Arthur.
Arthur blinked. The creature blinked back.
Squeak, the little creature made a soft, harmless sound.
Arthur slowly stood up, letting go of his dagger a little bit. He tilted his head. "Are you... lost?" he asked softly.
The little creature didn’t run away. Instead, it hopped forward two steps onto the stone platform, dragging the bundle of dry tree branches behind it. It dropped the bundle right at Arthur’s feet, sat down on its hind legs, and let out another cute little squeak, rubbing its tummy with its paws.
Arthur looked down at the bundle of branches. Then he looked at the Blueprint for the Simple Wooden Fence in his hand.
Ten pieces of wood...
He counted the sticks in the bundle. There were exactly ten dry branches.
A sudden realization hit Arthur. This little creature wasn’t an enemy. In this strange, infinite void, different creatures wandered around floating islands. Some were monsters like the Void Beast that wanted to kill him. But others... others might be traders or friendly wanderers of the lower realms!
Arthur smiled gently. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his shiny copper coins. He also grabbed a small piece of the sweet white bread he had left over from breakfast.
He knelt down slowly so he wouldn’t scare the little creature. He placed the piece of white bread and the single copper coin on the stone floor right in front of it.
"Here you go, little guy," Arthur said in a warm, friendly voice. "Thank you for the wood."
The little creature’s nose twitched wildly. It sniffed the air, hopped forward, and grabbed the piece of white bread with its tiny paws. It nibbled on the bread happily, its big ears flopping up and down with every bite. Then, it looked at the copper coin, poked it with its nose, and let out a happy little chirp.
It grabbed the copper coin in its mouth, turned around, and hopped quickly toward the edge of the platform. Before Arthur could say another word, the little creature jumped off the edge into the purple fog and vanished.
Arthur stood up, looking down at the bundle of ten dry branches left on the stone floor.
He picked them up. They were sturdy and dry, perfect for building.
He held the wooden fence blueprint in one hand and the branches in the other. He remembered the two copper coins requirement. He still had nine copper coins left in his pocket.
He took one more copper coin out of his pocket and held it tightly in his fist, pressing it against the blueprint.
"Build," Arthur whispered.
Suddenly, the ten dry branches and the copper coin glowed with a bright, warm white light. They floated out of his hands into the air, spinning slowly in a circle. The light grew brighter, and then settled down around the outer edge of the thirty-step platform.
In a flash of light, a neat, sturdy wooden fence appeared, running all the way around the edge of the gray stone island. It was about waist high, made of strong brown wooden posts tied together with thick rope.
Arthur walked over and touched the fence. It felt solid, real, and strong.
"It worked," Arthur said, a wide smile spreading across his face for the first time since he had arrived in this strange world.
He wasn’t a powerful noble with a giant army. He was just a lone orphan starting with a thirty-step rock and a broken well. But step by step, branch by branch, he was building something of his own. He was building a home in the middle of the infinite universe.
He walked back to the center of the platform, sat down near the stone well, and took a deep breath of the cool void air. He felt safe behind his new wooden fence. The first battle was won, his first trade was complete, and his territory was growing.
He closed his eyes for a moment, resting his head against his knees, feeling proud of what he had done with his own two hands.
I survived today, Arthur thought quietly. Tomorrow, I will make it even better.
He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky.
The peaceful purple stars were still twinkling in the distance. But as Arthur watched, something terrifying happened.
Far across the endless void, where the dark purple fog always rolled, the color of the sky began to change. The peaceful purple melted away, replaced by a deep, violent, blood-red glow that spread across the horizon like a spilled river of fire.
At the same exact second, the ground beneath Arthur’s boots trembled violently.
RUMBLE...
A deep, deafening roar echoed from the depths of the void—a sound so loud and powerful that it shook the wooden fence and made the water in the stone well splash over the sides.
Arthur jumped to his feet instantly, his hand grabbing the metal dagger at his belt. His blood ran cold.
From the red horizon, thousands of glowing red eyes opened in the dark, moving toward his tiny island like a tidal wave of blood and teeth.