HC: Handyman | Ch. 13 - Glazing (Patreon)

With ten ropes in his inventory, Jack felt richer than ever. Their grades were excellent, too. He’d gotten eight As, one B, and one C in a particularly unsuccessful attempt at the end when his mind wandered, and he thought of Lydia.

He had read online that there was a special reward the first time he obtained ten As in a row. Sadly, it hadn’t been his time yet. But given how easy it was to craft rope, he would probably succeed soon.

He did want to visit the market to leave these ropes and sell them, but he still had one last stop to make.

Hopefully, there would be no one in this time.

Knock. Knock.

“Hi, fellow potter. How are you doing?” Jenny greeted with a beaming smile. Thankfully, NPCs in this game didn’t seem to need any sleep, and he could come here despite the late hour. 

Jack stretched his neck, trying to determine whether anyone was inside. He saw no one. “Jenny, I was wondering if I could use your hearth?”

“I don’t know. My husband should be coming home soon, and he’ll expect dinner to be ready once he returns.”

Jack bit his lip. Hopefully, the guide he’d read online was correct. “Here’s the thing. I just learned about slip and glazing. I was hoping you could answer my questions on the topic.”

Hearing Jack’s desire to learn a new technique, Jenny’s eyes lit up. “Well, I suppose I can teach you. We should still have some time.”

She invited Jack in, and he obliged, grinning. As soon as he entered the house, his stamina bar began recovering, thanks to the buff from being indoors and near a cozy fire.

Fire was more valuable in the game than Jack had initially assumed. It was one of the cheapest ways to recover stamina and health. It was also necessary for several professions, and it wasn’t uncommon for players to gather around a fire and brashly use it without the kindler’s consent.

The tutorial he’d seen about crafting explained that the NPC teachers wouldn’t let craftsmen hang out in their workshop forever. The only exception was when one leveled up and learned a new technique. In those circumstances, teacher NPCs allowed their pupils to stay for an hour at most. The recommendation was that whenever one leveled and learned a new skill, they should head into a teacher’s house and make the most of their time there.

“You already know the place,” Jenny said hospitably. “So you want to learn more about glazing and—” she paused, seeing Jack already wearing her mittens and carrying the cauldron out of the hearth. “What are you doing?”

Jack urgently placed all the pots he had molded earlier on the now-empty hearth. They were on the bone-dry stage and needed to be fired. “Oh, this? Jenny. Look at you. You are a true artisan! One of the last good ones. I was just paying homage to our craft, ”

“But that cauldron! Who told you, you could move it?”

Jack kept carefully placing the pots in the fire. “It’s a cauldron made of clay. And I guess you were the one who made it.”

“Well, yes. But…”

“I just needed to hold it and feel its weight. You are an incredible potter, Mrs. Jenny. Have you ever been told that?” Jack ignored Jenny's judgmental look. He might not have been the smartest cookie in the jar, but he surely was the most shameless. He wouldn’t let this lady kick him out of this cozy fire now that he had a foot in the door.

“Well, I supposed that I am good at what I do, but I thought you wanted to learn about glazing and slip,” she protested.

“Of course, of course. That’s why I’ve also gotten started with firing the pots. From what I understand, I need fired pots to glaze, right?”

You’ve single-fired [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+5xp in [Pottery]

Congratulations! You’ve crafted [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+20xp in [Pottery]

Jack felt like dancing. Thanks to the technique he had picked up online, he got a B on his very first pot, and hijacking Jenny’s mittens kept him safe from the burning damage. He kept talking, hoping that Jenny wouldn’t kick him out.

“You seem to know everything about glazing already,” she accused.

“Nonsense. How could I know everything? Especially compared to you.”

You’ve single-fired [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+5xp in [Pottery]

Congratulations! You’ve crafted [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+20xp in [Pottery]

Jenny was visibly uncomfortable with how Jack had taken over her workspace. The tutorials and guides warned of this type of resistance. He just needed to maintain a thick skin and a moving mouth. “Please tell me about glazing, Jenny.”

“How can I? You're firing pots right now.”

“It helps me focus. Ever since I learned about ceramics, I can’t stop crafting. Every moment I am not making pots is a wasted one. If I’m not crafting, I feel like my soul is dying or something.”

Jack’s passion and flattery seemed to have an effect on Jenny. “I suppose that your devotion is something to be commended.”

“Thank you, my grandmaster,” he complimented, buttering the potter up as much as possible.

You’ve single-fired [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+5xp in [Pottery]

Congratulations! You’ve crafted [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+50xp in [Pottery]

He got his first A-grade pot. He was in potter’s heaven right now.

“Grandmaster? No, silly. I’m not worthy of such a title.”

“It’s too little praise for all you can do, miss.”

“OK, I guess I’ll tell you about glazing,” she said uncertainly.

“Right. I’m listening,” Jack said absent-mindedly while he kept firing pots.

“Initially, I taught you how to fire a pot and ended the process there. But the truth is that there’s one more step you can take after that. That is called glazing. You must cover the pots in a glaze and then fire them again. This can add to the ceramics’ impermeability and make it shiny. It can add beautiful colors and aesthetic effect,” she said, excited. Some of her discomfort seemed to have worn off once she returned to her teacher’s shoes.

By this time, Jack was already collecting his tenth pot and kept going. His XP bar was skyrocketing.

“One of the most basic types of glaze you can use is slip: a mix of water with clay. Here, let me show you how it’s done.”

She headed to the table and turned back. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I need a moment.”

Jenny’s scowl returned.

Jack tried to say something to appease her. “It’s just that what you said about glazing is so deep. So profound. I’m feeling a little emotional right now. I need a moment. Your statements about pottery have rocked me to the core. I feel like my heart is about to burst with knowledge and art,” he blabbered as much nonsense as he could think of while he kept firing pot after pot.

“Was what I said really that deep?” Jenny wondered, confused.

“Oh yes. You’re a pottery genius. A savant! A goddess!” Jack kept lying through his teeth, hurrying through pot after pot. There were twenty of them. Just as the XP bar was getting close to leveling up, he stopped and grinned.

“Thank you, master. I feel so enlightened right now.”

“Oh well. Never mind. It’s good to have such a motivated and appreciative student. Shall we get started with slip?”

Jack saved all the pots in his inventory and joined Jenny at her crafting table. The potter went to her clay box and took out a lump of clay. She then grabbed two bowls from the kitchen shelves, filled them with water, placed one on her side of the table, and served Jack the other.

“Making a slip is very simple. You need to mix clay into the water. You have the right consistency once you get a milky, watery paste. Watch.” Jenny added a little of the clay and stirred the water, mixing it in. After a short while, the bowl was filled with a mushy, runny soup-like liquid. Jack mimicked her movements and got a similar result.

“Now, what you want to do is to get a brush like this,” she said, grabbing one from a cup and handing it to him. She picked another up for herself. Then dip the brush in the mix and coat the ceramic, inside and out, like this.” She proceeded to coat the pot, smearing slip all over it. “See?”

Jack imitated her and got the mix all over one of the pots he had just fired. “What now?” he asked.

“Now, just fire it again. Go for it.”

Jack approached the hearth and placed the pot back into the fire. A progress bar appeared over it.

You’ve glazed-fire [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+20 pottery XP.

Turning the warm pot in his hand, he saw how the previously porous and rugged surface was smoother and more polished. Inspecting the pot’s item description, he also found that, as the skill advertised, this technique had given it two durability points. He looked at the clock. Little time had elapsed between shamelessly firing the pots in Jenny’s hearth and learning this technique.

Seeing that smearing slip on the pots didn't earn him any professional XP, he proceeded to the next stage of his plan.

“Jenny, do you mind if I glaze a couple more pots in your workshop before I go?”

“I guess that would be OK,” she readily agreed. "Practicing is vital to mastering a craft."

“Good!” Jack started taking every single fired pot from his inventory.

“Oh my. There must be over 20 pots there.” 

“True, true. I want to perfect this technique before I progress.”

Jack used Jenny’s brush and bowl to coat all his pots with slip. Once he ran out, he took some clay and water from his inventory and made more. By the time he was done glazing, forty minutes had elapsed. According to the guides, Jenny would only tolerate his presence in the workshop for twenty more minutes.

Seeing how much clay he had to work with and how inevitable it was to gain a new level, he decided it was time to reset the clock. He approached the fire and began to glaze-fire all his pots. 

You’ve glazed-fire [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+20 pottery XP.

You’ve glazed-fire [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+20 pottery XP.

After the third one, he gained a level.

You’ve glazed-fire [Earthenware Gardening Pot].

+20 pottery XP.

Congratulations! You’ve reached level 2 in [Pottery].

You’ve learned a new recipe [Bowl].

“Oh, Jenny!” he called, never pausing his glaze firing.

“Yes, traveler. What is it?”

“I’ve just broken through and need your guidance in learning how to make a bowl. Can you help me?”

“Oh, how unusual. For an artisan to break through while they’re here with me is not common at all,” she said pensively. "I suppose that would be okay.”

Jack smiled. With this, he had one more hour in Jenny’s workshop, and he was one step closer to his goal.

*

Jack stepped out of Jenny's house with his inventory full of glazed pots and bowls. He had made the most of his time in Jenny’s cozy workshop and was exhausted. However, it was worth it. The results spoke for themselves. Not only had he reached level 3 in pottery, but he was just one pot away from level 4. 

All his prep work and having Jenny's tools and hearth readily available speeded up the progress considerably. Even though he doubted that he would be able to gain back-to-back levels again in pottery, with this little trick, he could halve the time he spent grinding.

Arriving at the auction house, Jack started dumping everything that could be sold in the marketplace. He started by selling all the unused materials he had collected: clay, dry grass, regular grass, and ash. The latter, as it turned out, wasn’t particularly valuable. It was only worth half a copper a piece, and it was fairly common. It was just that grass left very little of it. From what he’d read online, burning logs would award him ash in spades.

Jack started selling his gardening pots. There were 30 of them. Ten of them had been crafted on the grassy hill before he learned the trick of using a damp cloth to smooth the pot's surface. He had glazed them at Jenny’s to make them more valuable. 

The system offered him ten coppers for each of his six E-grade glazed pots and 18 for each D-grade one. The next batch was where his real profit was. Fifteen of the pots were B-grade, and he even had five A-grade ones! The system offered him 34 coppers for each B pot and 55 for each A-grade pot.  Just in pots, he had gained 9 silvers and 17 coppers.

He grabbed the bowls next.

Bowl (Common)

Crafting Grade: C

Durability: 9

A vital utensil in any kitchen, or chemistry lab. Can be used for everything from cooking to mixing chemicals.

Effects:

Used in a variety of recipes.

Cost: 30 coppers

He still hadn’t mastered the shape, so most of the bowls he’d made were Cs. He put all the bowls he’d made up for sale, keeping only one to himself so that he could mix slip when crafting. Even as he added new items to the marketplace, some of the ropes and pots he had listed were already being sold. 

He also decided to follow his cousin's advice and sell the cheap tinderbox he had purchased last time, which was one step away from breaking. The system only offered him ten coppers for it.

He frowned. Wasn't this price much lower than what he had paid for it? Why hadn’t other similarly priced tinderboxes appeared the last time he was shopping? The cheapest one he could find at the time was 83 coppers.

He tried to understand the disparity between the price offered and what he had found when buying. Finally, he found the reason. An option was ticked by default in the market filters. It made it so that only items with five or more durability appeared whenever he was shopping. 

As he turned it off, a never-ending list of junk appeared. Plenty of items with one durability were up for sale. Even so, there seemed to be a market for it because they were constantly disappearing even as he looked through the listings. He couldn't help but feel a little curiosity toward the restorer profession. He wondered how it worked. 

Curiosity satiated, he put the tinderbox for sale at 10 coppers. It was better than nothing. When he was finally done dumping all the items into the marketplace, he checked the calculated amount of money he would make once it all sold. He was going to make over 26 silver!

He was rich! Now, it was time to reinvest some of this money in supplies.

Ch. 12 – Scrambled Eggs and Coffee

INDEX

Ch. 14 - Consistent Quality