HC: Handyman | Ch. 33 - Flavumware  (Patreon)

As soon as Jack grabbed the broken piece of ceramics, he received a notification.

You’ve discovered a [Small Shard of Flavumware].

+50xp to [Pottery].

“Picking this garbage gives xp?” Jack exclaimed, mouth drooling. So far, he never got xp from harvesting resources, only from crafting with it. This meant that the village was littered with xp! Something took over Jack, and he activated turbo mode. He started pocketing all the shards he could land his eyes on. By the time he had picked the house clean, he had gained a level to pottery, and there were still two minutes left on the clock. 

The next house Jack decided to go into was in slightly better shape. There was still a doorframe standing and even a couple of windows. “Going into another house, the one with the windows!” Jack screamed. 

“Okay, I'm still in the first one,” Amari shouted in response. 

They were in the race against the clock. Only the smell of raptors’ poop kept the little compies away. Jack entered another house and found the biggest piece of ceramic he had seen so far. At least a third of what seemed like a plate had survived the mistreatment of the jungle. 

You’ve discovered a [Medium Shard of Flavumware].

+200xp to [Pottery].

The xp was even better!

“Jack, come outside. The bomb’s effect is almost over.” 

Jack ran out of the house, pocketing a few more shards as he went, and Amari was already at the edge of the poop mist in the direction of another collection of houses. Ready? 

“One, two, three, go.” Before the bomb's effect completely dispersed, Amari threw another bomb. Another burst of pungent, foul smell emerged, driving all the compies hiding in the area away. The animals were furious. Their growls and snarls were becoming louder as their fear of the smell of a predator battled their instincts to protect their nest. 

Jack was already running into another house closer to the village center. Since he’d found bigger shards inside of the least damaged house, building on his previous experience, he headed to the house with more walls standing. Entering, he found that even parts of the ceiling had survived, shielded by a tree overhead. There was even a piece of virtually intact furniture. One of its legs was broken, and the wooden cabinet stood precariously inclined, but most of it had been shielded from the elements. Jack jiggled the door and found it was unlocked. 

Opening it, he found a few plates in mint condition. Jack had only been asked for shards, but he had found complete pieces of pottery! The professor would be thrilled to see these. Jack pocketed them, and the xp boost sent him over the moon.

You’ve discovered [Flavumware Plate].

+500xp to [Pottery].

He had already gained two levels of pottery in under 10 minutes just from picking up this garbage. Coming to this quest had been so worth it.

“Jack! It’s almost out!” Amari shouted.

This house had so many ceramics that he spent the full duration of this bomb here! Jack caught Amari at the edge of the fading mist in the face of a group of jumping compies eager to get their claws and teeth on them. “Where to now?” Jack asked excitedly. He still had a few empty slots in his inventory. Even if he filled them, he could always throw away the smallest pieces of ceramics to create space for medium and large ones.

“We're going to go that way. It's still in the direction of the fires, but in an area we haven’t searched yet. Are you ready?”

“Oh yeah!” 

“Go.” 

Amari threw the third of four bombs. The ruins of this village section turned out to be the worst ones for getting shards. The ruins showed more signs of compy activity than anywhere else, and even though the creatures were small, their constant traffic had damaged the houses and the shards within.

Even so, Jack used up every second picking the ruins clean. He only managed to find two medium shards of ceramics, but the rest were just slim pickings. 

“Jack! It’s time!”

Jack left the house and found Amari standing on the side opposite their escape path. “Isn’t that too soon? We still have one minute or so! And why are you standing there? The fires are that way.”

“Relax. It’s just a precaution. That way, they will all huddle here and have to cross a larger distance to get to us. They will need to run around the mist and then around the fire. Hopefully, they won’t chase us more after that.”

Jack frowned. Would the compies go to such great lengths just to attack them? They hadn’t even damaged any eggs or harmed any of them.

“Let’s go!”

Amari took off running, leaving Jack to chase after him. Their stamina bar was more than half full. However, had it not been for the [Compy Nuggets] buff, they would have had to stop now to have a meal and replenish it.

Most compies gathered there because Amari stood on the opposite side of the mist. Seeing their targets run off in the opposite direction, the little creatures were infuriated and immediately ran around the mist to get to them.

The mist was only a few meters away from the fires, but a stretch wasn’t protected by the bomb’s or the fire’s effects. Seeing their prey walk into a possible kill zone, compies went into a frenzy and chirped, trilled, and growled as they ran after them.

Jack and Amari sprinted through the bush, and in just a few seconds, they were under the light and protection of the fire. They never stopped, though, and kept running farther and farther away from the compies’ growls.

They kept running for as long as they could. The sound of the angry compies had become distant but was still audible. “I have to stop. I’m running low.”

“OK! Start gathering fuel. I’ll find a place where you can harvest food for the stew after starting the fire.”

Jack nodded as he started picking up sticks and twigs. He also spotted a couple of edible foods, mushrooms, and berries since they were within reach. After a minute, Amari appeared from the bush. “Found a good place. Come, Jack!”

Jack followed, with enough twigs to keep a fire going for roughly ten minutes, and headed toward the selected campsite. It was a small, empty patch of forest created by a tree that had fallen over. Even as Jack piled the branches and twigs and hit the firesteel and flint together, he caught the colorful collection of mushrooms growing off the dead wood. This was a good spot. There was enough food in that dead trunk to make a stew.

After a few tries, the fire got going. Once they sat down, they exchanged a look, and both laughed. “Yes!” Jack celebrated, giving a high five to Amari. “We made it.”

“Uuf. This quest has good XP. I got two levels to archaeology just from picking those babies up.”

That reminded Jack. He hadn’t checked the rewards for gaining two levels in [Pottery]. He opened the notification window to check what new recipes and skills he had learned.

You’ve reached level 4 in [Pottery]!

You’ve learned a new pottery skill: [Touch of the Potter].

Touch of the Potter (Common)

Description: After touching many ceramics and spending time molding clay, you develop a sensitivity toward the craft and can make better pots.

Effects: Passive. The quality of your products scales with agility.

[Clay Gathering] has been upgraded.

Clay Gathering, Lvl. 2

Skill description: You can identify some types of clay in the wild and collect it.

Skill effects:

You can collect [Earthenware Clay].

You can collect [Stoneware Clay].

You’ve reached level 5 in [Pottery]!

[Clay Molding] has been upgraded.

Clay Molding, Lvl. 2

Skill description: You can craft simple objects using clay.

Skill effects: 

You can shape earthenware and stoneware clay;

You can make pinch-pots.

You’ve learned a new pottery recipe: [Plate]

Both two fundamental skills on his kit as a potter had been upgraded. They both were geared toward introducing a new type of clay to his creations. He had no idea about what stoneware clay was and what difference it made to use it, but he would read about it online or visit a potter to find out.

He also had unlocked a new skill: [Touch of the Potter]. Finally, his in-game attributes were being put to work inside his craft. So far, only making better or worse pots was a matter of skill and technique. From now on, however, the higher his attributes, the better the pots would be. He wondered who could make a better pot: a level 100 player with zero experience in pottery or a skillful beginner.

Amari’s question burst him out of his pottery bubble. “Did you manage to fill your inventory?”

“19 stacks! You?”

“20!”

Hearing that Amari had done slightly better than him, Jack’s mood soured somewhat. He didn’t know why. They were doing the same quest, and he guessed that whatever rewards they received would be equally shared between the two.

Jack harvested the mushrooms as the water in the pot started boiling. His inventory had maxed out just from picking twigs and a few ingredients. Maybe using up the tinderbox and gaining an empty slot from it wasn’t bad after all. Once he had picked the log clean, he threw everything that was edible into his inventory.

After a few minutes, a tasty smell filled their campsite, and he received a pleasant notification.

Congratulations! You’ve crafted [Survival Stew].

+150xp in [Bushcraft]

You’ve reached level 5 in [Bushcraft]!

You’ve learned a new bushcraft recipe: [Basic Torch].

Basic Torch

Ingredients: [Stick], [Cloth], [Fat].

Recipe: Wrap the cloth around the edge of a sturdy stick and dip it into fat. Light it.

Requirements: [Bushcraft], lvl. 5.

Cooking so many stews and lighting fires had paid off, and he had also broken through to level 5 in bushcraft. He was also able to make his own torches! His cousin had been right. He had done well to sell all the torches he’d scavenged from the pyramid to fund his current quest. He could do his own torches now.

He served the steamy stew, and they both ate in silence.

[Compy Nugget] buff has expired.

“It’s been two hours already?” Jack protested as he saw his health and stamina bars plummet.

“That’s right. We’re going to need to make many more stops from now on. Mosquito bites will sting harder, too. We’ll need those bandages of yours. It’s a bit frustrating, but it’s what it is.”

Knowing that one of the deterrents to the nasty chicken dinosaurs was gone, Jack couldn’t help but worry. “Do you think they’ve given up chasing us?” Jack asked as he glanced in the direction of the ruins.

“I think so.”

“I know those bombs were expensive. Thanks again for using them,” Jack said sincerely.

Amari smiled. “No worries. I’m confident that the rewards for the quest will be worth it. My advice is for you to make some bandages. Our health will deplete faster than our stamina without the buff.”

Hearing Amari’s suggestion, Jack took out the mortar and pestle he’d purchased from the marketplace. It was made of dull, grey stone. He grabbed his bush knife and scraped moss from the nearby dead trunk. 

You’ve collected 1x[Green Moss].

Soon, he had four of them. He added all of them to the stone bowl and crushed it with the pestle. The moss had plenty of moisture, and without adding any water to it, it formed a green paste. He took out a linen cloth and laid it on the ground. He then added the green paste to the cloth and neatly folded it.

You’ve crafted [Moss Wound Dressing].

+20xp to [Bushcraft]

Moss Wound Dressing (Common)

Crafting Grade: D

Durability: 5

A basic linen bandage that has crushed moss into it. It can help with the recovery of small wounds.

Effects:

+1hp per second for 10 seconds;

“Try not putting the linen bandage on the ground. In the real world, that would increase the risk of infection. No one wants dirty bandages. Also, try to fold it into three instead of just two,” Amari recommended.

Jack bit his lip but followed the advice. He scraped a few more patches of moss and started on one more bandage.

Ch. 32 - Block

INDEX

Ch. 34 - Zzzz