HC: Handyman | Ch. 43 - Kegman and Pigtail Girl (Patreon)

Jack immediately spotted Amari after entering the lobby of Embersgate Historical Society. It was hard to miss the tall man with dark skin waving at him from the entrance to the taxidermic section of the museum. Jack walked toward him and shook his hand heartily. “Amari, good to see you again.”

“Hey, Jack. Let me introduce you to the rest of the squad. This is Horace. He's a trapper. He’s going to play a vital role in this quest.”

“Hi, how are you doing?” Jack greeted politely.

“Hey,” the man greeted back in rumbling bass. One would expect someone with a trapper profession to be more weaselly, not someone so large with a body shaped like a keg. He could imagine this guy tackling a dinosaur to the ground. 

“This is Marie, our poison master!” Amari said enthusiastically. Jack had the impression that these introductions would make it into whatever video he made from this adventure.

“Hi, how are you doing?”

Marie was shorter than his mother and had her hair tied into two pigtails. If he saw her from behind, he would have mistaken her for a child, but the long lines on her face and the wrinkles around her eyes gave her away as the oldest of the team. She just smiled politely. She said even less than Horace’s one-word greeting, marking her as the least talkative of the two. He couldn’t imagine either of them making a living as streamers. They seemed to have zero social skills.

There was something about these two individuals that Jack couldn't quite put into words. He recognized them from somewhere. Where had he seen them before? 

“As I told you, Jack is a bushcrafter. He’ll manage our camp. We just went on an adventure yesterday. The videos are turning out great,” Amari told Jack before he had a chance to ask.

“Sweet. When are you releasing them?”

“A week, maybe? I’ll let you know later, OK? What about you? Still planning to start a channel of your own? Any concrete plans on when?”

“Well, maybe right before you post the video of us questing together,” Jack suggested. That way, he would already have somewhere for Amari’s viewers to go to if they wanted to join his channel.

“That sounds good. Please don't post videos of us running this quest until you run it by me first, okay?”

“Of course!” Amari was his golden-egg-laying goose! He wasn’t about to drive them apart for such a silly mistake. Jack pointed at Horace, eyes widened. He had finally recognized them. “They were in your video! They also fought the Slayer.”

“That’s right,” Amari praised.

Marie and Horace exchanged a worried look. 

“Don't worry, guys. He won't tattle to IronIre,” Amari reassured his colleagues. “Right, Jack?”

“Of course not. That guy’s a jerk! I hate jerks,” Jack promised.

Hearing it, Horace and Marie seemed to relax somewhat. 

“You guys had to reset your accounts too?”

Marie nodded.

“That Slayer kid is relentless,” Amari explained. “IronIre also went after Horace and Marie. Moving on, let me share the quest Horace got from the zookeeper.”

You've been invited to join the party. 

Jack accepted.

You’ve been invited to join the quest: [Entomology Specimens].

Entomology Specimens (Common)

Description: Zookeeper Willis wants to replenish the insect population in the entomology exhibit at Embersgate Zoo. He needs your help capturing several insects from the wild.

Objectives:

Capture the following insects:

2xSommer Crickets

2xJade Mantis

2xManipulator Cockroaches

2xBlade Wasps

2xRazor Dragonflies

1xSpark Bee Queen

Suggested party size: 5 players.

“So we're supposed to capture all of these?”

Horace nodded.

“That’s quite a list,” Jack commented, trying to sound knowledgeable, even though he had no idea if these insects were hard or easy to capture.

“Especially the bee queen. That will be annoying.” 

Hearing Marie speak, Jack sighed in relief. Yes! I said something that wasn’t stupid. “And what am I supposed to do? Why do you need a bushcrafter?”

Amari stepped in to explain. “It's going to take a while to find all these insects. Some of them are quite rare. We won't be able to store live animals in the inventory. We need extra hands to carry the cages back to the city.”

“And a place to dump our captures while we collect other specimens,” Horace added. “You're going to take care of the camp and protect it.”

That meant he was just the porter, the luggage boy—someone who watched over the bags as the real adventure happened elsewhere. Once upon a time, the thought of missing out on real action or being given such a menial task would have annoyed him. But honestly, after being eaten by an allosaurus, he was more than happy to stay back and sit by the fire as the others searched for these creepy crawlies. Either way, it sounded like an easy gig. These veterans would hunt for bugs while Jack sat back, relaxed, and collected some free experience. “Sounds good.”

“Which buffs should we get, Amari?” Marie asked.

Jack was surprised. Even these veterans seemed to look up to Amari and go to him for advice. He had to be really good at the game.

“Get something that boosts sleep debuffs. I'm going to visit the prototamandua.” Turning to Jack, he added, “A prehistoric anteater. It will help me track bugs. Jack, find something that boosts [Kindle] or helps you keep animals away from the camp.”

Jack blinked a few times, embarrassed. He had no idea where to go. Before he could ask, Amari nudged him toward one of the corridors. “There. Do you see that section? Look over there.”

“Thanks,” Jack said, scratching his head. He hurried off to find the right buff for him.

Marie, Horace, and Amari watched Jack disappear into the labyrinthine glass cases of the taxidermy exhibit.

“Are you sure you want to take him along, Amari? He’s a newbie! He's just going to slow us down!” Horace whispered.

“I know he’s slightly clueless, but he's funny. He’s a nice guy.”

“Are you taking him along just because he's a clown?” Horace protested.

“I just finished editing the videos of our quest together. He asks noob questions all the time. It's nice to have a beginner’s perspective on the game. I think it will help me reach a new audience.”

“I still maintain that we could do this without a fourth element. The rewards will be better if it’s just us three,” Marie interjected.

“The three of us together are just too conspicuous. Having Jack with us can help us blend in among other noobs. IronIre is looking for a three-man team, not four.”

“You think the Slayer is still going to come after us? Hasn't he killed us enough?” Marie asked, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. 

“I don't know. I hope that by the time I release the videos of this new account, he’ll be chasing some other target. That’s the good thing about raging bulls like the Slayer. They keep getting into trouble with whoever they cross paths with. He's going to find some new target to chase soon. Meanwhile, we’ll lay low until this storm blows over.”

“Argh. Alright,” Marie accepted. “Let’s go, Horace. Let’s find a somnum serpent.”

“Hmm…” Horace grunted, following after Marie.

Amari looked in both directions and sighed. This is going to be interesting. Hopefully, Jack won’t make me look too bad.

*

Jack studied animal after animal. As he turned around the corner, he shrieked and almost fell over. He was caught by surprise by the taxidermy of an allosaurus. Thankfully, the real thing was much scarier than the stuffed version. Jack inspected the animal, curious about what kind of buff he would get from it.

Species: Red Allosaurus

Diet: Carnivore

Level: 38

Wild: A large, formidable theropod with a massive skull filled with sharp, serrated teeth. It’s a top predator who stands out for its powerful hind legs designed for running, each foot equipped with three large claws and its strong but smaller forelimbs that have three-fingered hands.

He’s known to provoke tremors as he runs, throwing his prey off balance. The red allosaurus roams around a large area and has been sighted many times near the wall while seeking prey.

The creature’s level is too high. Debuff failed.

Jack clicked his tongue. This dinosaur was way out of his league. No wonder that it had swallowed him whole. Additionally, Jack learned something new. Just because there was a taxidermy of an animal didn’t mean he could necessarily gain a museum buff. He had to have a high enough level.

Jack circled back to check the taxidermies available to him. After going back and forth, he struggled to decide between the buffs of two different creatures. One was a flying dinosaur the size of a dog. It had a long head and beak and pinkish-red skin. Its buff boosted the [Kindle] skill.

Species: Pyrodactilus

Diet: Insectivore.

Level: Level 15.

Wild: A small flying dinosaur with a long tail and serrated teeth, pyrodactilus builds nests in the jungle's trees near its food source. It is known to favor crickets, centipedes, and mantises. Its small size makes it easy prey for larger dinosaurs.

Pyrodactilis are one of the few known dinosaurs that can spit fire. They possess two glands that produce different chemicals. Once both liquids are squirted and mixed midair, they produce flames as long as 5 meters.

The other dinosaur was slightly bigger, and it had a frill around its neck that was retracted and kept closer to the taxidermy’s body. It was black and yellow.

Species: Frilled Apavorantesaurus

Diet: Insectivore

Level: 18

Wild: A mid-sized dinosaur that is largely arboreal, spending most of its time in trees. Its diet consists mainly of insects and other invertebrates. It is more active during the wet season when it spends more time near or on the ground. It is less observed during the dry season, during which it seeks shade in the upper canopy branches.

The hunter uses its frill to scare off predators, display to other individuals, or mesmerize prey. There are accounts of humans losing their senses when looking at a rattling frill.  

This buff reduced the chances of animals approaching. 

What threw Jack off was that the creatures’ level was much higher than his, but he still could get a buff from studying them. How did that work exactly?

Shrugging, Jack settled on the frilled apavorantesaurus simply because it had a higher level. That had to mean something.

You’ve learned more about frilled apavorantesaurus. You’ve received a buff, [Apavorantesaurus’ Insight], for 24 hours.

10% damage reduction when attacked by apavorantesaurus.

10% boost to fear-provoking skills.

Reduces chances of animals approaching.

[Museum Donor] title effects are applied. [Apavorantesaurus’ Insight] is empowered.

The buff came with three bonuses, one more than the compy buff. Jack ran back to the rendezvous point, where his three teammates waited. “Which one did you get, Jack?” Amari asked.

“Frilled Apavo… apavo…” These names were surprisingly hard to pronounce. To make matters worse, the two new teammates were making Jack feel a little nervous so he couldn’t help but stutter.

“Haha. It’s a mouthful! Apavie, we call them! That’s a good choice. Let’s head out to the market. Shall we?”

“I didn't realize there were restrictions on what buffs I could get,” Jack commented with Amari as they headed toward the gate. Horace snorted. Was he making fun of him? 

Amari just ignored the large trapper. “That’s right. That’s one of the good things about being an archaeologist. I get early access to buffs,” Amari said, grinning. “I already got a buff you can only get in five or six levels.” 

“So, as I level up, I unlock new buffs.”

“Yes. That too.”

Jack frowned. “Is there more to it?”

“It’s quite complex. Depends on how many donations players make to the museum.”

“Donations?”

“Yeah. Apavies, for example, are level 18 creatures. When the game started, you had to be level 18 to benefit from their buff. However, the more taxidermies are donated to the museum, the lower the requirement. What level are you now?”

“Six.”

“See? That’s a 12-level difference. That means that taxidermists have donated several thousand taxidermies of apavies to the museum, and now noobies like us can benefit from better buffs. It’s much easier to get to level 10 than six months ago when the game came out.”

“Isn’t that unfair to those who started the game first?”

“Yes. But it’s one of the systems in place to help people who join the game later to catch up.” Amari spoke up.

Jack wasn’t going to complain. After all, he was one of these latecomers. If safeguards were in place to help him level, he would take them, no questions asked.

“Everyone, let’s stop by the marketplace first and stock up on supplies.”

Hearing Amari, Jack gulped. He was running low on funds. Was he going to have enough to buy supplies for the group? He followed after the three veterans as he ran the numbers.

Ch. 42 - After the Flood

INDEX

Ch. 44 - Camping