HC: Handyman | Ch. 44 - Camping (Patreon)

Jack studied his funds and compared them to all the stuff on his shopping list. Seeing that he only had 1 gold and 70 silver to his name, he bit his lip. He had to make it work with this much. 

He grabbed only a couple of tinderboxes. He would just have to make sure he’d make the fire burn for longer rather than keep on lighting new ones. He got a couple of pots and cloths to make bandages and then started browsing the tents available.

“Yikes!” The tents were surprisingly expensive. Each stake, which was nothing more than a sharpened stick, went for two silver. It looked ridiculous to Jack that a carpenter could just sharpen sticks and sell them for two silver a piece. Maybe he had been too quick to discard this major. It was essentially a money-printing business.

Tent cloths went for no less than ten silvers. The worst was the frames. The cheapest one he could find sold for 50 silver. Was this quest going to be worth it? Thinking back to how generous the rewards for the quest for the Historical Society had been, it probably would. 

Jack glanced over at Amari and the others, who were also busy operating the marketplace menu. He was questing with three veterans. They knew what they were doing and were willing to do much of the work.

After his earlier experience with Amari, Jack was sure that whatever they were purchasing was much pricier than what he was buying. Biting his lip, Jack threw all caution and greed to the wind and spent all the money he could spare on the best tent he could find. He found a frame with high durability for 70 silver.

Bamboo Tent Frame (Common)

Description: A basic structure made of bamboo that can support a tent cloth and protect you from the elements.

Crafting grade: C

Durability: 16

He had no idea how important durability was, but he was afraid that asking Amari about it would make him look bad in front of his friends, so he just went for the most expensive one he could afford. He also bought a serviceable cloth.

Linen Tent Cloth (Common)

Description: A large linen cloth that can offer you shade.

Crafting grade: C

Durability: 13

He also purchased stakes and spent the last few coppers on salt and pepper, as Amari had suggested the last time they were together in the bush. He would also need ropes and ingredients but he would have to make do with what he found in the bush.

“All good, Jack?” Amari asked from a few steps away.

Jack glanced over at Horace and Marie, and finding them still busily purchasing supplies, he gestured for Amari to come over.

“What's up?” Amari whispered.

“Here is what I bought. Can you please let me know if I’m missing anything?”

Amari smiled. 

“What?”

“Nothing. Just pleased to see you act like a proper gamer.”

Jack tried to disguise how much the compliment had meant to him. “Cough, cough. Bah. Come on, Amari. Just tell me if I’m missing anything.”

Operating the menu, Jack shared a window of his inventory with Amari. The veteran took it in a glance. “All good. The fabric isn't waterproof, but that’s not important for today's quest. I don't think it's going to rain.”

Jack gulped. Rain? Waterproof tents? What? Weather also mattered in the game? Outwardly, he maintained a knowing smile.

“That’s what I thought, too. Then we’re all set?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Another thing, can I just meet you at the gate? I have a voucher for a nearby restaurant. I'll just have whatever they are serving in preparation for the expedition.”

Amari smiled again.

“What?!” Jack demanded.

“Nothing. Nothing. Meet you at the gate.”

*

Jack ran toward the group of three veterans who stood near the line to leave the city. Amari waved at him, but the other two casually ignored him.

“Sorry. I ran as fast as I could. Did you guys have to wait long for me?”

“No. We just got here,” Amari assured him. “What buff did you get?”

“Check it out.”

You’ve received [Archaeopterix Thighs Buff]. 

The scent of your sweat drives nearby archaeopteryx away. They are scared to approach you;

The health bar is increased by 50;

The stamina bar is increased by 100;

Boosts the immune system;

This buff lasts two hours.

“Good!” praised Amari. “You won’t need the archaeopteryx scare buff, but the other buffs are solid. Let's get in line then. It's time to go hunt some bugs.”

Jack stood near the group as they waited for their turn to be scrutinized by the gatekeepers. A player had been singled out and asked to juggle, but she was doing terribly, eliciting a few laughs from the onlookers. What if the gatekeepers asked him to juggle? He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. The thought of being called on as a circus performer in front of a crowd was eating at his nerves. His teammates, however, couldn't care less about it.

“So you're dead set on becoming a swashbuckler this time, Amari?”

“I don't know. I go back and forth between that and becoming a ninja. What about you guys?”

“I love my class. I’ll stick with it,” Horace replied confidently.

“Same,” Marie chimed in. “I didn’t put all those hours into mastering my class only to throw it all away now.”

“You guys are making me second guess myself,” Amari said, scratching his head.

“Maybe if you become a ninja, you can retain some ranged DPS and not mess too much with our team's dynamics,” Horace suggested.

“Not to speak of how good ninjas are at running away from crazy people like that kid,” chimed in Marie.

“A ninja can't be caught unless he lets himself be caught,” Amari recited as if quoting scripture.

Hearing them so sure of themselves, Jack let out a heavy sigh. He still had no idea what class he would get. Truth be told, he hadn't even fought any creature once. He kept finding himself on the backline doing logistics, crafting, or running mazes. Even in this quest, he would sit back handling the team’s supply lines. 

He had no idea what kind of fighting style he had. Jack shrugged. He would cross that bridge when he got to it. His priority now was to finish that rare quest. Amari did send him the videos explaining all the pros and cons of each class. He would study those and make an informed decision later. 

Jack kept listening to the group of veterans chat. Much of their conversation went right over his head. But he tried to listen to it anyway without revealing how clueless he was. Hopefully, that way, he would learn something. The line steadily progressed, and to Jack’s relief, the gatekeepers let them off the hook this time.

*

“This seems like a good spot,” Amari announced. “Jack, get a fire going.”

The clearing chosen by Amari wasn’t exactly empty, but it had little vegetation compared with the thick bush surrounding it. Much of its edge was made up of large old trees with gnarling roots, limiting the entry points and making it easier to protect. If Jack cleared some of the plants and the debris, he could make it into a proper camping site.

Jack nodded and hurriedly started piling all the twigs and branches he'd collected along the way. He grabbed the tinderbox and struck the flint against the fire steel. He didn't get any sparks on the first try. He glanced nervously at Horace and Marie, waiting for their disappointed scowls. They didn't seem to care, though. 

A little relieved, Jack kept working.

“Which should we target first?” Horace asked.

“This time of day, I think the mantises. Let's look at the nearby trees,” Marie suggested. 

“Sounds good,” Horace grunted.

A bush near Jack rustled, and a small dinosaur stepped out, growling menacingly. Jack recognized it from the museum. He’d also seen it being hunted by different parties when he first went on an expedition with Amari. “It’s a pork! Porcus! Porky!” Jack shrieked. Alarmed by the intruder, he dropped the flint and firesteel. 

“It's okay, Jack. We'll handle it. Just keep working on that fire,” Amari said casually as he grabbed his spear and walked toward the porky. 

Jack was having a hard time telling his legs to stay still. The porky had its eyes fixated on him. It was as if he considered the flint and the fire steel offensive for some reason. The animal charged toward Jack, but before it could take even a few steps, it was run over by Horace.

Shield Bash!

-15!

The porky was knocked away a short distance, hitting a nearby tree. Horace had bashed it with a large shield up, which made Jack’s small buckler look like a toy in comparison. The large man grabbed a war hammer from his belt and knocked it on his shield a few times, drawing the attention of the dinosaur.

Just as the porky was about to charge Horace, Amari came from behind and slashed it with his spear. 

-14

The porky growled furiously and turned toward Amari, and that's when Horace struck with his hammer.

-10

It was almost as if they were dancing. Horace was much more elegant and quicker than Jack would have imagined. He was such a tall, large man, but he moved gracefully and precisely. Amari made his spear look like a viper, never still, always curving, receding, and striking at the porky. They had only noob equipment, no class, and hardly any skills. But in these veterans' hands, their weapons seemed to come alive.

Jack kept hitting the fire steel against the flint, worrying that another dinosaur might join the fight. He was pretty sure that his pitchfork would do next to nothing against the beast. This was his way of participating in the fight. “Come on! Come on!” Finally, Jack managed to create a shower of sparks that ignited one of the thinner branches, and the fire quickly picked up. 

You’ve crafted [Low-Temperature Fire].

+10 bushcraft xp. 

Your party has hunted an Aquilops Porcus.

+150xp.

21 coppers.

When he glanced at Amari and Horace, only a fallen dinosaur was on the side. Horace was kneeling beside it, picking the loot. From this distance, it looked like a seed. He glanced over at Marie, leaning against the tree. She hadn’t bothered helping her teammates.

“Very well, so you got a fire going,” Amari praised, disregarding the early battle. “That means you’ll be OK.”

“Will I?” Jack asked, looking over at the fallen porky.

“This is a low-level zone. The fire boosted by the [camping] skill will suffice. Just don't cook anything until you’ve erected the tent. The food will make some bolder dinos ignore the fire and invade the camp.”

“Can we get going?” Marie urged from the side.

The group of three disappeared into the bush, leaving Jack staring alone at the fire for a while. “That was so cool,” Jack exclaimed. They had finished that dinosaur with such ease. Would he ever look that cool, too? Would he be able to dance on the blade's edge one day, fighting that gracefully?

Jack shook his head. He had to get cracking. He ensured the fire had enough fuel and started taking out the materials to set up the tent. The bamboo frame was the first item that occupied more than one inventory slot; it took up two slots. The frame was composed of a pair of bamboo shafts crossed at an angle, which were linked by a longer beam.

According to the [Camping] skill description, the tent had to be located 5 meters away from the fire. Jack carefully placed it, not too close to the fire, to avoid setting the tent ablaze. Jack grabbed the wooden cloth and spread it over the frame. The bamboo wobbled precariously, but thankfully, it held.

Jack still needed the stakes to secure the temporary shelter in place. He looked for grass in the vicinity of the tent. There was plenty. This was the jungle, after all. He found a clearing patch where a sunbeam managed to pierce through the canopy and left the grass there. 

As he waited for the fibers to dry, he picked whatever twigs and branches he could find to replenish the fire. Once the grass had turned golden brown, Jack twisted the fibers into cords and braided them into four ropes. He looked at the four stakes and then at the four ropes, scratching his chin.

He turned toward the dead porky a few steps away. “What do I do now, porky?”

Ch. 43 - Kegman and Pigtail Girl

INDEX

Ch. 45 - Survival Buff