HC: Handyman | Ch. 52 - Holding the Fort (Patreon)

The large coiled vase looked glorious. It was almost as tall as Jack and its shiny finish made it glossy and polished. He’d done it! He’d actually crafted this massive vase!

Congratulations! You’ve crafted [Large Earthenware Vase].

+1000xp in [Pottery].

+400xp in [Pottery].

Large Earthenware Vase (Uncommon)

Crafting grade: C

Description: A sturdy piece of ceramics built using the coiling method.

Effect: When performing any activity that boosts experience while near this vase, you can gain 30% more experience points at the expense of its durability.

Durability: 34

Artistry: 1

“30%?! That’s fantastic!” Jack yelped.

On the one hand, Jack was exhilarated. The pot had turned out much better than he had hoped. Its durability was quite high, maybe because of the sheer amount of clay that went into it or the new type of glaze he’d tried. Even though the vase had shrunk significantly after firing, it still had a respectable size. Also, getting a C grade on its first try wasn't half bad. Furthermore, because it was a new recipe and a new technique, it had granted significant experience. Jack was confident that with one more such vase, maybe two, he would finally reach level 10 in pottery! He was almost done with that rare quest. He could almost taste its rewards.

At the same time, he had just gotten that ominous call from Marie. The timing couldn’t have been worse! He hurried over to the tent and observed the bugs briefly. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the bugs seemed to be twitching their antennae and jerking their legs more frequently than a minute earlier.

“How am I supposed to hold the fort?!” Jack complained while wiping the sweat off his brow.  He looked at the items in his inventory, looking for anything he might have missed and trying to devise a solution. Would he just have to fight the bugs for 10 minutes without dying? But how could he? He had hardly any experience with combat in the game.

“Wait a minute.” Jack looked at the nearby fires. There was the ‘cooking fire,’ the ‘pottery fire,’ and the pit he’d dug to fire the large earthenware vase. He then stared at the large vase and then at the tent. “Maybe that could work.” 

Just like that, he had come up with a plan A and a plan B. He just hoped it would be enough to hold the bugs for ten minutes. Jack put out the fire in the pit by throwing dirt at it and then ran toward the tent. He grabbed two of the cages and carried them over to the pit. The movement and the change in the environment only seemed to awaken the insects further.

“Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. Please don’t wake up, please don’t wake up.”

Jack stacked the two cages neatly and hurried to get two more. Thankfully, the animals and the cages weren’t too big. They were prehistoric insects, but insects nonetheless. After stuffing the pit with the cages, he grabbed his freshly fired vase and carefully guided it into the pit. 

“Easy. Easy,” he said as he gently maneuvered the vase to encompass all the insects. His final glimpse of the bugs was one of the jade mantises staring furiously at him. Its eyes weren’t blank and empty anymore. There was fury and bloodlust in them. Only the drugs in its system prevented it from starting to attack the cage and lunging at Jack.

Jack let the vase fall into the pit with a dry thump. Thankfully, he’d made the rim large enough, and all the cages easily fit in. He then grabbed clay to cover the hole's edges and dumped all the clay he had left, making a mound over the vase. Then, grabbing two torches, he placed them over the small reddish hill. A progress bar appeared. He just needed it to harden a little.

It was an impromptu prison, but it was better than nothing. “Step one, successful!” Jack said. Just as he was about to turn back, he heard a scraping sound.

Scree. Scree.

He had to hurry. The sound of sawing through wood told him that at least one of the bugs had awakened. A whole life of using a fork and knife on ceramic plates filled him with hope that even if the cages broke, the vase would hold, at least for a little while. Ceramics broke easily when smashed with a hammer, but they could take a lot of abuse from cutting objects. 

Jack checked the fire’s durability. It had fallen dangerously low. He threw every combustible thing he had into the fire and then ran into the bush, looking for more. Thankfully, this was the jungle, with twigs, branches, and fuel everywhere he looked. It took only a few moments to collect enough to refuel the fires.

After dumping this batch of fuel, he glanced toward the mound. The scraping and scratching were getting louder. All the insects had awakened and were cutting through their cages. Jack ran off, grateful that he had a full stamina bar to endure this much running, and returned shortly after, panting and sweating with an inventory full of twigs and branches.

The sound that had felt distant and faint was now deafening. Additionally, the sound of metal on wood was replaced with metal on stone. They had broken through the wooden cages and were working through the vase. Jack hurried toward the third location he’d previously selected. He threw the twigs into a pile and desperately hit the firesteel against the flint. He didn’t care about the tinderbox’s durability or technique anymore. All he wanted was for the fire to start.

The mound of clay rocked. The vase had probably broken, and only that last mushy layer of clay remained. It wouldn’t last much longer. 

Finally, sparks flew, and the third fire gained strength. Jack sighed in relief, seeing how the flames were picking up. He studied the fiery barrier he’d created. Three fires, barely within reach of the tent, formed a triangle around the mound of clay. Fire scared weaker creatures, which probably included these bugs, but Jack had no idea how they would react once they found themselves surrounded by fire on all sides. He wouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out.

Finally, a scythe cut through the mound of clay. They had broken through. Jack looked at the clock. He had bought several minutes with his clay trap, but Marie wasn’t here yet. Scythes, stingers, and skittering legs kept destroying the mound of clay, and one by one, the insects emerged.

Jack felt the blood drain from his head at the sight of this collection of nightmarish creatures. Even when they were asleep in their cages, he’d found them gross and scary, but seeing them alive and moving was much worse. 

“It’s working,” Jack whispered. “They’re afraid of the fire.” 

The animals were still groggy from the drugs. The dragonflies succeeded in taking flight but looked drunk. The cockroaches kept shifting directions, and the jade mantises stared at the fires in a stupor. They studied their surroundings, trying to make sense of where they were. Jack kept still, but the animals were becoming more alert by the minute. The mantises were the first to move. They headed toward the space between the fires. 

“HEY! UGLY BUGS!”

They immediately located him behind the fires. The cockroaches rattled, and the dragonflies’ wings buzzed furiously. However, they didn’t make any moves. Jack wanted to keep them right where they were, paralyzed between three fires, but the insects had other plans. They didn’t move toward him. Instead, they went for the nearest thing that could be destroyed.

“No! Not my tent!” Jack protested, but there was nothing he could do. Once they found a target, they made quick work of the tent. The cloth was cut, slashed, and bitten until it became confetti. 

Jack clenched his teeth. Not only had those hateful bugs destroyed his large vase, but they had also ruined his costly tent! He’d spent all the money he had left on that thing. How dared they? However, Jack remained quiet as a mouse. Better that they hit the tent rather than him. The tent’s sturdy bamboo structure put up a brave fight, taking several hits, but eventually collapsed, too. 

Your tent has been destroyed.

Your fires have weakened.

With [Camping] no longer buffing the fire’s effect to scare away monsters, the insects turned to Roth, seemingly unafraid of the fire between them. Jack grabbed his shield and pitchfork. “So that’s how I’m going to die next, uh—squashed by bugs? You know what? Not today. I can take you on,” he said, stepping away from the fire. He placed one foot forward and another back for support and pointed the pitchfork and the shield at the collection of insects.

The insects, feeling Jack’s aggression, advanced. The dragonflies were the first ones to strike him. Jack waited until they were almost upon him.

Defensive Stance!

-31

-21

The dragonflies were still a little groggy, and their movements had been on the slower side. He managed to block both strikes with his buckler but still took significant damage. Then arrived the mantises, sweeping their blades at Jack’s neck.

Dash!

Jack ducked and ran toward the other side of the clearing, putting some distance between him and the insects. It was useless. The insects caught up in no time. That was it. He had no arrows left in his quiver. All he could do now was take a couple of hits and die. At least he’d done his best. He’d looked really heroic, too. It's too bad that Amari hadn’t recorded this incredible moment. Maybe Lydia would have been impressed by it. 

Jack spotted a blue object moving off the corner of his eye.

Minor Sleep Bomb!

A glass vial broke in the middle of the insects, and grayish-blue smoke erupted. The insects slashed away at the smoke, fighting and struggling. Their movements became increasingly sluggish, and they finally collapsed, sleeping.

“I was just in time,” Marie said from behind Jack.

“Uuf. That was close,” Jack said, collapsing on the ground. “I thought I was going to die.”

“How did you fend them off?” Marie asked as she studied the scene. Her eyes landed on the mound of clay and then at the three fires. She studied Jack’s hp and stamina bar and nodded. “Well done, lad. You did well.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. Now hurry and help me. We’ll keep them in those other vases. It will negatively affect the potency of my sleeping poisons, but it should last until Horace is here with better cages. Can you seal the vases somehow?”

“Y-yes. I need to get some clay first.”

“Go.”

Jack rushed off to the river. There were porkies out there, but he couldn’t bother about that now. He ran to the river, jumped into the water, and collected a few clay pieces. “Ten ought to do it.” A porky drew closer to inspect him, but Jack was already off to meet Marie. The last thing he wanted was to get into another fight. All his skills were on cooldown. 

Back in the clearing, Marie had finished placing each insect inside the biggest intact pots and vases. She was throwing little tea bags in each of the containers. “Seal them, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t ma’am me,” she warned.

She hadn’t said it in her usual snarky tone but playfully. It was an improvement over her usual stony indifference. Jack fashioned impromptu clay seals and then used the last torch he had left to dry them. “Good. That should last us about 90 minutes. I’m off to meet the others. Stand guard, Jack. See you in a bit.”

And she was gone. Seeing the tent in shambles, the broken pottery, and the impromptu clay cages, Jack began laughing aloud. “That was so much fun!” He couldn’t believe that he had managed to hold those insects for 10 minutes!

“E-excuse me.” Jack turned toward the voices of five players who had just entered the clearing. They watched the camp with frowns. No wonder. There were broken shards of pottery littering the ground, the ripped tent, and the three fires. Hardly the look of a respectable diner. “Is this the diner?” they confirmed.

“Yes! Of course! Please have a seat. You caught me after a vicious battle against a few allosauruses. Good thing I fended them off in time to host you. I’ll be right there with a delicious stew.”

The players exchanged a doubtful look but still took a seat. Jack disappeared into the bush to collect ingredients! 

If he hurried, he could level up pottery and bushcraft to 10 before the gang was back.

Ch. 51 - Pit

INDEX

Ch. 53 - Jacket