HC: Handyman | Ch. 235 - Wave 50

Jack and his team stood atop the carriage, now reinforced with sleek black chitin.

Everyone was silent, eyes fixed ahead. Well… everyone but Horace. “Doesn’t this shield look great in black, too?” he asked, holding it up for everyone to admire.

Jack was the only one in the team who responded. “Sure, Horace.”

“Haha. You bet it does. Doesn’t it, boys? Doesn’t this shield look awesome?” he asked, turning to the NPC soldiers.

“Yes, sir!” some called out with crisp enthusiasm. Others chuckled.

Jack rolled his eyes but allowed himself a faint smile. He’d come to appreciate that Horace’s easygoing nature was a big part of what made him such a reliable tank. Even when things got tense, Horace kept his cool. His silly humor helped everyone else stay grounded.

There were just over two minutes left.

Jack opened his inventory and pulled out an amphora of [Tier V Mead]. As he unsealed it, a sweet, fragrant aroma filled the air—rich with honey, warm and cool all at once.

He poured it into five cups.

“That smells delicious,” Rob said.

Jack nodded. “Best brew I’ve made so far. Hopefully, it helps against whatever’s coming.”

One by one, the team accepted a cup.

Amari lifted his. “I’d like to propose a toast.”

The others raised theirs.

“To our great adventure together,” Amari said. “To victory. To friendship.”

“To friendship!”

“Right on!”

They drank.

The mead was light and sweet, almost like liquid cotton candy. Tier V had refined the recipe again—delicate, flavorful, with a clean, lingering finish.

A notification pinged in Jack’s vision:

You have drunk: [Mead V]

+25% attack

+1 HP regeneration per second

+10 Evasion

Duration: 20 minutes

“Good one,” Horace said, lowering his cup. “The extra HP and evasion will boost my survivability even more. Thanks, Jack!”

“No worries,” Jack said with a nod.

But he wasn’t done.

There was one last thing he could do for the team.

Jack reached for the horn and brought it to his lips. This time, he aimed to play the most complex call in his repertoire. Everyone took a step back as if they expected a blast of epic proportions that would echo across the valley.

Ta-ta—SQUEEEK.

The horn emitted a mangled squawk somewhere between a dying goose and a broken slide whistle.

The whole team winced and clutched their ears. Marie burst out laughing.

“Whoa! What was that?” Horace yelped, pulling his hat down as if that would help.

“It sounded like a baboon thrown into a wood chipper,” Marie muttered, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Bear with me, guys,” Jack said, cheeks reddening. “I want to get this off before the boss shows up.”

He took a breath and tried again. Another squeal. Then a third. Finally—on the fourth try—the notes aligned.

Ta-ta-ta-TAAA-ta-ta-ta-TAAAA.

You’ve played [Start of the Hunt] call. [Rodent Fortitude] activated!

+10% total health shield.

You can now stack two more calls. Other calls become 10% weaker. 

Without pausing, Jack dove into the next sequence.

Ta-TA-Ta-TA-Ta-TA.

Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.

Two clear phrases rang out in succession.

You’ve played [Attack Call].

You’ve played [Retreat Call].

+10% movement speed

+10% block

Buff duration: 20 minutes

Jack lowered the horn and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“What was that?” Amari asked.

“[Start of the Hunt] lets me stack two calls,” Jack explained. “It weakens each of them a bit, but if I pick the right combination—like [Attack] and [Retreat]—they cancel each other’s debuffs out. We keep only the benefits. Not bad, right?”

Amari grinned. “It’s awesome!”

Jack smiled and opened his character sheet to review the collective buffs he’d granted the team:

+550 HP
+11% total health shield
+330 Stamina
+2.2 HP regeneration per second
+1.1 Stamina regeneration per second
+27.5% Attack
+1.1 Attack
+1.1 Defense
+22% Movement Speed
+11% Block
+1.1 Block
+11 Evasion
[Rodent Sovereignty]
– Ranged attacks deal +5.5% damage
– Melee attacks deal +11% damage
[Royal Rodency]
– Attacks deal 1.1% of a creature’s health

The combination of his meal, mead, and horn calls—stacked with his passive skill [Battle Charisma] and his newly earned title, [Augmenter]—had turned everyone around him into a powerhouse.

And this list didn’t include the buffs he would soon give them with the ocarina. Or the buffs from Breach Aid Packages.

The Tramontane blew, announcing the coming of the next wave.

Wave 50 is coming. Beware.

After the announcement, the sound of something like thunder rumbled through the canyon. The wind howled through the cliffs—but even that couldn’t drown out the thunder of approaching steps.

boom-BOOM—boom-BOOM—boom-BOOM.

The canyon trembled. It sounded like an earthquake with legs was headed their way.

Jack’s instincts screamed—don’t wait. Whatever was coming, it would be too late once it arrived. He launched into March of the Embers. The others felt the same urgency—every weapon was drawn, every nerve taut.

The turrets around the camp activated, gears spinning and locking into place.

And then it appeared.

It crashed straight through the Dendalion Tree, splinters flying as the trunk split.

The pre-historic beast as large as a two-story cabin, every step making the ground tremble.

And it wasn’t marching.

It was running, eyes blazing with fury.

“A Mastodon!” Amari shouted.

The creature was broad and shaggy, an ancient cousin of the elephants. Its frame bulged with muscle beneath a dark coat of fur. Long, straight tusks jutted forward like scimitars carved from ivory, and its small eyes gleamed with a feral, focused intelligence.

The turrets whirred to life, spitting volleys of arrows and javelins. Each thudding impact drew damage ticks, but the creature barely slowed. It crushed the caltrops Horace had scattered, tiny spikes triggering metallic tinks as they bit into flesh. Still, its health bar crept downward at a crawl.

Marie didn’t wait for orders. She’d already begun her bombardment the moment it appeared. Thanks to the upgrade to [Slinger’s Arm], her grenades soared across the battlefield, farther than even Christoff’s bow could shoot, bursting midair above the Mastodon’s massive form and showering it with debuffs. Violet clouds of paralytic mist clung to its fur. Green acid hissed where it touched hide. Poison coated its face. The beast roared, but its stride barely faltered.

Tramontane whistled high overhead, its freezing winds battering the creature. Its coat wasn’t thick enough to fully resist the ticking damage, but the slow debuff barely seemed to affect it.

Jack finally got his turn on the kaleidoscope and pointed it at the beast.

Species: Mammut pacificus (Pacific Mastodon)

Diet: Herbivore

Level: 30

Wild: Shorter and stockier than a mammoth, the Pacific Mastodon is built for endurance and raw power. Its long, straight tusks can uproot trees and leave devastation in their wake. While usually found in herds, lone males have been known to go on destructive stampedes when provoked.

You’ve learned more about Mammut pacificus.

You’ve received a buff: [Pacific Mastodon] — 24 hours.

Slightly reduce the health regeneration of Mastodons you attack.

It was a level 30.

A level 30 boss.

Ten levels above their group—and equal to Rob.

Amari didn’t hesitate. “Everyone! Use [Strength Through Unity]—now!”

Strength Through Unity!

Light flared around him, pure and white. A heartbeat later, Marie followed—then Horace, then Rob. With each activation, the glow deepened, shifting hue—first gold, then orange—gaining warmth and intensity as if igniting a shared fire.

Jack was the last.

Strength Through Unity!

The light around them turned crimson, pulsing like a living flame. The air thrummed, the ground beneath them vibrating faintly as the final link snapped into place.

You have received: Strength Through Unity V!

Impart 5% of your attributes to your allies.

If one of you falls, all allies suffer backlash, losing that many attribute points.

Duration: 5 minutes

Jack’s stats surged. 5% didn’t sound like much—until you were receiving it from four teammates at once. His strength, speed, defense, health, and stamina spiked as if he’d grown a whole tier in moments. 

They weren’t five individuals anymore.

They were a single unit.

“Rob! Let’s go—we’ll take the knights! Jack!”

“On it, on it!” Jack scrambled to raise his horn, fingers fumbling slightly as he launched into Into the Breach.

Amari and Rob surged forward.

They exploded across the battlefield. Jack had never seen them move this fast before. The buff was supercharging them. In seconds, they were upon the Mastodon.

Rob struck first.

He unleashed his full damage combo into the creature’s flank. The tar and whetstones aid packages enhanced his daggers, helping him to bypass the Mastodon’s layered defenses and boosting his critical damage, and with the meal buff converting each strike into a percentage of the boss’s total health, his combo was devastating.

The Mastodon groaned in pain—but didn’t slow.

Amari hit next.

He vaulted onto the beast’s back in a fluid leap, claws glowing with emerald vapor.

Acid Fang!

His claws shimmered with chemical heat, vapor rising from their tips.

Bleeding Strike!

Triple Slash!

Each attack landed with brutal precision, carving into the Mastodon’s side and tearing open another chunk of its health bar. Then came the finisher.

Eight-Leg Slash!

Amari became a cyclone—blades raking in every direction. The upgraded Tier II version hit even harder than before, and both the first and final strikes shredded armor. Massive red numbers burst from the creature’s hide. Even though he was eight levels lower than Rob, his DPS wasn’t far behind.

With part of its defense breached, everything else—Tramontane, turret fire, toxins, Rob’s relentless strikes—began to land harder and faster.

The Mastodon, just moments ago a mountain of unstoppable menace, was beginning to buckle.

Yet it barreled forward.

Back at the carriage, Jack finished the final note of Into the Breach. The last tone rang out, clear and triumphant, and emerald light shimmered across every ally’s weapon.

It was the best version he’d ever played.

You’ve played [Into the Breach].

+10,000 XP in Bard

Audience bonus: +3,000 XP in Bard

Performance grade: A

All your allies have +10 knockback for 5 seconds.

A-grade bonus - Extends the buff to five seconds.

The effect was instant. Amari and Rob’s strikes pounded the Mastodon like a hailstorm, each hit driving it further off-balance. The beast faltered—but didn’t fall.

That’s when the Goat Knights struck.

A streak of emerald energy surged across the battlefield—eight warriors transformed into a comet of horns, steel, and speed. They crashed into the Mastodon’s flank just as Marie lobbed a shock bomb into its path.

The timed explosion detonated in a brilliant flash of green light. It cracked like thunder.

The combined force of it all finally veered the Mastodon’s charge. Its hooves skidded, traction lost, and then—SLAM—it crashed into the canyon wall. The impact echoed, sending fractures racing through the stone like lightning across the sky.

Rob and Amari were on it instantly. Another flurry of attacks—slashes, stabs, skill chains—landed clean. Bleeds re-applied. The beast shuddered under the combined onslaught.

Behind them, the Goat Knights wheeled around, already reforming for a second charge.

But the Mastodon didn’t fall.

Amidst the hailstorm of blades, arrows, bombs, and javelins, it planted its feet and took two shuddering steps back from the canyon wall—steady, unyielding. Despite everything they had thrown at it, ninety percent of its health remained.

Its eyes blazed—not with pain, but fury. And they weren’t fixed on Rob, Amari or the Goat Knights.

They were locked on the fortress beyond.

With a grunt, the beast reared onto its hind legs—and brought both front limbs crashing down.

The ground rippled like water. A shockwave burst outward.

Jack, halfway through Lily’s Lullaby, was thrown backward. The Goat Knights tumbled. Marie staggered. Rob and Amari were sent flying—like leaves in a storm.

The protective shields wrapped around them—each meant to absorb 10% of their total health—popped like soap bubbles. A chunk of everyone’s health disappeared under the effect of the Mastodon’s AoE skill.

Still bleeding, still burning, the Mastodon resumed its march. It let out a deafening trumpet, self-buffing and surging forward, gaining speed with every pounding step. Amari and Rob gave chase, the Goat Knights rallying behind, while turrets spat fire and ranged fighters loosed everything they had. It trampled Horace’s caltrops—but didn’t falter.

By the time it reached the ditch, it was again at full speed.

And it didn’t fall.

As if the air itself had bent to its will, the Mastodon kept going as it hurled itself straight across the ditch and into the plated-metal carriage Horace had rigged as their first line of defense.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The impact rang out like a bell tolling doom.

Ch. 234 - Bushcraft Gourmand

INDEX

Ch. 236 - Ghastly Standoff