HC: Handyman | Ch. 216 - Pushed

The courtyard, once noisy with conversation and movement, had quieted. All the NPCs were seated with bowls of shagrat stew, while Jack, Horace, and Marie kept glancing toward the gate.

“They’re cutting it close, aren’t they?” Jack muttered.

“They are,” Horace replied, his tone unusually serious.

A ping broke the silence.

“Hey! Caught in a package—can’t make the wave!” came Amari’s message in the party chat.

“He’s not coming,” Jack said quietly, biting his lip.

“Oh yeah. I saw it,” Horace said with a shrug.

Not having the full team for a boss wave was one thing. But not having Amari—their captain? That was something else entirely.

“What is he even doing?” Jack asked aloud, more to himself than anyone.

“Don’t worry, Jack. There shouldn’t be a problem,” Horace said.

Jack gave him a look. “Are you just saying that to make me worry less?”

“No. We’ll be OK.”

“I mean, as long as Rob shows up in time,” Marie added, her eyes flicking toward the fortress gate.

Jack nodded, but the knot in his stomach refused to loosen.

Everyone had finished eating. The soldiers and Christoff had moved out, positioning themselves near the front gate. Still no sign of Rob.

“We only have a few minutes. Maybe I should use the package to delay the wave by 30 minutes,” Marie said. 

“Wait. Let me try reaching him on his phone.” Jack was just about to call Rob when—

CAAAAAWW!

A sharp cry tore through the night.

Everyone jolted. Horace was already on his feet, hammer in hand. “What was that?!” he barked, scanning the dark.

Jack turned toward the sound. “It can’t be the boss. Not yet. We’ve still got five minutes on the clock.”

Another screech. 

CAAAAAW! 

Then came a deep, rhythmic swooshing—swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—growing louder.

“Up there!” Marie shouted, pointing upward.

Jack followed her gaze. At first, all he could see was a shape—wings outstretched, gliding low against the stars. Then it shifted, dipping through a patch of moonlight.

“What is that?” he asked.

“Is it a bird?” Marie said.

“Is it a plane?” Horace added, deadpan.

Then the shape came into full view—a massive, winged beast descending straight toward the courtyard. Its wings spanned nearly the length of a bus, leathery and thick, each beat kicking up gusts that rustled nearby banners. A long, sharp beak glinted in the moonlight, and its talons—easily the size of a man’s torso—tensed and flexed as it adjusted its approach.

Slung beneath it was a reinforced gondola, swaying slightly in the air. Inside, someone was waving.

Rob.

Next to him sat a woman wearing a vintage aviator helmet and thick goggles. She tugged a rope, and the beast subtly shifted its glide path.

“A pterossaurus?” Horace breathed.

Jack blinked. “What did Rob find?!”

The pterossaurus lowered the gondola until it hovered just above the ground, then released it gently. With a few strong flaps, it touched down beside it. The wings that had dominated the courtyard moments earlier now folded in tightly, revealing a surprisingly compact frame. Even so, it remained a striking creature—powerful and alert.

Jack had seen smaller versions before—pterodactyls, almost like oversized birds—but this... this was something else entirely.

Rob leapt off the gondola, and the moment his boots hit the ground, the system chimed:

Robbie Robert has unlocked a hidden package: [Ptero Peddler].

Ptero Peddler (Aid Package)

While flying over the mountain range, this merchant’s gondola was damaged. She was stranded for several days until you found her and gathered the ingredients needed to repair it.

Package Effects:

You can now buy or sell items—even from within the Breach.

Jack’s jaw dropped. “Oh my goodness… This is huge.”

Sure enough, a new icon—a shopping cart—appeared in the corner of his vision. When he tapped it, an interface opened. Suddenly, he had access to the marketplace.

“This is so broken,” Horace said gleefully. Judging by the way he was swiping through the interface, Jack figured he was already shopping.

Jack nodded slowly. This changed everything. No more sending companions out to harvest grass. He could just buy it. Ingredients for cooking, glaze, gear crafting—right at his fingertips. He could even sell off excess loot and buy honey for mead brewing. The Breach had just gotten a whole lot easier.

True, they’d previously found a workaround—having Jack die, shop outside the Breach, then return via [Retreat]. But that came with its own problems: the rest of the team had to function without him, crafting a vase set took time, and Jack’s inventory space, while decent, was still limited.

“Well done,” Marie said, grinning as she punched Rob in the shoulder. “No wonder it took you twenty hours to pull it off.”

“Thanks,” Rob said. “It took some serious effort—and I nearly died a couple of times—but we finally got it done.”

“If Rob came back with this after twenty hours…” Horace said, glancing at Jack with a smirk.

“Oooh. I see where this is going,” Jack said. “What’s Amari going to bring back?”

They high-fived.

“A dragon we can ride!” Horace said.

“A drum that summons lightning!” Jack added.

“Oh, oh—a laser cannon!” Rob jumped in.

“A giant mecha-T-Rex with laser eyes—”

“That shoots real T-Rexes at the enemies!” Jack finished, laughing.

Marie shook her head. “Boys…”

The NPC pilot stepped forward. “Is there anywhere a girl can get a meal around here?”

Jack glanced at the name above her head—Molly. He coughed. It was way too close to Holly. And it wasn’t just the name. The way she carried herself—practical, fearless—it reminded him of her, too. His cheeks flushed.

“S-sure,” Jack stammered.

“Thanks, good man. One for me, twenty for Pterry here.”

Jack frowned slightly. One more drain on their supplies. Fortunately, he had dozens of meat stacks in his inventory—and more incoming.

Pterry cawed contentedly, already scanning the area for where his meal might come from next. The creature's sharp eyes swept across the courtyard, then landed squarely on Esther.

She stood stiffly, one hand shielding Riku behind her. The boy squirmed in protest, clearly eager to get a better look.

Pterry bobbed its head, issuing a low, amused chirp.

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Molly called. “He’s harmless. The boy can come if he wants to.”

“Please, Mom! Please!”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she said, while patting the pterossaurus.

Esther let out a long, slow breath. “Well… maybe just for a minute.” She reluctantly loosened her grip. Riku slipped past her with wide eyes, creeping forward like a boy who’d just spotted a dragon in a storybook.

“Wow…” he whispered.

Pterry lowered his head slightly, watching the boy with curiosity. Riku took another tentative step forward—then another—until he was standing right in front of the massive beak. For a moment, everything was still.

Then Pterry nudged the ground with the side of his head, just enough to gently knock Riku off-balance. The boy yelped, laughed, and staggered backward. 

Molly turned her attention back to Jack. “So? Where do we stand on the food?” she asked, as if threatening to leave if Jack took too long.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ll get you and Pterry sorted out. Just give us a few minutes, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Guys! We have to hurry!” Horace said.

Jack handed Rob a bowl of stew. “Hurry and eat. Amari’s not coming for this wave, and it’s a boss one. We’ve got to move.”

“Right! Got it!” Rob said. He wolfed it down, and the group took off running toward the breach gate.

They sprinted through the defenses and found their eleven NPC combatants already in position, ready for battle.

The soldiers, clad in mismatched armor of bone and woven grass, looked like the frontline of some ancient army. Christoff, the only one wielding a bow, stood out among them, eyes narrowed as he scanned the darkened horizon.

“Just in time!” Rob said, beaming with pride.

“Yeah. Let’s just hope Amari’s absence doesn’t ruin us,” Jack muttered.

“It’ll be fine,” Horace assured him.

Jack nodded, then turned to Horace. “By the way, how did it go with the elite wave?”

Horace chuckled. “Didn’t need to do anything.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. The wind killed the elite for us. It just got a little farther. That’s all.”

“Let’s hope it’s the same here.”

The wind picked up—sharp and howling—as the Tramontane upgrade signaled the approach of the next wave.

Wave 40 comes. Beware.

Hee! Hee! Hee!

The cackling reached them before the swarm did. But then a single shape darted ahead of the swarm. The boss. Already at the dendalion’s branches, it didn’t even wait for its pack.

It leapt from the tree, limbs spread wide, revealing the leathery membrane between them as it glided to the canyon wall.

“Whoa! It can fly?” Jack asked.

“Glide. Not fly,” Marie corrected.

It surged forward, cutting through the icy wind. Despite Tramontane’s slow debuff, it was still fast. Marie hurled a bomb, and Christoff fired an arrow, but the creature dodged both with sharp, angular twists.

Marie launched a barrage of bombs, trying to blanket the area. The marmoset just glided from one wall to the other, dodging the barrage completely.

“Argh! It’s so nimble,” Marie growled.

“Hey, Jack! Catch!” Horace shouted, tossing something his way.

Jack caught the kaleidoscope lens mid-air and trained it on the boss.

Species: Flying Marmoset

Diet: Omnivore

Level: 22

Wild: Larger and more alert than the typical marmoset, flying marmosets display unusual coordination and boldness. Its leathery membranes stretch wide when airborne, allowing for agile midair pivots and precision landings.

You’ve learned more about Flying Marmosets. You’ve received a buff: [Flying Marmoset Insight] — 24 hours.

Crowd control effects against marmosets are slightly more effective.

He passed the kaleidoscope to the next person.

It glided, leapt, pivoted—but every time it stretched those membranes, Tramontane punished it. The wind turned every glide into a fight, killing its speed and forcing it back.

Meanwhile, the regular marmosets arrived, but no one moved to fight them. Tramontane alone was enough. The gusts tore through the swarm, turning the cliffs into a graveyard of frozen fur.

Even so, the Flying Marmoset made slow progress.

“It doesn’t give the others a buff,” Horace noted. “And it’s squishy too. Look—it’s already lost twenty percent of its HP from Tramontane alone.”

“It’s probably meant to be a rush boss. Hard to hit, slips right through defenses,” Rob added.

“Yeah. I just can’t land a hit,” Marie muttered, flinging another bomb.

The Flying Marmoset jumped again. She tried to time her throw to hit it mid-glide, but a gust of wind made the boss pivot erratically. The wind made it impossible to judge its flight path.

It was already halfway between the dandelion tree and the first ditch. They hadn’t managed to land one hit.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Let me try something.”

“Okay?” Marie said, readying another bomb.

“When I stomp, throw. Time the jump.”

She nodded.

Jack raised the ocarina and began to play Lilly Lullaby. The soft melody drifted into the wind, carried across the cliffs. He made the notes drag and sound lazy, just like he’d practiced.

The Flying Marmoset neared the ditch.

Jack stomped.

Marie threw.

The boss leapt, membranes wide. Jack finished the melody.

You’ve played Lilly Lullaby.

Performance grade: B

Enemies fall asleep.

The regular marmosets dropped mid-climb, fluttering down like dead leaves.

The Flying Marmoset—suspended in its glide—went limp, caught in the wind and flung backward like a broken kite. It pinwheeled across the canyon and smacked into the dandelion's branches.

It woke with a shriek, blinking in confusion—then, realizing how far it had fallen, screeched again and launched itself forward once more.

The team erupted with laughter.

“What was that?” Rob asked.

“New song,” Jack replied.

“Dude! It went all the way back! Look!” Horace said.

Jack grinned. “The kaleidoscope buff definitely helped.”

The added efficacy of crowd control effects definitely had an impact. The regular marmosets and elites were still asleep. The bears had emerged by now, silently grabbing unconscious marmosets and stuffing them into their mouths like oversized berries. Jack grimaced. He wouldn’t want to be those monkeys when they woke up.

Despite all this, the boss was advancing again.

“Alright, let’s try it again,” Jack said. “Same drill.”

“Let’s go!” Marie called, bomb at the ready.

Jack shifted into a jarring, off-key tune—Sonic Valley—his notes sharp and spiraling. Just as he was about to finish it, he stomped. Marie threw several bombs to make the marmoset jump.

You’ve played Angry Void.

Performance grade: B

All enemies become confused.

The boss faltered mid-leap, dazed. Tramontane grabbed it like a paper scrap and flung it back, slamming it into a cliff face near the start.

It recovered, shrieking—and this time its eyes were bloodshot with rage. It bolted forward, twice as fast, twitching with fury.

But it didn’t matter.

Tramontane had been working all along.

Just meters from the ditch, the Flying Marmoset convulsed—then collapsed, its health finally drained.

They hadn’t needed to deal a single point of damage.

Ch. 215 - Incoming Call

INDEX

Ch. 217 - Catastrophe