HC: Handyman | Ch. 204 - The Inconspicuous Shagrat

Jack tapped his foot as he gazed at the pot, from which a rich, savory aroma wafted. He had to decide who would get the four portions.

Once upon a time—back when things were simpler—it would’ve been easy. One for each teammate: himself, Amari, Marie, and Horace.

But things had changed. The fortress now had sixteen defenders.

He considered Christoff for a moment. The NPC fired arrows fast and contributed solid DPS. He’d benefit from the buff.

But after some thought, he decided to give it to Horace instead. More than an average NPC, Horace was a pro. He would use the buff to its full potential. And, if it came down to a head-to-head with the boss, it would be Horace tanking it. Any help would go a long way.

Okay. Amari, Marie, Horace.

That left one last bowl.

Should I keep it for myself? Or give it to Rob?

It made sense to keep it. He’d cooked the stew. He’d used the rare ingredients.

And Rob was level 30. He wasn’t going to die, not easily—not with that level gap. Even without a buff, he could mow through enemies.

Ugh. I’m just rationalizing it.

The truth was, the buffs wouldn’t help him much in the backline anyway. And Rob, already the strongest member of their team, would only grow stronger with the boost.

Jack sighed. It goes to Rob.

Jack poured bowls for his four teammates.

“Finally! You were taking forever to serve it!” Horace said, digging in. He smacked his lips and raised his spoon like a trophy. “Love the flavors!”

Rob blinked at his stat window and nearly dropped his bowl. “Whoa. These buffs are ridiculous.”

“I used a lot of expensive ingredients for this one,” Jack said as he ladled a lighter version of the stew into bowls for the rest of the squad. “Savor every bite.”

Amari glanced over just as Jack was serving himself from the other pot. His brow lifted. “You’re not eating the same as us?”

Jack shook his head. “There’s not enough of the good stuff to go around. I’ll just eat this instead.”

“Are you sure?” Amari asked.

“I’m sure. The buffs don’t do much for me anyway. You guys need it more than I do.”

Amari gave him a warm smile and nodded.

Jack looked down quickly, pretending to focus on his bowl. He didn’t want to let on how much Amari’s approval meant to him.

The soldiers ate with the same ravenous appetite they’d shown when they first arrived at the fortress. But this time, there was a tension beneath it—a quiet stillness in the way they sat, the way they glanced at the horizon beyond the walls between bites. 

When the meal was done, everyone lined up in a single file and began the march toward the trenches.

On wave one, it had just been Jack and Marie holding this place. Now, fifteen others marched with him. He kept to the middle of the line, his feet moving in step with the others’ boots. There was something grounding about it—marching together, moving as a unit.

Just past the gate, rising up from the canyon floor, was something tall—and white?

He squinted. “What is that?”

“Muahaha. You shall soon see,” Horace said, trying for menace and landing somewhere closer to glee.

As they drew closer, the shape resolved. It was a tree. Or, more accurately, a tree-sized dandelion. Its thick trunk rose high into the canyon air, topped not with leaves but with tufts of fluffy white seed clusters. It looked like clouds were growing straight out of its branches.

Jack blinked. “Oh my goodness. It’s huge.”

“Told you the seed was worth it,” Horace said, beaming.

And it was.

Horace had planted the strange tree right in the middle of the canyon, just after the bend. Its massive trunk narrowed the path, forcing incoming waves to snake around it. It was as if there was a massive boulder right in the middle of a river. 

“It’s just wide enough that the bears can squeeze through, but only one at a time,” Horace explained. “That should give us more time to thin the wave before it hits the ditch.”

Jack nodded, genuinely impressed. “Awesome upgrade.”

Jack had forgotten about it while he was busy crafting, but Horace had promised that this seed was a great boon to their defenses. He had delivered.

Finally, they arrived at the trenches, and Amari moved with quiet authority, placing each soldier in formation just before the first ditch.

“Push back any beasts that break through,” he said. “Don’t play the hero. Hold your ground.”

The soldiers nodded, tense but focused.

For a moment, the only sound was Jack’s heartbeat—steady and insistent, like a wardrum—as the countdown ticked lower.

Shween! Shween!

Jack winced at the sharp sound and turned his head. Beside him, Amari and Rob were crouched near a flat stone slick with water. He hadn’t noticed when they’d started, but they’d poured a thin stream from their canteens over a smooth, gray-green whetstone streaked with faint silver veins. With slow movements, they dragged their blades across its surface, making a grating sound.

That wasn’t the only thing that caught his attention. Amari’s claws looked darker. Rob’s daggers, too. What had happened to their weapons?

Just as Jack was about to ask what they were doing, a nudge hit his ribs.

Horace.

He grinned. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Jack blinked. “What?”

“The mead, man!”

Jack rubbed his chin. “Ah. Sorry, I’m still waiting for it to age enough.”

Horace let out an exaggerated groan. “Unbelievable… Here I was thinking I could enjoy some of the good stuff.”

“Hey! Even if I had some, we’ve had mead recently to save Rob. You would have to wait several more hours before you could have it.”

“Still… Make sure you have it ready for the next boss!” Horace said.

Before Jack could respond, the ominous notification came:

Wave 30 comes! Beware!

The wind surged—sharp, bitter, cutting. The temperature dropped in an instant, the air turning brittle and thin. Then, a wall of sound roared through the canyon as the shagrats thundered into view.

Their charge faltered at the sight of the tree.

The strange, cloud-tufted trunk stood firm in the middle of the pass, splitting the path like a barrier. Only three shagrats could pass on each side at a time, forced into narrow columns by the thick trunk. The rest were caught behind, stalled and bunching up in confusion.

The gaps between trunk and canyon wall funneled the Tranmontane wind, narrowing its path—and strengthening its bite. The icy current howled through the openings with sudden force.

The shagrats flinched. They looked almost slapped by the wind as they tried to push forward, their advance staggered.

The tree’s placement is amplifying the wind, Jack realized. Like when you crack open two windows and the draft kicks up.

Beyond the tree, a handful of shagrat vanguards broke through. The moment they crossed, Marie’s bombs thundered out, carried farther by the wind, the explosions shaking the canyon floor.

Jack lifted his ocarina and began to play, breath controlled, fingers confident.

You’ve played [March of the Embers].

Success rate: A+

+300XP in [Bard]

Audience bonus: +834XP in [Bard]

All your allies deal +10(+2%) damage for 1 minute.

[Soulful Performer] activates: All your allies receive +10(+2) attack for 10 minutes.

The melody surged forward, igniting their offensive.

Nice! I got it perfectly on the first try!

The epic battle song surged across the battlefield, wrapping around the blast zones like fire catching dry brush.

For a moment, everyone just stood there, watching the wave get ground by Marie’s bombs and the freezing wind before they could even gather their forces.

Jack tried to put himself in the shoes of a shagrat. “I wonder what it would be like to squeeze through the pass between the trunk and the cliff wall, only to be slapped by an icy wind and bombs. I would have turned tail and run.”

Of course, even if a shagrat tried to run, the others behind them were just pushing them forward.

But the onslaught didn’t completely stop the herd.

Two shagrats broke through the chaos, tanking Marie’s blasts and shielding the others just long enough to breach the chokepoint.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. He recognized the lighter stripes along their backs—the broader frames, the surer footing.

The elites.

They weren’t just surviving—they were clearing the way, helping the rest of the herd escape the kill zone.

Marie couldn’t finish them off in time. One by one, more shagrats slipped past the tree’s bottleneck, spilling into the wider field beyond.

And then they were running—racing toward the ditch, heads down against the wind.

Horace squinted. “Uh… are they moving faster than usual?”

Jack nodded. The shagrats were moving faster than usual. The [Tranmontane] upgrade wasn’t slowing them down like it usually did.

“The boss must have a speed buff,” Rob said.

“The elites, too,” Marie added between grenade throws.

Amari’s eyes were fixed on the horde, scanning. “Speaking of which—anyone see the boss yet?”

Jack furrowed his brow. That was a good question. With the Roach Mother, you couldn’t not see her—towering, grotesque, impossible to miss. And the Cobalt Romie had a gleaming coat and massive frame that drew the eye immediately.

But this time?

Jack scanned the growing herd but saw no boss. 

For a moment, only the rhythm of battle filled the air—arrows loosing, bombs detonating, the muted crunch of charging beasts.

“There,” Rob finally said, pointing into the mass.

Jack followed the line of his finger but saw nothing.

“I don’t see it,” Jack said.

“Same,” Horace echoed.

“It’s almost identical. Same fur, same build. But it has a black horn on its snout—like a rhino. There.”

Jack narrowed his eyes—and there it was. Low to the ground, moving almost lazily through the chaos. A single, dark horn jutted from the snout of an otherwise ordinary-looking shagrat.

His breath caught—not from fear. If anything, the boss looked harmless compared to past monstrosities. But that horn...

That horn was special.

Even from here, Jack could feel it. That was no ordinary drop.

Finally, he thought.

His mind raced. How many bone carving recipes had been gathering dust, waiting for a proper horn like this? If he could just get his hands on it...

But first, they had to bring it down.

Amari cleared his throat and began issuing orders.

“Christoff—focus fire on the shagrats that Rob and I engage. Marie, same. The plan is simple: first, we get rid of the buffs. We start with the elites and then get to the boss. Horace, stay with the line. Don’t let any soldier fall. Jack, hold Sonic Valley until it’s really needed. It loses effectiveness the more times you play it. Support where you can.”

“Rob, with me. We’ll take the elites first.”

Rob nodded. “Got it.”

Amari’s eyes scanned their faces, steady as stone. “Everyone clear?”

A round of affirmations in response.

“Good. Let’s do this.”

Amari and Rob shot forward, vaulting the ditch. Their figures blurred as they activated their stealth skills.

Their target—the first elite—stood out clearly with its pale, silver-tinged coat, but it was still lagging with its companion shielding the entrance of the tree to help more of the herd get through.

Before it saw it coming, Amari and Rob appeared behind it, weapons flashing, unlocking their most powerful combos. 

Amari’s strikes were swift and relentless, but Rob, eight levels above the beast, landed heavy, brutal hits that tore through its vast health pool. The effects of the super stew turned each strike into a devastating blow.

Beefy strike: Deals 2% of the enemy’s max HP per hit for 30 minutes. Ineffective with bosses.

The buff didn’t work on bosses—but it still shredded elites.

The damage was staggering, especially after Jack had managed to pull an A+ performance rate on March of the Embers, boosting attack by 12 points.

The elite thrashed. It reared up and swung a claw the size of a wagon wheel. However, Rob and Amari had already run away. In the meantime, Christoff and Marie’s projectiles rained on it. Everything was perfectly timed, and just like that, the elite fell.

The elite let out a final grunt and collapsed.

Jack’s jaw slackened. “It can’t be! It fell too quickly! Was that shagrat even an elite?” 

If these shagrats were anything like the elite from wave 25, they had high defenses and resistances. The elite on wave 25 had only gone down after a long fight. Even with Rob’s addition to the party, the meal and song buffs, he still couldn’t get it.

“Hey. You look shocked,” Horace said from the side.

“I am. Did you see that? Its health bar just vanished in seconds!”

“Didn’t you see the last aid packages that Rob and Amari found?”

“Uh?”

Jack opened his notifications and, sure enough, while he’d been busy crafting, he’d missed the notifications of two more aid packages.

The moment he read the effects, he understood why the elite had fallen so easily.

Ch. 203 - YES, SIR!

INDEX

Ch. 205 - Too Easy