HC: Handyman | Ch. 199 - Tooth

Now that Jack had a shape in mind, he opened a simple drafting app that came with the VRX helmet. He could’ve bought a pen and paper from th

Now that Jack had a shape in mind, he opened a simple drafting app that came with the VRX helmet. He could’ve bought a pen and paper from the marketplace here on New Earth, but if the app worked just as well—and for free—why spend the coin? Money didn’t grow on trees.

He started by sketching the rough outline of the romie tooth. Then he made a draft of his design—an engraving of a romie itself, drawn in an abstract, clean-lined style. He drew, erased, and tried again. Slowly, it came together.

He tilted his head as he looked at the draft. Before he’d noticed, he’d made a romie very similar in style to the The One-Eyes and the Bear etching pattern. He’d drawn so many bears and goats in the One-Eyes’ style that inspiration had merged with muscle memory, and the drawing came together naturally.

It wasn’t perfect. But it was clear enough to follow.

“Now I know what I’m going to make.”

Jack laid down his bone carving kit, which he’d bought after reading through the professor’s guide. 

First came the drill. It looked a lot like a corkscrew and worked much the same way—steady pressure while twisting the wrist, letting the spiral bit dig deeper into the material. Jack had bought three steel bits in different sizes, each one interchangeable with the handle.

Next were the carving knives—three in total. Each had a handle much longer than its blade, designed to give better control during fine work. One was broad and flat, ideal for rough shaping. Another had a gentle curve for general carving. The last was fine-pointed, meant for engraving and tight detail.

There was also a stabilizing mat—a large square of rubber, something between a small yoga mat and an oversized mouse pad. It wasn’t fancy, but it kept the bone from shifting under pressure, anchoring each piece in place.

Then came a set of small files and sanding stones: a rough grey block for smoothing surfaces, and a white, polished stone for finishing and bringing out the natural luster of the bone.

Lastly, a few extras: a graphite pencil for sketching directly on the surface, and a pair of chisels with softwood mallets for initial chipping and shaping.

“Okay. I guess I’ll start with drilling…”

The original recipe only mentioned tying a cord around a tooth. But now that Jack had tools, he figured he could do better.

He laid the rubber mat on the ground and pressed the tooth against it. The mat didn’t slide, and neither did the tooth. It had a good grip. That was a relief—this was going to take some force.

Jack grabbed a chisel next and set it against the base of the tooth. He tapped it with a small wooden mallet. Nothing happened.

He frowned, then applied more strength. This time, the bone gave slightly under the mallet, a clean sliver flaking away beneath the chisel.

Ooof. Hard work.

After working with soft, pliable clay for so long, bone felt like another world. Tougher in every sense.

He chipped carefully, widening the mark where the pendant would hang.

“I think it’s good enough to start drilling.”

He grabbed the manual drill. He fitted the fine-point bit, then set it against the mark he’d opened. Jack braced the tooth with one hand and twisted the drill with the other. White shavings curled up as he drilled into the bone. 

He kept going and twisting. Beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead.

“I wish I had a power drill,” he muttered. “Or a gibbon, like Ariadne’s.”

He soldiered on. Suddenly, all resistance vanished—the corkscrew jerked forward. He yelped, taken aback.

“That scared me! I must have reached the hollow center already.”

He was almost there! He steadied himself and continued, twisting until the drill pierced the other side cleanly.

He turned the tooth over in his hand and inspected the hole with a craftsman’s eye. Smooth edges. No chipping. Solid work.

Jack set the drill aside and picked up a regular graphite pencil. Guided by the image already fixed in his mind, he began sketching light guidelines across the surface of the tooth.

He drew a romie mid-stride, its body low and limbs extended, caught in the moment between spring and flight. One-Eyes’ art suggested motion with a few confident lines. Jack leaned into that, trying to add movement to the still romie.

Once the layout felt right, he set down the pencil and picked up a fine carving knife. He followed the lines with light pressure, scoring the surface. A curve here for the Romie’s arched back, a flick there for its tail.

Slowly, the lines of graphite gave way to shallow cuts. Jack traced over each one with care, letting the blade follow the path his pencil had laid. When he was done, the design was barely visible—but when he ran his fingers across the bone, he could feel the grooves.

“I think I can bring in the bigger knife now.”

With the guide in place, Jack reached for a knife with a broader, curved edge. He pressed deeper now, letting the initial grooves guide his hand. He paused now and then to blow away the dust. When he finally leaned back, the romie stared up at him—half-symbol, half-creature.

It wasn’t elaborate—but there was something poetic about it: carving the likeness of a beast into its own remains. A predator turned pendant.

He reached for one of the sanding stones. “What was the order again?” he muttered, flipping open the professor’s guide.

Start with the rough grit, then finish with the finer one.

Jack nodded to himself and began sanding the tooth. The coarse stone rasped softly against the surface, wearing away subtle imperfections and the top layer of yellowed enamel. Beneath it, a lighter beige began to emerge—cleaner, warmer.

As he worked, the grain of the bone softened under his touch. The carved lines—once faint—began to stand out with quite a contrast.

He switched to the finer stone and repeated the process, smoothing the surface further until it felt almost glassy beneath his fingers.

“Let’s make this thing pop now,” he said, standing up and stretching his back.

He walked to the fire, scooped up a handful of lukewarm ash, and gently rubbed it into the grooves. The fine soot clung to the recessed lines, darkening them with subtle contrast. Once it had settled in, he cleaned the tooth with a cloth, wiping away the excess and polishing the surface.

The romie now stood in sharp black relief against the pale yellow bone.

Finally, he threaded a simple grass cord through the hole he’d drilled. As he tied it off, a soft chime echoed in his ears.

Congratulations! You've carved [Ishychromys Tooth Pendant].

+230XP in Butchering

Ishychromys Tooth Pendant (Common)

Durability: 16

Crafting grade: B-

Item effects:

+2 intellect;

+2 agility.

Requirements: Level 20

“Woah!” His first bone carving. And he’d gotten a B-! Looked like he had a knack for this.

Or maybe the professor’s lesson had really prepared him for the moment.

He turned the pendant over in his hands. The stats weren’t half bad either.

The bonus to agility would help steady his hands for future crafting, and the intellect boost stacked nicely with his new clay earrings.

“Let’s see what I can do better for next time.” He examined the engraving near the light of the fire.

Imperfections started standing out. The scoring was a little too uniform; if he’d varied the depth more, it could’ve added contrast and texture. One edge had chipped ever so slightly, probably from twisting the blade too sharply during a tight curve.

Even so, it wasn’t bad. Not for a first try.

He slipped it around his neck. It wasn’t perfect, but it was his. Better than leaving the accessory slot empty—and more than that, it marked the start of something new.

His very first piece.

He reached for another tooth and began the process from scratch.

Then another.

And another after that.

Time blurred. The soft rhythm of carving, the tap of the mallet—it all became part of a slow ballad. Each pendant built on the lessons of the last. His hands moved faster now, more confidently. The scoring varied, the carving more expressive. 

By the time he looked up again, a neat row of pendants greeted him.

“I thought this would take a lot longer,” he said aloud, half to himself. “But without any drying time, I can finish them pretty quickly.”

Jack studied the seventeen pendants in front of him. Some bore only the face of a Romie—sharp-eyed and serious. Others showed the creature mid-leap, or darting forward, or curled up in sleep. A few had embellishments: faint spirals, clusters of leaves, even a carved branch here and there.

Not bad, he thought. Not bad at all.

These would be more than enough to hand out to the soldiers, and maybe his teammates would be interested as well.

More importantly, it had been a solid entry point into the world of bone carving. He wasn’t a complete beginner anymore. The motions were smoother now, the judgment quicker. He was ready to take the next step.

Proof of that was the pendant Jack was now wearing. It was his best one so far.

Ishychromys Tooth Pendant (Common)

Durability: 19

Crafting Grade: A

Item effects:

+3 intellect;

+4 agility.

A-grade bonus: +1 intellect, +2 agility.

Requirements: Level 20.

The stat bonus was nearly double that of the first pendant. 

He glanced at the clock. He still had some time before the next wave hit.

Should I move on to something a little more complex? he asked himself.

Even if he wanted to keep making tooth pendants, he was nearly out of grass cord. It was time to move on anyway.

He reached into his inventory and pulled out the crafting material he’d been saving.

The Cobalt Romie tooth.

It was so much harder than a normal Romie’s, and almost pearl-white. He turned it over in his hands, thumb running along its edge. The weight was different. Denser. Cooler to the touch.

He hadn’t dared use it earlier—too rare, too valuable. But now, with a line of pendants behind him, he felt ready.

Jack didn’t rush.

Jack laid the Cobalt Romie tooth on the rubber mat and simply looked at it for a while. He only had one of these, and he wanted to step up his game.

The image of the beef bone carving the professor had given him came to mind—a serpent coiled around a tree, its body twisting with such depth and motion it looked ready to slither up and off the bone. It was on his bedside table, a quiet challenge and a source of inspiration.

Could he do something like that?

Instead of a single illustration on one face of the tooth, he tried imagining something more like what the professor had done—a full relief that wrapped around the material. Something alive. Dynamic.

Two romies, not one. Chasing each other around a tree. 

He opened the drawing app and paused…

“How do I even draw this?”

This wasn’t a simple sketch on a flat surface. Jack had to account for the curve of the tooth—the way the carving would wrap and fold as someone turned it in their hand.

He scratched his head, then decided to break the scene into parts. Sketching the design in segments—front, sides, back—he worked panel by panel, adjusting the flow so it could wrap naturally around the tooth. Slowly, the image took shape.

Satisfied at last, Jack got to work.

He was used to striking the mallet with just the right amount of force. But when he brought the chisel down onto the Cobalt Romie tooth, nothing happened.

“Such a tough material,” he muttered.

This time, he pulled back and struck harder. A small chip finally flaked loose. Encouraged, he went again—but misjudged the angle and caught his thumb.

-10

“Ouch.” He hissed and glanced around, then let out a relieved sigh. No one had seen that.

He shook his hand out, reset the chisel, and tried again. Eventually, he managed to open a groove deep enough to start drilling. The enamel fought him every inch of the way, but once he broke through, the underlying bone was a little more forgiving.

From there, he carved in layers. Light to deep. Delicate to bold. Each cut demanded strength and precision. His wrist ached. His fingers cramped. But he kept going, coaxing the image from the dense, stubborn surface of the tooth.

Two Romies chased each other around the spiraling trunk of a tree—one bounding just ahead, the other in relentless pursuit. The scene coiled around the tooth like a living story.

Once he was done carving, Jack wiped the sweat from his brow and turned the pendant slowly in his hand. This was, without a doubt, his best carving yet. Despite the hardness of the tooth, he’d managed to make the Romies’ forms lighter, more fluid, while carving the tree in deeper relief—creating layers of depth that gave the entire piece a sense of motion.

He smiled. Now that he could see the whole scene together, he had to admit—it reminded him a lot of the professor’s carving.

He really left a mark on me, Jack thought.

He sanded the surface carefully and worked ash into the grooves, letting the dark lines define the forms with striking contrast. Then, at last, he reached for the final step.

All that remained was to thread the cord through the hole.

His hand trembled slightly as he did it. He knew the material was rare. He was confident the carving was good. But just how strong would this piece turn out to be?

Ch. 198 - Balance

INDEX

Ch. 200 - Artistry