HC: Handyman | Ch. 165 - Tempered

Jack had worried for nothing. As soon as he unlocked level 3 in [Skinning], the new drops started rolling in.

You’ve harvested the corpse of a red ischyromys.

You’ve picked up 27 coppers, 1x [Ischyromys Fat], 1x [Ischyromys Meat], and 1x [Ischyromys Incisor].

+5 XP in [Butchering]

+16 XP in [Butchering]

Butchers really had it better than others. They wrung more value out of every carcass, maximizing every bit of effort. Just to think—normal players would only get the occasional random drop, maybe once every few carcasses, while he was getting multiple materials from each one.

Jack turned the small incisor over in his palm, feeling its ridged edge against his thumb. On the rabid romies, these teeth had looked yellowed, unhealthy, and unsettling. But now, looking at the tooth detached from the creature, he could see its potential as a crafting material. It was rock-hard yet deceptively light, its natural curves giving it a sharp, elegant shape.

Curious, he tapped it against the nearby cliff wall—lightly at first, then with more force.

Tink.

A small white mark appeared on the stone where it had struck, but the tooth itself remained unscathed.

That’s some serious durability.

Jack flexed his fingers around it, considering. Could it be sharpened into a dagger? Used for engraving? 

His thoughts drifted to Felix. The old potter had used a triceratops horn for most of his etching. That thing had been a work of art, covered in intricate engravings, symbols spiraling across its polished surface.

No matter how hard this tooth is, a triceratops horn has to be even tougher.

And yet, someone had carved patterns into it.

That meant there had to be a way to work this material. A tool sharp enough, or a technique refined enough, to carve through even the hardest bone. Maybe an expert butcher had prepared that tool for Felix.

Could I make tools like that one day? Could I work bone like that?

It was a tempting thought. If he kept unlocking skills and recipes that allowed him to carve patterns into bone, he could craft more than just pendants—he could make decorated weapons, armor, maybe even precious tools like Felix’s. He wasn't sure where this path would lead, but it was definitely worth exploring.

For now, though, he had a more immediate issue. 

A simple pendant was the best place to start, but that wouldn’t happen without a cord. And for that, he needed grass.

Jack quickly typed out a message in the group chat:

“Hi, guys! I’m in desperate need of grass for some crafting. Please PM me if you find some.”

The responses came almost instantly.

Horace: “Oh, there’s plenty where I am! You just have to dig through three meters of ice and snow first.”

Jack smirked. That checked out. No help from the snowy peak.

Marie simply sent a thumbs-up emoji—not promising, but at least she acknowledged it.

A moment later, Amari replied, ever the gentleman:

“I’ll keep an eye out for it.”

If anyone was going to find a patch of grass somewhere, it was Amari.

Jack picked up the vases, double-checked the battlefield for anything he might have missed, then started making his way back to the fortress.

As Jack approached the fire in the courtyard, he let out a heavy breath. The howling mountain winds didn’t bother him physically, but they didn’t feel welcoming either. The fire was different. The warmth wrapped around him as he stepped closer. He wasn’t just warming his hands; he was coming home.

Jack’s gaze drifted to the cauldron with terracoat. The bar hovering over it still had a long way to go before completion. He crouched, checking the firewood, ensuring there was enough stacked beneath the pot to keep the mixture hot and steady.

So much time and effort just to temper a hat. I just hope this is worth it.

Since the fire was already burning strong, he figured he might as well put it to more use.

He grabbed another pot, shifted some of the burning wood, and positioned it over the flames. After filling it with water, he dumped in all the bones he’d collected. He waited for the water to warm up.

Just bones and water… was that enough? Does broth work like the stews?

Recipes didn’t require seasoning, but they allowed it. In fact, adding seasonings could elevate the crafting grade of a stew. Maybe broths were similar. Adding salt and pepper now would make a difference in the final quality.

He’d leave this batch unseasoned, but he made a mental note to test this out later. 

The moment the water began boiling, a system message appeared.

You have started cooking: [Bone Broth].

Estimated Completion: 01:59:53.

Another slow crawl.

Jack leaned back, letting his thoughts drift.

At first, crafting had just been a means to an end, a way to make money in New Earth and come up with the rent money to pay his dad. But once the sales started rolling in and he signed a deal with Amari, he realized something. He wasn’t just crafting for the money anymore.

As he spent time crafting, he realized it gave him moments of relief—a break from missing Lydia, from dealing with his parents’ disappointment, from feeling like nothing he did was ever good enough. 

Initially, crafting was just that—a way to dull the ache. A painkiller. But a few weeks into playing, the worst of the heartache had dulled. He wasn’t constantly pining over Lydia anymore and wasn’t suffocating under the weight of his parents’ expectations. And with that weight lifted, he started to like this. Relief had turned into passion. 

Even outside the game, he found himself thinking about crafting—running through designs in his head, considering new techniques, and wondering what he could make next.

This had never happened with any other job before. The pattern had always been the same: count the seconds until work ended so he could finally do something worth his time. Now, he spent all his free time wishing he was in the game. 

He smiled but then looked at the progress bars over the cauldrons and sighed. Jack threw another log into the fire, watching as the flames surged higher. The warmth was satisfying, but the thought weighing on his mind wasn’t. 

He could see the direction his career was going, and he didn’t like it. The longer he walked the road of a craftsman, the harder it became. Each recipe was starting to become an exercise in patience.

Mead took forever to age. Tempering equipment was a waiting game. The songs on the ocarina were becoming harder and harder to learn. Now, even cooking was slowing down—he had to prepare ingredients beforehand, pickling, making broth, and refining raw materials before he could even use them.

Jack let out a frustrated breath. He wished he could make these go faster. But that wasn’t how things worked.

He had learned that the hard way. Rushing never led to good results. How many times had he messed up recipes in the beginning? Wasted materials, ruined projects, lost time—all because he had wanted instant results. He had thought speed meant progress, but more often than not, it just led to mistakes.

Felix had warned him plenty of times: Impatience is the reason you fail most of the time.

Jack clenched his fists. He had come too far to keep making the same mistakes. If the game demanded patience, then fine. He would wait. But that didn’t mean he had to sit around watching a progress bar inch forward like an idiot.

If he had to wait, then he would make sure every second counted. He would structure his work and set things in motion so that progress happened in the background while he kept moving forward. Maybe the trick wasn’t about making things go faster. Maybe it was about staying in motion.

There was always something to do. He just had to stay organized, keep tasks lined up, and use every spare moment wisely. If he timed things right, he could make progress in the gaps left by these progress bars, filling the waiting with something worthwhile.

And even if he couldn’t speed up the process itself, he would make sure that by the time those bars filled, he’d be surrounded by vases, maximizing his XP gains as much as possible.

Enough thinking. Time to get to work.

With the broth simmering, Jack moved on to other tasks. He packed as much tenderized romie meat as he could into his pickling jars, sealing them tight before setting them aside. Soon, he ran out of vinegar and jars.

Thanks to [Fat Preservation], he could keep the rest of the meat from spoiling at the expense of the fat in his inventory. That worked just as well for him. He’d leave it there and sell it once he was out of the Breach.

With that handled, he turned his attention to the mead. Esther was finishing up another batch, using honey collected right here at the Breach. Jack didn’t interrupt, instead making his way over to one of the amphorae set aside for aging.

He opened the vessel and dipped a ladle inside, swirling the golden liquid before taking a sip.

Hmmm. Refreshing!

This mead was airy, light. Unlike the usual warmth he had come to expect, this one carried a cooling effect that spread across his tongue and down his throat.

He inspected its attributes.

Mead I (Common)

An amateur brewer’s first attempt. Simple, sweet, and unrefined.

Effects: +1% attack for 10 minutes.

The exact same as the last batch. It seemed any real differences in effects would only emerge as the mead aged to higher tiers. For now, the variations were just faint shifts in taste.

There wasn’t much more he could do with the mead for now. Instead, he turned to the pot hive.

There hadn’t been much time for the bees to produce more honey or beeswax, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help them along.

“Keep working hard, little ones. Here. Have a buff!”

He pulled out his instrument and played Morning of Spring, the soothing melody washing over the buzzing bees.

You’ve played [Morning of Spring].

+500 XP in [Bard]

Performance rated: A+

[Soulful Performer] activates:

+20% movement speed for all bees (30 min)

Increased resistance to disease (30 min)

I did it on my first try! Not bad!

With that handled, he made his way back to the fire.

He still hadn’t reached the full potential of the vase and Clay Dome combo. If he arranged another thirty vases just right, he could keep himself in range of all of them and push his XP gains even further.

He flexed his fingers, rolling his shoulders before glancing at the [Terracoat] mix. When he mixed it, he gained XP across [Pottery], [Butchering], [Beekeeping], and [Bushcraft]. Logic had it that he’d get the same boost once the item finished tempering. And if he could multiply that XP….

Alright. Let’s make as many vases as possible. The moment the item finishes tempering, I’ll rake in a bucketload of XP.

He grabbed a fresh lump of clay and got to work.

*

By the time he finished crafting all fifty vases, the [Terracoat] progress bar had nearly filled. He stepped closer to confirm—just a few more minutes.

Time to set up.

The shield of Clay Dome lasted only 90 seconds, forcing him to squeeze in quick actions like harvesting carcasses while the shield was up. 

Hopefully, he could also make it work if he got the vases ready for when the progress bars were just about to fill.

He chose a spot near the terracoat cauldron. He then arranged the vases in a wide circle, no more than ten meters across. One by one, he filled in the gaps, stacking and positioning them until he was completely surrounded. 

Satisfied with the setup, he pulled out his ocarina and began playing Clay Dome. The melody hummed through the space, vibrating in the vases. One by one, they shimmered, activating the shield.

As he played, the [Terracoat] kept bubbling. Steam curled into the air, the heat intensifying.

The progress bar inched forward. Finally, the moment came, and a notification rang.

Ch. 164 - XP Rocket

INDEX

Ch. 166 - Fiber Tempering