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HC: Handyman | Ch. 72 - Success!
🕑 Added 2024-08-01 07:51:37 +0000 UTCJack moved his legs rapidly, trying to jump over fallen logs, around bushes, or dodge the occasional creature lunging at them. His fingers kept steadily playing Sitting Wind. Playing a slow song while running quickly required a lot of coordination, but Jack made it work. They had been chasing the queen bee through the woods for over 10 minutes; his party members needed all the stamina he could give them.
If it had not been for Jack’s bard profession, they would have had to give up the chase by now or at least take it more slowly unless the veterans had some consumables or skills that Jack wasn't aware of. He wouldn’t be surprised if Marie could pull out a steroid bomb or something similar to give them a boost of energy.
"Amari just messaged. He’s 500m east of us. I think we've gained enough ground on it. Marie, what do you think of this tree?"
“It will do,” Marie said, jumping to the tree’s trunk and climbing it. Horace joined her, using the branches to propel him upward. Once several meters above the jungle floor, he took a wooden cage from his inventory and set it carefully between two branches, plucking leaves from elsewhere in the tree and covering the cage with them.
Marie climbed even higher, positioning herself in a branch over the cage. The canopy foliage was thick enough to hide her.
"Heads up!" Marie said, dropping a vial toward Horace.
"Thanks." Horace grabbed the container, popped open the cork, and poured its contents all over the cage.
"What does that do?" Jack hissed, nervously glancing toward Amari’s location.
"Its scent attracts insects. Hopefully, it will lure the queen bee into the cage."
"Hopefully? Do we just wait for the queen bee to go into the cage on her own? Is that it?"
"Well, that's the ideal scenario. We'll just make her get in, even if she doesn't want to," Horace explained.
"Hush, boys. Amari is almost here."
Horace hopped off the branch, landing with a heavy thud, and hurried toward a bush. He had a thin string in his hand that was connected to the cage. What it did was beyond Jack. Maybe he would lasso the queen bee like a cowboy. He didn’t have time to ask what they were thinking, though. Once again, they had forgotten to explain what he had to do!
"What do I do?" Jack asked, unsure of what to do.
"Just hide," Horace said from behind the bush. Jack looked left and right for a hiding spot and remembered that he was a walking bush. He sat down, lying perfectly still. His moss suit would be enough to conceal his presence.
There was a faint buzz, and Jack spotted the bird-sized insect flying toward their location. Unlike before, when the queen bee had been flying in a straight line, now it zigzagged as if it were looking for something. From Jack's understanding, the queen was seeking a soft place to land and build a nest. It circled the tree where Marie hid and landed on the branch with the cage. It approached the cage slowly, walking over it and around it before finally going in.
Horace pulled the string, and the trap door slid shut behind the queen bee. Marie dropped vials from above that rained on the cage, releasing clouds of blue smoke. The cage rattled as the queen bee tried to break through the bars. But the chemicals in Marie's sleeping poison did their thing, and its movements began to slow down. After half a minute, the queen bee finally fell asleep.
Amari appeared from the treeline. Horace appeared behind the bushes, and Marie jumped off the tree, joining the group while holding the cage with the sleeping queen bee.
"Here you have it, Jack. One prehistoric queen bee."
Jack accepted the cage from Marie with trembling hands. "Woah. You guys made capturing it look so easy!"
The group laughed. Horace shook his head. “Jack, weren’t you wandering the jungle with us for hours looking for it?”
“I guess that has to be taken into consideration.”
“We could only run like crazy after her because you were topping our stamina up,” Amari explained. You didn’t get to see the whole hunt, either. I had to attack the queen bee a few times as she was about to settle on other locations. Herding a queen bee isn’t easy."
Jack studied the queen bee through the rough-hewn branches bound together with twine. The queen bee’s veined wings were folded delicately over her striped, amber body. Her antennae twitched slightly as she dreamed. He finally had his queen! Remembering that these went for 500 gold or more in the market, Jack felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He cleared his throat and spoke up to the group. "How much do I owe you?"
The three veterans looked at each other and laughed. "Are you kidding?"
“B-but you did most of the work. All I did was run after you while playing music!”
“Didn’t you just let us keep skills and recipes 30 minutes ago after we took down that centipede boss?” asked Marie.
Jack scratched his head. He wasn’t used to this. Usually, he took what he could from people, while seeing others do the same to him. This kind of exchange was different. It felt right and sweet. Jack grinned happily. “Thanks! I appreciate it, everyone. Whenever you need honey, make sure you come to me!”
"So, shall we go to the city with Jack?" Horace asked, rubbing his hands.
Jack frowned. "You want to come with me?"
"You can't build all that suspense about your hidden class and leave us hanging. I’m curious about what's going to happen. I want to see how this synergizes with the crazy cocktail of minors you already have.”
Amari chimed in. "Besides, we've been hunting for a while, and our inventories are filled to the brim. We need to dump our loot.”
Jack didn’t blame them. He too was dying of curiosity about how beekeeping would synergize with his other professions. “Okay, let's return to the entomology department and see what happens."
*
Jack tapped his foot nervously as the same entomologist who’d given him the quest to become a beekeeper studied the sleeping insect.
"She's a good specimen. She's young, a perfect queen for a new colony.”
Jack looked back at the group and gave them a quick thumbs-up. As he turned again to the entomologist, he found that he was walking away with the cage. Where was he going with his queen?! And why hadn’t the quest been marked as completed yet? Was this a scam?
“E-excuse me, sir. Is anything the matter with the queen?”
“No. Not at all, but we need to get this queen some workers.”
"But I didn't capture any worker bees. You only told me to get a queen."
The entomologist laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'll give you some from the habitat. We’ll set some workers aside and let your queen establish a relationship with them first. Please wait a moment.”
The entomologist disappeared behind the corner.
“What’s up?” Amari asked.
“He said something about my queen needing a group of workers and took off. I don’t know yet.”
“Look, guys!” Marie pointed out.
The entomologist emerged from the habitat fully suited up. He walked over to one of the beehives and lifted a wooden lid. Jack expected the bees to go into a frenzy and start attacking the entomologist, but they ignored him almost entirely.
“What is he doing?” Horace asked.
“Beats me,” Jack answered.
The NPC had his back toward them, blocking their view. After a minute, he removed a wooden frame covered with a whitish structure. Bees were hovering over it. The entomologist disappeared back into the door and, after a few minutes, returned. Jack saw a gaping hole in the previously filled white structure supported by the wooden frame.
After a few minutes, the entomologist was back. “I’ve set the workers close to the queen to get them used to each other.”
“How long will it take?” Jack asked.
“It won’t take long—a couple of hours. That will give you time to arrange a suitable location to set up your hive. I’d suggest you contact a carpenter and buy a hive from them. You can also go to the agricultural bureau and rent a lot of land to settle your bees there. They give a discount to beekeepers. Speaking of which…”
The man removed his glove and stretched out his hand. “Welcome to the family of beekeepers, young man.”
[An Introduction to Beekeeping] completed.
Congratulations, you’ve become a beekeeper!
You’ve learned [Hive Ownership].
You’ve learned [Friendly Scent].
Hive Ownership, lvl. 1.
Description: Owning a hive is an important step in beekeeping. As you progress, you might be able to expand the number of hives you can maintain.
Effects: You can keep one beehive.
Friendly Scent, lvl. 1
Description: You shook hands with a veteran beekeeper, and some of his scent has rubbed off on you. Bees will hesitate before attacking you.
Effects: Passive. Bees are slightly less aggressive around you.
[Pottery], [Bushcraft], and [Beekeeping] synergize.
You’ve learned a new recipe: [Pot Hive].
Jack blinked his eyes a few times. Just like that, he had become a beekeeper. He didn’t have to wait long for his class to activate its synergies. He had learned a new recipe. Before he could find out what it did, he felt a looming, giant shadow behind him. Horace looked like an eager child, looking over Jack’s shoulder as if he could read his system windows. “What did you win? What did you win?”
“Calm down, big guy! I’m still reading my notifications.”
Pot Hive
Ingredients:
20x [Clay]; 2x [Grass Ropes]; 20x [Small Sticks].
Recipe:
Use the clay to mold a large, rounded pot with a secure lid. It should be about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Ensure the pot has ventilation holes for the bees to breathe and holes through which to insert the sticks that will serve as structural support for the honeycomb. Use the grass ropes to create a harness for the ceramic pot. Securely tie the ropes around the top and bottom of the pot, ensuring they are tightly knotted to support the weight. Adjust the ropes to form shoulder straps.
Requirements:
Clay Molding, Lvl. 3;
Rope Weaving, Lvl. 2;
Beekeeping, Lvl. 1.
Jack grinned happily. Was this what he thought it was? Was this a recipe for a portable beehive? Every guide he’d read about beekeeping included long considerations and dissertations about how location was vital to making a colony thrive, as well as hints on securing the best lots of land. This recipe bypassed all of that!
Furthermore, the thing that had drawn Jack the most to this minor was the possibility of having the bees deal some damage for him, thus overcoming one of his class’ biggest weaknesses: he couldn’t deal any damage. He had expected this to come with severe logistics problems, making him go through the hassle of carrying the beehive around hunting fields, but didn’t this recipe fix all of this for him? If he could just carry his beehive around, he wouldn’t have to worry about that!
"Look at him; he's got something good," Horace said excitedly.
Even Marie was affected by Horace’s enthusiasm. "What is it, Jack?"
Jack shared the details of the recipe with them.
"What? You'll get to carry your beehive around? That's incredible," Amari said.
Jack couldn’t be happier. This recipe had surpassed all his expectations. “Now, all I have to do is make this thing. I’m about to go visit the Pottery Association. What are you guys going to do?”
Marie yawned. “I’m logging out.”
Jack remembered his cousin's admonition to be out by dinner time. "Shoot, I also have to get dinner. Maybe when I log in later tonight, I'll check where you guys are hunting, and I can join you later."
Horace shook his head. “I’m going to take a full day off. I’ll sleep and then tomorrow take my motorcycle out for a spin.”
“I also need to edit some videos. I won’t be online for a day or so.”
Jack sighed, disappointed. He had thought they could go hunting together again. He had enjoyed being at a party with them.
Picking up on his downcast look, Horace clasped Jack’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, Jack. We’ll let you know when we’re back online on Monday. Does that sound good?
“That sounds brilliant."
Jack bid his farewells, selected the log-out button, and returned to the real world.
Comments
Coleman
I’ll have you know these bees are man potable.
Brian Wheeler
Why hasn't Jack put any ocarina on sale??
Cássio Ferreira
Slightly bigger than normal ones. :D
Cássio Ferreira
It's fixed!
Harley Dalton Jr.
How big are the bees again?
Harley Dalton Jr.
"He had enjoyed being at a party with them.". I think it should be "in a party with them".
Harley Dalton Jr.
Tyftc
