Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 6 in Tinkering.
Bard and Tinkering synergize.
You've learned a new melody: [Plushy Cacophony].
“Yes! Another synergy!”
Although Tinkering started slowly, at least it wasn’t a total dud. Bit by bit, he was earning some rewards.
Congratulations! You’ve crafted [Toy Mouse].
Congratulations! You’ve crafted [Toy Mouse].
…
As soon as he hit level 6, the system stopped awarding XP for toy mice.
Shrugging, Jack finished assembling the last few. There was no point in wasting them when they were just a step away from completion. By the time he was done, 200 [Toy Mouse] sat in a pile, and he’d climbed from level 1 to 6.
Five levels in under ten minutes. Actually, it was five levels in five minutes. He’d forgotten to factor in the time field effect.
He inspected the latest rewards for the new Tinkering levels. First, there was a simple passive skill:
Gadgeteer Natural (Common)
A little twist here, a little oil there, and your gadgets become more resistant.
Skill level: 1
Skill effect: Gadgets you craft have increased durability. Gadgets you use personally degrade more slowly.
He wasn't too excited about this one. He wasn’t planning to keep most of what he made. From what he’d seen through online searches, a bard could do everything a tinkerer could, and more effectively at that. Still, higher durability meant better resale value.
Next was a new recipe.
Recipe for: [Jack-in-a-Box]
Ingredients:
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[Lidded-Box]
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[Large Spring]
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[Clown Head]
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[Latch]
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[Switch Button]
Instructions:
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Attach the large spring to the bottom interior of the lidded box.
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Mount the clown head securely to the top end of the spring.
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Install the latch to hold the lid closed when the spring is compressed.
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Connect the button to the latch release mechanism.
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When the button is pressed, the latch disengages and the clown head springs up through the open lid.
Requirements:
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[Tinkering], lvl. 5
“What’s the point of making this?” Curious, he looked for a clip of someone using the item. It didn’t take long to find a video.
The scene opened in a forest clearing. A hunting party stood at the edge, preparing for a fight against romies. Rather than being red like the ones in the Breach, these were gray, and judging by the party’s equipment, they were lower-leveled too.
One of the ischycromys had two tails, clearly a boss. His kin surrounded him.
As the team approached, the mobs surrounding the boss rushed in to intercept them.
Two players held their ground, each holding a small, wooden box. Once the romies were upon them, the lids sprang open, and clown faces popped up. Several of the romies took off running in different directions, the fear debuff icon floating above them.
Hmmm… No song? No crank? He’d expected the toy to work the traditional way, but the players just pushed a button and the effect triggered immediately.
So it inflicts the fear debuff.
It wasn’t too effective, though. Only part of the group was affected. Several gray romies still assaulted the team.
At level 30, most creatures probably wouldn’t even blink at this toy. Besides, Horace and Marie could do much better with the skill they had harvested from the marabous: [Ghastly Wail]. Even if that failed, didn’t he have Sonic Valley, Tenderizing Repercussions, and Lilly’s Lullaby? Not to speak of all the new cc tools they got from their legendary items.
“Yeah. I won’t be using these.”
He skipped past the recipe to the final reward. It was a melody—his second unlocked through synergy with Tinkering:
Plushy Cacophony (Melody)
Melody difficulty: Beginner
Melody description: A song about the chaos of a child’s toy-strewn room.
Melody type: Dissonant
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“A beginner melody.” Even though it wasn't as effective on higher-level mobs, beginner melodies were easier to learn and cycle through. He tapped the option to play the system demo.
The piece began with a bouncy, upbeat tune that abruptly twisted into a melancholic drop. Then the tempo surged again, before slowing into a soft, mournful finish.
Despite the shifts in tone and tempo, it didn’t sound too difficult to play. He still had no idea what it did, but he’d find out soon enough.
Jack turned his attention back to the task at hand. He was at level 6. There was only one level between him and the [Pinned Barrel] recipe.
“I guess I’m making Chattering Teeth or Jack-in-the-Boxes now.”
Gathering the toy mice, he headed for the marketplace. During the short walk, he pulled up the two available options for grinding that last level.
Recipe for: [Chattering Jaws]
Ingredients:
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2x [Bone Jaws]
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1x [Gearbox]
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1x [Crank]
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1x [Rack-and-Pinion]
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1x [Axle]
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2x [Axle Clamps]
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2x [Screws]
Instructions:
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Drill hinge holes into both bone jaws and mount them together onto a shared axle using axle clamps.
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Drill vertically-aligned holes through the jaws to accommodate the rack.
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Install the rack from the rack-and-pinion assembly and secure it with screws.
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Connect the pinion gear to the output shaft of the gearbox.
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Fix the gearbox.
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Attach the crank to the gearbox.
Requirements:
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[Tinkering], lvl. 3
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[Butchering], lvl. 8
Making [Chattering Jaws] involved many more steps than the [Toy Mouse], but it was also a recipe obtained through synergy. It had the potential to generate more XP than usual and resell for a high price. The only problem was that it involved bone.
“Bone carving’s too time-consuming. It’d take too long to prep the jaws. I’ll try this recipe later.”
Going with the Jack-in-the-Box design seemed the safer option. It had fewer steps and better matched his current level. If he tried making [Chattering Jaws] now, he risked the system docking his XP for being overleveled.
“Jack-in-the-Box it is! Fitting. Me, Jack… making Jacks.” He gave a dry chuckle.
Mind made, he walked into the marketplace and dumped every single toy mouse into the sales window. The selling price for a C-grade mouse was 10 coppers. It was roughly what he’d spent on its ingredients. He was only going to break even, despite all that work. But it had served its purpose. He had gained levels at the speed of lightning.
This time, he spent 15 silvers on enough supplies to make 100 Jack-in-a-Boxes.
Jack raced home and shut the door behind him. He tiptoed around the vases. They were still exactly where he’d left them—inside the shimmer of the Time Field. Now that he was renting this place, he could just leave the vases where they were. There was no sense wasting time resetting everything. Every second counted.
“Let’s figure out how to make this.”
He sat down and began laying out the parts: springs, buttons, latch assemblies, clown heads, and the bulk-bought lidded boxes. He grabbed one and turned it upside down. The lid bounced up and down, completely loose.
He picked up a spring next. It was quite large. Squeezing it required a bit of flexing. Fixing the spring to the base of the box seemed simple enough. He reached for a roll of duct tape—doubtless another item supplied by recyclers—and pulled a strip. A quick slice of his knife, a press of the fingers, and he firmly taped the spring to the bottom of the box.
Next came the clown head. Given how this toy was supposed to induce the fear debuff, he had expected the clown to look ghoulish. Instead, it was just a happy, cute cartoon clown.
No wonder this thing’s fear debuff isn’t that strong.
He felt the head. It was plush, probably filled with cotton. He stabbed the end of the spring directly into the base of the head. The metal squeezed its way through the fabric. Jack twisted it deeper into place. It held.
“There. Now you won’t go anywhere.”
He forced the clown down into the box and closed the lid. The moment he removed his hand, the spring uncoiled, and the clown jumped out.
Everything seemed to be holding together. The only thing left was to implement whatever mechanism prompted the lid to open. That’s where the last two components came in: the latch and the switch button.
The latch was a small metal hook, barely the size of his thumb. He picked up the button next. Pressing it made a thin metal rod snap out from its base. The moment he let go, a spring reset the rod back into place.
So that was the trick. The latch’s hook would keep the lid closed. When the button was pressed, the rod would hit the latch just right, rotating it out of the way and letting the spring fire.
Installing it properly would mean drilling into the box, mounting the latch on the inside, and the button to the outside. Too many steps for his taste.
“This’ll take forever. Wait—if…”
He grabbed another piece of duct tape, stuffed the clown head back into the box, and taped the lid shut. He slowly drew his hands back.
It held.
Congratulations! You’ve crafted a [Jack-in-a-Box].
Crafting Grade: D
+5 XP in Tinkering
“Haha! Yes! It works.”
He peeled the tape off. POP—the doll shot out of the box. It trembled, then crumpled into dust.
Using the tape as a makeshift latch did work, but the resulting durability made this a disposable consumable. One use, and bam—it fell apart.
Still, it worked—and more importantly, it was fast and rewarded XP.
He got to work, setting up an assembly line.
First, he fixed the springs and mounted the heads of the 99 remaining boxes. Then he cut strip after strip of duct tape, sticking each one to the edge of a box lid like tabs on a folder. Once everything was ready, he cracked his neck and knuckles, and once more played [Clay Dome]. The red shimmer spread across the vases, and he took off.
You’ve played [Clay Dome].
All ceramics nearby are immune to damage.
Jack after Jack. Clown after clown. He forced lids shut, slapped the tape down, and moved on to the next one. Production was back in full swing.
You’ve assembled a [Jack-in-a-Box]
+5 XP in Tinkering
+55 XP in Tinkering
…
The XP bar surged with every notification.
By the sixty-fifth box, he could feel it coming. The XP bar was nearly full—just a few more and—
Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 7 in Tinkering.
You’ve learned a new recipe: [Smoke Bomb].
You’ve learned a new skill: [Tin Hammering].
You’ve learned a new recipe: [Tin Peg].
You’ve learned a new recipe: [Pinned Barrel].
Pottery and Tinkering synergize.
You’ve learned a new skill: [Clay Toymaking].
You’ve learned a new recipe: [Pot Bot].
Jack jolted upright at the flurry of notifications—there it was.
He’d been waiting for this explosion of rewards since level 1, but this minor was clearly a late bloomer. Only now, at level 7, were the synergies finally kicking in.
The “regular” rewards were a recipe and a skill. The tinkers’ smoke bomb recipe was an alternative to what Jack had been making with clay, guano, and sugar.
“I guess that’s why they say there’s more than one way to make an omelet.”
The next notification was far more interesting.
Tin Hammering (Common)
Level: 1
Tin can be coaxed into shape if you’re patient enough with a hammer.
Effect: Allows the creation of simple tin items.
Jack’s grin widened. Finally. This was the missing piece. The pinned barrel required tin pegs. No wonder the recipe had forced him to grind tinkering all the way up to level 7.
He skimmed past [Pinned Barrel]—he already knew what that was. The real surprises were in the synergies.
The first one was a skill:
Clay Toymaking (Rare)
Skill Level: 1
Description: Pottery isn’t just for vases and pots. Toys are a possibility, too.
Effect: You can craft components for toys out of clay. Item effects depend on the form crafted.
Jack scratched his chin as he read through the description a few times.
“Is the game giving me artistic liberty? I can make toys in any shape I want, and the system will reward me accordingly?”
That was… new.
Everything in New Earth was normally bound by strict recipes and skill trees. This was the first time he’d been given open-ended crafting—true creative freedom.
He moved on to the next recipe. The name stood out: [Pot Bot].
“I wonder what this is…”
He tapped open the recipe—and froze.
“Oh. My. Goodness. I can’t believe it.”
This was it. This had to be the real reason the blessed chest had given him [Pinned Barrel].