Once the bar became full and flashed, Jack pulled the tray with the ocarina out of the oven.
You've bisque-fired [Earthenware Ocarina].
+500 pottery XP.
“Success!” The system recognized this was a proper ocarina. Jack waited for the ocarina to cool down and picked it up. Even though the inside was still hot, he experimented by blowing into it, hoping that the shrillness had softened.
Instead of the melodious, mellow sound he was hoping for, he got a shrill, tortured whistle. Jack had expected a honey-like C note and instead got a sound that could have been made by a broken dentist's drill. Worse, the ocarina was off-tune again! Hadn’t he just tuned it?
“What now?” Jack asked, careful not to sound too frustrated and get scolded by the attentive Felix.
“What's wrong?” Felix asked, approaching him.
“The tone of the ocarina is off.”
“It sounded quite musical to me.”
Jack looked over at the old potter with wide-eyes. He meant what he said! What was he talking about?! The ocarina sounded horrible.
Felix kind of reminded him of his mother. She was a sweetheart, God bless her heart, but she sang terribly, and had zero talent for music. He remembered that when he first started playing guitar, regardless of how off-tune the guitar was, or how badly he sang, his mother said he sounded like an angel. Maybe this old man was tone-deaf like his mother.
Jack was starting to appreciate how the developers had hidden the bard class from most players. If Felix thought this sounded nice, he would hate to be in a hunting party where he was responsible for the background music.
“The tone should be smoother, softer. Instead it’s raspy and shrill. Something’s wrong,” Jack explained.
“Any ideas on what’s causing it?”
Jack stared at the ocarina on the table, weighing his options. “It could be just missing a coat of glaze. However, to be honest with you, I was expecting that firing it would have helped and it only made it worse.”
“I don’t blame you for trying. However, usually, if there’s a problem with your piece, it has to be fixed early on. If you keep going through the process without addressing the issue, it will just keep getting worse.”
“Are you saying that glazing won’t fix the problem?”
The old man shrugged. “All I’m saying is that it’s unlikely it will. Any other solutions?”
“My only other guess is that it’s due to the joint. When I split the ocarina into two to remove it from the mold, and then glued it together again, I was only able to smooth the outside.” Jack theorized.
“Hmmm… I hear you, but the joint shouldn’t be too rugged, even if you didn’t smooth it.” Felix stretched his hands invitingly. “May I?”
“Of course,” Jack said, handing the ocarina over to him. Felix turned the ocarina over, holding it against the light, feeling the holes with his fingers, inspecting every inch of Jack's craftsmanship.
“Do you see any issues?” Jack asked hopefully.
“Well, my boy, I don't know how to make musical instruments. All I know about is what I've learned in the game.”
“Really? I just assumed you were a potter in real life too.”
Felix laughed. “Not at all. I used to be a bus driver. Anyway, what I'm noticing here is that some of the holes you've made in the ocarina feel rough.”
Now that Felix pointed it out, Jack spotted a few ragged edges on the holes. None of them looked streamlined or even.
“You might be right. That would explain why it sounded shrill.”
“My suggestion would be for you to sand it. Maybe it's messing with the sound,” said Felix.
“I can do that. But that still doesn't explain why the ocarina got off-tune.” He paused, considering possible explanations. After a few moments, Jack gasped. “Don't ceramics shrink when fired?”
“Yes, they do. Although for such a small item, the change in size should be almost negligible.”
“But still, it might explain why the ocarina went a little off tune. The holes became slightly smaller! If I glaze it, will it shrink again?”
“Oh yes. Even more than when you bisque-fire it.”
“In that case, I’ll need to tune it after glaze-firing it. However, we can already test your theory, and see if it’s because of the rough edges that it sounds unpleasant. How can I sand this? I’ve never done it before.”
Felix pointed to the workstation. “You have some basic files over there. They come in different widths and shapes, but I believe there is at least one that is circular.” The old potter walked toward Jack’s workstation, sorting through the files, until he found the right one. It was a thin cylinder made of rugged metal, with a wooden handle.
Happy that it fit even the smallest of holes, Jack gently polished the side of one of the holes and blew the dust away. Bringing the ocarina to his mouth, he tried playing the ocarina again. It was still off-key, and the sound was too piercing, but the note had softened somewhat.
“Did it sound better?” Felix asked, confirming Jack’s suspicions that he didn’t have an ear for music.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Jack nodded. “Yes. A little bit. I’ll try sanding the other ones.” Jack proceeded to file every other hole in the ocarina. With each action, the sound improved a little. Having worked the 10 holes on the top, Jack turned the ocarina over, and did the two holes where his thumbs went.
“Can I have a flat file? For the voicing hole?” Jack asked. Felix, reached for it and handed it over to Jack. This was the only squared hole in the ocarina. He sanded all four sides of the voicing, making them perfectly even. When he blew into the ocarina again, the difference in sound was like night and day. Even Felix noticed it.
“I think we found the problem! The voicing hole not being sanded makes a huge difference. That's much better, thank you,” Jack noted.
Knowing that the ocarina would shrink again, and that he would need to tune it only after it was finished, Jack decided it was time to glaze it. Jack had already prepared a mix of turmeric yellow glaze and slip in a bowl. He grabbed a brush.
“What are you doing?” Felix asked, scowling.
“I'm going to glaze it,” Jack said.
“But the way you're doing it, you're only going to glaze the outside, right?”
“Yes. It’s not like I can get a brush in it.”
“Why don't you just dip it into the glaze? That way you can cover the inside as well.”
Jack’s jaw dropped. “Can I do that?”
“Yes. This method requires you to prepare more of the glaze, but at least you’ll get the coating spread all over, inside and out. Here.” Felix ran over to his counter, grabbed a pot at random, and set it on Jack’s table. The pot was wide enough to fit the whole ocarina but not so large that it required too much glaze.
The pot was so beautiful that Jack felt bad about using it for mixing glaze, but he still took turmeric from his inventory, and threw it into the pot. He added two pieces of clay, water, and mixed the whole thing together with his bare hands. The clay resisted mixing with the water for a while, but he kept pressing it between his fingers, letting the minerals dissolve in the water, and making the whole mix silky and thick.
“Now you just dip the ocarina into it,” Felix instructed.
Jack nodded and put the ocarina into the pot. He push the ocarina through the liquid, getting it to cover every inch, and just as he was about to pull it out by hand, Felix handed him a pair of tongs.
“Use these instead. Otherwise, you’ll leave fingerprints on the ocarina.”
“Thanks, sir.”
“Also, try to pick it through the holes. That way, you won't ruin the glaze.” Jack followed the instructions. The polished ocarina emerged with silky yellow glaze draining from it through its different holes. Jack moved it around, trying to remove any excess liquid from the inside. Once he was satisfied, he took it out of the pot.
Jack placed the ocarina on a tray, inserted it in the kiln and closed it. Through the glass door, Jack kept track of the progress as the tongues of flames licked the ocarina, hardening the clay and crystallizing the minerals of the glaze. After a few patient minutes, Jack pulled the tray out, and received a series of notifications.
You've glaze-fired [Earthenware Ocarina].
Congratulations! You've crafted [Earthenware Ocarina].
Crafting grade: D+.
Description: A turmeric yellow-glazed alto C clay ocarina, handcrafted for a rich, mellow tone and smooth finish.
Durability: 16
Artistry: 7
Crafting grade debuff: The B note will sometimes not count toward a melody.
Yellow turmeric glaze bonus: Happy songs are +10% more powerful.
You've unlocked a new title: [Pride of the Innovator].
Pride of the Innovator (Rare)
Description:
Instead of conforming to the feats and achievements of others who came before you, you dare to brave new ground and are not afraid of experimenting.
Title effects:
+3 Fame
50% chance of the system adjusting a minus grade to a full grade.
Conditions to unlock [Pride of the Innovator]:
Be the first in the game to craft one specific item.
Jack threw his arms up in celebration. “Yes!”
“Good, good. You must have unlocked a new title. Was it [Pride of the Innovator]?” Felix asked.
Jack stared wide-eyed at the old man. “Y-yes.”
“I have it too. Neat little title. It has helped me turn more than a few S-minuses to full Ss.”
Jack was stunned for a few moments. “How did you know?”
The old man shrugged. “I've never seen or heard of anyone crafting an ocarina before. I am quite up to date with what other top potters do. I'm friends with some of them. Seeing how happy you looked and the item you’d made, it was just a matter of putting two and two together.”
Jack shook his head. This man was a monster. He could deduce so much from so little.
“So, aren't you going to play it for us?” Felix asked.
Jack nodded. He nervously brought the ocarina to his mouth, holding it with his left hand and bringing his right hand over in a reverse grip on its thinner, pointier side. It felt smooth and polished. The ocarina was slightly smaller, but he could still hold it comfortably. He made a mental note to make the holes slightly more apart next time he made an ocarina.
He placed his fingers to play a C. The sound that came out from the ocarina was soulful and ethereal. However, the notes were even more off-key. He looked up, trying to remember the fingering for a D note, and clumsily adjusted his fingers to play it. He then reverted back to the C note. It was the simplest of riffs, but it was special. It came from an instrument Jack had made with his own hands.
“Wow, sounds great,” the old man said.
“It’s still off-key, though. Give me a moment.”
Jack repeated the process of tuning the ocarina, playing one note at the time, and filing the hole, slightly enlarging it as needed. After 10 minutes of adjustments, he was finally done.
“It’s tuned now,” Jack said triumphantly. He played the same basic riff again: C, D, C. It was even more satisfying this time.
“It does sound better.”
“I guess I’m done! Thank you so much for your help.”
“Aren't you going to glaze it again?” Felix asked, surprised.
“Uh? I just did that.”
“But look at the holes. You’ve sanded them. You can see the clay again. If you glaze it again, the finish will look perfect.”
“I thought I could only glaze once.”
“No. You can glaze something more than once. First sand the area around the holes, and then use a thin brush to glaze the bits you’ve sanded.”
Jack followed Felix’s suggestions.
“That’s right. Use the thin brush. Good.”
After covering all the holes with glaze again, Jack received a new notification.
Ocarina’s durability has slightly decreased.
+1000 pottery xp.
[Earthenware Ocarina]’s grade has improved: D+»B
Earthenware Ocarina (Rare)
Crafting grade: B.
Description: A turmeric yellow-glazed alto C clay ocarina, handcrafted for a rich, mellow tone and smooth finish.
Durability: 24 (-2)
Artistry: 10
Crafting grade bonus: +10 durability; +3 artistry.
Yellow turmeric glaze bonus: Happy songs are +10% more powerful.
“Whoah! It’s so much better now!”
“Haha. It's the little things that make a difference. But I’m thinking that we can do even better.”
We? thought Jack. When did they become a team?
“Have you thought about throwing the ocarina instead of using a mold?”
“How would I? It's a perfectly hollow shape. How can I get my hands in it while I’m throwing?”
Felix chuckled. “Here, come to the wheel. Let me show you.”
Jack shrugged and followed Felix. If the veteran was willing to help him craft an even better ocarina, who was he to say no?