Free Web NovelChapter 44: Stone Fire, Wooden Bowl, and Survival
(Dawn Time)
The morning air was thick with mist when Nuan crawled out of her tent. Selka had already slipped away back to her den before the sun broke through the trees.
Well then, Blue Buddy, activate the Craftsmanship Hand ability.
[ Activating Craftsmanship Hand ability... ] freeweɓnovel.cѳm
[ 01:59:58 ]
Nuan sat down by the smoking embers of the fire pit with only her hunting knife in hand.
She stared at the thick, heavy piece of green log she and Koda had dragged over from the treeline at first light. It wasn’t premium wood, but it was all she had to work with.
With the system’s power humming through her fingers, she quickly stripped away the rough, wet bark.
She sliced and scraped the outside layer, shaving off curls of wood little by little until the rough block began to look like a small, deep bowl.
Every single movement of her wrist was tight and controlled—one wrong chip in the fresh green wood could cause the whole grain to split right down the middle.
Once the outside shape was hollowed out enough, she flipped the wood over and dug the tip of her blade right into the center. Without a proper gouge or chisel, hollowing out the core was pure, back-breaking labor.
She pressed the steel down, twisted her wrist, and popped out tiny wooden chips one after another.
Her knuckles ached from the pressure, and the inside walls looked completely uneven, but she didn’t stop until there was enough volumetric space to hold a decent amount of river water.
After two hours of continuous carving, she carefully smoothed down the sharp rims and scraped away the loose splinters that could catch in a throat.
The bowl was far from perfect. It was thick, crude, and covered in rough knife marks, but it was solid enough to hold a fire-boil. Nuan ran her thumb over the wet wood, let out a tired, heavy breath, and set it near the warm ash.
It wasn’t a beautiful piece of pottery. It was just a simple wooden bowl made by someone who desperately needed one to keep a patient alive. And right now, that was more than enough.
She massaged her palm gently. Even with the ability, her hand ached, fingers numbed and wrist tired themselves out.
Pheww... even with the Craftsmanship Hand ability helping, carving a whole wooden bowl without proper tools took a solid two hours! But man, thanks to the ability, I did it ten times faster than normal.
She looked over at Koda, who had been dozing off on a flat rock during the whole boring process. "Hey, let’s head down to the river. Want to come along?"
Koda blinked his eyes open, shaking the morning dew off his hair. "Yes... the river..." he mumbled, his body shifting under a quick puff of smoke as he transformed into his young wolf form.
He dropped his front shoulders onto the dirt and spoke through the telepathic link. Hop on, Witch... since the Alpha isn’t going to wake up today to chase me, I can actually give you a ride.
"Oh, look at you! Now that the Alpha is sleeping, you’re acting all tough, huh?" Nuan teased, but she didn’t hesitate to lean her weight onto his back, tucking her bad ankle up safely.
Koda leaped forward, running at slow, careful speed through the dense, shadows of the woods. The few wolves guarding the camp watched them go, but none of them moved to block the path.
After a few minutes of fast running, Koda slid to a halt right before the wide, rushing river. As Nuan carefuly swung her good leg down to touch the muddy bank, Koda shifted back into his human form.
Nuan sat down on a smooth river stone, dipped her hands into the cold water, and filled the new wooden bowl, scrubbing the inside to clean out any leftover sawdust.
"Koda, go gather some dry sticks and leaves," she called out over the sound of the water. "We need to build a fire pit right here."
Koda, who was already stripping off his loincloth to jump into the river for a swim, stopped a few feet from the bank and turned around. "Yes, Witch!"
While Nuan thoroughly rinsed the bowl a few more times to clear out the fresh pine smell, Koda busied himself stacking heavy stones into a small defensive pit.
Once he had the wood arranged perfectly, Nuan limped over and sat down cross-legged on the dirt beside him.
She pulled out her ferro rod, scraping the back of her knife against the metal right over the dry nest of leaves. Bright, hot sparks flew into the tinder, and within seconds, a small flame licked up through the sticks. freewebnovel.cσ๓
She pointed her knife toward the shallow water. "Go find me a few good, round-shaped stones from the riverbed. Make sure they’re clean!"
"Clean..." Koda repeated, nodding seriously. He splashed into the shallows, rubbed three heavy, fist-sized stones against the sand until they were spotless, and brought them back in his arms.
"Good boy," Nuan smiled, patting his messy hair. She took the wet stones from him and tossed them directly into the center of the roaring fire.
Koda’s tail immediately dropped, his face saddening as he stared at the fire pit. "Witch... why did you throw them into the red evil? Did I not wash them good enough?"
"Aww, look at you, you absolute cutie," Nuan laughed. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down, making him lay his head right across her lap while she aggressively scratched the sweet spot right behind his ears.
"It’s not like that at all," she explained as his tail began to relax and wag against the dirt. "I’m going to heat these stones until they’re red-hot, and then I’ll drop them directly into the water inside our wooden bowl. That way, we can boil the water easily without burning the wood from underneath."
Koda grumbled softly, his eyes half-shut from the scratches. "I don’t get it. How can hot stones boil water? Won’t the cold water just cool the stones down?"
"Fufufu, just you wait and see!" Nuan chuckled, keeping her fingers moving through his fur as they waited for the fire to do its work.
She tilted her head back, looking up at the bright morning sky. Hmm... Aerin isn’t out hunting fish today, I guess. The sky is completely clear.
