"How is it? Is the firing done?" Lu Ke asked expectantly, as this would determine if they could use any tools going forward.
If successful, she could make some jars to hold water or to pickle meat or vegetables.
"It should be fine now." Xu Yi pulled out a Pottery bowl from inside, still somewhat warm.
Xu Yi glanced at it and then forcefully tapped it with his finger.
The Pottery bowl emitted a crisp sound and did not shatter.
"Success! We successfully fired Pottery!" Xu Yi excitedly exclaimed and handed the Pottery bowl to Lu Ke.
"Awesome! Now we have bowls to use and more tools to store water." Lu Ke's eyes curved into a crescent moon as she spoke joyfully.
"Uh, but the clay kiln collapsed." Xu Yi was so excited that he accidentally damaged the clay kiln.
"It's okay, that was my fault too. Next, let's make a bigger kiln for firing large Pottery. We can start by making mud bricks, then building a clay kiln." Lu Ke already had a plan for creating a kiln that could be used long-term.
It could not only fire Pottery but also be used for refining metal tools or even roasting rabbits.
"Great idea, let's do it." Xu Yi's eyes lit up, the clay here is indeed suitable for such work.
"Not 'we,' but 'me.' You have other tasks to handle, so leave these to me. It's called, 'You handle outside, I handle inside.' Otherwise, I'd feel useless, like a burden." Lu Ke said, grinning optimistically.
"Alright." Xu Yi nodded and agreed to Lu Ke's job division.
Both of them took out items from inside one by one and inspected them, finding no failures.
"Complete success, yay!" Lu Ke cheered and extended her hand to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi clapped hands with her in perfect sync, making Lu Ke's smile even sweeter.
"Xu Yi, what should we do next?" There was plenty of work; they could reinforce the fence, collect firewood, or make a new nest for the rabbit to free up their baskets.
"Let's reinforce the fence." Xu Yi planned to stay in today, as there was fish for dinner tonight and the next morning too.
"Alright, give me the Engineer Shovel, I'll work for a while, you take a rest." Lu Ke felt she should do some physical work to make her body stronger and more muscular.
"Okay, I'll work on the dagger and machete." The molds for them were completed; next was figuring out how to melt the metal he collected and cast them.
Xu Yi returned to the cabin and brought out the metal.
After staring for a while, Xu Yi grabbed a steel pot and placed the metal inside.
"What is Xu Yi doing? He doesn't think he can melt the metal like this, does he?"
"A genius move indeed, if the metal's melting point were that low, it wouldn't be metal."
"Better safe than sorry."
"If it really melts, I'll drink it straight down!"
Everyone doubted Xu Yi could melt the metal that way.
But Xu Yi thought it might be possible.
It's just a gut feeling, Xu Yi felt like the system gave him this intuition.
Whatever the outcome, it's worth trying.
Xu Yi put the pot on the fire and began heating it.
At first, there was no reaction at all.
Patiently, Xu Yi kept adding fire.
After a dozen minutes, the bottom of the pot started glowing red.
"Whoa, it's really melting, and it's turning black."
"Is this really metal? I'm skeptical."
"Well, it's something none of us have seen before, Xu Yi seems to have succeeded. But I wonder if the resulting machete can cut trees."
"We'll soon find out."
Xu Yi watched as the metal turned completely liquid in the pot.
Xu Yi lifted the pot and carefully poured it into the dagger mold.
Then, he filled his machete mold.
Xu Yi realized there was still some leftover after pouring both molds.
"Looks like there's enough for another dagger?" he queried, placing the pot back on the fire.
After the dagger cooled for a good ten minutes, Xu Yi took up the mold, ready to pry out the metal dagger.
With a turn, the dagger dropped out.
Picking it up, Xu Yi felt it was still warm.
Xu Yi caressed it, feeling as if his blood had started boiling.
He placed the mold back on the ground and poured the remaining liquid into the molds.
The blade measured 25 centimeters long, the handle 8 centimeters, and the cutting edge itself was 17 centimeters.
Xu Yi held it in his hand, feeling the weight was quite substantial.
Though the back of the blade had serrations, Xu Yi found it hard to sharpen to a keen edge.
Xu Yi picked out a grinding stone from the pile.
However, he didn't have time to sharpen the blade now and grabbed his machete instead.
This was what Xu Yi desired most.
Flipping the mold, the machete fell right into his grip.
Holding it sparked an even stronger feeling of adrenaline.
"With a trusty blade in hand, I am invincible!" Xu Yi couldn't help but let slip a somewhat nerdy line.
The knife was perfectly balanced and felt especially comfortable in hand.
Xu Yi untied his leather belt from his waist, threading through the two circular holes of the handle.
Even though the blade wasn't yet sharpened, its edge was already quite thin.
After securing the machete's handle, Xu Yi began wrapping leather around the dagger handles too.
One dagger was for Lu Ke, while Xu Yi kept one for himself.
Up next, Xu Yi would start sharpening both the dagger's and machete's blades.
This required patience and focus, not to mention time.
Nevertheless, once Xu Yi began, it was clear things weren't as tough as they'd seemed.
With just a few strokes, the edge appeared very sharp.
"Could it really be this soft?" Xu Yi sensed something was off. When it was solid, it seemed rock-hard, yet why was it so soft after sharpening?
Xu Yi brushed the edge with his finger, immediately cutting it and had his blood absorbed at once.
Too miraculous to believe.
Xu Yi widened his eyes and pressed more blood out onto the blade.
The knife absorbed it like a sponge.
"Could this be the reason?" A thought crossed Xu Yi's mind. Did the metal become solid once it absorbed blood?
Moreover, after dripping blood on it, Xu Yi found that boiling sensation disappearing.
He grabbed a piece of round wood, about as thick as an arm.
Swinging the dagger in a chop.
Then, he was dumbfounded.