Chapter 28
Chapter 28 – I want to learn stone crafting
Translated by Sunyancai
Lang Ga choked.
At first Lang Ga had guessed a few possible answers that Shao Xuan might come up with, and he planned to judge and guide him in detail no matter which answer he had. Just the same as every time in the past when there was someone newly joined the hunting team. However, Lang Ga did not expect Shao Xuan to have such an implausible answer and to go way off script.
What did one’s left hand have anything to do with it?
But Lang Ga did not overthink it, instead, he just corrected it with a serious face, “It’s stone!”
“You should know that a long time ago, when we first started a life here, we were just living in the cave. Stone was something that we saw and touched every day. It could keep us sheltered, and help us to cut and chop wood.”
As he spoke, Lang Ga’s face turned even more serious, and he seemed quite emotional with his fists clenched, “In the meantime, we also used those stones. We could pierce those ferocious beasts through with stones, and smash their heads with stones! Even when we were in danger, stones would also be the thing that accompanied us by our side, until our last breath.”.
“Uncle Ke, I want to learn how to craft stoneware.”
Last time when Shao Xuan was here to learn, Ke refused him because he said it was not the right time yet, and he had to wait until his totemic power awakened.
Now since Shao Xuan was awakened, he decided to have another shot at this. Also, according to Lang Ga and the others’ advice in training, he needed a lot of stone tools. Shao Xuan did not have enough food to trade for so much stoneware, so he planned to craft them by himself.
Ke stopped his work at hand, and measured Shao Xuan closely from head to toes. And then he gazed straight at Shao Xuan’s eyes.
Shao Xuan did not avoid his eyesight.
After a few seconds, Ke passed Shao Xuan a stone hammer and pointed to somewhere not far, where a stone core was placed. On that stone core there were a few lines, curved and meandering.
“Hit along the lines.” Ke said.
As a rookie Shao Xuan held the stone hammer, he looked at Ke and then glimpsed at the stone core placed there, before he swung the hammer and hit down.
The first strike was too cautious. He did hit the lines, but because of limited strength, it only left a slight dent on the stone core.
Again!
For the second strike, he hit it too hard, so he pierced down a stone chip instead of a flake of stone. Also it went beyond the line.
Shao Xuan could tell from Ke’s exposed veins by his forehead, that Ke was extremely unsatisfied with his earlier two strikes. But since Ke kept his silence, Shao Xuan continued hitting on the stone core along the lines. Also, he struck boldly, and he did not become timid because of the first two failures.
Peeling down certain amount of stone flakes from a stone core was not as easy as it seemed to be. Stoneware crafters needed to estimate the length of time when the hammer should hit the stone based on different materials when he made the stoneware. Also, the angle and speed were also very important. Should the hit be straight or curved? What’s the hammer’s quality and the stone’s? How much strength should be used? There were many aspects that needed to be given serious consideration before one strikes the stone core.
Ke had mentioned these all to Shao Xuan, and Shao Xuan had seen a lot when Ke was peeling stone flakes from the stone cores. However, when he got to do it himself, he knew that it was extremely difficult!
A small discrepancy could lead to a major error.
Again!!
As Shao Xuan hit the stone core one strike after another, Ke sat aside and watched him in silence.
Caesar was squatting beside Shao Xuan. He looked up at Shao Xuan and then looked at Ke and his poker face. Finally, Caesar decided to move his legs, one bit after another, until he had drawn back to the corner and then he lied down to stay with the fish.