Island Survival: Starts by chopping a tree-Chapter 43

When the first was done, he did the same step after finally he made medium sized pots for storage, and a cooking pot for making soup.

"Captain, are you done?" Jessica asked looking at the pots in in front of her.

"I did not know that your hands can actually be so delicate. Just like a woman, doing painting. When you’re serious, your charm increases; aren’t you aware of that?" Emma said with a smile, bridging the gap as she leaned down and placed her fingers on Jeff’s lips, who was about to respond.

Her movement was filled with charm, making Jeff, who was sitting cross-legged, shy. Emma, seeing his embarrassment, was surprised from what she did.

When they almost did the deed, she’s becoming more and more shameless. She didn’t even feel shy when she did this just now.

But seeing the young man’s expression, she was very much ecstatic. The other girls and Charlotte didn’t notice this, their focus was on a different matter.

"Is making pots actually this easy?" Ariana mused, examining the pot as she peered into the hollow interior.

"Easy? Easy to watch but hard to do. Even if you were given years to practice, I think making a broken pot can be a good achievement," Jessica spat at her.

This made Ariana frown. She looked at Jessica intently, filled with challenge in her gaze.

"Hmph, I’m not stupid! I can learn very fast. I’m very smart, don’t you know that!" she said with pride, pointing at herself with a wide smile.

Jessica just waved her hand, responding. "Yeah right,"

Ariana, witnessing her reply, trembled with rage. "Are you implying that with one day of practice, you could craft a perfect pot, while I can’t?" she inquired, her teeth clenched.

Jessica crossed her arms and looked at her with nonchalance. "Of course, I’m good and a quick learner," she stated confidently.

"Look at your chest, it’s so big, clearly it’s hoarding all the nutrients that were supposed to go to your brain!" she teased, pointing at it with a smirk.

Hearing this, Ariana was very much angry as her breasts heaved up and down. "I’ll fight you," she flared as she dashed beside her and bit her arm, making her exclaim in pain.

"Hey, hey, you idiot! Don’t bite my arm. You dog, let go," Jessica said with shock, mixed with a pained expression.

While the two were in the middle of their rendezvous, Layla intervened by standing in between them.

"Hey, don’t fight here. What happens if you accidentally break the pot," Layla said, glancing back and forth between them.

Hearing this, Jessica just harrumphed while caressing her red arm to lessen the pain. Ariana just crossed her arms, not responding to what she said, as her gaze wandered towards the horizons.

The two were not looking at each other, making Layla to shake her head, glancing at Jeff, whose face had turned an unusual shade of red.

She was bewildered at first as her expression turned into worry, that something might be wrong, she decided to speak up.

"Captain, is the pot already done?" Layla asked, echoing Jessica’s earlier question.

Jeff, lost in thought for a moment, snapped back to the present. His expression returned as he stood up, managing a cough.

"Yes, you could say it’s done for now," he replied.

"But it still needs to dry for about 1–2 days before we can move to the next step."

Hearing this, Layla nodded eagerly. "Then let’s put it directly in the sunlight so it dries faster!" she suggested and was about to start moving the pots.

"Wait! Don’t—don’t do that," Jeff said quickly, stopping her in her tracks.

"When I say it needs to dry, I mean it has to be done slowly, in a shaded area."

Layla who was stopped, frowned in confusion. "Why not in the sunlight? Wouldn’t that dry it faster?"

Hearing her reply he sighed, gesturing toward the pots. "If we dry them too quickly, especially in direct sunlight or near intense heat, it can cause the clay to crack. The moisture inside the clay needs to escape gradually, or the surface will harden too fast while the inside stays wet. That uneven drying is what leads to cracks."

Layla blinked for a moment, surprised by the complexity of such a simple-sounding process. "Oh, I see... so, we should leave them here, where it’s cooler and shaded?"

"Exactly," Jeff said with a small smile.

"And remember, during this stage, the pots are extremely fragile. If you drop one or handle it too roughly, it’ll break easily." he stated.

Emma, who had been silently observing, finally chimed in. "Okay, so after the drying, then what? What’s the next step?"

Hearing her inquiries Jeff turned his attention to her, he was pleased that the group was curious about it.

"Once they’re completely dry, we move on to firing. That’s when we harden the clay by exposing it to high heat in a fire. After that comes the cooling stage, where we let the fired pots cool slowly to avoid cracks from sudden temperature changes."

Emma receiving an answer nodded thoughtfully, absorbing his explanation. "So, for now we just let them dry in the shade?"

"That’s right," Jeff said, glancing at the pots.

"This is the waiting game. Once the drying is done, we’ll fire them and finish the process."

The group exchanged glances, each of them gaining a newfound understanding from Jeff’s expertise.

"Now that our work is done, let’s clean the bamboo containers in the river and also fill them with some water so we can filter it," Jeff spoke to the group.

"So, that means no more coconut juice?" Ariana spoke.

"Yes, not really forever, but for some time since coconut juice every day is bad for health," Jeff responded.

"Now that we can have clean water, we drink from it to replenish our thirst," he finished.

Ariana just nodded her head, not saddened at all. Now that they had water, drinking coconut juice had already lost its flavor.

"Can we go now?" Jeff asked the group, which they nodded their heads.

Picking up the bamboo containers, they then walked towards the river. Upon arriving, Jeff checked his bandaged wounds and saw that it needed another cleaning.

He then first filled each bamboo container, while the others filled theirs as well. When they were done, Jeff then squatted as he put his arms in the water.

Taking off the bandage, the wound had already stopped its bleeding and was already in the process of closing.

When he was done cleaning, he then washed the clothes that was used as a bandaged to avoid bacteria from contaminating his injuries.

He pulled some medicine from his pocket and was about to apply the Plantago when a gentle hand grasped his injured arm.

Looking at the person, it was none other than Charlotte, which made him surprised. But what confused him was her pale face.

"You didn’t tell us that your injured arm is actually so deep," Charlotte voiced out, feeling aggrieved.

Charlotte, when she was done with her work, decided to sit and rest for a while. That’s when she saw the young man cleaning his wounds, making her shocked.

Since the wound was hidden, they thought that it must be something small, or just a long cut, but not deep. But it was the opposite; it wasn’t long, but it was deep.

Hearing her raised voice, the girls who were close by. And was lying on the ground in circles, looking at the sun, stood in their grounds as they saw Charlotte holding Jeff’s arm.

They then went towards him, as they circled him from all directions, making him dumbfounded.

"Captain," Jessica muttered with a hiss.

"I still wonder how you can work while having that injury," she said, looking at the deep wound.

It’s still not healed, so she can see how deep it was.

"If it were me captain, I’d take a break for a day or two. You’re really courageous, to keep doing your own work despite that," she added, her tone surprisingly sincere.

Before Ariana could poke the wound with her fingers, Jessica quickly swatted her hand away.

"Stop! You’re going to make it worse!" she exclaimed, as Ariana winced as she cradled her arm protectively.

"Ariana, I don’t know if you’re dumb or just stupid, but I think you’ve got both qualities. "Can’t you see it’s injured? Why would you still want to touch it, much less poke it?!" she scolded, her voice sharp.

"Aiyaa, sorry, I was just mesmerized for a moment," she replied with a red face.

"Well, if it were really you who was injured, Ariana, I think a day or two wouldn’t be enough," Layla chimed in from beside her, a playful grin spreading across her face as she stifled a few small giggles.

Ariana, hearing her words, which tells that she was lazy, she was very much angry, but she just snorted since the situation wasn’t good right now.

"But seriously, Captain, I think it’s better for you to rest. What happens if the wound opens up?" Layla asked, her face turning solemn all of a sudden.

Jeff, hearing their worries, couldn’t but feel his heart warm up a little. He then patted Charlotte’s hand that was holding his arm to calm her down.

Feeling the touch of a man made her tremble. She couldn’t help but be shy as her eyes turned soft.

No one noticed this, even him, as he just replied to their concerns. "Don’t worry about me. Haven’t I already stated that? I know medicine, so I know my condition even more. As long as it’s not overwhelming, then I can handle it,"

Hearing his explanations, Charlotte loosened her grip, accepting his words. After consoling them for a bit, their worried disappeared.

Jeff then cleaned the leaf of the Plantago in his hands. After that, he munched on it and applied it on his wounds.

After that, he covered the wound with the cloth, making sure the poultice entered his wounds.

[You just made a medicine. You have gained 10 experience points.]

[20/300 exp. Remains to unlock a skill.]

He was surprised to see the wound healing so quickly. Given its size, it should have taken several days to heal, but the bleeding had already stopped, and the wound seemed to be closing up.

In just a day, it might fully close, and within a week, it would likely return to normal.

"Is this the effect of Constitution?" Jeff murmured to himself as he opened the system and checked his attribute details.

[Constitution: This attribute represents overall physical resilience, endurance, and vitality. It determines the ability to resist illness, recover from injuries, endure harsh conditions, and sustain prolonged physical activity. A higher Constitution enhances resistance to extreme temperatures, toxins, and fatigue while improving the body’s capacity to heal and adapt to stress.]