Introducing Pottery

The meeting ends well. Adrian managed to convey his idea to them. He left them with the task to recruit the manpower needed to operate the council and go to his office on the top floor.

After such a long time, he finally had free time for himself. Since there's not much to do, he decided to spend this time absorbing mana which almost reach the limit.

[+7 Earthia Mana]

[+7 Earthia Mana]

[+7 Earthia Mana]

[Ding! You've levelled up!]

"Haishh! I finally reached level 15," Adrian sighed. "What a long way to go. My progress would be much faster if I didn't waste it surfing the internet. But, what can I do? This world is too boring."

He tried to justify his action before opening his status window to his stats.

-Personal Details -

[Adrian Brine] [Age: 20 years old]

[Race: Dunirr]

[Level: 15/100]

[Mana type: Earthia]

[Mana: 819,244/1,638,400]

Stats:

[Strength: 22]

[Stamina: 24]

[Agility: 23]

[Intelligence: 21]

Skills:

[Danger Awareness] [Mental Mapping] [Internet Access] [Mana Circulation] [Mana Sensitivity] [Earth Manipulation] [Dagger Mastery]

Looking at his threshold, he contemplated while shaking his head weakly. The future seems bleak to him.

"My threshold has exceeded one million. I can't use this conventional method anymore. It won't be enough even with my three hundred years of lifespan."

Adrian's best bet is to rely on the exploration team to find a mana beast in this forest slay it in close proximity to the city and extract the mana core to absorb.

To do so, he needs a strong team of dunirrs capable of wielding mana as an extension of their bodies. Currently, there are five who are able such a feat. Many dunirrs only start to feel the mana.

Ultimately, he decided to stop absorbing mana. Doing any more of this is a waste of time.

"Now, what should I do?" said Adrian. He inspects the interior of his office. There is only a simple desk and a chair for now. The circular office had four windows, one is a rectangular window which allowed him to view the city from above.

The road network and the houses line up neatly in a grid system, a towering wall far in the distance as well as the Zheqas River are all visible to him at this height.

Two square windows on the side and another rectangular window on the back. He can see the project to make an elevator is ongoing. Dunirrs had begun to carve out the wood out of the tree for an elevator shaft.

As he was mesmerized by the view, Haja came to his office. "Chief, you haven't eaten your lunch yet, right?"

He handed Adrian a leaf plate that contained meat and veggies. Seeing appetizing food in front of him, his stomach grumbles. He promptly shoves the food into his mouth.

"Say, Haja...Did you guys always eat on this leaf?" Adrian asked while munching his food.

"Yes, Chief. We pick the leaves, wash them clean and let them dry before using it."

Suddenly, the light bulb above his head went on. "Have you heard of pottery?"

"Pottery?" The word was foreign to Haja.

"From your reaction, I guess you didn't know about it. Let me explain...Pottery is a process where we moulded clay to shape a desirable object and burn it at a high temperature to make the object hard and durable. Tableware produced by this method lasts much longer and can be used repeatedly."

Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions. The manufacture of pottery goes back as far as before the Neolithic period. To be honest, Adrian was quite surprised that the dunirrs didn't have knowledge about this.

"Sounds convenient." Haja just responded with little excitement. A warrior-minded dunirr like him would do just fine with using leaves.

Adrian didn't bother to rope Haja in.

Instead, he asked Aries to search about pottery and summarize it.

[Ding! Result found!]

[Pottery consists of several steps starting from design, making, drying, trimming, firing and glazing. As for equipment, you only need a kiln and a potter's wheel. Here are several designs of primitive rotating pottery wheels...]

"So, there isn't much I need to prepare. The most complicated thing about all of this is the kiln..." Adrian muttered while massaging his chin. "Do you find the blueprint for the kiln?"

[Yes, here it is.]

After finding an empty location at the corner of the city, Adrian plans to start working on building a kiln, a type of thermally insulated chamber like an oven.

An early kiln essentially has a simple structure consisting of a firebox and a pottery chamber, which are stacked vertically into a cylindrical shape. The building material itself is just a mixture of dry earth and mud. The only problem is the capacity of this kiln is too small.

As such, he plans to make a larger scale based on the design of the primitive chamber.

"Aries, create a hologram of the primitive kiln."

His eyes projected the blue hologram. This time, he channelled the mana into his finger and use it as a pen.

The important factor he considered in designing the kiln is the easiness to control the firing, the kiln capacity and the reduction in wasters or unsuccessful pottery vessels.

Adrian begins to draw. He decided to make a cylindrical kiln similar to an updraft kiln.

Approximately, one-fourth of the total height will be built below the ground level. This will be a combustion chamber. Fuel is inserted through an opening that can be opened and closed using a door. Hot air will travel from the firing chamber up through the perforated floor before entering the upper chamber, where the pottery is placed before finally exiting through the chimney.

Overall, the design process was completed relatively quickly. The kiln is expected to have a height of 60 to 70 centimetres.

Also, Adrian did not forget to run a simulation to identify any defects in his design.

"Done! Now, let's build it."

Thanks to the earth's magic, he finished it in a matter of hours.

The sudden appearance of the structure caused a commotion among the dunirrs. They naturally got curious and come to check it.

"Chief~ Did you made something weird again?" He heard Anna's mellifluous voice from his right side. Her sudden presence sends a jolt to Adrian's entire body.

"Yeah, I made a kiln."

"Kiln? What is it used for?"

"Well..." Adrian ends up holding a lecture about pottery to the dunirr for an hour or so.

In the few days to come, the majority of dunirr participate in making pottery. Adrian considered this as a selection to find talent in pottery.

He would assign them to supply the inhabitant with tableware in exchange for food and items.