"Kaelen! Kaelen!"
Wilder rushed into Kaelen's arms like a gust of wind. To prevent being knocked flying by the little cub, Kaelen nimbly hid behind Sane's back.
Sane stretched out his hand to catch the white blur that had just rushed over, expertly grabbing the little cub by the scruff of the neck.
"Ah ah ah! Annoying Sane, let me go right now!"
The other children in the tribe also ran over one after another, giggling as they watched Wilder dangling in mid-air. Sane let out a soft snort and said coldly:
"Next year you'll reach the age of transformation; don't just throw yourself into a sub-beast's arms at the drop of a hat like this! You have no manners!"
Wilder unconvincedly bared his teeth and growled, his front paws swiping through the air, wanting to give Sane a few scratches. So annoying! He easily beat the small snakes outside the tribe to death, why couldn't he do the same to this big snake?
Kaelen popped out from behind Sane's back, waved to the children, and reached out to take Wilder. The weight of the tiger cub made Kaelen stagger; fortunately, Sane caught him, otherwise he wouldn't have escaped falling flat on his face.
He wrinkled his nose, set Wilder on the ground, and gestured, his words full of critical intent:
[Your weight has exceeded the standard, Wilder. You've eaten yourself into a fat tiger; no sub-beast will ever bother to notice you.]
Wilder muttered softly: "No way, I'm not fat." But his gaze constantly darted over his own body, stopping at his round belly. Hmm... he really did seem a bit fatter. Lately, the tribe had these incredibly delicious transparent starch strands, and he accidentally ate a bit too much.
The group of cubs also guiltily looked down at their own bodies; luckily, they weren't as chubby as Wilder.
"Brother Kaelen, where are you going? Can we come with you?"
Moer spoke sweetly, the grey tail behind his back wagging incessantly, and the bow clipped to his tail wagged along with it. Recently, Cael's and Elian's beautification skills had improved, and many sub-beasts who associated with them went to learn, so currently, the tribe's beauty standard had significantly increased.
If he hadn't been busy, Kaelen probably would have stayed to play with the children, pinching this one a bit and patting that one a little. But today's pottery firing work had just reached the crucial stage, so he couldn't linger.
[I have urgent business at the Tribe Leader's place. I'll take you all out to play in a few days, okay?]
The cubs let out "ohs" full of disappointment. They loved spending time with Kaelen, getting to eat delicious food and learning many new things. Reluctantly bidding farewell to the cubs, the two continued their journey. Sane suddenly opened his mouth and asked: "Do you really like fluffy animal cubs?"
Hearing this question, Kaelen blanked for a moment, then looked at him with utmost confusion. Such adorable animal cubs, who wouldn't like them?
Sane read this thought from Kaelen's facial expression and felt endlessly frustrated in his heart. With him and Kaelen together, the chance of having children was very low, almost non-existent. He didn't want to have children that much either; however, seeing Kaelen show such affection for other people's offspring still made him a bit unhappy inwardly. He hadn't forgotten that Kaelen was afraid of his beast form...
When the two arrived at the pottery-making area, an entire group of people, including the Tribe Leader, the High Priest, and the elders, were already standing in attendance in front of the brick and regular pottery kiln. The kiln for the quartz-mixed blanks was on another hill; because the temperature requirement was different, it was still in the heat-soaking process.
Seeing Kaelen arrive, Nordhal immediately shouted: "Kaelen is here, everyone make way."
Immediately, the crowd parted to both sides, staring unblinkingly at Kaelen, making him feel a bit embarrassed. He couldn't understand how the high-level Mages in his previous life could pass through hundreds of thousands of watching eyes without changing their expressions.
He tried not to let his face twitch as he stepped in front of the kiln door, which had been sealed tightly with a thick layer of mud mixed with dry grass. The mud layer had been baked bone-dry by the heat, cracking into lines resembling flying birds. Mossi stood to the side, his eyes bloodshot from staying up all night watching the fire, but his rough hands were trembling strangely.
To get this batch of firing, Kaelen and Mossi had set aside their previous awkwardness and calculated together extremely meticulously. Raw bricks were stacked into sturdy "I" shapes at the bottom and along the kiln walls, forming a heat-resistant and fire-blocking "iron armor." In the middle of that brick "maze," the bowl and plate pottery blanks were solemnly placed on support stands, enveloped by a steadily circulating flow of hot air rather than being licked directly by the flames.
The fire had shifted from deep red to bright yellow three days ago, and Kaelen told Mossi to seal the kiln, proceeding with the heat-soaking process.
Kaelen took a deep breath, clasped his hands in front of his face, and closed his eyes to pray for the deities' blessings. This was a task every Mage had to do before beginning any monumental work. For him right now, whether the pottery firing succeeded or not was truly an incredibly monumental matter.
[Nordhal, break the kiln door.]
Crack! Crack!
Nordhal held a large stone ax and decisively struck the mud seal hard. Chunks of dry earth crumbled away, revealing the neatly stacked bright red bricks. When the first brick was pulled out, a residual blast of hot air rushed into their faces, causing everyone to subconsciously step back.
But Kaelen did not step back. He raised his arm horizontally to cover his nose and mouth, holding his breath as he looked inside.
The bricks on the outer layer had turned a characteristic brick-red color, hardened and incredibly sturdy. But what he cared about the most was the layer of pottery in the middle. With the assistance of the beastmen, the first ceramic bowls were brought out.
Among the over sixty pottery blanks put in, up to a third had broken or cracked due to thermal shock. As for the remaining two-thirds, Kaelen examined them and found that only about twelve bowls, four jars, and one ceramic basin met the standard; the rest were mere rejects that would shatter at a light touch.
However, successfully firing seventeen pieces of pottery on the first try was already excellent. Kaelen inspected the quality of the fired bricks once more, showing the brick-making group which bricks met the standard, which ones were of poor quality but still usable, and which ones were completely unusable.
Looking at the laid-out bricks, Kaelen fell into deep thought. Although this number was quite high, it was far from enough. He guessed that aside from a lack of experience, a part of the reason was also the temperature. Using only firewood, it was completely impossible to increase the brick yield.
He was a bit worried about his quartz-mixed pottery batch. Unlike regular pottery, pottery with added quartz as a catalyst required more heat; if the heat was insufficient, the resulting products would be complete rejects.
The tribesmen completely lacked this concern. Even when the tribe was large and powerful, they only had three ceramic pots, and their surfaces weren't even as smooth and solid as the items fired today. Elder Jerome even hugged the ceramic basin and sobbed loudly, continuously thanking the Beast God. High Priest Nyx somewhat pensively stroked the bird and flower symbols on each pottery piece, tears welling up in his eyes as well.
This is truly wonderful, their tribe finally has a good day, and all of this came from the child despised by the tribesmen.
"Alright, what are you crying for. Just this amount is not enough; we need to make much more!"
Jaxon put his hands on his hips, his booming voice sounding like rolling thunder. If it weren't for his trembling legs revealing his mood, everyone would have thought their Tribe Leader was truly composed.
Kaelen agreed with the Tribe Leader. The number of fired bricks was not enough to build a house; they still needed a lot more. This time, he decided to make roof tiles as well.
On the other side, Walter enthusiastically wore a vine basket full of items to Kaelen's house, but upon not finding the person, had to walk back dejectedly.
A group of people appeared, blocking his path. Walter looked at the arrogant Rylan standing at the head of the sub-beast group, a wave of disgust rising in his heart, and couldn't help but frown and say:
"What do you guys want now? I already got Kaelen's beautification secrets for you; you and I owe each other nothing anymore!"
The reason Walter had mustered all his courage to befriend Kaelen was due to being coerced by Rylan's group. He was inherently a timid sub-beast; being coerced by this group, he didn't dare to resist. However, after interacting with Kaelen, Walter liked him more and more, feeling that his smartest decision was seeking Kaelen out.
Rylan let out a cold snort, and Pax beside him couldn't hold back a string of disdainful remarks:
"What, you think changing your clothes also changed the person? For an ugly thing like you to catch our eye is already an honor."
Orion smiled faintly, patted Pax's arm, and said softly: "Pax, don't say that. After all, Walter is our friend. Isn't that right, Walter?"
Walter took a few steps back, avoiding Orion's reaching hand, feeling nothing but disgust inwardly. Among this group of people, if you asked who he loathed the most, it was Rylan and Orion. These two both belonged to the type who didn't need to lift a finger themselves but could make someone's life a living hell. The time he was plucked of his feathers by Pax's group and thrown into a dark cave was entirely due to these two fanning the flames from behind the scenes.
Seeing Walter avoiding him like a plague, a vicious glint flashed in Orion's eyes, but he quickly hid it away, still wearing a fake, gentle smile on his lips. Walter didn't want any further interaction with Rylan and his group, and turned his head wanting to take a different route.
The vine basket on his back was immediately yanked back by Pax, and Pax's shrill voice sounded at the same time:
"Did we give you permission to leave?"