Sixth Son: Villager in Another World 19

In addition to the clay, I needed a fuel to fire the pots. Not wanting to raid my family's supplies, I gathered some branches to make some charcoal. Since it had not rained, the wood was fairly dry.

I worked on a cloudless Sunday a short distance up from the creek. I stripped down to my skivvies. I stacked the wood in a pile, then covered it with mud from the creek bed, making sure that there was a small hole up top to keep the fire going and a small hole in the front to light up.

I used a cordage made from spruce roots, a creek stone, and a stick to make a fire bow. Some minutes of diligent spinning later, the friction ignited an ember. I transferred the ember to a palmful of dried hay, then moved it to the wood in the oven. The trick to making charcoal was to have enough fire going to drive off the water and leave behind blackened carbon, without igniting the pile into a full fire.

I worked near the creek to keep the fire in check. While the charcoal smoked away, worked on sharpening a second hatchet head.