Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Today marks the fifth day without Titus showing up.

Although still worried, the anxiety isn't as intense as it was in the previous days. Objectively speaking, it's not normal for Titus to show up at her doorstep every day... There must be a lot going on in the settlement, and Titus had mentioned preparations for the rainy season before. Perhaps he's busy gathering supplies and can't make time to come see her.

He had mentioned that the next external hunting season would be ending soon, which would be followed by the rainy season. But how long is the next hunting season? Could it have started earlier during this time? If that's the case, it would explain Titus's absence these past few days.

The rainy season is also a concern for her. If it lasts a long time and is so heavy that she can't leave her shelter, how much food does she need to gather? And how should she store it to extend its shelf life? In Cloudy's understanding, she can go out even in heavy rain; after all, it's just rain, not the kind of weather that keeps you indoors like a typhoon. But do rainforests experience typhoons? This is a knowledge gap for Cloudy. Logically, typhoons are more common near the sea... does the rainforest have a sea nearby?

Confused, for now, she can only try to stock up on supplies. There are still many things waiting for her to do. The two hunted animals have been processed into meat and hides, laid out on stones in a sunny spot in the cave for continuous drying. Hopefully, they can be turned into jerky...

This morning, Cloudy first checked her wounds. She looked at the reflection of her face on her phone screen to confirm the wound, which had formed a thumb-sized scab. The smaller abrasions around the main wound no longer worried her. The swelling on her face, which she couldn't see clearly due to the dark screen, seemed to be okay overall. Her eyes could open and close freely without any discomfort.

Two days ago, her shin had pus oozing out, which looked very severe at the time. Cloudy bravely removed the scab to drain the pus, and today it's slowly starting to heal. Both wounds haven't shown signs of further infection or worsening. There's no significant discomfort in moving her leg; fast walking is fine, but it'll take a few more days before she can freely run. With this physical condition, she shouldn't venture into the rainforest casually... Besides collecting some food, the only task for Cloudy today is to make fire.

She hopes to have a fire going before the rainy season starts, and of course, it would be even better if she can achieve that today.

The sticks and fire starters she collected a few days ago have dried out enough. The fire starter is so dry now that a gentle crush turns it into powder. Just like how a struggling student would lay out various pens and fresh notebooks before starting to study, Cloudy has prepared a pile of sticks and dry leaves. What if the fire ignites? She needs enough fuel!

It's been a long time since she last tried making fire. To avoid being out of practice, Cloudy starts by moving her upper body in place, doing chest expansions, and twisting from side to side a few times. It's not her imagination; her arms do feel much stronger, almost firm to the touch.
Bond, the soft flesh under the armpits has completely disappeared. Waving them feels very nimble.

Crossing into the wilderness is more effective for weight loss than any method, and it can also help build muscle properly. Cloudy shook her arms to warm up, squatted in front of the stone kiln with tools in hand, lifted the leaves covering it, placed the fire starter in the mud pit, and then selected her most satisfactory pieces of wood to stack on top.

Start rubbing.

Initially using the most primitive method, quickly rubbing the wood pieces up and down with a wooden stick, after some time, Cloudy switched to an electric drill style. After more than an hour of effort, she shook her slightly sore arms and gritted her teeth. Yes, it's that feeling, that sense of futile effort yet hopeful mindset that is hard to let go of...!

Clearly, she had managed to drill out smoke with great difficulty before... proving that with her skill level, success was definitely possible. This time, the fire starter was even drier than last time, having been sun-dried for three to four days under the cave's sunlight! Halfway through, Cloudy suddenly remembered something - she had indeed brought some bird down earlier, and then, she remembered, there was some down inside her down jacket as well...

Should she dismantle the down jacket? Just take out a bit of down to use? Cloudy shook her head, deciding to use the bird down she had first, as the down jacket was her only link to modern civilization.

Unfortunately, even with the addition of down to the fire starter, the situation did not change significantly. Cloudy paused to think, how could she improve? Looking at the friction stick in her hand used for making fire, she realized her hand speed might be lacking, and her palms were now red and slightly cracked...

Is there any way to replace hands to make the friction stick spin at high speed by itself? What could be suggested to make something spin rapidly? An amusement park spinning cup, a dog and its tail... After a moment of thought, she remembered a spinning top, the most primitive one made of wood and spun by pulling a string.

She certainly wasn't going to use a vine to spin the fire stick, but could a slight modification make it much better? Instead of using her hand to secure the fire stick, she used a stone to press down on the top of the friction stick, not forcefully crushing it against the fire starter, but applying limited force to keep it standing vertically on the fire starter, leaving some space for it to rotate easily.

Then, the most crucial part, she no longer used her hand to rotate the friction stick, but used another stick with a slight curve to press against the friction stick, pulling it back and forth like playing a violin, causing the friction stick to rotate.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, as the stone wasn't easy to secure, either completely pressing the friction stick down so it couldn't move, or being too loose, causing the friction stick to fly out when under pressure.

She had to sacrifice one hand, but this hand only needed to secure the friction stick. So, she wrapped a few leaves around the palm of her hand and continued her action. The violin-style fire-making felt quite good.
The speed of the wooden stick spinning visibly increased, accompanied by a squeaking sound.

Cloudy's hands were sore as she frantically pulled the stick, feeling like her upper arms were about to explode... Finally, with a snap, the fire board cracked open...

"..." I thought it had ignited. Cloudy stopped, moved the rubbing stick aside, and checked the wooden board underneath. This inspection changed her frustration to excitement - there was a crack in the middle of the board, and the area she had just rubbed had turned black! Cloudy broke off the cracked board, stood up to stretch her hands and neck. Initially crouched over, her body stiffened from the prolonged stance, causing her joints to crackle.

The blackened board excited her, but not to the point of losing her composure. Sufficient physical strength was required to start a fire, and now her hands were already sore; she needed to rest for a while. She took some fruits from the wooden cabin, eating as she walked towards the water pool. After finishing, she used her hands to splash water over her body, removing the sticky sweat and cleaning the wounds on her legs.

After regaining her strength, she sat back in front of the stone kiln, shouted loudly, picked up the tools, and began another vigorous round of rubbing. She felt she had found the rhythm, and as the exercise time increased, her brain would momentarily empty due to fatigue. It was during these moments that her body did not feel tired but rather more powerful.

However, this feeling wouldn't last long; the ability to start a fire probably depended on this short burst of energy. Cloudy felt she had never been so focused in her life, from studying and exams to job interviews, she had never devoted herself so completely to a single task! Everything... everything was for the sake of roasting meat!

Cloudy let out a strange, desperate cry, like a grieving monkey or a water bird hit by a stone, as her arms rapidly pulled the stick back and forth at an unprecedented speed: "Please... Ahhh!"

Perhaps the scene was too tragic, or the sound too soul-stirring, but what Cloudy had been hoping for finally happened. Among the pile of fire starters, a few wisps of smoke emerged for the second time.

Smoke... smoke was coming out!! Struck as if by lightning, Cloudy convulsed in surprise, then immediately dropped the stick, lay down on the ground, and blew into the stone kiln, adding more fire starters inside while blowing.

Please, please, please, I've been unlucky for so long, I can't rely on luck this time, it's all about strength!!

Cloudy's cheeks hurt from blowing, yet she continued to fan the fire inside. Initially, the faint gray smoke, under her efforts, began to thicken, and there seemed to be a slight crackling sound coming from the pile of fire starters.

At this moment, Cloudy didn't care about the value of her down jacket anymore. She rushed into the tent and back out, tearing a small hole with her teeth and pulling out a handful of down, tossing it into the stone kiln, then continued blowing.

Clinging to the dry grass and down, the smoke nibbled at these flammable materials, creating a hint of golden edges, which then turned reddish.

Each gust of wind made that golden edge...
In the dim light, Cloudy's nibbling grew faster and faster, until, like a plant breaking through the soil, a thin, bright red flame fluttered out.

Cloudy's brain couldn't even process what she was seeing. Her body moved on its own, gently placing all the nearby firewood into the stone kiln, then placing the freshly dried fire board in the center. Her movements were soft, as if sewing with spider silk.

Under her gaze, the flames burned brighter and brighter, expanding from a small flame to a large ball of fire. The scorching heat hit her face, but she forgot about the danger, with only a few fists separating her face from the flames. She closed her eyes, enjoying the intense heat and the unique scent of the flames.

A few strands of her hair were singed by the flames on her forehead, but she paid no mind. If she could, she might even want to bury her head in the fire to feel the heat... Now she understood why ancient people danced around the flames, because... she wanted to do the same!

After filling the fire pit with enough firewood, Cloudy stood up, bouncing and waving her arms frantically. Her mind was empty, completely occupied by the beautiful and soft golden-red color before her: "Grilled meat! Grilled fish! Grilled meat! Grilled fish!" Her voice was so joyful it was distorted. Jumping all the way, she rushed to the base of the hill, moved all the meat skins from the rocks to the fire pit, and began grilling around the fire.

Even the meat, which inherently had a sour and foul smell, emitted an indescribable fragrance after being roasted by the flames. The nauseating raw meat turned into a glossy brown color after being baptized by the flames... Cloudy didn't care if the meat was spoiled; once it was cooked, she kept throwing it into her mouth, chewing and crying, tears flowing instinctively because compared to everything she had eaten before, it was delicious! All those insect meat and fruits... can go to hell! She would go out every day to hunt! Hunt! And then eat meat, ahhh!

Just as Cloudy danced in ecstasy, crazily devouring the grilled meat, she heard a strange noise coming from the cave entrance. Alright, just in time. Wiping her mouth, Cloudy stood up, added more wood to the fire pit, picked up a weapon nearby, and headed towards the cave entrance. What delicious meat was coming her way now? She would kill and eat them all.

Halfway there, Cloudy stopped, because she saw the stone blocking the entrance being pushed aside, and the hand she was very familiar with... it was Titus!!

"Titus?!" Cloudy was overjoyed, running towards the cave entrance. "I did it! I did so many things!"

But as Titus struggled to climb out of the cave, she was dumbfounded. Titus was still Titus, with a smile on his face, his ears perked up, his face and body dirty. All that didn't matter. What mattered was...

He was holding a small burning stick in his hand.

"Cloudy," Titus twisted his body to come out of the cave and handed her the fire, very solemnly. "I worked hard to bring this to you."
Cloudy was momentarily unsure of what to say. She simply took the torch and led Titus to the front of the wooden hut, instructing him to look down at the roaring fire in the stone kiln.

".........."

Titus, too, was at a loss for words.