Polishing the Stone Axe

The handicraft team, led by Butterfly, would definitely be tasked with making stone axes later on. After all, "handicraft" covers a very broad scope.

But before that, he needed to research it himself. If he hadn't figured it out yet, how could he teach Butterfly and the others?

Considering the current era, the importance of stone tools was undeniable.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that before they discovered copper and iron ore and obtained the technical conditions to smelt and forge them, stone tools were their most crucial implements.

Under this premise, the simplest and most primitive method was to find a suitable stone and use it directly.

To improve it, one had to incorporate the technique of "grinding."

Grinding wasn't just about holding a stone and rubbing it. The character "打" (dǎ) in "打磨" (dǎ mó) actually meant "to strike."

Others might not know, but Zhou Xu had done something similar in his village when he was a child.

Besides breaking off branches to play with as swords, they would sometimes find stones, smash them with a "crack," and then pick out stones with sharp edges from the broken pieces to use as weapons.

The "grind" essentially meant this.

Of course, in actual practice, you couldn't be as casual as you were as a child; it had to be more meticulous.

Take the stone axe, for example. You first had to find a suitable stone, strike it to create a rough outline, and then begin grinding.

At this very moment, holding a stone and starting to strike it, Zhou Xu felt a bit like he was back in his childhood, inexplicably feeling a sense of joy.

Thinking about it now, the intelligence of children and primitive humans was quite similar.

It's just that children did it for play, while primitive humans did it to create tools for survival.

As Zhou Xu struck, the sound of colliding rocks echoed through the camp.

All the tribe members who remained, including Butterfly and the others who were making bark bags, couldn't help but cast curious glances in his direction.

Zhou Xu ignored them and continued to busy himself with the task at hand.

This was undoubtedly a strenuous job, especially when they only ate one meal a day.

Not to mention that the precision of the striking couldn't be guaranteed at all; often, the results of the striking wouldn't meet your initial expectations.

Faced with this situation, Zhou Xu could only tell himself to relax.

In this era, they couldn't demand precision.

If he ground ten stone axes, it would be natural for each one to look different.

With this mindset, the work went much smoother.

For the first stone axe, Zhou Xu tapped here and struck there, inevitably taking a bit longer.

"Hmm, it should be about right."

Shaking his hand, which was already sore from swinging the stone, and looking at the stone block in his hand that had begun to take shape, Zhou Xu finally entered the grinding stage after a thorough inspection.

The grinding stage actually required more effort and time than the striking stage.

In fact, the stone axe could be used as is, but Zhou Xu still intended to grind it, spending enough time and effort to obtain a more usable weapon. He believed this investment was absolutely worthwhile.

Unconsciously, accompanied by the sound of grinding, a whole morning passed. Looking at the stone axe in his hand that was becoming more and more presentable, Zhou Xu couldn't help but grin.

It couldn't be said that the stone axe was completely smooth from his grinding.

In his own opinion, this was at most coarse grinding, but it was definitely sufficient for now.

Picking up a bark rope of suitable thickness, the next part was his forte.

"Done!"

Holding the first stone axe in his hand, Zhou Xu couldn't help but swing it a couple of times. At this moment, he was smiling like a child.

When he was little, just finding a branch called the "Dragon Slaying Sword" could make him happy all day, but that hadn't happened since he grew up.

From a modern perspective, this stone axe might look like a crude piece of junk, but it was something he had painstakingly ground, bit by bit, with his time, energy, and sweat in these limited conditions!

The strong sense of accomplishment generated in this process was something no exquisite modern item could give him.

The stone axe in his hand, at this moment, allowed him to find the most primitive and pure excitement and satisfaction!

"Here, you take this! Let's test the new weapon together."

He eagerly called over a tribe member who was on patrol duty and tossed him a wooden stick suitable for making a Bone Spear.

"Hold it horizontally, yes, just like that! Get ready, here I come."

With that, Zhou Xu lunged forward, swinging the stone axe in his hand and striking the wooden stick the other person was holding in a defensive stance.

Instantly, with a crisp "crack" and flying wood chips, the wooden stick snapped, leaving the tribe member holding it stunned on the spot.

Zhou Xu didn't pay attention to him. He immediately checked the edge of the stone axe and then smiled with satisfaction.

Basically, if it could reach this point, it was completely fine.

Walking to the Fire Pit, under the reverent gazes of the tribe members, Zhou Xu drank half a bowl of water. Just as he was about to make another stone axe and call two tribe members to observe and learn how to do it, Dashan returned with the members of the gathering team.

Unlike the hunting team, the gathering team accumulated enough supplies after half a day of gathering.

So they would usually return to the camp first to drop off their supplies, and take a break to drink water, before setting out again.

"Dashan, you're back at just the right time."

As soon as Dashan returned, Zhou Xu quickly gestured for him to come over, then picked up the stone axe in his hand.

At this moment, he felt a little reluctant to part with it, but in the end, he still handed it over to Dashan.

"This is for you."

The moment the stone axe entered his hands, Dashan instinctively hefted it and his eyes lit up.

It was probably his Weapon Master talent at work. Although Zhou Xu hadn't explained it yet, he already had a general idea of what it was for.

"Thank you, chief!"

Receiving his new weapon undoubtedly made Dashan incredibly excited.

It also further boosted their confidence in their exploration.

"How's the exploration of the Black Forest's outer areas going?"

"I feel like we're almost done. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to slowly start exploring the interior of the Black Forest tomorrow."

After getting the update on the exploration progress from Dashan, Zhou Xu nodded, having a clearer picture in his mind.

[Tomorrow, then. If we move quickly today and get a few more people to start working on them, we should be able to finish in time.]