Eric seemed to recall reading this part in the original novel.
The powerful Dwarven warriors, in order to ensure the continuation of their race’s forging techniques, had risked their lives to bring their most talented companions to the Illusory Dream Continent. Otherwise, the Dwarves would have all become slaves sooner or later.
It was truly heart-wrenching.
Throughout history, colonialism has never been welcomed. He wondered when this world would finally be able to abolish the system of slavery.
Seeing his interest in Origin Energy, Bruno’s spirits lifted, and he went home to fetch several sheepskin scrolls for Eric.
"These contain several martial arts techniques, as well as cultivation methods for Origin Energy. Although I don’t know if beastmen can cultivate Origin Energy, these martial arts techniques can surely help you to some extent."
Since childhood, he had heard the adults tell stories of the senior who had saved them, and so he too had wanted to become such a great hero, but unfortunately, he lacked the talent. However, out of interest, he had collected a fair number of scrolls. Besides the basic cultivation methods, he had also found ways to trade with humans to obtain a few more.
At this moment, he gave them all to Eric.
Eric was genuinely interested, so he didn’t refuse. He carried the meat cleaver and carding combs back home.
The two idle and curious Dwarves followed him.
The water-soaked rabbit fur was dried on the heated platform, then repeatedly combed with the carding comb to fluff out the down. Eric then found a small wooden stick and rolled the combed fur into a long strip, which would make it easier to spin into yarn later.
With Bruno and Luban conveniently present, Eric briefly explained to them the structure of a spinning wheel. This was something that was easy to make once you understood the principle; it could be built from wood.
The two Dwarves squatted there, carving wood, discussing the creation of the spindle and springs as they worked. These could later be applied to other tools. The spring, in particular, was an indispensable component, and the two of them almost immediately thought of all sorts of parts it could be attached to.
These small components seemed insignificant, but with them, many tools could operate much more smoothly.
The spinning wheel couldn’t be finished in a single day. Spinning yarn by hand was both time-consuming and laborious. Eric found a round stone, drilled a hole in the middle, and then inserted a tree branch to secure it.
He separated one end of the rolled fur strip and tied it to the branch. By spinning the stone, he made the branch above it rotate continuously, thus creating a simple spinning tool.
The rabbit fur was soft, and the resulting yarn was a fluffy ball of wool.
This process left both Dwarves utterly stunned. They couldn’t believe their eyes. Dropping the work in their hands, they scrambled over to see the ball of yarn in Eric’s hand.
"You... you... you used just a small stick like this to make such soft thread?" Bruno stared in disbelief at the grayish ball of wool before him.
"And it’s made from animal fur? Oh, Great God of Forging, this person must be a messenger you have sent down, otherwise, who could possibly turn the fur of a magical beast into thread!"
Luban prayed to the heavens with excitement. Since coming to the Illusory Dream Continent, the thing they were least accustomed to was the lack of fabric production here. Besides anxiously trading with human merchant caravans, their only other source was Elven cloth.
Elven cloth was more comfortable than human cloth, but the price was also very steep. The total amount of Elven cloth in their tribe was not much.
They considered their standard of living to be not bad. Compared to the beastmen for whom even linen was a rarity, they were able to use cotton for undergarments and even had cotton quilts and padded jackets. It was just that all these things had to be traded for with the merchant caravans. As the techniques for cotton cultivation and weaving were controlled by the nobility and royalty, the Dwarves did not know how to do it.
And now what were they seeing? A Snow Wolf child, using a pile of worthless gray rabbit fur, had created such a soft ball of wool! Using only a tree branch and a stone, along with a comb they had made with their own hands!
Heavens, if this wasn’t a miracle, what was! The gazes of Luban and Bruno were so intense they felt as if they could burn Eric.
Eric shivered, goosebumps rising on his skin. He looked at their exaggerated expressions with distaste.
"If you two could finish the spinning wheel a bit faster, of course I wouldn’t need to use this stick. The spinning wheel is much faster."
The machine they were making was for spinning yarn? Because it had a wheel, the two of them thought it was for making a cart or something similar, only noting that the front structure seemed a bit off.
So this was a tool for spinning yarn! Not daring to delay for a moment, the two of them quickened the pace of their work.
The quality of the yarn produced by this crude tool was naturally not the best, but fortunately, the raw material was good. Eric gave it a pull and felt it was passable. At least it was better than spinning by hand, and the thickness was relatively even.
After successfully making one ball of wool, the impatience in his heart subsided. Seeing the hurried state of Luban and Bruno, he thought he might as well wait for the spinning wheel to be finished before continuing. An entire afternoon of him using the stick wouldn’t match the efficiency of the spinning wheel for even a short while.
Having made yarn, he was reminded of the felt mats from his childhood.
Being in contact with animal hides every day, how could he have forgotten something so important? Eric thought of the grass mat under his own heated bed, a product of his long and laborious weaving.
Felt was much easier to make than yarn, and the requirements for the raw material were lower. Eric couldn’t bring himself to use the soft rabbit fur for this. He ran to the public square and gathered some miscellaneous magical beast fur.
In the tribe, when processing magical beast hides, the fur would be trimmed to make it neater. A considerable amount of fur was thrown away like trash every day. The trimmed fur was relatively coarse, which was just right for making felt.
The idle Snow Wolf people were puzzled to see him carrying a large armful of fur, but seeing his struggling appearance, they still helped him carry it home.
It was now winter, and fewer magical beasts were being hunted, so there was less trimmed fur. Eric couldn’t help but feel regret for all the fur that had been discarded before. That much could have made so much felt.
Eric took the collected fur and washed it all. It was difficult to dry things outside now, so he rolled up the animal hide and grass cushion on his heated bed and spread the fur evenly over the surface to dry.
He found a piece of linen cloth and spread it on the floor. He used a carding comb to brush out the tangled mass of fur, then layered it evenly on the cloth. This was also a step that required skill; it had to be layered very evenly, otherwise, if there were high and low spots, it would be ruined.
He wanted to make a very thick felt mat to put under his heated bed.
After layering it, he rolled up the linen cloth, tied it tightly, sprinkled water on it, and then began to throw, beat, and stomp on it with all his might to make the fibers inside mat together.
He had to do this step in the courtyard, otherwise, the whole house would be soaked.
A thick piece of felt gradually took shape. It looked quite flat, though the color was a bit mottled since the fur came from many different types of magical beasts.
The two Dwarves, engrossed in making the machine nearby, saw this and their jaws dropped.
How did this kid just throw it around, beat it a bit, and jump on it a few times to make such a thick piece of cloth?