Another round of poisonous-fish stew served as Wilona's breakfast, and she had to admit, the food was kind of good. She never knew that making something out of nature's rawest materials could turn out like this, but hey! She wasn't complaining.

  She did make sure that she didn't eat as much soup this time around, though. Maybe if she felt like being drunk later tonight? Anyway, she was also thinking about how she could realistically make some kind of storage as she ate. There were very few options when it came to that sort of thing, and if she were to go at this from the top of her head, she felt that making clay pots was her best bet.

  And as for showering... Yeah, she really needed it right about now. A larger filtration system sounded and felt like a good idea, but she didn't know how to make it. "More baskets," Wilona muttered. "Can't go wrong with that, honestly."

  And maybe if she found some kind of plant that caused bubbles?… Actually, she needed a bath for something like that to work— Wilona paused. Fuzz was able to make a door in a single night, wasn't she? An idea struck Wilona's head, and she began to grin. "Fuzz?"

  "Yes?" The mushroom answered from all around her. "Can I help you?"

  "Well, I was just wondering—can you make a bathtub using your, like, mushroom thingies? Like what you did to the door?" Wilona put on her most innocent look as she asked the mushroom. "I would really love to take a shower right about now, but I just can't..."

  "I can do that, Wilona, and you don't have to guilt-trip me into following your ideas. I am more than willing to help," answered the myceloid. "I'll get started on forming a tub large enough to fit you."

  "I'll give you, like, several pounds of leaves as payment. You like that, right? I'm about to go to the forest and forage for some stuff—" like bath bombs, natural ones. Or maybe she could learn to make one?… Hmm. Food for thought. "—and I'll dump a bunch of stuff for you to eat every time I come back."

  "That would be greatly appreciated."

  Wilona grinned. She knew it!

  After breakfast, Wilona worked on weaving a few more baskets for both her filtration system as well as for personal use. She was going to forage for clay and plants, and since her last basket had disappeared into the depths of the swamp, she needed new ones.

  She made around six new baskets. Four were used for the filtration system. She also made a shelf to place those baskets in, which was a whole lot harder than how she described it. Like, she had to make support beams for the damn thing because the shelf couldn't carry the weight of the stone. Wasn't fantasy wood supposed to be stronger than the ones back on Earth? She felt like she'd been scammed, honestly.

  All six of her filtration baskets now sat around her camp, ready to be used. She still hadn't gotten something to store the water she successfully filtered, but it was a work in progress—she just had to make pottery and stuff.

  Wilona made her way to the forest to start foraging and scouting for clay. She wanted to find something that could specifically cause bubbles when cooked, and she knew that, from experience, those types of plants were very airy and could be squeezed easily due to their sponge-like texture.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Seeds, roots, and fruits were gathered by her. She grabbed more of the ones she found familiar and collected some of the things she had just discovered. If they turned out to be pretty good ingredients, then she'd collect more in the future.

  A pocket of clay was discovered somewhere near a body of water, and Wilona marked the trees next to it using her dagger. She decided to end the foraging then and there and went back home. "Here you go, Fuzz!"

  Wilona paused when she saw the pile of leaves she had emptied from her basket get enveloped by strands of hair-like growths and begin to quickly deteriorate. She shuddered. That was a bit disturbing.

  She quickly went back to the clay pocket after leaving her foraging basket. She wanted to go and start making clay pots immediately because she wasn't willing to burn daylight because of them. That, and she thought that having proper storage was the best thing she could do right now. Wilona filled her basket with clay and then left.

  Once she was back at her camp, she realized something. "How do I make clay pots?"

  "You burn them," answered Fuzz.

  "Burn them." Wilona deadpanned. Seriously? There was another step to pottery than just shaping the clay? "I thought we just let them dry?"

  "If you want fragile pottery that loses its shape under rain, then yes, you can just do that," Fuzz suggested. Wilona felt that the myceloid was somehow serious.

  "No, I'm not gonna do that," she said with a shake of her head. "I'll try and make actual pottery, so, uh, how do I burn these things after I shape them?"

  "You make a fire pit."

  "Like my campfire?"

  "No, something deeper. Deep enough to hold raw clay until it hardens under the heat without collapsing." Fuzz described the basics of pottery making before pausing. "I think it is better if I tell you while you make it. I'll also be able to guide you at the same time."

  "So I just leave the clay for now?" Wilona straightened her back and stretched. After several hours of working nonstop, the relief she got from cracking her bones felt way too good.

  "Yes," Fuzz confirmed.

  "Alright," Wilona walked to an empty spot around their camp. "Do I just dig? Will this hurt you?"

  "No, not at all," Fuzz reassured her. "I can't really feel pain."

  "Ah, got it." Wilona took that as the myceloid inviting her to dig without worrying about it. She grabbed her spear and struck the ground, loosening it. "So how deep does this have to be?"

  "Four feet," Fuzz assisted. And speaking of Fuzz, there was a line of mycelium under the ground. She didn't complain about it, so Wilona thought that she really didn't mind getting hit. "After that, you will place a pile of dried leaves, grass, and other easily burnable objects into the pit. Cover the clay pots with them, both in and out."

  "Uh-huh," Wilona muttered. Wouldn't the pots break if she did that? But then again, she was the newbie in pottery making here.

  Once the pit was dug, Wilona proceeded to gather three baskets' worth of dry leaves for Fuzz to dry. And as those got processed by the myceloid, she worked on shaping the raw clay. She made two vases—because that's the amount she could fit into the pit—and then placed them at the bottom of the hole she dug.

  After that, it was only a matter of filling the pit and stuffing the raw clay with dry leaves before putting in a layer of firewood on top, more leaves, and then two more layers of firewood on top of it. Now the fire pit was done.

  Wilona lit it up and sat back.

  "God, that was a lot more stressful than I thought it would be," Wilona wiped her forehead. "Making pottery seriously needs that much effort? Kill me if I need to make another one of those things." She groaned. "So, uh, is the bathtub finished? I really wish I could take a bath right about now..."

  Honestly, that would be very welcome.

  "Yes, I've finished it. And what's stopping you from taking a bath?" Fuzz suddenly asked.

  "The water?" Wilona looked at the ground. Was this mushroom insane or something?

  "Water?… Can't you just clean it using magic?"

  "How do I do that?" Wilona asked.

  "How do you use magic?" Fuzz returned her question.

  "Good point." Wilona sighed and stood up. She used the basket layered with clay and dragged it downstream. A quest kicked in then, telling her to "clean the water," so she got to work. The clay prevented any leaks, and soon enough, the tub Fuzz made for her was full.

  "Okay, here goes nothing." Wilona imagined cleaning the water of any debris. When that didn't work, she imagined dragging all the debris to her hand, and that got the job done.

  "Eugh." Wilona threw the ball of moss and other residue next to her. "Okay, now what's this stupid seed about?"

  Wilona opened her quests to receive her reward for completing an Ingredient-Type quest and fell short. Literally. The seed fell short from her hands and dropped into the debris pile, sinking into it. Never to be seen again.

  "Is that good?" Wilona asked.

  "I'm not sure," Fuzz replied.