The deer breathed its last breath and died. The kill was swift and merciful.
"It is important to quickly finish your prey. The less suffering it had the better. It is the way."
"Why, Master?" Ashe said. It was obvious that she found this fact contradicting.
"You kill it out of survival, not out of cruelty. Only the weak kill unnecessarily.
Furthermore, what do you think Fate would do to those that are cruel to its creation."
Ashe widened her eyes. "You mean Light Aether will punish us?"
"Not in a direct way. But yes, that is correct. You will receive what you have given away. Playing with your prey too much and someday, you might be on the other end of the blade."
Ashe shivered gently. Of all the Aethers, the more she knew about them, the more Light Aether became dangerous.
True Aether and Dark Aether were something tangible and easy to grasp. But fate, the pure essence of Light Aether, was terrifying.
"Come. Now I will teach you how to gut the beast.
First rule after hunting your game, preservation is key. Leaving it for too long and its meat will spoil. Then all of your efforts will be in vain.
You will have a maximum of one hour to gut it after it dies. Though I suggest you do it as soon as possible to avoid the bacteria growing."
Siderius dragged the beast to the opening field near the river banks. He drew his hunter’s knife.
"One important thing to remember. Do not wash the beast in water. Moisture allows bacteria to grow and even if you are to clean it, it will most likely spoil."
Then Siderius did the usual dissection. He chopped the head of the deer off first then began to open its inside.
"Removing organs and separating the meat into smaller pieces are your goal.
Organs spoil meat so they need to go.
The bigger the meat the hotter it will be. Hot means spoilage so you make it smaller."
Siderius cut the deer starting from its neck line and down to its bottom. He did it carefully, making sure the knife didn’t go too deep.
"Do this cut slowly. Don’t put the knife in too deep. You do not want to cut into the organs inside. If they break, the meat will spoil."
Ashe nodded at everything Siderius said. She observed everything carefully and tried her best to remember. All she could hear was the word ’spoil’ repeated again and again.
"So many ways for the meat to be ruined. It is a miracle we were able to preserve meat." Ashe said.
Siderius shrugged. His hands were covered in the deer’s blood. "It is what we humans have done for thousands of years. We had a lot of time to learn it. And hunger is the best kind of motivation."
"Now. Look at this next part." Siderius opened up the deer.
Ashe took a look inside and she immediately bent over. The bloody organs made her feel sick and her stomach churned like it had never before.
Ashe let out a huge mess of vomit. She tried to control it but to no avail. The exiled noble was not familiar with barbaric sights like butchering.
Ashe put on a hard cover. She wiped her mouth and locked her emotions inside. However, her pale face was impossible to hide.
"I’m sorry, Master.." Ashe bit her lips and whimpered.
Siderius chuckled. "Don’t worry, my apprentice. I saw a man fainted because of this before. You are way stronger than a lot I’ve seen.
It’s only a natural reaction."
Siderius was very strict. He did not hesitate to correct Ashe every time she did something wrong. But he was also very encouraging and endearing. It’s like he had two personalities inside that body.
His comfort only made her mad at herself. She always felt like she could do better. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel·fıre·net
"I understand, Master."
"Try to remember everything. Now you need to take out the organs. There are some cuts here and there. You have to cut the right spot or else the meat will spoil."
Ashe nodded repeatedly. She didn’t think hunting would have required so much knowledge. It was even harder than the history lesson she had back in her clan.
"Alright. That should be it. The last steps are very simple. We’re going to skin the deer then cut it into smaller pieces. A good way to cut it is separating it by four for each of its limbs. We call these quarters."
Siderius did the same thing with the buffalo previously, cutting the big animal into four to reduce heat and moisture. Back then he had to make a few trips in order to transfer the buffalo meat.
But now there was Ashe. After finishing skinning and splitting, they each brought parts of the deer back to the hideout.
One their way back, Siderius shared even more bizarre knowledge about hunting.
"The meat of this deer probably isn’t going to be tasty."
"How do you know, Master?"
"It was distressed at its last moment. Fear makes the meat taste awful. If I have a bow, I can kill it before its fight or flight response kicks in. Then its meat will be better."
Back in the hideout, Siderius taught Ashe about the last step of preserving the meat.
Treat the meat with salt then hang them on a drying rack.
There were many more ways to preserve the meat. This way was the simplest so Siderius taught it.
He also taught her how to treat the hide and what kind of uses it would have in the future.
Deerskin was less thick than buffalo skin. But it was also much more flexible. It’s a good material to make satchels and saddlebags.
Siderius did not intend to teach Ashe the sword nor mutation grafting yet. Survival was crucial and its foundation must be strong first.
So for survival, a bow was much more important. It could help her secure her food source in the woods.
Additionally, the sling wasn’t too good for specific situations so Siderius was intending to make himself a bow. He could teach Ashe at the same time.
Two birds with one stone.