《Samsara: The rise of Darksteel》Chapter 12 - The grand feast of disgusting, part 2
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Iradin followed his son as he weaved his way through the forest. After jogging for a while, Kael slowed down while scanning the area around him. Taking off in another direction for a short while, Iradin was blown away by the huge berry patch that showed up in front of him. The bright reds and blues were camouflaged by the surrounding foliage, but once you pushed through the foliage, the bright red and blue berries stood out in stark contrast to the brown and greens of the forest.
Kael worked his way into the entangled bushes and began snapping off the small branches that had shiny red berries on them. Throwing the small branches back to his father, Kael continued to search for the baneberries he needed while shouting, “We need to smash these all up, then use a small fire to reduce it into a thick paste."
“Red berries are not something you should think about eating son, they are normally poisonous.”
Knowing his father misunderstood him again, Kael shouted back, “I know that Grandfather Grey said that you can use the paste of a baneberry poison to hunt. The poison dissipates in less than 10 minutes, but with just eating a half dozen berries can cause a heart attack. So using a weapon coated in baneberry paste will kill the animal but still let it be safe to eat.”
After finishing his small tirade of make-believe, Kael crawled back out from the bushes with a dozen branches hugged in his small arms. Looking at the pile by his father he seemed to have picked way too many as there were over 20 branches with each holding 30 to 40 berries on them. “Uhh, we are going to need something to put them in.”
“Ok, you are lucky, your mom sends me out with tons of junk everytime I hunt.” Saying that Iradin reached into the bag and pulled out a small pot as well as a ceramic jug. Drinking some of the water from the jug he handed to Kael. “Drink some water son, we will dump whatever is left.”
Gulping down a quarter of the water in the bottle he handed it back to his father while beginning to pick the berries off the branches, tossing them into the pot. After finishing the berry removal Iradin sent Kael to collect dry twigs and branches while he dug a small hole. A little bit later they had a fire going in the pit. Kael used a large stick to smash the berries in the put into pulp. Roasting the pot over the fire while occasionally stirring it. It did not take long for the small amount of excess fluid to burn off, leaving a thick sticky paste.
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Upon completion, Kael heard that strange robotic like voice in his head again.
Congratulation, you have created a new object; Baneberry Poison Paste, tier is too low to grant rewards.
140 doses of baneberry poison paste created.
Slightly stunned, Kael grinned to himself while beginning to carefully pour the molasses-like paste into the water jug. Looking at his father he said, “We should dip the tips of the javelins in now so it will dry sooner.”
Iradin simply took his entire quiver of a half dozen javelins off and handed it to over. “Take these, I’ll get my bow.” Taking the Javelins and dipping the point into the jug before removing and storing them Kael thought, How am I going to use these, I’m still a child and these things are like long spears to me.
As Kael was applying the poison, Iradin took an arrow quiver with 30 some odd arrows in it, out of his storage pouch. Laying it on the ground, he pulled out a beautiful bow made of some kind of dark red, almost black wood from the pouch. Retrieving a thick string the bow was quickly assembled. Once poisoning the arrows was done it did not take too much longer for the two to pack up and start walking into the depths of the forest.
After a few minutes of walking Kael finally snapped. Stopping, he took looked at his father and asked him, “Dad, is there anything wrong with how I look?”
Iradin looking over his son with some confusion shook his head no.
“Ok dad, these javelins are made for adults, they are taller than a full grown man. This quiver is almost as tall as I am. I have it around my back like an arrow quiver, and it still almost drags on the ground. Take these things back, I’ll carry one in my hands like a spear if it makes you feel safer.”
Iradin looked his son over again before he began laughing at the ridiculous figure he cut. He knew that if he was not thinking so deeply about hunting a magic beast, something so obvious would not have happened. Beginning to concentrate back in the here and now he took the javelins and quiver from his child. Placing them in his storage pouch before starting off into the forest again.
Around noon, Iradin spotted a wild hog and decided to use it as a test sample for his son’s poison. Intentionally shooting the enormous pig in the leg, he sucked in a deep breath of air as the pig fell lifelessly to the ground. The poison had killed it in just under 10 seconds. “Uh, son I think the hunters in the village will be greatly appreciative of this contribution.”
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Watching his father take an intricately carved dagger out of his pouch, Kael's chin dropped down, opening his mouth large enough to fit a goose egg into it. The blade of the dagger was made out of some kind of strange metallic ore that left an azure sheen. The blade was curved and large enough that it could probably double as a short sword. Instead of a pommel or handguard, the blade itself wrapped down to the bottom of the hilt, creating the protective area for the hand. The hilt was carved like the body of drake, and upon closer inspection, the blade was made to be its wings, where its tail curved up forming the blade over the handguard. A small carving of the initials D.S. was engraved at the base of the blade.
Seeing his sons look, Iradin chuckled at him and said, “Boy, this was my father's knife, in the future, it will be yours. It is a tier 7 earth ranked blade. The hilt is carved from the horn of an ice drake, the blade is made out of thousand year diamond’s glaze, a frigid ore, and mixed with powdered scales from the drake itself. It is passed down to the eldest son who awakens his bloodline during his initial coming of age ceremony.”
Using a bit of rope from his pouch, Iradin hung the hog off a tree while he prepared to dress the animal. Kael thought back to the end of his reincarnation process and quickly stopped his father. “Dad, you should let me do it, this is a perfect chance for me to learn.”
Thinking back to his son letting the deer go, he was happy to find it really wasn’t because of a fear of blood. “Ok, your stand in front and cut as I tell you to. Normally we wouldn’t skin a hog, but you might as well as it will be needed for other animals in the future.” Carefully handing his son his blade he said, “Now do exactly as I say, that knife is extraordinary and will cut steel like mud, so be careful.”
With how careful his father was being and detailed with his explanations it took an hour before the carcass was dressed. After dressing it down and cutting the meat into thick slabs everything was finally stored away in Iradin’s pouch.
Taking out another jug of water and rinsing his hands, he handed it to Kael saying. “Wash your hands, we will leave the skin, bones, and entrails here for the scavengers. The scent of blood has already drawn predators to the area so we need to leave before they get impatient. If they couldn’t sense that I am a cultivator they would have already attacked.”
Kael barely heard his father's words as a now familiar voice echoed out in his head.
Congratulations, you have taken your first step as a chef.
30 points awarded, 5 points for butchering a mortal ranked animal, 25 points for training in field dressing.
Soul has unlocked true control over talents, all talents have been merged into one.
Soul has not allocated a percentage to be split into talent points, all points given to the artisan skill, Chef.
Congratulations on stepping onto the path of a chef, make persistent efforts. Soul’s current standing is Mortal Rank 1, (30/100).
Thinking, Holy shit, I can level up by being a butcher? Wait, I need to find out how to divert points to my talents later when I am alone. Hehehe what a cheat, I can get perks for everything by doing anything. This is truly double the results with half the effort. Kael finally snapped out of his thoughts and with a foolish grin took the water from his father and began to wash his hands. The two left the area which was quickly filled with snarls of small predators and scavengers fighting over scraps.
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