Path of the Pioneers

Suffice to say, I had not yet recovered from the earlier incident. Even whilst traveling to where we would make camp for the night, my mind stayed focused on a singular thought: Blushing like a fool while Adeline was applying rather basic first aid. Something that I could have done myself, for that matter. That wasn’t to say that I was upset that she had done it, but I certainly could have avoided making a fool of myself.

I wanted to bury my face in my hat at the thoughts swirling around in my head. The way she lowered herself to one knee, and tended to my injury with an unexpected delicateness. The way that her eyes looked into mine… It set my face alight just remembering it. I refused to dwell too deeply on how I must have looked to her at that time; it was far too embarrassing.

I hadn’t quite come to terms with how I felt about Adeline. She had an undeniably noble air about her, while still being different than I imagined them to be. She was dignified, but tempered by battle. Almost anytime I interacted with the woman, I had an odd feeling flare up inside of me. Great sparks flying about in my chest, so bright that I could feel them behind my eyes. Storybooks always speak of ‘love at first sight’, and nothing else in my life had given me that same feeling.

But it would be an unfair thing to say I was “in love” after only a few weeks of knowing the woman. I lightly patted my cheeks with my hands, chastising myself then and there. It was wrong of me to harbor feelings like that for the one I was traveling with.

Some time after, I was drawn away from my thoughts by the sound of Adeline’s voice calling out to me. “Sybil, it’s all ready for the next step now!” Our main ingredient was now prepared, thanks to Adeline’s quick handiwork. After walking over to her side and peering at the deer’s carcass, I was even more impressed. The animal was stripped of its hide, and its organs were masterfully removed. The way they sat, still intact on the grass was, while disturbing, very impressive.

Adeline proudly held up the knife she used to cut the thing apart, still soaked from the wet viscera. “You don’t have any washing spells by chance, do you?” She smiled, and then grabbed the deer by two of its legs, flipping it to expose its back. “I would usually have a pair of knives for this sort of thing, but..” She jammed the blade of the knife into the deer’s back, beginning to carve away the meat from the bone. “I bet you could do a number on a deer with your magic, you know?” She looked over at me, still stripping the deer of its back strap. “You’d just need to scale it back a bit. Use something that could nicely dice it up, rather than disintegrate it: maybe some magic knives?”

I smiled, which quickly broke out into laughter, instead. The idea of me swinging about mana shaped like knives, connected by threads was hilarious. It conjured up the image of a villain’s henchman in a storybook. “Although.. You do have those flames.” Adeline pulled a hunk of meat free from the deer’s back, setting it beside the carcass as she began on another cut. “My family knows quite a bit about fire. I’m certain that if you mastered those, they could become your strongest weapon.”

I wasn’t about to disagree with her. Most things would burn away to ashes in the presence of a strong enough flame. But, my master must have had a good reason for trying to set me off the path of learning about fire. She continued, regardless, “My father, he has a technique that can melt cleanly through iron. I’m still not certain how it works, personally. But, I have to imagine you could end your own life playing around with a skill like that.”

That was something I hadn’t thought about all that often. Your skills could pose just as much danger to you as your enemy, if you weren’t careful about how you used them. [Flame Generation] just happened to provide some minor protection as a part of its description. If it didn’t, my hands would have surely been indescribably charred, even just from one use.

I sat back, crossing my arms. “Does he use a sword along with the skill? It would have to be a sturdy piece of metal…”

Adeline smiled, “The swords of House Cirix are dwarven made. Even this one.” She looked down at her scabbard, the slightest look of longing on her face. “It’s falling apart now, but it took a beating to get there.” She pulled off another piece of meat, smaller than the first. “I used to have two, but I..” She stopped herself, letting out a short sigh before continuing. “I didn’t have the other one on me when I left. So I’ve been stuck with just the one.”

Adeline skewered the pieces of meat with her knife, bringing them over to another rock I prepared, the one we’d be cooking on. “Now comes the fun part.” She rolled her shoulder a few times, readying herself for something. Then, her grip on the knife suddenly tightened. A sheen of light began to appear across the surface of the knife’s edge, flowing like water, but with the color of flame. It was faint, and it felt as if I could only see it because of [Mana Sense].

She was using aura for.. Cooking?

Adeline began chopping at the meat, though not in a particularly rough or violent way. She went through smooth, yet sharp arcs, letting the blade glide through the venison before pulling it back to repeat the process. I couldn’t help but wonder if that knife of hers might get a few pebbles caught in the meat with that sharp edge, though. “Is it.. Alright to do this sort of thing on a ro-” Adeline cut me off, putting a finger up to her mouth to hush me, continuing her knife-work.

So I watched in silence as the woman ground up every bit of the meat with her hunting knife. It didn’t take her long, at the pace she was taking. All in all, five minutes passed between her starting and ending. The result was a pile of pebbly ground venison.

“Are we going to be able to eat all of this..?”

Adeline turned back to look at me, grinning. “We’ll simply have to try our best!” I never did have the biggest appetite, so I silently prayed that Adeline would be able to make up for my share.

“This is the easiest part.” She took a glob of the meat, forming it into a round, thick disc-like shape. She sat it aside on the rock, away from the pile of meat. “Come here, you can try it out.” She gestured for me to come over, and I crouched down beside her. I gingerly took a bit of the meat, trying my best to replicate the shape she made before. It was slightly misshapen, and a little bit smaller than the one she had produced. Still, Adeline smiled widely, “Sybil, you might have a talent for this.. Are you sure you haven’t done it before?”

With my hands covered in gunk from the raw meat, I could hardly hide the scarlet coming to my face. So I resorted to a simple, “O-oh, um. Thanks.”

Adeline began forming another, “My brothers were just terrible at this. Every single one they made would have these awful cracks running down them, and they’d end up falling apart when they were cooked. But yours should work out perfectly.”

For the next few minutes, the two of us sat on the dirt together, idly conversing while forming the ground up venison into those odd medallions. Eventually, we had a half-dozen of the things lined up on the rock, waiting to be cooked. Adeline looked over towards me, “Alright. Are you ready?” I nodded, to which Adeline reached her knife underneath the rock. A few small sparks came off of the knife very suddenly, an effect of her aura, no doubt. The pile of wood built up beneath the rock began to glow, a fire beginning to catch within.

It took ten minutes before the rock had begun to truly heat up, but it was quite clear when it did. There was a loud sizzling, as all the discs of meat began cooking. Even though I hadn’t felt hungry before, the smell of food in the air reminded me just how much of an appetite I had worked up between walking and hunting.

Adeline seemed to have a tranquil look on her face, as if she were relaxed from the sight and scent of meat cooking. Though, she had said this was a specialty from her home.

She was very careful about tending to them, making sure they didn’t burn. While they cooked, she held her knife in the flames, burning away the blood that clung to it. After letting it cool down, she brushed it against her pant leg, leaving only a couple dark smudges from the charcoal and ash. It wasn’t perfectly hygienic, but I wasn’t intent on telling her that.

Using the knife, Adeline delicately flipped them over, revealing the beautifully browned sides that had been in contact with the heat. “Just a while longer and we’ll be eating like the King..” She stopped, and then continued, her tone a little lower than before. “But with no spices, or bread.. Or wine..” She lifted her head back up, after that, “Still, it looks too good to be sad about.”

The two of us didn’t have any vegetables, or, as she said, any seasoning. Still, I was impressed by the dish. In truth, I hadn’t eaten much fresh meat prior to my journey with Adeline. When I was a child, it was a delicacy. And as an apothecary, it would have emptied my coin purse. Grinding meat was common, particularly for making sausages, but I had never had ground meat cooked so simply.

It was delicious, even without spices or seasoning. Though, that may have been my empty stomach improving the taste. It was like eating a steak, but one that was almost foolproof. It was tender and soft, even while being cooked through quite well. As I ate, I was surprised to hear Adeline saying little things like, “I wish I had salt and pepper..” or, “Gods I want some bread..”

Sleep came easy after such a heavy dinner, even though I knew Grymgate awaited us the next day.