Chapter 261: Chapter 238 – Dismantling Carcasses

"Most anyone who calls themselves an adventurer or mercenary's bound to know how to properly dismantle beasts. While some rarer items might need specific knowledge to harvest properly, most anyone learned how to butcher and skin a beast early in their lives.

 

After all, hunting for prey animals remained a fixture in most rural societies, and for most adventurers on the field, the carcass of a beast they had slain usually translated to a delicious dinner once properly prepared." - Zlatan Ambrosius, Instructor at Levain's adventurer's guild.

Once the dust settled, there were a good twenty-seven carcasses of the large birds strewn all around the battlefield, plus another four Gale Rippers taken down by Cal's students and nieces. Willa had taken off and chased the last escaping Gale Ripper and had not returned yet.

 

There were a dozen injuries amongst the adventurers, half of them quite serious, but nobody had died thanks to the quick ministrations of their healers and Dan's aid. It was a number that could be considered a miracle.

 

Helgr had initially planned to pull off a fighting retreat until they left the Gale Ripper's territory, and was prepared for heavy casualties in the process. Forty adventurers and eight mounted guards were definitely not a match for five adult Gale Rippers and forty of their more mundane cousins. That was just common sense.

 

Cal's group tore that common sense apart with pure brute force.

 

Amongst Helgr's adventurer group, out of the seven gold rankers only one of them truly stood a chance of holding his own against an adult Gale Ripper one on one. The rest, himself included, would need to team up on them to stand a chance of holding them back.

 

Needless to say, when they watched how Giselle and Ognar tackled one each and killed the beasts without even taking a hit, they were beyond surprised. Much less with how Willa handled two at once all by herself.

 

As if to punctuate that thought, Willa returned on a leisurely walk right at that time, with the corpse of the last Gale Ripper carried behind her back. The carcass was larger than the girl, yet she hefted its weight with utter ease regardless, her steps light as she approached.

 

The way her tunic had some large tears around the abdomen yet no blood had stained them was a rather eerie view to take in. Some of the adventurers stared at her in disbelief until she dropped the carcass and snapped them out of their thoughts.

 

"Quick bugger, this one," she said with a smirk. When Cal considered how fast she knew Willa could run, she noticed that the bird must have managed to run quite a distance for her to take this long to return, even accounting for her carrying the carcass on her back on the return trip.

 

Almost immediately, some of the adventurers came over and inspected the carcass. While Willa was gone, Cal had talked with the others and they agreed that they'd just take the materials from the Gale Rippers, with the mundane beasts left for the adventurers to grab.

 

In return, the adventurers would teach Cal's students some tips and tricks about dismantling beasts and the like, and also dismantle the Gale Rippers for them. They were far more familiar with the beasts as it was local to the area, unlike Cal and her students who had never seen one before.

 

The lessons were mostly for Leila, Willa, Ognar, and Giselle. Ashani had no need for it as she was already used for such tasks from her life so far. The same applied to Elaina, Sidonie, and Fheeri, who had dismantled their hunted prey many times in their past.

 

While Willa was a therian, she was a city girl, one raised in a rather well to do environment, so she had lacked the experience most rural therian youths had when it comes to hunting and dismantling their kills.

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The thankful adventurers - being granted the carcasses of the mundane beasts alone was a huge fortune for them - diligently and patiently worked to dismantle the Gale Rippers, while they explained the finer points to Cal's students who watched and took notes.

 

It had to be said that these adventurers were particularly adept at the work, their hands skillfully separating the carcass into its useful components with ease born from experience. The unbroken feathers and plumes were plucked carefully and gathered in one pile. The bones, beaks, and talons in another, while the meat was in a third, separate pile.

 

Cal had stored the separated materials in her storage. She had discussed it with their students, and other than some plumes and feathers they planned to keep as souvenirs or remembrances, most of the rest were planned to be sold once they reached Alfheim.

 

They were only undecided on the meat, as they would first have a taste at dinner later that night. Should it prove delectable, then they would keep it for their own consumption.

 

Altogether, the dismantling had not taken too long. Two hours after the battle, the caravan continued on its way. Out of the birds, only a small pile of inedible viscera, broken feathers, and the like was left behind, as the adventurers had collected the rest.

 

Quite naturally, both the adventurers and the merchant that hired them were in a joyous mood. The adventurers had not possessed enough space to carry all the materials, so they sold the excess to the merchant, who happily purchased them at a reasonable price.

 

They carried on with the journey until they stopped to rest that night. It was a rest stop that many amongst them had long awaited, as several adventurers immediately went to work and built a fire pit in their campsite.

 

Helgr himself was one of those who busied himself with the cooking, and Cal had entrusted several portions of the Gale Ripper meat for him to cook, more than enough to share with everyone present. It was a small gesture that had brightened the old dwarf's scarred face considerably.

 

Once the aroma from the food started to spread through their campsite, Cal immediately understood why all the adventurers - and even the merchant's guards and the merchant himself - had looked so eager to the night's meal, as the aroma was a truly delectable one.

 

A thick stew of some dried tubers with minced meat from the birds were finished first. It was very thick in texture, and the flavor was dominated by the strong flavor of the bird meat, which reminded her of a duck's meat, but meatier with a gamey aftertaste. A liberal helping of ground peppercorns had helped to cut through the rich tastes.

 

Then large chunks of the bird flesh, grilled to perfection on skewers, were brought over. They were basted with a sauce that looked like molasses mixed with some crushed, dried chilis as they roasted on the grill, which left a shiny, sticky outer layer that helped entrap the meat's juices within.

 

The first and largest chunk on each skewer was Gale Ripper meat, and she immediately noticed the difference. The monster's flesh was far richer, even more tender and delectable than those of its mundane cousins. The meat unfurled as she chewed, while the sweet, rich fats literally melted in her mouth, leaving a sweet-spicy aftertaste from the sauce that matched it perfectly.

 

A quick exchange of looks between the group later, and they unanimously agreed to keep the rest of the meat for their own consumption.

 

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