Chapter 52: 53-Meat

 

Dragging the wolf’s carcass wasn’t as hard as Rowan thought. Thankfully nothing else attacked him as he made his back. Of course, that didn’t stop him from sending off the occasional mana pulse while keeping his eyes out on the surroundings.

One neat trick that Rowan learned from mana pulse was that he didn’t need to even touch the barrier anymore. The barrier of thorns recognized his mana pulse and he could send out a brief command to open and close from a limited distance. Rowan was sure that he could improve the distance over time as he became better with the technique.

Not that it was a good idea to command the barrier from afar.

From a practical standpoint, it was better to interact with the barrier at a close distance. That way, Rowan could keep an eye out on possible threats coming in. If he did it from afar, that would be a needless opening in the wall.

Despite how useless it seemed, Rowan felt cool just because he was able to command something from afar.

It made him feel like a magician.

Even if it was only one thing that he could command.

Once Rowan got back to the camp, he placed the dead wolf on the ground near the Mother Tree and got out Almar’s knife. It was still in good shape as he never used it and stored it so that it wouldn’t get rusty. He immediately got to cleaning and skinning the wolf. Rowan’s knowledge remained  from when Grandpa Rodan taught him, but it had become fuzzy over the years. Even the knife in his hand felt foreign to him. The knife had been left unused since there was no need for it. There was no animal to skin and his main weapon was the bow and arrow. 

Well, there was no time like the present. Practice makes perfect. If I somehow mess this up, I can alway get another wolf to practice on…assuming that the next animal I kill doesn't get stolen again.

In the end, Rowan thought he did a decent job of skinning the wolf. The pelt was a little worse for wear, but that was fine. Rowan left the organs and other unusable parts in front of the Mother Tree as fertilizer. Not that he knew if it would actually help the Mother Tree since she mostly seems to live off mana.

Now Rowan was in the last part of the process, leaving the pelt to dry and cooking the meat.

After some consideration, he walked up between two target pillars. Sticking up one finger, he focused mana into it and watched it grow.

When the finger had grown about ten feet long, he cut off the flow of mana. With his free hand, he cut off the wooden stick right where his finger met his hand. He studied the pole just a bit, tested the sturdiness. Then he focused a bit on his hand and the finger quickly grew back to normal.

Perfect. Rowan stuck the wooden pole between two pillars and left the pelt on it.

There. He had just created his own rack. Now he could hang things on it in the future. He was sure that this won't be the first time he would be hanging the skin of dead animals on it.

The pelt had been his primary goal in hunting down the wolf. There was also a second goal he wanted to achieve.

Meat.

It’s been too long since he had a proper meal. Just the thought of it made his mouth water.  

The question was how does one start a fire?

Rowan certainly couldn't start one in front of the Mother Tree. He doubted the fire would hurt her, but he just didn’t want to take the chance. After taking a bit of distance, he racked his brains a bit.

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In the end, he came up with one solution. 

Rowan sighed and once again focused mana on his hands. Branches began to grow out and once they achieved a good length, he tore them off. Thank the gods he didn't feel any pain when he cut off parts from his arms. It was similar to how a tree shed old bark. Soon, there was a pile of wood, perfect for starting a fire. 

Now for the final touch. 

Rowan once again grew his finger, but this time, only to the length of a foot. The edge was also sharper compared to when he made the pole. Once he was happy with the length, he cut off the stick and then regrew his finger. Then he got on his kneels with the stick in two hands and began to drill it into one of the branches in the pile.

It took a while but soon he was able to get a fire started.

The fire process was a bit primitive, but what could he do? Rowan didn’t know any other way to make fire except the simplest way. There was no other tool around and he had no knowledge of fire magic.

With a pole he had prepared earlier, Rowan put a wolf leg on it and began roasting over the fire. It was going to take a while for the meat to be ready, so he decided to do something else. While he could go exchange mana with the Mother Tree, there was something else that he needed to do.

Rowan looked at his quiver and studied the arrows in it. Most of them had begun to break down from practice. He had also used a few over the last few trips outside and needed to restock, but had not gotten to it yet.

With the same method as before, Rowan focused his mana on finger. This required more mana and concentration as an arrow structure was much more difficult than the simple design of a pole. First, he started off with the tip of the arrow, the arrow head. A triangular shape was soon made as Rowan focused on the hard part, sharpness.

What made an object sharp? The object had to be thin enough that it could cut and pierce through whatever it wanted. 

The problem?

 Sturdiness. If the arrowhead was made too thin, it would break before piercing through the target. Rowan had spent a lot of time finding the right balance for his arrowhead. A lot of mana was also spent in the process of testing, while delicate care was needed for shaping the point.

The next part was simple, the body. All Rowan had to do was just pour mana and the arrow grew. Once he was satisfied with the length, it was time for the tail.

Actual arrows had feathers at the end to help it fly better. A fact that Almar had explained a long time ago. Unfortunately all the arrows that the elf left behind had worn down from practice, so Rowan had to create his own. There was no way for him to acquire feathers on his own so he could only create his own version which turned out to be two ‘fins’ attached at the arrow end. A careful touch was also necessary, but it was much easier when compared to making the front of the arrow. Once he finished the tail end of the arrow, he simply cut off the finished product from his finger and put it away. 

The whole process took about ten minutes and that was for just one arrow. When Rowan first started making his own arrows, it was an arduous process as his mana control was terrible in the beginning. The first arrows he made were ugly and distorted. They were also too heavy to be used. Rowan had to play around with his mana as his arms transformed into different types of wood. Rowan had learned from this test that he was able to change the density of the wood that his arm produced based on the mana he infused. It wasn’t easy at first, but he eventually found out the most suitable amount of mana needed to create his arrows.

After each arrow was made, Rowan made sure to check up on his meal and rotate it if necessary. By the time Rowan finished producing ten arrows, his wolf’s leg was ready. 

Rowan grabbed the prepared meat and raised it to his face, observing his first cooked meal for a long time. The smell of flesh assailed his nose that almost caused him to tear up. This meat wasn’t specially prepared, but just having food made him feel more human again.

Rowan swallowed his saliva in anticipation and took a bite.

And then spat it out immediately.

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