36 Outside the City Limits (1/2)
Pushing myself off the ground, I twist my neck and take a look at the beast that'd we'd brought down. It was huge, and currently, it was huge and dead. Licking my finger, I suck up all the blood on my right hand and move to my left.
Cecily's got Ekon strung over her shoulder like a rag doll. In the past three years she'd gotten a little bit taller, and a lot stronger. Ekon was a good foot taller than her and she had no trouble carrying him at all.
She places him down on the ground not altogether that gently, but he doesn't complain. He's completely covered in wood chippings and blood.
”You really took a beating this time around didn't you Ekon?” I ask him as I wring out the blood in my hair, but it was pretty pointless. I was drenched to the bone in blood.
”Who would have thought that he'd pull out those skills in the end!” He sighs.
He'd also changed, his hair had shifted from a light grey to an inky black. He'd also gained a fair bit of muscle, the two of them looked light night and day. He was inked in even more tattoo's and he had two black lines that reach over his eyelids and down his checks all the way to his neck.
”Mph~” Cecily jams the potent content of a vial down his throat. His face sickens but he drink's the whole of the vial, and his broken bones start to straighten out. It was like someone had pressed the rewind button, and everything was reverting back to before he'd gotten the shit beaten out of him.
Cecily looks pleased with herself, but her method of application was violent. I was just glad that I didn't need her expertise at this point. She'd gotten even cuter, after these past three years, but at the same time, I was starting to wonder if she was as innocent as she acted.
Not dwelling on the subject, I grab my Odachi and twist it in my hand. The blood splatters against the ground as I clean the thick much off it.
”Silvyr, get the other tusk, I'm going to start skinning the hide of it,” I say jumping up and getting to work, I decided I'd start with the top half of the beast.
”I'll get the blood for you,” Silvyr mutters looking a little green in the face. He'd grown a lot as well in the past years, his hair was now down to his midback, and he'd actually let Cecily tattoo over his scar, it was a beautiful branching work of cherry blossoms. All of his features had gotten even sharper and he'd started getting hit on by boys and girls.
All of us had changed a lot over these past three years, physically and mentally. Smiling to myself, I start to get to work. This bull wasn't going to skin itself.
Blood was still draining out of the beast, by the time I'd cleaned the coat completely off the meat. Like a skilled laborer, I cut and skinned and peeled back the hide of the whole beast. After I finished the front, I moved to the back and repeated the process.
Even though I worked efficiently, the bull was huge. A good hour or so later, I'd completely freed the fur from the meat, and now came the fun part.
”Okay,” I chuckle to myself and began hacking and slicing the bull into meat slabs. Soon, I'd divvied up the eternity of the bull. We have the neck, the brisket, the rib, short loin, shanks and etc.
”Here let me tie it together, you should drink the blood and see if you'll get any of its skills,” Ekon says, he was standing up and moving about as if nothing had ever happened.
Cecily was cleaning the dagger of the bull's blood and humming to herself. While Silvyr was wiping his hands on a cloth, cleaning all the blood from them.
Sweat trickles down my forehead along with blood, and I swipe at it. ”Sure, knock yourself out,” I say and place my sword into the ground.
”Here, I got at least two canister worth of blood,” Silvyr mutters as he points to two giant metal cans that had to be the size of a grown adult.
”Thanks,” I say as I walk over to one of the giant bins and will a cup to appear. Bending down, I put the cup underneath the spicket and twist. Red blood sloshes down into the cup, and I grimace.
”This was all for the skill,” I chanted to myself.
Tipping my head back, I left the still-warm blood pour down my throat. It tastes like wild and spicy, not as tasty as blood from any race. But it would do its job just fine.
Finishing one cup, I don't get a notification.
Another cup!
Another cup!
Two cups, and three cup pass.
”How many cups has it been?” Ekon asks.
”I think she's on her eighth cups,” Silvyr's responds back.
I shut them out and continue on my quest for a skill. My stomach was starting to feel a little full. Finally, on my tenth cup, a notification appears.