Chapter 266 - How to Sharpen a Knife (1/2)
Normally, Hua Tuo and Zero took turns to prepare dinner. Zero was used to hunting, harvesting and chopping vegetables while cooking rice. However, he'd never really had the opportunity for handling any kind of meat. Hua Tuo was usually in charge of that. He would gut the fish and bleed out the animals before cutting them up into portions for future use. When Zero heard that he would be in charge of the dismantling of hunted prey, he was over the cloud.
However, instead of Hua Tuo, Gweshr was teaching Zero how to prepare the meat from the hunt.
”I don't do this often so pardon me if it looks messy. Blade users are usually better at this with the exception of Mitchnew. It's not very difficult but you must be well acquainted with a knife. Do you have a hunting knife or shall we borrow one from the weapon stores?”
Zero grinned and withdrew his from his inventory. The werewolf was impressed. It didn't matter how many times he'd seen the young doctor pull things out from a space crack, it still amazed him. Sometimes, it was simply too easy to forget how powerful Zero was. The teen still gave off a soft and innocent vibe despite the kind of destruction he was capable of. Hua Tuo had demonstrated a surgery yesterday and according to Vishnu, Zero didn't shy away even after he was covered with blood. Gweshr thought that was rather impressive. Even for warriors, they would be shaken after seeing so much blood for the first time. Zero certainly had nerves made of steel that every doctor required.
”Alright, let's go through some basic understanding. There's going to be a few kinds of animals we will be learning to dismantle. The dismantling process is important namely because different parts of the animal can be used to make different things. For example, fur can be used to make rugs, feathers can be made into pillows, some organs can be used to make medicine, bones can be made into tools or soup and meat is for eating.”
Zero nodded. ”Will I learn the different processes for making these items too?”
Gweshr grinned. ”Nope. Dismantling is merely taking apart and animal and sorting out parts for different uses. The others will collect what they need after the dismantling process. Live carcasses are the easiest to work with before the stiffness sets in so we have to work fast. It's best to dismantle the prey immediately after it is caught and killed but for your training, we had to carry it back after killing it.”
Zero nodded. Rigor mortis usually sets in after an hour or two after the body dies. He knew that from lessons with his teacher. Most animals can still be revived if the soul has not left the body even if the heart stops beating. Blood still flows and the body still lives on even if death occurs. However, most times the soul would leave the body upon death which is why the three-minute rule is critical when using revival magic.
On the other hand, souls with lingering attachments who cling onto dead bodies for too long will turn into zombies. Zombies are slow to move simply because of rigor mortis when the muscles have all stiffened from the staling of blood. It happens before the decomposition becomes really obvious. With that, Zero could imagine how impossibly hard it would be to dismantle carcasses if they start getting stiff. Meat without fresh blood is usually close to spoiling if they're not cured.
Gweshr taught Zero how to sharpen a hunting knife and explained why a sharp knife is critical when dismantling.
”Never take for granted, check the blade before you dismantle. A good dismantler will not hack with force because it damages the blade over time. All you need to do is go with the flow and slice it cleanly with precision and for that to happen, your blade must be sharp.”
To demonstrate the sharpness of his knife, Gweshr plucked a blade of grass and let it fall onto the sharpened hunting knife.
The blade of grass floated gently in the air and was completely cut into two the moment it landed on the sharpened knife. Zero's eyes widened and looked at his hunting knife. The teen plucked a blade of grass and held his breath.
Gweshr laughed when the blade of grass bounced off Zero's hunting knife without even a dent. He handed the brunet the portable grindstone and taught Zero how to sharpen a blade.
”Hold it down this angle. You don't want to overdo either side so make sure you apply the same force equally and run it through the same number of times. The aim of doing this is to wear the edge of the metal into a thin angle.”
Zero nodded and followed Gweshr's earlier example for the first side. After five times, the werewolf told Zero to run his finger lightly on the knife to test for sharpness. ”If you feel it biting, that side is sharp enough. You should do the same to the other side.”
Not thinking, Zero ran it horizontally on the blade and Gweshr yelled when he smelled fresh blood. Zero was equally shocked as ruby liquid started gushing from the thin cut.
”You idiot! Run it the other way! Never run it parallel against a blade, that's suicidal! Hasn't anyone taught you that?”
Zero calmly used healing magic to close the cut and apologised. The werewolf felt as if he'd just lost five years of his lifespan watching Zero do that. Who would have thought that Zero would run his finger on a blade in parallel? Even children knew better than to do that, it should have been common sense!
”You run it this way,” Gweshr demonstrated and lightly tested the sharpness of the blade, running his finger over the blade in perpendicular.
”It's sharper now but not sharp enough. Also, you held the blade too high while sharpening so it's a little thick.”
Zero made a face. It was difficult to sharpen the blade horizontally to the whetstone. Gweshr watched as Zero struggled and understood what Zero was struggling with.
”Here,” he turned the stone and told Zero to sharpen it vertically against the stone instead. ”It's going to be easier but pay attention to the unevenness for each section. You might want to use circular motions to ensure everything is balanced.”
Zero nodded. This was a much easier method and the teen decided to use it from now on. Once the other side was complete, Zero went back to the first side to continue. He repeated to process about five times until Gweshr told him to stop and test the sharpness again.
This time, the grass blade broke into two almost the instant it touched the blade. Zero was pleased and Gweshr nodded.
”Now that the blade is sharp, we can start. Please be very careful when handling knives, always sheathe it when you are not using it. We don't want any children running over and stepping on it. I'll teach you how to clean and oil the blade after we're done. Today we hunted something simpler to dismantle. I'm sure you are familiar with pheasants.”
Zero nodded. He loved to eat wild pheasants. Gweshr laughed at the drool by Zero's mouth.