Watching a video online or documentary about how to skin and butcher an animal was not the same as doing it in real life. The blood and smell had distressed the piglet; who was now in the enclosure. So the entire process was interspersed with piercing squeals as Adam made do with the hatchet as his only tool. The only benefit was that he was unlikely to have to do the task again.

Profession: Butcher Profession Unlock Criteria Description Skills Butcher Obtain meat from a carcass Can turn animal carcasses into useful items Please select initial skill. [slaughter]; [byproducts]; [prepare meat]; [cure meat]

After the grizzly and messy task Adam was definitely delegating this one next time. Even if it meant Ma had to become a butcher. He checked the skills. [slaughter] would kill and dress the animal ready for cutting up; [byproducts] sounded very useful as it would provide secondary items from the carcass such as pelt, skin and bone tools; [prepare meat] would turn the carcass into edible cuts and [cure meat] would allow the cut meat to last longer.

Adam was a little confused at the first skill. Surely the whole purpose of a butcher was that they did this anyway, why was a skill needed to provide the meat in the first place. He Inspected the skill further and realised the skill allowed the butcher to do this using skill points rather than manually. Rather than take an hour or more as he had done, the meat would be ready immediately and no tools were needed. More useful than slaughter would be byproducts; if a follower was doing the slaughter then the additional items would be more helpful. On a purely indulgent note prepare meat might lead to the sausages he had been dreaming of. Needing to stay practical he opted for byproducts. After selecting the skill he activated it on the remains to see what would happen.

The boar hide turned from a ragged mess into a clean and dry pelt; next to this was a twist of string made out of the sinew and one of the two tusks had been sharpened and narrowed. Inspect revealed this to be: Tusk Dagger - simple dagger created as a byproduct of a boar. Adam had definitely made the right choice. He used the dagger along with the hatchet to finish dividing the boar meat until he was left with two shoulders; two haunches and two sides. The side that had been hit by his fire lance went into the discard pile, the meat charred and discoloured.

Too little time in the day to head back for wood. Adam begrudgingly used Creation to form a pile of firewood and used the firepit properly for the first time. Once the fire was burning well and a shoulder of meat roasting on a spit over it Adam settled down in his chair. He cleared his notifications, collecting 40exp for killing the boar and 80exp for the piglet quest. Having collected over 200exp he was already over a fifth of the way to level five. He used 160exp to increase his Elemental manipulation skill to level 5. This solved one of his problems as he no longer needed to pick the next type of mana; he could select them all instead. He arbitrarily linked them to the levels on the skill menu.

Individual Skill Menu: Elemental manipulation Elemental manipulation The ability to use mana to control the elements Level Additional features 1 Gives control over Fire element 2 Gives control over Metal element 3 Gives control over Water element 4 Gives control over Air element 5 Gives control over Earth element Increase level to add conceptual elements

Turning his focus inward there was now a complex medley of sensations as he explored the changes to his core. The water mana flowed around smoothly; clear and dispersed. Unlike the fire mana he had to draw it in and pull the mana towards him. Air mana was less substantial still; it evaded his grasp until he realised that every movement would push it away. Unlike fire mana the air mana did not resist when pushed. Adam could only get it to waft in the direction he wanted. Earth mana needed to be pulled, but unlike water was not smooth and flowing. Like its namesake it needed greater mental effort to move, like lifting a boulder rather than coaxing it in a direction.

As well as unlocking the individual elements Adam could sense the mana pool better. He concentrated on the fire mana which was most developed and watched as it ran down the channel in his arm to form in his hand. Unlike before where his perception was lost as the mana left his skin he could now see it running through the tips of his fingers to collect in a pool in his palm. Concentrating harder he could see the path it would take and how his control wavered at the point the fire lance spread to be less effective. Intensifying his focus he tried to extend this area forward; further from his hand. The difference was noticeable after only two attempts. The fire lance now held its direction for a longer distance before spreading.

A charred smell brought Adam back to the moment, realising the additional heat of the fire lance aimed at the fire had not only burnt away all the wood but had burnt the outside of his meat. Checking his mana he had also used over half with his experimentation so far. Before restarting the fire to finish cooking Adam sliced away the outer burnt layer to reveal well-cooked and succulent meat beneath. Too hot to eat, he set several pieces next to the fire on a stone salivating about the prospect of something other than a piece of fruit to fill his stomach.

Dusk fell as Adam ate the most delicious meal of his life. He had not appreciated how monotonous the fruit had become until he tried something different. Every day he was moving further from the floundering survival mode he had been in when he first arrived. The vermite joned him as he finished his meal. Excitable Fa and Ti both danced around the fire when they learnt there was meat for them all. The rest were more reserved in their thanks but they were all grateful for his hard work.

After completed their meal the vermite all stood around the fire waiting for Adam to give them tasks for the night. Having worked hard to get the boar meat; he now realised that leaving it out in the open might be ok overnight in the cold but would be a problem during the day. He didn't want to store it in the hut where he slept so he needed a storeroom. He explained this to Pa who grabbed Fa to help him and set out a space next to his hut to place the building.

Reluctant to spend all his mana on building materials he used Creation to make those needed for the foundations; frame and roof then set quests for Soh to collect the rest of the wood. This reduced the cost from fifteen mana to ten for the hut. Rai had taken it upon himself to protect Soh again which left Ti and Ma around the fire.

Adam could tell Ti wanted to finish exploring the first area of the forest. He was pretty sure it wouldn't take her all night but she didn't want to go with the others. If she was going exploring without Rai then she needed protection of some sort.

"Here Ti, you can borrow this." Adam gestured to his new dagger. Given he had just obtained it he didn't want her to keep it but wouldn't need it overnight.

"Me?" She said, approaching him reverently. She picked up the dagger in awe, looking it over before touching the end with her finger to check how sharp it was.

"Yes," Said Adam "to protect yourself."

Ma looked on approvingly as Ti swiped the dagger left and right. Adam felt through the link as she tried to find a way to show her appreciation.

"You... Best." Said Ti as she left the camp. Adam chuckled and looked on indulgently as she disappeared. Maybe he could do without the dagger? He could decide in the morning.

With only Ma and him left around the fire Adam leant forward in his chair to talk to her.

"Ma, are the other vermite in the area like you?" He asked curiously.

Ma seemed to think for a while before answering. "Do you mean like me or like us? And like before or now?"

"Like all of you, when I met you? Are they friendly?" Asked Adam.

"Yes, vermite are vermite." Said Ma factually, the link telling him she didn't really understand what he was asking. To make things clearer he explained a bit more.

"There are other vermite burrows in the Orchard. Ti found them when she was exploring. This means I can find them and make them like your pack is now. Bring them to camp."

Ma looked on as he said this before getting up and picking up the small stick she used as a staff. "Show me." She said, pointing the way out of the camp.

This was unexpected. Adam had just meant to ask before making his own way to the burrows. He checked the map and led Ma to the nearest one which was about a half hour walk away. Ma shook her head at this burrow.

"I do not know these vermite." She said, indicating they should move on.

Twenty minutes on they came to the next burrow. As they approached Ma squeaked loudly announcing their presence. Using Discern Adam could tell the burrow was empty, he hadn't thought about this at the time - of course it would be as the vermite would be out hunting.

Ma waited patiently after her loud shout so Adam stood next to her and waited too. It didn't take long before he could sense a small group of three vermite approach from the other side of the burrow with Discern. They stayed back out of sight but Ma had noticed them too and pulled at Adam's trouser leg.

"They are good vermite. He is Pa's brother." Ma pointed at one of the distant creatures.

Adam followed her finger to pick out the larger of the three vermite who were cautiously watching from the distance. He activated Transfer and established a link.

The vermite gasped in shock as the link took hold. Unlike the other group who had been aware of his existance and given fruit for several days before Adam approached them these vermite had never met him before. Adam was not sure if this was the reason, but the link took more mental energy than previous attempts. He sent calming waves towards the new vermite who was backing slowly away. Rather than force his will down the link Adam let the vermite retreat and turned his attention to Ma.

"That didn't go as smoothly as I expected." He said. "He didn't seem to want to stay."

"Leave this to me." Said Ma. Adam understanding that she would collect him and the other vermite to bring back to camp. "You go, they will not come back with you here." Adam considered correcting her, knowing he could force the vermite to return but trusted in her judgement.

"Will you be safe alone?" He asked before agreeing to set off.

Ma nodded and waved him away; heading nearer the burrow and sitting at the entrance.

On the way back to camp Adam was distracted by a loud squeal near the first burrow. He recognised the sound of a vermite and turned to see what was happening. The noise continued as he came over a small hillock, sensing with Discern that there was a vermite in this direction. As the view improved he could only make out movement nearby and could sense that the vermite was in distress.

Adam used torch to light the area and was shocked to see the broken body of a vermite on the ground, bloody stains on the grass around. This was not the vermite that Discern had picked up. That signal was coming from another vermite currently being held in the mouth of a fox that stood looking stunned at the torch. Adam instinctively drew his fire mana to his hand and used fire lance at the fox. Knowing the creatures in this area were only level one he was still surprised to see the effect as the lance burnt through the fox, killing it instantly.

He ran to the remaining vermite looking down at its torn body. Weak as it was the vermite still tried to crawl away from him - assuming he was a new predator come to finish him off. Resisting Adam's attempt to help stop the bleeding from the wounds in its side Adam took the only route he could think of to get the vermite to lie still and activated Transfer.

The pain coming through the link was more than Adam was expecting, he could tell that the vermite only had three HP left and this dropped to two as it wriggled and twisted from Adam's grip. Not having another choice Adam suppressed the vermite's will, forcing it to lie still and stop fighting so that he could stanch the bleeding. After another few seconds the vermite passed out anyway. Adam ripped his top to make crude bandages around the bite marks in the vermite's side and legs. Having done this he picked the poor creature up and headed back to camp; hoping he had done enough to save it.