Ren followed Eric through the village and to a small house towards the edge. They walked around the back were Ren saw that Eric had set up a few tables and a couple racks that currently had several pelts hanging from them. At the end of one of the tables was a wooden trough that had long since been stained red. Eric placed the string of rabbits on one of the tables before disappearing inside the house. Moments later he returned carrying a couple knives with him. Eric walked up to the table with the rabbits and motioned for Ren to stand next to him.

“Skinning an animal is very simple and just takes a bit of practice to get right. You’ll be able to use the technique I’m going to teach you to skin just about anything from a rabbit to a dragon.” Eric said, “The first thing you wanna do is take the knife and cut a ring around the hind legs just above the ankle. Next make a cut on both hind legs going from the ring to the backside of the animal. With this done all you need to do is work the hide away from the flesh and pull it down the body like you’re removing a shirt. When you get to the front legs you’re gonna want to ring them like you did the hind legs then break the joint and cut through the muscle and tendon to remove the feet. After that you just cut the head off and pull the hide off the body. You’re gonna want to remove the hind feet like you did the front. Now you’re ready to gut it.”

As Eric talked he also performed the action he was describing, showing Ren the proper way to do it. Eric made a cut down the center of the hide, opening it up, before scraping the hide clean and then hanging it from one of the racks nearby to dry. After that he threw the head and feet into the trough and moved onto the next step.

“To gut it, make a light cut down the body from the ribs to the hips, make sure you don’t puncture any of the organs or you’ll make the meat unusable. After that you just have to scoop the innards out and you’re done. Simple right?”

Ren couldn’t help but agree with him. Eric had made the entire process look quick and easy. Eric then passed Ren a rabbit and a knife, obviously expecting Ren to try it himself. Right as he was about to make the first cut Eric stopped him.

“Remember to hold the knife firmly and make light cuts.”

Ren nodded and again went to make the first cut. He ran the blade around one of the hind legs above the ankle. He was surprised by how easy it was to cut through the hide. Ren made the second cut followed by the third and fourth. Ren then worked his fingers down the hind legs, separating the hide from the body. It felt kind of wet and a bit slimy and Ren wasn’t quite sure how he should feel about it. After getting the legs free Ren pulled the skin down most of the way before making the two cuts for the front leg, removing the feet, removing the head, and finally removing the hide. Ren wasn’t looking forward to the next part.

He carefully made a light cut down the center of the rabbit then reached in and, while making the face of someone who was extremely uncomfortable with what they were doing, scoped out the organs and put them aside. Eric put the heart and liver aside while the rest when into the trough. Eric examined the hide and the carcass after Ren was done.

“Not bad for your first time but you could definitely use improvement. The cuts were a bit jagged and the pressure wasn’t even. I’m actually surprised you didn’t at least nick the organs. Anyway, why don’t you keep practicing on the other rabbits? When you’re done I’ll teach you how to butcher them.”

Eric stood next to Ren as he skinned and gutted the remaining rabbits, occasionally giving out a tip. It took Ren a little under 2 hours to skin the rest of the dozen rabbits. When he finally put the knife down Ren almost had to force his hand open to release it, his muscles stiff and sore from gripping it for so long. Ren looked at the rabbit Eric did then looked at his own and grimaced. The rabbit Eric did had no nicks and all of the cuts were straight and even. The ones Ren did, however, all had several nicks in the flesh and the cuts were wavy and uneven.

“Cheer up lad.” Eric said, putting a hand on Ren’s shoulder, “I’ve been doing this for many, many years. You’ve just started. When my father first taught me how skin a rabbit I cut a few of the organs by mistake and rendered the meat unusable. My father wasn’t very happy about that.” Eric looked off into space for a moment, remembering the times he had with his father. “Anyway, now that you have the basics all you need to do is practice them.”

System MessageCongratulations!

You have learned the Life Skill [Skinning]

(Beginner level 1 - 0%)

You can now harvest pelts and furs from all kinds of animals. Higher levels of this skill will allow you to obtain higher quality materials and skin higher ranked beasts and monsters.

“Skinning is only one part of the whole disassembly process of course. You also have Harvesting, gathering any non-meat or skin materials, like horns and bones, the animal may have. There is also Butchering, the process of separating the different cuts of meat.”

As he spoke Eric made some space on the worktable and grabbed a rabbit carcass and a knife.

“The first thing you want to do is remove what’s called the silverskin. The silverskin is this thin skin-like stuff that’s attached to some of the muscles. Just take the knife and carefully cut it off. While you don’t have to do this step it results in better quality meat. Next cut the front legs off close to the ribs. This is easy since there's no bone connecting them to the body. I like to remove the sinew and some of the fat from the legs but you don’t need to do this.”

Eric deftly removed the front legs, throwing the bits he trimmed off into the trough and setting the legs aside.

“Next you remove the belly meat, this is basicly rabbit bacon, trim it and set it aside. Now for the hind legs. Gently cut along the pelvic bones until you reach the joint. Pop the joint then slice the rest of the leg off. Repeat on the for the other leg. The final step is to separate the rest of the meat from the ribs and spine and you’re done. Why don’t you give it a try now?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Eric handed the knife to Ren who took it and picked up a rabbit. Ren took hold of some of the loose silverskin and began to cut it away from the body. While Eric had made it look easy Ren found it to be somewhat difficult. The silverskin was slimey so it was hard to hold and if you didn’t cut it right you would either cut through it so it wouldn’t come off as one piece or you would cut into the meat.

When Ren was done with that he grasped one of the front legs with his free hand and cut close to the ribs like he was supposed to. It took ren a couple cuts to get the leg off since it was harder than he anticipated, making the cut uneven. After that he removed the other front leg and did his best to trim the fat and sinew from them. The belly meat was tricky from Ren. He kept cutting into the ends of the ribs. With the belly removed Ren trimmed it.

Next were the hind legs. As Ren cut along the pelvic bone he would sometimes cut into the bone and other he would scrape it, he found the feeling of scraping the bone to be rather unpleasant. He popped the joint when he reached it and cut the leg off. All that remained now was cutting the rest of the meat off the ribs and spine. Ren worked slowly in an attempt to not cut into the bone but he wasn’t very successful. Altogether it took him close to 15 minutes to butcher the rabbit.

When Ren looked at the meat from Eric’s rabbit then the meat from his own he couldn’t help but frown. Eric just laughed at Ren’s expression.

“Cheer up lad.” Eric said, clapping Ren on the back, “You can’t expect to be good without practice. I’ve been doing this for decades and you just started. You’re actually not doing too bad for a first timer. Now finish up the rest of these rabbits while i make us some food.”

Eric walked back into the house, poking head head out the door a moment later.

“These rabbits are all mine by the way. I’ll teach you how to catch your own tomorrow.”

Ren sighed before picking up the knife again and grabbing another rabbit. It took Ren another three hours to butcher the rest of the rabbits and he didn’t feel like he made any progress. All of the cuts were jagged and uneven and many of the bones had nicks and scrapes.

Ren watched his hands in a bucket of water Eric had brought out then sat down and looked at the sky. The sun was just starting to set and Ren began to hear the sounds of cicadas. After a few more minutes Eric came back outside with a couple of bowls and a metal pot. He sat down next to Ren and served him some of the stew in the pot before serving himself and sitting back against one of the work tables and watching the sky slowly grow dark. They sat in silence for a while before Eric spoke.

“You haven’t told me your name yet lad. It’s impolite not to offer your’s up if you know some one else’s name.”

“Sorry,” Ren said, “My name’s Krono.”

“Krono huh? That’s a strange name, but i guess it’s not my place to judge.”

The duo sat in silence for a while watching the sun disappear below the horizon. They sat and watch the moon come out and the stars appear in the sky. The pot was empty and their stomachs were full and Ren felt more relaxed than he had in a long time.

“Would you like to hear a story?” Eric suddenly asked, breaking the silence once again.

“Sure.” Ren replied.

“Long ago there was a war between the kingdoms of Erovin and Adalia. The war was started because the King of Erovin, still a prince at the time, wished for one of the daughters of some Adalian noblemen to be one of his handmaids. The noblemen refused of course but the King wouldn’t take no for an answer and tried to take her away by force. His plan almost worked but the King and his men were stopped at the border by the Adalian military. They demanded the return of the girl but the King refused. In the ensuing fight the girl was killed and the King and what was left of his men fled across the border. The nobleman, distraught at the senseless loss of his daughter, petitioned the King of Adalia and the other nobel to strike back against the price of Erovin and succeeded.”

Eric paused for a moment to catch his breath

“The next day an Adalain army, 50,000 men strong, marched across the border and towards Thurgrad, the capital of Erovin. Thankfully they ignored the towns and villages along the way. After about three weeks the army stood on the Plains of Dargone, facing the army that the King raised. The nobleman who lost his daughter stood at the head of the army and demanded that the King of the time hand over the prince. The king refused and the the two armies charged towards each other. The battle was bloody and the army of Erovin was outnumbered two to one. It was looked like the King of Erovin was going to lose when reinforcements arrived. A second army of conscripts hit the Adalian army’s flank and, while they still had enough momentum, managed to push the Adalians back. That was the first battle of what would become known as the Nobility War. the war raged for almost two years, causing the deaths of many tens of thousands of people and the destruction of dozens of towns and villages. A truce was finally agreed upon but the seeds of discontent were already sown, ready to burst from the earth at any moment.”

Eric finished his story and lapsed into silence again. Ren was a bit shocked at the serious tone of the story. After a few more minutes Eric collected the pot and the bowls and stood up.

“You’ll have to excuse this old man. I’m not as spry as i used to be.” Eric said, “I’ll meet you by the east gate tomorrow morning. Fair well and have a good night.” With that Eric walked back into his home and shut the door.

Ren got up and walked around the village, looking for a place to sleep. He found an inn but the price was more then he could afford at the moments so the just walked back to the center of town and lay down under a tree there. His first day in Second Awakening had gone well and Ren was excited more.