Guilt ridden Kage gave in to Bens so called punishment and left him alone to his vices, while observing from a distance.
Ben rushed over to the apprentices, asking if he could borrow some butchering tools since he wanted to help with the never-ending task before them.
Unfortunately, nobody knew how to respond to Ben.
It wasn't like he asked a demanding request of them.
They just didn't know how to behave around him.
His cool and calm demeanour was against the image they had all created about nobles and their attitude towards commoners.
Ben was taken aback by everyone's actions because he had never experienced isolation like this before.
He tried asking a couple different people hoping one would help him out, but he gave up after a while and returned beside Kage.
Despondent and isolated, Ben quietly watched everyone work.
Kage kept glancing towards Bens deadpan expression, void of colour staring into the distance.
He thought about forcing one of the many people to help his Young Master with his task.
Out of the blue, a child a bit taller than Ben walked over from Gunthirs bench.
The child was wearing his own apron and gloves crafted to his measurements.
They were all covered with the blood and gore from the beasts.
Even his blood red fiery hair was covered in blood.
Kage could only differentiate the blood from the hair when he saw the clots of hair stuck together by the blood.
His calm blue eyes were a far contrast compared to the bloodish hue his appearance gave off.
There sharp under tone gave off a gentle and calming effect.
"Hiya, names Billy.
Me dads Gunthir over there. Saw ya wondering about…
What ya asking about?"
Bill nonchalantly picked his noise with the bloodied glove to Kages astonishment.
He was speechless by his actions so far, but did not interfere, curious about what would come from this encounter for his Young Master.
"Hey, my names Ben.
I just wanted to borrow some tools and equipment if there were spare to help you guys.
I've been watching Uncle Gungy for a while now, so I want to try."
"Eh? Just by watchen the old man?"
"Boy who the hell do ya think ya calling old?!"
"*Eeeepp! * Sorry Pa!"
Billy giggled at his father's aggressive roar.
He was just as nonchalant about his fathers' temper as he was his appearance.
Ben hadn't noticed yet, he was rather wishing Billy could help him out.
"Ah yeah so ya wanna help? Mhm, well I probs got watch ya need. Come on."
Billy dragged Ben, staining his clothes with the blood and grime much to Kages displeasure.
Though, he didn't think much about it once he saw the bright smile across Bens previous absent-minded expression.
He watched as Billy handed over some tools from his own pile be brought along to Ben, as well as giving him a rough explanation about each one before he pushed Ben along towards a bench.
In all honestly, Billy didn't want to bother communicating with Ben, but after his old man told him to go over since everyone avoided Ben.
To his surprise, Ben wasn't like the nobles he was often told stories about.
Instead, Ben was nice, straight forward, and polite with his conducted.
Even after Billy tried to anger him by staining his clothes with the blood or just dragging him along without his consent.
"He ain't normal pa…"
"Why ya say that boy?"
"Don't know… He aint what I expected."
"Well don't dwell too much on it. Remember he is your Uncle Vals disciple. Don't push the kid too far remember alright…?"
"…Alright."
The conversation between Gunthir and Billy was short and simple as they both observed Ben about to get underway skinning the beasts not too far away from the duo so they could help if Ben were stuck or puzzled by something.
They observed him while he was preparing himself to begin. It didn't take long before he was wearing the apron and gloves.
Surprisingly, they were the right size.
Billy explained to him they were some of his older equipment he used to wear but would still travel with just in case.
Before long, Ben had retrieved a Black Tailed Hare, just like the one Gunthir worked on earlier.
Ben activated the learning function before he started and focused on the hare until he saw the faint lines like before.
Before his eyes, Ben could see the path of the lines indicating where to cut and the following steps to skin and gut the hare.
Ben grasped the smaller knife of ones given to him by Billy since he found it easier to handle, especially with the Hare that nearly reached his all the way up to his chest.
His height was the same as other children around his age thanks to the systems help.
Otherwise, Ben wouldn't know how to manage the impactful damage his coma state was to his development.
The system also improved his body vastly to be suited to a rigorous training development schedule.
Therefore, the usual difficultly a child his age would experience handling the hare, was non-existent when you saw Ben working.
His quick and sharp slices near the base of the neck and around the feet were reminiscent of someone experienced in the craft.
While Ben focused along the lines with the sharp knife, tracing along gently, making sure not to puncture the stomach, he didn't notice the numerous eyes following his movements closely.
It wasn't before long he peeled the skin away from the body, using his fingers to reach under the skin, peeling it back.
The visual instructions from the learning function also explained the butchering process of the Black Tailed Hare once the skin was completely removed.
Thus began the next step in the process of gutting the beast and then cutting the meat away.
Ben worked away rigorously without concern of his surroundings.
Once he finished with the Black Tailed Hare, he moved onto a larger beast as his next choice.
From the pile Ben grabbed a canine looking beast before returning to his bench again to begin.
*Ding*
[Blood Iron Wolf
- Beast blood can be formed into iron]
Ben suddenly paused just ask the knife was about to reach the wolfs throat.
He didn't know how to exactly deal with the blood to do that exactly, but he didn't want to waste the blood and then regret it later.
"Kage, could you find something to contain the blood."
"Of course, Young Master."
It was only then Ben noticed the aghast eyes from all around him.
All the youthful workers kept staring at Ben horrified by the speed he skinned and butchered the beast. they tried to find any faults in his work.
But to their eyes every single cut and slice he made was beyond their level of capability at those speeds.
Only the elder butcherers that were standing around could state Ben was close to their level in expertise.
Both Gunthir and Billy were utterly shocked.
Especially Gunthir.
He had heard about Ben from Val as of late since he kept voicing his praise about his work ethic.
Val kept going on about Ben ability to absorb knowledge like it was water and could display a mastery level of comprehension.
Gunthir was sceptical about his old friends' words.
He instead pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
It only came soaring back after seeing the kid work through the Black Tailed Hare within no time and without damaging any part of the meat or the pelt.
Billy just watched on in disbelief once he saw how quick and thorough Ben was with the beast.
Compared to himself, Ben was the only one close enough to his age with such a level of skill.
Billy was considered one of the mentors of the apprentice butcherers, therefore he didn't see eye to eye with most of the workers.
Since Gunthir taught him from an early age, he picked up the trade quite early on and worked alongside his old man.
For his own age, he is quite a laid-back child.
He has a mature attitude since he'd been around the gore the craft entailed so he never got along with children around his age.
He didn't think much of Ben when he saw him at first and thought he was ill by the sight of them harvesting the material.
Now though, he was excited at the possibility he found a worthy friend.