The training with Elias begins,
Elias says, "Listen, to be honest, I don't think we can make you a master of combat considering the limited time we have at hand. But judging from your attire you most likely aren't very adept at combat skills. Are you?" Finn replies, "No, I don't have any combat experience, but I can assure you I'm stronger than I appear." Elias says, "We'll see that. Instead, I plan to teach you self-defense, not advanced combat skills." Finn says, "I have enough confidence in myself don't worry."
Elias heads to the armory and returns with a shiny cleaver. It looks razor-sharp. The cleaver radiates a mysterious aura, as though it has tasted blood before. Despite being inanimate, the cleaver emanates an unsettling bloodlust.
Finn asks, "This cleaver looks ominous. Why are you bringing it to me?" Elias gestures, "Come closer Kid"
Finn steps closer to Elias.
Elias says, "Finn. This is an artificial medium grade Psyche Weapon–type artifact." Finn says, "Psyche artifact? What does it do, exactly?"
Elias says,"Well, the Psyche are the memories, but memories can't act on their own. They need an Anima—a body to inhabit. Ancient Mindcrafters designed blueprints for artifacts capable of embodying Psyches. Artificial artifacts are crafted not from ancient Psyches, but from the memories of dying humans with special attributes."
Finn says, "Oh! So, we're actually using Psyche of existing humans and putting them into artifacts" Elias nods, "Correct. This artifact is called the Butcher's Knife. It was forged from the Psyche of a highly skilled butcher. As he lay dying, his entire life's memories were extracted into a Memory Prism." Finn says, "So...what are you going to do with it?" Elias says, "Elias says, "People often forget that ancient Psyche artifacts, high-grade artifacts, or even the Mindcrafter mean nothing without Resonance. We're starting you're training by making your resonate with the artifact"
Elias fetches live chickens from the backyard and begins teaching Finn how to slaughter and butcher them. He gives Fin the cleaver and then instructs Finn to follow his lead. Finn asks, "Why are we even doing this stuff?" Elias says, "Well. You'll understand soon enough."
Finn follows Elias' instructions and starts butchering the meat. Elias tells Finn to butcher while focusing at the bones as butchering cleanly is a bigger task than just mindlessly cutting meat. Elias instructs him, 'Disjoint the bird properly. Separate the skin and flesh. Start gently, cutting around the wings, thighs, and drumsticks. Observe how to cut the meat while avoiding the bones to achieve a clean cut." It is surprisingly tough even for Elias to maintain clean cuts. Elias orders Finn to keep slaughtering and butchering chickens, explaining they'll need the meat for their upcoming expedition. So, Finn keeps on butchering the chickens one by one. He has one special skill that is keeping a sound mind while focusing on the task at hand. As the day goes by his skills in butchering increases significantly. As dusk falls, Finn begins to enjoy his work. As night deepens, Finn melds with the cleaver, effortlessly butchering the poultry. At night he suddenly remembers that he should sleep and he does so.
On the next day,
Elias comes to check on Finn. Elias is surprised to see the boy has finished butchering nearly 500 chickens. Elias surprised by his focus and sheer will thinks that he should increase the difficulty a tad bit. Elias brings a flock of sheep from a nearby farm. He shows them to Finn and says, "it's time to butcher some red meat." He again shows Finn how to butcher. He tells Finn, "When cutting around joints or bones, make shallow, controlled cuts. Cut along the natural muscle and fat layers. When you cut through joints or cartilage, use shallow cuts to avoid hitting tendons and cartilage deeply." This time, Finn struggles because the bones are harder than those of a chicken. Elias advises, "When dealing with hard bones, you need to hack firmly." Excited by the new challenge, Finn keeps butchering the mutton. By nightfall, he is consumed by a bloodlust, as if he has become a real butcher. His focusing skill allowed him to become a master at butchering meat.
The next day,
Elias brings out a small device and places it in the backyard. Suddenly three wolves come out of the device. Elias suggests that Finn fight the wolves.
Finn comes closer but instant fear of death strikes in as the wolves look blood thirsty and even starved. He tries to block one with the cleavor. But the wolf was trying to bite into his hand. Finn moves swiftly, raising the cleaver to block the attack. As a result it bites into the cleavor.
Elias says, "Kid hold the knife strongly and put your muscles into moving forward. Visualize yourself butchering the wolf"
The atmosphere becomes heavy with intense bloodlust. Finn's eyes turn red as though he has become an avatar of madness. He then starts looking into the wolf's eyes and says, "Mutt. I'm gonna butcher you to bits!" So, he starts hacking the cleavor through the wolf's teeth. With a swift, precise motion, he cleaves the wolf cleanly in half, the blade slicing through muscle and bone with brutal efficiency. The remaining wolves hesitate, as fear flickers in their eyes. One of them lunges, but Finn sidesteps and brings the cleaver down with a sharp, decisive swing, severing its neck in one strike. Without pausing, he advances on the last wolf, driving the cleaver into its chest and splitting it apart in a final, merciless blow. The backyard is drenched in blood, resembling a grisly battlefield. He tells Finn to skin the wolves and bring their hide back. Following Elias' instructions, Finn meticulously cleans the hide from the bone, leaving no trace it had ever been attached. Elias says, "Look Finn. I trained you into a beginner level butcher. This helped you resonate with the artifact. Now, you've formed a connection with the Butcher's Knife."
The scent of iron and raw flesh hangs heavy in the air, a silent witness to the carnage, as Finn stands amidst the blood-drenched backyard, his breathing heavy and his hands trembling with the weight of what he has done. Staring at the blood, he collapses in shock.