Insect Tamer's Ascension

Theo tore through the python’s body with Clara’s help.

They carved through the hide from one spot, exposing all the raw red meat that made everyone pause.

"Are you sure this is edible? Can we really trust this tool? This thing is showing the green color for everything," Merek asked, holding the device, which was still glowing green after he touched some of the moss on the ground.

"Well, I have eaten a lot of... different things after checking if they’re edible," Theo replied with a faint smile. "And as you can see for yourself, I am still alive, right?" Theo asked.

Merek just grimaced at his words.

"Who here knows how to butcher?" Theo asked. He was surprised when not even Lucien had raised his hand.

"Well, if you are going to eat, you should know how to butcher. So take a look at this for a few minutes, then try it yourselves."

With Clara’s assistance, Theo began butchering a small part of it. He demonstrated how to separate a section, work the meat away from the rounded bones and slice clean fillets.

Meanwhile, Elias had already set up a campfire. Before Theo could say anything, he noticed Kaelor, the knight, attempting to skin the creature using the provided knife.

It wasn’t a clean job but still a job done while the others just stood there, observing.

"Once you’re done with these fine cuts," Theo continued, "you need to find some sturdy sticks and shave off the outer layer with your knife so that only the clean part pierces the meat."

He then tested the fire’s temperature, slowly moving his palm closer until he found the right distance and placed the fillet, pierced with a stick, at that same spot.

"You have to wait and see the color change. Check on it every few minutes. I will show you what properly or acceptably cooked meat looks like."

They waited. When it was done, everyone soon saw the result, and Theo made everyone have a taste of it.

Some hesitated, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the idea of eating it, but actually found it acceptable after tasting it. Others ate confidently, only to retch at the taste after a moment.

Theo, however, found it better than the crawlers and the gigantic ones. This meat was softer and had a pleasant texture.

Off to the side, the mantis was at the other corner of the shrub, devouring the python’s large head, keeping its distance from the group.

Afterward, Theo had everyone help cut down nearby trees.

Lucien threw himself into every task, from butchery to lumberjacking, quickly adapting to every role.

Merek followed suit, driven by a quiet sense of competition between them due to having the same age.

Kaelor, on the other hand, seemed to have taken a liking to butchery. With each cut, his technique was only improving.

Clara began making thin, precise slices of meat that surprised even herself, which only made the knight even more smug with his skills.

Lysara lingered nearby, waiting for someone to get hurt, but that just wasn’t happening.

A beast that should have at least broken someone’s pinky now lay dead on the ground, its body being made into delicacies without anyone even lifting their finger. It was rather anticlimactic.

Hours passed, and everyone gradually started settling into the work.

Merek struggled at first with the manual labor, unused to it as a noble, but he adapted to it over time.

Soon, they had around a hundred fillets. Theo instructed them on building simple smokers so that the meat could be preserved for later.

Nearby, Garrick sat with a paper and pen in his hand, one eye glowing golden while the other green.

Theo checked on him a few times and saw a highly detailed map taking shape with very fine details. The more he observed his companions, the more he realized each of them excelled at one thing while lacking in others.

It made him wonder if the emperor might have chosen this team with some purpose in mind. So far, Theo hadn’t faced any real issues with any of them.

Eventually, as their body clock began to take over and started making them feel slightly tired, they realized that the sky was still reddish.

When Theo felt a slight sleepiness, he asked others and found most felt the same.

So they reached a simple conclusion: regardless of the sky’s color, it was night according to their bodies and world.

When Garrick was done with the map, he handed it to Theo, then crouched down and began marking the ground with a stick. Using a technique that used light from this place’s sun, he made a crude clock.

Theo found himself even more impressed by the guy. With this, their recordings of the gate’s behavior would become far more precise.

Around them, most of the trees had already been felled. The burlier men worked them into pieces, making makeshift planks from them.

This time, they built a larger hut to accommodate the increased number of people.

And by the time they were done, several hours had passed and the sky had finally started to darken.

At the last light, Garrick made a final mark on the ground. He explained that he needed to track the sunrise next to determine exactly how long the days here were compared to the normal world outside.

The two women settled into a corner, while the rest slept all around the hut in sleeping bags provided by the kingdom, which made things easier.

They rotated night shifts, keeping watch on the smokers through the darkness. It didn’t take long to notice something else.

The nights inside the gate were a little too long as well. Their shifts had to be doubled from normal, which, if anything, made them feel grateful that they had such a larger group.

Lysara, however, remained as unhelpful as ever, offering no support during the night watches either.

Seeing that, Theo decided it was time to have a talk with her.