Leor felt hot fire raging through his veins after taking part in the brutal slaughter of his defiled foe, but there was no time to relish in the victory. The other two groups of Beast who had been sent to handle the weaker defiled had not fared as well as Leor's team had. To his right, a group of Beast consisting of two smaller wolves were steadily retreating across the field as the defiled pig barrelled through any attempts to slow it down. While on his left, a young lion had been trampled, his bloody body lying motionless on the ground as the female that was with him was consumed by rage.
The female lion had taken to the back of the large pig, biting and clawing with all her might, but the thick skin of the massive creature was acting as a sturdy defense. Leor hesitated for a moment as he tried to decide which group to aid, but the decision was made for him the next instant. Leor saw that Bone had finally arrived on the field, and was rushing to aid the female lion. The lioness would certainly be saved by the powerful Highblood, so he turned his attention to the fleeing wolves.
The large grey wolf that had dealt the killing blow to the powerful defiled pig seemed to have the same notion, rushing across the field alongside Leor. As soon as they saw the larger wolf coming to their aid, the two smaller wolves seemed to gain a boost of courage, and began angrily snapping at the pigs legs as they circled around it.
As Leor closed in on the enraged pig, the large grey wolf eyed him for a few seconds, as if to invite him to use his strange talent to stun the enemy once again. Leor quickly understood the Beast's meaning, immediately sending a wave of his newly replenished Willpower surging into his initiates blade. The two smaller wolves were acting as the perfect distraction, so Leor was able to launch his strike without coming under attack himself.
By now the defiled pig was so enraged by the offending wolves that it was seeing red, nothing else in the realm could have drawn its attention at that moment. Leor quickly rushed up alongside the distracted creature and stuck his sword against the side of its head in a one handed attack. A bright flash of holy white light blinding his eyes for a moment as his Willpower attack was released from the sword. He knew he wasn't really capable of physically harming the defiled Beast, so he hadn't put much force into the blow. Just enough to ensure a solid hit. This way he would spare his hands from the painful reverberations as well.
An instant later, Leor's incredible new talent worked its magic once again. The raging defiled Beast nearly collapsed, stumbling to a stop as the anger faded from its menacing face, replaced by a dull confusion.
Like the cunning predators they were, the wolves did not waste this miraculous opportunity. The two smaller wolves latched onto the creature's legs from each side, forcing it to a stop, as the large grey wolf went in for the kill.
A similar bloody scene unfolded before Leor once again, as the mighty defiled Beast was brought down. And for a second time that day, Leor was rewarded with another spark of burning Willpower, growing inside his chest.
Toward the far side of the field, Bone had made short work of the remaining defiled pig. Glancing in that direction, Leor witnessed the aftermath of the struggle. Bone was already shifting back into his humanoid form, as the body of the large pig stretched across the dirt beside him. The defiled Beast's incredibly thick skull had been caved in by a mighty fist, it was a scene almost as gruesome as the bloody killing method of the wolves.
The lioness was frantically assessing the damage to her mate, or child, Leor couldn't quite guess the age of Beast's that well. He could tell if they were very old, or very young, but everything in between was a toss up.
Soon, a group of herb gathering females came to assist the lioness. They gathered up the body and retreated into the fortress, while the Beasts remaining outside instantly began the work of harvesting the meat from the corpses.
Leor observed in fascination. An almost festive atmosphere had descended upon the Beasts. At first he thought they were just relishing in their victory over the defiled pigs, but later he realized that was not the case. They were, in fact, joyous about the large amount of powerful Beast meat that they had obtained.
He had always known that Beast could grow their own power through consuming the corpse of other Beasts, but he never quite realized how seriously they took such things. Every Beast treated meat almost like a sacred religious symbol, much like Leor would treat the sacred torch of the realm of light. He suddenly had a guess as to why it was so difficult for them to share their meat with him back when he had been captured.
The meat wasn't just food to them. It had taken on a spiritual meaning that was far greater than mere nourishment. Leor continued to observe the way the Beasts carefully dismembered and processed the corpses. The joy on their faces and the reverence in their movements reminded Leor of his time training in the house of flame, worshipping the great will of light together with his brothers.
The large corpses were processed far more quickly than Leor could have ever imagined. The Beasts were true experts, and watching them work, even at such a bloody task, was satisfying in the way that only watching an expert at work on his trade could be.
When the job was nearly complete the large grey wolf approached Leor with a large stack of meat in his arms. At the very top of the stack was a massive pigs heart, likely from the powerful Dire tier pig they had slain together at the start.
The grey wolf walked right in front of Leor, startling the young man as he suddenly passed the bloody stack of meat into his arms. It was so unexpected that Leor could do nothing but quickly hold the load of meat out of pure instinct, letting the wet blood soak into his shirt.
Leor stared at the wolf in shock, but the Beast merely nodded his head before returning to help process the last few portions of meat. Leor stood holding the heavy portion of meat for a few minutes with no idea what he was supposed to do with it. He didn't want to just throw it on the ground, as that would surely offend the Beasts, but he also wasn't really interested in Beast meat. Unlike them, his body wouldn't be strengthened by consuming it.
Just as Leor had that thought, his eyes suddenly widened a bit. It was true that right at this moment his body could not be empowered from the meat, but would that still be true after he consumed the world tree potion? Perhaps this meat was actually a blessing in disguise, and not just the wet slab of uncooked food it had appeared to be at first.
Just as Leor was pondering the possible changes his body would go through soon, Bone came walking up to him with his own hefty portion of meat between his arms.
"Come. I will show you what to do." the muscled ape spoke, in his usual husky and deep manner.
Leor, relieved at the offer, quickly followed behind the powerful Beast as they made their way back inside the fortress, through the cobblestone streets toward the area where the Beasts had made their homes. This side of the fortress was much dingier than the area where Drelk's manor resided. The doors had been torn off many of the buildings, and there were smaller makeshift meat smoking racks and fur stretchers. Like what you might see in a primitive human tribe.
Some of the buildings had been converted into shacks, and looked to be used to buy and sell food, while others just seemed to be communal sleeping areas, where Beast of all species could be seen lounging around.
Bone brought Leor to one of the relatively nicer looking shacks, this one displaying cuts of meat of all kinds on the racks at the front of it, with smaller unprocessed carcasses hung from the roof all around. Bone walked up to the table and placed his portion of meat on the counter.
A Beast that looked like a racoon of some kind slowly waddled out of the back, his fur and hands were covered in old blood stains, along with fresh blood that dripped away as he walked. The racoon Beast seemed to be quite excited at the portion of fresh meat, hurrying his steps as soon as he noticed it had been brought by Bone.
Rushing up to stand across the counter from Bone, the racoon hastily lifted the portion of meat, checking it from all angles as he occasionally sniffed at it hungrily. Then, when the raccoon seemed to be satisfied with his inspection, he gestured to Bone in the strange way that non-speaking Beasts always did.
Bone nodded to the racoon before turning back to speak to Leor.
"Put your meat here. He will process it for you. Salting and drying. Make it last longer." Bone explained.
A glint of understanding spread across Leor's face as he finally understood why Bone had brought him here. He was teaching him what to do with such a large portion of meat. Just as Leor placed his portion of meat on the table, he suddenly had a worried thought. Turning back to Bone as he expressed it.
"I have only a small sum of gold, how much should I pay him?"
Bone simply smiled as he slapped his large hand against the pile of meat in front of Leor.
"Gold? Hmph. Not useful here. Meat is better. He will eat a portion of the meat you bring him as payment. No gold. Come and claim your meat tomorrow. Don't worry, if he steals, I will kill him. Then his body's meat will replace what has been taken."
Leor nodded in understanding as the Beasts preferred method of exchanging meat for services was explained to him.
It was a funny thing though. Where Leor came from, some thieves were so poor that if they stole from you there was nothing you could take from them to restore what was lost. You could put them to death, sure, but that wouldn't replace what was lost. But to the Beasts, every one of them was carrying around a valuable portion of meat right on their bodies.
It seemed that being a thief was a far more dangerous profession in the Beast community.