Chapter 8: The Butcher's Path 2

The sun was already setting when Thorin showed me where I would sleep - a small room at the back of the house, spartan but clean.

 A single bed, a rough wooden nightstand, and a window overlooking the courtyard where I had just passed my test.

"Rest well," he said, his booming voice softer now. "We begin at dawn."

[Dawn? How early does he mean...]

The answer came much sooner than I would have liked. It was still dark when heavy knocks on the door startled me awake.

"Up, young one. The sun waits for no one."

I dragged myself out of bed, my bones still aching from yesterday's journey.

 The morning air was freezing, and my breath formed small clouds in front of my face.

[How can he be so energetic at this hour?]

I found him already at work in the courtyard, surrounded by tools of every kind.

 Knives of different sizes were laid out neatly on a wooden table, each with its own specific purpose.

"Before you begin with the blade," 

Thorin said as I approached, " you must understand your prey. 

 Every animal is different. 

Every muscle, every bone, every tendon has a story to tell."

[Not what I expected as a first lesson.]

For the next two hours, Thorin had me study detailed anatomical diagrams of various creatures.

These weren't simple sketches - they were works of art, drawn with a precision that spoke of years of observation and practice.

"See this line here?" he pointed to one of the diagrams. 

"This is where the muscle attaches to the bone. A wrong cut here can ruin the entire piece of meat. But a precise cut..." 

His voice softened, almost reverent. "A precise cut can make the difference between food and art."

[I had never thought about butchering this way.]

The hours passed, and my mind filled with knowledge I never imagined could be so complex.

Thorin wasn't just a butcher - he was a scholar, an artist, a master in the truest sense of the word.

When we finally took a break for lunch, my fingers were stained with ink from taking notes, and my head was buzzing with information.

"Hungry?" Thorin asked, a slight smirk on his face.

I nodded vigorously.

"Good. Now I'll show you why all of this matters."

He went to his kitchen and returned with raw meat - the same I had prepared the day before.

With fluid movements that spoke of decades of practice, he began to prepare it.

[It's like he's dancing with the knife.]

"See how the knife naturally follows the muscle lines?" he commented as he worked. "You're not fighting against the meat - you're working with it. It's like... like finding a hidden path in a forest. The path is already there - you just need to learn to see it."

I watched, fascinated, as he transformed the raw meat into a meal that seemed fit for a king.

 The aroma that filled the room when he started cooking was almost hypnotic.

"Eat," he said when he finally placed the plate in front of me. "And tell me what you feel."

The first bite almost made me cry.

 The meat literally melted on my tongue, releasing flavors I didn't know could exist.

[So this is what he meant by art...]

"Every piece of meat has a story," Thorin said, watching me eat.

"The animal it came from, how it lived, how it was treated - all of this is reflected in the taste. A good butcher doesn't just cut meat - he reads these stories and tells them through his work."

As the sun set on my first day of apprenticeship, I looked at my hands - and promised that one day, when these hands conquer everything, it will be in Thorin's favor.

On that day, I will look within myself and thank Thorin for all that he has taught me.

[This is just the beginning. I still have so much to learn.]

"Rest well," Thorin said as I got up to go to sleep. 

"Tomorrow we start with the blades."

I gazed into Thorin's eyes, where something enigmatic flickered—a glimmer of hope perhaps, or a spark of unyielding determination.

Whatever it was, I vow to you, Thorin, that one day your tales will echo through the streets of this world, captivating hearts and inspiring souls.

I promise you that your legacy will not fade into obscurity; 

it will shine brightly, illuminating the paths of those who follow.

On that day, I will reflect on my journey and express my gratitude for the invaluable lessons you have imparted, shaping not just my destiny but the very essence of who I am.

Day 2 - The Beginning of the Blades

I woke before dawn, my heart pounding with anticipation.

Thorin's words from the night before still echoed in my mind: "Tomorrow, we begin with the blades."

[This time, I'll be ready before he comes to wake me.]

The morning air was sharp, but I was already in the courtyard when Thorin stepped out of his door. A slight smile curled his white mustache.

"At least you have the right enthusiasm," he said, leading me toward a table covered by a cloth.

With a theatrical gesture, Thorin lifted the cloth.

Dozens of blades of every shape and size gleamed in the dawn light.

Some looked like ordinary butcher knives, while others had forms I didn't recognize.

[I had never seen so many knives in my life.]

"Every blade has a voice," Thorin said, picking up what appeared to be the simplest knife. "Before you can cut anything, you must learn to listen."

We spent the entire morning just holding different knives. Thorin had me close my eyes and feel the weight of each blade, its balance, how it responded to the smallest movement of my wrist.

[I thought we'd start cutting right away. How wrong I was.]

Day 5 - The Dance of the Blades

"No, no, NO!" Thorin's voice thundered across the courtyard. "You're still trying to force the blade. You must let it glide."

It had been three days since we'd actually started cutting, and I was still practicing on vegetables.

 Carrots, mostly. I never would have thought that cutting a carrot could be so complicated.

"Watch," he said, positioning himself behind me. His massive hands guided mine in a fluid motion. "Feel how the blade wants to move? You're not cutting—you're accompanying the cut."

[It was as if the knife had a will of its own.]

Day 8 - The First Blood

"Today, we move on to something more serious," Thorin announced, placing a fresh fish on the worktable.

My hands trembled slightly as I gripped the filleting knife.

"Don't be afraid," he said gently. "The fish will tell you where to cut."

And strangely, he was right.

As I worked, I could almost feel how the flesh and bones guided the blade.

When I finished, Thorin nodded in approval.

"Your first decent fillet. Tonight, we'll eat it."

[A fish had never tasted so delicious.]

Day 12 - The Speaking Bones

"Bones have memory," Thorin said, holding up a beef bone. "Look at these striations. They tell you how the animal moved, how strong it was, even what it ate."

We spent entire days studying bones, learning to identify the joints, where muscles attached, how to separate the parts with surgical precision.

[It was like reading a story written in the very body of the animal.]

Day 15 - The Market Lesson

"No knives today," Thorin announced one morning. "We're going to the market."

The village market was small but lively. Thorin taught me how to recognize quality meat at a glance, to haggle with vendors, to choose the best cuts.

"A butcher isn't just a craftsman," he explained. "He's a trader, a judge, a counselor. People trust us to feed their families."

Day 18 - The Rhythm of the Cut

"Close your eyes," Thorin ordered. "Listen to the sound of the blade."

He had me cut for hours blindfolded, guiding me only by sound and touch. Each type of meat had a different sound, a different rhythm.

"The meat sings," he said. "You just have to learn the melody."

[I never imagined that butchery could be so… musical.]

Day 22 - The Test of the Cold

Dawn found us in an icy cellar. "The cold is both friend and foe," Thorin said. "It changes the meat, makes it harder to work with. But also more precise, if you know how to handle it."

My fingers were numb, but I kept cutting. Thorin smiled at my determination.

Day 25 - The Art of Presentation

"Presentation is everything," Thorin said, carefully arranging cuts of meat on a tray. "We eat with our eyes first."

He taught me how to lay out the cuts, how to highlight each piece, how to transform even the humblest cuts into something valuable.

[There's beauty even in simplicity.]

Day 28 - The Eve of the Trial

On the evening of the twenty-eighth day, Thorin sat with me by the fire.

"You've learned a lot," he said, his voice softer than usual. "But there's one last thing you need to know. A butcher must know his meat from beginning to end. Tomorrow, we hunt."

[Hunt? He'd never mentioned that before.]

"The real test begins at dawn," he continued. "A butcher must know how to choose his prey, track it, understand it. Only then can he truly honor the meat."

I looked at my hands, calloused after a month of working with blades. They were no longer the hands of a player—they were the hands of an apprentice butcher.

[Tomorrow, I will prove everything I've learned.]

"Rest well," Thorin said as he stood. "You'll need it."

That night, lying in bed, I thought back on everything I'd learned. It hadn't just been knife training—it had been a transformation. And tomorrow, I would have to prove myself worthy of it all.

[The true test is about to begin...]

Chapter-End.