I Am The Only Witch Hunter

Ashe and Siderius spent a short amount of time tracking the buck in the sandy dirt area. They quickly spot a buck with a magnificent pair of antlers on its head.

Ashe and Siderius squatted down, hiding themselves behind layers of thick trees.

"Look at that. A nice set of antlers. It is usually around autumn that you see a full set of antlers like that." Siderius mumbled.

Ashe placed the arrow onto the bow and she stretched her back, pulling the bowstring back.

"Do the antlers have any uses, Master?"

"They do. They can be crafted into all kinds of tools and materials. But its most valuable utilization is an ingredient. It can be made into a very important beginner tonic for witch hunters."

"What is that tonic, Master?"

"You don't need to know now. At this moment, your goal is to kill that deer in one shot."

Siderius placed his hand on Ashe's bow and lowered it a little bit. "Remember. Aim low to compensate for the deer's reaction."

"Yes, Master."

Seconds went by. Ashe breathed the very last air inside her lungs out. Her hands stabilize and the arrow pointed lower than it needed to be.

Then the arrow screamed. It sprang off the bow, creating a loud snapping noise that startled the buck.

The male deer ducked down. Its head quickly looked around in panic. The arrow split the air and hit right above its front legs, going through its ribcage and into its heart.

The deer wailed for one last time and fell to the ground.

"Bullseye! Nicely done, my apprentice."

Ashe smiled widely. She couldn't contain her joyful expression and jumped up a bit.

"Now let's see how much you have learned."

That day trip wasn't simply a hunting trip, it was also a test. Siderius wanted to see how good Ashe had become.

She did not disappoint him. Her archery had become very fine. She dissected the buck well and made no mistake. She knew how to preserve the meat and used every last piece of the animal to its fullest.

In Siderius' eyes, Ashe had graduated Forest Survival. She could take care of herself now.

Ashe carried the valuables of the deer back to camp while Siderius continued on his path. He still needed to find a boar with thick skin and a fully matured Grayground tree.

His golden eyes shone in the pale gray land of the Rottin Woods. They illuminated like two small yellow stars even at day.

"These eyes are going to cause quite the attention." Siderius thought to himself.

He traced his steps back to the first area that he had found the first Grayground. There were a lot of small Grayground on his path but none were strong enough for his purpose.

He started at that first area and wandered around until he finally found what he was looking for.

A suitable tree with maturity. Its bark was hard and thick like rock.

Siderius didn't need the entire tree. He climbed onto it and cut down a good-looking branch. It should have enough tannins for Siderius to completely cure the ghoul skins.

The hunter chopped the branch into pieces with his axe and carried them back to the hideout like a humble woodcutter.

Back in the hideout, Ashe already hung all the meat and hide of the buck on to the drying racks. They were salted carefully and could be kept for a long amount of time. She kept the buck inside the underground hideout.

Once returned, Siderius began to make the tannins. Ashe had prepared a large wooden tub for Siderius to use. She began to boil water with their outdoor campfire and got ready for the process.

Creating tannins was the same as making tea. One could create tannins by seeping the tree bark into hot water, hot but not boiling, and allow the tannins to release to the water.

One needed to keep in mind, however, was that tannins could be very heat sensitive and destroyed by it. So keeping the temperature just right was very important.

Siderius drew a mix of Salt and Sulfur Seal on the ground to help speed up the process then placed the wooden tub above it.

Ashe poured the hot water into the tub while Siderius chopped up the bark into smaller pieces for a quicker process. He dropped all the barks into the large tub once he's done.

"Keep adding water. I will keep an eye on the temperature." Siderius said.

"Yes, Master." Ashe worked hard and kept boiling water for Siderius.

The water in the tub would quickly cool down but the added hot water raised the overall temperature of the tub again, keeping it in a desired scale.

Once the tub was filled to the brim and all the barks were dropped in, Siderius knelt in front of the wooden tub and started to manipulate the Alchemy Seal underneath.

"Making tannins with this method can take quite a while. You also need a specialized container called vat to maintain the heat of the water.

This tub is usually not a suitable container for making tannins."

Siderius explained, he stirred the tub with a long piece of Grayground.

"But we have an alternative method, right Master?" Ashe smiled and said.

Siderius nodded. "That is correct. We can speed up the extraction and the release of tannins. The salt can also help in isolating the impurities out of the mixture. So filtration isn't needed."

Siderius knelt in front of the tub and clasped his hand together. Half of the seal on the ground lit up in orange as the barks inside the tub began to dissolve.

Sulfur was Separation. And Sulfur could separate all elements inside any material, including tannins.

The barks quickly released all the tannins into the hot water, infusing it with its elements.

Then the other half of the Seal lit up in blue. The impurities and the residue of the barks floated up on the water surface and turned into a sphere inside the salt vortex.

Siderius directed his hand to the other side, controlling the sphere of unwanted substance to land on the ground. The residue of the bark and all other unwanted components were removed.

Now he had acquired tannins.

"Bring me the hide." Siderius said.

Ashe nodded her head in silence and brought the pale hide of the ghouls over. She dropped them into the tub carefully. The tannin liquor invaded the structure of the skin and started to change its natural properties.

"When tanning hides and skins, usually you will use a much more diluted solution in the beginning to avoid what is called 'case hardening'. This tub of ours has a very high concentration of tannin.

It will completely harden the exterior of the hide and make it impossible to strengthen the interior of the leather.

That is why tanning a piece of hide can take weeks, even months. A tanner must allow time for the interior of the hide to harden first before introducing more concentrated tannin.

But we don't need to do that.

We are alchemists. We can simply use the primes to control the process and make sure the tannins penetrate the hide evenly and completely. Therefore creating a perfect piece of leather in the quickest amount of time."