Looking more carefully, Lucas noticed that the carcass on the butchering table wasn't one of the domesticated Spotted Sheep or Tarnath Cattle, but instead a wild Horned Boar.
Horned Boar could be spotted fairly easily in the Great Western Forest near Redwood Town, and at full maturity they could reach the Peak-Rank First Order. These beasts tended to live in small herds and could be quite aggressive when provoked, but a group of skilled hunters could still bring one down with relative ease if they used proper tactics.
Butchering such a large, lumbering beast in the middle of the forest, however, was quite a challenge. As such, the common approach was for the hunters to bring the boar carcass back to town where they would sell it whole to one of the professionals, like Farah, in exchange for either a handsome payout, or a portion of processed meat.
Some of Redwood Town's more ambitious residents had attempted to domesticate Horned Boars, but those efforts hadn't yielded any positive results. It seemed these beasts were more belligerent than the common species that farmers around these parts raised, making them harder to breed in captivity.
As Lucas watched, he was again amazed at the incredible strength Farah possessed, as well as the skill she had with her knife. The Horned Boar, which had to be at least 5 times Lucas' weight, was being spun, lifted, and chopped apart by the middle-aged butcher as easily as if it was a small Short-Winged Duck.
Speaking of Short-Winged Ducks, Lucas also saw a number of them hanging from a rack nearby, all cleaned and ready for cooking. These were probably going to go on sale today in the shop, and the thought of this tender, fatty bird which when baked right had a crispy, crackling skin, made the young boy's stomach growl.
"Want one?"
Being spoken to all of a sudden, Lucas was pulled from his reverie and hurriedly replied, "Ah, uh, no thanks. It's not a meat day today."
"En," Farah grunted, not turning around or even stopping her hands as she continued her work.
Shaking his head, Lucas fully came back to his senses and reported, "I finished sweeping up the front of the shop, Aunt Farah, so I'll be heading back now."
"Wait," Farah called out, grabbing a big chunk of fresh boar meat, wrapping it in cloth, and placing it in a basket before sweeping a pile of fat trimmings into a small barrel nearby. She then set down her knife, walked over to a big washbasin, scooped out a large ladle of water, washed off her hands, and then fished out a single Silver Coin from her pocket.
Grabbing the basket, Farah walked over to Lucas and handed him both the money and the meat while gruffly saying, "Payment for the Cleaning Solution, as well as a small bonus for helping out in the shop. I also loaded the empty barrels into your cart while you were finishing up the sweeping."
Lucas simply nodded and thanked her, as he knew from past experience that trying to refuse the 'small bonus' here was pointless. Just as he was preparing to leave, though, he glanced over and noticed something he found a bit odd.
Setting down the basket, the young boy walked over to the other side of the table where Farah had been butchering the Horned Boar and found that the barrel she had swept the fat trimmings into just now was actually one of the barrels of Cleaning Solution he had just delivered that morning.
"Something wrong, kid?" Butcher Farah asked, curious as to why Lucas was staring fixedly at this particular barrel.
However, Lucas didn't hear her as all his focus was on the barrel before him, his eyes widening slowly as a grin crept onto his face. Immediately, a myriad of thoughts began to swirl about his head as his mind went into overdrive.
In an instant, a bunch of his vague inherited memories began to clear up and rise to the surface before settling there.
Eventually, Lucas managed to pull his gaze away from what he was looking at and ask in a somewhat hurried tone, "Aunty Farah, is there some reason you've thrown so much fat into here?"
Farah, who was observing the boy with a scrutinizing gaze, like she had discovered something odd or out of place, raised a brow in confusion at this question. She was a bit lost in her own thoughts as well after what just happened, but she soon collected herself and replied, "I found it works better that way."
"It works better this way? How so? And how did you discover this?" Lucas asked with a fervent look in his eyes.
While she was slightly taken aback by the young boy's sudden excitement, Farah still explained, "I was using your Cleaning Solution to wash a pot one day in which I had rendered fat trimmings, thinking it would save me some effort to get the leftover oil and grease out. When I added the solution to the pot and began scrubbing it though, it foamed and become slippery, but it also cleaned up easier."
"I found that interesting, so I tried using some of the leftover fat and Cleaning Solution mix on my knives and boards, and they also became easier to clean. Ever since then, I've been saving up leftover fat scraps I can't sell and adding them to the barrels you bring me, then letting them sit before scrubbing stuff down with it."
Lucas could barely contain his excitement at this point and even felt the urge to jump up and down while cheering; still, the boy somehow managed to mostly keep control over his emotions as he dashed out to his cart.
Before Farah could scold him for running around in a place where there were a lot of sharp knives, Lucas ran back with a fistful of Coppers and blurted out, "Aunty Farah, together with the Silver from today, how much drippings can I buy with this?"
Glancing at the coins, Farah quickly did some calculations in her head before saying, "I can give you 3 small jars of drippings for that much, but if you're willing to render it yourself, I can give you a bucket of fat scraps which should yield about twice that much."
Thinking it over, Lucas quickly decided, "I'll take the bucket of scraps then, please!"
Shaking her head, Farah walked over to where the Horned Boar carcass was and began pilling some more of the fat trimmings into a bigger bucket before bringing it over and handing it to a widely smiling Lucas.
As the young boy was taking it, though, she held onto the handle for a moment before saying with a fierce looking grin, "Once you come up with a better Cleaning Solution, I expect you to give me a discount."
Lucas stiffened up, realizing he had been caught and that Farah wasn't going to let him just get away with it for free. Still, it was a small price to pay for the possible secret ingredient he had been searching for.
It wasn't certain that ordinary fat was really what was needed to complete his homemade Bathing Cream, but it was the only clue he had after months of searching, so he latched onto it.
What's more, if it turned out that fat really was the ingredient he needed, he would have to work out a deal with Butcher Farah to supply him with a large amount of it in the future.
Thinking it over, this was probably a good opportunity to strike a bargain, so Lucas nodded firmly and said, "I will need to test a few things, but if everything works out, I'll definitely not forget Aunty Farah's contribution. In fact, I will probably need Aunty's help in the future to secure a steady supply of drippings. When the time comes, I hope you will treat me well."
Stretching out his hand, the young, short boy proposed this business deal.
Grinning with interest now, the tall, muscular woman gripped the small offered hand and shook it firmly.
Anxious to get home and begin experimenting, Lucas picked up the basket and bucket, one with meat, one with fat scraps, and dashed towards the shop's rear entrance where his hand-cart was waiting.
…..
As she watched the young boy run off, Farah's brow furrowed slightly as she pondered over the oddity she had noticed just now. For some time now, she had noticed that Lucas often had a faint fluctuation of Spirit Qi around him.
The boy wasn't 10 years old yet and hadn't officially started cultivating, but her senses couldn't be wrong about this.
Still, it wasn't impossible to explain this as strenuous physical activity could also refine small traces of Spirit Qi into the body. This was how ordinary mortals could cultivate and strengthen themselves over the course of their daily lives even without using a proper Cultivation Technique. The process was painfully slow, often taking years or even decades to achieve a single breakthrough, but it indeed worked.
Farah also knew that Lucas routinely exercised in the morning, so him possessing a bit of lingering Spirit Qi was understandable.
It was the other aura fluctuation she felt just now when Lucas had first noticed the mixture of fat scraps and Cleaning Solution that greatly surprised Farah.
In that moment, she had been tempted to examine the boy's condition more deeply, but probing someone without their permission when they weren't an enemy was considered extremely rude. Among Cultivators, doing so was even more offensive than walking up to a total stranger in the middle of the street and ripping their clothes off to inspect their privates.
Now, the chances that Lucas would have noticed her probing him were basically non-existent given the enormous gap in strength, but Farah still didn't feel comfortable breaking this taboo just to satisfy her curiosity.
After silently pondering the issue for a while longer, Farah Wilder shook her head and smiled wryly, I was probably mistaken. Even if I wasn't, it's not a problem. If becomes an issue later, I can just talk to him and his parents about it; after all, there's no rush. In this small place, there's no threats to him and no one else but me who could possibly notice either way.
Content for the moment, Farah cracked her neck before walking back over to the half-butchered Horned Boar and getting back to work.
…..
With the prospect of finally completing his homemade Bathing Cream right in front of him, Lucas practically raced home, nearly bumping into people several times as his cart bounced up and down on the uneven road.
Several of the townsfolk, including some of his friends, called out to Lucas in greeting or to say good-morning, a gesture the polite boy would normally have returned in kind, but today, in his rush, he just gave a brief nod or casual shout of acknowledgement without stopping.
Less than a quarter-hour later, Lucas practically skid up to the back door of his home, panting quite heavily from the exertion. He was covered in sweat and out of breath, but his eyes were bright as he hurriedly unpacked his cart under the stunned gazes of his mother and father.
When Anna came to her senses and called out to her son, wondering just what was going on, all Lucas would say was, "I found it! I found it!"
Even more confused now, Anna and Drake watched as Lucas completely ignored his breakfast and instead searched through the kitchen for the biggest pot he could find. The boy then dashed outside again and grabbed a bucket from his cart before dumping its content into the pot.
He then tried to lift the whole thing onto the nearby burning stove.
It was at this point that Lucas' parents leapt to intervene, Drake grabbing Lucas while Anna grabbed the pot.
Lucas was a sensible boy, and he often helped out with the cooking, so him stirring a pot or helping chop up ingredients wasn't an issue, but there was no way Anna was going to let him awkwardly hoist a very heavy pot onto a hot stove all on his own.
In fact, Lucas trying to do this at all struck his parents as odd. They knew he wasn't the reckless type who ignored his own safety. Clearly, something had gotten him so worked up that he wasn't thinking straight.
Dragging the reluctant boy over to the table and plunking him in his seat, Drake caught Lucas' shoulders and questioned harshly, "What were you thinking, son? That was very dangerous!"
"Ah…" Being stared at by his concerned father, Lucas finally seemed to snap out of his trance and blushed, lowering his head as he apologized, "Sorry, Dad, Mom. I got too exited just now."
Sighing, Anna set the pot of what she now saw was fat trimmings down and patted the boy's head, "We're not mad, Lucas. We just want you to explain to us what's you're trying to do here."
Perking up right away, Lucas' eyes practically glowed as he began rapidly explaining his encounter with Farah, as well as his theory about drippings being the key to turning his Ash-Water into homemade Bathing Cream.