Resourcefulness.
Another important skill a Noble Blood must have in all things.
From how to survive the wild to how one manages a domain and how to increase one's power and influence with whatever one has at its disposal.
These things are drilled into boys and girls alike in equal measure.
The only ones who get preferential treatment are the heirs themselves, who receive more in terms of lessons in survival and domain without the need to experience it themselves, without putting themselves in front of the dangers of the wild or failure.
But that is the only difference. The non-heir children of a Noble Blood are allowed to study and attempt to learn by practice without limitation.
This, in turn, allows them to gain more experience in a field, but at the cost of danger.
Of course, children without a domain as inheritance can not practice such a thing, so they usually remain at getting better at surviving as adventurers or getting stronger. In case the heir meets an untimely demise.
Blanc was one such case, a second son, with experience and enough strength for his age, but without the managerial skills required to manage a domain.
He read about it, more as a curiosity, when he was younger, but he pushed them aside in exchange for reading things that he found more worth his time.
He did not wish to put his older brother's position in jeopardy or give the impression of ambition, which would have surely ruined the relationship between them, so he focused on things he found more important.
Strength and knowledge on how to survive anything life may throw at him, even though, now, as he was walking in the forest in search of food, he wished it didn't.
True, he had his ambitions.
He would have liked to be someone important to many, but he found solace in being important to the people he cherished. And that was enough for him. For now.
Foraging so far has been going great, he found some good mushrooms, not like some angry woman living in their cave.
Morels and oyster mushrooms, delicacies that even Noble Bloods favored over other types of mushrooms available in almost all the forests of these parts of the Senvia Empire.
Plenty for all four for a few days as an addition to a soup.
He had gathered plenty for all four. Then he remembered they had five mouths to feed. Celine would have wanted to feed Miyanna as well to get her on her good graces and make her open up.
He also, as he walked, found some wild garlic from which he took only the stems, leaving the roots in the ground, as he did with the mushrooms, ensuring that the plants would regrow.
If not again during the year, the next.
Life from the bounty of the wild was an exchange of respect between nature and man. One could not take more than the other had and expect the other to keep providing.
So, after grabbing just what he needed, he turned in search of other things, leaving most of the wild garlic behind.
As he kept walking, no more than 3 miles away from the cave every time, he found a good patch of fiddleheads and nettle, which, after being picked properly, would make for a fine addition to whatever they would decide to use these for.
However, no matter how good a bounty he thought he had, he felt as if this would not be enough for a longer stay, especially for Kael and Lune.
They needed something that they liked and gave them the satisfaction that he knew nettles would not offer them. Meat.
For that, Blanc had already walked for hours, picking everything he gathered along the way, focusing on his surroundings for easy prey. But without much luck.
He thought of maybe trying fishing for a chance, but he had done it only a few times in the past and was pretty bad at it.
The lack of confidence he had in his fishing skills made him keep walking in circles until, as evening was slowly creeping in over the mountain, he heard about a hundred feet away from where he stood, small taps on the ground.
Rabbits. Perfect, he thought as he slowly moved towards their direction.
Luckily, he approached from a creek he stood next to, making his already silent steps, unable to be heard, no matter how well a rabbit's hearing would be.
He spotted the rabbit. Which turned out to be actually several of them. Three, in fact. He had enough arrows with him, but not enough time.
The rabbits were huge, as big as cats, two bucks, and a doe. No matter how fast his arrows were, the rabbits would be just as quick.
The best result would be two out of the three. At least a male, seeing as they were the ones with the most of the meat.
So, he got as close as he could to ensure the best chances. Twenty feet away. Perfect.
He stood hidden behind a tree, only one eye visible, and the bow, which he placed next to the trunk of the tree to make it less visible.
He was ready.
Arrow nocked. Loosed.
A rabbit got hit with the arrow in its lungs.
Dead.
Another arrow was already moving towards the string.
The other two started sprinting in different directions.
Who to choose?
The one running uphill. A buck. Perfect.
Arrow loosed.
Spine.
Dead.
A beautiful success for the hunt. A proud moment for Blanc as well.
These were the first rabbits he ever hunted. With meat assured for a few days, and enough time to harvest the rabbits' Raw Vita as well.
He considered the overall day, after finding the cave, crying, and the hunt, a good day.
His priority was to get stronger and to keep those he cared for alive and well. And he managed to do so.
He got them to safety, in a place they accepted, instead of sleeping under the night sky, and now had good food for them.
For now, at least.
But he threw these thoughts aside as he began harvesting the Raw Vita from the first rabbit.
The process was the same overall.
The only issue was the reward and Mark he got. A reward he was embarrassed to receive. And a Mark that was placed in an interesting spot.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me…" Blanc muttered out loud.
But all the same, even if he did not like the reward overall, he began harvesting the second rabbit's Raw Vita.
After all, he would not disrespect the Vita by denying the reward it bestowed upon him.
He knew a moment when this reward would come in handy. And it made him laugh as he began bleeding the rabbits, just as the sun began setting.
Just in time to head back towards the cave.