Tuesday, April 30th, 2069
Dexterity Increased by 1.
Dexterity Stat Unlocked.
---
Stats
Strength: 10
Locked.
Stamina: 7
Locked.
Locked.
Dexterity: 2
Locked.
The screen jerked me out of my routine, startling me enough that I missed the mana pulse slightly and felt the reel let out a great deal. I managed to get the next one back on time, and continue reeling thankfully.
I left the Stat Screen open, though. Was every profession able to increase a Stat? Smegma gave me a look when I turned to regard him. I could tell he was not wanting me to ask anything about it aloud.
It had been many hours since we’d restarted working toward a hundred Fish. Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, my father had only taken another hour to figure out how to touch his Mana pool. The unfortunate part was that he too received a Skill, one I already knew.
Mining (Evolvable)
(1)
Low-D-Rank
As you mine you slowly improve your understanding of minerals, ores, and crystals. As this Skill grows this individual will notice improvements to all actions related to Mining.
***
Mana Bowl
(15)
Low-E-Rank
A bowl that can hold Mana. The amount in the bowl can grow, but the Skill isn’t evolvable.
15/15 Mana
That meant he wasn’t able to truly improve his speed at either cooking or fishing. Still, the fact that he could now fish, was helpful for rotating people out of the sweltering Smithies. I briefly considered having him simply use his Mining Skill above to quickly unlock his Strength Stat, but dismissed the idea after remembering how many shifts it had taken me to do the same. That Strength might help him reel in fish better or faster, but I’d be enslaved to a snake demi-god long before he’d likely manage to unlock it.
Jarred’s second Skill was proving to be far more valuable though, even though it too was meant for Mining.
Miner’s Strength (Evolvable)
(1)
Low-F-Rank
Strength Stat unlocked. Strength doubled when used in Caves or Mining specifically.
Strength: 2
And yet, even with Jarred now easily carrying back and forth cooked or fileted Fish—we still weren’t going to make it. Sure, we would be close, and were improving by the minute, but we were just too far behind.
“What’s the count at?” I asked Smegma.
“Fifty-ssseven,” the Snake hissed happily. “Withsss only eight hoursss remaining.”
I scanned to my right and found Willa pulling another Mirror Fish out of the water. I pulled mine, and Dave looked like he would only be a few more minutes for his. That would make it close to seventy caught, I supposed.
Smegma nodded at me, confirming my running count. While cooking was no longer the bottleneck it was, we were still thirteen caught behind. The way I figured it, we could catch one hundred before setting up another Smithy to cook.
But to do it all in eight hours?
I cast back out my line, and did notice some changes to the motion. I’d discovered a few hours back that I could cast my line farther and deeper than anyone else, including Jarred, the only other one with a Strength Stat. Now, though, I could feel that the slightest twist of my wrist or pressure of my finger could direct the throw.
It seemed obvious to me that this was a result of my Dexterity and rising Fishing Skill. That and my increasing Stamina made me wonder. Could I start going faster?
Surely rising Stats had made all the famous Hunters I’d heard of stronger. Well, I guess that wasn’t true. I wasn’t even sure all of them had unlocked Stats. But the ones who did, were stronger than those who didn’t.
The line bobbed and I heaved trying to use every ounce of my Strength. I simultaneously reeled, finding that the action was easier than before. In less than ten seconds I had a Fish on the shore.
Sure I was breathing hard, but I didn’t feel like I couldn’t do it again. Cast, wait, and heave. My life became simple commands inside my own brain. Or was that Smegma saying it?
“Count?” I asked sometime later, approximately ten Fish after losing my running tally.
“Ninety-six with two more on the lines!” Smegma crowed. “Cast!” Smegma ordered, confirming that the commands were indeed coming from him.
The Lake rippled even as I heard two unfamiliar twangs from beside me. They sounded like someone strummed an out-of-tune guitar. My Mana Worm and line hit something before splashing into the Lake.
“Isssn’t that too bad. I ssscared away all the fisssh,” the massive Snake hissed. I blinked even as my line in the water directly in front of it pulsed. No Fish latched onto it, and for very obvious reasons.
“You cheater,” Dave shouted, while pointing an accusatory finger at the Snake.
The Snake’s three eyes widened comically, and its tongue slithered out of its mouth mockingly. A rhythmic hiss sounded and I looked around as the strange noise bounced off the walls, and atop the water. Was the thing laughing?
“There wasss nothing in the contract that sssaid I couldn’t prevent you from catching the fish,” the Snake mocked. “You ssshould have read it more carefully.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Blinking, I looked at Smegma. Not because I blamed the Demon, but because for the briefest instant, it looked like he smiled. My eyes didn’t find what my peripherals thought they’d seen. Smegma looked introspective, if I had to classify his hung head.
The three of us who were on a Fishing shift, stared at the Snake and the Demon, waiting for something more. But it didn’t come. Eventually, I got fed up. I wasn’t ready to give up—
“We’re at ninety-six caught, let’s go get them all cooked up,” I ordered. Simultaneously, standing and moving to Willa and Dave to collect the Fishing Rods. At Dave I said, “Can you Filet the most recent catches?”
Willa, when I reached her, had tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, once, twice, and even a third time. Failing with each attempt. I put a steadying hand on her shoulder and said, “We’ll figure something out. Let’s go help cook and carry.”
Part of my forming plan to figure something out included Mana Coins, and the Demonic Shop. So, I moved to the Mana Crystal pile and sold a great deal before putting the others in my Necklace of Holding.
Smegma hadn’t moved, from his spot, since I’d gotten up. He still hovered where the rock met the water—the Snake behind him in my view. It looked almost like the Snake was smiling at the Demon’s misfortune. My teeth clenched hard enough to creak.
Dave, who had grown more proficient with Cut over the last half a day, hurriedly gutted and portioned Mirror Fish. Willa took the Fish Steaks and stacked them on a rock plate and I moved to help.
My father was surprised to see the heaping rock plate, as I carried it in, followed by Willa carrying her own. I continued through his Smithy to Jarred’s, where Willa began slowly lowering her far-less full platter down.
Jarred, was in the process of picking up a cooked platter on my arrival. “I’ll get these started,” I said, indicating the uncooked Fish with my head. “Dave will have some more Filleted to carry back.”
I wanted to say more. But the words caught in my chest. Everyone had been counting on me—
Between one step and the next, Smegma popped into space beside me, still in his introspective contemplations. My previous thought, and his look of defeat merged together, washing over my Mental Fortitude’s insistence that his reaction was natural.
“Are you going to mope about, or try to come up with solutions?!” I shouted. Smegma started at the sudden shout, and Jarred flinched. My Uncle, with his stack of cooked fish on a large stone, stopped and began turning back around. I hurriedly shook my head and motioned with a hand for him to keep going.
I hadn’t meant to shout. But having the Demon giving up, accepting Slavery, not to mention the death of my group wasn’t acceptable either. Surely together we could come up with something.
“What?” Smegma said quietly, before seeing my face. I could feel my jaw clenching, and I didn’t think the sweltering furnace was the sole reason for my face burning with heat. Then he narrowed his eyes, looked back to the Lake, and then spun on me. His voice rose to match mine. “I warned you about reading through the details of terms and conditions. Sure this is different, but I’m not the only one who failed to see the Snake’s husking loophole!”
“What’s done is done,” I shouted back. “We’ve got three hundred thousand Mana Coins—surely your stupid Sect has some Mirror Fish!”
“Right, because I suggested buying Mana Apples when there were other food options…” Smegma said, the sarcasm was so thick—I could taste it. I wanted to shout back, but knew he was right.
Angrily, I began slamming Fish down into the much improved Cookware, while muttering curses at Smegma, the Snake, and just about anyone. It went a long way to venting my current mood, which eventually let my brain start thinking.
“What if all five of us Fish off five different spots around the Lake, and shelf?” I asked.
“Sure, cause that Snake isn’t able to spread out and take up the entirety of the place,” Smegma said, shooting down my first idea. The anger resurfaced and I began muttering again, but thankfully it also vented far faster too.
“Okay, what about entering the Lake and fighting them?”
“Brodie, you barely defeated White Goblins, and are thinking about taking on a Fish in its elemental advantage?”
“What? We’re supposed to just roll over and let our friends die then?” I argued. In that moment I meant it too. I truly meant that it would be better to fight a Mirror Fish and lose my life than do nothing and become a slave that let the others die.
Smegma’s face morphed into something I couldn’t read. The only thing I could get from it was that the Demon was conflicted. His mouth formed a half-sneer and his jaw clenched—while his eyes looked at me like I was a lost kitten.
My fists clenched around one of the uncooked Fish Steaks, turning it into a paste between my fingers. I threw it into one of the smaller pans making it splat as it landed. Did the Demon think I wouldn’t wade out into those waters because of the risk?
Husk him and husk the stupid Naggy Snake!
* * *
“How much time do we have left?” My father asked, his voice resigned.
“Should be just over an hour,” Smegma answered, sounding just as fatalistic. I glared at the Demon, but cooking the rest of the Fish had given me enough time to calm down enough that I didn’t start screaming again.
“I still think I need to go into the lake and catch them as they attack me,” I growled.
“Nope,” Dave said, startling me. I transferred my glare to him.
“What do you suggest then? I’m the only one that can husking see them!”
“Would seeing an Evolved Shark coming, change anything?” Jarred asked.
“Sharks are classified as C to B grade threats. Mirror Fish can’t be higher than E to D!”
“You’re forgetting that facing an E grade threat in the water immediately jumps its rank by one or two!”
No, I wasn’t forgetting that. Smegma had already explained it to me multiple times. “I still haven’t heard any other options!”
“You should try the plan you had originally,” Smegma suggested. “Buy two more rods, and cast from as far away from each other as you can. We only need to get lucky and catch four Fish!”
Everyone nodded, agreeing with that plan and I partially wanted to shake each and every one of them. Smegma had rejected that plan before I came up with the other. So, we were abandoning something that I thought had a better chance of success to go with a long shot?
Smegma looked at me and then put a nail in the ‘coffin.’ “Since it looks like Brodie still plans to jump in to save the day. I suggest Jarred stays right beside him on the shore. The rest of you, take the ledges.”
The Demon was reading my thoughts again, and of course he had chosen the best option to stay beside me. The only other Group member with a Strength stat! I pointed at Smegma, “You’re an asshole!”
“I thought we established I don’t have one of those!” Smegma countered. Somehow his comment almost made me laugh, and allowed the tension to escape my body. I knew that if we didn’t catch anything after thirty minutes or so, I would still jump into the Lake, Jarred be damned, but I supposed giving my first plan a chance, wouldn’t hurt.
Going back to the Lake was far harder than it should have been. Since we didn’t have any platters of Fish to bring. Since, I was the last to enter it even looked comical. Four Miners carrying fishing poles, with a monstrous half illuminated and mostly submerged World-Ending Snake in the background.
What was this, a husking Anime?
The Snake watched us lazily as we spread out. It’s tongue flicking into and out of its mouth. The further we moved from each other the more it seemed to realize the intention of our plan. Eventually it laughed, sounding like a boiling kettle.
“Thisss isss foolisssh. Perhapsss if you sssurrender, I’ll let the othersss live, and return home!”
I blinked and was about to shout my agreement to the offer when Smegma flew in front of me. “Don’t husking agree, you moron. Listen to the wording. Have you learned nothing? Perhaps doesn’t mean he will!”
The boiling kettle laugh returned, and ended with a click of the Snake’s jaws. “I’m only missing four Fisssh. And look at thisss. One, two, three, four sssimiansss to take their place!”
The hissing laughter intensified, and my jaw popped in my ears, as I clenched teeth together. This asshat really wanted to provoke us before killing my friends and enslaving me!
My mind whirred as I desperately tried to think of a solution. I still had two hundred and sixty thousand mC. Could I purchase a weapon to help in the water? Maybe there’d be a Demonic wetsuit. Did Demon’s swim?
“We don’t. Well, we can. We just hate it. Now shut up and stick to the plan,” Smegma said.
“Time left?” I growled.
Smegma ran his tongue over fangs and said, “Fifty-five minutes.”
“I’ll give you till thirty. But if we don’t catch any Fish, by then. I’m diving in. Better dead than a slave!”
Jarred grew tense beside me, and Smegma sighed before pointing out to the lake. “Get to casting then.”
Ten minutes later, I was positive the plan wasn’t going to work. Why?
Well, we’d hooked at least four Fish, to cheers and whoops of the person whose line pulsed. Only for the Fish and half the Mana Line to vanish…
Clearly, the Snake wasn’t going to let us reel in four Fish!
I threw my rod into my Necklace, and got into a sprinters stance. “Sit on him!” Smegma ordered Jarred. Then there were arms wrapped around my waist.
I grabbed both wrists and pried my uncle's grip open. Stepping out of it. I let him go with a warning look, and spun to re-attempt my jog into the Lake. Jarred’s arms wrapped around me again. This time tighter.
I growled even as I moved to repeat my earlier action of prying them apart. Something hit me from the side, overbalancing me since I hadn’t expected it. Still, my Strength and likely Dexterity stopped me from going down. Until two more collisions occurred and I was flattened under all four of my companions.
“You can’t just give up!” I growled from the bottom of the scrum like pile. “Let me go. I can catch Four manually given enough time.
“Stop fighting you imbecile!” Smegma said with his usual haughty annoyance that I hadn’t heard in a long while. It was so out of place that I did in fact stop fighting the others, and raised my head to look at the Demon.
He wore a fang-revealing smile. This husking Greed betrayed me?