Haruto woke up bright and early to find Bluey had increased in size and had earned himself the title croc general. Haruto slapped Bluey's back enthusiastically. "That's more like it. If you are going to be suckling on my exp teat, the least you can do is serve, hahaha." On top of that, Bluey unlocked affinity with water at a 20% ratio/ Talk about OP. Perhaps he isn't just a tank, but is considered a boss for the area. Unlike yesterday where everyone slept in, Haruto decided to wake them up early to check out the river.
After the scare from the toad general and the slime general being sick, Haruto decided to give them both names to show their camaraderie. Suffice to say they were both ecstatic when they learned they were getting names. Clifford, the big blue croc sneered at them as he already received his name Bluey back at the swamp. Haruto gave Bluey a swift kick to the tail and bestowed the names upon the two generals, respectively Shiki, for the toad and Sura for the slime. Call him unimaginative, but what do you expect from the guy who named the blue croc Bluey.
"Alright, folks, we lost good grinding time yesterday, so we shall make up for it today! Follow my directions, and stay close. The mobs in this river are stronger than us and more numerous." Haruto sharpened some wood into spear shapes. Packed some wood blocks for fire. Then led the party to the river. The 10 minutes they spent walking there went smoothly, everyone listened to Haruto and stayed close. These generals are hardworking and follow orders. Even Bluey is following orders, maybe the title affected his peanut brain. As soon as they arrived, Bluey paid no heed to Haruto and jumped right into the rapids. Seeing this, Haruto yelled in anger, "I should have left you at home, don't whine to me when you drift away."
Like last time, fish were jumping into the air, but the total number was over 1000 across the river. Most fish were level 35 mullets, but a few level 50 carps were present. The carp was about half the size of a Kei car, yet flew out of the water with ease. Haruto took in the awe-inspiring scenery and was dazed by the absurdity of this world's nature. The scene was quickly destroyed when a mullet jumping into the air was eaten whole by Bluey. That was some animal planet shit right there, I would be given like ten awards for catching this scene on camera. Another award-worthy scene began to form as one of the hulking carp jumped behind Bluey, trying to eat him. Haruto snorted and punched two shockwaves at the giant carp. To his surprise, the two hits didn't kill the carp.
The carp looked towards Haruto with dead eyes then disappeared back into the river.
Haruto got the feeling that he should back up, but right as he started moving back, the level 50 carp resurfaced and tried to eat him.
In between fear and anger, Haruto stammered, "You fish, who doesn't even know his place I've eaten sushi from tuna larger than you." Gritting his teeth, he brought out the "no luck all skill katana." Holding his ground, a fishy smell assaulted his heightened nostrils. Haruto swung the katana back then shot it forward like a rifle meeting the mouth head-on. The force behind the carp caused the ground beneath him to be crushed. His knees locked in place, as he forced more strength into his arms. A regular person would be crushed by this force, but Haruto's improved body shrugged it off. Finally, letting out a yell, the carp split in half as Haruto's katana cleanly sliced through. Staggering back, Haruto tried to catch his breath. Exhausted, he retreated from the river's edge and sat down.
Bluey dragged the carp's remains from the bank river for Haruto. Shiki and Sura, after seeing his feat, became eager to fight a carp. Feeling their unfounded eagerness, Haruto cautioned, "you two no fighting carps steer clear of them. Kill 20 mullets each..." Haruto paused and looked at the cretin, who almost got him eaten. "And you, I better see 100 mullets and never leave yourself open for an attack, or you might not be so lucky." Bluey rolled his eyes at Haruto's warning. If only I wasn't so tired, I would gladly make a fresh pair of boots. Bluey slithered back into the river and began rampaging around. Haruto laid down on the grass and focused on regathering his strength. He absentmindedly listened to the three playing around in the river. After his little stunt, the carps stopped jumping out, but he could feel them observing him.
"Just wait for me, my future meals. I will surely come and slaughter you all soon enough," Haruto whispered like a devil to the carp filled with killing intent.
He no longer felt them looking.
He closed his eyes and took a short 55 min nap. Waking up, he saw those three still hard at work, so he got up and started spearing mullets. After three hours of this, he racked up 100 mullets. Bluey came in second with 50 mullets, which left only 50 more to go with the day still being young. I should increase his quota lest he thinks too highly of himself. Shiki came in third with 10 mullets. Sura was having a hard time as his fire affinity was useless when the enemy was submerged in the water. His primary attacks consisted of him stabbing sharp parts of himself into the fish then cooking them from within. The level disparity was really hitting Sura the hardest, which only increased the gap over time.
"Ok, it's almost time for lunch" Stopping the little contest Haruto went to gather some firewood, so they could cook their afternoon lunch. After setting up the fire, Haruto chopped up the fish and began roasting them. Man, if only we had some rice. After another hour of massacre, the three generals came and ate the cooked fish with him. Haruto held back his desire to milk Shiki dry because Shiki put in a lot of effort in grinding today, and milking him would be a slap in the face. Instead, he swallowed his craving and ate the carp instead. I have come to one supreme truth. The higher level a meat, the more delicious it tastes, for the carp melted in my mouth like butter. It exploded with flavor as if it had been seasoned with the best ingredients. But no ingredient shall ever defeat soy sauce, I should have packed one of the other toads.
Some curious rabbits smelling the food inched towards Haruto's group. Bluey started to growl, so Haruto slapped his snout and appeased the frightened critters. "Here, little rabbits have a taste of this carp. I have no reason to hurt you when exp is so bountiful." Haruto waved the supple pink piece of carp meat in front of the rabbits.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Staring for a moment, a courageous rabbit hopped towards Haruto's hand and took the carp meat. Even with Haruto being a higher level, their speed was still astounding. "See your little brother has already taken a piece, will you miss out on this opportunity?" More rabbits gathered their courage until over 50 rabbits came and ate through their supply of carp and mullets. Haruto laughed heartily, but Bluey was very dismayed at the sight of all his food being eaten by such weak creatures. The very brave rabbit snuggled into Haruto's arms after eating and fell asleep.
A ding resounded. Title achieved: New title earned "Comrade of rabbits." Seeing this, Haruto chuckled, "not a bad title now you have repaid my kindness with something of similar value. This is the first law of equivalent exchange." Haruto nodded his head repeatedly, satisfied with the reward. How much better would society be if they followed such laws? Anime is truly a tool for progress.
"Well, Bluey, you have 20 mullets left, but since the food is all gone, how about you hunt 60 instead." Stupid croc, you think you are hot stuff. Maybe you'll treat me with a lil respect next time, have fun. Haruto cleared his throat to prevent a snicker from leaking out. Then looked dotingly towards Shiki and Sura, "you two kill 5 more, and we'll call it even ok?" To his surprise, a message of indignation was transmitted as Shiki's, and Sura's fighting intent rose. They wholeheartedly began fighting the mullets. Haruto placed the brave rabbit into a pile of sleeping rabbits and putting on his croc armor dropped straight into the river.
The cold waters instantly sobered him up. He opened his eyes to see clear, fast-moving water that made the running rapids above look slow. Before he could fully take in the beautiful underwater scene, he was besieged by a school of carp. Bloody hell, of course, this happens. Haruto panicked a bit and started randomly throwing heavy punches, but 20 fish were rushing towards him. Only 5 were knocked into a daze. Haruto began swimming upstream amid the chaos, which was quite easy thanks to his croc armor. Still, the behemoths behind him shrugged off the current with even more ease. Haruto began to despair and continuously throw punches using the current to increase his shockwaves range. I'll be damned if I die to some fish. Finally, he killed 2 carps with his blows. The river turned a crimson red from the bloodshed, sending the other carps into a crazed frenzy.
As Haruto became anxious seeing the chaotic scene, suddenly, a giant whirlpool formed, sucking the carps further away from him. Bluey shot out from within the whirlpool and chomped into an injured carp killing it instantly. Bluey's speed and agility in the water was terrifying. He quickly put a carp into a death roll, creating a vortex that prevented other carps from approaching it, effectively negating their numbers advantage.
With Bluey taking some of the heat, only seven carps were moving towards Haruto. He pulled out his katana and tried swinging, but the water made it difficult to perform heavy swings. For a videogame, this has a bit too many real-world mechanics.
Knowing his katana was useless, he put it back up and put on his croc gloves, which increased his punch damage. Tsk tsk, I was hoping to look cool by hiding these trump cards like in a novel. My enemy would be like, "Oh hon hon, you have run out of abilities," and I would be like "surprise motherfucker CROC punch." Instead, a bunch of fish forced them out. At least I still have my compass no one knows about. Cranking back his fist in an exaggerated fashion, Haruto threw his heavy attack. A fist shape was created that traveled through the water, leaving fist indents on all the fish. Well, it appears I have the advantage.
Haruto bolted through the water as nimble as a fish and coming upon the closest carp unleashed a one-inch punch that exploded its body. The random chunks of guts stole his vision. Before he could swim back, another carp was upon him and swallowed him whole. Haruto smiled and pulled back out my katana. Finally, able to talk, Haruto joked, "And here I was salty because I couldn't use my sword, some people are just considerate." Then slicing it from within, he swam out unimpeded. Out of the corner of his eye, Haruto noticed that Shiki and Sura had arrived.
The two were battling a carp. Consuming a bunch of water to increase in size, Sura began pummeling all the fish with strikes from its body. The attacks were not extremely effective, but they did help in slowing down the carp. Shiki was using his wooden katana. It had turned jet black from his poison, allowing his strikes to do damage over time. As an amphibian, his speed inside the water was staggering.
Haruto swam towards the two generals shooting through another carp that thought it could eat him. Two carps were trying to hold Shiki down, but he was slippery like an eel, and the poison from his katana slowed the fish down. Sura stopped his mass attack and began focusing on the weakest carp until the combination of the indents from Haruto's punches, Shiki's poison, and his brute strikes killed it.
This freed Shiki up who shot head-on towards the last carp that was following him. The carp opened its mouth and tried to swallow him. Shiki swam unafraid straight into the carp's mouth. Watching this, Haruto could only assume Shiki was attempting to mimic his move of slicing the fish from within. But Shiki's level was slightly too low, so he was forced to come back out by prying open the carp's mouth after killing it.
Haruto eyed the three carps that were left and unleashed an unbridled killing intent.
Seeing the devilish creature eye them, the carps fled for their lives.
Silly fish in what universe would I allow you to escape. No, you have earned yourself an express ticket to HEll! Wait, does hell exist? An express ticket to reincarnation! Haruto hurtled through the water, grabbed the first carp, ripped its tail off, and punched through the hole, killing it instantly. The other two were moving insanely fast in opposite directions.
Shiki attacked at the perfect moment and slowed the farthest one down, while Sura helped Haruto with the other one. Haruto hit the carp with a normal punch immobilizing but not killing it, then allowed Sura to pound it into a paste. Finishing the fish, Haruto noticed Shiki was getting pushed back in his one v one. By the laws of gamer honor, I should allow the one v one. HAHAHA, and by deez nuts, I shall intervene. Haruto shot out two heavy punches disabling the fish. This allowed Shiki to easily implant his poisoned sword through the fish's head.
Looking towards Bluey, Haruto saw the five fish he had stunned at the beginning of the fight fleeing. Of the 4 caught by Bluey, only one was left, and it was being rolled to death. Even by himself, Bluey still secured the win against higher-level foes. I must give it to Bluey. He is a real monster to come out on top against these fish. Perhaps he really is a location boss, interesting. The group quickly gathered the dead fish and returned to the surface only to find that nighttime was fast approaching. Even though unknown hours had passed, the little rabbits were still sprawled out by the campfire and were ecstatic to see more food.