《Esoteric Fishemperor: My strange fishing is unethically lucrative》


 Happy Birthday!!!!

    They fished up something of unreality.


    Their name was Alaric, and today was their 18th birthday.


    He woke up in his bed, happy that it was his birthday. After all, he would be able to have a spoonful of sugar on his stale toast in the morning.


    He stretched his arms. He got out of his meager bed consisting of straw and a pillow filled with poorly plucked feathers.


    The pillow was not very substantial and provided no comfort. But Alaric didn¡¯t care. He was used to mediocrity.


    He was an insanely boring person. He spent half of his day at school sitting in class, occasionally raising his hand. He had no friends as well. He was widely considered insanely boring.


    People even preferred talking to Archibald, who extremely, extremely ethically collected pig spines as his whole life¡¯s purpose. At least he wasn¡¯t boring. He could talk about pig spines, Alaric could only talk about basic farm work, the weather, and fishing.


    He used to have friends though. The parents of other kids in his general age group would sometimes organize hang outs.


    That ended when one of the kids went insane and ran off into the woods to become a deranged hermit after being exposed to how boring Alaric was.


    There was nothing wrong with him though, he was just insanely boring. Almost mathematically the most boring person. You would think ¡°Oh, if he¡¯s the most boring, then that¡¯s actually interesting¡±. A couple other people had the same thought, but after talking to him for approximately five minutes you would be sweating in anticipation for the conversation to end.


    There was also no supernatural reason as to why he was this boring. Initially, when he was a little kid, his parents were so puzzled with how their kid was so boring, they went on a semi-expensive trip to a big city to go to a big shot exorcist. They thought that maybe some sort of demon had sucked out his soul leaving him as a human without anything interesting.


    But it was fruitless. The exorcist did see the problem, and agreed that the child was boring, but there was nothing literally wrong with him.


    The parents then proceeded to get mad at themselves for wasting money on such an endeavor.


    But today was an interesting day, he would graduate from being a boring kid to being a boring adult.


    Getting out of bed, he put on a white shirt and brown pants, along with his underwear and socks. He was ready to tackle the day. He was vaguely happy, he liked his birthday.


    He went out of his room. He lived in a single story house with his parents. He did have an older sister but she moved out a while ago.


    He went to a basin to wash his face.


    Looking in the reflection, he felt neutral towards himself. He looked okay, he had medium length black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin from working out on the farm. He looked about normal, nothing stood out.


    Going out of the washroom, he saw his parents in the kitchen.


    ¡±Good morning.¡± He said, greeting his parents.


    ¡±Happy birthday!! They both said.


    ¡°We made you your favorite breakfast!!¡± The father said, bringing out a plate.


    On the plate was a boiled egg with salt on it, and a piece of stale bread lightly dusted with sugar.


    ¡±This looks good.¡± Alaric said, sitting down to eat.


    ¡±Listen kid, your mother and I have been talking, and now that you¡¯re eighteen, you need to get a full time job. School for you ends this year, and to be honest we don¡¯t want to live with you forever. So here¡¯s the deal, we don¡¯t hate you entirely so we¡¯re going to give you some money, and you¡¯re going to figure out the rest of your life.¡± The father said, bringing out a bag of money.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡±Ok.¡± Alaric said.


    He felt the bag of money, it was heavy, consisting of a lot of coins. It would be enough to start out his life. He wasn¡¯t planning on going to a higher education like his sister, he was planning on buying some land and being a farmer. Maybe, just maybe if he was feeling it, he would have a river nearby where he would fish.


    ¡±Alright son, since you seem fine with it, we¡¯re going to send you out into the world now. You can visit anytime, but not really that often would be preferable.¡± The mother said.


    ¡±Ok mom, I will visit sometime.¡± Alaric said.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to go now. Bye. I will miss you guys!¡± Alaric said. Leaving.


    He could hear the sounds of his parents crying in the house. Little did he know those were tears of joy. They didn¡¯t hate their son, but they couldn¡¯t stand living around such a boring presence.


    Alaric walked at a reasonable pace alongside the road that was outside of his house. His parents were farmers, specifically for planting potatoes and carrots. They were middle class, and were considered nice people with some personality. Alaric didn¡¯t inherit the ¡°some personality¡± part. He was just kind of nice.


    Now having had left the house, Alaric was alone. No friends, no family, only some money for his future. He decided to head out to the forest to sort out his thoughts.


    He knew how boring he was. The second he was in the forest, tears streamed down his face. Despite doing nothing wrong, purely off of principle he was hated by humanity. And this wasn¡¯t from any kind of evil deed or difference from anyone else. It was just that he was insufferably boring to be around.


    He was destined to a life of solitude, living alone on a farm and occasionally going to a village market to sell his stuff. Maybe he would buy a dog. Animals had a higher tolerance for his boredom than other beings.


    He walked deep into the woods. He was heading to his normal fishing spot. It was a small pond in the middle of the woods. He would always be able to catch a small fish there. The fish there were normally too small to eat, so he just released them.


    Fishing by himself like this was the only way he could handle his isolation from society.


    He equipped his rod, a humble wooden rod. He got on his knees in the mud searching for a worm. These were his work pants so he didn¡¯t mind if they got dirty. Eventually, an adequate worm was found.


    The worm was squishy and slimy, perfectly wormlike.


    He admired the fish pond. It was of a modest size, it was relatively small. Being a pond in the middle of the forest, the fish population was limited, only containing the smallest of fish.


    During his life he had built a small shack next to the pond. It was made of wood, and was crudely put together with a mixture of concrete and mud to hold together the wood. It could collapse at anytime, but it worked. There was a simple chair in it.


    Alaric sat down, getting ready. He had gotten over his sadness. Why should he feel sad for himself? He had money and would be able to start his new life soon.


    He cast the rod into the middle of the pond, and jiggled the rod up and down, trying to be enticing to the fish. It took a second, but something then bit. He quickly reeled in to see what he had caught.


    It was a small bluegill. A humble fish.


    He took the hook out, and held the fish in his hands.


    He was so bored he made a fake conversation with the fish.


    ¡°Hi fish, how are you?¡± Alaric asked.


    ¡±Hi Alaric! It¡¯s me!!! Fish!!!¡± Alaric used a fake voice and moved the fishes lip up and down.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question, how are you doing?¡± Alaric asked the fish.


    ¡±I¡¯m doing fine!! Just got some fresh air!!!! Good to spend some time out of the lake!!!¡± The fish responded.


    ¡±Ask me how I¡¯m doing. You should have asked me back.¡± Alaric was now a little angry at the fish.


    ¡±How are you Alaric?¡± The fish said feebly.


    ¡±I don¡¯t know. I have a new life now. I wish I could be a fish and live free like you!¡± Alaric responded.


    The fish stopped wiggling, the life fleeing out of it.


    Alaric stayed unmoving, throwing the fish back.


    Returning to the mud, Alaric found another worm. Yet another slimy, gross worm. This worm was very slimy, coating Alarics hand in slime. It may even be considered a nightcrawler, a fat worm, way too big for any fish in the pond.


    But Alaric would use it. He knew the fish in this pond better than he knew anyone else, so he knew it wouldn¡¯t be good bait. But something told him to do it.


    He slipped the barbed hook through the worm. A little bit of blood came out of the worm.


    He cast it into the middle again, he hoped nothing would bite it so he could stay sitting for a while idly.


    But yet, something did. It felt strange on the end, a slight tugging.


    Alaric was confused, there should be nothing like this in the lake. There should be nothing like this in the lake.


    Alaric reeled it in, and held it in his hand.


    They fished up something of unreality.


    ¡±This isn¡¯t supposed to be here.¡±


    ¡±This isn¡¯t supposed to be here.¡± Alaric repeated orally. He started to leak water from his mouth. His mind felt like it was going to shatter as if it was made of glass and someone hit it with an anvil. Whatever he had fished up didn¡¯t just not belong to the pond.


    ¡±This isn¡¯t supposed to be here.¡± This time, the one that said it wasn¡¯t Alaric. It was if the entire reality was reverberating with the message.


    The thing started to move towards Alaric.


    SCREEEEEEEEEECH


    Alaric screeched, almost inhumanly. Whatever it was, he had a sense of impending doom as it inched forward. It was utterly incomprehensible.


    SHOOOOOOM


    The thing shot into his body.


    The edges of Alaric¡¯s mouth started to curl up in ecstasy. His eyes opened wide, and the shape of his pupils changed to that of a fish. His posture became elevated, stretching himself out.


    Alaric was no longer going to be boring.

 The Pond

    Alaric was no longer going to be boring.


    His fish pupils lit up in excitement, filled with new ambition. The previous boring soul that Alaric possessed was now going to be completely overwritten.


    He looked at the lake, the meager small lake filled with meager small fish. This would have to change. Alaric sucked up his previous tears back into his eyes, leaving them now freshly moist. There would be no time to cry tears of sadness. From now on, life would be about indulging in greed and rising to the top of the world.


    Alaric looked at the bag of money. It was a reasonable sum, the most his parents could afford. The only purpose of this money would be to convert it into more money. Alaric through about what he would be able to do with it.


    ¡±Buy a weapon and start killing beasts to make money?¡± He thought. He considered becoming an adventurer. In this world, being an adventurer was high risk high reward. It was a cutthroat profession, hunting beasts and monsters in dangerous locations to reap their rewards. Some of these rewards were just from processing the corpses of the beasts, such as horns and bones that could be transformed into better weapons.


    Some of the treasure was getting things that the monsters had. Some monsters were smart, and had enough intelligence to have greed, and would covet human treasures. Often when I high level monster died, it would be a mad dash to find their stash of treasures. These treasures range from magical artifacts and just straight up cash in gold.


    ¡±Nah.¡± Alaric thought. At this point, he was just a ¡°normal¡± guy with fish pupils. He did have some innate strength from farm work all day, but this wouldn¡¯t apply well when slaughtering titans or dragons. Of course strength can always be enhanced through magic as well as magic accessories.


    But Alaric didn¡¯t want to go to school for magic. That is what his sister did. The market for magicians and mages is extremely oversaturated right now, everyone wanted to be a mage. So unless you were some kind of prodigy who could pulverize titans with a flick of the wrist, you would have little to no chance in the battle mage department.


    Many mages now were reduced to less adrenaline filled jobs. Most of the time their magic wasn¡¯t even good enough to get them a job in a magic adjacent field.


    ¡±I¡¯ll pass on magic for now.¡± Alaric thought.


    He also didn¡¯t want to be a farmer. Once he would become a farmer, there would be no real expansion in his life other than getting a bigger field. Although he was used to farm work, he found it boring, and didn¡¯t get much fulfillment out of it.


    ¡°Fishing could be good!¡± Alaric glanced into the pond, seeing his reflection in the water. His pupils were shaped like a fish, so it seemed like an obvious course of action.


    Something clearly had changed about his brain and functioning after the thing went inside him.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡±I don¡¯t really want to think about that now¡­ whatever that was I¡¯ll just ignore it. It¡¯ll probably be revealed to me later.¡± Out of mind out of mind was Alarics approach to the strange thing he fished up. He just wanted now to focus on reaping the benefits from whatever about him changed after it occupied him.


    He considered fishing. In this world, fishing, like adventuring had many levels. There were the casual fishers, who would catch fish for eating primarily. They wouldn¡¯t do it as their full job, but just to switch up the meal once in a while. Stale bread and potatoes got old after a steaming hot second.


    There were professional fishers too. People that caught fish full time for their job. They would have scaled up business, having boats and nets to catch a large amount of fish to sell. This was the level up. It was a stable job, and relatively safe.


    There was one other class of fisher. The suicidal insane fishers. Occasionally in the news there would be things about people fishing up insane things from random areas. There was some innate element of fishing that sometimes allowed for miracles to happen.


    Just recently, in the ocean there was a fisherman who reported fishing up a magical orb of the sun. This skyrocketed the fisherman¡¯s power, and now he was a solar archmage.


    But getting something like that out of the water was insanely rare. It would be akin to winning the lottery to fish up such objects. The conditions for any object such as that to be fished up were seemingly impossible to predict, and fishing with the aim of catching up such rare items was a losing game.


    Many believed that it didn¡¯t exist, and that the few times there had been results, it was just to fabricate an interesting story.


    Sometimes the amount of patience and fore planning one would have to have to fish up such things were astronomical, and most intense fishermen would go their entire lives without fishing up something so extraordinary.


    There were many dangers too. Just like how there were conditions that could be set to fish up insanely powerful artifacts, there were also conditions that summoned dangers. Also in the news recently, there was an old fishing couple who were causally fishing on the river when they pulled in a swarm of locust piranhas that tore them to shreds.


    In order to pursue what was dubbed ¡°Esoteric Fishing¡± one would have to be lucky, insane, and willing to sacrifice it all in the name of fishing.


    The amount of mental willpower one would have to have in order to pursue Esoteric Fishing made it so that there were asylums dedicated to housing Esoteric Fishers that had gone insane in their quests to obtain treasures from the depths of the waters.


    This is what Alaric wanted to do. He had already seemingly fished up an Esoteric Fish, and didn¡¯t want to waste his luck.


    But he had two primary goals. Not only did he want to become an Esoteric Fisher himself, he wanted to bring it into the mainstream.


    In the past, magic and adventuring were seen as useless jobs. Who would care if you could make a spark out of your hand if someone could just rub sticks together and get the same result.


    But that changed over time. Through efforts in marketing, and the establishment of celebrities and folk figures who were centered around magic, it became the lucrative industry for the people running it today.


    This is what Alaric wanted to do. Bring Esoteric Fishing into the mainstream, and be able to fill the world¡¯s oceans with his wealth.


    He was resolute. There would be many challenges in doing this, and many of them would be questionably legal, but he didn¡¯t care. All questionable legal troubles could be overwritten with power and money.


    There were still many elements about Esoteric Fishing that he didn¡¯t know, and would have to learn about on the way. It was still a relatively unknown element of life, but looking at his fish shaped pupils in the reflection, he knew that it was true. And he knew that he would be able to find a way to the top.

 Purchasing power

    In order to get to the top, Alaric would have to start small and move up.


    He looked in the bag and counted out the money. He really wished that his parents just gave him a check, handling this much money left room for bandits to easily steal it.


    The currency of this world were small, wooden tokens. Their value was indicated by the charring on them, being charred by different kinds of fire. They all have a finish to prevent the coins from getting wet.


    Inside the bag there were about one thousand Charred.


    It consisted of about 100 coins worth ten Charred.


    He felt them in his fingers. In order to start his fishing journey, he would need to divide his money smartly.


    First of all, he set aside half of it. This half would go to standard commodities. This would include food, toiletries, clothes, standard things that everyone needed. This amount of money would last him about a month, as he would have to buy some things to start off with. After all, his parents left him with nothing except this pile of money. And if any money was left over, it would be a good failsafe.


    As he previously lived a boring life, he had little to no personal possessions of great value, so he didn¡¯t even bother with retrieving them.


    Two hundred and fifty were set aside for fishing gear. Alaric would need some solid gear and supplies if he was going to go down the road of Esoteric Fishing.


    At least at the start of his journey, he would be catching relatively safe and things. So the specialty gear he would need to start off with would be minimal.


    The last two hundred and fifty were going to be to get a small boat. He would have to start out by himself before expanding his operation. The focus now would be to get started normally, and then move in.


    Not much was known about esoteric fishermen, so he would have to do some digging. His goal would be to find a book, or a person that would have some more details regarding the whole process.


    But Alaric was prepared. He felt generally attuned to the fishing world, likely a factor of the previous thing he had fished up. He was still trying to ignore it, the feeling after whatever it was entered him was hard to explain.


    It wasn''t like a separate being inside him, it felt more like a diffusion of whatever it was into his mind. It started his determination to pursue esoteric fishing, so it may have some kind of mind control power.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I''ll try not to notice it, ignorance is bliss." Alaric convinced himself into believing that it wasn''t important for now. His mind felt like it was in a fragile state, and if a wrong thought was produced in his mind, his brain would collapse into a meaningless sludge leaving him as a husk.


    Ignoring that fragile mental state, Alaric decided to dial in on fishing.


    He would need to plan out his purchasing.


    He would head into the city on the coast in the coming day. There he would be able to buy a boat and fishing supplies, as well as the standard commodities.


    As for gaining information surrounding Esoteric Fishing in the city, that would be the more difficult endeavor. Esoteric Fishing was often a matter of trial and error. They had to real options, going out by themselves and testing random things, or learning some basic principles from another.


    Unfortunately, Esoteric Fishermen were few and far between, and ones that were mentally sane were even fewer and further between.


    Ultimately, Alaric had nothing other to do than just go to the city and find things out.


    Taking action would be the only way progression could be made, and progression had to be made.


    Alaric ultimately wanted to act on his ambition. Ambition to not be mediocre. Ambition to dominate.


    The city was a half days carriage ride away. It was only morning, all in all, Alaric made up his resolve for the close future rather quickly after he had woken up.


    So he would have time today. Going into the town of the village, it was just a matter of finding a carriage that would take him. That would be easy. This town was very boring and mundane, and the only place that people really would want to go would be the nearby city.


    He could probably hire a crappy carriage, and carriage-pool with some other person heading into the city to cut down the cost. This would cost about twenty charred out of pocket by him.


    This plain was in a flat plains area, and was primarily an agricultural settlement with a population of about a thousand spread out over its width.


    Compared to this, the city was way denser, and was primarily a trade city. Not many goods were produced in the city, but it served as an international trade center. Other cities would dock their boats, unload their goods, and trade. Goods were constantly going in and out of the city.


    Unfortunately, the seafood industry wasn''t very large in the city. The costal villages in the surroundings were delegated more to the duty of fishing for food.


    The city was also home to a major adventuring guild of the surrounding area. Named after their specialty in slaying, the guild was called "Wolf Slayer Guild". The guild was famous for their stamina, going on long trips to slay primarily wolves and wolfmen.


    They were no matter for now.


    The city would just be a good place to purchase gear, and obtain information. Because of the ever-cycling population of traders entering and exiting the city, it would be the perfect place to find information regarding Esoteric Fishermen.


    Alaric walked out of the forest, heading back out to a common road. The road was a simple dirt road, and due to the flat environment the town center was pretty much always in sight.


    Alaric walked to his future, the light of the sun reflecting off of his fish pupils.

 Carriage

    Walking along the road, the town center was in sight.


    The town mostly consisted of far out houses with farmland. But the town center was the exception. It contained a small marketplace where the farm goods were sold, as well as other stores. But nothing in the stores interested Alaric. He just wanted to get out of this town and start fishing.


    He suddenly realized, his eyes were extremely irregular. As far as he knew, having fish shaped pupils would out him for something, and he would get investigated. This wasn''t preferable. Once he got to the city he could pass it off as either a genetic defect, or some kind of magic blessing he had obtained. But in the town, too many people knew him.


    "Actually, everybody avoids me because i''m so boring, so it really shouldn''t be an issue." Alaric happily thought. Being unpopular and avoided was usually crushingly depressing, but in this instance it was useful to cover up his predicament.


    After walking for a while, he ended up in the town square. It was midday on the weekend, so there were a decent amount of people walking about, purchasing and selling goods.


    The town square was structured as rows of shops with a wide central road in the middle. This road was paved with stones, albeit roughly. It would tear up somebodies feet if they were to walk on it unprotected by a shoe.


    Alaric pitied the horses and livestock moving about along the rough rocks.


    The weekend was the prime time for commerce in the town, so it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise to find a carriage.


    Alaric scanned the town, most of the contents could be seen from a single sweep around.


    He saw what he was looking for. On the far end of the town center there were a couple carriages stationed. He walked over to see where they were going, and what the prices were.


    On all of the sides of the carriage, there was an insignia. The insignia was of the head of a falcon surrounded by a corona of wheat.


    It seemed that all of the carriages belonged to the same service. That would mean that the prices would likely just be based on where they were heading.


    ¡°Where do you guys take people?¡± Alaric asked.


    ¡±I¡¯m going to take some people to the town over.¡± Said the first carriage driver. He was a skinny and tall man, with white hair and a beard. He was wearing a simple black uniform.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Anybody going to the Merchant Coast?¡± Alaric asked, getting straight to the point.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking people there.¡± Said another one of the drivers. This one had short, jet black hair, and he was wearing a top hat along with the black uniform the other drivers were wearing.


    ¡±Perfect. How much?¡± Alaric asked the second driver. The third driver looked gloomy, he was likely going to somewhere where nobody cared about. His carriage was further away from the other two, clearly an outcast of the carriage rider trade.


    ¡±Thirty charred one way. You get a piece of bread to satiate hunger along the way too.¡± The carriage driver responded.


    ¡±Ok, I like the bread, but can we bring the price down a little??? Like maybe ten, fifteen???¡± Alaric tried to convince the driver.


    ¡°It¡¯s a fixed price.¡± The driver responded definitively.


    ¡±Let¡¯s do like twenty. Does that work? I¡¯m a little short on cash right now.¡± Alaric was not a great negotiator.


    The driver eyed the sack clearly filled up with a lot of money that was in Alarics hand.


    ¡±twenty five and you don¡¯t get the bread.¡± The driver responded.


    ¡°Twenty six and I get the snack?¡± Alaric countered. He was slightly hungry.


    ¡±Sure. Get in.¡± The driver was a little annoyed at the whole ordeal, but at the end of the day, a four charred difference didn¡¯t really matter.


    Alaric reached into the sack and took out the right amount of money. He didn¡¯t feel like scamming people quite yet.


    Alaric got into the carriage, and looked around. The carriage had a covering, and there were two benches on either side of it, which could fit about four people per side, but could likely go up.


    At the front of the carriage he could see where the driver would control the two horses to move it.


    ¡°We leave in thirty minutes.¡± The driver said from outside. Right now, Alaric was the only one inside of the carriage.


    He waited a while, thinking about what he would do when he would get to Merchant Coast.


    Another passenger than entered the carriage. It was one of his classmates, Melisandre. She never talked to him, mostly nobody did, but she greeted him to make the interaction less awkward.


    ¡±Hi Alaric.¡± She said dismissively before sitting down on the opposite side of the bench on the side furthest away. She tried not to look at him, lest a conversation start between them.


    Despite this, she briefly glanced at him. And she saw his eyes. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. ¡°He¡¯s not completely boring now!! Now he¡¯s just weird and has freaky fish eyes!¡± She thought internally. She, along with many of the other classmates were somewhat skeptical of the exorcist that deemed him as having a soul that wasn¡¯t depleted by a demon. She was happy for him, this confirmed he had a soul.


    ¡±What¡¯s with the eyes!?¡± She said excited. If his eyes were so different, maybe his personality had changed too.


    ¡±Fuck what do I say¡­.¡± Alaric thought internally.


    ¡±I ate a lot of fish yesterday, and I guess my eyes absorbed the nutrients from them.¡± Alaric came up with a middling reason. He didn¡¯t want to say the exact truth, as if he was exposed as having something obtained from Esoteric Fishing, he would be put at the center of attention to early. His time to shine as an Esoteric Fishing celebrity would have to come in the future.


    Melisandre was happy, he was just stupid now. That was more interesting to talk to than someone who was completely boring.


    There were about five minutes before they would go, but before they went, one final member would join the carriage.

 Right armed

    ¡°What¡¯s up guys???!!!?¡± A familiar voice entered the space of the carriage. This time it wasn¡¯t a classmate, but a local young farmer. He was muscular, and had tan skin as well from spending time in the fields. He had blonde wavy hair and brought a brown pack with him.


    ¡±Hi Andrew.¡± Melisandre said.


    ¡±Nice to see you Mel!!¡± Andrew said, clearly recognizing her.


    Alaric knew who he was. He was well known for growing some questionably legal plants in his garden. He was well regarded by the young people as being ¡°cool¡± but was generally hated as the town mostly consisted of old people.


    Alaric personally hadn¡¯t interacted with him much, but he knew of him. His cocky attitude came from his father. His father was a semi-famous local mage who hunted beasts. Andrew had always bragged about receiving some basic mage training without having to pay for the school. But at the end of the day, he was still a farmer.


    Andrew sat near Mel.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re going now.¡± The driver assumed his position behind the horses and started to lead them along the road. It would be about five hours until they would get to Merchant Coast.


    ¡±So, why are you guys headed down to Merchant Coast??¡± Andrew broke the temporary silence.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first, my dad was invited to a party with the Wolf Slayer Guild, so I¡¯m going to party with them.¡± Andrew said confidently.


    ¡±I¡¯m just going to see my grandma.¡± Mel said.


    ¡±What about you dude?¡± Andrew glanced at Alaric.


    ¡±I¡¯m going to buy a boat, and do some fishing, make some money.¡± Alaric answered simply.


    ¡±So let me get this straight, you have eyes that look like fish, and you are going to fish?¡± Andrew said slightly laughing as he said it.


    ¡±Yeah. I¡¯m a big fishing guy.¡± Alaric responded.


    ¡±Sweet man. You know, we need guys that do boring jobs like fishing too in society. Give me a fistbump for contributing to society.¡± Andrew brought out his fist.


    Alaric bumped it. He kind of hated Andrew, but there was no sense in making enemies with him. Having the defense of his father was reason enough to leave him alone for now.


    The rest of the carriage ride was carried out in minor amounts of noise. Andrew and Mel made small talk, making fun of the people in the town that they both knew.


    Meanwhile, Alaric was deep in thought. He would likely do his major purchasing tomorrow, so one he arrived in the city, he would find a place to stay and then purchase the next day.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    His knowledge of Esoteric Fishing was lacking other than the surface level that everyone knew. But he still wanted to go down that path. The basic gear to start Esoteric Fishing was basic. Just a rod was needed, along with some kind of bait.


    What he knew and what most people knew about Esoteric Fishing was that a lot of luck was involved. It was akin to gambling with the water. But deep down, somehow Alaric knew there was more to it than that. What usually happened in the stories about Esoteric Fishing that happened, it happened accidentally to someone fishing, and then they would quit fishing to invest fully into whatever they had caught. There were only one or two major stories about Esoteric Fishing a year.


    ¡±They just don¡¯t have it in them.¡± Alaric thought. He had confidence in his abilities. He wanted to pursue it fully, not quitting after initial success.


    Obtaining information would be his primary goal. Once in the city, he would want to find a fisherman¡¯s guild to talk to.


    So his schedule looked like this


    -get to the city


    -find a place to rest


    -rest


    -wake up the next morning


    -buy gear


    -find a fisherman¡¯s guild


    He was resolute. He smiled broadly, and a glint entered his eyes. This feeling was like what he felt when he initially fished up the ¡°thing¡±. He was filled with determination and spirit to complete his goal.


    He knew, there was a part of him that knew he would have to succeed.


    Time had passed now, they were about an hour out from their departure location.


    He saw something in front of him, a hook connected to some string dangling from seemingly nowhere. The string seemingly came out of thin air.


    Alaric blinked with his fishy eyes. It was still there.


    ¡°Grab it.¡±


    ¡±Grab it.¡±


    Grab it.¡±


    He found himself saying this unconsciously.


    The hook looked sharp, and it had barbs in it. It definitely wouldn¡¯t be pleasant to grab.


    ¡°Who is the bait?¡±


    The two other passengers suddenly looked at Alaric, their heads transformed into that of fish.


    ¡±When is the fisherman going to come?¡±


    The other passengers asked suddenly.


    Shakily, Alarics hand seemed to instinctively reach out for the hook, slowly.


    Alaric tried to hold his arm back, not wanting to be hooked on it.


    But it was futile. His hand was inches from the hook.


    Splurt


    ¡°AAAAAAH!!¡± Alaric cried out in pain as the hook went through the palm of his hand. It was now stuck in so that if it was pulled out it would cause great pain.


    Flop Flop


    Alaric looked down, there was a dark blue fish flopping on the floor of the carriage.


    The fish stopped flopping and spoke.


    ¡°The fisherman and the fish have become one.¡± The fish said meagerly before flopping out of the carriage.


    Yank


    The hook was now traveling upwards, Alaric¡¯s arm in tow.


    Alaric tried to resist, pulling his arm down, but it only made it worse.


    Suddenly, with a powerful yank, the hook fully dislodged the arm from Alaric¡¯s body and pulled it through thin air.


    He returned to reality frothing at the mouth,


    The two other people in the carriage gave him a strange glance before returning to their conversation, spoken without the heads of fish.


    Alaric didn¡¯t know what to think. It was clearly some fishing adjacent psychosis, but he didn¡¯t know why or how it happened, or what any of it really meant. But he internalized it. It was no daydream.


    A couple hours had passed on the trip now, and they stopped at a campsite where other carriages were parked.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your bread.¡± The driver opened a chest in the carriage with a key, and from inside he took three half loaves of bread.


    He gave one loaf to each of them.


    Alaric quickly ate his bread before talking a stop at the campsite to use the restroom.


    After about ten minutes they were ready to head back on the road.


    They were one hour away from the city.

 Merchant Coast

    The carriage continued down the road. The countryside slowly turned into suburbs, as the rows of corn transformed into humble houses.


    As the distance to the city became closer, the higher economic status was evident. Rather than shoddy wooden houses, houses here were made of nice tiling and brick.


    The fields became fewer, and more specialized trades were evident. Passing a town on the way to the city, there were blacksmiths, masons, butchers, and other tradesmen about.


    The flat terrain started to go downhill. The city was built close to sea level, the countryside being significantly higher up.


    "Passing the great slope now. Should be close." Jonathan said.


    The great slope is what brought everyone down to the city. It was a massive road that went down a lengthy downhill, straying away from the high up flat countryside.


    Alaric clutched his arm, to check if it was still there. Despite some time passing, he was still a little shaken by the vision.


    Alaric was smiling. This was good. It would likely prove to be a hint towards future action. As soon as he would have access to paper and a pen, he wanted to write down everything. Prophetic visions were definitely a good sign.


    The sky was darkening as well. The sky was orange, but was settling into the night. Alaric would have to quickly find a inn before it got dark. Merchant Coast was a relatively safe city, but it was never completely safe.


    The Wolf Slayer guild had a complicated relationship with the city. Being magic users, they had immense power over the people, and were both feared and revered.


    There were few issues of direct evil usage of power, but that didn''t mean their power wasn''t misused. Merchant Coast had a non-magic police force who handled the crime in the city, but occassionaly the mages would try to step in.


    Fame and reputation was everything for a mage, so getting your name in the paper with something like "Heroic mage stops serial killer in his tracks!" would be a godsend towards the career of a mage.


    But this wasn''t always the case. Excessive force was common.


    Alaric had been to the city multiple times before for buying things, and a certain experience was burned into his mind regarding how the mages used their power.


    He was about fifteen, and in a central marketplace getting some foods. Sometimes the vegetables in the village wouldn''t always cut it, so he had to go into the city to get some real meats that weren''t fish or the skinny ass chickens in the village.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    It was a nice day and the marketplace was lively with people buying and selling numerous things.


    This peaceful atmosphere was then broken by a sudden utterance.


    "You stole from the wrong store. You will be put to justice!!!"


    A young mage uttering a corny line had shouted out, catching the attention of everyone. People turned their heads towards the stall, including Alaric.


    It was a dye stand, selling expensive and rare dyes.


    The alleged thief was now being stared at by all of the surrounding people, before she started running to get away from them all. The mage was a wind mage, using wind to increase their movement speed.


    The thief was also young, maybe about seventeen. She was a normal looking girl, who didn''t seem very malicious. She was wearing a simple blue dress, and she seemed shocked after she was accused.


    Of course, she had actually stolen something, she was holding a thing of dye with a tag still on it.


    But she didn''t deserve what happened next.


    The mage was running extremely fast, pushing away the crown to get at the girl.


    "Stop in the name of windmage Stephen!!!" The mage said before releasing a strong gust of the wind at the girl.


    It was strong. Way to strong.


    The wind, target at the girl, sent her about 100 feet into the air.


    The crowd went completely silent, frozen completely. Of course, Alaric was part of this, not feeling like taking action in any direction.


    Then before anyone unfroze, the girls body crashed to the ground in a mess of broken bones and bleeding flesh.


    Wails of disgust resounded throughout the audience, the mage that had done the deed was still frozen, a look of horror plastered on his face.


    Alaric returned from the memory. Mages were difficult to understand. Alaric was of the opinion that magic should be like drugs alcohol and guns, one should only be able to learn how to use them and apply them either under extreme supervision or not until they have enough judgement to use them.


    The city was rapidly approaching. From the height on the slope that they were at right now, they could see the entirety of the city.


    The city was large and had many tall buildings, all about six stories tall or higher. There was a massive border wall, that encircled the city and some of the ocean outside of it. There were three large gates on the land side for entering.


    There were even more gates on the water side, all highly guarded. Although the Merchant Coast defined itself as a place of multicultural exchange and tolerance, this was only able to be made true by the extensive safety measures present. With mages present in the world, cities would have to be cautious about who they would let it.


    There were a plethora of boats in the harbor, mostly docked. There were almost no boats in the outside water, as it was too dark for major unloading of cargo and goods.


    Eventually, they reached the gate where they were stopped by a city guard.


    "How many do you have?" The guard asked. They were wearing a large metal mask that muffled their voice, so their gender wasn''t obvious.


    "3 in the back."


    "Any mages?"


    "No."


    "The guard looked in the back, seeing the three.


    "Whats with the fish eyed guy?" The guard asked.


    "Birth defect. You know some are like that out in the country." The driver responded.


    "Alright. Go on in."


    The driver went inside the city and then dropped them off before heading off somewhere to park and stay for the night.


    The three of them were now in the city at dark.


    Alaric would now have to find a place to rest before the next day.

 Sleep a night of reality

    The sky was almost completely dark.


    The streets of the city were illuminated with dim lamps. The lamps were on high posts, emitting a dim orange glow.


    The other two passengers of the carriage had already gone their separate ways, and the carriage driver was gone to park somewhere for the night. Alaric was alone on the streets.


    Unlike the country, the roads here were immaculate. They were made of smooth, comfortable stones. Without shoes the texture of the stones would be a delicacy to the feet. But Alaric wasn''t feeling exactly like rubbing around his feet in random places. He wasn''t like that. Not many people are.


    Despite the darkness, there were still people moving about. The majority of the trade in the city happened during the daytime, but the city was always bustling. The city had relatively few local residents, but because of the trade center that it was, the city was always full with people of other nations. Alaric noticed some short blonde men with shoulder length hair, clear indicators of residents of the faraway kingdom of Clondire.


    Alaric grabbed his sack of money. The sack was relatively discreet, so he didn''t feel too much risk of it being stolen. Alaric looked around the city for signs indicating places to stay for the night.


    This would be easy. As the city was used to hosting people from everywhere, it was filled to the absolute brim with inns and hotels. The matter was finding an affordable one.


    Alaric glanced in the lobbies of a couple of the hotels near the gate. Looking inside one labeled "The Charles Hotel" it was obviously out of his price range.


    The lobby had a fountain in it, and the floors were made of marble with red carpet. The hotel attendants were all wearing suits.


    "Clear scam to trap the merchants into spending too much on sleeping." Alaric shook his head.


    "Money should be spent on important stuff, like fishing based on occult tradition." Alaric nodded, a sign of approval towards the path he was going down.


    The path he was going down consisted of deadly spikes that would puncture the feet and lock one into stagnant suffering, but the spikes were made of pure gold, making the path worth it if one could get through it and collect the spikes.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    He wouldn''t be able to have enough money if he spent on stuff like this.


    Alaric decided to head to the east side of the town, to the area furthest away from the trade center. It took about an hour, and it was extremely dark now, but it would be worth it.


    "Ones mind is like a sobbing fish and ones wallet is like a fishbowl. The more water (money) that leaks out, the more suffering that is brought. But also, if one never changes out the water, (gets and loses money) one suffers almost equally, it just takes longer." Alaric was feeling like a philosopher. But despite the bad analogy, the message was clear. Alaric wasn''t against spending money, but the money had to have a use to him.


    Alaric reached the less economically fortunate east side of the town. It was too far from the center of trade to reap many profits from the rich traders, so it had cheaper prices for lower quality things. A fair trade off.


    Alaric saw what he was looking for.


    "Cornelious'' inn." A wooden sign with crudely painted black lettering greeted him. The building was completely wooden, and looked dampened from some previous rain. There was no doubt that the roof was leaky.


    But the prices were low. Alaric approached the door, and as he got closer to the door, a couple skinny rats scurried out. Alaric quickly scooped one up and gripped it firmly, but not too firmly as to cause any discomfort to the rat. To tell the truth, the rat kind of liked it.


    Alaric sniffed the rat.


    "Smells like five charred a night. Isn''t that right rat?? Isn''t that right." Alaric asked the rat. The rat had one eye and was mangy and white.


    The rat nodded as if to be friendly Alaric.


    "You get it! Alright come with me." Alaric kept the rat as he entered the inn. One would never know when a rat would be useful. Rats were smart and brutal. When angry they could bite and induce pain. If one could tame a rat and fatten it up, it would be about 1.5 dogs worth of smarts and a quarter of a dogs worth of strength. So it averaged out to only being slightly worse than a dog.


    Alaric went in the door rat in hand.


    There was a chubby balding middle aged very vaguely androgynous pale man waiting for him on the other side.


    "I''m Cornelious. Five charred a night."


    Alaric showed all of his teeth in a smile.


    "Exactly" He said.


    He reached into his bag and took out five.


    "One more charred for keeping the rat. You know what, half a charred for the rat and i''ll give you two pieces of bread." Cornelious said.


    Alaric liked him.


    He took out two more charred.


    "Keep one." Alaric winked at Cornelious before he headed out to his room with two pieces of bread.


    The room was meager, just a standard bed, window and desk. But the price was undeniable. This was the best possible situation.


    Alaric had one of the pieces of bread, and gave the other to the rat. The rat stayed in the room, and already seemed a little docile.


    Alaric prepared to go to sleep, taking off his clothes other than his underwear to sleep in.


    It was still his birthday, this would be his first night being eighteen years old.


    Alaric''s fishy eyes gently closed in the hard bed next to the rat.


    Alaric slept in reality. He relaxed and allowed himself to rest. He would have to be ready for an intense economic day tomorrow.


    Alaric was already asleep, snoring with a tone similar to a goose.

 Shopping time

    Alaric woke with a smile on his face, it was time to spend some money.


    This inn would likely serve as home base for a second, so he familiarized himself with it.


    The rat was in the bed next to him sleeping.


    Alaric gently tapped the rat to wake it up.


    He had no real attachment to the rat, he just randomly decided to keep it. There was no real overarching need for the rat.


    Yet the rat was.


    Alaric woke the rat up and then started to put on his clothes to get ready for the day. He wanted to have a quick breakfast before heading out to the market to get some gear.


    He quickly got on his shirt, pants and boots and got ready to head out. He grabbed the sack of money in one hand. He no longer had to hold the rat, it rested on his shoulder after he let it on it.


    He was mildly concerned that the rat would relieve its waste on his shoulder. Only mildly though.


    He headed into the communal bathroom before he would head down for breakfast. On his way into the inn he saw that there was a small kitchen and that simple meals were served there.


    He took some water and splashed it on his face to wake himself up. He also adjusted his hair so it didn''t look horrible. Finally, he went to the bathroom to be rid of waste.


    Breakfast time. Alaric now feeling fresh headed down for breakfast with the rat.


    "Good morning!!!" Cornelious was already awake and serving breakfast to a couple. The kitchen was small, and was directly tied to a bar with four stools which was the only seating. Alaric sat on a stool that would leave a space between him and the couple.


    "You got money for breakfast?" Cornelious said bluntly.


    "Yeah sure, what do you have?" Alaric prefired bringing out three charred.


    "Sausage egg and bread." Cornelious said.


    "Sure. How much?"


    "One charred each." Cornelious responded."


    "I''ll have all three then." Alaric said as Cornelious went into the kitchen to fetch the food.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "A jack of all trades is a master of none." The man in the couple said next to him, making eye contact with alaric with his piercing green eyes.


    Alaric looked at his plate, seeing three eggs.


    "Alright man." Alaric said. This guy clearly liked eggs.


    "But is still better than a master of one." The girl said, with a plate of two sausages and one piece of bread.


    "Got it. Good advice." Alaric said blandly.


    "The fuck is wrong with these people?" He thought in his mind.


    The plate of one egg sausage and piece of bread descended upon the counter in front of Alaric.


    "Thanks." Alaric said to Cornelious, giving him three charred.


    He broke bread with the rat and gave it the piece of bread. It was a sizable piece of bread, but at the same time the rat was sizable.


    He then devoured the sausage and egg. He gave the plate to Cornelious before heading out.


    "I''ll pre reserve the same room for tonight." Alaric said, handing five charred to Cornelious.


    "Sure!!!!! Godspeed on your day." Cornelious said taking the money with a smile on his face.


    Alaric and the rat headed out to the street. They were on the east side of town now, and would have to walk a little before being in the major economic district. The primary goal was to buy a boat. Because of the budget, it would likely have to be a small wooden boat.


    The docks were on the ocean side of town, so they would have to move north to get to the ocean. Although he planned on river fishing eventually, fishing on the ocean would be the easiest method for now.


    Alaric walked through the town. It was about 9:30 in the morning, so people were starting to go out. It was a workday, so many were already at their job, early in their shift.


    Breakfast restaurants were opened, and rich merchants were eating expensive seafood and meats in outdoor seating.


    It took about forty five minutes to reach the town center. The town center was where the Wolf Slaying guild was located. The trade zone was closer to the ocean, but the town center had easy access to that area, having a large direct road to it.


    The Wolf Slayer guild was a large, castle like building. It was made with large tan stones, looking almost like a sandcastle. It was four stories tall, but it expanded widely. The windows were mostly closed as not to reveal anything that was going on inside. On the front of it at the main entrance, there was a large insignia of a wolf''s head being bashed down by a hammer. A brutal insignia for a brutal group of people.


    While the Wolf Slayer guild members were not evil, they were known to demonstrate hardcore hunting tactics and were not very merciful. Luckily, this was mostly in regard to wild beasts and monsters.


    Alaric liked this city. It was very internationally influenced, the architecture varying from building to building. The air was nice and cool, it was a wonderful day.


    Alaric continued on his way now going down the main wide road. Horses and beast of burden were also on their way, carrying expensive goods. Alaric wasn''t looking for super expensive goods. He was looking for a deal.


    There were many tourist traps along this main street, just walking down it there were stores ran by quacks selling ridiculous potions.


    "Fools. True power comes from fish." Alaric thought. He told himself this so that his confidence would grow. He was yet to reap many rewards from Esoteric fishing quite yet.


    Eventually, he reached the trade center. Despite the early time in the morning, it was bustling with people. It was directly on the water, and there were large ships unloading and loading massive loads of cargo on and off.


    This was where the money was. It smelled like money.


    But the smell of money was yet to fall upon Alaric. For now he would have to leave the major merchant area and head to a discount shop to hopefully find a boat.

 Boatyard

    Alaric was now heading away from the main merchant area.


    Looking around, prime commerce was in session. Truly many things were being sold.


    From expensive perfumes made from rare slimes, to swords imbued with lightning, many things were being sold.


    But this area was too expensive. This was the market where the elite merchants and rich warriors would go to purchase goods.


    Unlike some of the previous areas in the city however, this wasn¡¯t a place for scammers.


    Truly, with the amount of powerful people brute strength wise present, if one delivered a faulty product, there would be consequences. One had to be prepared for danger in a world of superhumans.


    Many stalls had guards to protect them.


    Seven foot tall muscular giants of men stood beside pudgy merchants that were selling some kind of luxury good or another.


    This marketplace would be a valued resource in the future. Having access to worldwide goods and connections would be crucial later on.


    But for now, Alaric was somewhat broke.


    He now reached the end of the city touching the ocean.


    Looking out, he could see many ships leaving and entering the city.


    Out in the distance, the outer walls of the city could be seen with their tall gates that either allowed or denied entry to the merchant ships.


    Looking to the left, Alaric saw the Grand Fortress Arena.


    Despite the time period, gladiators were still as popular as they had been a while ago. Many mages that didn¡¯t find successful careers in guilds flocked to arenas, desperate to get some value out of their expensive magic education.


    Alaric was vaguely interested in the arena. It was always interesting to see what people in desperation will do to save their lives, and many of the matches were intense.


    In rare instances, mages and standard warriors were able to prove their worth in the arena and then transition to a guild. There were sometimes scouts in the crowd for the high tier matches.


    Alaric continued to the right. If there was to be a place that ships were sold, it would have to be along the ocean.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    He walked along the coast, rat on shoulder. The rat provided slight comfort in its company, but it was ultimately useless. The only ¡°company¡± Alaric truly desired was the company of powerful fish.


    Alaric grinned widely, and began walking at a faster pace. He wanted to get started as soon as possible, so buying a boat and fishing gear would need to be done as fast as possible.


    After all, Esoteric Fishing was a slow process that required patience and time. Thus, the factors that can be controlled before and after the fishing are where time saves are important.


    ¡°Time is the most finite resource in the world. I need time to fish.¡± Alaric thought.¡±


    After walking along for a while, the area started to become less hyper capitalist. Of course, hyper capitalism would need to later be employed, but Alaric needed to refrain from spending excessive money.


    He was aside a railing that trailed along the coast. There were some stores along the side, things primarily for locals such as furniture and groceries. He was nearing the right area.


    After walking for a steaming hot second, it was about midday when he found what he was looking for.


    ¡°Matilda¡¯s shipyard¡±. It looked like a humble shop. It had a tall wooden fence around it and he couldn¡¯t see inside. There was a gate, so Alaric tired opening it.


    Locked!!!!


    Then below the sign telling the name of the shop, there was another sign.


    ¡±Ring the bell for service.¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s what I like, an organized and exclusive service.¡± Alaric said out loud to himself.


    He would have to be on the good side of the seller, as he didn¡¯t have a ton of money. If his memory served him correctly, he had 966 charred left. 300 of this would have to go to fishing gear, and another 300 would have to be left for basic life supplies.


    So in reality, he had 366 charred left to go to a boat. This wasn¡¯t much.


    He rung the bell, and put on his game face. He would have to match the energy of the seller in order to get a good deal. For negotiations, interpreting the other party was something crucial for both sides in order to yield the optimal result.


    Ding ding ding


    Alaric ringed the bell a tactical three times. This set a precedent for reason. If the bell was rung too little times it displayed overconfidence in ones ability, which would be dangerous. But if it was rung too many times, it would be worse. It showed that one was insecure and was unable to operate within a realm of reason.


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± The gate opened to who Alaric thought would be Matilda.


    She was a middle aged woman, maybe in her early forties. She was strong looking, having moderate muscles. Her hair was tied behind her head and she was wearing a simple set of pants and a blouse. She had a medium sized corn cob pipe in her mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to buy a ship. I¡¯m interested in seeing what you have.¡± Alaric assumed a serious tone. He couldn¡¯t be overly casual or overly pretentious. From a quick glance, she would be about standard business without excessive formalities. After all, this wasn¡¯t a first rate shipyard, it was a reasonable local one.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s what I assumed you would be buying. What kind of ship are you looking for?¡± She opened the gate and welcomed him into the shipyard.


    There was no one else in it, it seemed to be something that was experienced one on one with Matilda.


    ¡±I¡¯m looking for something for fishing. I just need a one person vessel, and I would prefer for it to be small and sturdy.¡± Alaric throught about what he was looking for. He wouldn¡¯t need a ton of space for his goal.


    ¡±Come with me.¡± Matilda said.


    ¡±We¡¯ve got some leftover ships.¡± She said finally.


    He would now head over to scope out his future vessel.


    A ship was a fisherman¡¯s kidney. It would support them, and it would be better if water was present. He now would have to buy a kidney (ship) to support himself.

 Ignatius

    "Our fishing boats are over her." Matilda motioned for Alaric to follow her.


    "My shop is a flipping business. I buy up beat up boats, fix them up a little, and then sell them back. I get a lot of ships from the navy and fishermen." After a major naval battle, there are a large amount of boats that are either outdated and damaged. They don''t bother fixing them up so they sell them to people like me." Matilda explained.


    Alaric licked his licks in excitement. This smelled like getting a good price. He couldn''t repair the ships by himself so this was going to be his best bet for him to succeed.


    He considered his luck. This was a perfect shop to find at this moment. But luck wasn''t something to feel cursed with or guilty about for having it play in your favor. The universal constant of luck kept one in check. It could destroy someones life until they were left as a blob of goo, or it could build someone up as a tower stretching to the heavens. Luck is fair in being universally uncontrollable.


    "Ehh, this isn''t that lucky. Boat shops aren''t that crazy. I''ll save my luck talk for later hopefully. " Alaric was hoping that luck would come out more while he was fishing, rather than when he was buying boats.


    "Take a look at these." Matilda motioned towards three boats in ascending size.


    The first boat was a small boat, humble. Made of wood. It was a basic paddle-boat and it had an oar in it. It had enough space for him to keep his supplies in it. It would definitely suffice in terms of practicality, but it didn''t really speak to Alaric.


    But it would likely be cheap. If it was bought more expensive fishing gear could be bought.


    "I should never question my mental dialogue. If my gut feels like it is wrong, it should be wrong." Alaric rubbed his gut gently, pondering. It was too boring.


    "This one is alright, let me pin it. It''s just a functional boat." Alaric told Matilda.


    That one was clearly a fisherman''s boat.


    "This next one is a little bigger." Maggie said pointing to the next boat.


    This one was more interesting. It was a sailboat. It had a large sweeping sail that would allow it to be quick. This one was about speed.


    Alaric considered its advantages. Speed wouldn''t be important if he would be staying in place at a fishing hole. But it would be nice for getting out to more obscure locations as well as traversing the world.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Yeah this ones cool, you know what, i''ll pin it too." Alaric continued a pinning trend.


    "This one''s nice too." Matilda pointed to the final ship. The largest one.


    This one was clearly a warship. It was covered in spikes on the outside, and had a single cannon on it. It was large and plated with metal.


    It was converted into a fishing ship a little. It had less bulk than a normal warship, and had some fishing additions.


    Again, there were pros and cons.


    It would be slow and clunky, and wouldn''t be effective for travel.


    But it would be intimidating and would provide protection from any dangerous fish.


    "It''s alright. Lets get into prices. What are we talking about for these three?" Alaric began negotiations. It was time to make a decision.


    "250 for the first one, 300 for the second, 320 for the third." Matilda said.


    Alaric was slobbering in his mind. They were all under his budget. The rat even seemed to pick up on Alarics chemical emissions that signified how happy he was. The rat let out a little chirp.


    Now was decision time. Because of the reasonable prices he decided there would be no negotiations. He would buy it at market price.


    The choice was between price, speed, or strength. This was truly a scenario like red hair and the three giant badgers, except in this case all off the oatmeal was good. He would have to just decide.


    "You say you do repairs right? For ships?" Alaric clarified.


    "Yes. All ships really." Maggie responded.


    "Well how about this, I''ll take the first one, but you help me mod it a little." Alaric decided.


    Despite his gut feeling, that was just towards the base boat. Once the price was revealed, things changed. But the first boat was a perfect blank canvas. The other two already had their strengths, but flexibility was a great ability to have. If he could customize this ship to his liking with his remaining budget, he would be able to make a worthy vessel.


    Sometimes money was the best cure to a gut ache.


    "Deal. I''ll bring it into my workshop and i''ll see what I can do. " Matilda shook Alarics hand.


    The boat was then rolled into her workshop.


    The workshop was full of tools, nails, hammers, saws, things of the like.


    And there was a massive pile of scrap wood and supplies.


    "Ok so my vision is to be a little more durable. Speed is less important to me right now. But I don''t want to be insanely slow. And lets make it a little more livable, can you get a little roof bit?" Alaric requested.


    "So, metal plating and a small structure on it. I will expand it a little to help out it''s flotation. I''ll install a sail too. I''ve no other jobs right now." Maggie said.


    Alaric got the image that she did this for the love of the game, not for money. A massive, extremely massive benefit for him.


    Alaric looked around the workshop and something caught his eye.


    "Can I have this harpoon too?" A metal spear attached to a rope caught his attention. It was created in a manner that would allow it to be attached to the boat.


    "Sure. An extra a hundred charred for all the mods." Matilda finished.


    Alaric took out the amount of money for the service.


    "What do you want to name the boat?" Matilda said.


    "Ignatius." Alaric stated. It was a name dear to him.


    Thus Ignatius went into the shop to be modified.


    With the remaining money he would now go out for his fishing gear.

 Gear time!!!!!

    It would be a steaming hot second before Ignatius would be ready to go out on the seas. It would likely be 2-5 days before it would be complete. But it would be worth it eventually. Sometimes good things are instant, sometimes they take time to ferment in reality before they become delicious and lucrative.


    A good boat was one of those things. Alaric would be willing to wait a short while before embarking.


    In the meantime he would buy his other gear as well as gather information. Heading out Esoteric Fishing without any semblance of what he was doing was a sentence to a boring and unlucrative life.


    ¡±I¡¯m not boring and unlucrative.¡± Alaric said to himself. He enjoyed affirmations that affirmed his identity as being a cool guy who is going to be rich.


    Now he needed to get his gear together. A fisherman would need proper tools, especially one of the esoteric variety.


    He had 300 charred left to buy stuff.


    A mental shopping list was formed in his mind.


    -Decently durable clothes


    -Some kind of basic weapon


    -Two fishing poles


    -Spare gear for fishing like string and hooks


    -Spare money for bait


    As Alaric¡¯s knowledge of Esoteric Fishing was limited at the time, he didn¡¯t know what to use for bait. All he did know was that it was a crucial part of the process, and would require some knowledge gained before buying proper bait.


    Walking back, Alaric looked around for some stores to purchase things.


    He was still discount searching.


    After a while of walking, he came across a used clothes store.


    ¡°Sweeeet!!! Should be able to find something suitable in here.¡± Alaric said out loud. He was prone to vocalizing his thoughts now even though his only audience was a strange rat.


    He entered the store.


    Ring Ring


    A bell sounded to indicate that a customer had entered the store.


    ¡±Lots of bells huh¡­.¡± Alaric contemplated the usage of bells. He liked bells to a reasonable extent, but not to the extent of some people. ¡°Some people like bells too much, and it gets in the way of success. Bells often distract from the core of humanity, despite often providing a nice accent to peoples rather boring lives.¡± Alaric thought. Luckily, he didn¡¯t like bells too much so he wasn¡¯t distracted.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The store was divided into a women¡¯s and men¡¯s section. Alaric promptly headed to the men¡¯s section, specifically where the workwear was. Many blue collar workers die, so there is usually a plentiful supply of used clothes. Especially when construction occurs in an area not highly regulated by humans, wild beasts and monsters often created casualties among standard workers. It was the harsh reality of living in a world where base humans are on the weaker end of life forms.


    Humans had high intelligence, and that allows them to construct methods to counter the otherwise physically dominant other species of the world. However, humans have no innate magic, therefore they have to forcefully learn it in order to apply it. This is what sets them apart from beings like giants who while dumb, have an innate sense of magic much like humans have an innate sense of reason.


    Alaric was getting distracted thinking about the implications of the imbalance of power between species in the world. In the moment he would need to focus on buying some decent clothes.


    He looked at the options. He was planning on spending about sixty charred on clothes.


    He would need some nice durable stuff.


    Starting with boots, he would need really good boots. Shoes are the roots of the body, and without good footwear everything would go wrong.


    Alaric picked up a sturdy looking pair. They were brown and had nice laces, but the bottoms were a little worn. Looking at the price, they were listed at ten charred.


    ¡°Not bad not bad.¡± Alaric took them. They would be sufficient.


    He now turned his attention to other clothes. There was a massive bin in the middle with a ton of loose clothes in it. Many of them had questionable stains. Taking out a standard cotton shirt, there were bloodstains on it. It was clear that most of these clothes were not obtained with the owner alive.


    ¡±If it brings down the price I¡¯m all for it.¡± Alaric thought. He wasn¡¯t completely all for it, blood was unsightly, but he tried to convince himself of it for the benefit of his sack of money.


    Sifting through more clothes, Alaric landed on something. A large pair of orange overalls.


    He looked over them, they were in great condition. The fabric was thick and durable looking, and looked waterproof enough. It was his size as well.


    He glanced at the price tag.


    ¡°20 Charred¡±


    Alaric assumed a deep thinking pose, putting a fist below his chin and resting on a table.


    This was quite a lot, but it would mean he wouldn¡¯t have to buy pants.


    ¡±It¡¯s worth it.¡± He decided on finally.


    A quarter of a tear emerged from his eye, possibly being a tear transmitted from his sack of money.


    He had thirty charred left for clothes.


    He quickly went over to the socks and underwear section.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about this.¡± Alaric thought to himself. It would be strange to buy used versions of these things. But, they were cheap. So he obliged. Getting the cleanest stuff he could, he now was equipped with adequate underwear.


    Finally, he would need shirts. He went back to the bin, and chose two shirts. Both of them were dubiously clean, but it didn¡¯t matter. He got a brown cotton shirt and a black one. Both of them were long sleeved, and both of them had minor bloodstains and other miscellaneous stains. But they were five charred each.


    Alaric had ten charred left in his clothing budget. He decided that he would treat himself to something fun.


    He went over to the hat section. Hats, despite many not acknowledging their utility, were invaluable. They protected from the sun and provided shade.


    He went over and looked at the practical hats.


    He settled on a classic fishing bucket hat. It was seven charred.


    The hat was dark grey, and had white embroidering.


    The embroidering was that of a fish, so it was fitting.


    Alaric payed for the clothes and exited the shop with a new set of clothes and a bag to carry them in.


    The bag was provided by the store.


    Next he would have to purchase the practical fishing gear.

 Fish and thoughts

    Alaric now headed off to get some gear. He would like to find a sport and game store that would likely have everything he would need.


    Big sport and game stores were a godsend from the modern society.


    Alaric began to reflect about modern society.


    "Man, technology is tough." he thought.


    Society was pretty advanced, steam power was already invented. But time moved slower. Due to the power of wild beasts and monsters, and evil humans tearing down society with extreme powers, society advanced very slowly, and sometimes regressed.


    "one step forward, two steps back" would be an accurate way to describe the world.


    Currently, it was year 17,270. Usually due to extreme powers, civilization often reset every five thousand years or so. It was a shame, in a world with people with extreme powers, it was natural that they would take advantage of their strength to tear down society.


    Time was measured from when magic came to the world. Magic came to beasts first, thus leaving humans behind. There was a time of prosperity before magic arrived, humans advancing greatly.


    But humans ended up getting gapped by the magic beasts, effectively resetting society from its peak, thus years started to be measured differently.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Once humans figured out magic, a new age of power was ushered in.


    "From my influence, I will bring the age of fishing." Alaric thought.


    Every time he thought about fishing a large smile spread over his face. He wanted nothing more than to crush magic users under the flopping body of a fish.


    "Ehh, I don''t hate mages. I just see them as a rival faction. Becoming powerful through the hard road will ultimately be worth it. It has to be worth it." Alaric convinced himself again.


    Half a tear streamed down from each of his eyes, adding up to one total tear shed.


    Alaric was questioning his path.


    "How, can I be truly powerful through fishing?? Is this really worth it?" Alaric thought.


    "Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes." He heard a voice.


    Alaric saw a vision. Out of his left eye he felt something.


    "Ah shit!" Something was coming out of his eye.


    Flop Flop


    Something thick was coming out of the surface of his eye.


    It felt like he was giving birth to something out of his eye.


    "I''m not the father!!!" Alaric said unintentionally.


    Flop Flop


    It was a fish. A black fish with red scales on it.


    The fish kept coming out. It felt like a giant rope. At this point, he could see the mass. It was a giant rope-like black fish crawling out of his eye.


    It stopped coming out. It was still attached to his eye.


    The head than looked towards Alaric and spoke.


    "This is YOUR path. Experience doubt under fear of death." The fish uttered.


    "The fuck!?" Alaric screamed.


    He then understood.


    "Yes." There will be now more doubt in my mind. He reached towards the head of the fish to shake its head.


    He liked shaking hands to certify deals, and fish don''t have hands.


    He grabbed the head of the fish and shook it, feeling the slime in his hands.


    Shwoop!


    The fish flew back into his eye, regaining the form of his pupil.


    Alaric wasn''t sure if it was real or not.


    There was no one in the direct vicinity so he couldn''t verify.


    "It doesn''t matter. All that matters is fish." Alaric finialized.

 Obese Carp

    Alaric had about 243 charred left for the rest of his gear.


    He needed to buy fishing rods, a weapon, and bait.


    Like he thought earlier, he would just set aside some money for the bait for after he got information about what to do.


    For the bait, he set aside fifty three charred, leaving him with 190 charred flat.


    Now he would have to find the right store.


    He was in the Merchant Coast, there were stores everywhere. In the midst of plenty, it is often difficult to hone in on the best of the best. And oftentimes, it was impossible.


    But Alaric had grown up nearby, and thanks to a map he knew about where to go.


    "Obese Carp Fish and Game"


    A strange name, but it was what he was looking for.


    The Merchant Coast was divided into sections, and subsections within that. If one had the money, almost anything could be bought and sold.


    But this meant that one had to have intimate knowledge of the city to find the good stuff.


    The stores that were often advertised were expensive, and were purely profit focused. In order to find the real quality goods, with human flesh and soul imbued into their construction, Alaric would have to really look.


    He started with the Obese Carp.


    The Obese Carp was run by the fishing guild, so Alaric trusted in slightly. It was the biggest fishing good store in the city. Alaric would take a look.


    It was pretty close to the boat shop that he had stopped at. It was in the general maritime district of the city.


    But due to the prevalence of the fishers guild, it was closer to the major economic center of the city.


    There were guilds for almost every profession, and they ranged in size. Being the biggest city in the surrounding area, Merchant Coast was home to the majority of the guilds of the region. The Wolf Slayer guild was the major mage guild. That was the most important guild in the area.


    The fishing guild itself was on the far side of the city, close to the suburbs outside of the walls.


    The real fisherman operated outside the walls of the city. The direct area near the city was too disturbed by merchant ships and vessels for the good fish to be around.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    The thought of good fish made Alaric Lick his lips.


    "I can''t wait...." He thought.


    He started walking over to the store. It was now about 3:00, so there were a lot of people about.


    His strange fish eyes caught him some attention.


    "Are you a mage?"


    A little boy with his mother asked him.


    "No. Definitely no." Alaric responded.


    "Then why are your eyes like that?" The boy asked. The mother seemed to be tugging him along.


    "I ate too much fish." Alaric responded smiling.


    The boy continued on his way.


    Magic users often had physical side effects from the magic they used, thus the misunderstanding.


    As previously stated, magic isn''t innate to humans, so often when exposed to intense magic, their bodies would have to shift to adjust to the magic.


    But this was a reasonable alibi to use for his fish eyes.


    If he pretended to be an apprentice mage, it would explain things to a lot of people.


    "Thanks little boy." He silently thought.


    But this would only be for emergencies. In general Alaric didn''t want to associate with mages.


    He kept walking, and passed the central market.


    And he kept walking. It was not time for people watching. It was time to get stuff for fishing.


    He eventually found the shop.


    Is was a large brick building with a dome on top. The dome represented the glory of the fishing guild. The building was large, and had many windows. On top of the sign was a bronze statue, depicting a giant carp. The carp was obese and looked gluttonous. Clearly a well fed carp. The statue was carved very well. Alaric was never a huge artist, but he could recognize real art. This obese carp was real art.


    Alaric only hoped the fishing goods inside matched in quality, but would only be a fraction of the cost.


    Alaric entered the store.


    Ring


    Yet another bell. Yet another bell.


    He ignored the bell.


    Entering the store, it was of a large size. There was a section for fishing poles, tools, baits, lures, nets, anything one would need for fishing. There were a couple of other people in the store, but nobody notable. Mostly men aged twenty to forty, all fisherman likely. The older ones had shriveled faces due to the salt breeze on the ocean.


    Alaric started with looking for poles.


    He went to the pole section to talk to the pole attendant.


    "What are we looking at for poles here?" Alaric asked.


    "Just standard stuff. What are you looking for?" The attendant said.


    "Just two standard durable poles." Alaric responded. He wanted to start small scale.


    "Alright look at these." The attendant brought out a couple poles.


    Alaric eyes were caught on something. There were tags on them with the price.


    "250 Charred"


    "Oh hell no." Alaric thought and almost let slip.


    "You know what, I''ll look for some tools." Alaric transitioned to a separate part of the store.


    The tool section contained numerous things.


    Alaric was looking for something to use as a solid weapon.


    He wasn''t going to get a sword or a spear or something. He wasn''t a warrior, he was a fisherman and a businessman.


    He settled on the knife section.


    "Machete, 20 charred."


    Alaric picked it up. It was a nice, solid, large knife.


    Decent weight, and it was sharp.


    "I''ll look for a pole somewhere else." Alaric thought.


    But he wanted to buy something here. And the machete would do.


    It was also a very discreet weapon, many tradesmen carried some kind of knife for their occupation. A sword would imply more intent to slay humans.


    Alaric was not yet a human slayer.


    He went to the checkout, and came out with his machete.


    All that was left was the rods. The pillars that would hold him up. He needed good poles.

 The twin pillars of Alaric

    Rods are the pillars that hold an Esoteric Fisherman up.


    They serve as the primary force that connects the fisherman to the fish, therefore having good rods was of the greatest importance of Alaric.


    Thus, proper rods must be selected. Although the rods at Obese Carp were alright, they would be insufficient. Sure, for a normal fisherman, fishing up normal-ass fish, they would be awesome. Exemplary even.


    But they wouldn¡¯t do for Alaric. He needed more for less. Life was all about maximization, and getting more for less. Being able to control and mediate how much more and how much less is the true greatest skill anyone could have. If one can get more for less, they will be eternally content.


    Whether it be getting more food for cheaper, or anything else, it needed to happen.


    Alaric decided to wander the streets. He switched gears. He now decided to head to the fisherman¡¯s guild. There maybe he could not only get some of the information that he wanted, but also purchase old rods off of a fisherman.


    There were pros and cons to buying a used rod. There was a certain insurance in quality, if they had been used before there was a notion of possible usage, albeit with more damages now. There was also the pricing side of things. Used things were almost guaranteed to be of a lesser price point.


    ¡±Alright. I¡¯ll head to the fisherman¡¯s guild. It¡¯ll be fine if it takes me a sec, my boat won¡¯t be ready for a while anyways.¡± Alaric thought. No matter what, he wouldn¡¯t be able to start fishing until his boat was ready. But now, he had entered the stage where the emphasis was on obtaining information.


    Alaric started walking again. The clothes and machete he carried around with him were weighing on him a little. He wasn¡¯t the strongest person, and the stuff he was carrying was heavy.


    The fisherman¡¯s guild was near the outside of the city on the west side, so Alaric would have to traverse a while. The city was relatively large, but it was easy to navigate with exclusively straight roads forming a grid-like pattern.


    The farther one got from the city center, the more suburban the city became in vibes. Outside the city it was structured similarly. The city got more the closer to the gates it was. The strips of the city that headed further into the center were the expensive areas. In between and on the edge of the city was where more of the residents lived a less rich life.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The city also had external suburbs, being working class towns with tradesmen, some who would commute to in the city. The farmlands and the peasant towns were on top of the great slope, and then those spread out into plains for a while, even the agricultural towns thinning out more the further inland they came.


    Human society was mostly based near the edges of continents. The other beasts of the world gravitated more towards the center, thus creating a natural spread. Despite much of civilization being centered on the outside of civilization, the truly most powerful countries were on the inside of continents. Despite the dangers of the beasts and monsters, with truly talented mages and warriors, if those beasts were to be slain, the rewards would be enormous.


    The central cities often contained two or three mages and warriors that had true power over humanity.


    Alaric was once again getting sidetracked thinking about the world. But it was fine. He had been sitting on a bench resting while he contemplated, so he was regaining his strength for the rest of the day.


    ¡°Ehh, I¡®ll check out the guild tomorrow. It¡¯s already five and I haven¡¯t had lunch.¡± Alaric thought.


    He was embracing his inner sloth. His plans had already changed twice regarding the poles.


    Thus, after his rest on the bench, he set off back to the inn to put stuff away for the night. He had done much the past two days, and haven¡¯t had good time for rest.


    ¡°Proper rest is the foundation of strength and consistency.¡± Alaric remembered his father¡¯s words. Alaric used to just want to toil in the fields endlessly to distract himself from his lack of a social life or any meaning in his life, and he often got overly exhausted.


    ¡°Man, I was like the perfect peasant¡­.¡± Alaric reflected on his peasantry and how peasant he was.


    He imagined the feudal lord of his region crying himself to sleep knowing that he lost someone who would be in the GOAT debate for the greatest peasant of all time.


    But Alaric was resolute. He was no longer destined to be a peasant. The aroma of esoteric fish made him mentally float up in the air and float towards the wafting fragrance.


    It was time for rest now. Alaric grabbed his bags as he started to head over back to his inn.


    He walked back through the economic district and passed by the Wolf Slayer guild. It was now six and he was entering the residential area where his inn was. The rat had remained on his shoulder the entire time. He would be fed soon. Soon.


    He was enclosing on the inn before he noticed someone behind him holding a fishing rod.


    They were tall, very tall. Now that Alaric was looking at them, they were about seven feet tall. Not many people were seven feet tall.


    They were pointing to the fishing rod.


    They kept pointing at it.


    They were clearly trying to get Alarics attention.


    Alaric was definitely interested. Not only did he like fishing rods, he also liked tall people, male or female. So it seemed like a win-win scenario.


    Just in case, he took out his machete and pointed to it a couple times.


    The tall person waved their hand no, and then beckoned Alaric to come,


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll go over. He thought. This would be a useful encounter if it involved getting a fishing rod.


    As he got closer, he saw the persons face.


    There were horizontal lines going across the length of their face, they looked like some kind of¡­ scarring?


    ¡°Huh, they kind of look like a worm.¡± Alaric thought.

 Pound of Flesh

    The person with the scarring put down their hood, revealing their face. They had not yet spoken a word. Yet there was a mutual understanding between the person and Alaric that they were on somewhat of the same wavelength.


    There was a general non-murderous vibe going on between the two of them.


    Alaric let down the machete and put it back in his bag. This was not going to end in a fight hopefully.


    The face of the person brought up even more questions for Alaric.


    As the hood was lowered, their entire face revealed itself. They were extremely androgynous. It was impossible to tell if they were a man or a woman from their face. They were also bald, but still had eyebrows and eyelashes. The top of their head was a dim kind of bald, with no even small hairs. Smooth, but not shiny. It was no longer light out, so there was nothing for it to shine off of anyways.


    The scarring was the most notable aspect of the person other than their height. There were dark brown segments segmenting their face that were about three inches wide and had about a four inch gap in between them.


    ¡±They look pretty much like a worm.¡± Alaric let out a light chuckle. It was funny that someone who was related to fishing kind of looked like a worm. It was possibly intentional.


    The person gestured towards the rod again, making no sound. They pointed to it with an expecting face, pretty much saying ¡°You wan¡¯t it don¡¯t you.¡±


    Alaric did want it. He wanted the rod of this strange worm scarred person.


    Alaric nodded.


    The person nodded.


    Then they spoke.


    ¡±Pound of flesh for rod.¡± They said firmly in broken speech. They talked as if they hadn¡¯t talked for a long time, as if it was unnatural.


    ¡±Like you want me to do a favor..?¡± Alaric questioned.


    The person shook their head.


    ¡±Pound of flesh. It is only like so because you are of our mind.¡± They responded.


    ¡±Of our mind???¡± Alaric thought.


    ¡±Oh so you¡¯re an esoteric fisherman?¡± Alaric asked.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The person nodded.


    ¡°And you want a pound of my flesh for the fishing rod? Like a hunk of my flesh?¡± He tried to confirm.


    The person nodded.


    ¡±Is it a good rod?¡± Alaric countered.


    The person began nodding vigorously.


    ¡±How about I give you the pound, but you also tell me more about Esoteric Fishing?¡± Alaric asked.


    The person shook their head.


    ¡±Fish first.¡± They responded.


    ¡±But if I give you a pound of my flesh now I¡¯ll get the rod for free, no money needed?¡± Alaric responded.


    The person nodded. The terms were very clear. A pound of his flesh in exchange for the rod.


    ¡±Can I take a look at the rod before I decide?¡± Alaric asked. He wanted to get the optimal deal out of this. He somewhat trusted that this person was an Esoteric Fisherman. They had a strange, fishing-adjacent appearance, and they requested a strange material.


    From what Alaric knew, strange materials were crucial to Esoteric Fishing. It was not unheard of to require flesh to catch certain fish, despite how morbid it may seem. In the world of Esoteric Fishing, although this wasn¡¯t the norm, it wasn¡¯t entirely unheard of.


    Alaric took the pole in his hands to examine it. The person handed it over.


    ¡±No yeah, this is sweet.¡± Alaric said. It was a very nice rod.


    The person nodded.


    It was made of some kind of black metal, it was shiny. It was sleek and looked durable. He tapped it against the wall to test it.


    ¡°Feels good. This is a really good rod!¡± Alaric said.


    The person nodded.


    The weight and feel of it were immaculate, it was truly a solid rod.


    ¡°Yeah no, I¡¯m seriously considering this, this is a cool rod.¡±


    The person nodded.


    ¡±It¡¯s not like, cursed or anything right? This isn¡¯t just some kind of strange ritual to change its possession over to me?¡± Alaric said.


    The person paused for a second, and then shook their head.


    ¡±Be honest. Is it cursed?¡± Alaric re-asked.


    The person slowly shook their head.


    Alaric looked at the person not believing them.


    The person slowly transitioned into nodding their head.


    ¡±Yeah that¡¯s what I thought.¡± Having a strange worm person hand them this good of a rod was too good of a deal.


    ¡°How bad is the curse? Give me it in a rating out of ten using your fingers.¡± Alaric said.


    The person was in thought for a second, and then put up six fingers.


    Alaric thought for a second. A six out of ten level curse wasn¡¯t bad. This was no official scale or anything, but it didn¡¯t seem horrible.


    ¡±Are there some massive benefits to it despite the curse?¡± Alaric wanted to confirm.


    The person nodded their head confidently.


    ¡±Alright. I¡¯ll do it, but I have one final request.¡± Alaric said.


    ¡±Can I do like a down payment on my pound of flesh, like half a pound now, half a pound when I¡¯m assured of the quality?¡± Alaric tried to negotiate. If the person agreed to this, he would accept the deal.


    The person went into thought, scratching the back of their bald head, playing with their cloak, and putting a fist below their chin and assuming a contemplative pose.


    They then delivered the verdict.


    The person nodded.


    ¡±Alright. I¡¯ll get back to you in a week. I¡¯ll be at Cornelious¡¯ Inn, if I¡¯m not there tell the guy to leave me a message for where you are.¡± Alaric stated. He had full intentions for completing the transaction, he didn¡¯t want to anger whatever kind of person this one was.


    The person nodded.


    ¡±Alright, well I¡¯ll get to it.¡± Alaric said.


    He took out his machete before considering where to cut from.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go cut it off of my ass, don¡¯t really need too much down there.¡± He said.


    ¡±Could you cut it off for me?¡± Alaric asked the person.


    The person nodded.

 The rod

    Shwick!


    With a swift motion the person cut off a half pound of flesh from Alaric¡¯s backside.


    ¡±Shit!!!!¡± Alaric started keeling over in pain.


    Being prepared for the pain and injury, the person brought out bandages, antiseptics, and a painkiller.


    The person started by quickly wrapping up Alaric with some bandages. They quickly applied some of the anti-septic onto the white cloth before wrapping Alaric. They were surgically precise, efficiently wrapping up the wound as to let as few drops of blood escape from Alaric as possible.


    It was still extraordinarily painful.


    ¡°Give me the fucking painkiller man!!!¡± Alaric begged the person, seeing the potion in their hand.


    The person promptly handed over the painkiller.


    It was in a small vial, and it had a blue hue.


    Alaric popped the cork on it before gulping it down.


    He was on the ground crying. It hurt incredibly much.


    ¡°Give me a sec, I need to wait for it to kick in.¡± Alaric said struggling on the ground. Luckily, the injury didn¡¯t feel permanently damaging. It wouldn¡¯t be overly obtrusive in the future.


    For about five minutes, Alaric rocked on the ground crying.


    Then the painkiller kicked in.


    ¡±Alright, alright. I¡¯m done crying now.¡± Alaric now stood up. The painkiller was miraculous. He felt perfectly normal, just a half pound lighter.


    ¡°Give me the rod man.¡± Alaric said.


    True to his word, the person handed over the rod.


    It was his now. Whether it was worth it or not was debatable.


    ¡±I¡¯ve already done it now, no use thinking about it anymore. At least I have a fishing rod now.¡± Alaric said out loud.


    ¡±Even though it¡¯s cursed.¡± He said slightly quieter.


    ¡°See you next week.¡± Alaric said. He was tired and just wanted to eat a nice meal and get some rest.


    The person put up their palm signaling for Alaric to wait.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Alaric waited.


    ¡±What is it?¡± He asked.


    The man, had his other hand in a fist. He then exposed it, revealing the contents.


    In his hand was a wooden ring. The ring was made of a dark wood, and had a complex engraving on it.


    Alaric took it into his hands. It was clear that the person wanted him to have it.


    Now he analyzed the engravings.


    On one side was a flower with thorns on it. The flow was large, and the thorns were larger. On the ends of the thorns there were engravings of liquid falling off of them, likely a depiction of blood. There was a hand below the flower grabbing onto the thorns, the hand riddled with holes with blood coming out. A very morbid engraving.


    Alaric peeked on the other side. The other side was much more pleasant. It had a picture of a worm expressing humility. Alaric didn¡¯t exactly know what was so humble about the worm but it just seemed like that. The worm was coiled in a spiral pattern and appeared to be long.


    This was a worm worthy of the title of a solid nightcrawler.


    ¡±Good engraving!¡± What¡¯s this for?


    ¡±You are extreme external ally now.¡± The person said. This was likely something that couldn¡¯t be expressed non-verbally.


    ¡±Ok, so it¡¯s kind of like a token to display my status with you guys?¡± Alaric asked.


    The person nodded.


    Alaric put on the ring, displaying it on his hand,


    It wasn¡¯t unheard of to give jewelry as a sign of welcoming for certain groups. Relationship tokens came in many forms. Some were just rings or bracelets, but there were sometimes more elaborate procedures for deeper bonds. Sometimes tattooing, piercing, scarring, and branding were used as relationship tokens. With such extreme methods, it would show extreme mutual dedication.


    When he was in the market, there were many traders with immense amount of rings and other jewelry signifying their relationships with certain groups. Not to mention some people with large amounts of tattoos or branding. This made it so that if one had a positive interaction with one person of a group, enough to warrant a token, then they would have an easier time convincing others of that group of their reliability.


    The symbols also transcended language barriers, allowing for some knowledge of a person and their affiliations from just a glance at their body.


    Thinking about it, it was now clear that the person in front of him was deeply involved in the organization. They had deep, obvious scarring. This clearly displayed their alignment with whichever faction this was.


    ¡±Alright, see you next week.¡± Alaric said casually. He kind of liked this person. They were very professional and efficient, not to mention reasonable. Despite them cutting of the part of flesh, they were both adults who consented to the business deal, and there was no deception employed by either side.


    Alaric left somewhat happy. Extreme external ally was better than being an enemy. The casual nature of a ring that could be taken on and off at a moments notice displayed that they weren¡¯t yet deeply linked.


    ¡°If they have this whole token system, it means that it is a whole organization. Because that person was an Esoteric Fisherman, it means that the organization is likely something I would be interested in.¡± Alaric thought.


    ¡±What a lucky encounter. Truly fate is on my side!¡± He thought. Then he felt his back and the bandages. The cogs of fate had turned in his favor this time, but they had also taken from him as well. Despite Alaric agreeing to the whole deal, there was still the matter of the cursed rod.


    The curse likely worked in two ways, both a negative and a positive way. Because the person had not educated Alaric deeply on either, he would have to be cautious using it. He would have to employ an extremely controlled trial and error process in order to achieve its potential.


    Alaric was tired now however, and he and the rat were hungry.


    The set off for the final stretch to reach back to the inn.

 Resting

    Alaric and the rat were headed back to the inn. They had gone through a lot today, particularly Alaric.


    The only major struggle that the rat went through was not having any lunch. But Alaric went through a similar struggle.


    ¡°Why does this rat like me so much?¡± Alaric pondered.


    The rat did have a strange appearance, being white and missing an eye. Alaric was moderately suspicious of the rat. It was strange that the rat had such particular attachment to Alaric.


    The main benefit that the Rat got from being with Alaric was a stable food supply, something that was in high demand in modern rat culture.


    ¡°This rat definitely is relevant.¡± Alaric thought. He took a second to examine the rat.


    Looking over it, it seemed to be a normal rat. It was skinny. Its eyes were normal, there was nothing particularly off about the rat.


    There was always the possibility of something being morphed into the rat. Transformation magic was a real thing, and Alaric didn¡¯t have the ability to detect it.


    ¡±I¡¯ll leave it be. The rat is of no major inconvenience to me as of now.¡± Alaric determined. He neither loved nor hated the rat, it was extremely neutral.


    They eventually ended up back at the inn around 7:30. Alaric was tired and hungry.


    The entered the inn, hearing the bell ringing.


    ¡±Welcome back.¡± Cornelius greeted them.


    ¡°Your room should be as it was, I didn¡¯t clean it.¡± Cornelius laughed. It would obviously be extra charge to get the room cleaned.


    ¡±Alright, well can I get some dinner for me and the rat?¡± Alaric asked, listening to his stomach.


    ¡±Sure. Tonight is mutton. Three char a portion. You can give me a half char for some scraps to give to the rat.¡± Cornelius responded, moving into the small kitchen.


    ¡°Sounds good man, sounds good.¡± Alaric said. Mutton was actually pretty good.


    Alaric handed over four charred, he didn¡¯t have any half charred on him so he just tipped Cornelius.


    ¡°Keep the change.¡± Alaric said.


    A tear-esque aura streamed down Cornelious¡¯ face, but no actual tears were emitted.


    ¡±Sure thing!¡± Cornelious said happily.


    Alaric and Cornelious both shared a love for any money there was.


    Alaric waited patiently, playing with the rat while he waited.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    He let the rat crawl over him, and played a game where he would let him on the floor and he would try to catch him.


    The bond between Alaric and the rat was growing closer, but not enough for the rat to get a name.


    After a second, Cornelious came out with the mutton, a hot, small portion with some bread and butter on the side.


    Along with that, he brought a small plate full of scraps for the rat, containing trimmings from the meat and random pieces of the bread.


    Both Alaric and the rat ate ravenously, but cleanly. They didn¡¯t want to waste food by having it smeared on their face or falling on their clothes.


    The food was by no means very good, but it was solid given the price and circumstances. It was pretty much exactly its money¡¯s worth.


    Cornelious had integrity in his pricing that was unmatched with anyone Alaric had ever encountered.


    After eating, Alaric put his dishes and utensils away for Cornelious to clean.


    He then head up to his room along with the rat after eating a moderate portion.


    He was now in his room, and put his stuff away. His purchases today were significant.


    An order was placed for a boat for him.


    He bought adequate clothes for the future.


    He got a machete.


    He got a cursed fishing rod in exchange for a half pound of flesh.


    Alaric was pleased with the haul, placing his various purchases down. It was now time for him to clean himself and relax.


    He got undressed and headed to the washroom, where he rinsed his body with water and soap. Alaric liked to be clean and to try to not smell super bad. He generally felt better about himself when he felt clean.


    He washed the rat gently too, getting some of the grime out of the fur. The rat was still kind of dirty, but Alaric didn¡¯t pursue it further.


    After he finished washing up, he got some underwear on and lied in bed with the rat.


    He then quickly got up and locked the door to his room, something that he couldn¡¯t forget to do.


    He kept the ring on as he prepared to sleep.


    He fell asleep quickly, contemplating about what he would do tomorrow.


    ¡±I need to go to the fisherman¡¯s guild-zzzz¡± Alaric was fast asleep.


    Rip Rip


    Alaric woke up to a strange sound. It was the middle of the night.


    It sounded like something was tearing through cloth.


    Rip Rip


    Alaric was groggy but he got up to check out what was going on,


    It was the fishing rod.


    On the end of the hook, there was a shriveled up fish with sharp teeth.


    ¡±I¡¯ll fucking worry about it in the morning.¡± Alaric thought. He was not in the mood to deal with curses at midnight. The shriveled up fish looked dead enough so that he could leave that matter until the morning.


    Returning to his bed, Alaric went to sleep. In extreme times of exhaustion, even the threat of a curse seemed less of a priority than getting proper rest.


    Alaric awoke to the light of day next to the rat.


    He was in extreme pain. The painkiller had clearly worn off. But the pain wasn¡¯t as bad as before. He would likely want to stay in bed for the day to rest, after all such a large injury would not be practical to walk around with.


    He shook the rat awake, it woke up.


    He decided on a strategy. He would let the rat investigate the ground before he would go. He was clearly alive, and didn¡¯t feel any different other than the injury.


    He set the rat on the ground, and it scurried around the room, making mouse noises along the way.


    Five minutes passed and the rat seemed fine.


    Alaric decided to get out of bed to look.


    He carefully peeked at the rod, and sure enough, the strange shriveled fish was there.


    He now was standing up and holding the rod to get a closer look.


    The fish was grey and wrinkled, it wasn¡¯t very large. Its eyes were red and it had sharp teeth, it was almost a comically evil looking fish. Yet it didn¡¯t appear to pose much of a threat. It was dead.


    Alaric carefully took it off the hook and set it on the ground.


    He now took the rod in his hands to examine it.


    Suddenly, the black color of the rod started to change. It was changing to a brownish-gold color.


    ¡°Huh, likely part of the curse.¡± Alaric thought.


    He was fine taking a chance on the curse, it would likely benefit him in some way, somehow.


    He held the now brown and golden rod in his hands and smiled.


    ¡±This world is a good world to fish.¡±

 Alaric and the rat

    This world was a good world to fish.


    After picking up the rod, Alaric laid on the bed. He wasn¡¯t feeling up to doing something today. He was tired and his ass hurt like hell.


    ¡±Might head down later for some food¡­..¡± Alaric thought. He was still very tired, and felt unproductive.


    Alaric was in bed alongside the rat. He decided to do a personal reflection.


    ¡±I¡¯ll personally reflect¡­.¡± Alaric thought.


    ¡±You know what, me too¡­¡± The rat thought. Many people say this, but rats are pretty smart. They generally know what¡¯s going on some of the time, so they were capable of self reflection.


    Alaric¡¯s reflection:


    I need to confront my personality¡­.. I¡¯ve been boring so much of my life, and now that I¡¯m pursuing Esoteric Fishing I need to plan ahead. Fate can¡¯t be controlled, what will happen will happen. Whether or not I live or die, or am successful or not is ultimately up to fate.


    What am I living for? I¡¯m living for fishing, and for life itself. I just want to be happy, and want to fish. After being boring for so long, I really just want to do something exciting, to make a way in the world.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    But my success isn¡¯t certain. What is certain is how much effort I can put in to achieve my future. I need to dominate.


    What about friends? I¡¯ll need those eventually¡­ I have the rat, I think we like each other¡­ everyone else I¡¯ve interacted with is someone interacting with me for business.


    I want friends. Whether that be to further my goals in money and fishing, or just for fun¡­ it would be nice.


    What about that worm person? We share a profession, and we trust each other reasonably¡­ maybe after we meet for them to take meat off of me again I can ask if we can hang out together.


    Fuck, I don¡¯t want another half pound of flesh removed from me. That hurt like hell¡­. Should have got it done in one go.


    My best friends right now are the rat, my fishing rod, and my machete. What a squad. I¡¯m like two hallucinations away from going to an asylum.


    Damn, what¡¯s actually with the hallucinations? There was the one in the carriage, and then the one in the town coming out of my eye¡­. They probably mean something.


    Probably has to do with whatever I fished up before.


    I feel like the curse is more serious than I think it is¡­ It¡¯s not a great sign that an ominous fish appeared overnight on the rod. I¡¯ll ask worm person when I see them next.


    ZZZZZZ (Alaric falls asleep again)


    Rats reflection:


    This guy is kind of a loser.


    No friends, no job, no wife, not that much money, no good fish to his name.


    But, he feeds me. So he¡¯s chill.


    I feel like there¡¯s something up with him.


    I¡¯m a rat so I don¡¯t need to worry about stuff like that.


    Everything should turn out right for me in the end¡­.


    I just need to meet a nice female rat.


    Now that I think about it, we¡¯re kind of in the same boat¡­ All of my friends are dead and I have no girl, not to mention no money to my name.


    On top of that I¡¯m mooching off of this guy.


    We¡¯re more similar than I thought.


    I¡¯ll stick around.

 Guild of Fishermen

    Alaric and the rat were in the bed and slept through the whole day, they were extremely hungry.


    (Morning comes)


    "Alright, I''m feeling better now." Alaric said out loud to himself. It still hurt, but it didn''t hurt enough for Alaric not to be able to function.


    "I''m hungry as hell..." Alaric thought.


    "You should be too..." Alaric looked for the rat to talk to.


    But the rat wasn''t there.


    Alaric started looking around the small room for the rat.


    "You here man?" Alaric called out.


    Chirp Chirp


    The rat was in the room definitely.


    Alaric then soon found the rat.


    "God, don''t eat that...." Alaric said.


    The rat was eating the strange evil fish.


    "Go ahead and finish it... if the fish is cursed you''d already be cursed." Alaric left the rat to finish off the evil fish.


    Alaric didn''t blame the rat, the rat was just a rat, and he expected the rat to eat whatever it could find.


    After the rat finished the meal, it went onto Alarics shoulder.


    He did his normal morning routine now.


    He went to the washroom and briefly washed himself, and then got clothes on.


    Today he decided to wear his new clothes.


    He put on the orange overalls, brown shirt, and a fresh pair of underwear and socks. He put on the pair of boots and the hat as well. He was geared up to fish, but he likely wouldn''t fish today.


    Alaric also reapplied bandages to feel more confortable.


    Heading down the stars, Alaric prepared some money for Cornelious.


    "Here''s six for the room, and three for some breakfast. What do you have?" Alaric handed him some money.


    "I''ll get right on it!" Cornelious'' eyes lighted up seeing the money.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "Duck eggs and beef sausage for breakfast." Cornelious said.


    "Some scraps for your rat too." Corelious finished.


    After a while, Cornelious brought out some sausage eggs and a bowl of scrap food for the rat.


    "Thanks man!" Alaric thanked Cornelious for the meal before heading out. The strange "Jack of all trades" people were not there.


    Alaric decided to head to the fishing guild. Along with him, he brought his machete and fishing rod. It wasn''t impossible that Alaric would fish today.


    But there were other reasons, majorly two.


    Firstly, Alaric wanted to join the fisherman guild. Although he wanted to specialize in Esoteric Fishing, the guild was open to all fishermen. The vast majority were just normal fishermen or fishing adjacent people. People who had lobster traps, as well as fish breeders were welcome as well.


    From what Alaric knew, Esoteric Fishermen were a strange minority. There were likely a few in the guild, but not many.


    Since seeing the worm person, it was obvious that there were separate factions within the Esoteric Fishermen. But Alaric could join one later. The Fisherman guild was open to people who were part of more specialized organizations as well.


    But Alaric assumed that many of the top Esoteric Fishermen were separate from the guild altogether just to keep a low profile.


    Alaric was already on his way. It was a normal business day for people.


    There were people about, and it was a nice day.


    Despite Alarics strange appearance, people didn''t comment much. Alaric luckily lived near a mage guild and a major international trade center, so seeing people out of the norm was in fact the norm.


    Alaric brought a bag with him with his money. The rat rested on his shoulder, and the rod was resting on his back. The machete was in a sheath on the side of his pants.


    Due to the immense danger present by people and beasts at any given time, there was no attention payed to his weapon. The vast majority of people were trained in a weapon from a young age in case of a monster or mage attack.


    This created a culture where petty crime was somewhat lessened due to most people being capable of defending themselves, as well as the threat of mages upholding the law.


    Even as a kid, in middle school Alaric brought a small knife to school every day. He actually had to prepare to use it once as a four headed wolf was near his school once. Luckily a mage stepped in and blew it up.


    The school smelled like guts for a hot second, but at least it was safe.


    Humans were now a variable species. The average human was not very strong, and even most mages weren''t that strong. But on the other end, due to the intellect of humans that was superior to any other species, the top human mages and warriors were very relative to some of the beasts that be.


    Alaric was thinking about life as he walked to the guild. He had no one to talk to really, and people watching wasn''t always an issue.


    Along his way, he stopped by a store to buy some things for general use.


    He bought some salted meats and fruits and put them in his bag as a snack for later. It was important to keep mentally well through stabilizing ones diet.


    Alaric also picked up a copy of the news. He did go to school and could read and write. It can never hurt to know whats going on in general.


    A lot of the news nowadays is violent, mostly about some guild killing a giant beast or countries declaring war on each other. Not much to look forward too.


    But if one could use any of the information to their advantage the news was useful.


    There was an article that caught Alarics eye.


    "Farmer converted to mage becomes a government employed mercenary."


    "Huh, thats cool, but we already have enough mages." Alaric thought.


    "What is he going to do, kill them with carrots?" Alaric laughed.


    But then he stopped laughing, this guy probably had way more money and was way more powerful than Alaric.


    After peeking at the news, Alaric finally arrived at the Fisherman Guild.

 Recruitment

    Alaric arrived at the guild.


    The building looked old. As far as Alaric knew, it was old.


    It was made of large stone blocks stacked on each other.


    It almost had a church like shape, having straight sides going up into two slopes that meet each other. There was also a large tower at the back. The tower was thick and went straight up vertically about the distance of a lighthouse.


    It wasn''t particularly remarkable otherwise. There were many windows.


    One fun thing about the architecture was the fish gargoyles. They were littered about, strange, menacing looking fish. This was a common tradition. Other than scarecrows to scare crows, totems to ward away danger were extremely common.


    Especially due to the strength of certain wild animals, in areas where they were common, statues of their natural hunters were set up. After the incident at his school, there was a massive statue of a ironskin bear was set up, the natural hunter of wolves. Statues of bears were the most common as wolves are plentiful around here. Hence the Wolf Slayer Guild.


    The gargoyles set up on the fishing guild weren''t for this reason. Aquatic gargoyles were set up on large ships, but not for land based buildings. These gargoyles kind of just looked cool.


    The common trades were all closely linked.


    "It was probably a hook up from the mason guild." Alaric thought looking at a large stone cod that was carved with detail in the scales.


    Alaric stroked the cod mildly.


    He felt the cold stone rub against his hand, and then he took it off. The cod didn''t sit right with his hand.


    Alaric entered the guild building through the large wooden doors.


    "Very old... very old..." Alaric thought.


    Entering the hall, he was met by reception.


    "Hey young fucker, ain''t seen you here before. Whatcha you need?"


    A grizzly old man greeted him from behind the counter.


    He was a slim built but toned old man. He had completely white hair, more specifically a beard. The top of his head was buzzed so there was only thin suggestions of hair at the top. His face was shriveled due to the sea winds, and his hands were even more shriveled. He was standing behind a desk wearing a navy blue jacket.


    "This is exactly who I expected to be hear. Swearing old men. Looks like i''m in the right place." Alaric thought.


    "Get rid of the fuckin rat. Filthy beasts.... you''re lucky I don''t snap its neck now." The man said.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "Alright sure." Alaric placed the rat outside of the building.


    "Wait for me..." Alaric whispered to it.


    He felt a vague nod like aura emitting from the rat, indicating that it understood the situation.


    Alaric felt normal about this. He didn''t expect many people to be fine with a rat scurrying around.


    In fact, it was likely that inside the guild there would be at least one cat loose solely for the reason of cleaning out rats and mice.


    Alaric reentered the guild.


    "I''m here to register for the guild. I''m 18 and planning on become a fisherman." Alaric said to the man at the desk.


    "You''re young kid, you''re probably shit at fishing. Skill comes with time and effort. As a matter of fact, let me see your hands." The man said in an grisly tone.


    Alaric presented his hands. He had farmed a lot as well as fished in his previous years, so his hands were pretty worn.


    "Farmers boy. All you farmers think you''re better than us fishers. Well alright, at least your hands aren''t soft like those mage boys." The man said. "Fuckin mages...." He whispered under his breath.


    "Alright kid. Head over there to sign up." The man pointed to a counter further in the guild hall.


    "Thanks!" Alaric said.


    "This guy is such a classic old fisherman... its like straight out of a caricature..." Alaric smiled as he thought about the man. Despite his mean outside Alaric could see that he was still mean, but he had his heart out for fishing.  Sometimes thats all you need, a heart of fishing.


    Alaric headed over to where the old man pointed to another old man.


    This time it was a fat, like fat old man. He was blonde, had a large beard (that seemed to be a common thread) and he had long hair.


    "Hi there young man! How can I help ya? I''m Emil, head of guild registration. You looking to register?" Emil asked earnestly. He seemed like a nice guy.


    "Yeah, what do I have to do?" Alaric said.


    The man then pulled out a sheet of paper.


    "Fill out this application then give it to me. If you can''t read go get..... " the man scanned the room. "Old Charlie over there..." the man pointed to an old man. "He can read and write perfectly. He''s a writer as well as a fisherman." The man said.


    "I can fill it out myself. Could I trouble you for a pen?" Alaric asked.


    "Here you go young man." The man handed him the sheet as well as a fountain pen.


    "Alright, lets fill this out real quick." Alaric thought.


    He was in the guild hall right now, there were tables everywhere where men and women were conversing. Some of them had food and drink, some of them were telling stories, and some of them were playing music.


    First name: Alaric


    Last name (if applicable):


    Title (if applicable):


    Age: 18


    Location of residence: Staying in an inn


    Other organizations (If applicable):


    Highest level of education: High school


    Previous occupations: Farmer for parents farm


    Fishing experience: Recreational fishing since young age


    Type of fishing speciality: Game fishing (fishing for prize fish)


    Favorite fish: Salmon


    Do you have a boat: In construction


    Are you mentally stable: Most likely (yes haha)


    Fishing history in family: Grandfather and grandmother had domestic crabbing experience


    Reason for joining guild: As an aspiring fisherman for my future, I hope to connect with the fishing community and broaden my horizons.


    Do you pledge your loyalty to the guild and its members: Yes


    Signed name: Alaric


    Alaric finished the application. It was relatively simple. The guild was open to most people, the level of distinction within the guild was the real element of contention.


    Alaric went over to Emil to hand over the application.


    "Alright. Thank you." The man scanned over the application and nodded approvingly.


    "You''re in." Emil said.


    Emil then went into a drawer and brought out a necklace with a hook on it. The hook was blunt as to not hook the wearer.


    "Wear this." He said.


    Alaric put on the necklace.


    He was now a very entry level guild member.

 Info gathering

    Alaric put on the necklace. This now added to his collection of significant jewelry.


    He had received a stone cuff from his home town to indicate his birth in Millstone village.


    Along with that, he had also received a black ring with a slight amount of gold on it for completing high school in his town.


    His family was not wealthy or significant, so they did not have a family marking to indicate that he was a part of them. That was reserved for people with last names, or significant status.


    All feudal lords, noble families, and of course royalty all had these things. They often had elaborate and obvious things that indicated them as part of the family. This also prevented powerful people from going undercover easily, as massive piercings,  tattoos or huge pieces of permanent jewelry would immediately give them away.


    Alaric compared to other people had very few honor markings. He had no friends, so he hadn¡¯t received anything from even slightly powerful families within his village.


    He also didn¡¯t have an official job anywhere, instead doing agricultural work for his parents. Nothing in his life warranted major honor recognition.


    But he wanted to change that. Jingling while you walk was a telltale sign of someone¡¯s power.


    At the same time, although Alaric saw status and recognition as the ends, the real means he was looking for was personal achievement.


    Now he would need to gain information. There had to be at least someone in the guild with some information.


    Alaric went back to Emil to ask him a question.


    ¡±Emil, is there a library here? Or some kind of place where scripts are kept?¡± Alaric asked to Emil.


    Emil immediately answered.


    ¡±Yeah we have a record room in the basement. You will have only basic access to scripts, the higher you are in the guild the more scripts you will have access too.¡± Emil explained.


    ¡±Alright, thanks for the help man.¡± Alaric was now on his way to the basement. Heading to the back of the large common room he was in, he found the staircase that was mentioned.


    There were two directions to go. Alaric could go up to the tower, or down into the basement.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    All in all, the majority of the guild building was just the common area. The tower, which Alaric now saw the sign for, was the administrative section.


    There was a sign that listed the offices.


    ¡±Guild leader¡±


    ¡±Vice guild leader¡±


    ¡±Guild elders¡±


    ¡±Script master¡±


    Positions that offices were in the tower were listed. It seemed there was a strict hierarchy.


    ¡°I¡¯m not necessarily planning on doing my progression in the guild, it¡¯ll just be a place for me to connect. Eventually, I¡¯d like my own guild¡­¡­¡± Alaric salivated as he thought about himself as a guild master leading people. He would have a large collection of insane things he fished up, and everyone would be praising him as the leader.


    The fish in his eye emitted a positive aura, giving Alaric more motivation towards his goal.


    In terms of resources, Alaric had little money and status, but he had motivation in bounds. This would not be enough. Alaric would have to start converting motivation into money and status in order to succeed fully. In order to become the top fisherman and bring the world under his iron fist gripping an iron fishing rod through Esoteric Fishing.


    Alaric headed down into the basement. He felt the temperature becoming cooler. The stone was cold and as he headed down, it became cooler.


    There was a door that said


    ¡°Script room¡±


    Alaric entered the room.


    It was a medium sized room with shelves on it. At the back of the room, there was another door.


    ¡±Probably the room for higher clearance.¡± Alaric thought.


    There was also a desk with a woman working at it.


    ¡±Hello.¡± Alaric said. If anyone would know where to find specific data, it would be her.


    He went closer. She was an older woman, about sixty. She had a strong build, and wore a simple cloth shirt and pants. Her eyes are what intrigued Alaric. Her eyes were completely black all the way through, giving her a strange appearance. She was scribbling something down rapidly on a piece of paper. She was using a pencil.


    ¡°What looking for?¡± The woman said sharply. She spoke in a choppy voice.


    ¡±I was wondering if you had anything on Esoteric Fishing? I¡¯m interested in reading about it for fun.¡± He asked.


    ¡±Esoteric Fishing ¡­. Yeah fun huh? You¡¯re not trying to fish something up?¡± She looked at him.


    ¡°I mean, I was just interested in it.¡± Alaric responded.


    She got up from her desk. ¡°We have news articles. Legends too. Some true, some stupid.¡± She said.


    Exiting her general desk area, she stood up to go get a script for him.


    The scripts were of various formats, some scrolls, some books, some newspapers. Society was variable on media as certain technological advancements were created and destroyed occasionally. Sometime certain areas forgot about how to make a certain thing due to just people forgetting, or unintentional destruction of important data.


    She went out into the scripts and brought back two things. The first was a pile of newspaper clippings, the second was a book.


    ¡±Newspaper is random stories. Some truth in them, some are NOT true. Book is fishing legends. Even more not true, some are true.¡± She said finally, handing the two things to Alaric.


    ¡±Sign.¡± She handed him a slip of paper that indicated the things he was taking out.


    Alaric promptly signed it.


    ¡±Two weeks to bring back. Otherwise fine. If you¡¯re new maybe you get suspended.¡± She said quickly. ¡°Bye.¡± She ended her conversation, and went back to her work.


    ¡±Alright, looks like we have some stuff to work with.¡± Alaric thought. He was accustomed to reading, he wouldn¡¯t mind doing some digging.


    Because there was so much false information in these, he would have to do some intense trial and error in order to find something that worked.

 Fishing legends and history

    After getting the documents that he wanted, Alaric headed upstairs into the main guild hall. The documents he obtained weren¡¯t plenty.


    The stack of newspaper clipping consisted about twenty clippings, and the book on fishing legends was about 150 pages long. It looked like there would be some stuff to go off on.


    Alaric asked for a piece of paper to take notes on, and he received it. He started by browsing through the newspaper clippings.


    ¡°Fisherman fishes up an orb of the sun¡±


    Alaric was familiar with this one. The man who had fished it up had since became an archmage due to the power of the orb. Alaric would like to fish up a sun orb, but unfortunately the article had no information regarding what the fisherman did. It described it as a ¡°random miracle¡±.


    ¡±Old woman dies in tragic accident after fishing up Thirty legged amphibious shark in river. Shark goes on murder spree of thirty five people in a small village¡±


    Alaric looked at this article with a grim expression. Although there were some things that could be fished up that were immensely beneficial, it could also lead to death of one¡¯s self as well as others around them. He also recalled a personal anecdote of one of his classmates who¡¯s parent had died when a boat was swallowed whole by a titan leech.


    There were many disgusting and horrible sea creatures, but some of them still had value.


    ¡°Young boy fishes in pond, dies of adrenaline overdose after eating what he fished up.¡±


    This one caught Alarics attention. Reading the article, it seemed that the pond was in a muddy area where animals often drowned. That might have something to do with this fish. But this fish, if it was an Esoteric Fish, didn¡¯t seem intensely useful. Maybe as a poison, but poison could be found easier.


    Alaric wrote a note saying ¡°Adrenaline fish¡±.


    Alaric skimmed through the articles to find other things that would be feasible. The more powerful the thing that was fished up, the less likely there was to be any information in the article as to how it was obtained. The fishers likely went through intense interrogation after they had fished up whatever they had.


    Many of the articles were about tragedies, people fishing up dangerous beasts that killed them or mutilated them. This was the side of Esoteric Fishing that made it so dangerous. There was intense risk involved in fishing through unconventional means.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    For traditional fishermen who used the traditional methods to catch traditional fish, this was seldom an issue.


    In the stack of clippings, there were two articles other than the adrenaline fish one that Alaric noted down. The others were either too unlikely or consisted of things to not fish up.


    ¡°Fisherman fishes up fire breathing fish, scientists appalled¡±


    This article seemed the most feasible. The fisherman was using an experimental boat with a new engine, and was able to fish up a fire breathing fish.


    ¡°I could make that into a flamethrower¡­.¡± Alaric salivated at the thought. Other than to kill people, it would be invaluable for construction workers and chefs if he could find a way to refine it. Precise methods of applying heat were not common now, and would be intensely valuable. This right now was Alarics number one pick to try out. He would just have to figure out what he would need to do to fish it up.


    The last one that interested Alaric was one titled ¡°Man gets eaten by strange sea monster, monster size increases rapidly before its death by the Wolf Slayer guild Naval Sect.¡±


    This one interested Alaric for a couple reasons. There was of course, some danger involved in fishing it up. The beast was obviously capable of killing people. But¡­ the exponential growth part interested him. If he could find a way to somehow control the beast, it would seem to be a powerful source of food, possibly on a high security farm.


    The prospect of a dangerous fish like that would also be too dangerous for other people to attempt, so in a perfect world Alaric would want a monopoly on the fish.


    Alaric now had three main ideas he got from the Articles.


    Adrenaline Fish


    Flame Fish


    Growth Fish


    Now he had a start. If he could find a way to properly utilize these, he would be able to turn a profit.


    He could return to the other articles if these three didn¡¯t work out for him.


    He now went into the legends book. This was going to be likely extremely exaggerated, but within the 150 pages, there at least had to be some basis of truth in it. There would have to be.


    Alaric opened the book to the table of contents. It was organized by time period. Because of the long course of history, there were an assortment of things from different time periods. While much usually got destroyed of the past, there were always a few things that would be able to make it into the new age.


    Some of these Alaric had heard of. Like many cultures, tales that had dual meanings were common. There was often a moral or lesson contained in them that solidified the values and knowledge that was essential to any given culture.


    He skimmed over the ones he had already heard from his parents and his school. While there were many tales told, a select few were relate to fishing, and even less had any basis in Esoteric Fishing.


    He decided to go more niche. There were plenty of stories in the book from different parts of the world. Assuming that people near the ocean and large bodies of water would know the best, Alaric opened the book to a tale from the island country of Northern Stoneland. This island country was wide, and had a long coastline. It was somewhat regular in terms of heat, so Alaric deemed it similar enough to the climate he was in.


    He opened the story of ¡°The crew of the Ship of Stone¡±

 The Crew of the ship of Stone

    The Crew of the Ship of Stone


    Tale from Northern Stoneland


    Dated at likely year 3500


    Manuscript was discovered in year 7822, however it should be noted that altered versions have been passed down through oral tradition


    The brothers Argus and Vargus were fisherman on the island of Heron.


    They were both twenty years old, twins.


    Growing up as fisherman, they fished to feed their village.


    They were strong boys, always working as hard as they could.


    They were very smart and kind boys.


    The residents on the island were mostly old, so they had to do more work because they were young.


    But they persisted. Every day they went out and fished for hours and hours to bring fish to their family and friends.


    But one day, the water turned black.


    The usually pure blue water was now a dark black.


    They went out to fish day after day, but they never fished up anything.


    At this point, the elders in the village accused them of skipping out on their job of fishing.


    But they were honest and explained how there were no fish in the water.


    Still, the elders were impatient.


    The people of the island were getting hungry, and along with that sick.


    A plague was starting to spread and was killing many.


    Every day, Argus and Vargus walked around the village and heard the moans of the starving old people, as well as the cries of pain from the sick.


    They had already cut down on their portions of food, and they were feeling hungry as well.


    Yet, they persisted, and one day they fished up a talking fish.


    The fish looked like any other fish, but instead of normal eyes, it had large spheres of emerald.


    ¡°You boys have done well, looking out for your tribe.¡±


    The fish talked to the boys in a booming voice.


    The two boys had never seen a talking fish before, so they immediately grabbed rocks behind them and tried to bash the fish¡¯s skull in.


    ¡°Foolish boys, you will not be able to harm me.¡±


    ¡±Simply listen to my commands and your bellies will be full, your elderly cured of sickness, and your people happy.¡±


    The boys were hungry broke and lame, so they were now listening to the fish.


    ¡°You will make a ship out of stone.¡±


    The fish stated.


    ¡±Stone?¡±


    Argus and Vargus questioned.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Yes. With my powers I will be able to make it float faster than any ship you have ever seen.¡±


    The fish seemed confident.


    ¡±Alright¡±


    The boys agreed.


    ¡±Anything else?¡±


    The boys still wanted to know more.


    ¡±Bring your fishing rods, because on your journey you will need to fish to overcome challenges.¡±


    ¡±You will bring your older brother, and you will each fish up two fish.¡±


    The fish stated the rules.


    ¡°However, you must only keep one of the fish each when you come back.¡±


    ¡°Otherwise the ship will sink with the weight of the two fish.¡±


    The twins Argus and Vargus actually had an older brother named Chargus.


    He was a fat loser who would drink all day.


    They hated Chargus.


    But not willing to disappoint their tribe, they started to make the ship of stone.


    They carved out a vessel from a boulder.


    It was just a spherical boulder with a divot for people to sit in the middle.


    They rolled it over to the fish.


    ¡°We have brought the ship of stone.¡±


    They responded.


    ¡±Now bring your brother.¡±


    The fish commanded.


    The twins then apprehensively went to their home, and into their brothers room.


    They found their brother chugging a bottle of wine.


    ¡±Whadddya wahnt?¡±


    The brother was drunk.


    ¡±Come with us to save the village.¡±


    The brothers told him.


    ¡±I¡­. Don¡¯t wanna¡­¡±


    He responded drunkenly.


    ¡±Come and I¡¯ll buy you a beer.¡±


    The brothers reasoned.


    ¡±Sure.¡±


    The brother promptly stood up and followed them.


    ¡±Alright now, you all get in the boat.¡±


    The fish commanded.


    They all followed the order, getting into the boat.


    They brought their fishing rods with them.


    ¡°You will need bait, I will give you each two objects.¡±


    ¡±Fish with those objects and you will get one fish each.¡±


    ¡±Choose which one you want and throw the other back.¡±


    ¡±Remember, if any of you bring two of yours back, your vessel will sink.¡±


    The fish then moved the boat out onto the water, and it miraculously floated.


    The brothers now set out past the area with the black water into blue water.


    ¡°As eldest brother, I will go first.¡±


    Chargus took out the first piece of bait.


    It was a bottle of alcohol.


    ¡±I wanna drink it¡­.¡±


    Chargus said.


    ¡°No brother.¡±


    ¡±Put it on your line and you will get something better.¡±


    The twins told him.


    Chargus reluctantly put the bottle of alcohol onto the hook, hooking the cork.


    He let it sink into the water and almost immediately, the alcohol was taken off and a fish was on the line.


    Chargus quickly reeled it in.


    The fish was red.


    Chargus squeezed the fish to see if something would happen.


    Suddenly, a flood of beer came out of the fish.


    ¡±This is the best fish ever!¡±


    Chargus positioned the fish above him and chugged the beer.


    The second fish he fished up was a regenerating fish that could satiate the hunger of anyone.


    Argus then fished up his two fish.


    Argus fished up a fish with all-curing medicinal mucus.


    He used a strange looking plant as bait.


    ¡°This could cure the sick in our village!¡±


    Argus exclaimed.


    The second fish he fished up was a golden fish.


    He fished it up with a bar of gold.


    The fish then pooped out expensive jewelry and gold.


    ¡±This could make me wealthy!¡±


    ¡±But, healing the sick is more important.¡±


    He decided he would get rid of the gold fish.


    ¡°Wait brother, make the choice once we fish them all up.¡±


    ¡±That way, if Vargus fishes up another healing fish you could have the gold fish.¡±


    Chargus said.


    He was still chugging the beer out of the fish.


    He was ¡°off the fish¡±.


    ¡°Very well.¡±


    Argus decided to wait.


    Vargus was last.


    The first thing he fished up was a smiling fish.


    He fished up this fish with a joke book.


    ¡±I am an entertainer!¡±


    ¡±I am pregnant and my children are great entertainers that will bring a smile to all who witness them!¡±


    The smiling fish stated.


    ¡±I could entertain our boring ass village with this!¡±


    Vargus exclaimed.


    He fished up the last fish with a rusty sword.


    What he fished up was a shotgun.


    Shooting it as a test, it seemed to have infinite ammo.


    ¡±With this I could be the most powerful warrior ever!¡±


    Vargus exclaimed.


    ¡±But, the happiness of the people is more important.¡±


    ¡±I will try to take the entertainment fish.¡±


    Vargus decided.


    ¡±Before we decide, we should all examine all of the fish.¡±


    Chargus said.


    ¡±Good idea!?¡±


    The twins exclaimed.


    They didn¡¯t expect a sound thought to come from Chargus.


    Chargus immediately reached for the shotgun.


    He then shot each of his brothers ten times each.


    They were now Swiss cheesed piles of meat.


    Chargus scooped up all of their fish.


    ¡°I still need to throw out one of mine¡­¡±


    Chargus thought.


    He threw out the food fish, and kept the beer fish.


    Chargus kissed the beer fish.


    He started back to the island.


    The boat didn¡¯t sink.


    According to the rules, he couldn¡¯t bring back two of his, but if his brothers were dead he could bring back all of theirs.


    Returning to the island, he was hailed as a hero.


    He healed the sick.


    He gave everyone nice jewelry for a cost.


    He entertained them.


    But all of them starved after a week because there was no food.


    They were all dead.


    The end.


    Alaric thought this was one of the stupidest things he had ever read.

 Analysis and planning

    The story was strange, but Alaric was able to get some useful information from it.


    While likely not 1:1, the bait used to fish up the objects may be useful to know. Even if it wasn¡¯t exact, it would be worth thinking of the general ideas.


    The six fish and the bait used are as follows:


    Beer fish - Bottle of alcohol


    Food fish - Unlisted


    Healing fish - Strange plant


    Gold fish - Gold bar


    Entertainment fish - Joke book


    Shotgun - Rusty sword


    The two most compelling to Alaric were the shotgun fish and the beer fish.


    The beer fish had an accessible form of bait. Alaric was of drinking age in his country, so it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for him to buy a bottle of alcohol.


    The shotgun fish also seemed interesting, a rusty sword could be easily found.


    Of the two, Alaric would want to do the beer fish more. The rusty sword seemed more metaphorical. Of course, Alaric would still try it, but it didn¡¯t seem extremely likely.


    But the beer fish had limited utility. If it could truly generate infinite alcohol, it could be sold, but that was unlikely. If it just produced alcoholic saliva or something similar, it wouldn¡¯t be overwhelmingly useful.


    In stories like this, there wouldn¡¯t be any extreme fishing techniques. From what Alaric could assume, the truly earth shattering fish could only be obtained from serious effort, and the easier it was to fish up the fish, the lesser the effect present.


    Reportedly, there was an ancient fisherman who killed his entire crew to use as bait to catch a giant fish. As far as Alaric knew, he wasn¡¯t able to fish it up, and he was sent to an asylum.


    Because of the amount of information, and dilution of the truth over time, one would need to be careful to not be rash in what they sacrifice for the cause of fishing.


    The inclusion of a shotgun interested Alaric in the story. Because of the technology level of the world being highly variable, it was interesting to Alaric that the modern invention of the shotgun was something that was actually reinvented from an old idea.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Alaric now needed to make his choice.


    His first two picks were going to be the fire fish, and the beer fish.


    He kept the adrenaline fish and the shotgun in his back pocket as side expenditures,


    Now he needed to create ideas.


    The fire fish was likely related to fishing with something fire related.


    ¡°It should be something like gas, matches, something like that.¡± Alaric thought.


    ¡°And the beer fish should just be alcohol, I can buy some cheap stuff and it should be fine¡­.¡±


    He looked at his money, and estimated how much he had left.


    He had about four hundred charred left.


    Alaric had spent most of it on the boat that would be coming soon.


    In the time in between, Alaric would buy some possible bait.


    He mapped out his schedule.


    -Get bait


    -Get boat


    -Second half pound of flesh


    Alaric went back down to the archives in the basement.


    ¡±I don¡¯t need these clippings anymore.¡± :Alaric told the woman.


    ¡±Good. Bring book back two week.¡± The woman said dismissively.


    She took the clippings and returned them back to. The newspaper area.


    The other newspaper articles were all positive. Mostly about economics and the fishing market. Most of the people in the guild were dedicated, full time fishermen, so they would have to understand the fishing economy in order to know how to properly sell.


    The guild was very old as well, so there were plenty of newspaper clippings from the entire history, yet only about a handful that suggested Esoteric origins.


    As Alaric was leaving with the myth book in hand, he saw someone come out of the door for higher clearance.


    The man actually had a strange appearance. He was wearing a large bulky green vest with a camo print on it. On his side was a pistol, but it didn¡¯t look like any pistol Alaric was familiar with. He had a large white beard, and was covering most of his body in a large cloak.


    The man seemed to be in a hurry, and he quickly left the room.


    ¡±Who was he?¡± Alaric questioned the desk woman after he had completely left.


    ¡±Central continent guild member.¡± The woman said, glancing up briefly before going back to the work.


    She said it as if she knew more, but couldn¡¯t disclose anything further.


    Alaric inferred that he was an Esoteric Fisherman.


    Wearing a full body cloak like that usually meant that he had something to hide underneath, likely a prominent symbol that would recognize him as a member of a certain organization.


    Alaric contemplated following him, but it was probably a bad idea. People like that weren¡¯t people who you should mess with.


    Like the worm person, they were likely a part of an organization that had a strong backing, either by a guild or government.


    Alaric now decided to head out again. He had been reading for a while, and was getting tired. His attention span wasn¡¯t long enough for the whole day.


    He decided that he would grab his rat and head out. Maybe go to a bar to get a drink.


    Alaric headed out of the guild with the book.


    He didn¡¯t end up using any of the tools he brought, they were kind of useless to bring.


    After he headed out of the door, he found the rat on top of one of the fish gargoyles. He picked the rat up and headed out.


    He went into his pack and took out some meat for the rat. He felt bad for leaving it out. He seriously started to feel attached to the rat.


    It was the first companion he had made ever, including his family.


    Alaric started on his way back while looking for a place to get a drink.


    Walking on the road with the rat, all he could think of was fish and alcohol. The perfect combination for a lonely man and a rat.


    Alaric didn¡¯t know if rats could have alcohol, but he would give it some anyways.

 Drinking and driving (not at once)

    Alaric and the Rat were walking back to Cornelious'' inn.


    They were both looking for a drink. Alaric was also planning on buying a bottle for attempting to fish up the beer fish.


    Alaric didn''t exactly know how he would use the beer fish, but it would likely be somewhat useful?


    "If the alcohol it produces is of high quality, selling alcohol is a pretty ethical way to make money..."


    Alaric thought.


    If he was going to eventually stray away from the ethical path, it would be nice to have a humble business as a back up. Owning a bar wouldn''t be so bad.


    "Alcohol can be expensive too, so it can be like a money laundering thing!" Alaric became happy. Esoteric Fishing and its goods were relatively unknown to the public, so it was highly unregulated.


    If Alaric could take advantage of the unstable legality of the moment, he could become filthy rich.


    From what Alaric knew, that was what magic used to be like, or still is in places where it isn''t super common.


    People using water magic or fire magic back in the day were able to do all kinds of things to make a shit ton of money.


    That was Alarics plan.


    Esoteric Fishing sometimes yielded similar methods to magic, but there are some major differences in variability of power, as well as legal status.


    This is the main reason Alaric wanted to pursue it.


    "People like my sister flock to magic, and end up in an oversaturated market. Although some mages are successful, most are mediocre at best." Alaric thought cynically.


    He was personally never interested in magic.


    Alaric and the rat walked around the city looking for a nice place to get alcohol, and eventually found one.


    Alaric decided to go to one in the commercial district of the town. He didn''t want to cheap out on bait for the fish. He also just wanted some decent drink, not some shoddy thing from a random store.


    They went into "Cogwheel Bar"


    It was a medium sized place, having a first story and a balcony second story.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    It was lively, merchants of all kinds sitting around tables and talking, negotiating about goods.


    People with heavy jewelry were walking about, as well as some more middle class looking people.


    It seemed like a decent enough place.


    "No rat."


    The bartender spoke out.


    "Makes sense makes sense.." Alaric said.


    "Wait outside, i''ll get you a beer." Alaric told the rat before letting it outside.


    The rat crawled onto the building to protect itself. As a weak being one would have to resort to hiding, lest one get slimed out by a cat or a mage.


    Alaric now went to the bar.


    "Can I get one beer, and a small cup? On top of that can I get five small bottles of various alcohols?"


    Alaric said.


    "Can you be more specific?" The handlebar mustached bartender said.


    "Just give me something bro" Alaric handed him fifty charred.


    "I''m not your "brother" however I will accept your money." The bartender took the money and came back with some drinks.


    He came back with a beer, disposable cup, and five small bottles of various alcohols.


    "Thanks man, I really appreciate it." Alaric said to him.


    "Ok.." The bartender responded before going over to a female customer to flirt akwardly.


    "Loser..." Alaric thought, specifically thinking about the bartender''s abysmal hairline.


    The bartenders hairline was reminiscent of the letter "W".


    Alaric then drank most of the beer he got, poured the rest in the disposable cup.


    He then casually slid the small bottles into his backpack for later.


    Exiting the bar, the rat dove headlong into the cup of beer, immediately slurping it up.


    The rat evidently was a fan of beer.


    Alaric quickly judged the rat, and came to the conclusion that it was of a rat proportional age to a human drinking age.


    They then headed back to Cornelious'' for the rest of the day.


    The rest of the day consisted of their normal routine of eating, washing, and sleeping.


    At dinner, the jack of all trades people were there again.


    When Alaric had ordered a small steak, some potatoes and some salad, the people commented again.


    "A jack of all trades is a master of none."


    The man said with just a steak on his plate.


    "But it is still better than a master of one."


    The woman said with a small steak and salad but no potatoes.


    "Who are these people???" Alaric thought.


    The rat also equally was confused by the people.


    The next day, they set out to buy some fire goods.


    Heading to a home goods store, Alaric bought some gasoline, a lighter, and some matches. It came together to cost about thirty charred.


    All that was left before he could start fishing was the boat.


    Alaric spent the next days chilling around the city, and he bought snacks to eat on the boat as well.


    The day finally came when the boat would be ready.


    Alaric headed back to Matilda to pick up the boat.


    Ringing the bell, Alaric didn''t feel like commenting on the bell.


    "Here. Boat''s ready." Matilda responded, letting Alaric in.


    Heading into the shipyard, they approached the boat. The boat was named "Ignatius".


    It had all of the modifications that Alaric was looking for.


    It had a small shelter on the top, to protect from rain.


    There was also a sail setup installed that would allow for smooth and fast sailing.


    The harpoon rested on the front, for any possible usage.


    It was perfect.


    "Sweeeet!" Alaric said.


    "It''s all yours." Maggie said.


    "You can dock it here if you don''t have your own dock." Maggie said to him.


    "Alright. Let''s get it into the water. " Alaric regained his composure and proceeded.


    They hauled it out to the dock, and let it into the water.


    It looked heavy and durable, it wouldn''t be able to go very fast, but it would do the job.

 Out fishing

    Alaric let the boat out into the water.


    It was beautiful.


    Ignatius floated on the water like a fat hippo, except the hippo was gorgeous. The hippo would serve him well for the future.


    Alaric slowly got into the boat.


    He had some sailing experience from his childhood, some of his relatives were sailors. They were rich enough to have sailboats but not rich enough to give a lot of money to Alaric''s family.


    But he was determined to make his own money.


    He half cursed his sailor uncles and aunts for being so stingy,  but also blessed them because they taught him how to sail. All in all, the curses and blessings added up to being perfectly neutral. This was a useless expenditure, the result remained the same if he cursed or blessed them or not.


    "It''s the thought that counts...." Alaric whispered.


    Matilda looked over at him, cigar in mouth, and looked at him like he was insane.


    "It''s the money that matters... not who I''m selling to.." Matilda whispered under her breath. She had adequate experience selling to people who had questionable goals. You wouldn''t believe the kinds of people that buy used boats. They ranged from virtuous merchants looking for a deal who abided by the law regularly, to maniacs that were destined to not even be able to go to normal hell, they had to go to evil boat buyer hell.


    Matilda shuddered. Alaric wasn''t nearly that bad.


    "He does have really weird eyes though... and that rat, I feel like it likes alcohol.... Classic used boat buyer..." Matilda thought, giving a renewed opinion on Alaric and the rat after she had seen them before. She also glanced at the machete at his hip, and the strange looking fishing rod on his back.


    But Alaric didn''t care. He wanted to get right to fishing. Maybe, just maybe he would start fishing today. He brought his bag that was full of alcohol, gasoline, and snacks.


    Alaric stepped in the boat.


    Matilda almost wanted to ask what was in the bag, but she decided not to. She had seen some things in peoples bags that weren''t pleasant. Such was the life of a used boat seller.


    Alaric was happy to use her dock.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    His plan was to take it outside of the city and to a neighboring town to stay in.


    He just needed to be in the city for shopping. The likely plan was to get a rental house at a nearby village and go into the city when he either needed to buy or sell.


    "I need a place that is low-key... If I mess up in the city, then i''ll be caught way easier." Alaric thought.


    "Alright, I''ll be out of here. Thanks for the boat."  Alaric said to Matilda.


    "Good luck." Matilda responded, puffing out some smoke.


    Alaric released the boat from the dock, heading out into the ocean. There was enough wind today to work with, he could navigate pretty smoothly.


    He wanted to head outside of the city walls. It would be too obvious if he were to conduct his business in visible range of everyone else.


    Alaric was out on the ocean now, he could feel the salt on the breeze.


    He was wearing his full outfit, orange overalls, shirt, and hat. He had his cursed fishing rod on his back.


    "Fuck.... worm guy has to take another half pound of flesh today..." Alaric remembered.


    His plan now changed. He would head outside the city walls, fish for a bit than quickly head back in.


    Alaric was now dreading the rest of the day. His usual saliva filled grin was replaced by a neutral expression now. He wasn''t upset enough to frown. Alaric had never frowned often. As a kid he would assume complete neutrality and boredom at all times.


    But now he was pretty much always smiling now. As long as fishing was in his future he would always be happy. It was unfortunate that he hadn''t really fished very much.


    As he was thinking, he was heading out to the nearest gate. The store was near the coast, so it wouldn''t be super far to get to the exits.


    Alaric was about halfway to the gates. He decided that he would start by fishing for the fire fish. Flamethrowers were really cool, so he would want one.


    Alaric imagined the possibilities.


    He could have a personal flamethrower, immolating anyone who opposed him. He could sell fish-based flamethrowers as a pescatarian arms dealer. He could have a fish in every high end restaurant cooking a fat capitalist merchant''s mutton.


    He also imagined a plethora of blue collar workers welding together a large building.


    This fish would be of such use that it would be earth shattering.


    "I just need to fish it up..." He thought.


    This was going to be easier said than done. There was never any guarantee that any step of the process would work. And once he fished it up, he would have to figure out a way to tame it quickly, or kill it. Otherwise he would be burnt, and would fall apart into ashes, screaming.


    Alaric was now at the city gate, it was a little bit past midday.


    He would have to get past the guard to get through to the free ocean.


    "Who are you man?"


    There was a guard at the gate. He was on a small platform before a gate. There was a lever next to him. The platform was barred, making it look like the guard was in jail.


    Alaric laughed a tiny bit.


    "I''m heading out to fish." Alaric said, pointing to his fishing guild indicator and his fishing rod.


    "Yeah works for me man. Take this." The guard reached out of the bars to give Alaric a coin.


    "How long are you going to be out for man?" The guard asked Alaric.


    "Like a couple hours." Alaric said.


    "Cool man, cool." The guard wrote something down.


    "Give the guard you meet on the way in the token man." The guard said before opening the gate.


    Alaric was out on the free ocean now, he could finally fish.

 Testing the water

    Out on the open seas, Alaric headed out a while before he would start his fishing.


    He would need to head out a reasonable distance before he would start.


    His expectation was to not fish up anything.


    Esoteric Fishing was notoriously difficult.


    If he were to fish up anything, it would be a miracle.


    But again, there was a range. Some fish would be able to be fished up quickly, some would take much longer.


    Alaric sailed out into the ocean until there were no obvious people around him.


    It was mid-afternoon, so he would have about three hours before he would have to head back. He didn''t want to be late to getting part of his body chopped off.


    He set out to a location that was reasonably far from the coast.


    "I can still comfortably see the city from here, should be a good enough spot."


    Alaric did a quick sweep around, looking to see if there was anyone nearby.


    "As long as they aren''t directly next to me it should be fine...." Alaric thought.


    "You''re fine.. I''m not worried about you.." Alaric glanced over to the rat that was scrambling around the bottom of the boat.


    He brought his supplies out of his bag.


    He started with a bottle of alcohol. He decided on the beer fish first. It seemed that there wouldn''t be much room for interpretation in the story. It was just a matter of dipping alcohol in the water.


    He was going to do the fire one, but that would be too chalant right now. Alaric couldn''t imagine bringing a flamethrower back now. He would have to establish a base to return it too for something like that that could serve as a weapon.


    The alcohol fish would be lest significant. There were likely normal fish without any special abilities that would be worth more money.


    Alaric prepped himself mentally for fishing.


    He sat down, and breathed calmly, focusing on himself.


    He felt the depths of his soul, and measured them out, creating an accurate image of his internal self. He felt his mind. There were two, one overlapping over the other. The first was a human mind, the other was unknown.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    He concentrated his entire body, becoming completely dialing in.


    His concentration was immense.


    His fish pupils were shining blue, his eyes emitting a small glow.


    The edges of his mouth curled up, contorting into a disgusting smile. Like usual, a little bit of slobber was rolling down his face. He was now ready to fish. His mind was now that not of Alaric as a human, but of Alaric as a man of the fish.


    He put his hat on, and brushed his medium length dark hair back and out of his face.


    Taking out the fishing rod, he examined it to start.


    He felt along the rope, stared at the hook, and became familiar with it. It still had the golden glow that it had when he first attuned to it. It was straight and strong. It looked standard, being metallic. The metal hooked around the reel in a straight line, making it look sleek and modern. It was very clearly a different appearance than that if it when he got it from the worm person.


    "Clearly cursed. It likely changes form based on a certain condition." Alaric intuited a theory for what the rod''s curse was. Even if that was true, Alaric had no theories as to what the curse would entail otherwise. The modifier that the change in appearance provided was yet unknown.


    "I don''t care. I''ll just use it. If it sucks i''ll sell it. It at least looks cool, so it''ll sell for a decent bit." Alaric thought.


    Alaric got out the bottles of alcohol. They were varied, each consisting of a different kind. There was a bottle of wine, vodka, beer, whiskey, and a mixed drink.


    Alaric started with the vodka. He put the hook carefully through the cork so it would stay in.


    There was not a very clear way that the fish would bite on, but it was an Esoteric Fish. It wasn''t some bitch ass salmon or something. These would be legendary, powerful fish that would bring Alaric to the head of the world.


    Alaric focused up and cast the rod. The bottle was heavy so it would sink, it wasn''t very practical. He would have to use his strength to hold it up. Issues like this were common. This was also why Alaric chose a small bottle of alcohol to use.


    Time passed. Alaric sat, and sat, using his strength to hold it up. Nothing significant was happening. It had already been an hour. He would have two hours left. He decided to change bait. In the story, the bottle was referred to as a bottle of alcohol.


    "Vodka may have been too new of a thing.... I should try another kind of alcohol.


    Alaric brought the bottle of Vodka out. He could use it again, but not too many times lest the seal break.


    "Maybe it needs to have a little bit of an alcoholic scent." Alaric thought.


    Before hooking up the bottle of beer, he opened the cork and poured a little on his hands. He took a small sip too. He then put the cork back in. After putting it back in, he hooked it up. There was an alcoholic aura radiating from the bait now.


    He put it in the water and did the same thing. He sat and waited, concentrating for any sign. It would likely be obvious if anything were to happen. He made sure the hook was secure and the cork was in tight, otherwise it would pull the cork out and empty the bottle.


    He was sitting continuously. Another hour had passed.


    Hark Hark Hark


    A strange, sucking sound that also sounded like chocking was coming from the end of the rod.


    Hork Hork Hork Hork


    Alaric quickly got to his feet, and started to pull up the fish.


    He was getting close.


    Alaric was running out of strength. He had already used a lot of strength to keep the bottles from sinking.


    But he needed this.


    He needed the fish.


    Alaric kept reeling in, and reeling in.


    He then saw it. His first fish that would start off his journey.


    The giant drunkard fish.

 Giant Drunkard Fish

    Alaric used all of the strength in his body to finish the job and reel up the fish.


    He contemplated using the harpoon, but that would be overkill, as well as inconvenient for him to use while he was reeling in.


    It was sudden, and he didn¡¯t have a ton of time to prepare for reeling in.


    He was surprised, this was insanely good news.


    Now he just had to figure out how good the fish he fished up was.


    He brought it over the lip of the boat so it would fully rest inside the ship.


    Looking at the fish, he marveled in its strange appearance.


    It was a stocky fish, about four feet long, and two feet wide.


    Its scales were a deep brown color.


    ¡±Shit brown¡­¡± Alaric said out loud.


    There were meager fins and a dorsal fin on it.


    They were disproportionately small, they were about four inches long.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how something like this can even swim¡­¡± Alaric thought.


    As if to answer his question, the fish started slithering around strangely on the bottom.


    It seemed to have some basic mobility on the ground level.


    Alaric flipped the fish upside down.


    It had a flat, white belly. It was slimy, so it likely produced some kind of slime to slide around on the bottom of the ocean with. That explained how such a fat fish could walk around.


    It had small eyes, barely noticeable. The most noticeable feature was its mouth. For a mouth, it had a small, short cylinder sticking out of its face. Its face was flat, almost like the front of a barrel.


    The cylinder jutted out about seven inches, and was wide.


    There were tightly sealed lips on it that would keep whatever was inside in.


    ¡°It¡¯s really fat, must mean there¡¯s a lot of alcohol inside¡­¡± Alaric thought.


    He recalled in the story, the brother that fished up the alcohol fish had squeezed it over his head to get alcohol out.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The fish was way to fat, and Alaric was to weak to lift it over his head like that.


    The hook and the bait should still be inside, so Alaric would need to open the lips.


    Alaric put one arm around one side of the fish, and the other arm around the other.


    He then gently squeezed.


    As he had hoped, the hatch on the mouth opened up.


    Some liquid started to spill out.


    Alaric moved quickly, not wanting to waste anything.


    He quickly ripped the hook and the bottle out.


    Remarkably, the bottle was still intact. It seemed like just the smell of alcohol was enough. Being able to conserve bait like this was a stroke of fortune.


    Alaric placed the bottle to the side.


    He would need to be careful with how he handled the fish. He quickly put the lips back in place, sealing them. The fish was very fat, so it wouldn¡¯t be able to go back into the ocean. It was fully stuck now.


    Alaric looked at the liquid that had been left on the ground, and he dipped his finger in it.


    It was mostly clear, but it had a slight green tinge to it.


    Sucking on his finger, he tasted it.


    ¡±Ehh¡­ not very strong¡­¡± Alaric thought.


    Taking another fingerfull, Alaric came to another conclusion.


    ¡±The flavor is pretty good.¡± He lapped up the rest on his finger.


    The rat quickly lapped up the rest that was on the floor of the boat.


    Despite it not being very strong, it confirmed the identity of the fish.


    It was clearly not fish juice of any kind, and it clearly had alcohol content in it.


    Then, Alaric came to a realization.


    ¡±It¡¯s like a keg, it likely has some kind of fermentation process inside its stomach that turns the juice or whatever it is into alcohol over time.¡± Alaric inferred.


    This was complete conjecture, but it was reasonable. This was likely true.


    Alaric thought about it.


    ¡±This won¡¯t make me money immediately¡­ like a fine wine, I have to age it.¡± Alaric thought. If he held on to the fish for a long time, and let the insides age, it would become stronger and more flavorful. That would lead to a higher price.


    ¡°I wonder if I can fish up more of them¡­ Maybe if I fish up an older one than I¡¯ll be able to immediately sell it with its higher alcohol content.¡± Alaric thought.


    But he would have to handle the one he had here first.


    He looked at the fish again, and noticed something.


    It was dying. It needed water.


    ¡±Shit¡­ I should have prepared like a fish tank or something for this¡­.¡± Alaric thought.


    He didn¡¯t want this fish to go to waste. But he didn¡¯t have forever.


    The main thing he had gained here was knowledge. He knew how to fish up the fish, so he could likely do it again.


    Looking at the sky, Alaric judged how much time he should have left.


    ¡±Not long¡­.¡± Alaric grew worried. He would have to do something with the fish. Bringing it back Alive was something he couldn¡¯t do now.


    ¡±I¡¯ll just take what I can.¡± Alaric decided. Quick choices like this were what separated him from the rest of the shmucks of the world who would just sit, panic and cry.


    He took out all of the bottles he had, and emptied them. They were all mid-quality alcohol anyway.


    He then took the fish, and squeezed its juices into all of the bottles.


    The faint green liquid went into all of the bottles, filling them up.


    Alaric then hesitantly threw the fish back into the ocean.


    He would come back for it.


    The rat scurried around, staring at the bottles.


    ¡±No, you can¡¯t have any. I¡¯ll get you something later.¡± Alaric told the rat.


    He put the alcohol back into his bag and started heading back.


    Tomorrow he would come up with a solution to his problem.


    Alaric began back to the city, ready to get part of his body cut off again.


    ¡±Damn.¡± Alaric thought.

 1/2 pound of flesh

    Alaric was dejected.


    But his journey wasn¡¯t without fruit. He could come back to the same place and do the same thing, and hopefully fish up a new fish.


    If he was even luckier, he would fish up an older drunkard fish that would have a higher quality of alcohol inside.


    If he were to catch up a younger fish however, he would have a way prepared to store it. A large bucket filled with water should suffice.


    From what Alaric could tell, there were different varieties of Esoteric Fish. Some were literal fish that have  abilities themselves that need to be used through the fish by the fishermen.


    There were also more directly usable ones, such as the shotgun. If it was truly just some kind of shotgun, the sentience element would be taken out.


    Other varieties likely existed, however Alaric didn¡¯t know about them quite yet.


    He would eventually need a place to keep some of them, a large fish tank of some kind. But that would cost a lot of effort and money. Alaric could provide plenty of effort, he was just lacking in the money department.


    Alaric decided that he now needed to head back. It was late enough and he needed to be ready. He considered asking the worm person about the drunkard fish, or just Esoteric Fishing in general.


    ¡±I¡¯ll see when I get there. If I get the idea that there is a reasonable level of trust between us, then I might ask something.¡± Alaric decided. He didn¡¯t quite know the character of the worm person well enough to make a definitive choice as to what to do.


    Alaric sailed back with the rat fast asleep. The rat was very sleepy, and was running of alcohol and bread scraps.


    Alaric looked at the fishing rod. Maybe it was just him, but it looked different somehow. The golden shine of the rod was slightly dimmer, maybe a little brown now. But it could be just the light.


    ¡±Yeah I don¡¯t think so. If it¡¯s cursed, it would definitely make sense that the appearance changed.¡± Alaric decided. He wanted to closely monitor the curse that was allegedly present on the fishing rod.


    Alaric now truly headed back. He sailed back over to the gate.


    The sky was a dark red, almost bloody. He was a little tired. He would continue to stay at Cornelius¡¯ inn for the night, but he would need a more permanent situation eventually. He would need more privacy.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Alaric was now at the gate.


    There was a different guard.


    ¡±Are you coming in or just returning?¡± The guard asked. They were alert. They were likely the night shift, so they would have to be able to be awake and attentive during the darker hours.


    ¡°Returning. I have a token.¡± Alaric brought out the token, and reached through the bars of the cage to give the guard the token.


    The guard brought the token close to the torch that was in the cage to get a good look at it. The guard turned it in their hands over and over until they seemed to be content.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The guard asked after examining the token,


    ¡°Alaric.¡± The man himself responded truthfully.


    ¡±Alright, head on through.¡± The guard cranked the door open, and allowed for Alaric to head through before closing it after him.


    Alaric stared at the city in front of him.


    There were many lights on, and it was dark enough so that he could see the lights prominently. There seemed to be some faint music coming from the city, which meant that it would be loud if he were to get closer.


    ¡±Oh yeah¡­ the Wolf Slayer Guild party is tonight. Eventful day.¡± Alaric thought. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t partake in the festivities due to him not being a mage, or rich enough.


    ¡°Hold on, hold on.¡± A light went of in Alarics head.


    ¡±Party¡­.. at parties people drink alcohol. Mages are weird, they might want some strange alcohol. I could turn around these immediately to get a sense if there is a possible market for them. If people like them, it would be a good indicator that I should pursue getting more. If not I could just try another fish,¡± Alaric decided. If he could walk after the flesh cutting, he would want to go out to sell the alcohol and try to turn a profit.


    Alaric now headed back in to Matilda¡¯s dock after sailing a while longer into the city. He tied the boat to the dock and took his stuff out, along with the rat. He put the rat in his pocket to keep the sleeping guy safe.


    Alaric now hurriedly headed out to Cornelious¡¯ inn. He wanted to get his meat cut off as FAST as possible.


    He waited in front of the inn, waiting for the worm person. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder.


    Turning around, the giant person was there.


    They were still tall, they were still bald, they still had the scarring lines along their face.


    ¡±What¡¯s up man!¡± Alaric hurriedly turned around to face them.


    The worm person gave a brief wave to Alaric.


    Then, they pointed to Alaric¡¯s machete.


    ¡°Yeah I know, do you have the painkiller, disinfectant, and bandages?¡± Alaric wanted to make sure everything was prepared beforehand.


    They nodded.


    They had a small bag on their back. It was actually a normal sized bag but it looked a little small because the worm person was so tall. They then let off the bag from their back.


    Opening it up, they came prepared.


    They had another flask full of some kind of liquid, bandages, and an antiseptic.


    ¡±Just do it.¡± Alaric handed the machete to the worm person.


    He also got in an ally and lowered his overalls.


    He quickly chugged the painkiller and got mentally ready.


    Shwick


    In one swift motion, the worm person took off another chunk of meat.


    The deed was now done. Alaric¡¯s pound of flesh was now repaid in its full.

 Worms of the coast

    It hurt mildly.


    Alaric could still feel it, there was definitely another half pound missing from him.


    The worm person then quickly disinfected the wound, and wrapped it.


    Alaric wasn¡¯t crying. The painkiller was enough to pacify him this time.


    ¡°Maybe the worm person saw me in pain the first time and strengthened it¡­¡± Alaric thought.


    He did like the worm person.


    After the wound was wrapped, Alaric put on his overalls again. He stood up straight. He wanted to talk to the worm person. He didn¡¯t have any friends (Other than the rat) so he was somewhat desiring a human connection. Despite growing up without friends, he always wanted some.


    It seemed that in his life things were finally getting interesting, and he was known by some people that didn¡¯t completely hate him for being boring.


    There was Cornelious at the inn, who was always happy to take his money.


    There was also Matilda at the boatyard who was also happy to take his money.


    The people at the guild also vaguely recognized Alaric. The record keeper and the various other staff members at least had his face in their short term memory.


    Alaric wanted someone else though.


    ¡±Hey, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    Alaric turned to the worm person.


    The worm person thought for a little bit, as if to contemplate leaking the information or not.


    They shrugged and then began to open their mouth.


    ¡°Tiberius¡±


    Alaric thought over the name in his mind.


    ¡°Tiberius¡­. It¡¯s been great seeing you, I like the fishing rod.¡± Alaric started.


    ¡±You have used it I see.¡± Tiberius told Alaric. They were strangely using their voice a lot.


    ¡±Yeah, it¡¯s great. Pretty much what I need.¡± Alaric said confidently.


    ¡±Would you ever want to get together to talk about fish?¡± Alaric asked. He genuinely wanted to this persons friend. They seemed relatively in the same age bracket.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Tiberius thought it over. Alaric couldn¡¯t tell if Tiberius was a deep thinker or a slow thinker.


    ¡±Not for now. Once you have a ¡°product¡± I can reference you to captain to be a normal external ally.¡± Tiberius spoke slowly. They seemed to put a lot of effort into every word.


    ¡°I have two theories, one, they are from a different land where a different language is spoken, or they just rarely talk.¡± Alaric thought in his mind.


    Tiberius was likely not stupid, just not used to speaking clearly.


    ¡±Very well. How can I reach you once I have something?¡± Alaric asked.


    ¡±You don¡¯t find us. We will watch. We will figure it out.¡± Tiberius responded, before waving bye.


    This was better than nothing. Alaric now knew their name, and had confirmation about a further relationship being within reason of being developed.


    He would just have to fish.


    After this conversation, Alaric had a couple main takeaways.


    Tiberius was clearly part of an organization with a strict hierarchy. There was a ¡°we¡± in reference to a group that operates as a collective. There was also a ¡°captain¡± who was a source of authority.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just think of it as ¡°Worm Sect¡±.¡± Alaric decided. He didn¡¯t know the official name, he just assigned this at his whim to organize his thoughts.


    This was close to the optimal situation for Alaric. He had no interest in joining this thing, but he had interest in allyship.


    ¡°I still need to be free to conduct business my way.¡± Alaric thought. He wasn¡¯t huge on strict authority. He was a part of the fishing guild, but unless he climbed the ranks, he wouldn¡¯t be strictly regulated by higher ups in the guild.


    There would be benefits to being an external ally of the Worm Sect. He would have some kind of backing, if he got in trouble somehow he would be able to know that there was an organization that somewhat cared about what happened to him. On top of this, it would be a reliable connection into the world of Esoteric Fishermen. He could learn some techniques and rituals to get certain fish, as well as be connected to outsiders.


    This would also provide a no-questions-asked kind of business opportunity. If both parties were privy to Esoteric Fishing, it would be way easier to conduct business together and buy and sell.


    The possibilities for future developments were endless. This was definitely good. Alaric still needed to just get more fish under his belt now. He would have to raise his status, something that was already a goal of his.


    ¡°Alright. I actually don¡¯t have time to sit around being in pain. I can take a rest day tomorrow. I need to sell my stuff now.¡± Alaric decided.


    He would now need to head over to the party to sell his drinks. He had no vested interest in drinking them, they would be more effective as cash in the bank.


    It was dark, and Alaric could hear the noises of the party. There was loud music, and some lights coming from the middle of the city. It was such a big deal to keep the powerful mages appeased with parties and refreshments that the interest of the common folk¡¯s sleep was put to the side. This didn¡¯t mean there were no benefits for them though. This was an optimal time to set up shop.


    Providing catering or items for the party would be a good way to make money.


    There were often auctions for expensive goods at the parties. Gift giving among guild members was also common, so it was a highly marketable event.


    Other guilds had things like this too. There were such events for the fishing guild, but much smaller scale. It likely consisted of a couple kegs and some sausage. The gifts given would be new hooks and lures instead of magic flame gauntlets or whatever the mages gave each other.


    But Alaric was determined. He could definitely make a little money here. It just all depended on how he marketed the drinks, and how much the mages and rich folks wanted to drink them.


    Alaric headed over to the party, and was about to enter.

 Selling time

    Alaric was approaching the party. As he got closer, the bright lights in the sky were more visible, and the music got louder.


    The lights in the sky were the work of a light mage. They were projecting the insignia of the guild into the sky, as well as colored lights.


    It definitely fit the bill of an extravagant rich person party.


    Alaric reached a barrier. There was a place where the road was blocked by a high wall. The wall looked flimsy, it consisted of a few wooden panels held together by rope.


    There was an armed guard waiting before it.


    They were wearing some armor, just some reinforced boiled leather, and a bucket-like helmet. They held a simple long sword in their hand and looked bored.


    ¡±Can I get in?¡± Alaric asked.


    ¡°Do you have a mage guild identifier of any kind?¡± The guard asked plainly. Now that Alaric was closer, he could see that the guard was female, but it really wasn¡¯t important.


    ¡±If not, you¡¯re just going to be allowed into the first circle.¡± The woman said.


    There were three circles in the party, the closer one got to the guild the more prestige required to enter the circle.


    ¡±No. I am selling goods in the party. I¡¯m planning on selling in the second circle¡± Alaric said.


    ¡°What goods?¡± The guard responded prescriptively.


    Alaric brought out a bottle from his bag to present.


    ¡°Alcoholic drinks.¡± Alaric responded.


    The guard gave a small chuckle. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of that in there. I think they have enough.¡± The guard responded.


    It did make sense, at a party for the rich and the physically powerful, there would likely be plenty of drinks.


    ¡±These are special. They are cultivated from a rare plant to produce a unique flavor.¡± Alaric stated, giving a small sales pitch for the drinks.


    He decided to go with a plant. It was more marketable to sell a plant based drink than a fermented fish mystery juice based drink.


    ¡±What¡¯re they called?¡± The guard seemed somewhat curious now, taking a closer look at the bottles.


    Alaric thought for a second. ¡°Oceanblood. The plant grows near the ocean so it¡¯s called that.¡± He came up with the name on the spot. To Alaric it sounded exotic enough while remaining safe in terms of extremity.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°I can give you a sip if you let me through?¡± Alaric questioned.


    ¡±Yeah sure.¡± The guard said. She was likely bored standing guard, and would need a sip.


    Alaric decanted a little bit of the drink into a cup and gave it to her.


    ¡±Go ahead.¡± Alaric encouraged.


    The woman then drank it at once, and looked satisfied.


    ¡±That¡¯s pretty good. It¡¯s not that strong, but it has a decent flavor. Alright, go through. It¡¯s a good enough product. Show the guard for the second circle this token¡± The woman then allowed Alaric to get thought the flimsy wall before letting him into the party. She handed him a silver token that displayed the number two on it on one side, and on the other side was a picture of a bottle, indicating what he would be selling. There were enough merchants and entertainers that it warranted having different tokens for organization.


    ¡±One more thing. Drink this. It is a magic suppression bracelet. No magic in the party. It¡¯ll completely dissipate by tomorrow midday.¡± The woman said, handing him a thin bracelet.


    Alaric took a look at the bracelet. It was green and thin, and it was made of some kind of leather. It had a weathered dark green color, similar to a pine tree.


    Alaric tied it around his wrist.


    Shoomp


    The bracelet then seemed to dissolve into his skin, forming a green ring around it. Alaric couldn¡¯t feel the ring, it was just a visual indicator.


    The magic contained within it was only strong enough to maintain until the designated time. Alaric didn¡¯t have any magic, so this was of no bearing to him.


    ¡°It makes sense they do this though. A party full of drunk mages could turn south quickly. They also have designated sober members who don¡¯t have to wear it just in case of an attack.¡± Alaric thought.


    There had been many instances where attacks happened during a party for mages due to the magic suppression tradition. But most of them failed, as usually there were protective seals and rituals done beforehand to increase security to the maximum for the parties. Not to mention the elite guild members who would stay sober.


    The flimsy wall that Alaric had passed was just to filter out hooligans. There were large invisible barriers that monitored each person that walked in that were more serious.


    Alaric had learned about these things through the books he read as a kid. As state provided propaganda, there were often books put into the curriculum that demonstrated the might and nobility of the mages of the land.


    These were sometimes accurate. Most mages were generally decent people, albeit a little stuck up. But some of these served as coverups for mages that got involved in the wrong areas of society.


    Alaric now was fully into the party.


    There were three sets of walls of the party for different levels of guests.


    Alaric would only be allowed in the first two circles. The area that Alaric was in as he entered the party was the first circle. This was the general shopping and entertainment area of the party. The first level was for anyone beyond the dregs of society to enter. The second circle is where high end merchants and entertainers were, this level was marketed towards the mages and upper class citizens.


    The third circle is where the real stuff happened, the expensive auctions and the world defining goods were being sold.


    Looking around the immediate area in the first ring, there were freelance food stores selling basic things such as cakes, chicken skewers, and other things.


    There were also other forms of entertainment, like puppeteers. There was a man controlling a human sized puppet and was having it dance to some local music.


    There were few mages in this circle, only a few mages that were low tier, and were just looking for some mindless cheap fun.


    Alaric didn¡¯t want to spend much time in the third circle. He was here to make money. He wasn¡¯t here to be ethical and support local businesses. He was here to be the business.


    He began on his way towards the second circle.

 Second circle

    Alaric went towards the second circle. He had the token, so he would be able to easily pass though.


    ¡±Alright. I¡¯ll just sell it quick and get out.¡± Alaric thought. He was tired, and he just had some surgery, so he wasn¡¯t in the mood for partying.


    If he was physically well though, he would be totally down. He would just need some more money first.


    Alaric approached the guard guarding the second circle.


    This time, it wasn¡¯t just a flimsy wall. It was a real stone wall that would provide security. There was a gate that the guard could control to let people in or out, much like the gates at the ocean wall.


    The guard was more equipped as well. This guard was wearing a full suit of armor, and was possibly a mage. Their whole face was covered up by a hounskull helmet, so the gender was a mystery, but even if Alaric knew it, it wouldn¡¯t be important.


    Luckily there didn¡¯t seem to be a bell attached to a door.


    ¡±I¡¯m heading into the second circle to sell goods.¡± Alaric said to the guard. He handed him the token.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡±Alright alright, looks like you¡¯re all good party man! Go sell some alcohol in there!¡± The guard said excitedly, lifting up the gate for Alaric to enter.


    As he entered, he felt a strange feeling wash over him briefly.


    ¡±Must be one of the detection fields.¡± Alaric thought.


    He walk through no issues, at least that he knew of.


    ¡°I hope it didn¡¯t detect whatever the thing inside me is¡­.¡± Alaric thought. He was planning on ignoring it, but it seemed to keep coming back. First the personality shift, then the first vision, then the fish out of the eyes. It seemed that he would have to confront it eventually.


    ¡±But not now.¡± Alaric decided, going back to ignoring it.


    Entering the second circle, he could immediately tell that it was a level up.


    The shops were nicer, and were selling better stuff. There were jewelry shops, high end meat shops, and perfume shops. The entertainment was better too. There were professional dancers doing their thing, as well as singers and songwriters. Alaric heard some things that sounded pretty good.


    ¡±That puppet guy in the first circle though, I high key feel like he is second circle worthy. Controlling a human sized puppet to the degree he was doing it was good. Not third circle worthy though.¡± Alaric thought. He was a big fan of puppets. When he was a kid he watched any puppet show he could go to. And he would just sit and drool while watching a clown puppet punch itself or something.


    Alaric now decided to set up shop. He got the bottles out of his bag, and began to start marketing.


    He needed to decide on a price.


    ¡°30 charred a bottle seems enough.¡± Alaric thought.


    ¡°Artisan alcohol! 30 charred a bottle! Oceanblood alcohol!¡±


    Alaric shouted out hoping to catch anyone¡¯s attention.


    Nobody wanted to buy from Alaric¡¯s bum ass yet.

 Money in the bag

    Alaric needed to sell these.


    Right now, he looked like a sorry young person selling shitty alcohol.


    That is what he was, except the alcohol was actually decent.


    Alaric decided that he needed to get out in there and sell directly.


    He looked for someone that seemed like they would want to buy some alcohol.


    He walked around, bottles in hand. He continued his chant as he walked around.


    "30 charred a bottle. NEVER SEEN BEFORE alcohol!!!! New flavor!"


    "Oceanblood alcohol!!"


    Alaric kept going around.


    Then he saw someone promising.


    It was an old female druid. She looked about fifty, but if Alaric knew anything about nature mages, it was that they had all kinds of methods to look younger. If they looked fifty, they were likely about one hundred.


    She had healthy long blonde hair, braided into a large braid on the back of her head. She was wearing a white shirt and long green skirt. Looking at her neck, he saw the Lizard Eater guild insignia. In a city about a day away, there was the Lizard Eater Mage guild. She was likely traveling over and stopped for the party. All mages were welcome, in fact the Wolf Slayer guild were the hosts so they had to yield to the guests.


    The Wolf Slayer guild was responsible for defending the party.


    "Hey miss, I love your outfit! Especially your green skirt! Hey look, I have this alcohol. Super natural. It''s not processed at all, it''s made straight from an aquatic plant. Super healthy and ethical. Plus, it''s a little green, so it would match your skirt!! 30 Charred. What do you say?" Alaric said. He spoke quickly, and likely talked too much. But he gauged the reaction of the druid anyway.


    "Sure sweetie. I love natural alcohol. You know how much those big alcohol companies now put so much stuff in it, it''s good to see someone staying natural." The druid put a hand on Alaric''s shoulder, before taking out her wallet.


    She took out four 10 charred tokens.


    "Take a little more. Young people like you are who we need." The druid said.


    "Thank you miss. Alaric bowed slightly. Enjoy!!" Alaric said.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    He now went back on his way. Looking back, he saw her taking a drink out of it.


    She seemed pleased with it.


    "It is pretty good." Alaric thought.


    It couldn''t compare to extremely high end alcohol, but it would be a good new flavor.


    Alaric went on his way, before he saw someone in front of him.


    It was a large man, about six feet eight inches tall. Alaric didn''t see tall people like that every day.


    "Except for Tiberius. They''re pretty tall." Alaric recalled Tiberius'' insane height.


    The man was about forty, but had white hair. It was insanely white. White as the feathers of a white chicken. White as snow. White as white.


    He had short hair on top of his head, giving him a military like authority.


    He had white mutton chops on the side of his head, a unique choice for facial hair.


    Professional clothes was what he was wearing. It was a white shirt under a navy blue suit jacket, and formal black pants.


    An intimidating aura surrounded him.


    "This guy.... no way." Alaric thought. He had seen this guy in the newspaper before, as well as just from life.


    It was Eternal Justice Samson Taylor.


    This guy was serious news. He was a freelance mage that was renowned around the land as a "Bringer of Justice". He had brought countless outlaws into jail. But he wasn''t like other amateur vigilantes. His jails were real. He owned many prisons, and worked with government justice systems. These prisons were almost unescapable for even the strongest criminals.


    He was known to be fair, always bringing prisoners to prison first. But if they escape, or released and became repeat offenders, he would swiftly kill them. He was a beacon of fear for anyone opposing the law.


    Pretty much everybody knew who he was in this continent. Even in other continents, he was somewhat well known. But he wasn''t extremely well known on other continents. The people on other continents that were big fans of Samson were seen as kind of elitists who were just trying to like the niche mages.


    But he was cool. Alaric liked him a lot.


    "I should ask him if he wants some alcohol!" Alaric thought. He wasn''t a criminal now, so he wouldn''t have to worry about anything.


    "Mr. Sampson, would you be interested in purchasing some alcohol? it''s called Seablood, and it''s a very natural and healthy alcohol." Alaric asked him fearlessly. There were a couple of police officers following him around.


    "Not now sir. I''m on the job, can''t have anything to drink. Good luck though." Samson said somewhat dismissively. He wasn''t mean about it, but he was clearly not interested.


    Samson was continuing on his way, but then he turned back for a second.


    He looked to be in deep thought, his face contorting as he turned back to look at Alaric.


    "Hold on, hold on." Samson said to the police phalanx behind him.


    He returned to get closer to Alaric, making eye contact.


    "What''s your name sir?" Samson was now facing Alaric.


    "Alaric." Alaric decided to be truthful about his name, this was pretty much the last person he would want to lie to. He was worried now. He didn''t know exactly why Samson was looking back at him.


    "If you don''t mind me asking, what''s with your eyes?" Samson said, getting closer. He was very physically close to Alaric now, being within a reasonable personal space radius.


    "Uhhhh...." Alaric didn''t know what to say. He contemplated being truthful and talking about the thing he fished up, but it would bring too much attention to him.


    "It''s a curse of some kind. I don''t exactly know myself, but it is of no bother to me really. Just gives me strange looking eyes." Alaric said. This seemed reasonable enough to Alaric. He didn''t want to mention the fishing part, but the part about him not knowing was true.


    "That was a pretty good deflection of the truth." Alaric thought to himself.


    Now he needed to see what Samson would say now.

 Remainder

    Alaric was awaiting Samson''s response. This could possibly be the most tensed up Alaric had ever felt. He wouldn''t be in trouble for this, but still, having Samson on his bad side would be a massive detriment to him.


    Samson looked to be in a little bit of thought. He was a trained law enforcement agent, so he had decent deduction skills.


    "Curse huh? You''ve never gone to an exorcist?" Samson continued. Alaric didn''t know exactly why Samson was pursuing this line of questioning with Alaric.


    "Didn''t have the money for it. It''s not that bad really." Alaric decided to continue in the lie.


    "You know what sir, how much are you charging for a bottle of that alcohol?" Samson asked.


    "Thirty charred." Alaric responded honestly. He didn''t want to uselessly raise the price.


    "I''ll buy a bottle. Save up to go to an exorcist." Samson reached out into his bag and took out three ten charred coins.


    "Here" Samson quickly took a glove out of his pocket and put it on before handing Alaric the coins.


    "Thank you." Alaric bowed slightly to show his respect to him.


    "Alaric was it, I''ll remember your name." Samsons posture shifted. He stood up straight and glared at Alaric.


    A slight chill went down Alaric''s spine, he couldn''t help but shudder a little.


    He watched as Samson and his police officers continued on, patrolling around the festival.


    As he walked past, people were staring at him, he was a big celebrity, and would attract eyes wherever he would go.


    "Must be more symbolic if he''s walking around like this. If they were actually looking for someone specific he would be more hidden." Alaric thought.


    High profile events sometimes had a famously powerful person just walk around to create an atmosphere that would force people to behave.


    Alaric was happy though, he did make money from him, and seemed to be somewhat on his radar. If he could take this relationship into the future, it would be invaluable.


    But Alaric was getting ahead of himself. He needed to get past the broke shlep living in an inn phase before he would need to worry about cultivating his relationships with great mages.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Alaric wasn''t the biggest fan of all mages, but he couldn''t overlook the value of having them on his side. He just wanted to make his way through Esoteric Fishing, and not through the oversaturated mage market.


    Even now, Alaric could see a ton of mages around. They were wearing their novice mage badges, and looked kind of lame.


    "I bet they can''t even make alcohol." Alaric said smugly. He could make alcohol from fishing, yet they could only lift a pen with their abilities.


    After he had sold a bottle of Seablood to Samson, a couple people came over to him.


    What looked to be a teenage couple approached him.


    "Dude, how much for some alc?" One of the boys said.


    "30 Charred. Do you have ID?" Alaric responded.


    "Don''t worry about it man, we''re at a party." The other boy said smiling.


    "I don''t sell to minors." Alaric said, waving them off.


    They exited dejected.


    Then, a twenty ish old mage approached.


    "i would like one bottle please." The man took out three ten charred coins to play him.


    "Yeah sure." Alaric promptly took the coins and gave him a bottle.


    He now had two bottles left.


    "Hmmmm...." Alaric was thinking. He didn''t really want to spend much more time at the party.


    He decided to sell the other two bottles another time. He had already made 100 charred today, which was not bad. This seemed like a possible source of revenue in the future.


    Alaric headed out of the second ring and into the first ring. Once again, he saw the guy with the human sized puppet having it dance.


    Alaric went over to him.


    "Have this bottle of alcohol. I''m a big fan of the puppet underground, and you have some insane potential. I don''t want to give you money so heres some alcohol." Alaric left it to him.


    The puppet guy was busy having the puppet dance around, but he gave an affirming nod to Alaric.


    Alaric sat and watched the performance for a while, enjoying the dancing puppet.


    Eventually, the show ended.


    The man controlling the puppet walked over to Alaric with something in his hand.


    "Take this." The man said.


    It was a reputation ring. It had a picture of strings and a marionette on it. It was made of silver, it was a nice ring.


    "You are an ally of the puppet guild. You have the soul of a puppet." The man said. The man had dark hair, and long bangs covering his face. He had an ambiguous age, and was slightly Androgynous.


    "Thank you." Alaric slipped on the ring, and the man started to pack up.


    Alaric began to unpack the encounter.


    "I have the soul of a puppet... " Alaric thought about this statement, and let it marinate.


    Alaric headed out of the festival and went back to Cornelious'' inn.


    It was about midnight, and he was deathly tired.


    "Hey Cornelious." Alaric greeted the innkeeper.


    "Hi Alaric!! How are ya? Went to the festival eh?" Cornelious responded in a jolly tone.


    "I''ve got something for you." Alaric brought out a bottle of alcohol for him.


    "It''s some Alcohol I brewed. Thought you''d like it." Alaric said to him.


    "Thank you. Thank you." Cornelious let out about six to eight tears from his eyes. He was obviously moved by the gesture.


    "Let me get you something to eat." Cornelious headed into the kitchen quickly and fixed up a meal.


    Alaric took the rat out. It was asleep, but he could tell it was hungry. He gently shook the rat once the food arrived.


    Alaric, together with the rat and Cornelious shared a meal together. It was porkchops, potatoes, and fermented cabbage. Alaric was satisfied with the meal, and washed it down with some water.


    He then took the rat into the room, and collapsed on the bed.

 Real Estate

    Alaric woke up in a cold sweat.


    He had gone to sleep wearing his entire usual set of clothing, that hadn¡¯t been washed. He was filthy,


    He shook the rat awake, it seemed to have a better night of sleep than him.


    Quickly heading to the washroom, he washed his body as well as the rat¡¯s.


    He felt refreshed and clean, taking off all of the dirt that had accumulated. While he was at it, he decided to clean off his clothes too.


    Most people smelled alright, but proper body cleaning supplies weren¡¯t entirely widespread, so if he wasn¡¯t perfectly clean he wouldn¡¯t stand out too much.


    He had the benefit of being a tradesmen, so some standard grime from work was to be expected.


    After cleaning off some of his clothes, he put a set of clothes up to dry.


    He then took out a casual set of clothes to wear for the day, consisting of a shirt and basic pants.


    Today he wanted to go out fishing again.


    He was otherwise unemployed, so he would need a continuous source of income now.


    He had about 450 charred, a decent sum. It would be able to last him for a while. But he would need to continue to spend money to make more money in the future.


    Alaric had already figured out the hard part, how to fish up the Drunkard Fish. Now he just needed to keep them somewhere.


    He created a mental checklist of the next steps he would take in his journey.


    - Find a private place he could rent out


    - Get supplies for keeping fish


    - Fish up some drunkard fish


    - Let them marinate


    -Figure out next fish, possibly along the way


    Alaric now had an idea of what he needed to do next.


    First on the list was to become a property owner. He thought about how much money he would need for different things.


    ¡±I could probably survive for the next month with thirty charred for living supplies.¡±


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡±I also need fifty charred for various baits.¡±


    ¡°That leaves me with 370 charred for a property.¡±


    Figuring out how much he had to spend on a property, Alaric didn¡¯t feel confident.


    370 charred was not very much. He would have to stretch his money far in order to get anything out of that.


    But luckily, the world was vast, and dangerous. If he bought property in a high risk area, it would be much cheaper. For example, if he bought a property next to a wolf infested woods, the price would go down drastically.


    Insurance prices would go up to, but Alaric wouldn¡¯t need that. He¡¯d rather die than spend money on insurance, so the decision was clear.


    ¡±I need to find a dangerous area near the ocean for a house.¡± Alaric thought.


    Alaric needed to go find a place now. He unfortunately would have to leave Cornelious, but he would eventually return. Alaric valued people who valued him, so he would want to repay Cornelious.


    Alaric gathered his stuff, putting his clothes in his bag, getting all of his bait, money, and supplies together. He got his rod and machete on his body, and primed himself for departure.


    Alaric would want to head into the city to find a real estate agent to help him out with finding what he was looking for. Yet again, he would have to look for a more niche real estate agent. The agents that would be found commonly in the city would be dealing with high end real estate, in safe, profitable areas. This was not remotely what Alaric was looking for.


    Alaric headed out of his room with his stuff.


    ¡±Thanks for the room and food Cornelious, I¡¯ll come back eventually. Heading out for a while.¡± Alaric said to him.


    Cornelious got up from the table, and reached out to hug Alaric.


    Alaric accepted the hug.


    ¡±Safe travels. Make sure to recommend to more customers.¡± Cornelious said before ending the hug. At the end of the day, Cornelious liked Alaric, but he liked his wallet just as much as the person.


    Alaric now headed back out into the city. He had no real idea where he would look.


    Deciding to go to an information office, Alaric headed into the more central part of the city. On his way, he yet again went into a store to get some food and the news.


    He bought some fruit, meat and bread, as well as the weekly news. It had been pretty much a week since he had last checked the news.


    As expected, the front page was about the party and all of the celebrity mages that showed up. Alaric skimmed this part, and looked for some other news.


    ¡±Huh, that farmer mage guys is still doing stuff¡­. It doesn¡¯t really say much about him other than he¡¯s growing in power as an independent force.¡± Alaric read about the farmer mage he had read about before. That article was more of a continental news article, as after he looked at where he was, it was in a country that would take about a week for Alaric to get to.


    ¡±He¡¯s some kind of alchemist it seems, having magical drinks.¡± Alaric read further. He put the farmer into the back of his mind.


    There was a city information station decently close to the corner store that Alaric was just in. He popped in to talk to one of the information officers. These information stations were common in this city, as there were many foreigners.


    ¡°Hi, I was wondering if you could point me to a real estate agent. I¡¯m looking for something outside of the city, and at a low price range.¡± Alaric said to the information officer, a young man in his twenties.


    The information workers wore tidy grey suits with golden stitching. The young man that Alaric was talking to had dark skin, and deep brown eyes. He also had really clear skin. But Alaric didn¡¯t really care about his skin.


    ¡±Hold on just one second sir!¡± The man said professionally, taking out a book, and flipping through it.


    ¡±How about this one.¡± The man said, pointing to a name and address titled    ¡°Harbinger real estate.¡±

 Harbinger of Death

    Alaric was now on his way over to Harbinger Real Estate.


    The information worker seemed to have profiled him well, as this place looked perfect for him. It wasn¡¯t in the central commercial area, instead it was in a random floor of a random building.


    It was somewhat near the commercial district, but it wasn¡¯t in the area that was extremely expensive. It was likely not the most successful business.


    Alaric neared the location. He had already set out walking towards it, rat on shoulder.


    He had no concerns as to rats not being allowed inside of the store.


    Alaric eventually arrived at the building he was looking for. It was about a twenty minute walk from the Wolf Slayer Guild.


    It was in a tall wooden building. The face was ordinary, and its stretched up four floors. It looked about average. The outside was brown. There were sparse windows on each floor. It didn¡¯t look overly decrepit, but there were some vines growing along the side of the building. There was a place for letters at the front that showed all of the businesses inside.


    ¡±Smith¡¯s silk and more silk emporium¡± 1st floor


    ¡±Harbinger real estate¡± 2nd floor


    ¡±Taylor¡¯s tailor¡± 3rd floor


    ¡°Place where paper is sold¡± 4th floor


    These businesses were clearly not the most high end luxury businesses. They were just middling businesses that were likely owned by families. This was what Alaric was looking for. Eventually he would need to venture into the more expensive businesses, but for now he settled for this.


    Alaric entered through the front door and was confronted by a staircase. This was not much of a confrontation, Alaric did know how to go up a staircase. Despite this knowledge being ingrained inside Alaric, he might have moderate difficulty due to his injuries.


    Alaric eventually made it up to the second floor.


    There was a door that said ¡°Harbinger real estate¡± in green paint on a wooden door. It was sloppily done, and the characters were messy and unrefined. This brought a smile to Alaric¡¯s face.


    This could mean one of two things about the business. They were either desperate for business, and would accept really any amount of money for their service, or, they would be exploitative of people who didn¡¯t have a lot of money and would turn to them as a last resort.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Alaric hoped that it would be the former.


    Alaric opened the door to the business, preparing to spend money. He had 370 charred with him for this, and he wanted to spend it.


    Ding


    There was a bell on the other side of the door that rang when Alaric had opened it.


    ¡±There¡¯s always a bell. There¡¯s always a bell.¡± Alaric contemplated the bell for exactly one second before entering the room.


    ¡±How are ya!¡± ¡°How are ya!¡±  Immidiately two people both entered his field of vision greeting him in unison.


    They were two people, one female the other male. They were both wearing grey suits with black ties. The man was well built, being about five feet eleven inches tall. He had short black hair, and was wearing glasses. He estimated him to be about thirty.


    The woman was similar. She had an average build with a bob cut, and a matching suit. They were wearing matching suits, so they wern¡¯t visually that different. She had more of a collected nature, while the man seemed to be more outgoing.


    ¡±We¡¯re the harbinger twins.¡± Both of them reached out their hands for Alaric to shake.


    Not wanting to choose a favorite, he shook both of their hands at once, grasping their hand with the corresponding hand that he had.


    One of them was right handed and the other left handed so it was quite convinient.


    ¡±I¡¯m Simon and this is Sandra.¡± The man introduced the two of them.


    ¡±Are you looking for real estate?¡± Simon asked Alaric.


    ¡±Yeah.¡± Alaric answered plainly.


    ¡±You¡¯re in luck. We have plenty.¡± The man quickly ushered Alaric over to a seat in front of his desk.


    While this was happening, Sandra was getting documents together and writing something down.


    ¡±What are you looking for? House? Apartment? Just land? Farmland?¡± The man asked eagerly.


    ¡±I¡¯m looking for a house. Nothing huge though.¡± Alaric answered.


    ¡±Alright. Just lay out for me what exactly you are looking for, and then I can give you some options.¡± Simon said.


    ¡±I need something close to the ocean. I¡¯m a fisherman so I need somewhere to put my boat. I live by myself, so I don¡¯t need a lot of space. I spend most of my time outside so I¡¯m not looking for much in terms of a house. Just need some storage and a bed.¡± Alaric answered.


    Simon quickly noted some things down.


    ¡°Any preferences about location?¡± He returned to questioning.


    ¡±No. Wherevers cheapest. I mean it. I¡¯m fine with a dangerous and secluded location. I don¡¯t need people around me.¡± Alaric said confidently. He realized this made him sound like a serial killer.


    ¡±Suit yourself.¡± Simon wrote another thing down.


    ¡±And what¡¯s our budget looking like?¡± Simon asked earnestly.


    ¡±Tight. Very tight. I¡¯ve got about 370 charred to spend.¡± Alaric answered. This is where the biggest hangup would be with his operation.


    ¡°Alright, well you¡¯re not going to have very many options I can tell you that. But let me see what I can dig up. Wait here a sec.¡± Simon said, standing up. The office was filled with files with papers inside of them.


    He seemed to know where he was looking. He went through a couple folders, taking out a few pieces of paper, and then returned to the desk.


    ¡±Alright. I¡¯ve got some things for you here. Some may be a little out of your budget, but there¡¯s room for negotiation. You can always get a loan as well.¡± Simon said, organizing the papers. He tapped them on the wooden desk to get them all straight.


    Alaric now was faced with the descision of which shitty house to buy.

 Housing Market is poor these days

    Simon had a couple of sheets of paper in his hands.


    If Alaric had to estimate, he would say that Simon was holding about five.


    ¡±Alright, I have six places for you to look at. two are over budget, four are under.¡± Simon said, now assuming a business like attitude. He put the papers on the table then fastened his tie tightly.


    ¡±Fuck it¡¯s six.¡± Alaric thought. He was close, but he wasn¡¯t there. He was destined for eternal failure in terms of guessing how much paper people had in their hands when it is in a stack.


    ¡±Let¡¯s start with the ones that are under budget.¡± Alaric said. These were the real contenders. Alaric didn¡¯t really want to take out a loan unless one of the houses blew him away. But that would be unlikely.


    ¡°Alright. First house. This one is the most expensive out of the cheap ones.¡± Simon brought out a piece of paper with a picture of the house and some details.


    ¡±Location first. This one is near the ocean, like you want. But, it¡¯s near a deathworm infested beach.¡± Simon started.


    Alaric hated deathworms. The name was a little on the nose, but it was accurate. They were a beast that had bludgeoning magic that allowed them to convert their tails into bludgeons that would kill people almost instantly. This would rule out the possibility of comfortably using the beach.


    ¡±How much is it?¡± Alaric asked.


    ¡±350¡± Simon answered.


    ¡±And what about the house?¡± Alaric questioned.


    ¡±It¡¯s decent. Three rooms, one common room, one bedroom, one washroom. Decent condition.¡± Simon said. He pointed to some drawings on the paper. There were no photographs available in this time, so there were artistic renditions of the house.


    Alaric made a mental note of this house.


    ¡±Worm beach decent house¡±


    ¡±Second house. This one is a little cheaper. So it comes with a little more danger.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a cabin in a wolf infested woods. The house is twenty minutes away from the beach. The woods however is regulated by the Wolf Slayer guild, so if you need help, you can send a signal.¡± Simon said.


    ¡±The hose itself is actually pretty nice. It¡¯s one big room but it has a loft. Common room and a bedroom. Outside washroom. Comes with a finished kitchen.¡± Simon pointed to the kitchen.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡±I don¡¯t give a shit about a finished kitchen.¡± Alaric thought. This house wasn¡¯t Alaric¡¯s favorite. He didn¡¯t like the idea of being around a lot of Wolf Slayer guild activity. If he was to operate out of it, it wouldn¡¯t be very private.


    But, the house was decent, and would provide decent storage for fish.


    Alaric thought about the house for a second.


    ¡°You know what, a finished kitchen is actually pretty good. I retract my previous thought.¡± Alaric thought. He wasn¡¯t a horrible cook, so it wouldn¡¯t be bad.


    ¡°How much?¡± Alaric asked.


    ¡±300 flat¡± Simon answered.


    ¡±Okay, okay.¡± Alaric thought. This wasn¡¯t a bad price.


    ¡°Alright, next one. This one is¡­ not great I¡¯m going to be honest.¡±


    ¡°25 minute walk to the beach, but it is next to a river. The problem with this one is the forest next to it. On either side of the river next to the house there is a forest filled with horrible stuff. One one side you have the Fleshmonkey forest, and on the other side is a deeply wolf infested forest. This wolf forest is not regulated by the Wolf Slayer guild.¡± Simon explained.


    ¡°The house itself is bad too.¡± Simon pointed to a picture.


    It was a dirty shack that was rundown. It had one room with a bed on the floor. That was it.


    ¡±120 charred.¡± Simon said flatly.


    This house was actually very appealing to Alaric.


    The river opened up a whole new dimension of fishing to Alaric, and he could take his boat into the river to the ocean. The surrounding forests were incredibly unappealing. These were not empty threats.


    ¡°The things that lived in these forests can and will actively try to kill me if I live there. I would definitely have to defend myself properly.¡± Alaric thought.


    The Fleshmonkeys were a kind of large ape that were somomancers. They could manipulate the flesh of beings weaker than them. They had a tradition of creating bloody statues of the things they killed. They were very edgy animals. Whenever Alaric heard a story about them, it was always something with high shock factor.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really planning on being in a news article because I got turned into a vase by a monkey¡­¡± Alaric thought. The wolves were a little more clear-cut. They were group hunters with various abilities, nothing too crazy. They often had multiple heads depending on how powerful they were.


    They were strong, maybe even stronger than the Fleshmonkeys, but they were simpler to deal with.


    Alaric considered this property deeply.


    ¡±Alright, this last one, I seriously don¡¯t think you should get. I get wanting a cheap property, I do. I don¡¯t even know why I¡¯m offering you this one.¡± Simon said. He seemed to shiver a little as he took out the piece of paper.


    ¡°30 people have died in this house. All by the hands of Micheal the Intestine Enthusiast.¡± Simon said.


    Even hearing the name of Micheal the Intestine Enthusiast terrified Alaric. One single drop of fluid waste appeared in Alaric¡¯s pants due to how scared he was of this man.


    ¡±Yeah no. Put the paper away.¡± Alaric told Simon who then put the paper away.


    Micheal was a name that was permanently banned in the kingdom they were currently in due to this man. He is currently in prison, put there by Samson in fact. But still, it wouldn¡¯t be worth getting involved in anything adjacent to him.


    He had some followers who would interfere.


    ¡°Sorry about that, I don¡¯t even know why I mentioned that one.¡± Simon said.


    Alaric nodded. He too didn¡¯t know why. That was not a house fit for humanity.


    ¡±Just curious, how much is it?¡± Alaric asked.


    ¡±30 charred.¡± Simon answered.


    ¡±Still no.¡± Alaric said definitely.


    ¡±Alright. I have two houses that are only slightly out of your budget, but I think you¡¯ll like them.¡± Simon said, regaining composure, and taking out the other two pieces of paper.