Almost a whole week had passed after Lukey reinvented his fishing rod. The days had passed in a blur as the time was almost entirely divided between fishing along the docks and his continued training with Kiran. Every day he fished along the docks in the morning, casting his rod and throwing out the baskets to haul in crates of massive fish. Afterward, he would bring all the fish to Kiran, then practice on the fish with his new art, [Fillet]. In the end, not only was Lukey getting paid for the fish he caught, but he was also getting paid for gutting and preparing them as well.

  Of course, Lukey also made sure to practice wearing his wetsuit and armor whenever he could. There was no telling when he would need to jump in the water to fight a monster, and it certainly paid to be well prepared.

  There were also some days when he didn’t want to do extra work, so Lukey had Bohdi build him a little fishmonger stall near the docks to sell his catch. Of course, Lukey only saw the stall as an easy way to piss the day away and make some easy money; however, the people who visited Tranquil Waters clearly thought differently, because his haul would consistently bring in a crowd. Today was one of those days.

  “Look at the size of that thing!”

  “You could feed an entire village and then some!”

  The murmurs from the crowd were slowly gaining volume, disturbing Lukey as he tried to sleep.

  “This isn’t a show!” Lukey spat in irritation. “If anyone wants to buy it, it’s forty tins! Any takers!” he called out, then gestured to the prize in question, strung up on a large wooden pole that was buried in the ground. It had see-through fins, an elongated mouth, and was around two and a half yards in length and a hundred fifty pounds in weight. Its silvery scales had a gleam that still shone from its watery sheen, making the black stripe that ran across its length ever more prominent.

  Lukey could still remember how the fight went…

  …

  Earlier

  “What in the world!”

  Lukey was fishing along the docks like normal when a hard pull started to yank him towards the dock's edge. In response, he quickly set his knees into the ground and began leaning back, rod in hand. As he did, he began taking steps backward to pull the fish toward the docks, leaning the rod left and right to keep it from fleeing. As the end of the line approached the docks, the thrashing beast became clearer.

  [Striped Sergeant Lv. 35]

  It’s huge! There’s no way I can pull it up out of the water without the line snapping! I need a different approach…

  Lukey reached for his pole-spear off to the side, keeping the rod in his other hand all the while. He grabbed it, but the sergeant also gained some distance as Lukey was pulled a bit closer to the docks. Lukey needed a way to close the distance, to reel in the line, but that wasn’t how his fishing rod worked. It was just thread tied to a stick; the only way to shorten it would be to wrap the line around the pole, and that was only done before he cast his line.

  Wait, I wonder…

  Lukey sensed an opportunity here. Instead of pulling the line further back, he decided to instead set the fishing rod sideways. Then, Lukey began rolling the rod up, spinning the fishing line like a spool of yarn as he angled the rod and made the line approach him.

  Slowly but surely, Lukey was approaching the sergeant, shortening the line and making it stronger with each rotation. The sergeant continued trying to pull Lukey in, but he made sure to hold firm as he slowly made his way to the dock's edge. Soon enough, Lukey was right at the edge of the dock, holding firm again as the sergeant thrashed around five feet below.

  “Now or never…” Lukey mumbled under his breath, then he jumped in with his spear aimed toward the sergeant. Lukey’s other hand was firm on the rod, connecting him to the oversized fish as gravity propelled him downward. After a few moments, Lukey hit the water, with his spear piercing through the sergeant's lower body.

  Lukey momentarily lost himself when he hit the water, but he started getting through the water and pulled away from the docks. The sergeant was now pulling Lukey along, still very much alive despite the initial injury. Lukey retained a firm grip on his rod and his spear; he took hold of both and began stabbing the sergeant from behind as he pulled himself closer. It was very hard to deal a killing blow while water was rushing past at unforgiving speeds.

  Fortunately, thanks to [Aquatic Nature], he no longer needed to manually breathe; he could simply extract air through the water as he sped along.

  The sergeant seemed to realize something as Lukey stabbed it, because it came to a sudden stop. Lukey didn’t bother to ask why but soon found his answer as the sergeant whipped its tail around and bashed Lukey right in the head. Lukey temporarily lost his sense of self, and as he came to, he realized that a portion of his helmet got smashed in the collision.

  Lukey, however, wouldn’t let a little thing like a concussion stop him.

  Lukey pulled himself up further, placing an arm in front of his face to block the sergeant’s thrashing. Meanwhile, the sergeant kept destroying Lukey’s armor, throwing its body into his chest and arm in an attempt to crush him. Lukey was forced to endure the assault until he was able to grab hold of the beast, at which point he mustered all of his strength to pull himself on and begin straddling it.

  With his rod arm around the sergeant and his legs straddling the sides, Lukey began shoving the spear into the fish’s side. At such close range, Lukey was unable to actually hold it by the handle, so instead he held it by the metal extension, up near the head.

  I really need that new weapon soon.

  With a clear target, Lukey poured ether into his arm and shoved the head of the polespear into the sergeant’s side. Then, Lukey ripped out the spear, charged his arm, and did it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Plus, once more for good measure.

  Lukey didn’t even realize that he had stopped moving, and after finally tearing his gaze from the sergeant’s corpse, he looked around with wild eyes. He was roughly half a mile from the harbor, and the ocean was slowly gaining a tinge of red as it absorbed the sergeant’s blood. Lukey was bleeding as well, and a quick look over his body revealed that half his body had been completely bashed apart. There were multiple cuts in his skin from the shards of armor, which had broken up during the fight.

  …and now I need new armor too.

  Taking a deep breath through his skin, Lukey grabbed his fishing rod and his spear in one hand while shoving his arm into the gills of the sergeant. It would be a long swim to shore, and he really didn’t want this thing’s blood attracting anything else.

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

  [Aquatic Nature] added a slight sheen to his body that helped him glide through the water, and [Fisherman’s Stance] got to work as well, charging up his legs to propel him through the water with powerful kicks.

  Lukey sighed mentally.

  Now, how am I going to haul this onto shore?

  …

  Now

  Lukey let out a sigh.

  Now not only do I need that new weapon, but I also need to go back to Claw Cove to find some better materials for armor. The last time I went there, I was able to get the shells of aquaclaws up to level twenty. The armor was good for a while, but now that I’m fighting stronger enemies, perhaps it’s time for an upgrade. Maybe if I go there while the cave is flooded, there will be some different enemies?

  Lukey thought about using the stalker’s shell to make armor, but Ki’ida told him to dismiss that notion. Not only was that chitin very dense, but also very large and very heavy. It was far more suited toward making armor for a bulky defender like Caldoon or Sona, not for someone like Lukey, who required mobility.

  Thinking to himself, Lukey looked up at the sky, where the sun would be shining for the last time this year. Tomorrow, the moon will shift phase, causing the weather to change according to its mood.

  Tomorrow, Tranquility would shift into Sorrow. That meant light showers, fog, and cloudy skies for the entire month. On the one hand, it made everyone feel miserable; on the other, the light rain made fishing far more interesting. Frogs and certain fish loved to come out during this time, bringing out all sorts of new life that wouldn’t show its head during sunny days. Of course, the light rain also meant that the labyrinths would be flooded, which also meant underwater exploration and the possibility of new enemies.

  Lukey was broken from his thoughts by a voice coming from the crowd.

  “I’ll buy it!” A male voice said. Looking in the direction of the voice, Lukey saw an old man with a gaze similar to Bluefin's. He could only guess that the man was an elder from one of the island’s villages, because a fish this size could be shared among an entire village and still have some leftover.

  Forty tins—it’s cheap but fair. I’ll only be getting bronze once I start catching fish above level eighty.

  Lukey was about to take the elder’s money when he heard another voice coming from the crowd.

  “Forty-two tins!” A Luxen woman yelled. “There are people going hungry at the shelter, so we need it more.”

  “Forty-five!” The elder growled. “I’m going to celebrate the new year with my village! There are plenty of other fish here, so back off!”

  “Sixty-tins!” a voice yelled from the back, and both parties looked back to see a large Zaurian man had made the bid. “I want to give my son a present, and that thing’s skull will make a perfect helmet.” He explained.

  The elder and the luxe growled, and the bidding continued.

  “Sixty-five!”

  “Seventy-five!”

  “Eighty!”

  As Lukey watched the bidding with both shock and amazement, a hint of an idea had implanted itself within his mind.

  …

  It was late in the evening, and Lukey had just returned from working with Kiran as he made his way toward Adran’s smithy.

  The bidding earlier resulted in the elder winning, but only after bidding a whole copper coin for the fish, which was more than twice what it was actually worth.

  I’ll figure out how to profit from this later; for now I need that weapon.

  Lukey navigated his way toward Adran’s place, making his way around the house and through the alley toward the forge. Lukey knocked on the side door, and only a few moments later, the door was opened by Adran.

  “Lukey! Back so soon?” he said nervously.

  “What do you mean “back so soon?” It’s been over a week!” Lukey exclaimed. “You’ve never taken this long before. What’s going on?”

  In response, Adran sheepishly rubbed his neck and showed Lukey inside. “Sorry, I’ve just been busy experimenting with my new modified arts. I’m still working on your order, but it should only be another day.”

  “What’s taking so long that you need another…” Lukey began, before stopping and looking at a particular weapon that sat on Adran’s workbench. “…woah.”

  Sitting there was one of the strangest weapons Lukey had ever seen. Two metal batons inserted into metal bands with handles attached to the sides. It was all comprised of gleaming white bonesteel and wrapped up with black fabric along the handle and long end. Looking closely, Lukey could also see small bumps that ran around the ends of each of the metal rods, along with wavelike etchings that ran along the side.

  “What… is… that…” Lukey exclaimed in disbelief.

  “That… is your new weapon.” Adran said, completely unsure of himself. “I’ll be honest, I really did try to make those jawblades, but everything I made turned out to be far too flimsy. Fortunately, while I was experimenting, I ended up making this. I’m still in the middle of improving it though.”

  “Weird…” Lukey said. “How did you do these etchings? They look nice.”

  In response, Adran conjured a flaming needle from the tip of his finger.

  “[Blazing Needle],” Adran explained. “I got sick of punching holes in things and ended up modifying my fire to create this. It’s surprisingly versatile for doing little detailing too.”

  Lukey looked over the strange weapon, using [Insight] manually to decipher the threads of aether within.

  At first Lukey was disappointed, but not overly so. He got the blueprint from Ki’ida on a whim; in fact, he didn’t even know if the jawblades would be effective or not. He only knew that he needed a new weapon, and the jawblades sounded interesting.

  These tonfa, however, were something else entirely. First of all, it was clear they had high defensive capabilities, considering how they’re supposed to be held. They were basically an extension of the arms, if arms were made of forged steel. What wasn’t clear was how it was supposed to be used, so Lukey took the weapon in his hands and tested it out. Immediately he was hit by the sheer weight of the weapons.

  Woah, the batons are thinner than my arm, but they weigh a ton. How much bonesteel did Ardan compress into these things?

  The first thing Lukey did was grab the handles and steady his arms near his sides. The stance had become natural after working for so long with Kiran and gutting all those fish. Adding to it, Lukey also began bending his knees, bouncing from one leg to another as if he were ready to grab the next fish in the crate and immediately begin gutting it. All that work had practically beaten this reflex into Lukey, which only made him all the more surprised at how natural it all felt.

  “Test them out on the dummy,” Adran said, then gestured to the dummy in the corner.

  Lukey walked up to the practice dummy, then took a few swings. He started bashing the dummy with the short end before going in close and shoving the end into its head with an elbow bash.

  “Talk about dirty fighting…” Adran mumbled. “Now try extending the arm out.”

  Lukey was confused but quickly realized what Adran meant as he flipped the tonfa around and smacked the dummy with the long end. Lukey was forced to prop up the tonfa with his wrist as he took swings at all sides of the poor wooden man.

  It certainly feels alright. But exactly how creative can I get with this?

  Lukey was about to swing to the side when he lost his grip on the tonfa, causing it to rotate slightly and lose power as it smacked the dummy. Sensing an opportunity, Lukey stopped and looked down at the weapon, then tried to replicate the rotation as he loosened his grip and began spinning the handle in his hand. Unfortunately, the grip on the handle made this difficult, so he ended up taking it off. That he began rotating the handle in his hands, making the baton spin in his hands. Then, he waved spinning rod toward the dummy, which made contact and with a bone shaking bash, creating a deep dent in the dummies face.

  Impressive, so I can switch the grip or even spin it if I loosen my grip just a bit. I wonder… Could I use [Aquatic Nature] to make these spin faster?

  What Lukey wanted was the smooth sheen that coated his body to allow him to glide through the water faster. Unfortunately, it looked like the art could only be used in the water, because when Lukey tried to activate it, it simply refused to work.

  Hmmm… I have an idea, but it will have to wait.

  “Alright, I’ll accept them, since blunt weapons will work well against the aquaclaws. Just one question though,” Lukey asked. “What exactly do you still need to add? These seem to work pretty well already.”

  Adran just gave him a smirk, which was quickly followed up with a determined look.

  “Oh, you’ll see. Let’s just say I’m trying something new.”