21

"What do you mean 'what's been happening recently', Are you talking about the surge in Cutter Wolves? My friend Alex and his wife were almost overrun by them a few days back but with the help of the..... HQ extermination squad.... we were able to fend them off, Thing was there were actually 6 Alphas there that were controlling the whole horde."

Rob just looked at me in shock as I said this. "You mean to tell me you were there!? Did you get anything good out of it? I know Cutter Wolf Alphas have to atleast be Rank C and that's when items and stuff can start appearing!"

I sighed and put on an act, I didn't know this guy and there was no way in hell I was going to just blurt out Yea I got a Relic and almost died because the extermination squad wanted it.

"Ahem, nah... It sucks but all I got out of the deal was just a couple monster cores. The extermination squad took the majority of the good stuff and only left my friends a few of the items, but they were nice enough to give them the bodies so there's that." 

"Ahh man that sucks I'm sorry to hear that. Normally from what I hear the squads usually split the loot with the land owners of the property the fight takes place on, did you all participate in the battle or was it just the squad fighting?"

"Oh we all participated, I mean one member of the squad was killed slightly before the horde attacked, but yea me and the owners were apart of the battle.... Why do you ask?" I was kind of getting an off vibe about this guy and his questions. I know it might just be that he's a stranger and I don't know him but the way he's talking sounds like he knows how these things are supposed to go down....

Rob looks at me for a few seconds before he just shrugs and pulls a backpack I hadn't seen till just now towards him and puts his hand in, the next second he pulls out a fishing pole and a standing light, and I'm talking about an actual standing light like what you would find at a construction site for overnight work. I was super shocked when I saw the fishing pole but when he went back in and actually put two hands in and pulled that thing out my jaw dropped to the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL! HOW DID YOU DO THAT!" I yelled in shock and Rob just looked at me with a 'Your joking right?' look as if what he just did was the most common thing in the world.

"Have you never seen a Dimensional bag before? Ah it must be because it's a backpack and not the usual pouch everyone carries at their sides... This is special ordered from a friend I know so don't worry it's just a little bit bigger than normal." He waved it off after coming up with what he thought I was shocked about.

"No that's not it! I've never seen a person pull out a whole construction light before! WHo the hell just keeps something like that!?" I was absolutely baffled at what I was seeing and then he just flicks the damn thing on and I swear it was like looking at the sun but a million times brighter..... No warning just flick and now I'm blind.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH MOTHERFUCKER YOU ASSHOLE! I'M BLIND DAMMIT!" I started thrashing around covering my eyes but was soon grabbed by the shoulders and had some kind of liquid thrown onto my face. Next I felt a soothing sensation spread across it and the pain I felt in my eyes faded away after a few seconds.

"That was my way of apology.... It's a Rank B healing potion. Usually I don't have anyone around when I fish so I just habitually flip the lights on...." Rob said with a tone of embarassment. 

I was still pissed off and it took me a few minutes before I could even open my eyes again even after he healed them but that didn't mean I'd forgive him that easily. But he still helped me sit down and even handed me one of the fish he had cooked and fed the others he had been cooking too Rhonda and Shadow. Well I mean I guess he's not horrible.... Considering I was making my pets suffer while trying to survive out here.... 

"I'm... Thanks for giving us your food. We were suffering there for a minute and without you coming along I don't know how long my friends here would've been able to keep up their strength. I have some last resort rations but unless it's Rhonda here, it's the same as eating smelly garbage to me and Shadow."

Rhonda pecked me when I said her food was smelly garbage but I just smiled at her. Rob just waved my thanks off with a muttered "It's not a big deal." and he walked over to the edge of the water and cast out. I jumped up in shock as he did that because I was afraid of that monster appearing again. "Wait don't do that! Won't that piss off that monster and make him appear again?"

"Big Joe? Nah, me and him got a bit of an understanding. I give him some of my catch for the day and he just goes about his business guarding his streams and rivers. He should be long gone anyways, You're actually pretty lucky to have caught him at all. He must of thought you were interesting in some way, he usually either eats the people he finds fishing in his territory or ignores them entirely." Rob chuckled as he suddenly jerked his fishing rod back and within a few motions he pulled out a fish that was covered in yellow stripes that seemed to throw off sparks where the hook was attached to it?

"The hell is that? Is that fish electric!?" I took a step back but Rob just sighed before reaching down with his bare hand and after a soft grunt upon touching the fish, he pulled it loose and threw it back into the water.

"Yea, that's a sparky, best we can guess is that it's kind of like Earths version of the Crappie. There's a few different breeds but they all have the same electric abilities, just different strengths depending on where you catch em. That little guy was nothing but a guppy compared to some of the others I've gotten so I let him free to grow a bit."

?????? The look on my face said it all as he started laughing. "Hahaha oh boy you really are a noobie when it comes to the other side aren't you? Well I don't know everything but I do know alot about fishing and it never hurts to learn something to help with surviving. I just so happen to have a spare rod that I can loan you if your up for it?" He grabbed his pack and pulled out a fishing rod that was a little skinnier than the one he had. Comparing the two was like comparing a tree branch to the trunk it grew off of. But it was an actual bonafide fishing rod and not something I tried to slap together.

"This is a regular fishing pole meant for rivers, lakes, things like that. The one I use is meant for big ocean fish, I mean I'm talking HUGE! Like this one time me and a buddy of mine fought against this monster for over 4 hours only to have something even bigger come up and snatch it right off the line just as we were getting it to crest over the water!! GAH that still pisses me off too this day!" He yelled and shook his fist in the air.

"But nevermind that, I don't think you'll be heading out to the ocean anytime soon right? So let's just focus on the small fry here and work our way up. I heard some of the fish here have been used in medicine and things like that so it can be a good way to make some cash aswell. Why don't we go ahead and cast out and see what we can grab?"

Rhonda and Shadow gave me a reaffirming nod and bark as I smiled and turned to cast my line... Before I did though I remembered that nothing was hooked on as bait....

"Oh yea, the bait..... Unfortunately I don't have anything for you to use as bait. I have a custom lure that I use and to be honest I haven't used that rod in quite a long time.... You said you had something that was like smelly garbage? That could work, especially since there are some bottom feeders in this river that just love the smelly stuff."

"Hmmm, what about worms? I know worms are a standard back on Earth." 

"Ofcourse, they would work just as good over here on this side. But the thing is that the worms are a favorite food for some of the more hostile and aggressive fish...."

"What do you mean? Aren't all the fish worm lovers?" 

"I mean yea, but the aggressive bastards smell the worm like a southerner smells rain and damn near has tunnel vision just to get at it. I think they are the ones that are more carnivorous than the others."

"You mean like a barracuda? Or shark?" I got a little worried now because after Big Joe made an appearance the last thing I wanted was to reel in a shark! I wasn't going to put anything past this world and what it could throw at me randomly.

"Nah nothing like that around here. I'd so closer to maybe a piranha? OH, maybe you'll get lucky and catch what I call the Vacuum Bass!" Rob got super excited when he said that name and judging by the name it wasn't going to be a fun catch.

"I'm guessing it has some kind of wind power? or just that it's so big it just sucks everything up." 

"Yup pretty much. But holy hell if that fish don't taste just divine after a good thorough cook, Plus it has a knack for sucking up shiny stuff so we could get lucky and fine something awesome! But it's mostly like shiny rocks or some kind of low level gem." 

Hmmmmmm so it was like a lottery fish that also tasted good? I mean I'm not opposed to the idea if that was really what they were, and I could use the worms to more efficiently bait it.

"Sweet sounds good, let's do it!" I hooked up one of the worms and with a huff I cast it out into the river and sat down to wait. Hopefully I will catch that lottery fish and find something amazing!