Fishing Rod

Lurking beneath the water's surface, came a white translucent creature.

A beautiful pale woman with wavy hair but below her body were slimy scales similar to that of a fish's tails. She had fins on her hands and at the back of her ears were gills she uses for breathing under the lake.

Staring at the distance the creature smiled, "So many, handsome meat. Tonight is going to be a feast, ehehe" The Magindra whispered to herself as she dived deep within the lake.

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...

While clutching the bone tooth necklace given to him by Hyaradth, Argus recalled those stories he had heard from his former tribe's elders, and judging from what he just experienced, Argus learned that such a violent surge in the lake might have not appeared for no reason.

"I should be wary of those supernatural beings..."

There should be that kind of creature in the water, and they are supposed to be very dangerous.

Argus grasped a vine leash with some worm tied on its end and tossed it into the lake. It dropped at a spot that was less than two meters away from the bank. However, from the other end of the vine leash, he held in his hands, Argus did not sense any intense struggle that a fish had taken the bait.

As a day has passed ever since his return, Argus had been feeding on Miguel's memories. He had a vague idea of the other's technological advancement as if the two of them is gradually syncing. Sometimes he gets confused, most of the time he can be seen pacing out.

But that's only the backlash of their sudden swap. He found that his body felt familiar but at the same time, also unfamiliar to him. He could not help but wonder about that strange place he went to.

While having those thoughts, Argus busily prepared an improvised floater he made from the materials that Hyaradth gave him.

When the elders and the other participants of the trials saw what Argus is doing, they could not help but sneer or mock him.

"What is he doing?"

"It's like a spear... No! a rod. But there's a vine tied on its end?"

They all quizzically questioned, swimming in the lake. They all had no idea of this particular object they were seeing. Argus could've made a better tool, but no material is better at the moment. And so, his fishing tool is only a fishing rod without a reel and a reddish floater made from the husks of a tomato berry.

The reddish float was vibrating gently. One would assume that it came from the worm's struggle if not observing carefully, but Argus became familiar with the worms' struggle beneath the water since he had quite some flashbacks of experiences in fishing due to Miguel's memories.

The vibration amplitude of the reddish float on the surface was slightly smaller than before, and it had a trend of getting smaller and smaller.

Argus pulled back the vine leash, and every fish that has been caught got around together as they were baited by the worm tied at the end of it.

"So many fishes caught!" Screaming in delight, Argus's lips curled upwards.

He is seen sitting near the shore, one pace of distance from the water's surface as he forcefully pulled the long rod, out from the water.

When he had pulled a bountiful harvest of fishes, the worm he tied at the end of the leash was now gone. He has to replace it with a new one. Luckily from a while ago, he had ordered the Tikbalang which he named, Hyaradth to collect more of this in the mountain forest.

Placing the changed worm on the ground, Argus used the back of his stone knife to strike on its body. This stone knife was also given to him by Hyaradth.—Thinking of Hyaradth and his gifts, Argus could not help but write off their previous battle as if it never happened.

CLICK! TACK!

After a slight sharp snap, the worm was broken into pieces as if it was made of glass. It had no more soft body as before.

All the warriors sneering and mocking at him earlier had a weird look in their faces, they all scratched their heads as they wondered how Argus has made it.

"He... he got so many fishes without even actually swimming in this lake! The heck is with that tool? I thought it's just a weapon! Turns out, it's a tool!"

Some of the wicked ones already had some wicked plans of stealing Argus's fishing rod.

They hate it when others gained the advantage without going through the same way they did.

"Quick we must take his tool..." they all whispered among themselves.

But they won't do it openly, especially now that a lot of elders were present.

On the other side of the river, there was a platform covered with banana leaves and some other branches as a roof for the Shamans, including the Babaylan, Dayang Haya, and Saman Talia herself. Also, a table was prepared housing numerous fruits as they were neatly laid on it.

At Argus's bountiful display of harvest, most of the elders were surprised including the Daya.

But Saman Talia who has been cheering for Argus from the start only smiled to herself.

"That's my Argus... hehe" she whispered inwardly. Although also surprised, she thought that since Argus came from another tribe, he must have had other tools and techniques to catch fishes and Argus is simply taking advantage of that.

Then a few minutes passed by, as carefree as the cascading flow of the rivers...

Argus has tossed another few worms down the water, and every time he got the same result. More and more fishes had gradually filled his basket, he didn't even have to actually enter the lake and spearhead those fishes.

To the onlookers, it felt unfair. Bagno was one of them. He could not help but question why such a lowly Alipin became luckier than him in this particular trial.

At the thought of this, he gritted his teeth and rose from the lake. He intends to have a face with this Argus and directly ask him.

"Hey, stinky Alipin! What you are doing is unfair!" He yelled ferociously, glaring at Argus as he stared at him from the bottom to the top.

Even the grass below the foot of Argus became pale from fright. The palm trees swayed, the clouds waved and a suffocating atmosphere was felt encroaching the whole area where Argus and Bagno are seen. The other one is relaxed and carefree, while the other looked agitated as if ready to lounge forward like a feral beast at any given moment.

The surrounding tribesmen widened their eyes when Argus actually stood up to refute Bagno.

"I have not violated any rules! It is only unfair because I made full use of a tool I have crafted?!"

Clicking his tongue, Followed by a mocking laughter "Phwahahat! Tsk. If what I am doing was unfair, that elder should've warned me the first time I caught a fish."

Yelling at the top of his lungs, Argus pointed his fingers at the Elder standing at the small hill near the shore.