Fishing

Raizel controlled the boat as it moved farther from the shore. He continued until he reached a place where the boats around were very scarce.

He watched Nathan shiver again before he stopped. He was told earlier that they would be heading into the remote area.

Nathan seemed to understand Raizel's gaze as he rubbed his forearm. "I did not know that it was this far."

"Idiot." A voice called from the side without looking up. Austin was preparing the baits for the Hartil fishes. Raizel could never understand how Austin could insult people with such a kind voice.

Nathan was not bothered, he then took a casual look at the bait in Austin's hands. It was the guts of the black ocean rat. The black forest rat was a tier-1 demon beast that lived around the shore of the Harton Forest and it was the favourite meal of the Hartil Fish. Not only that, the blood of the black ocean rat would attract different fishes.

"Can you prepare it more neatly? Which fish would even want to hear that mess?"

Austin played and took several deep breaths, "You might not even end up eating the fish, what are you concerned about?"

Raizel heard the gritting of Nathan's teeth and sighed. Austin was right if a baby Hartil fish did not bite the bait, There was nothing they could do. The spiritual energy in the adult fish would make Nathan explode after a bite. However, such was not the problem of two 

 "Nathan, Where are your protective talismans? Start preparing your cooking station. Austin handed me a fishing rod." His low voice was authoritative as he casually dished orders.

The two young men in the boat moved without thinking. Austin handed Raizel, the fishing equipment and the prepared bait. 

Nathan put the small box he always carried in front of him and started pulling out different kinds of pots and pans, a grilled rack, a cooking stove and all kinds of bottled spices.

"Is that a spatial box?" Austin asked, a little surprised as he reexamined Nathan.

"It is not. Just a little similar." He opened another box and fresh vegetables and ingredients surrounded the station. He started to prepare the vegetable, ignoring the shock on Austin's face.

Raizel fixed a bait to the hook. It was igneous. He had always had storage rings available to him so he had not experimented with the kind of box Nathan used.

After prodding with his spiritual essence, he was amazed at the practical use of talismans. A shrinking talisman, a light talisman, the result was a storage box a mundane can use. It was very convenient.

He went to the edge of the boat, sat cross-legged and he let down the fishing rod into the water.

Austin also followed him. He gave a little space between them before he swung the fishing rod into the river. He twisted it to the left and right to get the feel. He was about to pull it up when he felt a stretch.

What?!

Austin blinked. What just happened? He did not recall putting any bait.

He stood up, took a step backwards and pulled the rod up.

Hum..Hu

The line trembled from the force. Soon, water splattered all around as a fierce beast was pulled out of the lake.

"What fish is this?"

Austin was startled. Catching a fish without using any bait… he was not sure how to feel about it.

As soon as the large fish was pulled above the water, its pupils swivelled around and spotted the people in the boat. A fierce glint flickered in its eyes, and it slowly opened its maw, revealing rows of glinting, sharp teeth.

Hum!

A loud hum escaped the throat of the fish.

The noise echoed around them as the water beneath their boat shook silently due to the frequency. This kind of sound wave came from the outside to the inside and made one feel like their head was being pricked by needles.

Raizel raised his hand and a transparent bubble covered Nathan, he then turned to concentrate on his fishing.

Hum!!

An aggressive hum resounded. and right after that, the large fish leapt toward Austin with its open mouth. Austin raised the fishing rod with one hand, and a ball of black lightning enveloped his other hand. 

Thud.

The large fish fell into the fishing boat.

Nathan got up, his legs shook a bit. "Can't you kill it a bit faster?"

Austin endured the urge to turn the remaining flickers of lightning on the tall man who had started slicing the fish.

He picked a piece of meat from the black ocean rat. The texture of the meat was extremely delicate and also gave off a nice smell. The quality of the black ocean rat's meat was excellent, making it really good food.

This explained why the Hartil would love to eat rat's meat. It was even one of the favourite food on its menu. Austin tied a piece of the meat to the tip of the fishing hook and lowered it into the water. He glanced at Raizel who had not even shaken during the previous spectacle and lowered his eyes, his thoughts moving rapidly.

Raizel held the fishing rod and faced the vast and turbulent river. The wind blew at his white hair and a loose shirt, causing the latter to flutter wildly.

He gazed at the river before him. He was not like those old cultivators that enjoyed fishing. He found no joy in sitting at a spot for hours, days and waiting for a fish to bite a bait when it could be done faster. 

His spiritual perception spread across the water. He could see all kinds of demon beasts. A large school of humming fishes was just 50 meters away from the boat. That was a disaster if a boat filled with low levelled cultivators encounter it.

In addition to the Humming Fishes, there was some ordinary creature like prawns, shellfishes, snow snails and so on. 

Raizel's spiritual essence turned into a rubber net as it captured those ordinary creatures propelling them upward.

Nathan had finished slicing the humming fish and was coating them in a light spice before…

Pa...Pa...Pa.

It began to rain fish.

A Tulipa fish landed beside Nathan's feet. It wriggled and struggled as goosebumps ran down Nathan's spine. Nathan had a feeling that this fishing trip would be a weird one and he was right.

After an hour, he looked despondently at the fishing tube in the boat that was filled to the brim with fishes and the two men who were still at the edge of the boat and sighed. If he had known, he would have registered them for the annual fishing competition.  

"Enough! Please Enough! We can't finish the ones here." 

Raizel looked back at the tub in the boat. It seemed like he had fished enough.

He sent another batch of fish to the deck.

Nathan frowned, "I said.. "

Raizel, "I heard you. Do you have another of those boxes remaining?"

Nathan nodded and gave him one. 

Raizel filled the box with the fishes before he activated the crimson food talisman.

"I have never seen that talisman before. What does it do?" Nathan asked.

Raizel sent the box into his storage ring. It was his gift to those at the Seventh Alley. He planned to give it to Old Lin to cook up a feast. He brought a book and a chair from his storage ring, reclining in the seat, he replied to Nathan.

"The Crimson Food Talisman, Tier2 talisman. It maintains the freshness of killed game."

Nathan's eyes widened. "Those Hartil Fishes? Their taste would not decline?"

"No."

"That's amazing!! It would solve a lot of problems. You can just catch the fish, kill it and take it home to cook in comfort."

Austin chuckled, he dropped the fishing rod before coming to join them, "And risk being killed by Harton's town officials for ruining their business."

Nathan nodded. It was indeed true, the Hartil fishes were the focal point of Harton's tourism industry and the fun fact that the deliciousness of Hartil fish was short-lived was a major selling point.

Nathan returned to the cooking station and soon came with two plates.

"Fried Prawn Dumplings on Eggs. Enjoy! I will begin to work on the Hartil fishes."

The dumpling skin was translucent and the rosy filling was faintly visible, the shrimp tail wasn't close properly and it seemed to glitter calling people to dive in and devour.

Raizel picked one, dipped it in a mixture of vinegar and chilli sauce.

Delicious, the moment his mouth met with the shrimp, he closed his eyes. It was unbelievably tasty.

Finishing the meal, he relaxed with a book, he could not wait to taste Nathan's craft with the Hartil fish.

Austin's eyes glittered as he moved to help Nathan without being asked. A foodie only needed a plate of food to convince them to your side.