Baiting the Fish

"Are you okay, friend?" Iota asked after bringing his boat close enough to touch the fisherman's.

"Something bit me," The fisherman said and inspected the wound on the back of his hand, "I couldn't breathe for a while. I feel alright now though, so it's strange."

The fisherman began to row his boat towards the side, intending to call it a day, "I'll get a check-up at the Guild."

"Take care, friend. Drink plenty of water. The last time something bit me, I just drank water and felt fine after that." Iota waved his hand, muttering, "Guild, huh?"

Of course, he knew what a Guild was thanks to Norda.

Through Spirit Tracing, the Priest would be able to get a better knowledge of the fisherman's body condition. With that, they would be able to treat him accordingly.

Though, by the time he reaches the Guild, there would be no traces of anything in his body, for it would be flushed out through urine. This was why Iota urged him to drink more water. 'Besides, it takes a couple of hours to reach the Guild. That's more than enough time.'

The moment Yakone was delayed, Iota thought that a Priest from the Guild might have used Spirit Tracing on Yakone to find clues regarding him.

After all, unless they were idiots, they would have investigated Yohra's house. If Spirit Tracing was done on the bag of clothes that he hid there, they would have figured out his appearance and a few other details by now.

It meant his identity was compromised. Therefore in a situation where he was out in the open while people were aiming at him from the dark, it was better to grab the initiative by its throat and claim dominance over it.

Iota observed the large fish gradually losing signs of intelligence as time passed. The mutations on its body too were subsiding, but some of them still existed. Therefore, it implied that as long as he kept injecting his blood into it, a time would come when it would prove to be a useful subordinate to him.

Of course, he didn't have the time to achieve that at the moment, and hence, before it fully lost all signs of intelligence, he brought it back on board and made it sleep. This way, the remainder of his blood in its body would be preserved.

'Since the fisherman fully recovered from the effects of the fish's blood, it seems safe enough for my use.' Thinking as such, Iota quickly rowed the boat, keeping his senses pried open as he observed the surrounding fishermen all the time.

From some point in time, a fisherman had been following him, maintaining distance for the time being. Iota was pretty sensitive in this regard, considering the cautious nature he had trained to embody during his days as a serial killer.

He soon arrived at a spot closer to the port and docked the boat, tying a string around the large fish's body before slinging a dozen syringes—with fish blood—on them. Following that, he injected a syringe's worth of his blood into it, watching it regain its intelligence, noticing it was a tad better than before.

He whispered, "Someone is tailing forty metres from behind me. He's wearing a straw hat and white gloves. Keep an eye on him and attack him the moment he confronts me."

The large fish leapt into the water and swam deep until it was hard for the human eye to make it out from the surface.

Iota appeared casual as he subtly observed the boat with the man tailing him inch closer. 'Seems he intends to approach here slowly while fishing, huh? Judging by that speed, it'll take him two minutes.'

Iota stared at the captured fish as he sucked in all their blood, storing the over thirty syringes on his body. "Keuk!"

He could feel the weight increase, for his movements felt slower than before. He then used the net to carry all the fish corpses, appearing like he was about to dump them into the water when he slipped and screamed in pain as he plunged into the water, causing a loud splash.

'Shit!' The man tailing him panicked for a moment and sped his boat upon observing that Iota hadn't surfaced for a few seconds already. Moreover, a pool of blood began to cover the water, 'Did a fish get him?'

He was a Merit Shaman that had joined the hitlist. He would have to present the head to the commissioner before being eligible to gain the reward. So, a fish eating Iota up would bode badly for him.

Without any hesitation, the Shaman leaped into the water, only then noticing two other plops nearby, 'Two more Shamans are here?'

It seemed all three had sensed each other and tacitly didn't interfere with each other, intending to capture Iota first. Only, once they were underwater, they failed to see him anywhere, 'Where did he go?'

One of the Shamans grabbed a large enough fish nearby and used Ray Tracing on it, observing the figure of Iota swimming deep underwater. He immediately motioned the same to the other two who confirmed through their respective Ray Tracing.

'Is he escaping from us?' The three Shamans grouped up and swam through the water, with each taking turns to perform Ray Tracing on the fishes to determine the route Iota had taken, 'How is he so fast?'

Soon, they arrived before a large pipe whose entrance alone spanned a radius of two metres. It was a drainage pipe pumping out the waste products of the cotton factory nearby. The drainage water was mostly treated, but it still was harmful to the body if exposed for a long enough duration.

There were a few fishes scattered about in the area, surprisingly moving about in the murky waters. The Shamans didn't bother with that info and performed Ray Tracing, directly finding out that these fishes escaped from their target's grasp while he was fleeing into the pipeline.

The three Shamans hurriedly made their way into the pipeline, unaware of a large fish stealthily trailing from behind them like a crocodile, following suit as it entered the pipeline too.