Fishing I

"Woah, I didn't expect this at all."

Kaalsuo, Zweschez and their father, Alsram were currently fishing in an enormous lake. It was said in the local villager's stories that the first instance of the lake was that it mysteriously appeared out of nowhere overnight. The initial length and width of the lake on first sight was a simple kilometre. It would've looked fairly mediocre to the eyes of an uninformed individual. However, the actual size of the lake was way more larger than what was seen from the surface. In actuality, the lake was an underground lake which spanned for hundreds of kilometres. Other than that, there wasn't any more useful information and description of the lake left. Most of the info Kaalsuo had gathered was mostly exaggerated in one way or another hence he couldn't really rely on it.

"Just like always, the waters are as clear as noble glass!" Alsram shouted in enthusiasm. The waters appeared to be outstandingly clear as everyone could see the various fishes swimming about randomly.

As a result of the clear waters, Kaalsuo could notice that the lake wasn't an ordinary boring lake because of the stalagmites poking out like a sore thumb from the overall flat surface of the lake bottom.

Other than that, the fishes of the lake appeared to be more bizarre and almost alienlike than their counterparts on Earth. Rather than using fins to help navigate the waters, the fishes instead seemed to rely on explosions to propel themselves forward. Due to that, multiple tiny explosions could be seen every second which made the lake surface rather chaotic.

'Huh. These fishes are probably using magic. There's no way that these explosions are natural in Earth's standards.' Kaalsuo hypothesised. He knew on first sight that the fishes were definitely using magic to propel themselves. One of the indications to the hypothesis was that the scales of the fishes glowed and glimmered in various colours which occasionally shifted to another. The colourful scales were uncannily similar to the crystals at the cavern Kaalsuo had visited a few years ago.

However, he didn't know whether the colourful crystals had mana in them thus he was only using his gut feeling to hypothesise.

"So, we're going to use these fishing rods!" Alsram said, handling Zweschez and Kaalsuo their fishing rods. "Since we can directly see the fishes from below, I'm sure our buckets will overfill from fishes!"

The fishing rods were sized differently according to one's size hence Kaalsuo's rod was rather puny when compared to Alsram's gigantic rod. However, there wasn't a reel to the fishing rods but considering the technology here was medieval, Kaalsuo wasn't disappointed as he had already suspected it.

Though, Kaalsuo was slightly curious about the material of the fishing rod. Initially, he thought that the fishing rod was simply made from a really flexible branch but he was proven wrong. The fishing rods were actually made from bamboo. Kaalsuo had never seen a bamboo tree since he reincarnated in this world. Nevertheless, it wasn't a priority thus he ditched the useless thought.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" Alsram said while crossing his arms in a casual manner. Kaalsuo responded with a simple thumbs up while Zweschez simply said yes and got on with it.

Initially, Kaalsuo thought that this would make a great opportunity for him to immerse in the hobby of fishing. Although the real reason was to fish for food, Kaalsuo had the thought that it was just a fun fishing session from the other things.

Regardless of that, Kaalsuo at first didn't agree to join in his father to fish at the lake but with some quick decision thinking, he agreed. The reason to his agreement was that it was an opportunity for him to escape his mother's influence on attempting to make him socialise.

"That was, without a doubt, the best decision I made of this life." Kaalsuo proudly declared in his mind. He could simply sit back and wait until a random fish takes the bait.

As he was about to initiate his plan, something horrifying suddenly happened.

"Oh hey, Kaalsuo!" Etrus yelled in excitement while waving at him from the other side of the lake. He was even throwing rocks at the lake, trying to catch his attention, before quickly stopped by his parents. The rocks were harmless but it was harmful to the fishing activity.

"...Speak of the devil." Kaalsuo felt shit when he suddenly noticed Etrus from the other side of the lake. Just as he had the chance to relax, that chance disappeared in a matter of seconds.

"Is that your friend..?" Zweschez asked Kaalsuo, wondering why the kids in the distance were waving at their direction whilst fishing.

"Unfortunately, yes." Kaalsuo answered in an disappointed and frustrated manner. Upon seeing that Kaalsuo's strange behaviour, Zweschez became rather bewildered.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea appeared in Zweschez's mind. He figured that Kaalsuo had difficulty meeting his "friend." Thinking that Kaalsuo would've looked awkward as a result. Believing that he was indeed correct, he began to imitate his plan.

"Hey Kaalsuo! Let's go for a walk, shall we?" Zweschez suggested to Kaalsuo, offering him a short relaxing walk from the fishing.

"Sure." Kaalsuo said, accepting the offer without hesitation. He figured that he could escape from his fishing duty for a bit. Additionally, he thought that he could even escape from a certain kid. However, Kaalsuo had yet to realise what Zweschez's true intentions were.

The two brothers began to walk on a dirt path which encircled the lake like a roundabout. Shortly afterwards, they were now on a junction with several diverging paths going in all directions. Seeing as they had no clue where they were going, they decided to go randomly at a path heading towards the interior of the forest.

The dirt path they were walking had nice simple fences at the side and nothing other than the dirt path itself could be seen littered on it. There were even some firefly lanterns hanging from some wooden poles alongside the fences. However, it was still daytime thus Kaalsuo couldn't really see the path getting illuminated.

As they went into the forest, the neat dirt path slowly and noticeably began to worsen in quality as the number of random rubbish such as sticks, branches and whole logs sat on the dirt road. Whilst strolling at the path, Kaalsuo found a conveniently strong stick which roughly resembled a longsword. Due to human nature, Kaalsuo began to slice and stab various plants along the way such as the trees, the tall grass and weeds. Of course, the stick had no effect on the plant whatsoever.

Slowly but surely, the badly maintained path began to return to normal which meant that Kaalsuo and Zweschez were now returning back to the lake. It was nice peaceful short stroll around the place and Kaalsuo enjoyed it. He didn't feel regret as he could always just walk with free will whenever he liked.

Suddenly as they walked out of the forest, the streaks of light reflected from the lake hit Kaalsuo's eyes which irritated his retinas a bit. Nonetheless, once he got used to it, the lake was truly beautiful. The clear waters made it look wonderful and the fishes caught with the fishing rods made the scenery even more pleasing. Also, they were rather high up from the lake as a result of path heading towards a really high hill.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" Zweschez said, looking at Kaalsuo to see a reaction of him.

"Yeah, it's beautiful." Kaalsuo responded. It was the most good looking thing he had seen since arriving at this world. He knew, from the moment he saw that scenery, he was going to enjoy this wonderful life. However, Kaalsuo wouldn't be saying that very sooner.

* * *

They were now heading back down to the lake. Although they were enjoying their time, they were still neglecting their fishing duties thus they agreed to leave these activities for another time.

"Man, these stick is so durable." Kaalsuo said, hitting the ground as hard as he could with the stick. Everytime the stick struck the ground, the dirt would be the one affected instead of the stick. The stick was practically fine regardless of the minor scratches. Hence, Kaalsuo decided to keep the stick with him and named it "Excaliburg" for no reason at all. He named it after a certain legendary sword and put a 'g' at the end for bad comedic effect.

Kaalsuo and Zweschez was now back at the original dirt path they were on a couple minutes ago. Unbeknownst to Kaalsuo, Zweschez was grinning so hard that he couldn't hide it entirely. Thankfully for him, Kaalsuo was too focused with his random stick to notice.

"Wait." Kaalsuo suddenly realised something horrifying. The direction they were currently walking was headed towards that certain kid. The person that Kaalsuo had tried to avoid with all his might. It was like a Pokémon trainer. Once he's approached by the kid, he couldn't flee anymore. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"Oh hey Kaalsuo! You're fishing too?" Etrus said, still waving at Kaalsuo. He was exactly in arm's reach of Kaalsuo which made his waves unnecessary and creepy.

'No need to thank me.' Zweschez thought as he caught a glimpse of Kaalsuo interacting with his friend. He was proud that he had helped his little brother in meeting his friend.

"W-wait!" Kaalsuo hurriedly yelled but to no avail, Zweschez was too proud to look back. He walked away from the scene with nothing but pure confidence.

Seeing as his quickest way out was now unavailable, Kaalsuo awkwardly looked towards Etrus's direction. He expected Etrus to be slightly judgemental towards him but thankfully, it wasn't the case. It appeared that Etrus was oblivious regarding Kaalsuo's current situation.

Kaalsuo, at that moment, had no idea what to talk about. He had not anticipated an encounter with Etrus thus he was not prepared for a conversation at all.

However, he knew that he didn't have to. He only needed a simple excuse to evade socialising

"Sorry Etrus, but I have to go fish." Kaalsuo said, trying to look as convincing as possible. He still needed to fulfill his fishing duty thus it was still a valid excuse to escape him.

"Oh, bye then!" Etrus responded, without a doubt of Kaalsuo's words.

Kaalsuo immediately sprinted with all his strength and willpower. He had to escape as fast as humanly possible. Otherwise, he would have to face another conversation. During that duration, he could feel the veins of his legs throbbing. The muscles of his legs pulling apart and his stamina slowly running out.

But he didn't care. His only goal was to escape. It didn't matter if it would cost life or not. He knew that he couldn't befriend that wonderful kid.

As he ran, he could spot Zweschez casually walking with his bold confidence.

"Huh? Why are you walking as if you did something extraordinary?" Kaalsuo thought. He thought that Zweschez might be walking like that as a result of him baiting his brother into meeting with Etrus. Immediately upon realising that, he charged in full throttle.

Kaalsuo then slapped Zweschez at the back as hard as he could and zoomed past him with all his speed. He looked back and caught a glimpse of Zweschez's bewildered face. It seemed that Zweschez did not expect Kaalsuo to slap him at all. Still, Zweschez shrugged off the slap and continued walking.

"At least he's not mad." Kaalsuo was relieved. He had a thought that Zweschez would've chased after him as retaliation for the random slap out of nowhere. Thankfully, it wasn't the case to the least.

Kaalsuo was still running very fast at that moment. He did slightly slow down. He kept running as a precaution to prevent Zweschez from suddenly running at full throttle towards him.

Nonetheless, the lake was still big. It took him a long time to reach Alsram which made him on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. The moment he reached the grass, he simply fell down stiff like a mannequin. Usually, he disliked touching grass as it would make his skin rather itchy. However; as a result of his tiredness, the grass felt rather soft. It was the perfect surface for him to sleep on. Ignoring the various bugs and critters, of course.

* * *

"Yo. It's your time to go now." Zweschez said, suddenly waking him with a splash of water.

"Hey! I was sleeping!" Kaalsuo complained. He was having a great dream. He was about to reach the climax until he was snapped back to reality. Kaalsuo would've liked to negotiate for more time but based on Zweschez's unwilling and tired expression, it seemed that possibility was null.

"By the way, are we going back home?" Kaalsuo asked Zweschez. He didn't clearly hear the words Zweschez's had spoken.

"Home? Nah, it's time for to go fish now." Zweschez said in an suspicious manner. He smirked unnoticeably as he slowly pushed Kaalsuo to the edge of the lake.

Kaalsuo gazed at the lake to see that the clear waters from earlier were no longer in that condition. The waters now looked murky and dark which immediately triggered Kaalsuo's slight thalassophobia. He felt the need to immediately back up from the lake. Though, he couldn't as Zweschez was still pushing him.

"Wait, where's the equipment?" Kaalsuo said, noticing that the fishing rods were no longer in the vicinity.

"Oh. About that, you won't need it." Zweschez mumbled as his smirk began to eerily widen. Kaalsuo's had goosebumps seeing Zweschez's expression. However, he knew that he was about to experience something totally unexpecting.

Kaalsuo looked behind him to see that Zweschez was now moving away from him. Zweschez didn't appear to move at all. Instead, it appeared that it was himself that was moving.

"You!-" Kaalsuo said, before submerging into the waters.