Chapter 168: Fishing and... Stealing?

"How are we going to catch them?" asked Slyff.

In front of him was a vast Ashvista Lake; half covered in fog, as the cold wind blew and the water waved. The gloomy clouds looked eerie and the chilling roars of the beasts that came from the mountains in the distance made him nervous.

Ashvista Lake wasn't too far away from the northern border that connected Ceston Empire to the Gubia Empire and that was attacked by Staurious a few nights before. Though many dangerous beasts roamed here from time to time, many still ventured to come to this place. All of this because of the Rainbow Fish. 

Although most of them were just an elementary rank (There are still many Rank 1 and Rank 2, one could also find a few rank 3 Rainbow Fishes, and there was also a Queen that was Rank 4). It was something even Spell Casters greatly desired. Not only was it delicious, but it also had a warming property. It was one of the best foods in the winter that many affluent people desired to eat. Alas, it wasn't easy to catch these fishes.

Moreover, the people didn't dare to go deeper into the lake as there was a Rainbow Queen inside. Even the Emperor had to act cautiously in the lake, much-less normal hunters. Nonetheless, the queen only stayed at the center, and only elementary rank fishes remained on the outskirts. So it wasn't dangerous as long as one didn't court his own demise.

"Hehe," Khrom chuckled hearing him, "just wait and see."

He then waved his right hand, and a few clanking sounds reverberated in the silent atmosphere. There were two sets of breeches on the ground and two pairs of boots that could cover the remaining parts of the legs after wearing the breeches. Then he once again waved his hand and a huge net appeared; there were also a few jars filled with some kind of oil.

"You have a Storage Ring?!" said Slyff and Nefia in unison, an envious look appeared on their faces.

"Look at your expressions." Khrom rolled his eyes. "You can also buy it from the Hall of Forging if you want. As we are the employees of the shop, there is a fifty per cent discount for us on everything."

"Why didn't they tell me?" grumbled Slyff. "I also wanted a Storage Ring, no, actually I wanted two."

Nefia blushed, and a cute expression appeared on her face. She knew better than anyone for whom he wanted that second ring. Khrom's lips twitched as he looked at their lovey-dovey act and said, "You can simp all you want for your girlfriend later. But we have lots of work to do."

Nefia blushed so hard that she wished to find a hole to jump into. Slyff also had an awkward expression, but he recovered faster than her and coughed a few times. "Um, so what do we need to do?"

"We have to set this fishing net inside the lake," said Khrom.

"What?" Slyff shivered just by thinking about entering the cold water. He looked at Khrom and said, "How are we going to protect ourselves underwater from the attacks of the Rainbow Fishes?"

"Hehe," Khrom chuckled and grabbed the set of the breeches and boots and said, "Look at this; I have bought it from Forging Hall, though it is just an elementary rank, it is more than enough to protect us from the Rainbow fishes in the littoral zone."

"Oh," Slyff nodded slowly. He had thought they would fish with a fishing rod(which he had brought with him). Who knew that they were going to take a completely different approach. He thought he and Nefia would sit on a boulder side by side and drag a bunch of fish out of the lake together with their fishing rod. Alas…

"D-do I also need to enter… the-the lake?" Nefia asked with pleading eyes. She didn't want to do it. Her thoughts were the same as Slyff, after all, she was a princess of a kingdom. How would she know about these things? But she never thought even Slyff didn't know much about it. 

Nefia didn't know, Slyff never left the Capital Orddono in his life; whenever he fished he used a fishing rod, as he didn't have money to buy a huge net that professional fishers used. However, he forgot that these fishes weren't ordinary; they were magical beasts. 

Furthermore, even if they had a special fishing rod, capable enough to deal with these fishes, it would be able to capture just a single fish at a time. Even then, the fishes would be injured, or maybe killed; while the net could help them to catch as many as they could and without fear of killing them. They were here to capture, not to hunt.

"No," Khrom said, smiling. "You just need to take care of the fishes that we would throw out of the lake."

"Al-alright," she replied with a half confused face.

Then Khrom turned towards Slyff and said, "Alright, put the breeches and boots on. I will apply a special oil on the net that I purchased from the Hall of Potions. We are going to earn a lot of energy points, hehe."

—

Far away, there was a land covered in sand in the Ceston Empire. It was called the Ethereal Frontier. A desert that spread in miles. At this moment three figures were hiding inside a cave. Their condition didn't look good. Their clothes had been torn apart while dust had filled their hair. Even in the cold weather, they were sweating profusely. 

"Who the heck said it would be an easy mission?!" Hot Rod grumbled.

"Calm down," Barret gestured towards him with a pleading expression. Only then did the man take a deep breath and fell silent. Dion was sitting on the other side, his face deathly pale and a deep wound could be seen on his chest.

Hot Rod looked at him and sighed, "Are we going back just like that?"

"What can we do?" said Barret. "Who knew we couldn't even steal an egg?"

"That damn adulterous couple of peacocks!" Hot Rod gritted his teeth indignantly. 

"PIIII!!!"

Suddenly a thunderous screech came from out of the cave. The trio exchanged glances and a fearful look appeared on their faces. "It had found us," said Dion.

"Fuck, who knew they were so cautious," said Barret. "One of them always remained behind to protect the eggs."

"Let's go," said Hot Rod.

And then the trio vanished.