Fishing

Oren was nowhere to be found. Kenneth, however, was right by the warehouse, sitting on the bank of the lake, fishing.

"Hi, Kenneth. Is there a mission for fishing?" Cody asked out of curiosity.

"Nope." Kenneth shrugged.

"Then why are you doing it?" Cody was puzzled.

"Because I want to." Kenneth chuckled. "You should try it. It's good to relax. In Crisis Mode, everyone is running around like headless chickens. People shouldn't be so tense for too long. We'd start making stupid mistakes. You should take it easy sometime."

"But we do need to raise Security levels. And I really, really need credits."

Kenneth nodded. "Me too. Happily, the Shuttle Shops buy all the fish I catch here for 10-20 credits per kilogram, depending on species."

They do?!

"Fishing, huh?" Cody wondered. "I actually do have a bamboo fishing pole in my Personal Space."

"Go get it. I have some spare line and bait."

"How much do those cost?" Cody had to ask.

"Not much. Only a couple credits for the line. One more for the combination of hook and sinker. The bait is free. I just dug up some worms."

Five minutes later, Cody sat down next to Kenneth with his old fishing rod and new fishing gear. Dad and Uncle Byron sometimes went fishing and brought him and his siblings along, so he wasn't squeamish about digging earthworms and setting them on hooks. According to Dad, earthworms were good for the soil, and the soil was absolutely important for the plants that Flora was all about.

Some people might be grossed out over the worms, but the fish in the lake clearly thought they were delicious. Within minutes, Cody felt a jerk on the line, , and pulled hastily. There was a struggle, but with a sudden splash, the end of the line emerged from the waters, a gray-scaled fish dangling at the bottom of it.

"It seems a bit… small." Cody observed, feeling slightly disappointed. The fight this little guy put up felt like it was a whole lot bigger. He put it in a borrowed bucket filled with water to keep the fish alive and fresh for the sale.

"That's just a bit below average for this lake." Kenneth patted him on the shoulder. "Keep at it. You never know how big the next one will be."

Indeed. The second one pulled back so hard, Cody almost lost the rod. "WHOA!"

"Hang on!" Kenneth gave Cody a hand and between them, they wrestled the fish out of the water until at last, a foot-and-a-half silvery fish was dangling and squirming in the air above the lake.

"Wow, that's a big one!" Cody marveled. This was the biggest fish he'd ever caught, even counting those he'd caught in the lakes of Flora in real life. It was too big to put into the bucket! They needed to sell it at once.

"That's… a salmon?" Kenneth stared. "Goodness, I thought this lake only had tilapia and carp!"

"Is this good?"

"It's crazy good!" Kenneth groaned. "I get about 16 credits per kilogram of carp, 13 credits per kilo of tilapia, but salmon… that thing should be a lot more expensive!"

So… it turned out salmon sold at 32 credits per kilogram, twice that of carp. His particular catch came in at 1.43 kilograms. Since it was his first salmon, the grocer offered him a little bonus, bringing his income up to 50 credits!

50 credits for one fish! 10 more for the first, small tilapia! Cody hadn't even spent one hour at the lake yet, and he already came away with 60 credits!

"H-how much do you make in one day? Or even one hour?" Cody dared to ask Kenneth.

"About as much as you just got. Five or six catches per hour isn't unusual."

Sadly, they didn't catch another salmon over the next hour.

"You're from Flora III, right?" Kenneth asked, suddenly.

"I am. Why?"

"Me too. That means, we can do this in real life too! But we should try fishing in the sea. I hear there's much bigger fish there." Kenneth said dreamily.

"The sea?" Cody paused. Flora had three seas. "Which one, do you think?"

"The White Sea. Definitely the biggest, roughest one." Kenneth suggested.

"Too rough. Why not the Serene Straits?" Cody angled for the nearest sea to his home. "It's very gentle."

"Not deep or big enough." Kenneth shook his head. "So that leaves us with… the Starlight Sea?"

"That sounds awesome." Cody grinned. "Let's do that someday, when we're older and we can travel around on our own."

"We could do it tomorrow if you wanted." Kenneth chuckled. "We could hire a Guardian."

"A Guardian?" Cody gaped. "For a fishing trip?"

Just how rich was this guy in real life?! A Guardian was expensive. Did they really need that much protection? Wouldn't any random babysitter suffice?

"You never know what happens on the open seas." Kenneth said loftily. He didn't seem worried about the price at all.

"If it's the open seas you want, we may as well go to Ocearan!" Cody wasn't sure if Kenneth was serious or kidding. "If you're going to hire a Guardian, we may as well make a trip worth the cost."

"That would be awesome." Kenneth said agreeably. "But I'm afraid if we went fishing in Ocearan, it wouldn't be fish that we catch."

"Then?"

"We'd be hooking up girls." Kenneth said.

"Huh?" Cody was confused.

"Never mind." Kenneth waved it away with a forced cough. "Just something my uncle likes to talk about."

Thinking about it, Cody thought of Laila living underwater, at the roots of a giant illuyar tree. Goodness, if he lowered a hook and line into the water, he really might end up tangling an Ocearean girl in his fishing line.

No wonder Kenneth looked embarassed. Cody nodded in sagely understanding.

***

After three hours of fishing, Cody came away with 212 credits.

"What are you going to do now?" Cody asked Kenneth, who had had enough of fishing.

"Some mission, I guess? I should probably level up." Kenneth yawned. "You?"

"Probably buy a Tier 1 Kit, qualify for Tier 1 Rating and do one of the Priority Missions." Cody mused. "What level are you at?"

"Six, so far." Kenneth said openly.

It did make sense, since Kenneth spent a good deal of time fishing. He certainly wasn't in a rush. Cody raised a hand. "If you want some help, I could come along. It's the Supply Run for Provisions, right?"

"That's the one."

"Where is it at?"

Kenneth checked. "Farmer Amos' place. It's an orchard."

"We should get tricycles and carts." Cody mentioned. With over 200 credits from fishing, the 40 credit rental fee no longer seemed so big. One hour with a fishing rod could solve that! Even his 100 credit death penalty fine could be handled now! Cody indeed felt a lot more relaxed, but it was more due to the money in his account than the activity of fishing itself.

"Great! Let's do it!"