A Trip to The Beach

After everything that happened at the pyramid, we decided that a break was needed.

I chose to ask the most knowledgeable person I know if there were any places we could visit to relax.

"Hey, Isaac, do you know any places where we could spend a day without worrying about being mauled?"

Isaac raised his eyebrow at my question, but he still answered.

"Weird choice of words, boy, but yes. Other than home, the ocean is more peaceful compared to other places."

I lightly glared at him after he called me boy, but accepted his words nonetheless.

"I had hoped that you had dropped the whole 'calling me a child' thing, but I guess not."

"There are many things that I enjoy in this long life of mine, and calling people names that they may or may not enjoy is one of them."

"So I will always be called a child."

"Exactly."

I could only sigh in defeat, and say my next words with a tired voice.

"I'm just going to go to the beach. I need to relax, and our conversation is not helping."

Isaac only smiled at my statement.

And then I realized something: I have no idea which way is to the ocean.

So I asked Jacob.

Hey Jacob, which direction is the ocean?"

Jacob looked at me and just gave me an amused look.

"Why are you looking at me like I just told a joke? I only asked where the ocean is."

"Because I'm a guide, yet I'm being used as if I am a geographer."

"Yeah, but guides are supposed to know about everything."

"No, we are not supposed to know everything. We know many things, but all guides have specializations."

"What's yours?"

"Advice."

I looked at him and decided to reword my question.

"Okay then, what direction should I head if I want to go to the ocean?"

This time Jacob responded immediately.

"Any direction."

I glared at him and revised my question once more.

"The fastest direction to get to the ocean."

And he answered immediately once again.

"Northeast."

I just walked away, done with the antics of our resident guide.

Too bad I turned around too fast to see the grin on Jacob's face.

And so, the 'beach vacation' has begun.

I was finally given some time to contemplate the events of the day before, but I still did not understand the meaning of the message left behind.

'One of my many mistakes, huh? The fact that that gigantic worm is one of many is not a reassuring thought. I hope I don't run into anything like that again.'

As I walked, I remembered one of the things I had forgotten during my fight with the Desert Scourge: my mount.

'Oh yeah, I forgot about that thing! I could just ride that instead of walking so slowly, and I could even practice with my hooks so that I can get a better handle on them.'

And so I decided to take out the saddle and my hooks.

And then I put the hooks away after remembering my location.

'I do not know how I am going to use a grappling hook in a plain, but am not going to find out today.'

And so I continued to the beach while riding on my slime mount.

'I still don't get how this is somehow comfortable.'

-1 hour later-

I did not expect the ocean to be so close yet so far away.

An hour may seem like a long time, but it was while riding on a slime going at around 20 mph. (Similar to a fast bike ride (although 'a fast bike ride' is a relative term))

After I had reached the beach I was immediately attacked by a creature that vaguely resembled a snapping turtle. I decided to see if an idea I had come up with while I was heading here worked.

I jumped on the creature. And I bounced on it.

I was both surprised and underwhelmed by the aftereffects of the bounce.

The creature was still alive, but it seemed to be nearly dead.

I examined it.

[Gnasher

hp 11/52]

'Okay, my slime mount can do the equivalent of an underpowered goomba stomp. Cool.'

I decided to test the bounce once more, and this time the gnasher exploded.

Literally.

Good thing that monsters seem to fade into dust after they die, because I was not ready to see what the aftermath of a 'popped' gnasher looked like.

I decided to put my mount's newfound ability aside and began thinking about what I should do now that I have reached the beach.

I headed towards the ocean and looked into the green water.

'Green?'

I went and touched it. My finger sizzled.

'Acid water. Great. I wonder if I can fish in this?'

And so I tried. and while I found out that I could fish in the sea, I only got some sort of 'planty mush'.

I looked at it.

[Planty Mush

Block/crafting material]

'What would you even craft with this thing? It looks super gross.'

I decided to see whether I was just unlucky, or 'planty mush' is the only thing that is obtainable with a fishing rod in the area.

-5 minutes later-

It turns out that crates are also obtainable through fishing. And they look cool too. (Picture a large Bluish-black box with rounded corners and a giant pearl located in the center of one of the sides.)

I was tempted to just keep the crate unopened since it looked cool, but I immediately decided against that idea.

I opened the crate.

And I found some weird glands, some money, and some more bait inside.

I decided to look at the weird-looking glands.

[Cloaking gland

Crafting material]

I couldn't help but remark sarcastically in my mind.

'Well, that helps my understanding of what they are. Thanks world.'

And then I looked at the bait that I got.

[Master bait

50% fishing power]

I couldn't help but snicker at the name of the item, and just put it back away after enjoying the stupidity of the name. I could only think one thing to myself after laughing at the name of it:

'Damn me and my childish humor. At least it has good fishing power.'

And then I tried to fish for more crates. Sadly, I had no luck with my endeavor.

I looked at the sky and noticed the sun was reaching the horizon.

'I guess I should head home now. It's getting a little late, and while I would love to goomba stomp some zombies, I would also like more sleep.

And so I headed home on my favorite mount.

Today was a good break from the normal craziness of my life.