Out on the open seas, Alaric headed out a while before he would start his fishing.
He would need to head out a reasonable distance before he would start.
His expectation was to not fish up anything.
Esoteric Fishing was notoriously difficult.
If he were to fish up anything, it would be a miracle.
But again, there was a range. Some fish would be able to be fished up quickly, some would take much longer.
Alaric sailed out into the ocean until there were no obvious people around him.
It was mid-afternoon, so he would have about three hours before he would have to head back. He didn't want to be late to getting part of his body chopped off.
He set out to a location that was reasonably far from the coast.
"I can still comfortably see the city from here, should be a good enough spot."
Alaric did a quick sweep around, looking to see if there was anyone nearby.
"As long as they aren't directly next to me it should be fine...." Alaric thought.
"You're fine.. I'm not worried about you.." Alaric glanced over to the rat that was scrambling around the bottom of the boat.
He brought his supplies out of his bag.
He started with a bottle of alcohol. He decided on the beer fish first. It seemed that there wouldn't be much room for interpretation in the story. It was just a matter of dipping alcohol in the water.
He was going to do the fire one, but that would be too chalant right now. Alaric couldn't imagine bringing a flamethrower back now. He would have to establish a base to return it too for something like that that could serve as a weapon.
The alcohol fish would be lest significant. There were likely normal fish without any special abilities that would be worth more money.
Alaric prepped himself mentally for fishing.
He sat down, and breathed calmly, focusing on himself.
He felt the depths of his soul, and measured them out, creating an accurate image of his internal self. He felt his mind. There were two, one overlapping over the other. The first was a human mind, the other was unknown.
He concentrated his entire body, becoming completely dialing in.
His concentration was immense.
His fish pupils were shining blue, his eyes emitting a small glow.
The edges of his mouth curled up, contorting into a disgusting smile. Like usual, a little bit of slobber was rolling down his face. He was now ready to fish. His mind was now that not of Alaric as a human, but of Alaric as a man of the fish.
He put his hat on, and brushed his medium length dark hair back and out of his face.
Taking out the fishing rod, he examined it to start.
He felt along the rope, stared at the hook, and became familiar with it. It still had the golden glow that it had when he first attuned to it. It was straight and strong. It looked standard, being metallic. The metal hooked around the reel in a straight line, making it look sleek and modern. It was very clearly a different appearance than that if it when he got it from the worm person.
"Clearly cursed. It likely changes form based on a certain condition." Alaric intuited a theory for what the rod's curse was. Even if that was true, Alaric had no theories as to what the curse would entail otherwise. The modifier that the change in appearance provided was yet unknown.
"I don't care. I'll just use it. If it sucks i'll sell it. It at least looks cool, so it'll sell for a decent bit." Alaric thought.
Alaric got out the bottles of alcohol. They were varied, each consisting of a different kind. There was a bottle of wine, vodka, beer, whiskey, and a mixed drink.
Alaric started with the vodka. He put the hook carefully through the cork so it would stay in.
There was not a very clear way that the fish would bite on, but it was an Esoteric Fish. It wasn't some bitch ass salmon or something. These would be legendary, powerful fish that would bring Alaric to the head of the world.
Alaric focused up and cast the rod. The bottle was heavy so it would sink, it wasn't very practical. He would have to use his strength to hold it up. Issues like this were common. This was also why Alaric chose a small bottle of alcohol to use.
Time passed. Alaric sat, and sat, using his strength to hold it up. Nothing significant was happening. It had already been an hour. He would have two hours left. He decided to change bait. In the story, the bottle was referred to as a bottle of alcohol.
"Vodka may have been too new of a thing.... I should try another kind of alcohol.
Alaric brought the bottle of Vodka out. He could use it again, but not too many times lest the seal break.
"Maybe it needs to have a little bit of an alcoholic scent." Alaric thought.
Before hooking up the bottle of beer, he opened the cork and poured a little on his hands. He took a small sip too. He then put the cork back in. After putting it back in, he hooked it up. There was an alcoholic aura radiating from the bait now.
He put it in the water and did the same thing. He sat and waited, concentrating for any sign. It would likely be obvious if anything were to happen. He made sure the hook was secure and the cork was in tight, otherwise it would pull the cork out and empty the bottle.
He was sitting continuously. Another hour had passed.
Hark Hark Hark
A strange, sucking sound that also sounded like chocking was coming from the end of the rod.
Hork Hork Hork Hork
Alaric quickly got to his feet, and started to pull up the fish.
He was getting close.
Alaric was running out of strength. He had already used a lot of strength to keep the bottles from sinking.
But he needed this.
He needed the fish.
Alaric kept reeling in, and reeling in.
He then saw it. His first fish that would start off his journey.
The giant drunkard fish.