Princess, Ken, and Jericho set off to different parts of the river with some basic fishing gear loaned to them by Lillith's grandfather for the quest They each agreed to do their best to catch at least two fish if not more. They decided to meet up again in an hour to see if they caught enough fish and if not to go back to fishing.
Princess was relaxed as she walked on the water to look around for fish and good places to cast her line.
After about 45 minutes of wandering the creek and looking for things to catch, she finally snagged one. As she put it in the pail, a notification telling her she obtained the fishing skill appeared. She brushed it aside as she never planned on using it in the future.
"Well, one is better than nothing." She said, continuing to fish for the last 15 minutes. Right before time to meet up, she caught a second fish. "I won't drag him down this time!" She smiled happily.
***
Jericho walked a bit further from the group and turned into his water elemental self.
{Ah, much better, I have missed having you in this body for the last while.} Glaw exclaimed happily. {The lack of the other elements is much more comfortable.}
{Good to know you are happy. I'm going to go catch fish now. You can help if you want.} Jericho the small water elemental replied.
{Enjoy.}
Jericho slipped into the river and sensed the water all around him. {This vision skill is still weird.} The elemental focused on his control water skill to draw fish out of the slow moving creek. He quickly found that the fish could still move within the water he was controlling. Fifteen frustrating minutes passed.
{Switch me.} Glaw said. {I'll show you how to keep something from escaping the water.}
Jericho relinquished control.
The elemental body grew to the size of an adult as Glaw was now the one acting. The elemental started moving the water around a fish in a whirlpool motion before lifting it out of the water and placing it into the bucket. {If you do it like this, the fish can't escape as easily. Of course it also hurt the fish so we don't use this trick often.}
The elemental body shrunk back down as Glaw gave Jericho back control. {Science was never my strong suit.} Jericho said. {Thank you for showing me.}
{It is not a problem.}
The bard focused on controlling the water like Glaw. It took quite a few tries, but after a lot of effort his control water skill upgraded to Adept 1/10 and he obtained four fish. {Well, at least now if things don't go as planned, I have more than enough backup.}
Jericho emerged from the water and returned to his human form. "It's time to meet up with the others." He stared at the five fish in the bucket.
***
Kenneth summoned his new pet's status to see any relevant information regarding his new pet.
Status (simplified): Name Lux, Race: Cursed-Lynx (Tier 2 animal, Cursed) Level 20
Skill lines: Animal (Predator), Fishing, Pet skills (obtained after becoming a pet), Curse.
Specific skills, Animal (Predator) Tier 2: Claw 4/10 Adept, Bite 7/10 Beginner, Tracking 0/10 Adept, Thick hide 8/10 Beginner… (Etc.)
Specific skills, Fishing Tier 1: Paw fishing 5/10 Beginner (self taught)
Specific skills, Pet skills Tier 1: Return (N/A), Savage frenzy 0/10 beginner, Guard 0/10 Beginner, Resonance Gift (Rare pet skill) 0/10 beginner.
Specific skills, Curse Tier 2 (Unable to control): Tainted skills (N/A), Unholy corruption (N/A), Cursed touch 3/10 Adept, Evil aura 2/10 Adept.
Note that the Curse skill line can be very harmful to Lux and others around it. As long as specific curses remain, Lux will be unable to make the best use of its abilities
Ken summoned Lux, (Cursed and Evil as a result huh? Well that is something we will have to find a way to resolve.)
Lux lowered his head. (Yeah, you are the first creature to be nice to me since I got cursed.)
The hunter decided to look at some specific skills.
[Paw fishing 5/10 Beginner: Use your forepaws to fish. The user of this skill must have paws.]
[Resonance Gift 0/10 Beginner: Huntsman Ken and Lux must achieve a resonance to activate the skill. A resonance or synergy may occur when the desires and wills of both parties line up or something draws both master and pet to form a stronger bond of friendship or camaraderie. A resonance does not have to be strong in order to occur. When active, Lux will gift Huntsman Ken a portion of his identity, power, or abilities based on the type of resonance obtained. The ability will last as long as both parties will it. Ending the effect will require achieving another resonance in order to activate again. Under certain conditions, Huntsman Ken can use the power of resonance to sacrifice a part of himself to heal Lux.]
Ken smiled. "That is a very useful skill. It seems quite vague and powerful."
[Tainted Skills (N/A) All skills are cursed and may not work as originally intended. This curse brings great suffering to its owner.]
[Cursed Touch 3/10 Adept: Anything Lux touches with his forepaws receives a curse. (The ground is excluded) Adept bonus, The curses given are at adept strength. If the touched creature is a hostile target towards Lux, the curse may benefit the enemy for a short time.]
The hunter pulled out the fishing skill book and realized his pet already knew it. (Lux, we need to catch some fish.)
The lynx perked up. (Fish?) It saw the skill book in Ken's hands. (You can learn my skill. You can fish like a good master and I can eat like a good pet.)
The hunter groaned.
(If Ken learns it then everything will be better. The fish I catch end up tasting funny anyways thanks to the stupid curses.) He purred before the hunter could reply.
(I don't have the capability to learn it. I don't have paws.) Ken replied thinking his comeback to the cat was smart.
The lynx rolled on his back and scratched at the air. (Then I just need to give you paws. It isn't that hard if you try. Then you can fish all you want and I can eat all I want. Simple right, I mean I have had paws for as long as I remember so why can't you have them too? So learn my skill! Bring me food, Ken!)
Kenneth glared at his pet. (I told you, I can't learn it so I can't use the skill to catch fish.)
The cat flipped back over and hunched a little. (You haven't even tried to learn! You just want me to fish so you can eat strange tasting fish. Lazy Ken!)
(You just want to be the lazy pet. How about this, you go catch a fish and I will see what you mean by it tasting funny and afterwards I'll try to learn this skill and we will talk about what to do.)
(You said it!)
The lynx growled unhappily for a moment and walked into the water. (Wasting time and good fish by having me do it.) Kenneth watched as the drenched lynx used its paws to push fish onto land before returning. (There, I caught the fish.)
Ken picked up the fish and looked at it.
[Deformed cursed fish- An inedible dead fish that tastes incredibly rotten. Consumption will cause sickness.]
(I see what you mean by the fish tasting funny.)
(Yeah, now learn my skill. You promised.)
Kenneth lifted the book and paused. (How do you know this will work?)
The cat tilted its head in confusion. (Why wouldn't it work? You only need paws right?)
The youth hesitated at Lux's strange confidence. He tried learning the skill.
[You cannot learn this skill. You do not possess the required body parts.]
Kenneth sighed thinking it was dumb to try and learn a skill he obviously couldn't. (See, I can't learn it. I tried but I don't have any paws).
Lux growled slightly. (It's because you haven't tried hard enough.)
He lifted the book again. Lux's words made him curious. "I didn't try hard enough to learn it?" He opened it up and tried to learn it once again. [You cannot learn this skill; you do not possess the required body parts.]
Kenneth focused and tried again thinking that he wanted to learn the skill.
[Intent from both you and your pet have been acknowledged, a resonance has occurred between you and your pet. Lux's pet skill Resonance has awakened and is being activated.]
[Due to the resonance, you have learned Lux's Paw fishing skill.]
[Resonance Gift has been influenced by the cursed nature of your pet. A cursed effect has been added to Resonance Gift.]
Kenneth felt funny as the book vanished into particles. The knowledge of how Lux used his paws to fish entered his mind. He looked down to see his lack of hands. They were now large fluffy lynx paws. Confused, he scanned the rest of himself. "It looks like it is just my hands."
(Got any paws now, Ken? Go fish! Catch us some tasty ones!) Lux gave a pleased growl.
Kenneth started wading in the water and swiping to push fish onto the land. (I need two for my quest then the rest are yours. When we get rid of your curses, you will be doing the fishing since you love it so much.)
(Deal!)
(This is harder then he makes it look.) He muttered as he looked up the exact information regarding the cursed resonance.
[Cursed Skills effect on the current resonance gift (Forepaws): The transformation will last for a minimum of 1 hour and cannot be ended early.]
"No wonder the cat was so confident I could learn paw fishing. I didn't realize Resonance could have such a powerful effect. The skill is actually quite neat. Gaining his stronger senses while we hunt would be very useful. Though, the cursed part isn't fun and at least Princess isn't seeing me like this. It would ruin the hard work I have put into looking cool in front of her." Ken muttered. The handless hunter swiped his temporary paws in the water at the fish for 50 minutes. He succeeded in catching the two fish he needed for his part of the quest and another two for Lux to enjoy.
[Paw fishing had leveled up to 2/10 beginner]
He walked back on shore to look at the fish he caught. (Now how do I get them in the bucket and carry them back? I've still got eight minutes left with these wet fluffy things.)
(Stop retracting your claws. You will have better grip that way.) The lynx explained.
The hunter extended his claws and placed the fish in the bucket.
(Aren't paws great? They are very useful for catching fish!)
Kenneth sighed. "I really need to find a way to remove his curses."
***
One hour and ten minutes from the time they started fishing, Ken ran to the meeting spot. "I made it." He breathed heavily.
"Great! How many fish did your pet help you catch?" Princess asked.
"I caught two fish. Lux is cursed and the fish he caught were… not able to be eaten."
Jericho nodded. "Then that makes nine. Let's go turn in our quest."
The three returned to the wood elf. "Greetings sir." Jericho started.
"You are back already?" He asked. "Have you caught six fish?"
"We caught nine!" Princess exclaimed handing over the fish she caught.
The other two gave their fishes as well.
"Good job you three. You are forgiven for taking my grilled fish earlier. Come, sit." He motioned around his grill.
The three did so.
The old elf rapidly cleaned, gutted, prepped and grilled the fish. He handed each of them two cooked ones. "Enjoy!"
[You have completed the quest Go Fish. You have obtained 50Exp, you have obtained the hidden reward grilled fish*2. Because you brought extra fish, you have gained an additional 25Exp. You have gained a token to enter the wood elf village.]
"Now then, I have a favor to ask such reliable youth such as you. Will you bring this special box to town for me? My daughter Cirith would greatly appreciate it."
[Quest, Delivery to the Town: Lillith's grandfather wants you to take a special box back to the village and give it to his daughter. Accept? Completion rewards: Complete access to the elf village. 100Exp.]
They accepted and journeyed towards the elven village once more.
© J Eranoth