a small flying boat landed near a beautiful lake, the water was crystal clear, and made it easy to see the thriving life inside it, many small fishes were swimming around, and once in a while eating small insects and plants
there were other people fishing, but being a difficult and smart fish, they were snubbing the baits, while the fishermen were hiding in the weeds on the lakeshore trying to hide their presence
from the boat, a grandfather and nephew duo came out, and the boat disappeared with a wave of the man hand, then before approaching the lake he said to the kid
"Daniel, from now on we need to be as quiet as possible, with such a crystalline water as we can see them, they can see us, so follow me slowly, I can see my favorite spot it's free, let's go there"
Daniel nodded and the duo started to slowly walk to a tree that was growing on the lakeshore, its branch extended in the lake making shadows in the water, and around it many weeds formed a cover on the sides, leaving a small access to the lake in the middle
down there with a wave of Vincent's hand, a bench clearly made for two appeared, and Vincent sat down and invited Daniel with gestures
then he started taking his pole out so Daniel did the same, and after unraveling his rig he was ready with the hook in his hand
Vincent took out a small jade container and inside small white flowers were glistening, he took one and put the box between himself and Daniel, then showed him how to fix it on the hook by passing between the petals and through the pollen, with such a tiny hook this operation, especially on something as fragile as a flower was astonishing, but with his precision, Daniel succeeded on the first try
Vincent gave him a thumbs up and pointed to the right side then he threw the line to the left, Daniel understood and tried to imitate Vincent, but when he threw the line to the right ripples formed in the water
Daniel couldn't realize it yet, but the only reason he could throw the line so easily, was his special made fishing pole, which was almost weightless, but the technique involved in accompanying the line in the water couldn't be copied like a knot, it took practice
Vincent whispered to him "don't worry it takes practice, it's already impressive that you didn't tangle the line in the weeds while throwing it"
then went back to concentrate on the float, what he purposely forgot to mention, is that most of the time, when a rice carp ate the bait, the float wouldn't sink, instead would move a little to the side or even come up, making it difficult to notice the bite
but he didn't tell him that the float should sink either, he wanted to test his grandson, he already knew he was smart, but how well could he use that big brain of his or better brains
so they kept silently waiting, and strangely the usually restless Daniel, was silently watching the float, his mind was empty, as he was concentrating on was the float
suddenly the burning soul energy calmed down and became impossible to be felt or seen again, but if Vincent could see it, he would notice that it was now calm and still like the lake's surface, Vincent started to have the illusion that Daniel wasn't there even if he could clearly see him
soon later daniel's float went down and he pulled the pole, the elastic inside the pole, was doing an amazing job helping Daniel tire down the fish, after all with the delicate terminal line, pulling violently would break the line, and the elastic feature would help daniel in the case something bigger bit the hook
shocked Vincent, who didn't know what to say, took out a net and helped Daniel land the fish, Daniel who instead of dancing and exulting he just had a big smile to avoid scaring away the fishes, sadly all the noise the fish made already scared them away
Vincent took out a box and rested it behind the bench, inside, the box was full of water and air was being pumped in from a line of small holes at the bottom, it was obviously made to keep the fishes alive, Vincent used this occasion to show Daniel how to remove the hook and put the little carp in the box
afterward, since the fishes were already scared away, Vincent raised his pole to check the bait, and there it was, a rice carp ate his bait, he tired it down and lifted it out with the net since Vincent didn't have an elastic on his rod he had to pay more attention to the frail water silkworm line
but Vincent was shocked, the only explanation he could find, was that when he was distracted by Daniel, he didn't notice that in that moment of panic a rice carp was eating his bait and hooked itself
after putting it in the box he looked at his grandson, thinking "nothing this lucky ever happened to me, it's just a coincidence, right?" and threw the line back in the water
after a couple of minutes, Daniel and Vincent's floats went down together, this was strange because normally the float wouldn't go down, and rice carps are not that easy to catch, but apparently, something was different today, vincent used the net to land both the fishes after tiring them down, and Daniel finally had a good look at the fish while he personally removed the hook
it was a fascinating fish the rice carp, it looked exactly like a little common carp, but the scales were an opaque white and the eyes were green, making it not only wanted for its deliciousness but also as an aquarium decoration, after all, it was a pretty fish
the school of rice carps swam away again, but in another couple of minutes Vincent's float went down again, he kept spinning the gears in his head, it was like the rice carps were sure it wasn't a trap and just ate the bait even if he and Daniel weren't hidden that well
but then he thought about Daniel, a couple of hours ago he was determined and excited and his soul was literally on fire, now that discretion was needed he could barely register his presence while looking at him, he started to think, that he knew what the mutation was about, but this was a discussion for another day, for now, he will take it as a good luck charm and enjoy fishing with his nephew
one hour later in the box, there were already 12 rice carps more than enough for family dinner so Vincent closed the box and whispered
"we already have enough for dinner, do you want to keep fishing for another hour, or do you want to go home"
Daniel whispered "I want to keep fishing" going back to watch the float
happy with his nephew's passionate approach to fishing, Vincent said whispering "ok, but we will release the fish we catch from now"
Daniel asked while whispering "why?"
Vincent said whispering "because it's bad to take away too many fish, we just want to win the challenge these smart and wild fish are, and eat a delicious dinner, we don't need to catch many of them, after all, we are not commercial fishermen"
Daniel nodded, and in another hour caught and released seven carps, than the both of them packed up their gear, and jumped on the boat at Daniel's request, he wanted to see the beautiful landscape again
while going back Daniel said "I still can't build a spaceship with my abilities, but I should be able to make something similar to this flying boat . . ."
these words worried Vincent, that thought his nephew wanted to go fishing without him, but then Daniel said "so I can fly like this even when you are busy with work, I really like this feeling, when are we going fishing again grandpa?"
Vincent laughed, at his thoughts and said "whenever you want kiddo"
soon later they triumphantly entered the portal, Daniel with his cylindrical fishing pole backpack, and Vincent hauling a big box full of water like it was full of feathers
as they arrived in the kitchen the rest of the family joined them, Daniel and Vincent, told them about their afternoon, while Vincent was cooking
they were surprised, not by the successful fishing trip, but by the abilities, Daniel displayed today, if a peak eight-stage could barely register his presence while looking at him, most of the people in the universe wouldn't be able to see Daniel coming if he could cultivate he would make a terrifying assassin
Sophia had an idea and said "I may have understood what Daniel's mutation is about"
Vincent said "I think I got it first doctor" while, poking at her, proud to have gotten there first
Sophia was sure he was wrong, so she said "well since you are sure, let's hear it"
this time Daniel wasn't cut out of the conversation, and he also wanted to know, but while hearing Vincent recount the events, he realized he wasn't aware of those changes while they were happening, and come out with a theory of his own
while Daniel was thinking, Vincent was explaining his theory "I think his body adapts to his emotions, he was excited and his body was pumping blood, he was sneaking and his heartbeat slowed his breathing became calm and silent"
both Sophia and Daniel shook their heads in disapproval, and Sophia said "it's only the surface, the real answer it's the environment, you were excited and he was excited so his body pumped blood and his soul reacted accordingly, and at the lake, everyone was trying to be invisible so his body adapted and his soul followed"
Vincent was nodding like he had some kind of revelation, but after thinking about it daniel shook his head in disapproval again and the family noticed
Joseph asked "what's your opinion Daniel?" after the hacking episode he really trusted his opinion
Daniel said "for now what we know, it's that I have many of the same organs while you guys have only one or two and that the way I'm cultivating my soul shouldn't be possible according to auntie Andrea, adding in the events from today I realized it's not the first time something like this happens, when I was sad even the mosquitoes would stay at a distance from me, when I was angry the nanites entered battle mode without me ordering it, so it's more than the general environment and emotion, both play a major role, but it's more than that, I think my body has many organs, not as a backup but to easily adapt, if my theory it's correct I should be able to hold my breath longer or even survive in extreme environments, also as a normal person passing all that time lying down, without exercise, should be a problem, but I'm as healthy as I can be"
Sophia said "so you are saying that your body transformed cultivating the soul in an involuntary movement like breathing, it actually makes sense"
Vincent thought of something and said "I think it's still more than that, it will seem absurd to you guys, but the fish weren't behaving like they usually do today"
Daniel asked "what do you mean?"
Vincent said "the rice carps usually don't bite down like they were doing today, they move the bait by taking it in a little and then blow it out, and you have that window to hook them since the bait it's connected to a line so it doesn't get blown away, and they discover that it's a trap, basically what I'm trying to say is, that it's like Daniel made the fish more trusting"
Sophia said "that's in the mind control category, it doesn't make sense, even if he could or knew how to do it, he should have actively extended his soul in the water to do that, you would have been able to see it in that case, it's more probable that whatever his body did to make him unnoticeable, when his soul adapted, it created something that hid not only himself, but also you and the pole's, like an aura or veil that makes things unremarkable"