BXBX NOVEL Chapter 16 Fish Gallore
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I looked at my Status because I found that there was a new Title on it. Apparently, Titles were something that one gained after doing certain things in the game. They were by no means unique, and there was even a guide to how to get most of the basic non-quest-related titles, which were mostly about doing something with a specific Skill, such as crafting an equipment, making a potion through alchemy, and more.
There was a Title named Beginner Fisher, that was granted after catching your first fish using the Fishing Skill. So I acquired it! One person could only equip a single Title at a time, but they granted a special little bonus, and they\'re mostly like collectables too, although they came in the form of medals that showed in a special area of the inventory and each one had a different design.
The Beginner Fisher Medal Title shows a fish jumping out of water, it was very pretty, so I was going to equip it right now!
[You\'ve equipped the [Beginner Fisher] Title Medal]
And… ta-da! Now my name tag had "Beginner Fisher" below! How cute, wasn\'t it? I wonder if I could one day get the Expert Fisherman Title and show off how amazing I was fishing fish to other players…
Ah, come to think of it, I haven\'t met any players since I started playing, I wonder where they all are? Well, I could go meet them right now if I go to that Market Town or whatever it\'s called… But I was quite fearful of big crowds, so I didn\'t know how I would be able to handle that well…
Maybe out of necessity I would end up eventually going there anyways, after all if I wanted to sell off my veggies one of these days, I should go there.
Now, let\'s check the new Title while we were on our way back to Acorn on top of Belle. By the way, Loki didn\'t seem to mind Belle, but Belle looked at her as if she were some salad, and attempted to eat one of her petals, but Loki sprayed her pollen and paralyzed her! I had to heal her using my Green Magic, and I ended up reprimanding the two, although I didn\'t know if any of my messages got through these two dorks…
A-Anyways, right, the Title\'s info…
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[Beginner Fisher]
Acquisition Conditions: Catch 1 Fish through the Fishing Skill.
Equip Bonus: +20 HP +20 MP +100 Fishing Power
A Title given to a Fisherman that is just starting their adventure in the world of Fishing, the world is filled with Fishes everywhere, make sure to fish in any body of water you find around your path, you don\'t know what you might find!
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Apparently, there were many "hidden stats" and one of them is Fishing Power, there was also Mining Power, Blacksmithing Proficiency, and so on, each one is like an attack stat but for these types of non-combat thingies. You get better and stronger at it with more of that Stat! This Title would make me even fiercer and stronger while fishing, so that\'s all good.
I think I can get another Title if I catch 10 Fishes, then 30, then 60, then 100, and so on… That\'s a lot of fish! Will I ever be able to catch them all? I wonder if I could find a fish that could become my tamed pet, but they would dry out while being out of the water, so maybe not…
"And here we are!"
The beautiful trees of the Squirrel-kin village greeted us. This was our second day here and we had to gather more of these quest materials with Acorn, but for now, I want to cook something tasty we can eat together! After that, we might go into a short adventure before taking a break to cook lunch and eat with my daughter and Mark.
Hm! Everything is going nicely and according to plant—I mean, plan.
I climbed up the trees and reached Acorn. It had taken just twenty minutes on my way to fish and back here, so it wasn\'t anything too long. I quickly moved to the messy kitchen he had and decided to clean everything a bit.
The kitchen had a special and weird artifact that generated water through some weird blue rock in the sink, by looking at it, I discovered it was called "Water Spirit Stone" and through mana infusion, it generated water out of nowhere! That was convenient.
I used the water to clean stuff while Belle and Loki chased one another around the house, those kids were going to wake up the little acorn!
"Hey, what are you doing now?" asked the guide.
"I am going to cook! I got the Cooking Skill, so I am going to cook, obviously," I said.
"Cooking in a game where you can just go to the market and buy some cheap food to fill your satiation? Even more, you can just use photosynthesis!" He said. "You really like to waste your time—"
"Ugh, will you stop being so rude with me?" I asked angrily. "I am just trying to pass the time and cook something tasty to my new friend, what\'s so wrong with that?"
"Ah… I guess… There\'s nothing wrong with that." sighed the guide spirit, as the bulb of blue light moved to the side and stopped annoying me.
"Good! I\'ve been very patient with you but you should really try to be nicer with an old lady like me," I said. "I am a mother too, so be respectful. I am treating you well and respecting you, so the basic thing you should do is do the same for me as well. It is not so hard to be polite with people. My mother taught me that! If you\'re always polite with people, you\'ll make an impression on them, and they\'ll know you\'re a good person."
"Okay, sorry…" sighed the Guide Spirit. "I am just an A.I. programmed to assist you in progressing through the game, seeing you doing things that go against the guide is a bit frustrating, but I suppose anyone can enjoy the game however they want to."
"Yeah! Glad you understood! Now… Let\'s make some tasty stew," I said with a smile.
I opened my inventory and dropped a series of items over the table. They were all consumable items, but I was going to cook them instead of just consuming them raw.
Yesterday in our Mushroom Hunt there were a lot of dropped mushroom items, mostly caps. I had checked them and the ones that were toxic were left out at the side. However, there were many that were actually edible, and of all types of colors as well, such as Orange Mushroom Cap, Blue Mushroom Cap, Small Green Mushroom Cap, and more.
I decided to use a kitchen knife that was in the kitchen here, and cut them down into pieces because they were way too big, most had the size of an entire plate, although there were some small ones which I threw as they were into the stew.
I also took out the "Horned Rabbit Meat" which was already butchered for me when I picked up the dropped item. It was a beautiful white meat with the bones and all except the internal organs, even the head was gone! It was very clean so I simply chopped it down into chunks and threw it into the pot, with some water generated by the water spirit stone, and then I added some spices I found in here, such as oregano, some salt, and black pepper, there was also another ingredient, a red-colored dust named "Pepperine" so I also added it. It seemed to have a fragrant red smell, it could make this stew a bit spicy, but that was all nice for me.
Without realizing it, I was already using the Cooking Skill, as it showed above my head that I was "Cooking" and it seemed to be some sort of Status, somehow? Well, whatever was the case, the food was ready, so I began to boil everything together. Similarly to the water, the fire in this place was started through a red rock named Fire Spirit Stone. I wonder where Acorn got these from… I was going to ask him when things were ready.
Of course, I was not done cooking yet! While I left the Horned Rabbit and Walking Mushroom Stew being made, I decided to check the new items I got, the fish!
I had caught four fishes, so I was going to check each one of them. After they die, they give some EXP and also become a whole item, so I had to butcher them first before cooking them, although I planned to make them salted and grilled, so I only needed to take out their insides.
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[Giant Blue finned Pike: Lv6 (Rare Rank)]
A powerful and big fish that is capable of manipulating the water currents to move at fast speeds underwater and catch prey with its giant maw. It is also capable of defending from foes trying to fish them by firing deadly water bullets, and they have even been seen to catch small animals that wander near rivers by shooting them down with their magic.
A Rare Rank Fish that can be made into a series of tasteful plates by a skilled Chef, make sure to bring it to someone with the Cooking Skill to make it shine!
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Someone with a Cooking Skill? You mean me, right? Heh! Farmer Class was amazing, it seemed that production-based classes were very separate, a Chef often doesn\'t have the Fishing Skill, and vice versa, but Farmer was an all arounder that had all of it but never truly mastered anything! Pretty cool.
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[Mud Catfish: Lv3 (Normal Rank)]
A common fish found in shallow rivers and lakes, it is big and slow, so it\'s easy to catch, its meat is tasty and goes well with a stew using some other spices to give it some more flavor.
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[Red-specked Bass: Lv2 (Normal Rank)]
A slightly-less common fish found in fast-moving rivers. It is fast and has several red-colored specks over its body that makes it stand out from the rest, when enraged, it will become completely red and attack at sight, so make sure to catch it quickly.
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[White Crappie: Lv3 (Normal Rank)]
A small, white-colored fish, a common fish in all types of rivers, it is moderately fast but easy to catch nonetheless, it is tastier when cooked simply by covering it in salt and grilling it.
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I see, I see! They all got a bit of info, but they were all edible anyways, so that was all good for me. However, some seemed to do better at being made in other things, such as stew or grilled, and others were just okay with anything.
But I suppose you could bring the most flavor by cooking them in their preferred ways… Alright then, I will make the White Crappie and the Red-specked Bass into the grill, the other two will be saved for now, I still have to think of a way to cook this giant Pike… Maybe I could chop it down like tuna and eat it as sashimi? Or simply make steaks out of it, or bake it into the oven… Hm, or make a stew, there are many ways to cook it!
Oh well, I gotta get to it before it became too late.
I used the kitchen knife to take out the two fishes\' entrails and then washed them with a lot of water. Afterwards I took out two small branches from the tree, washed them off, and stuck the two fishes into them after having covered them in salt, and then, I placed the two sticks over a small bonfire in the chimney.
And it was all done. I washed off my hands and sat down over the chair while waiting for things to get done, the stew was already almost done though, I tasted the broth, and it was deadly by how delicious it was!
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