[F1-PP] A Fishy Situation <Earning a Living: Fisher>

[Nicklaus 0]

Today was a weird day, Nicklaus had physical left the safety of the town of beginning behind him. He was visiting the dock. He had heard of this very unique skill which would allow him to fish. Fishing has always been a pastime of his in the real world, as it was time away from the stressful life of running a company when he was younger. While many others took up golfing as well, which is what he did, he also did fishing on the side, since he wanted to be out on the water and on his own boat. It gave him freedom being able to go anywhere just like having a car.

Therefore, he had visited the docks on floor 1. There was a famous fish market nearby, and he decide to look at the seafood that was being sold there. It was at this point when he made contact with the pink haired girl for the first time in a very long time. "Hello Sister. Fancy seeing you here." Nicklaus spoke.

It had taken him seven years to look for her, and the moment that he stopped actively looking for her, she shows up at the same place and time. What a lucky coincidence.

Spoiler

Nicklaus
Level: 2
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 40/40
EN: 22/22

Stats:
Damage: 6
Mitigation: 6

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Beginner's Longsword 1 DMG
Armor:
Misc: Beginner's Breastplate 1 MIT

Skills:
Straight Sword R2

 

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah felt that today was different. She felt a strong pull or need to visit the fish markets today. After all, as a chef, she had not cooked meals in a long time. She knew that it had been a while since she visited the docks on floor one. She had been going to the fish market on floor twenty four, but she knew that she should be making the rounds. After all, being a chef means there is a lot of responsibilities to continually discover new ingredients and experiment with different combinations of food.

Therefore, she took the teleportation gate away to the floor one docks. It was there she was casually scrolling through the market, looking for the freshest seafood to buy. Perhaps she wanted to make some sashimi and nagiri. This would require the freshest fish that she could buy. She stopped at one of the shops and was intrigued by some of the lobsters that they had caught. She decided she will cook lobster tonight, so she purchased some and put it in her inventory.

In the middle of the market, there was a familiar guy standing right there. She was shocked. "Why, how. Why are you here? Where's Kol?" Rebekah said. She was stunned. She had spent the better part of seven years looking for her lost brother, but instead another brother was trapped in the game with her instead. Then it clicked her. Nicklaus had never felt like the person who would play video games so she was very confused to see him here. There are nothing else she could do after all, all the wasted time looking for someone who never logged into this game.

Spoiler

Rebekah
Level 32 | P 12 | HP 740/740 | EN 86/86 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 98 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 1 | LD: 5
BH 40 | Survival +10% | Thorns 36 | EN -2

Tier 5 – Paragon Bonuses
Laurel Wreath
+ 1 LD for Looting, Searching and Opening Treasure Chests

Equipment:
Laevateinn II (T4 RAPIER) 3 [DMG]
 Silver Necklace (T4 Trinket) 3 [ACC]
Frozen Dress (T4 HA) 2 [MIT] 1 [Throns]

Skills:
Weapon Skill (R5) | 7 [DMG]
Battle Healing (R5) | 5% (37 HP)
Heavy Armour (R5) | 35 [MIT]
Searching (R5) | 5 [LD] 5 [SD]

Combat Masteries:
Evasion (R1) | 1 [EVA]

Add-ons:
Ferocity | 2 [DMG]
Precision | 1 [ACC]
Stamina | 2 [EN]
Iron Skin | 15 [MIT] 60 [HP]

Mods:
Impetus | 1 [DMG]

Extra:
Survival
Disguise
Meditation

Profession:
Forager (R3)  - 167/299 EXP

Items:
Unbroken (T4 Shield) 2 [MIT] [Anti-freeze]
5 Golden Keys | + 2 [LD] on Chests

Guild:
Trading Hall
Treasury | + 5% mobs + 10% treasure chest

 

[Nicklaus 0]

"Why would I not be here? After all, I bought a copy of the game. Kol was too busy to play right away, so I logged in using the nervegear and the game that I purchased for him." Nicklaus responded. "Now, how have you been little sister?" It had been years since he had seen her. Therefore, it will need to wait.

"I am here looking for Anthony Gill. He should be living nearby in a fishing shack. I am looking to learn how to fish. Do you want to come along?" Nicklaus asked. It was not really a request but more of a demand. He knew that her sister will join, after all that was the only person he could ever trust. Some would go as far and say that he had a soft spot for her sister. That was true, one of Nicklaus's chores at home was to always look after Rebekah and to also scare all the boys away that were not related to her.

The reasoning was quite simple, all boys were evil. Nicklaus decided not to wait another few minutes and sent her a party invite request. He was surprised that he knew what to do given that this was the first time he had joined a party. Rebekah had reluctantly accepted, he thought his sister was looking for fish to catch. "Why don't I make a deal with you? Instead of buying more fish from the market, I'll catch the fish and give it to you." Nicklaus said.

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah listened to her older brother talk about why he was in this game. "You made me waste several years of my life looking for a brother that did not play in the game. It is all your fault!." Rebekah said. "So, I am not doing well." She was throwing a temper tantrum at Nicklaus because of this. However, Nicklaus had ignored her temper tantrum.

The name Anthony Gill had seemed unfamiliar to her, so she recommended they ask a NPC for directions. It was a good idea as the NPC lead the group towards a little small fishing shack at the docks. Rebekah had already bought all her seafood but she was not going to turn down the opportunity for more free stuff, so she agreed to go with Nicklaus while he attempted to catch fish.

She thought it would be funny to watch Nicklaus who was never the most patient person. He had a tendency to act before he thinks. He was also a hot temperatured individual, so fishing would never be one of his strong suits. Rebekah accepted the friend request, as they finally made their way to Anthony. Rebekah had no interest in losing the foraging skill so she did not accept the quest but she was going to escort Nicklaus while he fished. So hopefully time will pass by a lot quicker this time.

[Nicklaus 0]

"Are you Anthony Gill?" Nicklaus had asked. He was expecting an old guy to be showing him how to fish but it turned out it was a young NPC with blond hair.

"Yes, I am. I am sorry to disappoint if you were expecting someone older. There is a special thing called a scale, that can be fished. I will give you this bless bait. It should make fishing a whole lot easier." Anthony responded.

The bait had shown up in his inventory. Without taking too much extra time to listen to the NPC talk, Nicklaus headed out towards the water where it was quiet and there was not a lot of players around. After all, he did not want to disturb the fish that may potentially be nearby. He turned back to his sister, "I will begin fishing now. What do you plan on doing while waiting for me."

While waiting for her response, Nicklaus began to put the bait on the fishing pole and began swinging the fishing pool into the ocean in front of him. He was sitting on the dock having brought along some extra foldable chairs. This is a lifesaver so he does not need to stand the entire time. Now he was back in his comfort zone, just sitting here waiting for the fish to bite soon.

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah watched as Nicklaus spoke with Anthony regarding fishing up a special material. She knew that this was going to take time, and it was similar to her experience several weeks ago with the cursed compass to learn the foraging skill. She was not here to switch skills so she hang around in the background. It did not take them long to finish talking.

Anthony was an interesting character. She had expected fisherman to be old with big beards and white hair. He was a lot younger than most people she knew that would love fishing or train others about how to fish. Nicklaus did not need any instructions. Rebekah was surprised, since he thought her brother did not know how to fish.

As Rebekah made her way towards the dock, she knew that it was going to take sometime before Nicklaus found what he was looking for. Therefore, Rebekah hang around close enough to chat but just far enough so she can forage for her own materials. After all, Nicklaus was unlikely to be as lucky as her since Rebekah managed to find the material on the first attempt. It was rare for people to be so successful very early on. Rebekah began to look at some of the flowers that spawned near the water. These flowers look special, perhaps they could be a material. "I will be nearby foraging for materials." Rebekah told her older brother.

It was also at this time that Snowball had landed on her shoulder. This was a good time to introduce Nicklaus to Rebekah's familiar, a snowy owl. "This is my owl, Snowball." Rebekah said. Snowball was a good companion, and he knew when to show up and when he can take off and do his own thing as an owl.

ID 207519 | LD = 20 | CD = 6
Forager R3 - 175/299 EXP (+8)
+ 1 Mat + 1 Mat (CD)

2 Materials Total

Edited March 29, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus had sat there on the edge of the water as he swung his fishing pole out. Now, it is time for peace and quiet. All he needed was to wait for the fish to bite on his special bait and he would have collected a few materials, and hoping the gleaming scale which was one of the most rare items that can be found in this game.

While he was waiting, he watched Rebekah walk around foraging flowers, and other interesting materials nearby. It appears that she had managed to find two materials immediately. He wished he was as lucky as her as she since he has not found anything else. All of a sudden, an owl swooped down towards her. "Rebekah, look out." Nicklaus yelled.

Rebekah did not seem to mind the white snowy owl. It was one of the most beautiful owls he had ever seen. It looked similar to the famous Hedwig in the movies. She then introduced her owl to him, the name was Snowball. "Who names their own Snowball?" Nicklaus said without thinking. This was a mistake as the owl had original stuck out his wing to shake his hand, immediately started hooting and becoming very aggressive towards Nicklaus.

This was a disaster, as he wanted peace and quiet to fish, but not an angry owl making a lot of noise to scare the fish away. His line begin to move, he quickly pulled it up, there was a material. It was better than nothing.

ID 207520 | CD = 8 | LD = 4
+ 1 Mat

1 Material Total

Edited March 29, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

It appears that her brother was lucky enough to find a material already. That was just luck, Rebekah thought in her head.

That was an insult to her and her owl. Snowball immediately started swarming the air above Nicklaus and hooting loudly. He was a smart owl and he knew immediately that he wanted some peace and quiet to go fishing. Instead Snowball was trying to make it difficult for Nicklaus.

Rebekah chuckled at her owl's antics to defend her. Rebekah did not plan to tell her owl to stop. Eventually Snowball got tired of swarming Nicklaus and started diving into the water to catch fish that may be coming near the bait on the swimming pole. This was starting to get on Nicklaus' nerves.

"You ready to apologize yet?" Rebekah asked. "Snowball is a very persistent owl, so he will not stop until you say something." Rebekah turned her back to Nicklaus and continued to forage for materials around the ocean. She saw a piece of driftwood, and decided to reach for it. She wondered if that could be classified as a rare material. After all, she had seen other players collect wood and the game would automatically recognize that as a material. This piece of driftwood was a material.

ID 207540 | LD = 15 | CD = 5
Forager R3 - 183/299 EXP (+8)
+ 1 Mat + 1 Mat (CD)

4 Materials Total

Edited March 30, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus got really irritated. Oh right, his annoying sister had found one of the most obnoxious pets she could ever find. A flying owl, that was not afraid to get up in his face. To make matters worse, this was an owl that will help her in combat, so it was not afraid of a human. All he needed to do is to stay calm and pretend nothing was going on. He did not want to give in and give Rebekah and her owl the satisfaction.

The constant hooting was slowly getting on his nerves. Rebekah then asked him to apologize for that rude statement. However, he has nothing to apologize for. He had spoken the truth that nobody wants to hear. It was a dumb name after all. That said, he also knew he needed to make peace with her sister because this was getting out of control. He needed the quiet waters to catch fish.

It was at this time the owl had given up, and moved on to something else. Rebekah was focused on trying to gather a piece of wood. This time Nicklaus had learned to keep his mouth shut. He reluctantly told Snowball, "I am sorry. I hope you forgive me, little owl." He said.

The owl turned around and then pushed its chest out to flex on him. Rebekah really needed to find another pet, but he stopped annoying him after this. Finally, Nicklaus can check back on his fishing pole to see if anything was caught during this extended ordeal.

ID 207541 | CD = 9 | LD = 14
+ 1 Mat

2 Material Total

Edited March 30, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

It had taken a lot of persuading and time, but Rebekah knew her brother too well. She knew he would only apologize to her but after enough time has passed. Therefore, she had always known to just let him be the first one to make the move, and say sorry. There was nothing else she could do, other than wait. Finally, Nicklaus' patience had run out, so Snowball finally got the apology the snowy owl deserved.

Snowball was a funny owl, it wanted to rub it into Nicklaus' face. She was not going to deny her owl that pleasure so she did not tell Snowball to stop. Throughout this ordeal, she was surprised at how easy Nicklaus was able to continue fishing and collect materials, even if he was the person that had an owl in his face stopping him from catching fish and making his life like hell. With that said, Rebekah got to work, she knew that she wanted to forage more materials today, so this was her plan. She noticed there was something shining and it was sticking out in the sand. It looked like a silver material of some sort, "Look I think I might have found something." Rebekah said.

It was a silver coin in the sand. Perhaps a crow had placed it there or it had washed ashore. Regardless, it was one more material collected for Rebekah today to go with her haul.

ID 207578 | LD = 20 | CD = 4
Forager R3 - 188/299 EXP (+5)
+ 1 Mat

5 Materials Total

Edited March 31, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Now that the owl had finally stopped annoying him, it had decided to fly around scouting for enemies again. Nicklaus can go back to focusing on what he does best. Fishing. So far, he had two attempts to catch the rare gleaming scale, but nothing had showed up yet. He was starting to get restless, but he knew patience was a virtue. He was never the best at this but he needed to find something else to do while he was waiting for his line to pull.

All of a sudden, his sister had found something in the sand. A few minutes later, Rebekah had returned to show him the rare silver coin which had looked like it wad washed ashore from the water where he was fishing from. So far he has nothing to show for other than the two material - fish that he had caught earlier. "How many do you have so far?" Nicklaus asked.

He had hoped that the discrepancy was not too much which would allow him to catch up sometime today. After all, he did not mind obtaining extra materials as a result of the fishing today. Hopefully, Rebekah was not the best at searching for stuff out of nowhere.

Nothing was biting this time, so Nicklaus had to continue to wait.

ID 207579 | CD = 6 | LD = 7
(failed)

2 Material Total

Edited March 31, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah had finishing showing Nicklaus her silver coin that she had collected so far. Since he had asked her a question, she decided she should look in her inventory. So, Rebekah quickly pressed a few buttons on her user interface, and she had determined that she had collected five materials so far. This was an amazing result considering she was not in nature's garden where she had visited last week. It was now that she had responded to her older brother. "I have collected five so far. How is your fishing coming along? I believe you are looking for a scale right?" Rebekah asked.

She knew that for foraging all she had to find was a demonic shard, which she had found rather early in her search. Therefore, she was free to do whatever she needed for the rest of the day. However, it seems like that Nicklaus is not having as much luck as Rebekah did a month ago. "I found the special demonic shard on my first attempt." Rebekah said. Not that Nicklaus had asked her but it was always fun to rub it in his face. After all, that was what big brothers are for.

ID 207739 | LD = 5 | CD = 1
Forager R3 - 191/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

5 Materials Total

Edited April 1, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus had thought. Did he make the wrong decision. So far, her sister had already collected five. He had only managed to fish up two materials so far. This was going a lot worst than he had initially planned. To top it off, she had finished her quest very quickly, after all, she had found the item immediately, and did not waste any time to of her day. "I have only fished up two so far. Do you think I made the right choice becoming a fisherman?" Nicklaus asked.

She knew that even thought they have not seen each other in seven years, Rebekah knew him better than anyone ever did. Therefore, if he ever needed to hear anyone else's opinion. It would only be Rebekah that he would listen to. After all, nobody else knows him, or his rough childhood that he grew up with especially with an abusive father that never liked him.

Sometimes, he had always wondered, was he even his father. There was a possibility that his mother had him with someone else. He had always felt different from most of his other siblings, and his father had taken an exceptional haterid towards him.

While he waited, Nicklaus continued to wait and see if any of his fishing lines would bite. It did. At least this got him one closer to Rebekah's tally so far.

ID 207740 | CD = 9 | LD = 10
+ 1 mat

3 Material Total

Edited April 1, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah had thought about what her older brother had said so far. She believed that he was not the best person suited for fishing. "To be honest with you, you were the last person who I thought would ever go fishing. However, I know that you are also a merchant, which goes well with fishing. On top of that, I am a forager. I think it is good having a mix since we can always help each other out with shards and scales." Rebekah responded.

Always and forever. That was their family motto. She had tried so hard to keep it like that for the longest time, and besides there was nobody else she could trust in this game other than Nicklaus. "I think you will get there eventually. After all, you have not even started fishing rank 1. I am now foraging rank 3, which is the third of five skill levels. So I do not think this is a good comparison to compare our materials collected with each other at this moment." Rebekah added.

"How are you holding up fishing?" Rebekah asked. She was continuing to search for materials on the ground. She wondered if she will finally be able to find something special today.

ID 207745 | LD = 8 | CD = 6
Forager R3 - 194/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

5 Materials Total

Edited April 1, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Rebekah had said exactly what he was thinking perfectly. As family, they should be able to help each other first before helping any other people. After all, family should always come first. She had also known him way too well. It was a lucky coincidence that they had picked different secondary professions, after all, she would not have known he was at the docks today. And today was the first day Nicklaus had met Rebekah back on this floor. It was going to take some time to adjust having family members around after being so independent for so long.

What Rebekah had said was true. None of what she did today would count or go towards earning any experience fishing so there was a reason why she was also a lot better at finding materials than he was doing. Nicklaus continued to wait for his fishing lines to tug as it had still been calm right now.

"I am still doing just fine." Nicklaus responded. He had set up a portable chair that he can sit in while he waited. Meanwhile, Rebekah have been moving around quite a bit as she was continue to search for materials actively. He was just enjoying sitting here and letting the fish or scales come to him.

He was still fishing up materials but there was no sign of that scale that he was looking for.

ID 207761 | CD = 12 | LD =5
+ 1 Mat

4 Material Total

Edited April 1, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah continued to search for materials, and it was at this time that Snowball had came back from flying around in the air and landed on her shoulder. It had seemed like Snowball had wanted to tell Rebekah something as it tried to hoot in owl. Rebekah had spent enough time around Snowball to somewhat understand what her owl was trying to say. It had took her a few seconds but she had finally solved the riddle.

She turned to Nicklaus and said, "Have you tried pulling the fishing line up, and refilling the bless bait? Sometimes, you just ran out and did not notice." Snowball was an owl so it had exceptional sight and smell, better than what Rebekah has for a human. Therefore, she would not be surprised if that was truly the case and Snowball could tell that the bait would need to be refreshed.

As Nicklaus pulled to check, Rebekah continued, "Remember to thank Snowball for this suggestion." Rebekah went back to foraging in the immediate surrounding to where Nicklaus had continued to fish. He was catching up to her to materials, so Rebekah needed to focus more so she can find more materials in the ground.

ID 207762 | LD = 8 | CD = 12
Forager R3 - 197/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

5 Materials Total

Edited April 2, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus had heard the owl, Snowball trying to Rebekah something. The owl was glancing at his direction and pointing towards him. He did not know what was up. A few seconds later, her sister had recommended she recast the fishing line with a new bless bait. It was a good idea because nothing else had worked, so he did not see the harm in trying. He reeled up the line and applied some new bait. Nothing was going well today so he hoped this would work.

After applying the bait, he recasted the swimming rod into the water once again, and began to wait. Meanwhile, Snowball flew in front of him wanting him to thank the snowy owl in front of it. "Give it some food." Rebekah urged.

Nicklaus reached back and grab some owl food that he had on him. He was surprised he had this with him and began giving it to the owl to feed as a token of appreciation for what he did for providing that suggestion. Now, all he can do is to wait and see if that will work. Hopefully, it will.

ID 207763 | CD = 6 | LD = 14
(failed)

4 Material Total

Edited April 1, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

Nicklaus had tried her owl's suggestion but nothing was working so far for him either. Since he has still not collected that scale, Rebekah will continue to search for more materials. After all, this last week she has been using up materials a lot faster than normal. In order to ensure she has enough supply for next week, she knew that anything she can find here would be very helpful.

Rebekah thought about the idea that it may be time to return to the garden, but first she needed to strengthen herself. There was a target that she wanted to achieve but so far she was nowhere near that goal. All she needed to do was to ensure she had enough experience to search for more materials and find demonic shards while foraging. Her owl was also helping Rebekah out in looking for materials. Maybe this time, they would be able to spot something.

"Are you having any luck?" Rebekah asked her older brother. Rebekah did want to go home relatively soon, so that was what her plan is.

ID 207790 | LD = 13 | CD = 9
Forager R3 - 205/299 EXP (+8)
+ 1 Mat + 2 Mat (CD) + 1,500 Col

8 Materials, 1500 Col Total

Edited April 2, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus needed to think of a reason why nothing was working. He was thinking whether or not he should move to a new spot or continue to stay at this spot to tough it out and hopefully wait for the moment that a scale can be caught via fishing. "Nothing is happening so far. I have only caught a few materials incidentally. Rebekah, what do you think? Should I move to another spot, or should I stay here and wait?"

Normally, Nicklaus was able to make decisions in an instant but this was one of the rare times that it was better to have Rebekah's opinion to weight in since she has more experience in Aincrad than he has. Given that it had looked like Rebekah was in the top group of players in this game while he was just getting started. This is his second adventure straying outside the safety of the town's walls to try to make a name for himself to get rich and famous.

There was only a few problems though, it would take him a very long time to reach that stage, while Rebekah had already gotten to the top already. He checked to see if the fishing lines were biting once again. "I have caught only regular materials so far."

ID 207791 | CD = 8 | LD = 11
+ 1 Mat

5 Material Total

Edited April 2, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah was asked a question, so she needed to think about it before providing the detailed answer. There were really only two answers. She think it would be too much of a hassle to move, and just because a rare scale does not show up does not make today a failure. This was a lucky spot which was evident since they had collected 13 materials between the siblings.

"I think you should stay. You were so close twice in a row. I know you will almost get it this time." Rebekah responded. It was not much of an encouragement but it was better than not saying anything at all. After all, this was a profitable day given that materials would often retail for 700 col each at its fair market value.

His brother, who was an aspiring merchant should know that better than anyone else. So, she continued her response, "How are you holding up? Tired?" She had been looking around this entire area, so she decided to sit down on a log. But there was a hole in the log. Inside the hole, there was nothing. It was time to take a small break, as Rebekah took out water to stay hydrated.

ID 207792 | LD = 10 | CD = 12
Forager R3 - 208/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

8 Materials, 1500 Col Total

Edited April 3, 2022 by Rebekah