Although Fenris had managed to catch a fish just prior to the start of his contest with Bass Pro Tour Fishing, he started having a peculiar problem.
Once he felt a fish take the bait, Fenris pulled on his rod with all of his strength. Arching through the air on the other end of his line was… a single [Bass Fillet ()].
‘Where did… the other one go…?’ Fenris’s tail drooped.
The fact that the fish—a river bass, apparently—had turned into a fillet before even leaving the water didn't seem to concern him (it was food either way, so he didn't think much of it), but the loss of an entire half of the fish was immensely disappointing.
Arguably more importantly, the fillet likely would not count towards his score in the contest; or, if it did, Fenris would likely need to have at least two fillets for them to count—which would be quite a disadvantage given his current conundrum. Regardless, Fenris wanted to figure out how to get the whole fish.
He cast out his line… and pulled out a fillet.
He cast out his line… and caught half a fish.
He cast out his line… and——
‘... I should think about this a bit more,’ Fenris realized as he stored the meat in his inventory.
———
As one might have expected from his name, Bass Pro Tour Fishing was completely in his element at the river, where bass were fairly common; he was catching fish at an impressive rate, drawing the eyes of more than a few nearby fishers.
About thirty minutes had passed since the start of the contest—and, with thirty more to go, Bass Pro Tour felt that he’d built up enough of a lead against Fenris to relax a bit and see what they were doing. However, after seeing that they had stopped fishing, Bass Pro furrowed his brow.
“Hey, you!” He barked, annoyed by Fenris’s apparent lack of motivation. “Did ya give up already?”
“... Nn?” Fenris looked around confused for a moment—then, remembering their conversation earlier, realized that Bass was talking to him again. “No, I was just… thinking…”
“... Thinking?” Based on the smoke coming out of his ears, Bass could tell that Fenris wasn't very good at it. “About what?”
“This.” Fenris whipped his line into the water and back as though he were fly-fishing, before presenting the fillet at the end of it to Bass.
‘… Outrageous.’ Setting aside the fact that Fenris had somehow managed to catch a fish like that, Bass didn't even realize that it was possible to deal damage—much less kill the fish—just by reeling it in.
“Dumbass! Why are you pullin' on your rod that hard?!” He snapped.
“Am I… not supposed to?” Fenris tilted his head. How else was he supposed to get the fish out of the water?
A vein bulged out of Bass’s temple as he punctuated his words with pinched Italian hand gestures.
“Pull it. Gently. GENT–LY. Get it?”
Bass’s rough words unlocked an old memory in Fenris, back when he had first started working at his warehouse job——
“Oi! Don't throw the boxes onto the shelves, you idiot!”
“It's too high for me to reach, Boss…”
“Then get a stepladder, you moron! You can take it slow, but don't just throw ‘em!”
“——Oh…!” Fenris exclaimed as something in his brain clicked. “The fish are fragile…!”
“... That's a weird way of puttin' it, but sure,” Bass replied with a bemused frown.
Putting his newfound understanding to use, Fenris cast his line and gently yanked the fish out of the water. Bass couldn't tell the difference between this and what Fenris was doing earlier, but it had apparently worked since an entire fish was hooked this time.
“You’re so good at fishing, Mr. Bass…!” Fenris’s eyes sparkled in admiration at the veteran’s wisdom.
“O-of course I am!” Mr. Bass stuttered, failing to hide his soaring confidence. His reptilian tail bashfully swung side-to-side from the unexpected compliment.
He watched proudly as Fenris cast out their line and caught another fish… then another… and another…
‘... Wait, he might actually catch up to me at this rate.’
Mr. Bass started fishing with much more urgency than before.
———
Spoiler
wimbledon
We'll be finishing the very important river fishing arc of the story in the next chapter or two. Probably.
[collapse]
Although Fenris had managed to catch a fish just prior to the start of his contest with Bass Pro Tour Fishing, he started having a peculiar problem.
Once he felt a fish take the bait, Fenris pulled on his rod with all of his strength. Arching through the air on the other end of his line was… a single [Bass Fillet ()].
‘Where did… the other one go…?’ Fenris’s tail drooped.
The fact that the fish—a river bass, apparently—had turned into a fillet before even leaving the water didn't seem to concern him (it was food either way, so he didn't think much of it), but the loss of an entire half of the fish was immensely disappointing.
Arguably more importantly, the fillet likely would not count towards his score in the contest; or, if it did, Fenris would likely need to have at least two fillets for them to count—which would be quite a disadvantage given his current conundrum. Regardless, Fenris wanted to figure out how to get the whole fish.
He cast out his line… and pulled out a fillet.
He cast out his line… and caught half a fish.
He cast out his line… and——
‘... I should think about this a bit more,’ Fenris realized as he stored the meat in his inventory.
———
As one might have expected from his name, Bass Pro Tour Fishing was completely in his element at the river, where bass were fairly common; he was catching fish at an impressive rate, drawing the eyes of more than a few nearby fishers.
About thirty minutes had passed since the start of the contest—and, with thirty more to go, Bass Pro Tour felt that he’d built up enough of a lead against Fenris to relax a bit and see what they were doing. However, after seeing that they had stopped fishing, Bass Pro furrowed his brow.
“Hey, you!” He barked, annoyed by Fenris’s apparent lack of motivation. “Did ya give up already?”
“... Nn?” Fenris looked around confused for a moment—then, remembering their conversation earlier, realized that Bass was talking to him again. “No, I was just… thinking…”
“... Thinking?” Based on the smoke coming out of his ears, Bass could tell that Fenris wasn't very good at it. “About what?”
“This.” Fenris whipped his line into the water and back as though he were fly-fishing, before presenting the fillet at the end of it to Bass.
‘… Outrageous.’ Setting aside the fact that Fenris had somehow managed to catch a fish like that, Bass didn't even realize that it was possible to deal damage—much less kill the fish—just by reeling it in.
“Dumbass! Why are you pullin' on your rod that hard?!” He snapped.
“Am I… not supposed to?” Fenris tilted his head. How else was he supposed to get the fish out of the water?
A vein bulged out of Bass’s temple as he punctuated his words with pinched Italian hand gestures.
“Pull it. Gently. GENT–LY. Get it?”
Bass’s rough words unlocked an old memory in Fenris, back when he had first started working at his warehouse job——
“Oi! Don't throw the boxes onto the shelves, you idiot!”
“It's too high for me to reach, Boss…”
“Then get a stepladder, you moron! You can take it slow, but don't just throw ‘em!”
“——Oh…!” Fenris exclaimed as something in his brain clicked. “The fish are fragile…!”
“... That's a weird way of puttin' it, but sure,” Bass replied with a bemused frown.
Putting his newfound understanding to use, Fenris cast his line and gently yanked the fish out of the water. Bass couldn't tell the difference between this and what Fenris was doing earlier, but it had apparently worked since an entire fish was hooked this time.
“You’re so good at fishing, Mr. Bass…!” Fenris’s eyes sparkled in admiration at the veteran’s wisdom.
“O-of course I am!” Mr. Bass stuttered, failing to hide his soaring confidence. His reptilian tail bashfully swung side-to-side from the unexpected compliment.
He watched proudly as Fenris cast out their line and caught another fish… then another… and another…
‘... Wait, he might actually catch up to me at this rate.’
Mr. Bass started fishing with much more urgency than before.
———
Spoiler
wimbledon
We'll be finishing the very important river fishing arc of the story in the next chapter or two. Probably.
[collapse]