“This is gonna be fun,” I said, lifting my new rod before and inspecting its form in the sunlight.
To anyone else, it might seem entirely out of place. This world, as wonderful as it was, hadn’t yet achieved a fraction of Earth’s scientific advancent—which wasn’t really all that surprising, considering the existence of a System, awakened beings, and a forrly oppressive ruling class in Gormona.
My mind drifted outward, wondering if there were any other societies on this planet that had advanced further than the post-dieval setting I’d found myself in. Then I snorted at myself.
Who bloody cares? I’ve got a new fishing rod!
It sparkled with a silvery sheen under the direct light of the sun, easily grounding in the present. Beneath those reflective specks, it was carbon-fiber gray, its eyelets midnight-black and aesthetically pleasing. The reel was the only recognizable part, looking like every other Alvey variation, but stained the sa color as the pole. And within, it had a new function that I couldn’t wait to try: an adjustable drag.
Maria cleared her throat and cocked her head to the side, leaning over so her concerned expression could be seen beyond my new toy. “It’s certainly lovely to look at, but—”
“I know you are, but what am I?”
Her face went flatter than a recon crab’s stealthy shell. “You are a man trying to change the subject. I need you to be serious for a second. Are you sure you’re fine?”
“I am. I promise. Besides, you can feel it, right? Through our bond?”
“It wouldn’t be the first ti you’ve hidden your worries from , and of all the things you’ve read, I thought that last ssage might have sent you spiralling.”
“The last ssage?”
“Uhhhh, yes? From the System?”
I sipped from my second coffee of the day, feigning ignorance. “You an the one that said I reached level 112 in fishing? It was cool, for sure, but—”
She groaned at the sky. “Fischer!”
“Ohhhhh! You ant the ssage about becoming a Maker? And encouraging the entire world to hail ?”
“Yes, you big goof. Stop being silly.” She grabbed by the chin, slight yet inhumanly strong fingers tilting my head so she was all I could see. “Promise you’re not deflecting.”
I set one hand on my heart and raised the other. “I swear on our love, our marriage, and my many animal pals, that I am playing dumb for sport, and not because I’m genuinely worried and trying to hide it.”
“Okay. Good.”
“Besides, if I was gonna worry about anything, it would be the fact that soone else has been tinkering around in the tunnels Ellis carved with our love.”
“... What? You’re serious?”
“Yup. They’d been adding essence and sothing else. I wasn’t positive at first, but I am now. The fluctuations have been too severe.”
She arched one brow at . “And you’re not worried about it?”
“Nah. Pretty sure I know who it is. No clue why they’re being all sneaky, but I’m sure they have their reasons.”
“Okay…” She leaned closer, studying my face. “And you’re not hiding doubts?”
“Nope! All my doubts are out in the open, like Ellis demanding I let my friends endanger themselves, or Ellis taking Roger off to a secret island I’m forbidden from visiting, or Ellis warning of an incoming threat and refusing to elaborate, or…” I tapped my chin. “I’ll save us so ti and just summarise my doubts as ‘Ellis’.”
“Good,” Maria said, then smacked on the butt, which might have felt nice if her open palm hadn’t swung down with the force of a cot. The sound would’ve deafened any unascended nearby, and a circle of sand flew out, the slap creating a shockwave.
“Uhh, ow? What was that for?”
“For keeping secrets.”
“All right, I’ll give you that one. I—”
She smacked again. I glowered; she smiled sweetly.
“And that was for using for sport by playing dumb. Now, are you gonna sit there rubbing your butt all day and pretending those little taps hurt, or are we gonna go fishing?”
I smirked at her. “Ohhh, so now you want to try out my rod?”
“Of course I do. Whip it out.”
I’d taken a sip of my coffee after dropping my innuendo, and hers made choke. Coffee sprayed out over the sand as I coughed and sputtered. She guffawed.
“Wasted caffeine is no laughing matter, Maria.”
“Is that so? Then why is the corner of your lip trying to tug up into a smile?”
“It isn’t,” I lied. “It’s a sneer, see? I’m just so angry.”
“Riiight. Angry. Would it make you feel better if we go play with your rod?”
I froze.
She gave a coy look, grabbed my newest creation, and strode down to the water. “What are you waiting for?”
“You are evil.”
A breeze blew past her, washing the intoxicating scent of her across my awareness as she stopped at the shore. “You coming? I know you are dying to have a fish.”
“Super evil. Like Corporal-Claws-with-a-pocket-full-of-sand evil.”
“I will make it up to you later.” She sent the flash of an image that almost made my knees buckle. “The day’s just getting started.”
“Deal, but if you ever show that again, you’ll be responsible for whatever happens afterward.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I joined her down by the shore, and as her floral scent threatened to overwhelm , I focused on my newest creation, hoping the description would distract .
I imdiately cleared my vision, eyes going wide. “What the fuck!”
Maria quirked a brow, her cheeky smile replaced by confusion. I used out connection to show her what I’d seen.
“What the frack!” she agreed, if a little more politely.
It started off with the sa two lines:
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Fibreglass Rod of the Composite Fisher
[Authorization error: protected asset in lower realm]
But then it changed.
[Protection overridden—Maker detected]
Rarity: Maker
Description: This fishing rod was created by a Maker, God-King, Traveler, whose composite identity lingers within its many fibers. Creatures hooked on this rod will be as difficult to catch as the wielder desires.
Such creations are whispered of within the heavens, but no reputable accounts have ever been recorded—until now, should you choose to share.
Effects: 50 fishing, 10 luck, 50% fishing (inclusive of other boosts), 100% mutability
Duration: null
I didn’t even know where to begin. Scratch that—I did know where to begin.
“I absolutely do not want to share!” I yelled at the heavens. Staring up, I waited, half expecting a response.
“Oh no,” Maria said. “Were the effects so wonderful they broke your mind? I can try healing you if you like.”
“Appreciate the offer, but I’m good.” I deepened my scowl, still gazing up at the clear sky as I sent the description across our connection. “That last line, ‘Until now, should you choose to share.’ The System has never said anything like that. I don’t know if it’s even possible, but the last thing I want is it doing so of its System frackery and adding that item—or worse, our location—to so kind of taphysical library of the gods.”
“I guess it doesn’t hurt to be safe. Now that you have been, though…”
I turned to peer sidelong at her, only to find the sa expression already leveled my way. We held the stare for as long as we could, and both cracked at the sa ti.
“Inclusive of other boosts!” we yelled.
Her eyes grew hungry. “Including its own?”
“Yup!”
“So its base increase is seventy-five?”
“Yuuup!
“And that’s only if soone had literally zero fishing?”
“Yuuuuup!”
“Holy frack!”
“Holy frack…” I agreed. “And the ‘mutability’ is even better. It’s exactly what I wanted.”
“I know it is.” She rubbed my back. “I’m happy for you, even if you had to beco a Maker—whatever that is—to do it.”
“About that… should we tell soone? The animal pals connected to all felt it, but nobody else knows.”
There was a mont of tension, both of us casting gazes up and down the empty shore.
Maria sighed. “I’m conditioned to expect Ellis to fly out of nowhere whenever you pull off sothing crazy. I guess he’s not close enough to have felt it.”
“I could let him know, but he did warn about spying on his precious isle.” My expression turned conspiratorial.
So did hers. “It’d be downright rude to go against his wishes, wouldn’t it?”
“A real betrayal of his trust. Guess we should just keep this to ourselves for now. Wouldn’t want soone else feeling the need to go interrupt his seclusion, you know? Keeping this secret is only prudent.”
“Prudent. Yes. Quite.”
“Agreeeed!” burbled Slis, wobbling out from my wife’s shoulder.
“Maria!” I gasped in mock affront, raising a hand to my chest as I stared at Slis. “You invited him? To the inaugural fishing of my new rod? When I didn’t even tell a single crustacean? How could you?”
She frowned at my shenanigans. “What are you… Ohhhh. I see what you’re doing. You could have just invited her, you know? She’s more than welco.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really? You weren’t feigning offense as a pretext to invite a certain—”
“Hey! What’s that?” I pointed at the horizon, where a gout of water was shooting up from the ocean, so large it could be seen by unawakened eyes. “Who or what could possibly displace so much seawater?”
Maria laughed when she spotted it. “You already told her?”
“Told who what? Wait, you think I would go behind your back and invite soone? Without consulting you? Now I’m doubly offended. Possibly enough to confide in another. Soone of reliable character and rigid carapace.”
“Let guess, when you confide in another and recount my actions—”
“Cris.”
“What?”
“When I recount your cris. Or egregious actions. Your choice.”
“When you recount my egregious actions, you’ll then be obligated to invite them to co fishing, right?”
“Obviously. It’d be terribly rude not to.” I let out a great sigh. “If only there were a crab of such repute nearby… Hang on a second! Beneath that spout! Is that who I think it is?”
Sergeant Snips, reliable of character and rigid of carapace, launched herself from the bay, skimming across its surface on jets of blue chi.
“Snips! It is you! What impeccable timing—I have actions most egregious to report!”
It was nearing on twenty minutes later that I finally crouched down to set up my new rod. It had only taken a few seconds to show Snips my new rod, but the rest of the ti had been spent running, dodging a crystalline sli, and otherwise escaping the grips of dostic violence.
“Don’t even joke about that,” Maria said, planting a kiss on my back before sitting in the sand.
I grabbed the line—gods, was it thin—and fed it through the first tal eyelet. “I didn’t say anything.”
She gave a look that said, ‘You were thinking it,’ to which I replied by kissing her on the forehead. My deft fingers wove the line and rod together, and when it was ti to attach my tackle, I gave the length of line a good tug. Just as I’d sensed, it was incredibly strong, stronger even than regular string enhanced with my chi.
I cut off a section of the string, added a swivel between two knots, and completed the most basic of setups: a free-running sinker with a hook at the end. Before I could get to the bait, a crab scuttled forward with a strip of eel and slid it onto my hook.
“Thanks, Snips.”
As I peered at her slick eyepatch, a sudden thought hit . I’d been so overwheld by everything else today that I’d forgotten all about the eyepatch I’d made her. When I’d tried to inspect it after creating it, I saw the error ssage about protected assets and lower realms for the first ti.
I focused on it again, letting its blackened leather and hidden spikes draw my eyes in.
Transformative Eyepatch of the Traveling Fisher
[Protection overridden—Maker detected]
Rarity: Artifact
Description: This eyepatch was created by a Traveler God-King on the path to becoming a Maker. Their affection lingers within the eyepatch, offering protection to the subordinate it was created for (Sergeant Snips of Tropica). This garnt, and the spikes concealed beneath its surface, can be altered at will when worn by the intended subordinate (Sergeant Snips of Tropica).
Such creations are whispered of within the heavens, but no reputable accounts have ever been recorded—until now, should you choose to share.
Effects: 100 bonding, 5 luck, Bound (Sergeant Snips of Tropica).
Duration: null
“Damn…” I said, shaking my head and banishing the words. I relayed the information across my bonds to Snips and Maria as I considered what I’d learned.
I had wondered about the light shining from my abdon when I crafted Snips’s eyepatch. Now, I knew what it was: my first step on the path to becoming a Maker.
Maria frowned after she’d read and reread the description a few tis. “The boost to bonding… is it talking about every bond, or just the one between you and Fischer?”
“I assu the latter, or it would have been specific. Have you felt any difference in your bonds with your crustacean army, Snips?”
“I did!” hissed Snips. Her visible eye glittered, as did the bubbles steaming from her mouth. “Our connection grew stronger over the days following its creation. I thought it was related to the eyepatch, but there was no way to be sure.”
Maria sat down on the sand, and Snips scuttled to rest in her lap. They slipped into a comfortable silence.
I stood to my full height. My rod was baited and ready to go. I drew it back and flicked open the reel, which made a solid thunk as it clicked into place. There I paused, breathing deep of the ocean air, soaking up the mid-morning sun that bead down upon . More than my awakening as a Maker or a God-King or even my status as a Traveler, this mont—new creation in hand and on the precipice of being put to use—filled my heart with anticipation. I cast it out into the bay.
A sharp swish, followed by the hiss of dozens of ters of line, punctuated with the soft plop of sinker and bait plunging down into the small waves far from the shore. Thunk went the reel as I flicked it back into place. I wound the handle, stopping only when the drag clicked, and set my finger against the monofilant, waiting for what would co.
“Hey, Maria?”
“Hmm?” She glanced up at from where she lounged on the shore, eyes half-lidded, face painted by a soft smile. Gods, she was beautiful. “What’s up?”
“I’ve decided.”
“Oh? What have you decided?”
“That we’ve waited long enough.” I returned her smile, my love for this woman filling my chest with warmth. “Let’s go on our honeymoon.”
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