Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Seven

I’m definitely going to do a lot more fishing after this, Adam decided as he looked at his bizarre catch.

He hadn’t failed to notice that the boots shared a name with the final evolution of the Cloudmaker staff. Combined, the relic and weapon would allow for a truly odd type of fighting style, but one with a lot of versatility.

Unlike the staff however, the boots looked like they were made from two cloudfin herrings, and he seriously struggled with the idea of wearing them, given just how absurd they looked. The scales they were covered by were like silver, and there was a blue-tinted ridge running from the front of the shoes and up to where they stopped above his ankles. On the back, above his heels, were sail-like fins, and smaller versions of these fins were also on both sides of the shoes. But what made them truly absurd were the stretched fish faces at the front of the boots, as well as the bright golden eyes. If not for the fact that the boots didn’t move on their own, Adam would have suspected them to be alive, given just how much they looked like the cloudfin herring that Beck had caught.

Still, the utility was hard to beat, so he put them on.

[They suit you.]

“I bet,” Adam replied sarcastically, not believing him for a second.

He still had a few hours before the sun would fully set, so he wanted to continue fishing, but Fal’s comment nagged in the back of his mind, so he decided to visit the garden first.

As he ran across the island, he tried out the boots by jumping as high as he could and then activating them to conjure a cloud. Interestingly, the gold-tinged cloud that formed under his boots moved with his momentum, so he was able to skate through the air atop it until it dissipated, which he thought was rather fun.

If I had the Cloudmaker staff, I could conjure my own cloud and move it around.

I really need to get back the ability to use magic…

When he reached the garden, Meilo was tending to a lone flower. It was a pinkish-purple rose with large velvety petals.

Adam came to a halt in front of it.

“Is this the flower that bloomed from the soul seed?” he asked Meilo.

“It is a quicksilver rose,” she answered.

Adam reached out to touch it.

He felt a zap across his brain, even though he wasn’t quite sure where it was supposed to be inside his slime body, or if it even still remained.

Along with the zap was a fleeting memory of a hand clutching the stem of this flower and a small child-sized nose pressing against its petals to breathe in its fragrance.

This was Kat’s favourite flower, Adam knew instinctively.

As he pulled his hand away from the soft petals, something emerged from within the flower. It was a translucent-green raindrop that floated across the air until it touched Adam’s chest.

< < Soul Drop Obtained > >

Adam froze, hand stuck hovering in the air.

“A soul drop,” he muttered breathlessly.

[Fascinating. I was not aware it might be obtained without following Nwetrou’s path of worship,] Parvillo remarked.

With the brooch and Meilo, I am able to obtain soul drops without using the Abyssal Tooth to sacrifice other players to Nwetrou!

A small part of Adam had been irritated by the fact that he would never be able to use Sköll’s shop, since he refused to sacrifice other players to the devouring Absolute permanently. But now… Now he didn’t need to do that.

“Just to be clear, but using the brooch to obtain a soul seed doesn’t permanently erase a player from the universe, right?” Adam asked.

[I hope not.]

Adam frowned.

[That was meant as a joke. It appears I have misunderstood how jokes work, seeing as you only became upset.]

“There’s a time and a place for jokes,” Adam said. “Does it or does it not erase players?”

[It does not.]

Adam turned to Meilo. “Will this flower remain in the garden?”

“Unless you wish for me to remove it, yes.”

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“What uses does a quicksilver rose have?” he asked.

“Several. If combined with haemorrhagic components, it may quicken the bleeding of a wound. If brewed with a certain selection of other roses, it may conjure a charming solution. If distilled by itself, it may produce a sweet lavender-rose scented alcohol that gives pleasant dreams.”

Adam scratched his non-existent chin and stubble, a mannerism he hadn’t seemed to lose even though his head more resembled a jellied egg now.

Seems like it might be easier to ask for a desired effect than to investigate every plant for their uses.

“I’ll return with another seed later,” Adam told her.

“I will be here,” she said.

Once I get to the group stages, I’ll be able to harvest a lot of seeds, which in turn will let me buy a bunch of items from Sköll.

It had been a long time since he had seen the abyssal items that Sköll sold in exchange for soul drops, but he still remembered the list.

< < Abyssal Gifts > >

< Abyssal Raiment — 10 Soul Drops >

< Dweller’s Claw — 15 Soul Drops >

< Maw of the Deep — 15 Soul Drops >

< Call of the Devourer — 20 Soul Drops >

< Eye of Lord Nwetrou — 40 Soul Drops >

They had been a mix of relics and weapons, as far as he understood, with the claw, maw, and call being weapons, the raiment being an armour relic, and the eye being some kind of unique relic that, if what he’d gotten out of Jun in his last loop was right, would let the user visit someone else’s stage.

I wonder if the abyssal gifts are permanent or not, because I won’t be able to afford them all, even if I go through every stage up until ten and kill every other player I meet.

He said goodbye to Meilo and walked past Alivida’s tent, which was already glowing with a purple light from within, despite the sun being out. Bits of ash lay in front of the doorway flap, evidence that Fal had been here.

I need more points so I can keep evolving and get more shards, Adam told himself again.

The moths, especially Luvicidix and Alivida, were the island denizens he’d known the longest who still remembered him, and he really wanted to help them by letting them meet each other, as well as their other siblings.

Once he reached the southern edge of the island, he plopped himself down again and started fishing the clouds.

This time, Meilo came by briefly to watch in silence, and a bit after that, Alivida appeared too, dark scales orbiting her and freezing Adam’s fishing line and the clouds in place.

“Thank you for the gift… Adam,” Alivida said. “I have been able to see Meilo at work. I briefly spotted Fal as well. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to meet, and each of us is surrounded by frozen time that do not overlap. Still… it is a gift.”

“I’ll make sure you can meet properly,” Adam told her. “That’s why I’m fishing.”

Alivida looked puzzled by that statement and then craned her neck to look over the edge. “Is such power contained in a fish down… below?”

[Adam, would that be considered a joke?] Parvillo asked.

“No,” Adam replied with a chuckle.

[Confusing. If it is not a joke, then why are you laughing?]

He was unsure why Parvillo was so intent on learning how to tell jokes, but he ignored his question to explain to Alivida that he was fishing to obtain points for more mastery shards.

“I see. Then I will take my leave,” she replied, and with that she was gone.

He half-expected Fal to appear as well, but she never did, so while he continued fishing the clouds, he tried to explain to Parvillo how jokes worked, as well as why Alivida’s question had been funny to him.

[I must admit I am only growing more confused by your explanations.]

“Maybe joking isn’t meant for you,” Adam replied. “Although, I thought that someone who observes people like you would be able to imitate what you see quite easily.”

[The Watcher of Worlds does not imitate what it sees. It sees and understands, it witnesses and absorbs, and it gazes and is gazed upon. To know the worlds and their denizens is not the same as becoming the worlds and their denizens. To inhabit their eyes is not the same as becoming their eyes. We, its Principal Eyes, are much the same.]

“Strange. I’m pretty sure most people start off learning something new by imitating what others already proficient in that thing are doing.”

[A teacher and pupil situation,] Parvillo remarked. [Perhaps I will attempt it, if you will teach me.]

“While that does sound amusing in its own absurd way, I don’t have time to indulge you. I’m trying to survive against the odds here.”

[I see.]

A minute passed while Adam just stared at his line and the cloud it was stuck into.

[You seem very busy.]

Adam laughed. “Maybe you’re not such a lost cause after all. Perhaps sarcasm is the way forward for you.”

[I fail to understand why that is funny.]

Before Adam could try to explain, there was a sudden pull on his line and he got to his feet, reeling in his hook as fast as he could, while whatever was caught on it did its best to swim through the cloud and away from him.

It took almost two full minutes of struggling and reeling to tire out the fish enough that he was able to pull his line out of the cloud, bringing his catch along with it.

As he reeled the line back to land, he saw a small fish attached to the end.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Cloudfin Herring (Rare) — An airborne fish known to swim through the clouds, eating the micro-organisms contained within >

Beck wasn’t joking, this little bastard is a tough one to reel in.

No sooner had Adam unhooked the fish than Fisher appeared from below the island, her smooth beetle head poking up over the edge, making Adam jump back in surprise.

“You caught your tenth fish!” she congratulated him.

“It’s technically my ninth,” he corrected her. Then he lifted his foot to point at his boots. “This was my previous catch.”

Fisher had crawled up onto land and waved an arm dismissively. “A catch is a catch, and a fish is a fish.”

Adam looked down at his boots. “I guess they are fish…”

“Since you have now caught ten fish, I can offer you your first upgraded fishing rod!” she announced.

“I can’t afford it right now, but what’s the difference?” he asked.

< < Fishing Rod Upgrade For Sale > >

< Apprentice Fishing Rod (Uncommon) — Everyone starts somewhere | Hooked fish tire more easily — 500 Points >

I guess that’s useful? But out of my price range right now.

Still, the fish I caught is enough to buy me another general upgrade.

Adam sold the cloudfin herring to Fisher, who then promptly nosedived off the edge of the island, vanishing from sight.

[Are you planning to continue?] Parvillo asked.

“I am. I just need four more of those rare fish to reach my goal.”

[Excellent, then you will explain sarcasm to me.]

I’m starting to regret indulging his weird obsession…