It was nearly dusk, the fishing yielded positive results. Viers and the others caught a lot of fish, many of them were Tomalica, they all had the amount needed to complete the quest. Although Viers was the only one who accepted the quest, fortunately, it was not a one-time-only quest. So all five of them shall be paid accordingly as long as they brought the specified amount of Tomalica meat.

They stopped fishing and started preparing for dinner, the menu was various assortments of freshwater fishes and some Tomalica. They also brought salt and spices for this occasion, Viers was surprised when Terry gave them some lime for their fish dish.

“Mmm, smell so good… this fish is the one Farley caught right? Here, take a bite.” Paina gave Farley a fish in a stick.

“Thanks… I think this needs more salt, just a pinch… there, much better.” Farley cheerfully ate the fish.

“Viers, I gotta tell you, that was not fishing! Apologize to all fishermen in the world.” Max said while pointing his finger at Viers.

“Yes, yes, it shall be called waterpulling from now on. Too bad for all the fish that got caught.” Viers said nonchalantly while eating.

“No, no, no… you see, fishing is a great activity for personal and social development. Besides the obvious quality time you spent with your friends, can’t you feel the deepness of fishing? The anticipation when you wait for the fish to take your bait, the joy that you feel when the fish turns out to be the one you’re looking for, the sense of accomplishment when you get the fish out of the water! I could go on and on, oh man, I think this is just the thing for me.”

Earlier that day, after a few hours had passed since the start of his finishing activity, Viers was getting impatient. So he scattered some bait in a shallow area, when he saw a fish came, he used his water control to telekinetically pulled the water out of the lake. With the fish included inside the water, when it worked for the first time, Viers was elated. As he repeated the act for a few more times, Terry, Farley, and Paina also mimicked him and caught quite a few. It was super effective.

They let go of the fish that was too small and the ones that they wouldn't eat, but because of that, all of them completed the quest requirement. Viers and the others were happy with the result but Max somehow felt dissatisfied, Max was quite in love with the fishing experience so he found a new hobby. He refused to accept what Viers did as fishing.

They sat around in a circle, the campfire at the center provided pleasing warmth. Viers watched the faces of his companions, he could see the happiness on their face. All in all, it was a fun day for Viers, a part of him even wished that there would be similar things in the future, it passed like a fleeting shadow.

Enjoy it while it lasts, but not too much. Think of it like a luxurious wine, enjoy it sparingly or on special occasions.

The sun already sunken on the horizon, it beside the fire and the moon, there was no other source of light. At that moment, Terry spoke.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please put on hold your current activities and follow my instructions. Max, could you please put out the fire?”

“Okay, this better be interesting,” Max waved his hand and the fire was gone the next moment.

“Now… we wait. Oh, and did anyone forget to put on their insect repellant?”

“All clear,” said Farley.

Slowly, the cone-shaped trees on the lake were visibly glowing with pale white light. All the trees slowly emitted luminescence from the top then the light was flowing to the bottom part, Viers could see that the light also lit up the tree's stem or trunk that was underwater.

“Beautiful,” Paina was awed.

“The Kemara trees absorbed the light from the moon, but you haven't seen everything yet,” Terry was grinning.

Insects started gathering, flying on top of the lake, Viers saw them clearly because they were glowing with yellowish-green light. Similar to the fireflies on Earth, they were thousands of them, dancing as if the calm lake was their stage.

“Kenlam insects, they are drawn to the tree lights, and… ”

From below the water surface, soft red lights were glimmering. The source was the Tomalicas, each and every one of them was emitting light in the dark water. The color reminded Viers of the red Chinese lanterns, fish-shaped lanterns moving elegantly.

“At least the Tomalicas are good for something, eh?”

Nobody answered Terry’s remark, the rest of them were looking at the graceful light show in front of them. The fireflies started to fly closer to the water, when they were close enough, the Tomalicas started to jump out of the water to catch them with open mouths.

“You have a nice taste to pick this place for our first outing Viers,” Farley said.

“I didn't know about this, but the end result is exceeding my expectations.”

“Thank you,” Paina whispered softly.

“I didn't do anything, give your gratitude to Terry,” Viers said in a calm manner.

They resumed watching the dancing lights in silence.

Marvelous and breathtaking, I’m glad that I came here, I’m thankful that I came to this world… This is one of my reasons to live, this scenery is but one from countless wonders in this world. I will enjoy them to the full, as many as I can.

***

After fully enjoyed the spectacular view, they went to bed. Viers voiced his opinion about the need to have someone took watch, they told him that there were no dangerous elements in the area. Viers was unconvinced but he didn't press the matter further. There were two tents, one for boys and the other for the two girls. The boys’ tent felt a bit cramped for Viers but it wasn't so bad that he couldn't sleep.

Sometime in the night, Viers felt strange. He had trouble breathing, the uncomfortable sensation woke him up.

What the hell? Why is become so hard to breathe all of a sudden? Mmm? Why my vision is like this?

Viers’s vision was wide, very wide, but he couldn't focus on things too far away from him. It baffled him but the breathing problem took priority. He tried to move his hand, but he couldn't. He had no hands.

Hmn? Hmmnn? Wait a second, what am I seeing with my peripheral vision? Is that… my body? I’m… a FISH!?

Viers turned into a fish about twenty centimeters in length with red scales.

Gaaahh, can't think! Need to breathe! Air! Wait no, WATER! Need water to breathe!

Viers prioritized his breathing crisis before thinking anything else. He was splashing around in an effort to move his limbless body out of the tent. The initial writhing like a larva didn't do much good, he got a bit tangled by his own clothes. He decided to just roll over but his unfamiliar fish body, it wasn't too successful. After a bit of experimenting, he managed to find a way to move his body forward, he was galumphing like a seal on land.

He managed to exit the tent through the opening at the bottom, then he needed to cross about ten meters of distance to get to the nearest source of water, the lake. He felt the distance was far longer than it should have been, it was pure torture for him.

Ghahagh, so far! Water, water!!! Need water… move, just move.

Viers felt so lightheaded, his consciousness got dimmer for every second passed. He kept moving forward like a worm on the ground, limping with his whole body to the waterside.

Gohg… gog… googhhg… go…

Through strenuous struggle, Fish-Viers managed to slide into the lake. He gasped for oxygen like a baby would have done after their birth.

Haah… Haah… Haah…

Pheeew… that was too dangerous, I thought I was a goner. What the hell was that? I almost died because I turned into a fish!? Holy shit!

Viers tried to look at his own body but he was having difficulty with his new fish eyes. He couldn’t even blink because he had no eyelids, the sensations from all over his body were so foreign to him.

Alright, my body changed but my mind is still intact, let’s break this down. I… turned into a fish, by the looks of it, I’m a Tomalica. Why? Must be because I absorbed the monster core earlier, but how did I change? Mnn? It appears I can still go to my realm of consciousness, perhaps I can find some answers there. Commencing dive.

Viers went to his realm of consciousness, his astral projection turned into a fish now, and his Victa was decreased quite a lot compared to this afternoon.

As I suspected, I become a Tomalica. No changes on my Intio but my Victa was consumed quite a lot, the cost of my transformation perhaps? So to transform back I must burn a huge amount of Victa that I painstakingly saved up. Grrhh, all my abilities need Victa to use and I’m very lacking of it. I’m constantly scraping the bottom of the barrel here, need to find the solution of this. What else worthy of note here... nothing else seems different, time to go back to the real world, log out.

After Viers returned, his first order of business was to learn to swim. He felt like a baby again, unfamiliar with his body, he started to wiggle his tail and fins. He didn’t know how long he had been practicing but he could make some basic movement now, Viers felt quite pleased by the result.

Hmn, the other Tomalicas can glow, can I do it too?

Viers didn’t really understand but he started to emitting red light.

I don’t get it but that just happened when I thought I want to glow… how about the reverse? Oh, it worked. That’s neat.

The glow disappeared, Viers was contemplating about what he should do next.

It took a great amount of Victa to turn into Tomalica, it seems a waste to just return like that…

Viers was looking at the vast amount of water in front of him.

Well Viers, you didn’t expect this but it seems we already bought a ticket for a late-night underwater adventure. Shall we?

Fish-Viers started to swim forward, his heart was filled with seventy percent curiosity and thirty percent fear, or was it the other way around? Viers himself did not know.