Fishing was done differently in this world. A bait, hook and line were but a recreational device compared to the other methods fishermen employed. Humans had no place in the sea, and their primitive methods paled in comparison to what the Aquatids were capable of.

Mobile fishing nets carried by a small group of Aquatid swimmers who easily outpaced their scaly prey, tentacle appendages that rendered larger fish completely helpless to their captors, discharging miniature shockwaves that stunned the fish – the list went on.

Fishing was hardly like the passive work done from above the surface. There was no need to wait for the hook to catch potential prey. Not when one could personally hunt for them with relative ease. The Aquatids were the undisputed kings of water and employed strictly active fishing techniques.

But of course, they were only kings when compared to other sapient races.

The creatures that lurked underneath the endless depths, where the sun could never reach, and where particles fell for an eternity were on a completely different level. They were living monsters that not even the greatest thalassophobe could even begin to conceive.

It was not known how deep the oceans were. The composition of the substrates in the furthest depths were unknown.

Suffice to say, the food chain looked very different once one ventured past the depths where the light could not reach. Past the twilight zone lurked an alien world that only few Aquatid dared to tread. Very few species thrived in those depths, and fewer walked amongst them on land.

One such Aquatid species were the Ghost Jellies, who could turn so transparent that they were practically invisible. Unsurprisingly, many of these creatures were employed for dirty work, like assassinations.

Aquatids were also naturally equipped with superior regenerative abilities.

A finger came off? It’ll regrow in time. A deep cut? It won’t bleed that easily. A lesion? Nothing to worry about. This was thanks to a very thin layer of mucus that surrounded them, hence why many Aquatids smelt of the sea or fish.

But on the other side, a hygienic Aquatid can infuse their external mucus membrane with beautiful perfume.

The issue here was that the Aquatid couldn’t naturally heal in the contaminated waters of Wharftow’s grand lake. The contaminants caused their bodies to flake, and it compromised their natural immunities, leading most to develop weakness and respiratory-related illnesses due to two sources.

The water, and the contaminated food.

“HEY! DON’T EAT THEM!”

A group of fishermen were surprised to hear the voice of a human woman. The slightly short, black hair and golden eyed lady warned them about the dangers of their catch and a sickly contamination that plagued their lake.

They didn’t immediately believe her, but this was where Frost’s Leader of Heart’s Ability came into play. Unlike the Language of Greed, which she still hadn’t figured out how to use, the Leader of Hearts had and immediate effect. She could visualize the color a fluctuating string being tugged at her target’s hearts. Her voice carried the power to tug at heart string.

Not in a tearjerking nor a manipulative manner. Her voice did not control minds. It only created powerful suggestions that swayed a person’s heart whether for good, bad, or to join her efforts. Its effects were not prominent in this context since there was no dispute or clashing of hearts. Rather, she invoked this Ability just to have her voice resound within their chest like a loud heartbeat.

That way they could not afford to ignore her.

“They’re all contaminated with a disease. That’s why everyone in Wharftow’s been getting sick. Go spread the word along the harbor. I can start purifying them and your lake.” Frost assured, casting [Area Heal] to prove that she was a healer.

“Get the harbor master. Our water’s contaminated with a disease? That can’t be right… E-Er. Can it? Who’s sick? Not me. No way.” One of them scratched their heads in confusion, knowing that Aquatids very rarely became sick.

One of them promptly left, stumbling along the way. He nearly threw himself from the pier. Just what was wrong with these guys?

She didn’t know if they were feigning ignorance or were just plain stupid, because it didn’t take a genius to understand that more than just several Aquatids were plagued with the Emission stacks.

The string in their hearts was red.

“Red does not necessarily mean bad. It means their heart is opposing yours. Disbelief. I believe you may be tugging on the wrong strings.” Nav explained.

Frost was a master when it came to communication. But the Aquatid fishermen could not for the life of them grasp that something they couldn’t see was damaging their health.

“The fishes don’t look sick –”

“Listen to me. Look at me. You can’t be serious. Are you just going to ignore that you had lesions all over your arms? There’s another dozen in your harbor with them. Look around you.” Frost snapped back with a calm, deep voice as she took one of the small fishes from their catch. “This is sick. You’re eating it and that’s why you’re sick. Would a healer lie to you?”

They all shook their heads in a ‘no’, overwhelmed by the presence of this healer that dominated every conceivable sense. They were numb, and their hearts were strung along by her voice like they were no more than instruments.

But Frost was unskilled with this heart-tugging ability. If it was an instrument, then the music she played was scathing to the ears. This was reflected by the number of times their heart strings changed color.

It was never uniform, and this was proven by their indecisiveness as they just stared at Frost, not really knowing what to say or do in response.

She ultimately gave up on them.

“… Haaaah. Sorry. But you understand right?” She tried to gauge a reaction, but the fishermen just glanced at each other. When one nodded, the rest did, even though they knew nothing at all.

Frost mentally winced as Cer cackled from behind, enjoying her frustrations.

“Never mind. I’ll purify these for you… wait.” Frost, upon closer inspection, smelt something bitter. The overwhelming stench of fish had masked the scent of alcohol, causing her to mentally sigh. “I should’ve just checked your stats. Yep. There it is.”

 

< Drunk II >

< Expires in 12 hours >

 

The wobbling of that man should have been a telltale sign. On the bright side, this confirmed that Cer’s sense of smell was uncompromised. [Cleanse] could not remove conditions. Only Cure Disease could. However, as she placed a hand onto one of their shoulders, whilst kindly warning them beforehand, she was met with a damning prompt.

 

< Cure Disease II is inadequate for Drunk II >

 

Nav. What the fuck even is Drunk II?

“A stronger version of Drunk I. On a side note, Drunk III likely requires Cure Disease IV. They can become quite dehydrated. They’ll require IV fluids.” Nav tried to make some kind of joke with the roman numeral of 4 and IV fluids, causing Frost immense mental anguish.

Cer loved every moment of this as the others only watched on, sympathizing with Frost’s frustrations.

IV in this world? That’s a terrific way to get sepsis if you don’t have a healer around. Fuck… Drunk II? That’s up there with bikini armor. What’s next? Stink V for an unwashed Cer?

Jury ended up cackling unexpectedly as Ignis turned away from Cer, hiding a smug chuckle.

“What happened? What did I miss out on!?” Cer exclaimed, tugging on Jury’s coat. “The hell’s so funny now!? Let me laugh too!”

“I-It’s nothing.” Jury assured, recomposing herself as she cleared her throat. “Little Wolf~”

“Huh…” Cer raised a brow. “What’s that voice in your head telling you?”

They were getting nowhere with these drunkards. Frost did not prioritize cleansing the fish immediately. She just needed to get the information to spread. But the longer she looked around the docks, she noticed that nearly everyone was stumbling around.

They operated normaly despite being reduced to an uncoordinated, incoherent mess. She bid farewell to the fishermen and paced through the harbor, taken aback by the phenomenon.

“Was there a party? I’ve never seen so many drunken workers before.” Frost said, navigating through the barrels and piles of fish. There was no point in warning them. They wouldn’t be able to listen at all.

“Doesn’t happen to the Aquatids that live in the oceans.” Res explained as they turned into the main street, heading straight for the Guild. “It’s a weird sickness people get when they dive too deep. It’s disorientating, and Aquatids have slowly been getting affected by it with each generation born on land.”

“Imagine getting drunk on water.” Cer scoffed. “Just one of a million reasons you don’t mess with it... And we’re still not completely dry.”

“People die by drinking water. How do you do that? Who gets poisoned by water?” Ber added.

“… Could it be nitrogen narcosis?” Frost wondered aloud, piecing together the illness that affected divers on Earth which was akin to becoming drunk. What interested her was how the Aquatids weren’t affected by the bends.

Maybe they were just built differently.

“Nitrowhat?” Cer muttered.

“Narcowho?” Ber also tagged in.

These two…

“Cer. Do you enjoy doing that on purpose?” Jury scolded, glaring down at her as the wolfwoman’s knees trembled.

“I-I’ll think twice next time. Awesome…” Her tail wagged as her face slightly flushed red.

“Sorry ma’am!” Ber cheekily saluted.

Since they had some time before they’d reach the Guild, Frost gave them a brief explanation of her otherworldly knowledge. Res was intrigued by how depth and environmental pressure affected the body. Not that it mattered to them. Their RESIST easily prevented this from happening in the first place.

Ignis on the other hand was more interested in the biological aspect of it. She’d make a great student for sure. The cat-girl nodded ferociously whenever something finally clicked.

Finally, they reached the entryway of the Guild and proceeded to present the case to the Receptionist. None knew exactly how to deal with the lake and food contamination, but Frost had an idea.

Of course, it would take a few days to completely clean the lake. Cleansing as many fish as possible would also be a tall order. And then there would be an issue with food. But again, Frost had a scheme for this.

“You've heard about 50 boars being on their way. The town can use those for a temporary food source, as well as any fish I cleanse. The lake will take a bit of time, but it’s not undoable.” Frost did not have to ask for what they’d get in return.

Because the Receptionist already knew what they wanted.

“Additional bookings. This is bigger than we expected. W-We’ll definitely make your time worthwhile!” The Receptionist gladly exclaimed. “Thank you for looking after a small town such as ours!”

“Stop yelling. But you’re right. We owe you more than just accommodations.” The Receptionist’s boss said, smoking a long, scented pipe. “Black Dove. Never heard of a healer that goes around healing things other than people.”

She took a long whiff of her pipe and chuckled.

“What an unconventional healer, hahaha.”

That lake was bound to max out Frost’s [Cleanse] levels.

It was an EXP farm waiting to be abused.

 

< Cleanse III >

< Instantly remove 3 chosen stacks on self or target in contact. If multiple targets are in contact, then 3 stacks will be simultaneously removed from them all >

< Distance: 2m: 3 stacks, 5m: 2 stacks, 10m: 1 stack >

< Cost: 100 MP >

 

< Note: The Heart of Ours inflicted stacks that outclassed even radiation. Yours could not cleanse those stacks. Poena’s Cleanse must be at a mastery level. Shall we uncover what secrets Cleanse V hides? >