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Golden light scattered across the shimmering water surface. Specks of light danced with the wind. The sun was just right, the breeze was gentle, and it was the perfect time for fishing.
By the river, Bear Bro sat, tilting its head, watching Ethan busy himself.
Ethan checked the line twice, ensuring the iron hook tied to the end would not slip off. He then baited it with an earthworm he had just dug up and flung the bamboo pole out suddenly.
"Roar?"
Bear Bro gave an inquisitive grunt.
"Shh… I'm fishing. Do you understand fishing?"
Bear Bro blinked blankly.
"Hmm… Like this!"
Ethan was just wondering how to explain the relaxing and wholesome sport of fishing to Bear Bro when he felt a sharp tug on his hand. He turned his head, and the tip of the bamboo pole suddenly dipped down, the slack line instantly pulling taut.
Ethan instinctively jerked the pole up. With a soft splash sound, a fish twisted its body and broke the water surface. Its struggling motion fragmented the light hitting it into fine golden sparkles, a beautiful sight.
Ethan stretched out his left hand, receiving the glittering fish into his palm. Looking at the tiny creature, barely the length of his finger, he fell into silence.
A small Goldfish. As an ornamental fish, it could sell for a decent price, generally around 300z to 500z depending on its size. Catching just one could net a good profit.
The problem was that he was fishing to roast and eat them! He hadn't considered catching them to sell…
A dead Goldfish was worthless, and he couldn't take it back with him. Ethan could only reluctantly toss the sparkling little fish back into the river.
Ethan turned to Bear Bro. "Hmm, that's pretty much what fishing is all about."
Bear Bro still didn't understand. It scratched its rump, walked straight into the river, and with two swift swipes of its claws, scooped several different types of fish out of the water, all of which were quite large.
It turned its head back to Ethan and roared.
Isn't this more convenient than what you were laboring over for so long?
Ethan: …
He insisted stubbornly: "Fishing is about the atmosphere, you wouldn't understand."
That being said, with Bear Bro standing in the river decimating the fish population, he couldn't continue fishing. Ethan reluctantly put away his rod, picked up the large fish Bear Bro had scooped onto the bank, quickly scraped off the scales, and skewered them onto tree branches.
This time, however, Ethan did not have to resort to the primitive fire-starting methods of before. He took a small, collapsible stand from behind him, unfolded it quickly. With just a twist of the switch, the compressed fuel inside ignited a vigorous flame in the center. It was both convenient and quick. The only drawback was that the flame was so strong that even a small mistake could burn the food to a crisp.
He set the skewered fish onto the portable grill. Ethan turned the handle while softly humming a cheerful tune.
"Dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum~ dum!"
As the tune finished, the fish had completed exactly four and a half rotations. Ethan suddenly lifted the branch, holding the roasted fish up for inspection.
"Perfectly roasted!"
Golden in color, crispy outside, and tender inside, Ethan nodded with satisfaction. He then waved to Bear Bro, who was still standing in the river fishing.
"Hey, come and eat!"
The saying goes, "The man of honor refuses food given with insult," but Bear Bro didn't understand any of that. It was just a bear, so it happily trotted over.
And so, the man and the bear, one fish for him and one for the bear, quickly finished all the large fish that had just been caught.
Bear Bro, still wanting more, was about to go back to fishing when Ethan suddenly called to it.
"Bear Bro! Do you want to move to a new place?"
"Roar?"
Ethan didn't expect it to understand. After checking his direction, he simply turned and started walking.
After a few steps, he turned back to see Bear Bro still standing blankly by the river. Ethan had to call it again.
"Don't just stand there! Follow me!"
As the last glow of sunset enveloped the mountains, an Arzuros followed closely behind the Hunter, arriving at a riverbank.
A few Thunderbugs, startled, fluttered out of the bushes, lighting up the dim shallows with pinpricks of pale blue light.
"Bear Bro, look over there. That's where I live now."
Ethan pointed across the river to the scattered lights visible in the twilight, beyond a large expanse of fertile fields.
He turned to Bear Bro, his eyes reflecting the electric light of the Thunderbugs. "Let's live here from now on, okay?"
"It's safe here. No other large monsters will approach, and I won't have to worry about not being able to find you every time I return to the village."
Bear Bro gazed across the river at the lights. The red glow flickered, much like the blue light of the Thunderbugs beside them.
It suddenly felt that Ethan belonged over there, and it belonged here, to the wild nature.
Bear Bro lay down with a heavy heart, comforting itself with the thought: It doesn't matter. Ethan will often return to this natural place. The difference in domain won't affect our friendship.
However, perhaps it should try to become stronger, go through more battles and struggles, so that when Ethan encountered trouble in the wild, it could actually help, instead of just running away in embarrassment like today.
Ethan unslung the Charge Blade from his back, placed it on a rock, and settled down against Bear Bro's warm body, looking up at the sky where the last of the afterglow was gone and the moon shone brightly.
Bear Bro was a friend, a partner, to him. His choice to walk the Hunter path was his own and had nothing to do with Bear Bro. He didn't want Bear Bro to put itself in danger just to help him.
But the words caught in his throat. Considering that even without him, the Arzuros's ecological niche was relatively low, and as long as it lived in the wild, it couldn't avoid risk. So, he suppressed his thought, only patting Bear Bro's arm and whispering:
"You've been through enough today. Rest now…"
…
The next day.
The morning light shone on his body, driving away the night's damp chill. Ethan gently pushed away Bear Bro's paw that was draped over him and climbed out of its embrace.
To his surprise, Ethan saw Sophia, wearing her Scholars' Team uniform, sitting on a flat stone by the river. She was concentrating on drawing something in a book.
Ethan walked over and greeted her: "Morning."
Sophia finally noticed he was awake. She smiled at Ethan, then held up her book, showing him the sketch inside.
"I'm naming this drawing, Man and Nature. What do you think?"
Ethan recognized it immediately. The main subjects were Bear Bro, and Ethan sleeping soundly while being hugged by Bear Bro.
"Very good drawing skill. I almost want to keep a copy as a souvenir."
Sophia closed the book, hugging it to her chest, a slightly sly smile on her face.
"This is my research notebook. I can't give it to you."
"But if you really want one, I can draw a new one for you."
Ethan rubbed his chin. "That sounds like too much trouble. Maybe not…"
"Eh? But didn't you say you wanted to keep one?"
"But you said I couldn't have the notebook?"
"Exactly! That's why I have to draw a new one!"
"But that would be too much trouble for you…"
Seeing Sophia's sly smile morph into exasperation, Ethan's lips curled up uncontrollably. Ah, what a wonderful Hunter life this is!
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