The Lake Lord

The fishing competition is about to begin.

Mr. Lorenzo's fishing rod is impossible to imitate, and Fern is unwilling to reveal the bait recipe. As for Frieren's True Magic fishing rod, which was made hundreds of years ago, its reference value is even less than the former two.

After all that effort, Stark still didn't know what he should prepare.

With no other option, he went to a fishing tackle shop near the dock and obediently bought a fishing rod recommended by the shopkeeper.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the day of the competition, as soon as it was light, a large crowd had already gathered at the once quiet pier.

The sky was a deep blue, yellow leaves covered the ground, and the autumn colors on the horizon merged with the autumn waves, with a misty, slightly chilly autumn air rising from the water.

Large and small wooden boats were moored beside the dock, while villagers responsible for maintaining order registered the names of the participants one by one at the entrance.

"With a clang, the contestants gathered near the dock immediately sprang into action."

Experienced fishermen carried their fishing rods straight to the spots they had chosen beforehand, while others boarded small boats that had been prepared in advance and rowed towards deeper waters further from the shore.

Lorenzo was one of them.

He also rented a small boat and sailed away from the shore with them, eventually stopping in a deeper part of the lake.

Perhaps it was because he used a dragon tooth hook, but he didn't even need bait. The hook itself seemed to be a tempting lure for the fish.

It's probably because dragons are creatures with immense Mana and vitality. Even after they die, their bones and teeth still retain a considerable amount of power. For these fish that act on instinct, that dragon tooth is like some rare and precious treasure that can transform them.

As long as you swallow it, you will gain unimaginable benefits, and you might even "transform into a dragon when you encounter wind and rain".

As a result, almost all the fish in the vicinity were attracted, and they were very eager to bite, resulting in a high catch rate.

Soon, the first barrel Lorenzo brought was completely filled, and if this continued, the winner who captured the most would sooner or later be his.

However, when he sank the dragon tooth hook into the lake again, the fishing line did not move as quickly as before.

The fish that had been vying for the dragon's tooth seemed to be startled and suddenly scattered and fled.

Immediately afterwards, the entire small boat suddenly sank downwards, and even the fishing rod in his hand bent into an astonishing arc.

It looks like something big has taken the bait.

Lorenzo immediately lowered his center of gravity and gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands.

The force and size of this fish don't look like it at all. Could it be that we've actually caught some unknown sea monster?

The next moment, the small boat suddenly changed direction and began to move rapidly across the lake as if it were being dragged by a rope.

"Hello!"

The nearby fishermen quickly reeled in their fishing lines and frantically rowed their boats to avoid the area.

Lorenzo's small boat sped past them, leaving a long white trail on the lake.

"What exactly did they catch?"

"It looks more like he was caught by a fish!"

Really.

Given the current situation, it's difficult to say which side captured the other.

The only saving grace was that the fishing line was made entirely of dragon whiskers, otherwise it would definitely have snapped.

The underwater behemoth exerted its force again, and the bow of the small boat was almost completely submerged in the lake. Lake water rushed into the cabin, causing the wooden buckets that had just been filled with fish to tip over.

Just as Lorenzo was considering whether he should give up on the fish, the surface of the lake in the distance suddenly swelled up.

"It's the Lake Lord!"

An old fisherman not far away recognized the dark figure and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Lake Lord? What Lake Lord? This isn't Resident Evil, where would Lake Lord come from?

Before he could react, a jet of snow-white water shot into the sky, turning into countless tiny droplets in the morning sunlight.

That was a huge whale!

Clearly, the residual power within the dragon's tooth had drawn out this enormous creature slumbering at the bottom of the lake, and it seemed quite satisfied with this unexpected meal, showing no intention of letting go.

The Lake Lord flicked its tail and submerged again, causing the small boat to accelerate rapidly and rush straight towards the reeds on the north bank.

That was the fishing spot that Fern and Frieren had chosen!

At this moment, Fern was unaware that a big trouble was about to befall her. She was humming a little tune as she took the fish she had just caught off her fishing rod and put it in the fish basket beside her.

The container already contained more than a dozen fish of similar size; judging from the number of catches alone, her result was quite impressive.

Frieren's situation was slightly worse.

Her fishing rod, which could be described as a "True Magic fishing rod," was sturdy and lightweight, but it clearly didn't have True Magic to aid in fishing. Moreover, to save preparation time, Frieren even took a small piece of leftover chestnut cake from the dessert shop to use as bait.

It turns out that the fish in the lake don't seem to like the promised land flowing with honey and milk as much as some other groups, so far she has only caught two small fish that are no bigger than her palm.

Just as Fern was about to change the bait, a shout suddenly came from afar.

She looked up at the lake and saw a small boat rushing toward the shore at an abnormally high speed.

"Is that Lord Lorenzo?"

Fern looked at the figures on the ship with some uncertainty and asked.

"It's him, and it looks like he caught something amazing."

Frieren squinted and watched for a while.

Is now the time to worry about this?

Fern quickly took out his staff; at the boat's current speed, it would crash into them in just over ten seconds.

At this point, the rules against using True Magic during the competition were no longer relevant. The two unleashed their Mana simultaneously, enveloping the oncoming boat from both sides in an attempt to forcibly counteract the force that was enough to drag the boat underwater.

The small boat finally began to slow down.

The boat rubbed violently against the lake surface, splashing large amounts of water to both sides, and the dragon whisker fishing line, which had been stretched into a straight line, became increasingly taut.

The Lake Lord suddenly leaped out of the water.

Only then did Fern truly see what Lorenzo had caught.

"Is this really a fish?"

She couldn't help but widen her eyes.

The behemoth, now deprived of the lake's support, veered past the small boat and plunged towards the north shore, casting a large shadow.

A deafening roar followed, and the earth trembled violently.

Mud, lake water, and broken reeds shot into the sky, turning into a mud rain that covered the entire area. Even the contestants who were far away had to lie down on the ground to avoid being blown over by the oncoming blast.

Fern's pre-cast defensive True Magic blocked most of the splashing debris, but the fish she and Frieren had just caught weren't so lucky.

The fish baskets placed on the shore were overturned, and the fish inside were jumping and splashing on the ground. Some of them even took advantage of the chaos to jump back into the lake.

"Finally caught it!"

Taking advantage of the boat running aground, Lorenzo immediately jumped into the shallow water and hoisted his fishing rod back onto his shoulder.

But even so, can this really be considered a fish caught?