Catching the Full Fish
My clones in the water formed a perfect circle right beneath the Full Fish and trailed it upward. Even though Bastet and I were nearly a hundred meters away, the Full Fish seemed to sense something off and tried to dive back underwater. Of course, I wasn't about to let that happen. The clones fired mana bullets in unison, generating shockwaves. With blasts erupting from every direction right below it, the Full Fish shot out of the water in alarm. And a hole tore open in the direction it leaped.
What I'd been pondering was how exactly the Full Fish moved. Was it only possible underwater, or could it do so above the surface too? There was zero intel on whether it could teleport like spatial jumps without any prep. But the moment it ripped open that dimensional hole and emerged, half the answer revealed itself. Someone in the past had definitely caught and eaten a Full Fish, or so Setas claimed from his world's records. No matter how advanced his civilization was, that was centuries ago—they must've snagged it somehow to devour it. The Full Fish wasn't invincible.
I teleported into its path mid-leap and slashed a space cut at the dimensional hole it had created. Cracks spiderwebbed across the rift, and it vanished. Truth be told, I wasn't entirely sure it'd work, but I'd asked Setas beforehand, and he'd said it seemed plausible. With its escape route gone, the Full Fish flailed in midair. A direct space cut on the fish itself would've made capturing it a breeze. But then I couldn't steam it whole, could I? If its guts burst and ruined the meat after all that effort, the flavor would be wrecked. Bastet might forgive me, but I sure as hell wouldn't.
Before it could splash back down, I teleported to its side, drew my sword, and precisely stabbed the back of its head to sever the nerves. Then I whisked it straight into my subspace. For fish, freshness is everything.
"Got it!"
A surge of triumphant joy hit me—something I'd never felt even against the toughest foes. Far off, Bastet was hopping in place with excitement. I quickly absorbed the Full Fish's soul. No big expectations there, and sure enough, it was just a regular oversized fish soul. Maybe Full Fish weren't born with their powers innately. Anyway, the real challenge started now.
I zipped to my prepped workstation and hoisted the Full Fish onto the massive table. Blood trickled from the sword wound in its head. To be safe, I decapitated it, drained the blood into a separate container, and set it aside. No special soul powers, so maybe the blood or meat held the secret. We've got a blood expert on hand, after all.
No rest even after bleeding it. I scaled it, collecting the iridescent ones—they were tougher than expected. Even if they weren't useful for anything else, they'd make stunning jewelry. What would've been impossible with a normal knife was effortless with this blade, honed by a dragon. Next, I slit the belly and carefully removed the innards. They looked identical to any ordinary fish's—no oversized swim bladder or liver or anything distinctive. Still, I preserved them intact in subspace. We've got two body-mod experts who might glean something.
I'd planned to steam it whole but carved off a tiny bit from the belly for a test. Sliced it thin.
"Care for a piece?"
I offered it to Bastet, who'd been drooling nonstop. A cat paw snatched it faster than the eye could follow.
Weeeooow!
Bastet's ecstatic yowl echoed through the Great Forest. I'm not big on raw fish myself, but if she loved it... I took a bite. The moment it touched my tongue, a springy texture burst forth. As my teeth sank in, juices exploded like biting into a ripe fruit. Is this why they call it Full Fish—because it's bursting with flavor? This was beyond that. My mind went hazy. When I snapped out of it, tears were streaming down my face. Me, crying over a slice of sashimi? Never thought I'd see the day. It melted away without even seeming chewed, leaving only umami lingering.
I eyed the rest of the sliced meat for another piece—and found a cat occupying the spot instead.
[Get to cooking already.]
"Ah, right."
I wasn't mad. Without Bastet, I might never have even known about the Full Fish. Besides, it's not like I could've beaten it in a straight fight. I regretted not slicing a bit more belly meat, but it was gone now. Time to steam.
The Full Fish was a two-meter behemoth. Steaming it whole required a massive steamer—and we had one. The other races had built it for whole-hog festival feasts. A masterpiece of dwarven engineering. The dwarf elder who made it once spent thirty minutes bragging about its features, but that wasn’t important right now.
I poured in Drakan's liquor without restraint. Precious stuff I barely shared anymore, even with Howard, but this dish deserved it. Layered in veggie trays to absorb any off odors, then laid the Full Fish atop them. Thought about spices but shook my head—no, this needed its pure flavor maximized. Sealed the triple-lid tight and summoned a fire spirit to heat it evenly from all sides.
The steamer heated up, unleashing a maddening aroma. This was mental-attack level. For me, it hit harder than Lily's smile. And apparently not just me. I'd gotten too relaxed—this was still the Great Forest, crawling with beasts. Big-shot monsters from nearby territories started swarming, drawn by the scent.
I was about to intervene, but no need.
Haaaaah!
Bastet's hiss reverberated, sending the weaklings fleeing. The tougher ones pressed on. Her eyes sharpened—I'd never seen her this pissed. Each time she blinked in and out, massive beasts flew scattering in all directions. One twenty meters up looked like the twin-headed ogre Howard once fought. But before Bastet, it was a mouse to a cat. One hit, and it went from twin to single head. After her rampage, the intruders were cleared. A few apex predators from the forest's heart had just vanished.
One clone inside the steamer monitored precisely, adjusting the flame. Normally, I'd trust the fire spirit, but not for this. No room for a single second's error—I dismissed it exactly on time and let it steam.
The longest wait of my life. Even Bastet paced restlessly nearby. Finally, the moment arrived. Lifting that lid would reveal perfection—or oblivion.
Steam billowed out with an intoxicating aroma that nearly blacked me out. No mere steamed fish could smell like this. Dizzy but enduring for the heaven ahead, I waited. As the vapor cleared, the colossal steamed Full Fish emerged unscathed, knife-scores and all to trap the flavors.
I wielded the dwarven chef's knife and carved a huge slab of snow-white flesh onto a plate for Bastet first. She dove face-first in. Some weird noise came from her, but I ignored it—my focus was solely on the dish. Carved my own massive piece and bit deep.
"Khuh!"
Glad I lived this long. Glad I reincarnated human. I deserved this. The flavor transcended taste—it satisfied every sense. Bastet and I devoured it competitively. Soon, only bones remained—no, even some bones were gone, and not a drop of broth left. Where did it all go? I never knew I could pack away that much.
"Delicious."
I sprawled on the ground, panting from fullness. Bastet, now a rolling ball far off, wagged her tail in agreement. To eat this again, I'd need to live forever. Could I even catch another?
"Think we can snag another Full Fish?"
[I don't know either.]
A fish so rare even gods couldn't predict it? With flavor like this, yeah, makes sense. No deity who knew would let it roam free, dimension-hopping or not.
After digesting a bit, I gathered the remnants for research. Technically not native to this world—maybe useful for immortality elixirs, new effects and all.
Back in the Akasha Territory after our divine feast, I took the Full Fish blood to our blood expert. I held the brimming vial before Eltis.
"Know what this is?"
"Fish blood."
Expert indeed. He knew without uncorking it.
"Anything else special?"
"Yeah, from a long-lived fish. Something extraordinary?"
"Hoped the blood had secrets, but guess not."
They'd study it, but preliminarily, nothing unique. Eltis paused, then spoke.
"More importantly, it's about time we left."
I'd figured. No reason to stop him—I lacked the authority anyway.
"You don't need my permission for that."
"No, I do. My kin are coming too."
The New Continent vampires were my subjects, after all.
"Why leave all of a sudden?"
"I can abstain forever, but the others can't. They've scraped by with sips from other races, but that won't last."
Back in a human-teeming world, no need anymore. They wanted to hunt blood—didn't faze me.
"What'll you do out there?"
Not brewing booze or whittling in basements for a living.
"What we do best."
Vampires excelled at brewing, woodworking... but above all, killing. Eltis's sad smile held a hint of apology.
"Then why leave?"
"Pardon?"
"Do it here. Safest place around."
"What do you mean?"
Sounded crazy, me suggesting mass murder in my territory.
"You wanna kill, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"Let's make an assassin guild instead. Base it here—the world's safest spot. Emperor couldn't touch it. Earn gold, get meals, pick jobs to hit only scum. No splitting from Violette. Perfect, right?"
"Ah, that kind of... I'll think it over. Need to consult the clan."
But I knew he'd bitten. Soon after sending him to the New Continent, Eltis accepted. Thus, the continent's deadliest assassin guild, Blue Moon, was born.