Like always, my slippers were the only ones left at the end of the staircase by the time I went down stairs. Everyone wakes up early, that's how it commonly went for people here, not just my family. Because the earlier you are, the more fish you'll catch.

  Dad and Howaph are [Spear Fishers], a class that's commonly found in places like Flotol or sea locked cities and settlements. I don't know what kind of passives the class gives them because it didn't exist in the game but I'm pretty sure one of those helps with eyesight.

  I've seen my brother move through fog like it didn't obscure him, or my dad finding the smallest trinkets within muddy water. It's insane, really.

  The swamp water is clearer when no one has disturbed it too, so that's also a benefit of waking up at dawn. Another thing is that going there early means they leave early and they come home sometime around breakfast. Which is the time I wake up as well. But I can't bother waiting for them despite this. The morning hours get pretty long, especially in the church, so I prefer to eat and be on my way.

  Today, it seems, Howaph and dad are home earlier than usual. Looks like they brought a lot of fish with them too, fresh ones, a rare delicacy even for us since we usually eat preserved fish. Dad and Howaph bring home fresh fish after our food is cooked, and then those get preserved.

  "Morning." My greetings were rare as well, mom didn't care that I didn't say it because she preferred I do it through actions like preparing the table or some other thing. "Did you guys get the things I asked you to?"

  "Well, we did." My dad chuckled, more amused than offended. "But I'm shocked that's the first thing you asked when you see us."

  What else was I supposed to ask about if not that? I'm not gonna ignore my class like some idiot, and I also have my other priorities. "Yeah? It's because I'm excited, I wanna cull the younger generations of aberrants by catching them early."

  "That's a good idea." Howaph looked thoughtful for a moment before his eyes drifted over to dad. "That's like what old Kokar was doing when he was alive right?"

  Actually, I did get the idea from the same guy. Sort of. I already had thought of it before Wardcruncha mentioned the old man but after he did, I became sure it's an effective way to catch aberrants and who knows? I might even prevent children from dying like he did.

  "Mhmm. The village used to be a whole lot safer with him around, it's sad that not a lot of trappers pop up here often." Thomala sounded wistful, which just confused me because why can't trappers pop up? It's not like it's a hard class to get.

  "Why doesn't that happen?" My brother asked before me, I listened intently for my dad's reply while going over to the pile of items in the living room. I wanted to do a material check.

  "It's because [Trapper] is not the kind of class you can just get on a whim, it's rare. You need a lot of successful catches before you even get the chance of having it so people simply consider it a waste of time to obtain the [Trapper] class since [Angler], [Fisher Man], and [Spear Fisher] are far better and can get you more fish in a single day."

  "Rontress caught an aberrant though, doesn't that mean that [Trapper] is better?" Howaph asked.

  "Not everyone is like your sister, Howaph, the [Trapper] class can make contraptions that the trapper understands intimately, which means you need to be educated to be able to reach its full potential." Thomala shrugged. "Your sister is different, obviously."

  "Ah." Howaph nodded like what our dad said makes sense.

  While their conversation continued, I went ahead and checked the rest of the stuff I asked for. I got my wool gloves, angler clothes that fit my frame, and several yards of fishing lines. I also have wicker baskets and metal cages, both of which will catch rats and aberrants respectively.

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  "Dad?" My father's conversation came to a halt when he heard me call for him. I faced him, meeting his gaze with mine. "How much did it cost for you to buy the metal cages?"

  "It's fine, you can just pay it back." My dad waved me off. "I even got a discount when the smith learned what you'll be using it for, the man didn't even haggle!"

  My father's laugh, while happy, just reminded me of the kind of influence aberrants have on the people of Flotol. They're the kind of creatures mothers tell their children scary stories of before bed.

  Guess I'm actually doing a lot for the community by hunting aberrants huh? I'm treating them like an exp farm but it's clear that their death means a lot more than that to my fellow villagers.

  Can I use this to my advantage? How many metal cages can I buy with a fresh aberrant? Can I guilt trip someone into giving me free stuff?

  I put that idea aside for the time being and got up. I washed my hands and sat on the table. "Thanks, I'll make sure to pay for the stuff later today."

  "You better. I spent all night making that stupid cart." Howaph pointed his fork at me, there's fish eyes dangling from it. I held back a gag. "And my friends said they're interested in your idea, but only if you bring the aberrants back to Flotol, they're not going near the lifeless pool."

  Guess that's that idea gone then.

  "Yeah, I'll do it." My lie came out smoothly. Disappointment was the only thing I felt when I realized that I still had to personally cut up large aberrants that wouldn't fit my cart but it's fine, I get more meat if I do it alone anyway.

  Guess I don't need the help of his friends after all, and I can sell the meat to a [Butcher] directly and get more money that way.

  It'll take a while for me to finish cutting an adult aberrant though. But it's fine, I don't really mind it.

  When breakfast finished, I put on my angler clothing and placed all the items I got from dad into my cart. I pushed it towards the pier, no longer attracting attention like I did yesterday. People smiled at me even.

  When I got to my first stop– the pier. – Wardcruncha is already there, waiting for me. He waved, I waved back. "Looks like you're going to fill the forest with a bunch of traps!"

  "I will." I smiled when I took the hooked Anlaks from his hand. "Expect the rats by the end of the day or maybe tomorrow."

  "You better bring them here okay? It's been so long since I last ate a forest rat and I'm starving for one."

  I couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous it sounded. Back in my first life, I wouldn't even consider eating rats, let alone feeding them to the homeless but from what I understood, the rats here are clean. Their organs at least. Their fur is still full of dirt but at least they don't live in sewers full of human filth and bacteria like the ones back on earth.

  "Get used to eating one every day then because I'll start bringing them daily!" I gave Wardcruncha my biggest grin and left for the forest.

  On the way to the spawning pool I was told would have a lone aberrant spawning in it, I made rat traps using wicker baskets and berries. It can be argued that the rats will just chew through the wicker baskets but not these ones.

  In Flotol, bugs are plenty. There are so many here that some adults actually die from them, and so our people commonly make things out of irritants, be it clothes or day to day items. A passive that's shared amongst all the adults is something called [Minor Poison Resistance] which proves that mosquitos are worse than poison.

  Any sane rat would never willingly chew through the baskets, they'd get an inflamed mouth if they do and that's the best case scenario, at worst they eat enough of the basket and start puking out their guts.

  After all my rat traps had been set up, I moved on to the mud lines— places where young aberrants frequently pass through. These miniature gorges are deliberately made by the smaller crayfish because of two main reasons.

  One: at their young age, they mainly rely on their gills to breathe so places with water are needed for them to live. Hence why they dig these across the forest floor, it allows them to move from one body of water to another.

  And two: while they are protected by their tough shells, it isn't enough. Predators still hunt them and while the forest leaves them vulnerable, mud lines soften the ground just enough for them to burrow into the earth and keep themselves safe.

  Mud lines also connect bodies of water together, it is a path that fish take sometimes– assuming it's deep enough – so chances are, if I trace the one that I found, I'll eventually reach the spawning pool I was going to.

  I'll do that after I set up the metal cages with Anlaks in them, which I placed near the edge of the mud line but far enough from it that a young aberrant will have to cross several feet of dry ground before they get to eat.

  Keeping aberrants dry will not kill them, they still have their lungs, but it will put them in this comatose-like state. Ideal if you want to capture them alive. Which I do.