It would be a steaming hot second before Ignatius would be ready to go out on the seas. It would likely be 2-5 days before it would be complete. But it would be worth it eventually. Sometimes good things are instant, sometimes they take time to ferment in reality before they become delicious and lucrative.
A good boat was one of those things. Alaric would be willing to wait a short while before embarking.
In the meantime he would buy his other gear as well as gather information. Heading out Esoteric Fishing without any semblance of what he was doing was a sentence to a boring and unlucrative life.
"I'm not boring and unlucrative." Alaric said to himself. He enjoyed affirmations that affirmed his identity as being a cool guy who is going to be rich.
Now he needed to get his gear together. A fisherman would need proper tools, especially one of the esoteric variety.
He had 300 charred left to buy stuff.
A mental shopping list was formed in his mind.
-Decently durable clothes
-Some kind of basic weapon
-Two fishing poles
-Spare gear for fishing like string and hooks
-Spare money for bait
As Alaric's knowledge of Esoteric Fishing was limited at the time, he didn't know what to use for bait. All he did know was that it was a crucial part of the process, and would require some knowledge gained before buying proper bait.
Walking back, Alaric looked around for some stores to purchase things.
He was still discount searching.
After a while of walking, he came across a used clothes store.
"Sweeeet!!! Should be able to find something suitable in here." Alaric said out loud. He was prone to vocalizing his thoughts now even though his only audience was a strange rat.
He entered the store.
Ring Ring
A bell sounded to indicate that a customer had entered the store.
"Lots of bells huh…." Alaric contemplated the usage of bells. He liked bells to a reasonable extent, but not to the extent of some people. "Some people like bells too much, and it gets in the way of success. Bells often distract from the core of humanity, despite often providing a nice accent to peoples rather boring lives." Alaric thought. Luckily, he didn't like bells too much so he wasn't distracted.
The store was divided into a women's and men's section. Alaric promptly headed to the men's section, specifically where the workwear was. Many blue collar workers die, so there is usually a plentiful supply of used clothes. Especially when construction occurs in an area not highly regulated by humans, wild beasts and monsters often created casualties among standard workers. It was the harsh reality of living in a world where base humans are on the weaker end of life forms.
Humans had high intelligence, and that allows them to construct methods to counter the otherwise physically dominant other species of the world. However, humans have no innate magic, therefore they have to forcefully learn it in order to apply it. This is what sets them apart from beings like giants who while dumb, have an innate sense of magic much like humans have an innate sense of reason.
Alaric was getting distracted thinking about the implications of the imbalance of power between species in the world. In the moment he would need to focus on buying some decent clothes.
He looked at the options. He was planning on spending about sixty charred on clothes.
He would need some nice durable stuff.
Starting with boots, he would need really good boots. Shoes are the roots of the body, and without good footwear everything would go wrong.
Alaric picked up a sturdy looking pair. They were brown and had nice laces, but the bottoms were a little worn. Looking at the price, they were listed at ten charred.
"Not bad not bad." Alaric took them. They would be sufficient.
He now turned his attention to other clothes. There was a massive bin in the middle with a ton of loose clothes in it. Many of them had questionable stains. Taking out a standard cotton shirt, there were bloodstains on it. It was clear that most of these clothes were not obtained with the owner alive.
"If it brings down the price I'm all for it." Alaric thought. He wasn't completely all for it, blood was unsightly, but he tried to convince himself of it for the benefit of his sack of money.
Sifting through more clothes, Alaric landed on something. A large pair of orange overalls.
He looked over them, they were in great condition. The fabric was thick and durable looking, and looked waterproof enough. It was his size as well.
He glanced at the price tag.
"20 Charred"
Alaric assumed a deep thinking pose, putting a fist below his chin and resting on a table.
This was quite a lot, but it would mean he wouldn't have to buy pants.
"It's worth it." He decided on finally.
A quarter of a tear emerged from his eye, possibly being a tear transmitted from his sack of money.
He had thirty charred left for clothes.
He quickly went over to the socks and underwear section.
"I'm not sure about this." Alaric thought to himself. It would be strange to buy used versions of these things. But, they were cheap. So he obliged. Getting the cleanest stuff he could, he now was equipped with adequate underwear.
Finally, he would need shirts. He went back to the bin, and chose two shirts. Both of them were dubiously clean, but it didn't matter. He got a brown cotton shirt and a black one. Both of them were long sleeved, and both of them had minor bloodstains and other miscellaneous stains. But they were five charred each.
Alaric had ten charred left in his clothing budget. He decided that he would treat himself to something fun.
He went over to the hat section. Hats, despite many not acknowledging their utility, were invaluable. They protected from the sun and provided shade.
He went over and looked at the practical hats.
He settled on a classic fishing bucket hat. It was seven charred.
The hat was dark grey, and had white embroidering.
The embroidering was that of a fish, so it was fitting.
Alaric payed for the clothes and exited the shop with a new set of clothes and a bag to carry them in.
The bag was provided by the store.
Next he would have to purchase the practical fishing gear.