It hurt mildly.
Alaric could still feel it, there was definitely another half pound missing from him.
The worm person then quickly disinfected the wound, and wrapped it.
Alaric wasn't crying. The painkiller was enough to pacify him this time.
"Maybe the worm person saw me in pain the first time and strengthened it…" Alaric thought.
He did like the worm person.
After the wound was wrapped, Alaric put on his overalls again. He stood up straight. He wanted to talk to the worm person. He didn't have any friends (Other than the rat) so he was somewhat desiring a human connection. Despite growing up without friends, he always wanted some.
It seemed that in his life things were finally getting interesting, and he was known by some people that didn't completely hate him for being boring.
There was Cornelious at the inn, who was always happy to take his money.
There was also Matilda at the boatyard who was also happy to take his money.
The people at the guild also vaguely recognized Alaric. The record keeper and the various other staff members at least had his face in their short term memory.
Alaric wanted someone else though.
"Hey, what's your name?"
Alaric turned to the worm person.
The worm person thought for a little bit, as if to contemplate leaking the information or not.
They shrugged and then began to open their mouth.
"Tiberius"
Alaric thought over the name in his mind.
"Tiberius…. It's been great seeing you, I like the fishing rod." Alaric started.
"You have used it I see." Tiberius told Alaric. They were strangely using their voice a lot.
"Yeah, it's great. Pretty much what I need." Alaric said confidently.
"Would you ever want to get together to talk about fish?" Alaric asked. He genuinely wanted to this persons friend. They seemed relatively in the same age bracket.
Tiberius thought it over. Alaric couldn't tell if Tiberius was a deep thinker or a slow thinker.
"Not for now. Once you have a "product" I can reference you to captain to be a normal external ally." Tiberius spoke slowly. They seemed to put a lot of effort into every word.
"I have two theories, one, they are from a different land where a different language is spoken, or they just rarely talk." Alaric thought in his mind.
Tiberius was likely not stupid, just not used to speaking clearly.
"Very well. How can I reach you once I have something?" Alaric asked.
"You don't find us. We will watch. We will figure it out." Tiberius responded, before waving bye.
This was better than nothing. Alaric now knew their name, and had confirmation about a further relationship being within reason of being developed.
He would just have to fish.
After this conversation, Alaric had a couple main takeaways.
Tiberius was clearly part of an organization with a strict hierarchy. There was a "we" in reference to a group that operates as a collective. There was also a "captain" who was a source of authority.
"I'll just think of it as "Worm Sect"." Alaric decided. He didn't know the official name, he just assigned this at his whim to organize his thoughts.
This was close to the optimal situation for Alaric. He had no interest in joining this thing, but he had interest in allyship.
"I still need to be free to conduct business my way." Alaric thought. He wasn't huge on strict authority. He was a part of the fishing guild, but unless he climbed the ranks, he wouldn't be strictly regulated by higher ups in the guild.
There would be benefits to being an external ally of the Worm Sect. He would have some kind of backing, if he got in trouble somehow he would be able to know that there was an organization that somewhat cared about what happened to him. On top of this, it would be a reliable connection into the world of Esoteric Fishermen. He could learn some techniques and rituals to get certain fish, as well as be connected to outsiders.
This would also provide a no-questions-asked kind of business opportunity. If both parties were privy to Esoteric Fishing, it would be way easier to conduct business together and buy and sell.
The possibilities for future developments were endless. This was definitely good. Alaric still needed to just get more fish under his belt now. He would have to raise his status, something that was already a goal of his.
"Alright. I actually don't have time to sit around being in pain. I can take a rest day tomorrow. I need to sell my stuff now." Alaric decided.
He would now need to head over to the party to sell his drinks. He had no vested interest in drinking them, they would be more effective as cash in the bank.
It was dark, and Alaric could hear the noises of the party. There was loud music, and some lights coming from the middle of the city. It was such a big deal to keep the powerful mages appeased with parties and refreshments that the interest of the common folk's sleep was put to the side. This didn't mean there were no benefits for them though. This was an optimal time to set up shop.
Providing catering or items for the party would be a good way to make money.
There were often auctions for expensive goods at the parties. Gift giving among guild members was also common, so it was a highly marketable event.
Other guilds had things like this too. There were such events for the fishing guild, but much smaller scale. It likely consisted of a couple kegs and some sausage. The gifts given would be new hooks and lures instead of magic flame gauntlets or whatever the mages gave each other.
But Alaric was determined. He could definitely make a little money here. It just all depended on how he marketed the drinks, and how much the mages and rich folks wanted to drink them.
Alaric headed over to the party, and was about to enter.