The party had, in fact, never heard about the fish of seven colors, and they turned to look at Rob. Seeing their questioning looks, Rob launched into an explanation about the fish of seven colors. At the end of said explanation, Rob once again asked if they would help him.

  “So, I understand that you need special items to catch the fish, but why is it you need to catch this fish?” Alexion questioned. Rob had sounded excited about the entire ordeal, but had never given them a reason why he was looking for the fish.

  “To catch it, of course! I would be the first fisherman in a hundred years to have caught the legendary fish, and by helping me, you would all be part of the legend!” Rob answered excitedly.

  Hearing the man talk, they certainly felt a bit excited for him, but didn't really feel the need to help him catch the fish, and the trio exchanged hesitant glances. From all that the man had explained, there wasn't anything for them except for the fact that they would be helping to catch a legendary fish. It wasn't like it was an actual, real-world thing that might earn them some actual renown. Instead, it was the start of a quest for the dungeon, which didn't offer an actual reward.

  On the other hand, there was also the possibility that Rob wasn't telling them everything, and the fish was very valuable for some reason. Maybe when they caught the fish, they would be granted a reward by the dungeon or some other such nonsense. However, on the other end of things, the trio wouldn't put it past the dungeon to send them on a wild goose chase for absolutely no reason.

  It was clear that everyone was hesitant to take on the quest, but with Rob looking at them expectantly. And after sharing one more questioning glance with each other, the three of them nodded, accepting Rob's offer. Naturally, as soon as they accepted, the quest popped up, and Rob explained what they had to do first.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Quest Details??

  Name: The Fish of Seven Colors - Part 1.

  Description: After bringing Rob his lobster meat and sharing a meal with the man. He tells you of a legendary fish. The Fish of Seven Colors. Which can be captured in the lake, but not through any normal means. Rob says that to catch the fish, a special rod, line, hook, bait, and time are required. Having agreed to help catch the fish, Rob tells you the first step in his plan.

  First, you must convince the leader of Fraggle’s to give you a special fishing line that is passed down as an heirloom in their family. Once you have the fishing line, return to Rob.

  Reward: The Fish of Seven Colors - Part 2.

  ??

  The good thing was that the first part of the quest had them going to where they were initially going: Into the Lake.

  Considering they still had a good portion of the day before them. The party said their goodbyes to Rob and left the excited man behind. Naturally, as soon as they were far enough from him, they began to dissect their latest decision.

  “Are we actually going to do this? It seems like a waste of time,” They heard Arctur say in their minds. The green man was not really on board with the entire thing, and his reluctance was palpable in his voice.

  “I mean, it's not like we have to. For now, we can leave things be and see what happens,” Alexion answered, not bothered by the quest or its implications.

  “Yeah, we don’t have to do it, though I think we should at least try. Honestly, the whole thing sounds fun!” Adriana said excitedly.

  “I guess you’re right, we can just leave the quest there. I don’t think we would be punished for not doing it.”

  “Exactly, plus it gives us something else to do!” Adri pointed out, and Arctur had to agree. It’s not like they were going anywhere else in the foreseeable future.

  Instead of diving into the lake straight away, the party swam on its surface for a while. They did this for two reasons. The first was to enjoy the environment. It was a nice, warm day, and the water was nice and cool. Something that changed whenever they got deeper, and even though magic helped negate some of the issues with swimming in deeper water, it was still nice to relax on the surface.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The other reason for their swim across the lake's surface was to move further into the lake. At least make it further without having to go under. Though Adriana didn't have the “one with the water” type of relationship mermaids had with water. It didn't mean that her sense of direction was thrown off by the element, like many people experienced. An ability shared by Alexion, which also gave him an uncanny sense of where he had been in the water. As such, the party's idea was to swim over to where the giant lobster farm was and then dive down.

  On the way to that particular spot, the party was attacked by a few monsters. However, it wasn't anything new; it was mainly a mix of the Stealth Gators, the Wind Goose, and some of the Wind Hawks and Eagles. All of which were quickly and efficiently demolished. The gators were the easiest to deal with, as they were in the water, while the birds had been the most troublesome. Even so, the birds had to get decently close for their attacks to be even remotely efficient, and that was when the party struck.

  Finally, they arrived at the spot where the farm was located and began to dive. It didn't take them long to arrive at the farm, finding the place exactly as they had left it. The lobsters were still in their pens, and the plant-covered square and dome-roofed buildings were untouched. For some reason, the trio had expected to find the frog folk just standing around. They knew they had acted somewhat realistically during the quest, but the three of them figured that when not giving out the quest, they were basically puppets. Yet there they were, all the frog people were walking around, working. Some were wrangling the lobsters, moving them from one pen to another, while others were cleaning them or harvesting their shells. It was an interesting sight to see and made the dungeon that much more real to them.

  That being said, the farm was not their chosen target, and they continued swimming in the direction they had originally been moving towards the first time around.

  It took the party about an hour to find the town since they hadn't asked for directions. Something they should have done when they had been at the farm, or when they had been doing the lobster quest.

  Arriving on the outer edge of the village, it was hard to imagine how they could miss it. Yet the lake was large, and the party couldn’t be faulted too much.

  Ribbit Village was a large grouping of about 100 buildings. The buildings were similar in design to those found on the farm. All of them were square boxes with flat or dome roofs. And outside of the large number of buildings, the other main difference was their sizes. Buildings came in various sizes as could be found in an above-ground town, and they imagined that each had a purpose, whether it was a home, business, or whatever else frog folk needed. As expected, however, the one difference from an above-ground town was that there were no roads. Since the frog people could swim, there was no need for roads.

  Additionally, unlike the farm, which was much closer to the surface, little sunlight came to the village. Thankfully, this was offset by a wide variety of plants that gave off soft light and illuminated the entire place, which was also the reason why the whole place was rather visible. Not visible from afar since light was tricky underwater, but visible from where the party had stopped to gawk. Furthermore, the town was covered in plants, and various large weeds grew in certain areas, separating different parts of the village by small forests of greenery.

  The last two things the party noted as they approached the village from above were the farms and the people. They were approaching the village from the outer edge, more or less, and could see various small farms of moving lily pads. It was definitely odd since when the lily pads stopped, they seemed like normal plants, yet still moved on their own, their vine tentacles being the main giveaway. These tentacles grasped at plants or other things, showing some intelligence in the entities. As for the other farms, these farms were shell farms. There were rows upon rows of shells, all of them of different sizes and colors.

  Then there were the people of the village. So far, the party had spotted a few adventurers among the large number of frog folk moving around. These frog folks went about working as they had been on the farm. Some were dealing with the lily pads, cutting the vines, or ensuring they didn’t swim away. Other workers were harvesting shells, placing new, smaller ones in their place. More importantly, the people of the village wore a bit more clothing than those at the farm. Not much, but there were plenty of odd shirts, vests, bandanas, straps, and other simple clothing items, as well as newer-looking loincloths.

  However, even among the normal frog folks who wore these new pieces of clothing, some stood out much more. These frog folks changed how the party looked at the dungeon and the frog kin once again. So far, for some reason, the three of them had thought the frog folks were a peaceful people. They had learned that some people, due to their worlds or odd living arrangements, could live without much worry of monsters. However, seeing the frog guards removed that notion from them.

  The guards had matching outfits; they wore well-maintained loincloths, greenish leather-looking vests, and bracers. Further adding to their defense were the shells. These shells looked hard and were attached to their leather gear, providing what the party assumed was some extra defense. The shells were even dyed a dark color to give the swimming frog guards some level of unity and uniqueness from the average frog person. Further adding to this uniform look, the guards wore small arm bracelets that sported the symbol of a frog's webbed hand print painted in glowing moss. Even so, all of that wasn’t necessary since the guards were the only ones moving around with actual weapons.

  These weapons came in the form of daggers, swords, or even small shields. However, the majority of guards always had tridents or spears. Finally, the weapons were mostly made of sharpened and reshaped shells, although the trio did spot a few pieces of armor and weapons made of metal.

  All in all, the party moved through the village unbothered, the inhabitants unworried about them as they stared at every little thing. Eventually, though, once they got over the initial shock of experiencing this part of the dungeon, the party knew it was time to get to work.