After making sure that Melting Snow was alright after being thrown into the water by the Diamondback Armored Ctenophore, Xinya returned back to his hiding place under a piece of overturned bunny-shaped furniture that was attached to the wall. As he crawled underneath it the large sea creature tried it's best to get to him.
Once he was safely hidden, he decided to follow through on the hunch that he had. The hunch would seem quite strange to some, even by his standards he found it odd, but it was the only thing that made sense to him.
When he had noticed that fishing rod was devoid of the bait that he had put on it. He knew for sure that when that giant jellyfish decided it wanted to play with them, it was because lured by the aroma of the bait. He was quite certain that it was the smell that attracted the monster and that's why it was only after him and not the others.
Although, there was a slight glitch in his hunch, and that glitch was Melting Snow. The boy had also used the same bait as him, so why wasn't the monster going after him as well. The only way he could explain why the monster wasn't targeting the boy was that Melting Snow had only used the bait once.
After he had caught that small fish of his, Melting Snow had decided to go baitless. The scent of the bait was too pungent for his delicate nose so he decided to fish without using the bait.
Feeling bad about how the bait had affected the boy when he needed to reapply the bait to his fishing rod, Xinya would move a little way away from Melting Snow when he did so. That way Melting Snow wouldn't get hit with the smell once Xinya opened up the tin box the bait was in.
He had to reapply the bait at least eleven times for about an hour or so as they fished. By the time of the monster's arrival, Xinya would bet everything he had that his body would have been completely saturated with the scent of the Welch's Fruity Bait.
To that giant sea creature over there, he probably looked like a large piece of food ready to be eaten. However, this was only a hypothesis, he was only about 65% percent sure that he was correct about it. The other 35% of his logical mind still believed that the monster was only after him because he was the first thing it saw, so the aggro was immediately keyed to him.
Soon he would see which theory was correct, taking out the tin box from his inventory, he opened it up. Just as he picked up a piece of the Welch's Fruity Bait to throw to the monster, he heard Wandering Sound's voice.
He was informing them that houseboat durability had once again lowered, Xinya couldn't believe how low it had gotten. He knew for sure that there was no time to waste, after confirming with Wandering Sound that he heard him loud and clear, he hurried and grabbed a piece of bait.
Narrowing his eyes at the creature, as quick as he could he rolled out from his hiding place and threw the bait near the bow of the boat close to the creature before darting back. Peeking out from one of the holes the furniture he was under had, he saw the Ctenophore pause in its actions as if it smelled something.
Giving a loud roar, the monster slapped a tentacle down onto the place where Xinya threw the bait. As the boat lurched to the side by the force of that action, Xinya gripped the furniture tightly as he watched the jellyfish take his armor down and then bring the tentacle to his mouth and eat the bait, before putting it's armor back up.
Xinya couldn't believe it, his hunch was correct, all along it was his bait that the monster wanted. Now that he had that information, what could he do with it? Thinking as quickly as he could, multiple ideas came to mind.
One idea was him throwing the bait again and once the monster takes away it's armor to eat it, he could have Wei shoot at it, and stunning it. While it was stunned he and Wei can bombard it with their skills until it was dead.
Although it was a good idea, he was worried that Wei wouldn't be able to stun it in time before it could reapply its armor. As he thought about it he knew that there was an 80% chance that she wouldn't be able to. He felt really bad in having such low confidence in her skills, but at this point in time, that percent seemed accurate to him.
He could only sigh, as all his ideas amounted to nothing if only he could combine his potions with the bait. As that fleeting thought swept through his mind, he paused and began to really consider it.
'Why can't I do just that, didn't the woman apothecarist in beginner town tell me that the key to potion-making was experimentation? Then shouldn't I do exactly that.' Xinya thought to himself with determination.
While taking out one of his mini fireball potions he also grabbed one the Welch's Fruity Baits. The bait had the same consistency as moldable clay, so he thought the best way to do this was to make a hole in the center of the bait and then pour the potion inside. Afterward, he would smooth over the hole so that it would be covered and liquid wouldn't spill out.
With that plan in mind he put the potion down next to him and picked up the bait and molded it until there was a hole in the center, picking up the mini fireball potion, he poured it inside of the hole and then proceeded to cover it. As soon as he finished sealing the top a ding was heard and a notification appeared in front of him.
[You have learned Reaction Fusion!! Congratulations on learning a hidden skill!]
Reaction Fusion: Cooking and Potion Making are quite similar indeed, it's only fitting for them to be used together. This is a skill that will allow you to fuse together any type of cooking or potions, but be careful, for the outcome of the fusion can create devastating results.
[You have created a new dish called Welch's Fruity Bomb! The recipe will be sent to your Fusion recipe book!]
Welch's Fruity Bomb: This strange creation is a mix of a Mini fireball potion and Welch's Fruity Bait. It has a taste that nobody would be able to describe because once it's eaten you won't be alive. This strange creation does 300-400 damage depending on the quality of the potion and the food it was made from.
[You have created an original recipe! Cooking experience + 500!]
[Cooking has leveled up!]
Xinya just smiled evilly and began to make more of the bait bombs. He couldn't wait to test them out.