Hint- Think like a fisherman.
Anaxa read the system's suggestion and then sat on it for a long time, trying all sorts of ways to figure out what it actually meant.
The very first thought that came to his mind when he read the word fisherman was the image of fishing trawlers and men casting huge, powerful nets over rivers or seas.
But that was clearly impossible for Anaxa to do. "Even if I knew how to knit nets, how would I stitch with only one tail?"
So Anaxa moved onto the next assumption- perhaps the words hinted at finding broken nets or other knitting, perhaps left by humans and using that. But that thought was shelved almost as quickly as it came: "I am not going to waste my time in such a wild goose chase."
After that came the thought of mimicking fishing rods and bait.
"Hmmm.. this seems promising. Is the system telling me to bait the prey? That... but what do I do after the fish has bitten? Humans can use bait and fishing rods because they are strong enough to pull the fish once they take the bait. But I… how do I pull something that weighs at least three times as me!"
That minimum 200g weight limit was a great challenge for the extremely lightweight Anaxa.
And so the more he thought about the details of the tactic, the more holes he began to find in it.
Until finally after ruminating on it for a while, lost favor for it too, deeming it unfeasible.
"...Tsk!.." And that was really the extent of Anaxa's ideas for now.
No more ideas surfaced in him regardless of how much he wrecked his brain, and he was unable to think of other ways fishermen hunted fish.
This ultimately even led to a frustrated Anaxa considering using simple raw power to subdue his prey directly, "Arghhh! Who cares about tactics? I will just charge in and see what happens. I do not believe a mere fish can best me, a human. Not when I even have the all powerful system with me."
But such zeal died out as quickly as it had come, for it was born more out of exasperation than hubris. As already stated before- the difference in weight class was no joke- it was too big to make up for using simple willpower.
Anaxa understood he needed to either unlock a new skill or find a brand new way to use his existing ones.
Thus the tiny lizard stayed up quite deep into the night working on this problem, tinkering and tinkering with it, until he had unknowingly gone way past his bedtime. By then the night had entered into darkest phase and Anaxa even began to noticeably feel his stomach lighter.
This finally made him take heed to the time as he feared that his belly was going to start rumbling soon and ruin his sleep for the entire night. Anaxa did not want to spend the whole day tomorrow feeling sleep deprived- so pushed aside the problem for now and decided it was time to hit the bed.
…
Anaxa, tired from staying up late as well as the previous three days' exertion woke up quite a bit late, finding the light and humid heat had already flooded his nest. This was an extremely comfortable feeling for the cold blooded lizard, almost like being wrapped snugly up in a warm blanket on a cold, winter morning.
Grrrhhh…
The only thing that ruined the excellent atmosphere was the growling of his stomach. And if not for the persistent distraction, Anaxa would have chosen to remain nestled in his slumber for much, much longer.
Even with the ongoing protest, the tired lizard only reluctantly opened his eyes when the rumbling started to get painful.
"Tsk! To think I ate so much and still only brought me this little respite!" He slowly got up with heavily pursed lips, sluggishly stretching his body before slowly making his way to the mouth of the cave.
As per his daily routine, the cold blooded being needed to sunbathe before he could get himself going.
Thankfully the sun was out bright and fresh today and as the sun rays hit the groggy lizard across the back, it almost let out a loud, pleased moan, "Ahhh... this is so nice. I will almost miss it once I get my warm blooded body,"
Having experienced sunbathing both as a warm blooded and a cold blooded animal, Anaxa was definitely the most qualified one to comment on the two- and frankly the they could not even be put on the same scale. It was like comparing a lukewarm beer on a hot summer's afternoon to the absolutely refreshing taste of a can of soda after a good marathon.
The sunrays just hit differently- Anaxa currently felt like his solid frozen blood was slowly melting into the red gushing steam, releasing euphoric juices.
It really made Anaxa savor the sun's gentle warmth and so he could not help but slightly doze off.
"Dammit!"
The tiny green lizard was only jolted awake when he suddenly felt his blood boiling and his head was very dizzy- he had stayed under the sun for too long, resulting in his body overheating.
"Tsk! I can't believe I fell asleep in such a way. I must be really tired from the last few days." Anaxa swore to himself as he hurriedly ran to the shed of a nearby tree, trying to cool off.
And as he waited there, he decided to once again restart the work on yesterday's problem.
However same as before, he came to a dead end.
If there was truly a solution to the conundrum amidst the hint, Anaxa was failing to find it.
"Hmmm.. what should I do now? Go straight for the pond and start practising? Maybe something new will pop up? No. Even the closest decent pond is some distance away. Let me first find breakfast. I can experiment after I have had my fill."
So that was exactly what Anaxa did.
Using this trusty pebble, he hunted a host of frogs, snails, spiders, locusts and even took a shot at a rabbit!
Of course, that last one had virtually no result other than spooking the animal. The shot harmlessly bounced off its cute, snow white fur and simply made the animal turn around in fright, as it tried to quickly find the culprit.
Fortunately, Anaxa was too far away and far too small to be so easily detected. The rabbit did not even remotely consider the existence of a 'baseball throwing lizard'.
"Hmmm… it seems my throwing power is still only this- just enough to bully the lowest of the low in the food chain." The results of the test sought to verify Anaxa's true position in the social strata. As impressive as his rampage was yesterday, it was only against bugs and insects, weighing in the range of a few grams or at best a few tens.
But against a 'giant' like a rabbit weighing as much as several kilograms, Anaxa's tail shots were basically peashooters, at best, it could knock a few stray hairs off it.
"How am I going to hunt a fish in water with so little strength! My throws probably won't even go 3 meters….much less 'hit' something with it!" The cruel reality made the man half lampoon to himself.
He desperately began to wish to increase the strength of his tail… perhaps in a similar way to the previous loan deal.
"...." However this time the system remained stone silent. It was not going to roll out free handouts so easily. Once was already its limit.
So Anaxa had no choice but to try his luck the old fashioned way.
He trekked across the forest's undergrowth stealthily and with caution, making sure to keep his tail locked and loaded, and constantly flicking his tongue out to sample the air for any sign of predators. Fortunately, there were no mishaps and he safely reached the banks of a relatively small pond.
And found it to be packed!
Birds of all kinds and colors, small and large critters, various mammals such as rabbits, hares and deer, as well as lizards, reptiles, and insects of every type, all gathered here, turning the area into a bustling metropolis.
This wasn't particularly surprising either, as it was the only large watering hole in this part of the protected woodland. So naturally, it saw a great deal of traffic from creatures coming to quench their thirst.
Anaxa obediently avoided the prying eyes of all the predators there, clearly aware of the immense strength disparity with them. He rather approached the muddy banks of the pool using a long, circuitous route, before sneakily dropping into the water from a very remote part, causing not the slightest splash.
"Okay! Now what?" And then, once submerged, the tiny lizard suddenly found he really did not know how to proceed. This was his first time hunting in water and he lacked the experience.