Gavin decided it'd be best to keep a low profile for the next couple of days. The team had been increasingly inundated with contracts as more beacons were brought online. They found themselves taking eight or more contracts a day, splitting up in twos to complete the level one and two contracts while joining together for the level threes. The team had a few hours spare at the end of each day to themselves and Gavin filled that time getting back to enchanting. Now the team had been mostly set up with decent gear he wanted to focus on utility items to give them more options.

  The merchant he'd spoken to followed through on his request to buy as many enchanting books as she could get her hands on, showing up with a stack of books several metres tall and a bill nearly as long. Gavin paid her off, the cost putting a noticeable dent in their swelling coffers.

  He'd absorbed the books as quickly as he could, spending several days in a semi delirious state swinging between post book hangover and enchanting until he collapsed with exhaustion. He was fairly proud of the results, having spent a lot of time deconstructing and reforming the handful of items he was working on until he felt they were as close to perfect as he could get them with his current level of ability.

  The most immediately relevant item was an amulet that continuously altered the air in the user's lungs into breathable air. It essentially gave the wearer the ability to infinitely hold their breath, something that had uses outside of just breathing under water. He experimented with enchantments that altered the user's weight, something that was a lot more trial and error than anything else he'd worked on. The pattern he was using was primarily designed for strength training, but he found he could make a mild version of it that would make the user slightly negatively buoyant rather than struggling to move under their own weight.

  He'd crafted a belt with three holsters on each hip, each containing a forearm length adamantium rod inscribed with swirling patterns. They were all similarly enchanted with six different effects like his old wands, though this time much more reliable and robust.

  [Item: Gavins Hurricane Rod]

  [Type: Wand]

  [Rarity: Level 2, Legendary]

  [Description: You'd better hope you have something sturdier than a brick house little piggy]

  [Effect: Contains ten charges. Activate to release a gust of wind. Up to three charges can be spent at a time to increase the effectiveness. Charges restore slowly over time]

  [Effect: Syphon mana from the user to restore charges]

  In recreating his old wands he was limited to using level two enchantments since they would need to be manually activated. He'd crafted copies for the team to use, but only Judy was looking to incorporate them into her fighting style rather than keeping them in reserve for special circumstances. There was one that made a powerful jet of wind, one that made a target weightless, another that tangled the target up in vines. He'd even deconstructed his tiara and cannibalised the enchantment to make a wand that stole chunks of mana from the target. His final two enchantments had taken the most work, one that turned friction off for the target and another that increased active cooldowns or put a power on cooldown if there weren't any active.

  Dressed in their battle attire, Gavin handed out the team an amulet each. It took the form of a palm sized turtle shell made from bright silver mithril, suspended from a leather cord.

  [Item: Amulet of underwater walking]

  [Type: Amulet]

  [Rarity: Level two, epic]

  [Description: What even is swimming?]

  [Effect: Activate to cycle fresh air into the user and increase users weight by an amount proportional to their current buoyancy]

  [Effect: Can be Soulbound]

  “This is a very specialised bit of gear here Gavin” Val said, slipping the amulet over her head.

  “It is,” Sam said in agreement. “It's something that most wardens couldn't get access to.”

  “Well obviously, it took me ages to make it work.” Gavin said proudly.

  “No, I mean in general, most teams couldn't find this sort of gear to solve a problem let alone find enough to outfit the whole team.”

  “Usually teams have to take a variety of approaches to get something like this done. You'd have one person take a potion of water breathing and swim, one person take the team's stamina regen items so they could hold their breath, someone might have a true water breathing enchantment, another would try to maintain a bubble shield. It creates a lot of logistical issues that would get the team killed if anything went wrong.”

  “Good thing I'm here then to save the day.” Gavin said cheerfully.

  “Don't push it.” Sam said chidingly, “So, now we're ready to go exploring that lake. You and Judy have the greatest chance of spotting the entrance if it's easy to locate, Val and I will be the relay this time then we can swap the teams up tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good to me, come on, let's get this done.” Gavin said.

  They used Gavin's portal to get out as far in that direction as the team had been, then hopped several times with Judy's copy while gavin reset her cooldown between jumps, finally opening a portal back from the lake to Gavin's open portal. Sam waited out in the wilderness while Val stayed back at the fortress, both ready to provide backup or call the others back at a moments notice.

  the lake itself was at the base of a basin in the middle of nowhere, it was difficult to spot from every direction until you were over the ridge and looking down at the vaguely egg shaped lake surrounded by thick trees. The air was thick with the sounds of birds and insects as they surveyed the shore, blanketing the area with their magical senses before they went for a swim.

  “Oh, shit, is that a goat?” Gavin said looking out across the wide expanse of water at a creature on the opposite shore. Looks like we're having chops for dinner.”

  “Gavin-” Judy said, apprehension in her voice.

  “Huh?” He said materialising his rifle in his hands, the goat drifting into better focus as his perception increased from its enchantment.

  “Gavin no.” Judy said, panic rising in her voice. “Put the gun down. Absolutely do not shoot it.”

  “Why not?” Gavin said, turning to look at her, confused. “We've killed and eaten animals before?”

  “Your companion is correct, Gavin. Attacking me would not be advisable.” a disembodied voice said into his mind.

  The sensation felt like his team's telepathy power, conveying a complex series of emotions and feelings rather than actual words. Unlike the forged in battle trait however the feeling wasn't one of mutual trust and understanding. It was like sandpaper in his brain, the words grating against his mind like television static. Even after the message had been sent he could still feel the sensation ringing in his ears, the raw power feeling like a bruise on his psyche.

  “Ah, fuck mate, fine, I won't shoot the goat.” Gavin said aloud looking around for the source.

  The goat across the lake was gone, turning around Gavin let out a startled yelp. It was directly behind him, having made no sound. He couldn't even feel its presence like a tesla coil fully charged and ready to arc out and annihilate whatever was standing next to it.

  “The. Goat” the goat said into his mind, a distinct tone of distaste souring his words.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Fuck bro, could you not do that?” Gavin said, holding his forehead.

  He could feel the beginnings of soul damage fraying at his mind. It wasn't critical at this level, but it was concerning that a goat could so casually damage his soul, it was a similar sensation to how the gods felt when he was dealing with them, though a lot cruder and less concerned for his general ability to function.

  “You wanted to attack me, I think a little lack of decorum on my part is more than warranted.” The goat said, this time a little less harshly.

  “Yeah, sorry about that one. I'm Gavin, this is Judy. I think I know who you are, I have a friend that said one time an adventurer got turned into a goat from a power they got from a unique crystal, is that you?”

  “My name is Geoff, your friend was very likely speaking of me, I haven't heard of any other people who have found and used a Soul of the Caprid Animus affinity crystal.”

  “No shit. Are you like, crazy strong?” Gavin asked, looking down at the much smaller creature.

  “Yes,” Geoff said casually without explanation.

  “Do you regret becoming a goat?”

  “Gavin, don't be rude,” Judy said.

  “It’s quite alright” Geoff said genially, “If I wanted to I could strip my powers away and start again, the benefits outweigh the costs.”

  “If you say so.” Gavin said, unconvinced.

  “Why have you come to this lake, you aren't part of the teams assigned to this area.”

  “Ahh, looking for a tower, I think it could be under the lake.” Said Gavin, feeling that lying to this creature would be a vastly stupid thing to do.

  “It is not.”

  “Oh, well, if it's all the same I’d like to check.”

  “Why do you want to find this tower?”

  “Well, that's a little complicated. The tldr is that I think it's probably important we do, but I'm not one hundred percent sure why or what we should do with- well, uhh, suffice to say I think a lot of people are interested in us finding the tower. ”

  “You're the outworlder” Geoff said, suddenly realising who he was speaking to.

  “Yeah, from earth.”

  “I'll give you this warning as a courtesy then, do not pursue this course of action. This is something so far out of your depth that you cannot comprehend what is at stake.”

  Thanks mate, but no, we have at least one, probably three gods that really want us to investigate this. ”

  “Three? What ones? No, don't tell me, talking about this out in the open could put us all in danger.”

  “Look, mate, I appreciate the warning, maybe we can repay you by putting on a nice home cooked dinner, back in my fortress, the one Paragon gave me, the one that can't be scried into by anyone.” Gavin said, all but winking at Geoff conspiratorially.

  “He’s an idiot isn't he?” Geoff said, turning to Judy.

  “Yes, but he's a very useful idiot.” Judy said.

  “How nice are we talking?” Geoff said, turning back to Gavin.

  “How partial are you to roast lamb?”

  ***

  The four knights sat around the dining table in silence watching Geoff the goat. He was standing on the round table, an array of empty plates and cups scattered around him as he devoured more and more food. His stomach had expanded to comical proportions and Gavin was wondering if he was going to have a Mr Creosote situation on his hands, he was certainly not going to offer him an after dinner mint.

  “I don't understand how he drank that mug of tea.” Val said, leaning over to Judy.

  “He's eaten more food than his own body weight, you think he's got an inventory power?” Gavin added.

  “Are you going to eat that?” Geoff said to Sam her untouched plate sat between them.

  “Ahh, no. I'm not hungry.” She said, looking a little green.

  “Thank you” he said, shovelling the contents into his gullet in one scoop.

  Sam shuddered as if trying to stop herself from vomiting. Only her second rank control over her body's own reflexes prevented her from doing so. Finally Geoff returned to his seat, an eruption of thunder rumbling the room as he let out the longest, loudest burp Gavin had ever heard. The goat's stomach shrank to normal size as he belched out several cubic metres of foul air.

  “So,” Gavin said once he judged the goat was ready, “can you explain what the actual fuck is going on out here?”

  “Firstly, I think you should explain what you are doing out here” Geoff said, pointedly looking at Gavin.

  “Aside from killing monsters and going through their pockets for loose change?”

  “Aside from that.”

  “Well, we were-”

  “Is it wise to tell him everything?” Val said, interrupting him.

  “I mean, generally when powerful people aren't dicks to you it's a good sign they're all good, besides, he's way cuter than Commandant Kalista Goebells.”

  “He is cute, Val” Judy said.

  “Cute boys are definitely not trustworthy.” Val said.

  “Getting back on topic, this lady, Morgan Dragonsomething asked us to find some sword that a bloke stole from her house a while ago. I'm pretty sure she's going to betray us so I'm not really sure what we're going to do once we find the sword. Also the head of the adventurers guild is out here looking for it too, so hoping she doesn't want it enough to kill for it if we get it first.”

  “What do you know about the sword?”

  “Well, I’m assuming it's pretty powerful if there are multiple high ranked people out here looking for it.”

  “That would be a reasonably accurate assumption.” Geoff said, sitting on his chair like a dog.

  “So, you're gonna level with us?”

  “Yes. There once was a very powerful adventuring team, one of the greatest on the planet. They had an enchanter on their team that was exceptionally good, a prodigy even, I believe Artifice bestowed several boons upon her much like Paragon has bestowed this boon on yourself. They had a wizard on the team, equally skilled in his own way and he was obsessed with exploring the universe, he believed that different worlds would have different types of magic, and that if he could harness that magic he could become exponentially powerful.”

  “Was he right?” Sam said, leaning forward in her seat.

  “I don't know. What I do know is that they went to another world where the enchanter made a weapon more powerful than anything anyone had ever seen. Only the enchanter and the wizard returned, there was some sort of conflict, the wizard took the sword and retreated to the unclaimed lands. The enchanter suffered some injury and was never the same again, fading into obscurity.”

  “Do you know what this sword does? Why is it so special?” Gavin asked.

  “I don't know. I am certain however, that it is as powerful as the rumours suggest.”

  “And why are you out here?” Gavin asked “you want it for yourself?”

  “No. I am here to destroy it if at all possible or to hide it where it cannot be found if not.”

  “What,why? Gavin asked, shocked.

  “There are several great powers who want it for their own ends, I believe this can only result in war.”

  “Reasonable.” Gavin said, looking around at his team. “We'll help however we can.”

  “I don't know that you are capable of operating at the level of the players involved here.”

  “We'll be okay.” Gavin said leaning back on his chair with his hands behind his head. “It's not like we haven't been out of our depth since day one.”