Almost a full day’s walk out of the village, Kevin consulted his crude map. “ Isn't the lake up this way?"

"Yes, yes, yes," said Branch. "You want me to look ahead?"

"Please," said Kevin. "The plan is still the same as before, but I guess I'll just have to move a little bit more quickly."

Branch nodded before zipping off into the air. A growing sense of stress began to creep up Kevin's back as he moved forward. To go faster through the undergrowth, he changed into his chipmunk form and was able to easily scuttle between the long branches of the trees. In much less time than if he’d been in human form, he reached the area where this hunt would truly start.

His target was a large aquatic monster that the villagers knew about, but nobody dared pick a fight with because of its nature. With all the mages in town, none of them were a primary water mage. And with the creature so large and well-armored, even reaching it under the water with an attack was difficult enough, but doing any real damage would be almost impossible. A mage who didn't have the appropriate magic would be as useless as a warrior with mundane weapons.

It was surprising that in a village with so many mages, none of them were full-blown water mages. Tangling with a powerful aquatic monster was one of the most dangerous subjugation missions any adventurer could take. It was why Kevin had put this opportunity off until the end. He would have avoided it altogether if he didn’t have some unique advantages that the villagers did not.

The monster's name was Baron Titus. Whether that was its real name or just what the villagers called it, Kevin didn't know. But after learning of the creature's existence, he'd sent Branch out on a scouting mission to verify that the monster did exist and lived where the villagers had said.

Sure enough, it did, but the only reason Branch was able to confirm it was because he actually witnessed Baron Titus feeding. The experience had terrified poor Branch.

It turned out Baron Titus’ body was similar to a giant snapping turtle mixed with a crocodile and some sort of fish. Titus was an ambush predator. After snagging another monster and pulling it under the water, Branch had watched from the air until he couldn't see or sense the huge beast any longer. The monster's natural camouflage was so good it could even trick the wily fairy.

There was no way that Kevin had any chance of defeating Baron Titus as he normally was, with no magic, using a sword in any of his bipedal forms. However, he had an idea. If it worked, this would be the strangest monster hunt ever.

He reached the small river that fed the lake, and Branch was already there. "All clear, Boss." Kevin nodded and without further ado, he jumped in the water before polymorphing into his fish form. Of all his polymorphs, this was the one that felt the strangest, not least of which because he had to be submerged in order to do it. Once his form was complete, he could actually hear outside the water much better than before. So he was able to understand Branch when the fairy said, "I'll go scout now, boss. Watch out for me." Then he zipped off towards the lake.

Kevin began leisurely swimming out towards the deeper water, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. Swimming this way in the ocean could be very dangerous, but in freshwater like this, he wasn't nearly as worried, at least not until he got closer to the monster in the lake. After all, his form now was similar to a muskie, and over two feet long. There were a few other fish or creatures that might prey on muskie-sized Kevin, but not many. At the same time, he was hoping he was small enough and inconsequential enough for a large monster the size of Baron Titus to ignore.

Either way, Kevin was fairly confident that he'd be able to get away if Baron Titus chased him. The monster was too large to go very far up the small river that Kevin had just come from. More importantly, Kevin, although far less powerful than a monster like Baron Titus, could still accelerate like a needle through the water. Kevin still had all of his original strength, which, while not as impressive as a real dragon being polymorphed, was still more horsepower than a regular fish his size would be working with.

Of course, being in the water and avoiding being killed by the monster was just one difficulty of the plan. He needed to find the damn thing, too. Branch was going to lead him near where he'd seen Baron Titus before, and then the two of them would start looking for the monster in a slow, methodical way. By air and by water.

Kevin had taken his earlier lessons about safety to heart. Hunting monsters was inherently unsafe, sure, but that didn't mean he had to be stupid about it, and he had help that no other hunter likely would—a friendly fairy.

The bottom of the lake was eerie, shrouded in shadows with the silhouettes of tree branches and dead foliage reaching up like the gnarled hands of corpses. Kevin tried to stay calm, not twitch at every shape that could possibly be a monster, and he was reminded all over again of why he avoided the ocean. He still had all the other senses of a fish, but even though he could assume this form, it was still alien to Kevin and probably would be forever.

Proper dragons that lived thousands of years could perfectly adapt to any form they chose to polymorph into. But Kevin was only twenty years old, and he hadn't been polymorphing as a fish for even half of that. In hindsight, he was extremely lucky that he hadn't actually been eaten by a shark.

His slow pace meant it took a while for Kevin to see his scout in the sky. Once Branch spotted him in turn, he pointed to one side, and Kevin slowly, cautiously, began moving in that direction. At this point, the fairy couldn’t communicate verbally. As a result, Kevin wasn't sure if Branch had actually spotted Baron Titus or if he was just heading that way to search. Either way, he decided to stick close to wherever the fairy was providing aerial support.

This close to the shore, the amount of detritus sticking up from the mud was greater. On top of that, there was foliage, and on top of that, there were aquatic plants. Although Kevin hadn't seen any fish larger than himself in the lake, but he was still wary. All it took was a few times almost getting eaten to make him forever worry about ambushes by other fish.

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Kevin was about twenty or thirty yards from the shore as he slowly made a circuit around the large lake, keeping a watchful eye on Branch. That was why he was somewhat surprised later to find himself in an area that didn't have much in the way of foliage or logs and sticks sticking up out of the mud. It was actually fairly smooth below the surface. Kevin leisurely swam through the water, trying to keep an eye on everything at once. But then he realized there were more fish than normal, or at least more fish than he'd seen before in the lake. He glanced up at Branch through the water and saw the little fairy doing a cheeky dance. What a goof, he thought. Kevin couldn't smile as a fish, but if he could, he would have.

He continued on for a few more seconds until the school of small fish got even thicker, just swirling away from him in a kaleidoscope of silver flashes. Suddenly, he saw what they'd been eating, or at least pecking at: bits and pieces from a half-rotten monster body. Kevin glanced up through the water again and saw Branch doing the same dance as before but faster. He suddenly thought to wonder why the fairy was dancing instead of scouting like he should have been.

Kevin thought the area was strange, so he examined the oddly smooth lake bottom, and at the last moment, he remembered to drift like a large, predatory fish would, studying the school of smaller fish. Although he didn't think that his form would call attention to himself, it wouldn't hurt to be careful. As it turned out, the acting probably saved his life. As he made his circle for the second time, he looked down and realized that what he thought was a rock was actually a giant eyeball staring directly at him.

Without several lifetimes of experience, Kevin probably would have started and given away that he'd noticed Baron Titus half-buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake. Whether the monster would have taken that as a reason to chase or kill him, or whether it might be something a real fish could do, Kevin had no idea and didn't want to test the theory.

Instead, he settled his nerves, continued to circle the school of fish eating the remains of a dead lower-level monster, and glanced up through the water again. Now he could more clearly see that Branch wasn't dancing; he was frantically trying to get Kevin's attention and let him know there was danger. A little bit late for that, he thought.

Surreptitiously watching below, Kevin continued to circle. As he did, he noticed the eye definitely landed on him several times, but was also watching the entire area, especially the shore.

Now he could more clearly see the monster's outline, every moment it grew more visible to him. He understood that this was a large monster, truly large. Baron Titus could eat a person in one bite, much less a polymorphed goblin about the size of a large muskie. He got chills down his spine but didn't show it. Instead, he kept observing the school of fish and desperately hoped that an opportunity would present itself to get away.

Minutes passed, and Branch disappeared from his spot overhead. Kevin had no idea what the fairy was doing, and part of him wondered if he’d actually just taken off. Maybe Branch had decided he was a goner, and not worth helping out anymore–just left. If so, it would be somewhat ironic and maybe deserved. However, after a few more tense minutes of circling wider and wider, Kevin suddenly saw Branch zipping through the sky overhead towards the center of the lake. Not much longer after that, he felt vibrations through the water. Then realized what it was when a monster similar to the cow-like creature whose parts were rotting on the bottom of the lake ambled into view, seemingly chasing Branch.

Time seemed to slow down for Kevin as he realized that now his original plan might actually be feasible, at least if Baron Titus was still hungry. The reason Kevin had come out here to find the Baron was to use his relatively new skill, [Lion Iguana Neurotoxin Venom]. The problem was that now, after thorough examination, he was almost sure that the giant monster had very few weak points, if any. At the very least, there weren't any weak points on the creature's back. If Kevin was going to have a chance at this, he would need to be patient. Luckily, Branch had thrown some chaos into the situation.

Instead of going for a drink, the bovine monster on the shore had had come to the lake looking agitated. It had one eye closed with blood leaking through the eyelid. The creature snorted, its sharp teeth displayed prominently in its cow-like mouth.

Suddenly, in one explosive motion, Baron Titan lunged out of the water and snagged the lesser monster in his jaws at the end of a snapping, turtle-like neck. All of the movement kicked up sediment from the bottom of the lake, making the water instantly murky. But despite the danger and lack of visibility, Kevin surged forward, trying to get closer to the monster as it attacked a new meal. Adrenaline made him feel light and dulled his fear. Branch really came through in the clutch, huh? he thought. I really have to get that little dude some sort of gift.

Then he dismissed unnecessary thoughts from his mind and desperately swam to the back legs and the underside of the huge, thrashing monster, looking for some sort of weakness. Luckily, he found one on the back leg: separating the mighty scales, he found a cut. What had made the cut, he had no idea, but it was only half-healed. Without pausing to think too deeply about his decision, Kevin darted forward and bit into the cut, activated [Lion Iguana Neurotoxin Venom]. Then he bit it again and again. Each time he bit, he ejected as much venom as he possibly could through his teeth. Through the vibrations in the water, he could hear the other monster's death throes as the Baron dragged it back towards the lake. Kevin kept biting and biting, trying to make the most of this opportunity.

However, when Baron Titus took a full step backward, grunting and roaring through a mouthful of enemy monster, Kevin had no choice but to move. As he did, he noticed a bare spot on the bottom of the monster's tail. Kevin bit that spot twice, using up the very last of the venom he could produce. Then he turned, and using the advantage of all the silt and mud in the water as cover, he took off like a bullet.

Behind him, he could feel vibrations, two sets of disturbances, as Baron Titus let go of his meal and spun in the water with powerful violence. However, Kevin was already gone. He was shooting like a torpedo in the shadowy portions of the lake through the detritus he'd noticed before. He doubted that the murky depths would negatively affect Baron Titus’ ability to find him, but staying so close to the lake bottom and weaving through all the plants and branches definitely would.

It was a tense few minutes as Kevin madly swam for the entrance of the small river that met the lake. There was a change in temperature that he was much more sensitive to now that he'd been a fish for a while, but he buzzed right through it, barreling up the river as fast as he could. Once he was around a decent-sized bend, one that was far too shallow for the Baron to easily follow, Kevin aimed upwards, put on some speed, and jumped completely out of the water. While in mid-air, he began to change back into his goblin form. The change was over before he hit the ground and flopped on his back–ironically, like a fish.

Branch was right behind him, and the little fairy opened his mouth to speak. Kevin shook his head and said, "No unnecessary talking. Now we wait." Branch began to say something again in his usual high-pitched but loud voice, and Kevin shook his head no again. "No, we need to be quiet, and this might take a while."

"Fine," said Branch.

"Also, thank you, Branch. Thank you for bringing the monster to my bigger monster as a distraction. Thank you for maybe saving my life. Again." He tapped the fairy on the shoulder with one pinky and said, "Well done. That was quick thinking. I didn't know you could lead monsters like that, though."

Branch looked uncomfortable and did a slow rotation in the air. "That's not really a special ability, though, unless you call certain circumstances a special ability."

"What are you talking about?" asked Kevin. Even as he talked, he realized his was breaking his own no talking rule and grimaced.

"Well, the way I got it to follow me was I stabbed it in the eye with my sword and then flew away," Branch explained. He held up the sharpened steel nail that Kevin had fashioned into a fairy-appropriate sword a week ago, complete with a sheath and grip to protect Branch’s hand from the poisonous metal.

Kevin gave the fairy a blank stare for a few seconds before he barely remembered in time not to laugh out loud. With a shake of the head, he put his finger over his lips in the universal sign for silence and began leading the way close enough to the lake to watch the water.

Now he wanted to stay hidden and try watching for signs of his quarry. He wasn't even sure at this point that the venom would truly be lethal to the huge monster, but if it was, he figured it would take effect and do the job in less than a day.