The sun was high in the sky by the time he left the east gate and started progressing into the arid lands around the city. It was a quiet road, more of a track, and he decided after an hour or so to test his limits a little along the way. He sprinted up the track a few times, trying to see how long he could run for. He could run at a sprint for just under a minute before his stamina points bottomed out. He found that if the points reached 0, he’d be forced to a halt and to catch his breath, a pain flaring up in his side. The effect faded over a couple of seconds, so it wasn’t too crippling, but certainly to be avoided. He could happily swing a weapon in each hand, though the effectiveness of this was yet to be seen. He’d have liked to try and throw the hatchet a bit but didn’t want to stop.
So enthralled was he in experiments he almost missed the dirt track that led to a decently sized stone cottage. He turned down it, seeing a fenced area behind the cottage with a few cows laying on the grass lazily. As he walked towards the door, he saw a white cat watching him from the fences gate, its piercing eyes, one blue, one green, stared at him. It followed his progress through the front garden, its tail swishing gently below it. The cat looked like it was holding a small pouch in its mouth, though he was too far away to see properly; it was probably a mouse. He knocked on the door, and an old man with a big white beard opened the door.
“Hi, sir, are you Brolin?”
The man replied in a weary tone, “Yes, I am. Please come in, “He gestured Morgan into the house. “What can I do for you, young man?”
Morgan introduced himself, and quickly got to the point, “I’ve heard that you are looking to pass down your class and retire, and I am here to see if I’m suitable for the task.”
Brolin chuckled, “Word gets around quick. You’re right, I am eager to pass on the responsibility of these damnable cows. Do you know how long I've been doing this, with these stupid, smelly creatures? Nearly 50 years. I’ve had so many cows that when I try to remember them all I fall asleep. I’m done.”
Morgan stared at him for a second. This wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. “So, um,” he paused, unsure what to say, “what do we do?”
The old man gestured around. “I’m not leaving this cottage, so you’ll have to take the cows. You got somewhere to keep them?”
Thinking quickly, Morgan answered, “Sure, I’ve got access to a bit of land near Welcombe. Very lush and grassy. Will suit cows well.”
Brolin nodded at that, quiet for a moment, thinking. Morgan could hear a sharp increase in the cows' lowing cries from outside, and was about to comment before Brolin cut him off,
“OK, you saw the cows outside, yes? There's six of the buggers, we’ll go over their names once we get out there.“ The noise from outside had stopped, and Morgan dropped it; replying instead,
“I’m ready to go and meet the lovelies.”
The old man snorted at that. “First, I’m going to hand you down the class; though you might want to identify me so you can see what you’re getting into. Take your time.”
Morgan took the advice,
[Identify - Brolin Shepton : Level 25]
[Race – Human]
[Class – Cattle Herder : Level 20]
He focused on the class, and the window changed.
[Class – Cattle Herder]
[The cattle herder class allows for the addition of cows (10 +1 per skill level) into your party, and allowing certain skills and abilities]
[Skill – Milk]
[Extract milk from a cow. Requires a container]
[Skill – Heal animal]
[You can use your mana to heal animals in your party]
[Skill – Cure animal disease (minor)]
[You can use your mana to cure minor diseases in animals in your party]
[Ability (passive) - Animal feed]
[You can carry up to 40kg of animal feed in an extra slot in your inventory]
He nodded at this, it all made sense for a cattle herder class. The ability of an extra slot for the feed was nice, perhaps he could fill it with stuff he could eat too. There was only one way to find out. “OK Brolin, this all looks fairly straight-forward. I think I’m ready to become a Cattle Herder.” Brolin smiled, partly in relief, and partly in amusement before placing his hand onto Morgan’s head. He took a moment to compose himself then, in a serious tone, Brolin started to chant,
“By the grace of the gods, give this man before me this gift of the animals nearby. Let my class be stripped from me and placed upon him. By the grace of the gods, let this be done.”
As he said the last four words, the room darkened, then a blinding light emanated from the spot where the old man touched his head and started to float into the air. Morgan felt a chill go down his spine, and the light streaked towards a corner of the floor and disappeared beyond the floorboards. A message popped up.
[Congratulations, you have gained a class!]
[You have earned the class - ##£# %Herder% : ##£# %Class%]
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
He blinked the strange message away, and it tried again,
[You have earned the class - Cat Herder: Soulbound Class]
[You are now a Cat Herder : Level 1]
He saw his new class had the same skillset as the cattle herder, apart from the milking skill, which had disappeared. He ran to the door and flung it open. The cattle pen was empty, the gate hanging open, the animals nowhere to be seen. He spun to the old man, who stood aghast at Morgan as he opened up “What the hell just happened? I’m supposed to be a cattle herder, but it says I’m a cat herder. A cat herder! What even is that? What happened to the cows?”
Brolin was pale, looking at the empty pen, and he replied in a quiet voice, “I don’t know, I’ve only seen this done a few times. I don’t know what went wrong.” He paused. “Who will look after the cows?”
The two men sat down in rickety chairs, sagging for a moment before Brolin sprang up.
“Look, Morgan, I’m sorry. Let's help make it up to you. Help me find the cows. Once we find them, I know a guy across town who will buy the lot off me for 60 silver a head. You can take that money. I’ve lost the class, and that’s all I wanted. I’m sorry it went so badly for you. But at least you can walk away with enough gold to remove the class.”
Morgan looked squarely at the man, “It says the class is Soulbound, do you know what that means?” Brolins eyes widened at the word. He looked down before replying, “I do. It is a very rare thing, a Soulbound class. I have only heard of them through tales. But it is a class for life, even the strongest magics cannot remove it.”
Morgan sank further into the chair. This was bad. Gone were the dreams of being a flashy warrior, a rapid fire archer or mage capable of bending the elements. He was a cat herder. For life. He took a short moment to feel sorry for himself, then got to his feet. “Come on then, let's go find those damnable cows.”
It took the pair until the sun was sinking in the west to round up all the cows and escort them, under Brolins practiced care, across town and to the buyer. It was obvious to Morgan when they met that the two cattle herders had a heathy disregard for one another, and it was Brolin's competitor who crowed in victory as he handed over the 3 gold and 60 silvers. Brolin put a brave face on it but was obviously a little hurt by the transaction. As they walked, Morgan tried to console him. “That guy will look after them, right?”
Brolin looked thoughtful for a second, weighing the coins in his calloused hands before sighing heavily, “I guess he will. I need a drink, a strong one. Feel free to join me.” Morgan accepted gladly, Brolin handed the money over to him with a nod, and the pair headed back to the cottage.
The old man pulled out a couple of mugs and filled them from a barrel’s tap. He handed one to Morgan. They both sat down and started drinking. It was a hard cider. Brolin was silent and Morgan fell into introspection. He was a cat herder with no cats, that was certainly not going to help his chances in whatever his prospective job was going to be.
Morgan was two mugs deep when he thought he heard some sounds coming from under the floor, in the direction where the light had disappeared earlier. He motioned to Brolin. “Uhhh... Brolin, mate, I think there’s something under your house.” with this, he waved at the corner. Brolin stood and stretched. “Let's go have a look, there's a passage under the house. Sometimes critters live there, I had a fox stay a couple of summers ago.”
The pair moved outside into the darkening area, mugs still in hands. Brolin took them around the side and pointed to a gap in the planks, just big enough to crawl into. Morgan handed the old man his mug and started to shuffle into the gap. His sickle was uncomfortable on his hip, so he held it. He felt a little better with it in his hand as he shuffled slowly into the gloom. The movement had been to the left of the gap, and he peered in that direction. He saw a gloomy shape in the dirt, impossible to make out in the darkness. As he got closer, he could see its skin moving, lumps shifting in the dark. He started to back out warily when a cry rang out from the creature, loud in the tight space,
“Meeeew!’
Morgan froze, then facepalmed, almost cutting himself with the sickle. He turned and threw the sickle out the gap and started crawling closer to the noise. As he got close, the moving mound resolved into a writhing pile of kittens.
He fished all the kittens out from the crawlspace, finding six, and putting them all in the house. As he grabbed the last one, he found a small leather drawstring pouch with a paw print emblazoned on the front. Once the two men and the six kittens were safely inside, they both sat back down. Morgan gazed at the small mewling creatures, tumbling about on the floor. They looked about two months old. One was white, one a tabby. One small and grey, with a squashed looking little face. One was bigger than the rest, a ginger furball. Two of them were black, and one of those had white socks. Morgan identified a kitten, choosing the pure black one.
[Identify – Kitten : Level 1 : Pet]
[Race – Cat/Feline/Monster]
[Affiliation – Morgan : Cat Herder : Level 1]
[HP – 60]
[SP – 54]
[Skill – Pounce]
[A leap attack, more effective when charged]
[Ability – Purr]
[Regenerate health, mana and stamina at an increased rate]
It was as useless as it was cute. He picked it up with one hand and put it on his lap, where it squirmed about until he had to catch it and place it back on the floor. He identified the pouch next,
[Identify – Bag of Cats – Classbound item]
[Use: Summon and unsummon your Cats. Unsummoned Cats will not be affected by physics or time and will gain no XP]
Peering curiously at the bag, he wondered how it worked. He tried to open the bag to look inside, and as soon as it was open wide, the kittens flew through the air towards him. Surprised, he ducked his head away and held the bag open in front of him. The beasts shrunk down in size to fit the opening and were sucked in, one by one. As soon as the last fluffy creature was drawn into the container, it drew itself shut.
Morgan and Brolin both looked at the pouch in wonder. He then tried to put it in his inventory, but it wouldn't go in. He stared at the pouch some more, before putting it in a trouser pocket. Finally, Morgan broke the silence. “Brolin, I should go before it’s too late to get back. Thank you for your help, even if things did go awry. At least I can fulfil my duties.” He waved away Brolin’s interest, “It’s a long story for another time.”
Brolin refilled his mug and sat down, “I hope to see you again one day, Morgan. I may just be a retired cattle herder, but I can see that there’s something special about this. Good luck out there.” He held his mug up in salute. Morgan returned the salute and headed out into the darkening sky. As he left the house, he thought he saw a white tail flash around the corner of the building.
Most of the journey was done in the dark, though the moon still hung in the sky bright enough to see the path by. He heard a wolf about halfway and hurried his pace. When he finally reached the gatehouse he was out of breath, and fumbled the city token out of his pocket to the guard. The guard gave him a quick look up and down before waving him through, and he headed back to the Goblin’s Arms.
Umberto greeted him warmly as he came in, “Morgan, good to see you back. How did it go?” Morgan handed over 25 silvers to the dwarf as he shrugged awkwardly. “Could have been worse. I’ll tell you tomorrow, I need some time.” The dwarf nodded at that, handing him his key without further comment, and Morgan headed up to the room.
He got upstairs and sat on the bed, taking the Bag of Cats from his pocket and held it in his hands, feeling the texture of the emblazoned paw print. So, he was a Cat Herder. He’d never particularly liked cats. A few of his friends had them and raved about them but Morgan could never quite understand why.
Dogs he could understand, friendly, active creatures that tried in earnest to be your companion. His experience with most cats was that they were reclusive creatures, slinking about only to pop up to sink claws into you as you pass by. He remembered his first experience with a kitten, a tiny ginger tabby that had crawled onto his lap when they were around a family friends house. He’d stroked the kitten for a while as it sunk into his lap until it was thoroughly pleased and purring. Then, with no notice, the kitten turned from a cute sleeping ball of fluff to a whirling dervish of tooth and claw, leaving him sliced and scraped on its chaotic path to the floor. A friend of his had called them fluffy little killing machines, and Morgan could only agree with the description. He looked again to the pouch, and held it over the bed, opening it up.
A pile of kittens fell out on to the bed, the big ginger one appearing last and falling on the rest, to a chorus of squeaks and mews. He gazed at them for a moment, contemplative. They were adorable, it was true. He wondered what he’d have to do to look after them, and also how to grow them and his Cat Herder level. Would they ever be capable of anything? He watched them for a while longer as they wiggled and rolled around the bed, trying to pounce on each other ineffectively. He cleared the bed of kittens, scooping them up and placing them on the floor. He did a quick inspection of the room to check that there weren't any ways the kittens could escape or get stuck, and satisfied with the check, he headed to bed. He finally fell asleep to the sound of tiny paws and small meows.