Chapter 13A: Tutorial’s End

Half the night was over by the time they finished eating.

“Eight hours really goes by fast when you are having fun,” Alex couldn’t help but sigh as she turned to her friends. “Let’s try to beat one of the sheep before we finish up for the night.”

“Hold on there, before you go recklessly dive into another fight, let me give you a word of advice. Your ice spears will have little effect on the thick fleece of those sheep,” Al said sternly, “It is best if you plan another method of attack.”

Everyone turned to look at Ruri.

“W-what?” He panicked.

“We know you have more affinity with ice, but this time we need something else. What would be a good choice?” Alex said to Ruri before she asked Al for advice.

“Well, it feels really regretful, but fire is your best choice. It ruins the fleece, but it greatly damages the sheep.”

“What can the fleece be used for?”

“Woven armor. How about this, if you kids manage to find a way to beat the sheep without damaging its fleece, I will make a set of beginner armor for you out of it!” Al said, hoping to give Alex and her friends the motivation to take on the difficult challenge. After all, rewards help create new ideas.

It certainly did the trick. The group’s eyes turned bright as they started to discuss a new method of killing the sheep without damaging the fleece.

Suddenly, Alex remembered something. She activated her skill and pulled out a new vial of venom for the day. Surprisingly, the bottle was full of a neon yellow fluid. Alex looked at the screen that appeared by the side of it.

[Paralyzing venom: Causes muscle atrophy. The effect varies based on the size of the target and level difference.]

It had a simple description, but it was very useful in their current predicament. Certainly, some random chance deity up above must be watching over them as the venom was exactly what they needed.

“Guys, I think I have a way of stopping the sheep from moving,” Alex said as she passed the vial around.

“This is great!” Kurt said as he read the description, “But we need a way to apply the venom. Currently, we are still weaponless.”

“Not exactly,” Ruri added with excitement, “We have my ice spears!”

“Didn’t Al said they won’t be as effective?” Nell questioned.

“I can make them sharper. It won’t kill the sheep outright due to how thin it will be, but it can at the very least administer the venom!” Ruri said with determination.

“You really like making ice spears huh?” Nell smiled smugly at Ruri as he blushed in embarrassment.

“I guess it’s my job to get a good throw then!” Kurt laughed.

With a concrete plan made, they were just about to go forth when Nell suddenly asked a question that stopped them in their tracks.

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“Will it ruin the meat?”

They paused. Although they were on a full stomach, the enticing thought of their next meal certainly played a huge part in their actions.

Finally, Alex sighed.

“Looks like we might have to sacrifice food for armor this time.”

“We can’t have them all,” Ruri sighed as well.

With their mind made up, they headed towards the hills where the sheep reside.

______

The enormous garden was split into three sections; the blood grass prairie, the dense truffle forest, and sunset hills. Alex and her friends soon learned why the hill got its name. When they finally got there, the sun was just about to set. The beautiful orange glow blanketed the hills, creating an amazing sight. Countless balls of white fleece grazed on the plants covering the hill. As the sun set, their fleece too became a hue of orange.

“Same as usual,” Alex nodded to Nell.

She nodded back.

After a good meal, Nell had recovered enough to summon another mushroom. This time, she went for speed instead of size. The mushroom summoned was thin and tall. It looked more like a twig than a mushroom, but the signature cap on its head showed that it was indeed a shroom.

Nell placed a scouting spore into it and commanded it to lure in one of the sheep. The lanky mushroom man walked as quietly as it can towards the herd. The gentle breeze blew across it, making it sway left and right. It looked like a scarecrow off in the distance. The white mycelium also took on the orange hue as the sunset basked its orange glow onto it. As it slowly got closer, Ruri created two ice spears. Alex opened the vial as a strong smell quickly permeated the air. She carefully slathered the icicle spear tip as the neon yellow fluid froze as it made contact. The tip of the spear was covered in a layer of frozen paralyzing venom.

“It will melt when it gets into the sheep’s warm body,” Alex tried to convince herself and her friends before moving on to the next spear.

The lanky mushroom soon managed to get the attention of a sheep. It threw its mushroom cap like a Frisbee. It hit the sheep with a very soft thud before bouncing back into the hands of the shroom. Once angered, a pair of large brown horns sprouted from the sheep’s head as it locked on to its attacker. It charged at the mushroom. The poor mushroom man panicked and ran towards Alex and her friends. Thankfully, with its thin structure, it managed to avoid a few of the sheep’s attacks. When it finally got to the rest of the group, it cowered behind Nell. The sight of a tall mushroom creature crouching in fear behind Nell’s back was hilarious, to say the least.

The lone sheep was quickly surrounded by Alex and her friends. It suddenly lost sight of its original target and was now confused over which person to turn its aggression towards. Kurt took this moment of confusion to attack. He activated his two buffs of strength and speed and dived towards the sheep with one of the ice spears. The spear used to kill the boar was thick and looked more like a lance, but the spear for the sheep was thin and sharp. It looked more like an enlarged arrow without the feather at the butt.

The sheep immediately turned its attention onto Kurt. It brandished its horns and was prepared to slam it into Kurt. With acrobatic precision, Kurt grabbed the horns and using the force of the sheep’s own powerful neck, he leaped over the animal and landed behind it. Due to the inherent design of the sheep, it couldn’t turn around a full circle fast enough, giving Kurt enough time to stab the spear into its rear end. The sheep gave off a mournful ‘bah’ as the spear stabbed into an area no one would ever enjoy being stabbed.

Alex and her friends flinched at the sight, they almost felt sorry for the poor animal.

The sheep struggled and fought back, but with Kurt’s amazing agility and the paralyzing venom coursing through its body, it soon laid still on the ground.

Kurt wiped the sweat from his brows and smiled.

“Good job!” He gave everyone a thumbs up.

Everyone else was still wincing at the phantom pain they received when they saw the poor animal get stabbed in the rear…

Alex sighed, “Just end the poor thing’s suffering.”

Kurt shrugged as he used his herculean strength to snap the sheep’s neck. A powerful snap and the sheep died with nothing but regret. It didn’t take very long at all. The journey to the hills took longer than the fight.

[Kill 5 Bovine, Swine, and Sheep. Progress 1/5 Bovine, 2/5 Swine, 1/5 Sheep.]

“I think we can get one more sheep before the morning. Let’s finish this!” Alex slapped herself on the cheek to get her mind off what just happened.

Her friends agreed as usual with their silent nodding. Seems everyone but Kurt was in shock. They didn’t expect him to be so…thorough.

The lanky mushroom once again sneaked towards another unsuspecting sheep. Alex couldn’t help but feel sorry for whoever follows the weird tall shroom away from the peaceful sunset.