Chapter 15: Cabbage really!
I walked further into the light at prairie and the first thing I heard was.
Baaaaa Baaaaa
WTH there are sheep here? Why am I surprised? Grassland and sheep make complete sense, where else would they be. I need to find one lonely sheep first and figure out its strength comparable to mine or I will be in trouble if the whole herd of them started chasing me.
I walked around calmly and leisurely as if I was not the hunter on a prowl here but part of the scenery that no one needs to take notice of. Suddenly I saw pale purple flowers and a hint of familiar smell, and I forgot everything else – its chives, chives my beloved chives yummy! I appraised it immediately to be doubly sure and yes, my nose led me right. There was a small patch of them growing and flourishing in the middle of nowhere waiting for someone to appreciate their gorgeousness. I immediately started harvesting plants as I decided, I could just pluck leaves later. There I was lost in my appreciation of good luck and bounty, when suddenly a snort-ish sounded right beside me and I felt a lick of a tongue on my upper arm. The feeling was so sudden and so frightening (very horror movie type) that my brain couldn’t figure out how to process it and I fell on my bum. There I was staring at a sheep and sheep staring right back at me – both surprised and waiting to see what happens next.
Sheep was normal size I suppose – it wasn’t an intimidating giant, but neither was it something I could kill in a slash so mid-size, with two dangerous looking curved protruding horns on its head and crimson eyes. It was the eyes that were the horrifying part as if there was a demon hidden inside the sheep waiting to be unleashed. For a change I had a moment to use appraisal skill
Blood eye sheep
Level 2
Strength 8
Endurance 8
Agility 6
Skill: Ram/head butt level 1 – Damage when hit with the horns or head additional 5%
Skill: Pain spell level 1 – Increased mental damage 5% when stared into crimson eyes for more than a minute
The first thing I did when I read this was start blinking rapidly to avoid being stuck with the mental skill of this bloody sheep who was staring at me with malice. I had the knife in my hand that I was using for harvesting the chives and I took out the katana as well just for additional security. I wasn’t ambidextrous in my previous life but with no fighting skill per se using both hands to the best of my ability was the only way for me to stay alive and I had been practicing albeit with goblins and rabbits.
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Sheep as if expecting me to be hit mentally and incapacitated, got ready to head butt me and I got up slowly to use my higher agility against this stupid animal to counter the upcoming attack. As the sheep gained momentum and got closer, I turned my body sideways to avoid the hit and stabbed the knife into its torso and slashed which landed on its butt causing a long deep wound. I got hit on the waist and felt a bruise forming up with pain blooming and making me want to cry out. The sheep in the meantime not expecting to be injured starting mewling. The noise was loud enough that I knew it would attract attention of the other sheep which maybe nearby, so I took quick action retracting my knife and cutting it across the neck rendering it bleeding and dead.
Notification
“Killed Blood eye sheep (level 2) exp 250”
The body of the sheep disintegrated, and loot appeared on the ground.
Loot – 1 bunch sheep wool, 5kg mutton, 10 copper coins (skill loot – 1 cabbage)
Cabbage? Really! First potatoes and now cabbage. What is wrong with this skill loot! I won’t die of hunger with this skill, I guess.
This fight was within my expectations. I did get hit and hurt but nothing serious, so I continued with my harvesting with a faster pace to avoid any more surprises in case the alarm had been raised. After all chives are one of the aromatics that could ease my food situation from barely alive to living.
I was still at the edge of the prairie just a bit further from the starting point, so I decided to start walking towards the east and walk around the field. Further up I saw another sheep grazing and appraisal told me that the stats and skill of this demon sheep were the same. To avoid alarming the sheep I took a long circular route around it and approached it from the back. Once I reached within the 5-meter distance, the sheep was automatically aware of my presence and turned its neck to stare at me. I decided to run up to it and use my katana to behead it while it was languishing in its ability to hit me with a mental attack, giving it no time to react.
One slash and the sheep fell bleeding but not dead yet. Without giving it a chance to call out, I slashed out again and rendered it dead. At this point, I noticed that my slash skill was coming out more like a hacking action instead of the slashing action I had been practicing. I was fighting like a novice still. I needed more practice and training.
For some reason these sheep were not as aggressive as I expected the dungeon monsters to be. For now, I knew that if I could get within 5-meter distance of the sheep, I could come out winner without counterattack. I didn’t know how things would turn out if there was more than one and I wasn’t planning on finding this scenario out until I was a little more experienced. With the loot of my second cabbage err and the rest, I walked on looking for more prey.
Sheep on this floor were not close together but could be found grazing at quite a distance. Even with my agility, it took a while to look for one. I appraised the flowers that I encountered, they were more garden variety versus anything that could be used as a vegetable, aromatics, or herb. I could harvest some of the daisies and daffodils I saw blooming, but it wasn’t the time for pleasure or beauty. I hadn’t noticed any strange unnamed plants or flowers apart from the ‘sweetberry’ the first day. I kept apprising as I wanted to raise my skill level.
Over the next 3 hours, I came across 4 more sheep, which were easy kill, and my confidence got a much-needed boost. That was when I saw a small herd with about 6 sheep grazing near each other.