dragonheartednovels

[SD:SC] That's Not A Sheep - Chapter 3

Added 2025-09-16 23:11:29 +0000 UTC

Gem looked around at the others. “I’m seriously the only one to get a cowboy hat?”

Samuel sighs, “You seriously got a cowboy hat? Isn’t that a little cliché? Besides, it won’t fit in elsewhere.”

Gem shrugs, “It’s tradition for players to end up looking like we got dressed by being thrown through a thrift store. Best In Slot all the way.”

June, “Keep an eye on the sheep.”

The two turn back to their current job. The party ended up not being able to stay in town long as the shepherds were actually heading out the morning after.

Of course, watching sheep slowly move while grazing isn’t the most action-packed adventure. Which means two days later in the morning, Gem and friends jump at the chance to join a side quest. Specifically, a small section of the herd had managed to wander off in the night and now needed to be retrieved.

At first, Gem thought they would be getting the full experience. Well, except for not having horses to ride. But no, the shepherd who is coming along with the three teams picked out for this had divination magic specialized in tracking them down.

All to say, this was less of an adventure and more like an old-school escort quest. The shepherd walked straight towards where the errant sheep were and the guards simply had to make sure nothing interrupted them. No searching for the sheep or anything. Way too straightforward in Gem’s opinion.

Samuel, “Did these sheep wander off right as night fell? We’ve been walking for so long!”

One of the other adventurers shrugs, “Eh, we’re paid to protect, not question how fast their sheep can run.”

Samuel frowned, not happy with that answer, yet it was what they were hired to do. He turns his attention back to guarding the shepherd.

“Snake!”

Gem’s head snaps around as one of the other people spots the threat. Oh yeah, that’s a snake. Big snake. About as big around as a child. Real big.

Samuel and a couple other guys position themselves in front of the shepherd, though Gem doubted they would be able to stop the snake if it struck. Better to strike first, then!

Gem rapid fire slung out three Wind Blades. The first chopped a furrow in the beast’s snout, but the second and third sparked off scales.

Good thing Gem isn’t the only one who had this thought and one of the other teams has an ice mage. A good ice mage at that. Their single spell might have seemed like a white icicle, but instead of piercing, shattering, or being deflected the spell splashes upon contact. An icy slush coats the snake’s upper throat.

The snake does not like this. Shame that the adventurers don’t care about what it likes or doesn’t.

Then, another adventurer slams into the snake with a spear. Their charge having started at the same time as their teammate cast their ice spell. Because of course, you can’t just toss out a crowd control spell without someone to take advantage of it.

Anyway, the snake didn’t do all that well with a hole through its neck.

Gem, “Oh hey, I leveled.”

Gem checks their stats, “Dang it, Body and Stamina both fell back to D-.”

June laughs, “You’re complaining about that?”

Gem shrugs, “Well, I don’t want to be stuck because of low stats. That would suck.”

June shakes her head, “Fair enough, I guess. Anyway, no time to lollygag, keep moving everybody!”

Which they do, though the rest of their trek out to the lost sheep is uneventful. Once they do find the sheep? Not so much.

The group of three teams and a shepherd come up over a small bluff, only to spot a hundred sheep huddled together below them. Though what draws the attention are a large quantity of coyotes.

Emrys, “I don’t think this is natural coyote behavior.”

Gem, charging a Wind Blade, “Whatever it is, you should probably get an illusion up to hide the sheep.”

Emrys shakes his head, “I don’t think I could make one that big. Besides, hiding them won’t make those coyote monsters forget about them.”

The sheepfolk shepherd smiles, “Well now, tanks, get down there and defend those sheep. It seems we might be here for a little. The rest of us will follow at a safer speed.”

Samuel and the other two tanks follow the orders. The sound of metal crashing can be heard as they impact the ground below. Though none of them show any signs of the fall even dazing them.

Behind them, the rest of the group descends at their own pace. Admittedly, for some this does mean jumping, though most make use of the terrain and skills to manage it.

Gem in particular has a fun time of it. “Air Platform! Going to just walk my way on down.” And they do.

Though it seems the level one version of the skill only has enough oomph to create five platforms. Which is better than needing to use the skill every step. Yet also bad because if it was a time limit or similar, getting faster would effectively increase the spells usefulness.

Gem knew all of that, but honestly didn’t care. They were having too much fun walking on air. Though they were already planning what direction they wanted the spell to go on. In particular, the idea of flying around on a cloud was tempting. Whatever the case, they needed to focus on the here and now. And speaking of focusing, this was a perfect chance to use Sense Mana.

Gem stands among the sheep, charging up a Wind Blade, as the coyotes begin to pop up on their sense. They can’t sense too far, but the nearest coyotes are well within range. Oh, as well as the other players and the shepherd.

Gem almost pauses. There was something else. A Mana source among the sheep. Wind Blade charged, Gem tossed it out, before turning their attention to the sheep. Which are sheep, though Gem wouldn’t be surprised if they had been bred for cuteness, because golly gee willickers. Their adorable little faces poke out from fur which is way too soft.

There’s the Mana source. Behind that baby sheep? Gem shakes their head, no. It was the sheep. How? Why?

Then the sheep turns to face them and Gem whispers, “Oh, that’s not a sheep.”

And it isn’t. Though it is still cute. While the body might mostly appear sheep-like, the feet are little grabby claws and the face is a flat black like one of those blacknose sheep, except it isn’t a sheep’s face being hidden by fur. The face is simply flat with a curved smile of a mouth and two tiny tusks, wait, no, fangs poking up. And the eyes are just a little too big, but in that cute way.

Gem tosses out another couple Wind Blades and turns to June. “Look at that critter!” They point at the not a sheep. “I’m going to call him Fresco.”

June looks over and frowns, “That’s not a sheep.”

Gem smiles and nods. “Nope! It certainly isn’t. Also, it has Mana.”

The shepherd hears them and looks over. It takes them a moment before they start cursing and going on about not having time for “one of them”.

They calm down quickly, though. “Bah, just leave it alone. Won’t hurt us, or the sheep. I know, they’re distracting, but the coyote monsters are more of a problem.”

Gem looks between what is clearly a monster and the sheepfolk. “Okay.” And they turn back to the coyotes. Though it is a little hard to target them from the back of the herd.

Which gives Gem a great idea. They crouch down, tense up, and then spring straight up. This doesn’t quite get them up to the top of the bluff, but Gem is certainly at the point of being able to jump over a house. “Air Platform.”

Gem is now standing well above the others and has a much better view of the battlefield. Their Mana Sense pinpointed a bunch of things as they hooked their Mana into the platform below them. “Oh hey, there’s a few awfully large snakes behind the coyotes!”

The sheepfolk shepherd looks up, “Can you stop finding more trouble? Baaah, face the problems one at a time.”

Gem shrugs, “Just pointing things out.” And they begin to rain down their Wind Blades on the coyotes. Though with the knowledge of the snakes being back there, they focus on driving the coyotes back towards said hidden danger.

This doesn’t do much, but as the fight begins to wind down with the Coyotes, a couple do get snapped up by waiting serpents.

June looks up at Gem, “So, how long do those platforms last? I’m pretty certain they’re supposed to be only for a quick step, not an actual platform.”

Gem frowns, “Huh, well, I didn’t stop channeling Mana into it, so that probably helped?”

Emrys’ jerks up and stares, “You what?”

Gem shrugs, “Yeah, not much. I figure I spent about two extra uses of the spell standing up here for so long.”

Emrys, “That’s not how the spell works. ‘Air Platform’, as June mentioned, is meant to be a temporary step, not a literal platform.”

Gem, “Well, it’s working for me, and now we have snakes coming in. We can puzzle it out afterwards.”

And Gem isn’t wrong. While the snakes that managed to snap up a coyote of their own retreat, three serpents still remain and they’re even bigger than the solo snake from before.

Though the ice using mage ends up once again being the MVP. As they were given a warning, this allowed them to cast a much bigger spell.

“Ice Wave!”

And the name of the spell isn’t a lie. A wall of icy slush about a city block wide rises up out of the ground and rolls towards the slithering serpents, engulfing them despite their size.

The snakes are dead before the wave has even fully passed over them.

Gem whistles, “Damn. Why don’t I have a spell like that?” As they make their way back down to the ground.

Emrys glares at them, “You’re breaking the small stuff already. I don’t want to know what you’d do to a tactical-grade spell.”

Gem shrugs, “Well, they don’t exactly sell tactical and above spells in your average skill store or I would let you find out.”

Emrys sighs, “That is a shame. Though I understand. Of course, you reserve the mass combat stuff for your own people. But that won’t make me forget your ridiculous use of Air Platform. What’s up with that?”

Gem, “Well, I’ve got a few status updates waiting for me so I assume there’s a bit of power leveling of the skill involved.”

Emrys, “You just got the spell!”

Gem, “Yeah, but it is a simple introductory spell. I’m sure there are more than a few people out there who can take such a skill to evolution lickity split.”

Emrys sighs, “Whatever. Nevermind I’m supposed to be the wizardly type. Sure, let the sorcerer of the group mess with their spells.”

June interrupts, “Given the archetypes you’re using, I would like to point out that ‘sorcerers’ do tend to be the ones with an instinctive feel for their magic. Besides that, you guys should go help with cleaning up. We don’t want to stick around here longer than we have to.”

Gem walks away, “I’m going to clean up my alerts.” And they bring up the waiting blue screens small and in front of them, so as to block others from easily reading what’s there. Though it certainly isn’t as secure as actually being out of sight.

{

Skills

Greater Sense Mana lv2 > 4
Mana Control lv8 > 10 [Rank Up]
☆ Wind Blade lv6 > 7
Assay lv5
Fishing lv5
Air Platform lv1 > 10 [Rank Up]

}

{

☆ Mana Control

Allows for casting spells and the manipulation of Mana to a greater degree than the Lesser Mana Control skill as well as the duration of non-instant spells to be adjusted slightly to various effects

Sustained Mana Control

Allows for casting spells, the manipulation of Mana, and helps reveal connections in a spell that can be used to sustain them.

Spell Warper

Allows for casting spells, the manipulation of Mana, and lowers the chance of catastrophic failure when warping a spell form

}

{

☆ Air Platform

Creates up to five temporary platforms made of air, which can be stepped on and the connection for sustaining them has been stabilized.

☆ Air Platform

Creates up to five temporary platforms made of air, which can be stepped on and any connections inherent to the spell form are more easily hooked into.

☆ Air Platform