His gaze returned to the Black Fellhorn Sheep. It stood there, bloated and oddly relaxed, staring at him with an almost knowing expression.
“Let me guess,” Sam muttered, rubbing his chin. “You had nothing to do with this?”
BAAAAAHHHH.
The sheep’s cry was slow and drawn out, as if exasperated by the accusation.
Sam sighed, shaking his head. “Right. Not my business, I guess.”
Still, something wasn’t adding up. His party should’ve been here by now, waiting at the dungeon entrance. But instead, all he found were signs of battle, leftover food, and this oddly smug-looking sheep.
He took another glance at the distortion, the shimmering air warping slightly as if beckoning him inside. A dungeon.
“They didn’t…” he muttered, realization dawning on him.
It wasn’t out of the question that they had somehow triggered the dungeon’s activation and were pulled inside. If that was the case, then he was stuck out here while they fought for their lives inside.
He exhaled sharply.
“Guess I’ll have to wait for them to clear it then”
"May as well test this sword, no hard feelings right, buddy?"
Sam unsheathed his sword, the blade glinting in the dim light, and equipped his shield.
The Black Fellhorn Sheep, sensing something was wrong, immediately tensed. Its muscles coiled, its stance shifting ever so slightly as it readied itself for battle.
It looked at him.
He looked at it.
A tense staredown.
The wind whispered through the clearing, rustling the grass around them. The nearby fire crackled, casting flickering shadows across the battlefield.
Then—
BAAAAAAAAAAH!
"Bring it on, budd—oh crap."
Sam barely had time to brace before the Black Fellhorn Sheep surged forward, its marble-white horns gleaming as they barreled toward him like a battering ram.
Boom!
The impact was instant and brutal. His shield absorbed the brunt of the hit, but the sheer force lifted him off his feet. He felt his ribs rattle from the shockwave before his body was sent flying backward.
Crash!
He hit the ground hard, rolling twice before skidding to a painful stop, dirt and grass scattering around him. A sharp sting shot through his arms as he forced himself back onto one knee, wincing at the lingering pain in his shoulder.
"You gotta be kidding me," he muttered, shaking out the ache in his arm.
The Black Fellhorn Sheep stomped the ground, snorting aggressively as it prepared to charge again.
Sam spat out a bit of dirt, gripping his sword tighter. "Alright, you fluffy little menace. Round two."
This time, he was ready.
Facing the provocation, the Black Fellhorn Sheep charged forward, its body a blur of motion as black and white Aether trailed behind it, swirling like a twin-colored storm.
Its horns glowed ominously, crackling with latent energy, ready to strike.
“What the—?”
Sam barely had time to process what he was seeing before—
Boom!
The sheep was upon him in an instant, moving far faster than before. The sudden acceleration caught him off guard, his instincts barely giving him enough time to raise his shield.
Crash!
The impact was violent. His feet dug into the ground, but the sheer force behind the charge sent a shockwave through his body. He gritted his teeth as his arms strained under the pressure.
For a moment, it felt like his entire body might cave in under the raw power.
“Damn it—!”
The moment he felt the pressure ease, he pushed back, twisting his body to redirect the force rather than resist it head-on. Using the sheep's own momentum against it, he sidestepped sharply at the last second.
Screeeeech—!
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The Black Fellhorn Sheep's hooves scraped against the ground, its massive weight making it difficult to stop as it barreled past him.
Sam didn’t waste a second.
He lunged, his sword glowing faintly with aether as he struck out toward its exposed flank—
And so, the two fought.
What started as a simple encounter quickly escalated into a battle for the ages—a duel between sheep and human, where neither side was willing to yield.
Who would prevail?
Back in the Dungeon
Owen stretched his arms, casually cracking his knuckles. "Wonder what Sam's up to right now. He probably just got there and is wondering where we are."
Kai shrugged, keeping his spear balanced across his shoulders as they walked. "He’ll figure it out."
Reese smirked. "Or he’s still half-asleep and staring at the dungeon distortion like an idiot."
Talia chuckled, adjusting the grip on her dagger. "Or he ran into that weird black Fellhorn Sheep we saw earlier."
At that, Kei’s expression shifted slightly—a brief flicker of thought passing through his usually unreadable gaze.
"That black sheep, huh? If it's still there, it’d be a shame not to take advantage of it…"
He said it quietly, more to himself than anyone else, quietly sensing the changes occurring in him ever since he fed the black sheep his blood.
The group continued venturing deeper into the labyrinth, their footsteps echoing through the winding stone pathways as they fought their way through the creatures that lurked within.
Fellhorn Stalkers, hidden among the maze-like corridors, launched sudden ambushes, forcing the group to stay on high alert.
Kai danced through the fight, his spear moving with a fluid grace, piercing through multiple enemies at once.
Talia flickered through the battlefield, her Mirage Force distorting her movements, leaving enemies lashing out at afterimages while she struck from unexpected angles.
Reese stayed at a distance, every arrow he fired adjusting mid-air, curving around obstacles and striking weak points with pinpoint precision.
Owen, grounded in his stance, absorbed blows before countering with devastating slashes, each attack carrying the weight of the earth itself.
And then, there was Kei.
A blur, a whisper in the wind.
He weaved through the chaos, his staff striking true every time—breaking knees, knocking heads, redirecting momentum—his movements unpredictable, his presence nearly untraceable.
With each battle, the group pushed deeper into the dungeon, knowing that the final challenge awaited them ahead.
Turning back to Sam and the Black Fellhorn Sheep, they fought arduously, neither willing to back off or rescind their threat.
Every exchange was brutal—Sam’s sword clashing against hardened horns, shield absorbing the force of wild kicks, while the sheep weaved between his attacks with terrifying agility.
Sam grit his teeth, muscles burning, lungs heaving. "You are way too strong for a damn sheep!" he snarled, swinging his blade in a downward arc.
The Black Fellhorn Sheep dodged with an impressive mid-air twist, its double-hoof kick crashing into Sam’s shield with a resounding boom! The force sent him skidding back, dirt flying in his wake.
His foot nearly slipped as he drifted dangerously close to the dungeon distortion.
And then—he saw it.
[Dungeon Notice: Fellhorn Labyrinth – Hard Difficulty]
"...What?"
His mind blanked.
Sam was sure it had been moderate difficulty. He had triple-checked before heading here. So why had it changed?
"What the hell is happening!?" he muttered, flustered, his grip tightening around his sword.
The Black Fellhorn Sheep saw its chance.
With a victorious BAAAAAAAAAH!, it charged forward, its horns crackling with aether.
Sam's eyes barely widened before—
BANG!
The force of the impact sent him flying backwards
In the dungeon, the group of five stood around, staring blankly, confusion etched on their faces.
“I thought you guys said that quests are only supposed to be in Hard dungeons," Kei asked absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on the new system message.
In truth, he didn’t care much about extra tasks—if anything, it just meant more rewards in the end.
However, the rest of the group couldn’t control their shock.
“What’s happening?! Why is there a quest to complete?!”
“This is a moderate dungeon! Is this an exception? Or did something change?”
They all turned to Reese, the most meticulous of the group, but even he looked utterly baffled as he re-read the system prompt.
[Updated Dungeon Objectives]
Main Objective: Defeat the Dungeon Boss.
Secondary Objective: Recover the Lost Relic of the Fellhorn.
- Details: A relic of great significance to the Fellhorn creatures has been stolen, disrupting their natural order and increasing their hostility.
- Requirements: Locate and retrieve the relic before engaging the Dungeon Boss.
- Hidden Condition: Returning the relic instead of keeping it may lead to unexpected rewards or alternative dungeon outcomes.
- Time Limit: If the relic is not recovered before facing the boss, the Fellhorn creatures will enter a frenzied state, greatly increasing their speed and aggression.
[Warning: Ignoring this objective will result in the boss gaining an additional phase and unique abilities. Choose wisely.]
Talia exhaled sharply, rubbing her temples. “No. Nope. Not dealing with this. We need to figure out what’s happening before something crazy happens.”
Kai crossed his arms. “Is it just me, or does this feel…wrong?”
Owen, now gripping his sword even tighter, sighed. “Something definitely changed. Dungeons don’t just alter like this—unless…”
Unbeknownst to the group, the moment they entered, the dungeon's difficulty had changed.
From Moderate → Hard.
And just as they were coming to terms with the new quest...
A loud crash echoed from deeper inside the dungeon.
Something had just entered.
A massive Fellhorn Sheep stood before them, its silver-blue wool crackling with arcs of electricity, static clinging to the very air. Unlike its normal counterparts, its horns were jagged, like lightning bolts frozen mid-strike, pulsing with barely-contained energy. Its eyes burned an intense white, flickering erratically, like a storm barely holding itself together.
Fellhorn Stormbringer
Level: 10
Force Alignment: Storm Force (A minor force derived from Lightning and Wind).
A suffocating tension filled the air, the space around them charged, every hair on their bodies standing on end.
Before Reese, Talia, Kai, or Owen could process what they were looking at—
WHIRR.
A bone projectile zipped past them, glowing aetheric orange, pumped full of energy.
THUNK.
It struck the Stormbringer's foreleg, sinking into the joint with pinpoint accuracy.
Baaaaaaaaaaaa!
A furious, electrified bleat tore through the air as the creature reared back, stumbling from the impact.
Kai’s head snapped in the direction the projectile came from—
Kei was gone.
“Where the hell—”
More bone projectiles followed, hitting precise weak points—the underside of its jaw, its back leg, its exposed tendon just above the hoof. Each strike forced the Stormbringer to falter, its footing unstable.
Bzzzzzt—CRACK!
A violent arc of lightning surged in retaliation, striking where the attacks had come from—
But nothing was there.
Kai’s grip on his spear tightened. “He’s… everywhere.”
Owen braced himself, grounding his stance as the Stormbringer’s aura surged, static currents whipping through the air.
Talia clenched her daggers. “Then let’s bring it down.”
The fight had begun.