The Biter Sheep charged at me, following the same pattern as the previous one. I clicked my tongue at their simplistic attack, and stepped aside smoothly before stabbing at the Biter Sheep's behind with the Steel Knife, hoping to replicate my previous success but…
I had missed the Sheep completely and my knife stabbed the air.
I had grossly underestimated the Sheep's speed and overestimated my close combat prowess after the one successful execution of the 'Counter' skill.
The sheep turned around in a blink of an eye and bit at my outstretched arm with unexpected speed. It not only bit into my flesh but also the bone!
Pain like I had never felt before coursed through my body and an inhumane scream escaped from my mouth. Even with lowered pain reception, this particular method of attacking was quite excruciating.
The developers had simply created a perverse monster for a Lv 1 map!
This was also one of the reasons why many players quit the game on the very first day.
They were weaklings but I was not one of them. I had not quit when I endured Goku's beatin- err- training, so how could I quit just because a sheep bit me?
I braved through the torment and transferred the steel knife to my left hand. My hand shivered from pain and excitement as I stabbed the knife straight into the sheep's right eye.
Well, at least, I tried to.
The sheep jerked my bitten hand at the last moment, sending fresh waves of pain coursing through my body. My whole body trembled and the attack landed at the center of its hard skull instead of its soft eyes, dealing much lower damage than expected.
-19
Even after the stabbing attack, the sheep refused to let go of my right hand. It bit harder and deeper into the hand, causing me to lose 10 more points of Health while initiating a new wave of hurt.
"Damned Beast! Let go!" I shouted, irritated and annoyed by the throbbing pain coursing through my hand.
In rage, I successively slashed and stabbed at the Sheep's head.
-13
-18
-14
Numbers popped up from the monster's head while I also lost HP steadily. A few minutes later, we both had lost more than 70% of our health. Only now did the Sheep's grip on my hand slacken.
I quickly freed my hand and jumped back but not before slashing at the sheep one last time. I tried to aim this slash at Sheep's soft neck and fortunately, my aim was correct.
The dagger cut open a large wound, triggering a critical hit and shaving off the last 30 points of Sheep's health. It bleated in dismay and anger as it tried to charge at me for one last time, but it no longer had any health left.
It soon disappeared leaving behind a single sheepskin. Only after the corpse disappeared did my heart beat return to normal.
This single sheep had shaved off nearly 80% of my health on its own. It was no wonder players treated these Biter Sheeps as 'Demonic beasts from Hell'.
I managed to survive only because I had nearly 13 more stat points than ordinary Lv1 players to compensate for my poor mechanics or else I too would've been killed under the bite of these sheeps.
I quickly applied the HP Recovery Salve given by Stivi to my wound and wrapped it in bandage, accelerating my HP recovery.
The only thing to be thankful about was that the sheep bite did not cause any additional status ailment like bleeding or poisoning or else no player would dare to face them.
After my health was back to full and the skill 'Counter' was off cooldown, I scouted the area for my next target.
"Two down, four more to go!" Pumping myself up I continued my hunt for the Biter Sheeps.
An hour had passed before I knew it. My motor skills were still as bad as ever but I had learned to utilize my body to the best of my ability. I was still not good enough to play as an actual melee player but I could now hold on my own without the risk of getting killed by a mere Lv 1 monster.
Baaah!
My Steel knife pierced through the Sheep's neck and it bleated its last before falling to the ground and disappearing. At the same time, a white light flashed on me.
Finally, after a torturous hour of hunting sheeps like a melee player, I had leveled up to Lv 2.
I quickly added 2 points each to my Strength and Agility Stats, bringing their total to 14 and 13 respectively. Then I took out the Redwood Longbow from my Inventory and looked at it with a fond smile, as if reuniting with a long lost friend.
Even though it had only been a day, hunting without my Bow had been quite the 'experience'; the kind I did not want to undergo again anytime soon.
The experience had also reaffirmed my belief that I was not at all suited to be a melee player, eliminating the melee classes from my list of choices forever!
After the gruesome battles with these Biter Sheeps, I was tired and wanted to leave but I had yet to complete either of my quests. So, I decided to take a break from hunting and complete the Gathering Quest first.
The Cross Grass required by Borsica was everywhere in Cross Grass valley, hence the name. However, only a specific variety of Cross Grass could be used in Herbalism and such Cross Grasses were quite uncommon.
Unfortunately, these types of Cross Grass were also the favorite food of the Biter Sheeps, increasing their rarity. Searching for them amongst hundreds of similar Cross Grasses was also a pain in the ass.
The good news was that the Players were not without help. Once a Player had accepted the Quest to collect these Cross Grasses, they would light up when one was within their proximity.
Stivi also provided me with another clue - To search high on the cliffs as the sheeps could not climb.
I did not believe her at first as I remembered that the Cross Grass Valley had smooth cliffs without any grass growing on them but after coming here the second time, I changed my view.
The cliffs were indeed smooth, without any grass but there were also numerous small platforms protruding out of the cliffs that supported vegetation.
The problem was reaching those platforms as the cliffs seemed impossible to climb, the keyword being 'seemed'. Just because there was no obvious way to reach up there did not mean there might not be hidden passages.
Looking at the Cliff near me carefully, I found a trail of protruding rocks that could be used as perches to reach the Platform directly above my head.
I stepped on one of the lowest perches, balanced myself and moved on to a higher perch easily, starting a smooth journey to reach the platform. As I climbed up, choosing my footholds wisely from the plethora of available choices, I had an impression that Rock Climbing was too easy!
However, as I went higher and higher, it became harder and harder to find rocks in a suitable range to use as footholds. Finally, there came a point when there was no other foothold in sight.
The nearest option was the Platform that was to my left, my ultimate destination, but it was just out of my limb's reach. The small distance between my limb and the ledge of the Platform seemed like an uncrossable chasm!
I looked down in order to find an alternate route but seeing how high above I was, my heart started to thump loudly.
A hundred feet above the ground! That was how high I had climbed up and I was stuck!
I dared not risk jumping down, and grab the ledges below and climb down in search of an alternate path. I was even more terrified of leaping towards the platform as I was almost sure I would fall short in my jump to reach the platform.
If I could succeed at either, I would be safe but failure meant a freefall from a hundred feet high. A fall from this height would definitely turn me into a meat patty and return my level back to 1.
As I considered my situation, horror grasped my heart. I realized that no matter which option I chose, I had to face a certain death!