Chapter 192: Learning more about the Wildlife of the Canyon

When the group made their way out of the cramp cave filled area where the bats and beetles lived in large groups they finally started to see a change in the canyon. This new area was lit up extremely well since the canyon widened a bit in the area and that allowed more light to reach down from above. This also meant that the place they had reached was far more spacious than the previous area that was filled with fallen rocks and hollowed out caves. There was new plant life along with new animals up ahead and the first beast that the group notice was actually something none of them were expecting.

The creature that they noticed was actually an extremely oversized ram like beast that was hopping down the cliff and grazing on a bush that had grown out of one of the cracks along the wall. At first Joshua wanted to think of it as a goat because he knew that goats usually lived near cliffs and that would make sense. Goats could jump around the cliffs and actually survive some fatal falls for other creatures, but based of the curved back horns on these creatures Joshua was certain they were rams. It was possible that such creatures had evolved to live in this type of dangerous environment, but based off of their size alone he was surprised that there were so many of them in the base of the canyon.

Most of the rams were around the same size as the horses on the prairie which would usually make you think it would be impossible for them to live along the cliffs of the canyon. The only reason these large rams were able to scale the cliffs so easily without falling from the heights up above was the fact that beast weren't the only things to change about the world. The plant life had changed as well along with the earth itself that seemed far sturdier than it had previously been. That was too much of a surprise considering the size of some of the monsters they had come across so far while exploring. If beast had started growing to a size far beyond the dinosaurs of the past then the world would have to become more stable if things were to remain in decent order. Otherwise there would be chaos everywhere all the time and that didn't seem to be the goal of the system or the planet from all of the rules that Joshua had come across up to this point.

The idea made seeing a ram far larger than a cow jumping from cliff to cliff without falling a little more believable. As Joshua walked further into the more open area at the base of the canyon he started to notice several more of the rams and it was getting to the point where there were so many of them it was similar to the herd of horses he had come across while exploring the prairie. There was more than enough space for them in this area of the dungeon, but Joshua had a good feeling that they weren't the only creatures that tended to roam the canyon during the day. The main reason he was thinking this was the fact that the rams tended to stay high up on the cliffs and away from the base of the canyon as if there was something dangerous down there that influenced their decision.

'Wow look at that one over there it's nearly twice the size of the rest of them.' Lilly said with excitement as the rest of the group followed her line of sight to see what she was talking about. On a rather large cliff there was one ram that was grazing on some brush that was thick enough to nearly be considered a tree. The ram's horns were so long that they spiraled around completely and had two long points that faced forward and gleamed dangerously. If it lowered its head then it could still use its horns to ram into its enemies like usual for what Joshua imagined would be a powerful impact. It could also use the tips of its horns to spear an enemy if needed and that seemed to put the creature in another league of danger from the rest of the rams around.

When Joshua observed the regular rams he could see that they were level seventy-six with two stars by their names showing that they weren't all that dangerous for the group unless they came across a huge herd of them that attacked together. The large ram however was level seventy-eight with three stars by its name proving it was most likely the protector of the group. It would actually be quite the force in a fight if it needed to be and Joshua knew the creature could probably fight off some tough foes if it needed to protect the rest of the group.

'How do you think the rams stay safe at night? I can't see them living for long against the swarm of bats or beetles or probably anything else we come across down here.' Lilly said with a frown as the group started approaching the rams slowly making sure they didn't put them on edge. Luckily for them it seemed that the rams weren't threatened by their presence at all as if they could sense that they weren't dangerous to them. Lilly of course took this chance to walk over and start petting the nearest one after leaping up the cliffs carefully. Soon the rest started to follow along now that they could see the creatures weren't threatening.

'I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I'd say they probably only come down the cliff to eat the brush when it's daylight. They might live up on the prairie any other time.' Henry said his thoughts on the matter getting people to think about it. It made since that the rams wouldn't stay down in the canyon during the time of day when the sunlight couldn't reach down there. It would be far too dangerous for them. At the same time they were too weak to contend with the other beast on the far side of the prairie where the buffalo like creatures had been fighting. If Joshua had to guess then they probably stay at the prairie near the top of the canyon and stay out of the way of the other creatures on the prairie. On one side of the prairie they'd be nothing more than prey if they came across a high level predator, but on the other side they were to high level to assert dominance over the other creatures without the rules getting in the way.

In the end the rams belonged within the level range of the canyon area and that put them in a rather tough spot. Joshua stopped lingering on such thoughts as he turned to watch Lilly leap up to where the large ram was munching on the large brush for a meal. Joshua knew she must have been synchronized with Cinder for her to have such high movement to climb up the cliff so well. Cinder of course was staying far away from the rams just so she couldn't scare them off. Joshua already had a good idea of what his partner was most likely up to and he wasn't surprised when she started melding her aura with the large creature.

'Are you really going to tame all of these rams?' Joshua asked as he pointed to the group of a little over a dozen rams. It wasn't that large in comparison to the number of horses and dogs that Lilly had tamed before so it wasn't an issue, but it would mean a lot more mouths for her to feed while out on the expedition. It seemed as if Lilly had a good idea of what Joshua was thinking as she turned around with a big smile after finishing taming the large ram that seemed even more docile than before since it was no longer eyeing the group as they pet the other rams.

'You don't have to worry about me running out of food for them. I packed a year's supply from the system of grass and other vegetation for herbivore animals along with some meat as well for the rest of my pets.' Lilly said with a small smile before turning back to see the ram that she then placed away into her soul realm. The other rams around the area seemed a bit worried at first since their biggest protector had disappeared, but they didn't run seeing as the people around them weren't trying to hurt them in any way. Lilly took this as opportunity to go around and start taming all of the rams until they were all in her soul realm and they could all come down the cliff. She had a bright smile now that she had been able to tame a new type of creature.

'Any reason you wanted to tame these guys? They don't seem all that strong and I doubt they have high potential.' Henry asked with a puzzled look. From what Henry had seen of Lilly in the amount of time he had been around her he knew that she tended to focus on taming creatures that had a unique skill set that could be useful in her combat group such as Flutter who was weak, but could boost others or someone like Tank who was a behemoth in his own right. Any other creatures she tamed usually had an ability that made them useful in protecting the town or their guilds other territories. This was the first time that they had all seen her tame a group of creatures that just seemed docile.

'Well not all animals I'll tame will be powerful or combat related. Some could just end up being domesticated in the future.' Lilly said while tilting her head and looking at them as if they were stupid for not understanding her reasoning. It was then that they all realized what she was getting at. At the moment people were basically relying on the system for food or hunting beast and bringing them back. Either way couldn't be sustainable forever with the amount of humans still around even after the first phase. Eventually the system will make it to where they had to rely on themselves more and if they didn't start domesticating animals then that could be difficult.

Some members of the group shook their heads in disappointment at the fact that they hadn't figured this out. Isabella and Henry particularly seemed regretful for not noticing the fact. They also knew that they were going to need to start gathering more of the calmer beast in the future for domestication especially with so many of the creatures that they had come across in their explorations being extremely aggressive. Then with that thought their minds started going down the long rabbit hole of securing the future to where humans could stand up on their own again in this new world. To do that they wouldn't just need domesticated animals which they would have to learn all about which animals were actually willing to be domesticated in the new world, they would also have to learn about which type of plants they could use to grow food on farms in the future. Animals weren't the only thing to change in the world. Plant life had greatly changed as well with trees as tall as sky scrapers that could be seen in the distance from time to time. Who knew what else could have changed to the plant life.

While they were thinking about that Joshua took notice of another ram that was coming around the corner lower down on the cliff on the other side of the base of the canyon. It was close enough for Joshua to see it, but still quite a ways away from the group. It was slowly chewing on a brush lower to the ground and the site of the ram seemed to energize Lilly as she started to climb down the cliff so she could rush over and tame it, but Joshua grabbed a hold of her as he could feel a danger coming from that direction. Lilly looked at him for a moment to see what was wrong when he signaled everyone to remain silent and just watch.

For a moment everything remained calm as the ram just munched loudly on the brush, but soon everyone could see what Joshua was worried about and they realized that everything wasn't so pleasant during the day down in the canyon.