Chapter 20 The Shepherd

Having accepted the task, Xiao Buli arrived at the grassland and officially took charge of the sheep herd. The cultivation method for the Grazing Skill was different from breeding and harvesting he had done before. After receiving the sheep, he checked the task description in the task bar.

The responsibilities of a herdsman were: 1, ensure the sheep could eat enough grass. 2, make sure the sheep stayed within the ranch area and none were missing. 3, make sure the sheep were not killed by nearby wild beasts.

Master Yang's sheep numbered over fifty, and Xiao Buli didn't need to feed them, but rather just to make sure the flock stayed together, and that there was plenty of grass nearby, which might sound simple and leisurely, yet this job was much more difficult than the previous two.

In the beginning, Xiao Buli wasn't troubled by wild beasts, as he had circled the grassland and found no threatening creatures, and he had assigned Meatball to patrol the perimeter, so that he would be the first to know if any monsters attacked. Meatball, well-fed and with high Loyalty, was not something Xiao Buli feared would turn against him in a fight.

However, this flock was difficult to manage; on the surface, the seemingly docile lambs just quietly grazed, but imperceptibly, the formation would scatter, with lambs slowly expanding their grazing area, occasionally scampering off a considerable distance. Xiao Buli received a whip upon accepting the task, and whenever he saw stragglers, he went over to drive the sheep back to the flock with the whip. Managing the fifty-sheep herd was neither too big nor too small of a task, a situation that left Xiao Buli a bit overwhelmed, hustling after the ones on the east side only to find others scattering in the west, plus, to his dismay, sometimes being rammed angrily by the sheep after he whipped them.

The first time this happened, he was caught off-guard and was directly hit, losing 8 health points and being bowled over, acquiring a dizzying DEBUFF, taking quite a while to recover. Meatball, seeing its master attacked, ran a few steps toward him but was pacified by Xiao Buli and returned to its patrol line.

At that moment, the lamb that had rammed him obediently trotted back to the flock after the clash, and seeing its trembling little tail made Xiao Buli feel another wave of frustration. From then on, when driving the sheep, not only did Xiao Buli have to watch whether any sheep on the other side were straying but also be cautious of nearby lambs that he was driving to see if they showed any inclination to attack. Thankfully, the sheep charged in straight lines, making them not too difficult to dodge.

Fortunately, not all sheep exhibited aggressive behavior, it was only occasional that one or two mischievous lambs appeared. Soon, Xiao Buli realized that his main job would probably be dealing with these unruly sheep, but luckily they did not inflict high damage and never attacked him altogether, so as long as he was careful, it wasn't hard to keep going.

Xiao Buli's maneuvering could not be described as anything but strong, and it didn't take him long to adapt to the sheep's charging. Aside from being hit a few times in the first half-hour, he afterwards wasn't struck again.

So when the Grazing Skill reached Level 3, a flash of golden light appeared.

System prompt: Player Xiao Buli, after a long time spent dodging the sheep's charges, you have grasped the 'Emergency Dodge' skill, currently at Level LV1.

Emergency Dodge: Move a short distance to the side with extreme speed, each use consuming 5 Physical Strength points, skill cooldown time 10 seconds.

As Xiao Buli read through the system explanation, he thought to himself that this seemed like a pretty good life-saving skill, especially for a non-targeting game like this one.

While pondering, Xiao Buli dragged the skill into his quick access bar and tried it out a couple of times. He discovered that the skill was similar to the side roll in some action games and a bit like the slide step in fighting games. With this skill, dodging goat attacks became much easier. Equipped with the Emergency Dodge skill, he confidently joined the joyful activity of evading goats.

It wasn't until the afternoon that he finally faced his first challenge from a wild beast.

At that moment, Xiao Buli was avoiding an oncoming goat on the east side. As his abilities improved, these unruly little goats not only became more numerous, but their frequency and number of charges seemed to increase as well. He was intently watching the little goat charging towards him when Meatball's bark drew his attention. He swiped the screen and saw a lean, grey stray dog charging towards a lone lamb on the west side.

This was a suburban grey stray dog, and the early spring weather meant it was shedding its winter coat. The dog's already dull coat now looked even dirtier. The winter fur clung to the animal, tangled up, making it appear as if the dog was wearing a torn cotton coat with the filling exposed. The down-on-its-luck gray dog silently sneaked over to where three lambs had strayed from the herd and were hiding in the dense grassland to graze, unnoticed,

Xiao Buli hurried towards the west, while Meatball, in a vigilant state, remained in its original position, able to follow the previous command perfectly unless its master was attacked. Xiao Buli was anxious in his heart but could only run over. He saw that the goats weren't dumb—alerted by the rustling wind, they lowered their heads, their sharp horns ready, and charged towards the dog. Just as the lamb and the dog were about to clash, the dog suddenly leapt up, avoiding the direct hit with a Pounce, and scratched away dozens of health points with a few swipes. By the time Xiao Buli got closer, Meatball, who was close to the wild dog, also quickly followed up, and before Xiao Buli could attack, Meatball pounced, then started a Crazy Bite. The dog's fur, mixed with blood, fell to the ground as they fought. While the stray dog and Meatball were entangled, Xiao Buli quickly approached from behind, waited for the right moment, and delivered a Chain Sword Strike, killing the pitiful dog in a matter of moments. The dog's eyes still glared fiercely, as if holding a grudge against the enemy before it, or perhaps pining for its distant cubs. This look made Xiao Buli feel uncomfortable; it seemed that even realistic game effects aren't always a good thing.

The stray dog also brought him 5 points of Practical Experience. He didn't know what use it had, but he figured it would come in handy later on.

Grazing continued for two days, during which he killed more than a dozen stray dogs, accumulating 75 points of combat experience. Although these dogs didn't drop any equipment, the dog meat and hides they produced did bring in some income, just enough to feed Meatball and for treatments at the clinic.

Still, herding came with its own rewards, which were slightly higher than pig farming, so over the two days, his savings increased somewhat, now reaching a total of three silver coins.

When he finally got the Grazing Skill up to LV5, Xiao Buli heard the sound he had been longing for. With a ding, his Taming Skills finally reached LV3.

(Just as I thought, my guess was right. It seems that by taking on animal-related professions like grazing, there's a chance to increase the level of Taming Skills. Besides breeding and grazing, what else is there that's related to animals?) Xiao Buli continued grazing while planning his next move. He supposed hunting might be another option, since hunters specifically deal with wild beasts. Beyond that, he couldn't think of anything else at the moment, as he still needed to get to know the village's populace better.

In any case, his Grazing Skill wasn't Max Level yet, so Xiao Buli planned to complete that before asking the village chief for advice. Before that, he thought that as long as he continued grazing, his Taming Skills should be able to reach LV4.