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.
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.
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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 jaggedIts eyes burned an intense whiteckering erratically, like a storm barely holding itself together.
Fellhorn Stormbringer
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.