Players' NPC Big Daddy

”What is this thing?”

”Looks like a [Steel Goat]?”

Blaze and Chicken stroked their chins, examining the twitching Monster in the center of the crater.

Logically speaking, falling from such a height should have killed it instantly. However, if it was a plunging attack, the vast majority of the fall damage would be transferred to the target. In other words, something broke its fall. And by sheer coincidence, it happened to be one of their targets—the [Golden Sheep].

[Golden Sheep Level 50]

[A noble breed among Steel Goats, possessing pure golden fleece that brings prosperity and wealth. Only one appears in a herd of Steel Goats. An extremely rare existence. Defeating it yields a massive amount of Experience Value.]

”Chicken, this is it.”

”Huh?”

”An extra reward for the ’since you worked so hard, here’s a little more’ effort.” Blaze raised his dagger, aiming it at the dying [Golden Sheep]. ”I won’t hold back!”

[Level 33 (5) - Level 36 (11)]

[Fighting Master Level 10 - Level 11]

[Hunter Level 1 - Level 3]

[Unlockable Skills: Trap Making F / Throwing F / Off-Road Driving F / Bow Skill F / Wild Call F / Bullet Time F / Intuition F / War Dance F / Counterpunch F]

Blaze was quite surprised. Aside from unlocking a Profession, any acquired Experience Value was supposed to be split evenly among all non-Full Level Professions. His Fighting Master was Level 10, and the Experience Value required to level up was half the sum of all his previous Experience Value.

Under these circumstances, the Golden Sheep actually allowed two of his Professions to level up simultaneously. It truly was a massive gift of Experience Value.

”However, Fighting Master is a basic Profession with no unlock conditions, so the Experience Value it requires is already quite low... It’s just a pity that the Golden Sheep is so rare. The next one definitely won’t spawn within three days.” Blaze sighed in regret. Such a massive bounty of Experience Value was definitely addictive.

”Let’s learn [Trap Making] and [Throwing] first.”

[*Trap Making F]

[Can use simple materials to create a non-lethal capture trap.]

[Throwing F]

[Throws the item in hand at the target. Speed and power are determined by Strength Value.]

”Oh—I feel like I’ve gained a lot of knowledge.” Blaze gathered materials on the spot, using items dropped in the mine earlier to craft a trap.

[Trigger-Based Capture Trap 10]

[If stepped on, it triggers an Ejection of highly adhesive spider silk that binds the target’s limbs together.]

[Materials: Adhesive Spider Silk, Branches]

This was meant to catch the Steel Goats that were adept at Escape. Of course, he wasn’t going to just place it on the ground and wait for a Steel Goat to step on it. Instead, he planned to hit the target directly using Throwing.

”Hm?” Blaze took the Monkey Hand out of his inventory. Surprisingly, the shriveled purple Monkey Hand was gripping a radiant piece of Golden Fleece.

[Golden Fleece]

[Harvested from a Golden Sheep. An Advanced textile that brings prosperity and peace. If offered at God’s altar, an unexpected Effect will occur.]

”Isn’t that the Golden Fleece!” Chicken raised her voice.

”Is this thing that powerful?” Blaze was intrigued. There weren’t many things that piqued Chicken’s interest.

Blaze wanted to take it off to show Chicken, but for some unknown reason, the Monkey Hand was gripping the Golden Fleece tightly and refused to let go.

”If you hang it on a treetop, you’ll get a chance to challenge a Dragon.”

”Why would I want to challenge a Dragon for no reason?”

Blaze hurriedly shoved the ominous Golden Fleece back into his inventory. Strangely, the Monkey Hand detached itself and fell to the ground.

”What the hell?” Blaze picked up the Monkey Hand and shook it vigorously, but it yielded no reaction. ”Never mind. Chicken, I’ll need you to search for targets from the air next.”

Giving his instructions, Blaze put the Monkey Hand away and prepared to continue hunting.

”Don’t you need to rest for a bit? You just suffered such heavy injuries.”

”The wounds healed after I leveled up. It’s actually quite amazing.”

Seeing that Blaze was in excellent spirits, Chicken didn’t try to persuade him further. She immediately took to the sky to search for their next target.

Whether it was the malice of the Creator or not, herbivores yielded more Experience Value than carnivores, but these herbivores often possessed the ability to survive in harsh environments. For creatures like the Steel Goats, which lived directly on near-vertical cliffs and ate moss from the stone crevices, using them to level up was quite difficult.

”This... feels like I could fall at any moment.” Blaze fought the urge to look down, keeping his eyes glued to a Steel Goat a short distance away that was standing bizarrely parallel to the cliff face. This wasn’t some goat that could use Flying Magic; it was merely standing on a microscopic foothold.

”Go, capture trap!”

The spherical capture trap traced a beautiful arc, barely grazing the Steel Goat before plummeting down the cliff. The first time using the [Throwing] Skill usually resulted in failure because it was impossible to perfectly control one’s Power.

The Steel Goat, as if knowing it wouldn’t be hit, leisurely continued to munch on moss, completely unaware that this was actually a hunt conducted by one man and one chicken.

With a Silent flap of her wings, Chicken appeared behind the Steel Goat and dropped a capture trap directly at its hooves. The trap triggered, and an Ejection of milky-white spider silk shot out, binding the Steel Goat’s four hooves.

BAA—

Losing its balance, the Steel Goat shrieked as it fell off the cliff. Blaze waited for a while. Just as he was beginning to think the Steel Goat hadn’t died, a soul Flame slowly floated up.

”For the next target, can we pick one in a flatter area?” Blaze complained to Chicken after climbing back to the mountain peak.

”It’s the middle of the night,” Chicken replied helplessly. ”Steel Goats need to rest too. We’re already lucky enough to encounter two out for a midnight stroll.”

”Rest?” Blaze stroked his chin in deep thought. Chicken didn’t disturb him, landing on his shoulder to preen her feathers.

”Aren’t goats supposed to be herd animals?”

”Yeah.”

”Then can we find where they gather and sneakily harvest them while they sleep?”

”That’s a bit too...” Chicken revealed a look of disdain. ”Don’t think that just because this is a mountain range, it doesn’t count as part of the forest. If you commit genocide, you’ll lose affinity with the forest.”

”What are you thinking? How could I possibly lay a hand on little lambs?” Blaze’s mouth twitched. He wondered just what kind of person this chicken thought he was. ”My idea is that since the Steel Goats are resting, they must be gathered together. The probability of finding a Silver Goat among them is much higher. Plus, the Silver Goat’s level is higher than mine. By using Dark Assault and Black Shadow Stealth, I can conveniently unlock the [Assassin] Profession.”

”Is that so?” Chicken was skeptical, but after Blaze flicked her rear, she reluctantly took to the sky to search for the Steel Goats’ gathering place.

After Chicken left, Blaze also began searching for traces of the Steel Goats on his own. Although he had the [Hunter] Profession, he definitely couldn’t compare to a truly experienced hunter. The Skill for Tracking prey would only be unlocked later, so all he could do was move as stealthily as possible without making a sound.

”Hm?” Blaze smelled the metallic tang of blood. A burly, humanoid figure appeared not far away. A bad premonition welled up in his heart. This was the hidden Effect of triggering the [Forest Blessing].

A ”person” carrying a Silver Goat in its jaws slowly turned around, emitting a low roar of Intimidation from its throat. It was a Werewolf.

[Emergency Quest: Wolf’s Infiltration]