Auntie toasts the VRMMORPG 66 66. Counting Sheep

Description: A flock of sheep has to be herded to their stable. Don't touch the sensitive animals.

Type: Strategy / Survival

Duration: average 43 min

Requirements: none

Restrictions: Restricted Inventory

Level-Cap: 5

Rating: A

Price: 10 VirDias

Flora landed on a sunny meadow. The grass was unbelievable green, and the five sheep incredibly fluffy. The graphics were cartoon-like; it reminded Flora on the scene in the movie Mary Poppins where real people entered a cartoon fair. She started to hum the melody of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious while putting her stuff on the lawn.

A crook leaned on a rock, and Flora grabbed it.

Quest: Shepherd, herd the Sheep - Level 1

Description: Herd 3/3 sheep to the Spring Meadow.

Reward: Next Level.

Penalty: Scenario ends

Time-Limit: 5 min

Difficulty: E

Name: Sunny Meadows Crook

Description: Every shepherd needs one

Regular mode: 1 OV manregeneration

Built-In Spell: Hurry Up; CD: 25 sec; Range: 10 m;

Description: Increases the movement speed of the target animal.

Built-In Spell: Conveep; CD: 5 min; Range: 10 m;

Description: All animals flock to the crook.

Tier: 1

Rating: C

During the time Flora read the texts, Aitoshuri and Aidan lead the sheep through a gate to the next meadow. There, three more sheep munched grass. A brook parted the field, and the next gate was on the other side.

Quest: Shepherd, herd the Sheep - Level 2

Description: Herd 6/6 sheep to the Boulder Meadow.

Reward: Next Level.

Penalty: Scenario ends

Time-Limit: 5 min

Difficulty: D

Aidan took the left side, Aitoshuri the right side, and Flora walked between them behind the sheep. Expertly, they funneled the flock over a narrow bridge to the other bank and through the waiting gate.

The third quest added three more sheep and big rocks as obstacles. It provided no challenge for the team.

Entering the next meadow with three additional sheep, they had to herd the flock between rocks and idyllic ponds. The obstacle course was as long as the first meadows combined.

On the fifth meadow stood two white and one blue sheep. Flora happily counted them. Of course, she could multiply three by five, but that would counter the purpose of the exercise.

In the middle of the obstacle course lay a more extensive pond with ducks swimming. When they passed them, they took to the air. The quacking and fluttering wings spooked the sheep. Maybe Flora shrieking in surprise had something to do with it as well, not that she would admit to it. The flock spread in all directions, only the blue sheep stood still and baaed at the flying ducks.

Overcompensating for her earlier mishap, Flora ran around following some lost sheep but dispersed other sheep on the way.

"Milady, it would help if you would stand beside this rock and block of the perpendicular direction," Aidan suggested politely.

"I'll wait here, sweeties. You got this!" Flora might not be clever enough to herd sheep, but she was smart enough to follow good advice.

Quest: Shepherd, herd the Sheep - Level 6

Description: Herd a minimum of 17/18 sheep to the Rose Garden.

Reward: Next Level.

Penalty: Scenario ends

Time-Limit: 10 min

Difficulty: C

The next meadow looked suspiciously easy. Flora could see the gate 50 meters away.

"Aidan, please scout. That can't be as simple as it looks."

While Aidan inspected the field, Flora and Aito circled the flock. As soon as they stood still, the cute rascals wandered off. Especially the blue one was looking for a way to escape their watch.

"Patches of thistles are hidden in the grass, Milady."

Flora changed positions with Aidan and walked over the thorny plants.

Scratched: 1 x - 1 HP / min. Time remaining 25 sec.

Every step added a stack of the debuff. After three steps, another debuff appeared.

Sliced: 1 x – 1 HP / 10 sec. Time remaining 10 sec.

A glance at the sheep's batches showed they were level 5 and rated E. Aidan estimated they had around 50 HP.

Flora had seen enough. A quick search of her inventory produced 20 torches.

"I'll mark the way. Give me a bit lead."

Every few meters, Flora put down the torch. When the passage between two patches was narrow, she stuck two torches to mark the path.

The AIs chased the sheep expertly. At the gate, only a few of the had some scratches, which Flora healed with Bless and Condemn.

The next quest was rated B, but fortunately, only 18/21 sheep needed to make it to the next gate. This time, the obstacle course led through a rose garden. A trail curved through lush vegetation under arches with white rambler roses. Benches on the sides invited idle visitors to take a break.

Flora couldn't see the other end because of the bushes. Hence she gave the command to make haste.

A sharp turn irritated one sheep. First, it hopped on a bench, then over it. Now, it was surrounded by rose bushes on the back, rose arches on the side, and the seat in front.

!

Straining her magical muscles, Flora managed to lift the sheep half a meter in the air before her mana ran out. The spell wasn't made for an object this heavy, and Flora lacked the magical power to compensate.

The sheep baaed in protest and fled deeper into the bush.

After casting Refresh and drinking a mana potion, Flora tried the next spell.

!

It worked. The sheep flew towards Flora, who caught it. Just when she wanted to pet it, it exploded in her arms.

Flora found herself in the treadmill-tunnel in the Simulation Grounds. She blinked, scratched her head, and blinked again.

"Did the sheep blow up?"

"Yes, Milady."

"Well, the scenario did warn us not to touch them ..." Flora trailed of. "Is my other body in the workshop and apartment still training?"

"Yes, Milady."

"Excellent. From now on, we carry out all the scenarios in the Simulation Grounds. Level 7 on the first try is pretty good. Let's do it again." Flora yawned. "This time alone. Aidan, accept all the quests for me. You are allowed to restart the scenario as well. Wake me up if it gets too complicated to pull me."

"What do you mean by 'pull', Milady?"

During Aidan's speech, Flora entered her workshop, had put some wheels under an ironing board, and stabled her sleeping bag to it. Then she copied the construction into the SG.

"I see, Milady."

After returning to the level 1 meadow, Flora snuggled into her bag and was fast asleep. Forget about counting sheep. Nothing calmed down engineers more than a nice explosion.

"Run, Milady!"

Flora was instantly wide awake. On her HUD was a glowing arrow, and she sprinted towards it. The gate in front of her was closing fast.

!

Just before it shut down, Flora catapulted through the opening.

Quest completed: Shepherd, herd the Sheep - Level 10

Reward: Sunny Meadows Crook

Time-Limit: 10 min

Difficulty: A

Rating: B (28/30 sheep)

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"Hey! What about the Sheep spell?"

"We will only acquire the spell if we finish the quest with all the sheep in the stable, Milady. And we found a disadvantage when using the SG as the starting point. You can't take your loot out of it."

"Or lamb chops, oh well. Again!"

Flora woke up from the howling of the wind. The quest displayed Level 8. After orienting herself, she realized that Aidan pulled her up a mountain while Aitoshuri tried to convince the sheep to fight against the storm and climb upwards.

Except for a few sparse trees, the scenery was paltry and gray. Even the animals looked pitiful. Their usually fluffy wool lay flat on their bodies, and their heads hang down. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and every time the sound drifted to them, the sheep stopped and ducked.

"I can't believe I slept through this last time."

"Three times, to be exact, Milady."

Then a boulder rolled down from the mountain. While Flora struggled out of the sleeping bag, Aidan sprang in the air and shot laser-beams at the rock. The beams hit the rock in rapid succession, pulverizing it.

"Excellent maneuver, Aidan. Directly from the Aitoshuri Supreme School of Kicking, I guess?"

"Aitoshuri taught it to me, but I wasn't aware that she owned a school, Milady."

Flora grinned, and she joined the AIs. Now, they built an inverted triangle with Aidan and Aitoshuri at the flanks, Flora on the lower tip and the sheep on the upper line. Progress was still slow but not painfully anymore. Flora could already see a ravine with a gate.

"Attention, Milady. The last time we lost a sheep because lightning struck."

"On the sheep?"

"A tree was hit and fell on the flock."

Right next to the gate stood three trees they couldn't avoid.

"We need a lightning rod." First, Flora thought of the hungry chest. It was mostly metal, but only three-meter tall, and she had no free nocks to power it. Then, she decided to emulate Benjamin Franklin. Out of her old blue mage robe, wires, rope, and duct tape, she created a kite at high speed.

Name: Improvised Lightning-Rod Kite

Type: Hybrid: Kite / Lightning Rod

Rating: B

Tier: 1

'Please, something helpful to attract lightning. Something which lets me survive would be nice as well.'

!

Buff: Lightning-Powered. The device can draw energy from lightning strikes.

Trailing behind the flock of sheep and the squids, Flora let the kite rise above tree level.

They closed in on the ravine. Flora's eyes darted nervously between the sheep, the trees, the sky, and the kite.

!

After Aidan opened the gate, the octopussies herded the sheep through it.

When half the flock was in the ravine, it finally came. A lightning strike flashed through the sky, hitting the kite. Through the wires, it grounded itself in the earth. Unexpectedly, the electricity went down the rope as well and hit Flora. Her body spasmed, and multicolored lights flashed through her HUD.

Flora blinked. Her hair stood straight in the air, her knees felt still shaky, and a massive junk of her HP Pool was missing, but otherwise, she felt fine.

"This is unscientific. It should have safely grounded itself, and since when are hemp ropes conductors?" Flora blinked again and threw away the blackened left-overs of molten wires and rope.

-----------------------------------------------

You gained an achievement: Tempered by Lightning.

+ 1 OV to lightning affinity

-----------------------------------------------

The storm didn't disturb their shepherding efforts. On the opposite, the sheep hurried away from the flash deeper in the ravine, and they completed the level.

Quest: Shepherd, herd the Sheep - Level 9

Description: Herd a minimum of 23/27 sheep to the Central Plateau.

Reward: Next Level.

Penalty: Scenario ends

Time-Limit: 10 min

Difficulty: B

"What's up with this level?"

"It's dark, Stalagmites fall, and cave gnolls attack."

Flora fetched her headlight and put it on. "What have you done against stalagmites? And what is a gnoll, and how do you handle them?"

"The fall of a stalagmite is prefaced by vibrating and rumbling." Aidan explained, and Flora suppressed the urge for exclaiming, "This is unscientific!" again. "The gnolls are weak humanoid cave dwellers, and one of us kills them while the other minds the sheep, Milady. Both obstacles are easy to defeat."

"Great work! I'm impressed, sweeties."

Meanwhile, they had entered a cave. After the light from the entrance went away, Flora could only vaguely recognize the white wool of the sheep before she activated her headlights. The flashlights illuminated only a narrow cone. Flora had to move her head around to see the whole flock. When the rumbling started, she couldn't narrow down more than the general direction. The first stalagmite crashed to the ground before she could identify it.

Fortunately, the robots had a better sight thanks to the new sensors Flora splurged on. She felt a bit useless but was happy for her foresight and Aito's feedback about the insufficient sensors under low light conditions.

"Aidan, do we have a spell for light in one of our books?"

"Yes, Milady. The book '1000 Homemaker Spells' has the spells Candlelight, Torchlight, Lantern, and GlammerGlitter."

"I need all, especially the last one!"

Candlelight and Torchlight held the promise of their name, but to Flora's delight, you could cast them as AoE. At the moment, Flora could only conjure a few dozen candles, but Aidan assured her that the amount would rise with her level mastery.
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GlammerGlitter conjured glowing orbs, you could color them to your liking and move them around, but you had to channel the spell, which Flora deemed unpractical. She was disappointed; she had expected more fabulousness from this skill. Though, the sheep seemed to like it. The blue sheep even tried to catch a blue orb.

The Lantern spell was the clear winner. You could put a magic lantern in the air, and it moved with you. Flora placed it above the flock of sheep and could finally admire the cave. The white stalagmites and stalactites glimmered and shimmered as nicely as she hoped the last spell would.

The robots had the situation under control. Hence Flora's mind was free to wander to the tenth level. Last time she had seen nothing because she focused on running to the final gate.

"It's a combination of all the previous levels, Milady," Aidan answered her question.

"Oh dear, show me the section with the gardening spells, Aidan."

(A/N: Do you know which game had exploding sheep?)

Chapter end