Intruders and Experiments
"I don't know what you idiots are so scared of." Said one of the intruders. "Sitting at the edge of the farm worried about some ghost stories? Pathetic."
Five men followed him with worry on their faces as they looked at me. But with his words, their faces hardened.
"But what about that large cracking sound we heard just before? We shouldn't be here." One hissed back at him.
I smiled in as welcoming a manner as I could. "It's quite normal to be nervous on your first day of work," I said. It's often the cocky ones that don't last."
The intruder gave a light punch to the one who had pleaded with him and grinned at me before turning to the others. "Well at least that confirms one of the rumors. This old man is a total nut!"
Old man? I thought. This cocky intruder looks like he's only in his 30s, I wasn't much older than that. Am I?"
While I was mulling over this, the newcomer pulled out a knife.
"What are you doing?" Jelkin asked.
He shrugged. "May as well confirm another rumor."
He grabbed the nearest sheep and stabbed it.
"Stop!" Cried Yelkin.
But it was too late.
The knife had already broken.
The sheep snorted completely unharmed as it trotted away.
The iron of the knife, on the other hand, was left shattered into a dozen pieces on the ground.
The intruders stood there in a stunned silence. The leader with the knife looked at them and looked at me, then back at the sheep. "What the fu-"
His head exploded.
Look, I made my sheep near impervious to damage, but that doesn't mean I can't get upset when some arrogant bastard waltz onto my land, calls me old and starts attacking them right in front of me.
Maguire had attempted to use the event to gradually sneak away from me but when the intruder's head exploded, he bolted.
I sighed as I closed my eyes and summoned a bloodhound.
Although it took the shape of a dog that had been bathed in blood and dried in fire, it was the size of a bear. It immediately sniffed out the intruder's corpse and to the horror of everyone else, it devoured it.
After it was finished it galloped towards me with its tail wagging like a tornado.
"Yes yes, come here Sprinkles, it's been a long time since you had human flesh, hasn't it?" I said, patting it as it headbutted my chest affectionately.
"I know it's your favorite but it's not easy to get that in this part of the world without being a murderer and you know I'm not that, right?" Sprinkles licked my hand in agreement.
"Now go and fetch that young lad running across the paddock, uh, but don't hurt him."
I turned my attention to the other men who hadn't dared to move.
In the background I could hear Maguire screaming as Sprinkles caught up to him. He was yelling something about being some second son of someone and such. I didn't pay attention as instead I lined the intruders up in front of Jelkin.
"I really thought you ran out on me like the others Jelkin, but instead, knowing I was in need of labor, you brought your friends with you." Much like his cousin Jelkin opted to stare at the ground, only nodding slightly at what I was saying.
"No need to be so anxious," I said to the men as I studied their terrified expressions. "You're hired, congratulations!"
"As for you Jelkin, I'm promoting you to farm manager. I expect you will have these fellas trained up in no time."
They were so happy they were speechless! Though a little bit too speechless and as Sprinkles happily came back to my side while dragging a crying Maguire by leg, I managed to convince them that it would be a good idea to clap for Jelkin and his promotion.
After all, it's important for organizations to have solidarity!
. . .
That evening I sat at my table and pondered over the missing sheep.
I had no time to search for him further, I had already sacrificed a mornings worth of tasks.
Besides, I had no leads.
After interrogating Jelkin and his new friends, it was clear that they never stole the lost lamb.
I looked at Maguire, passed out underneath a sleeping Sprinkles.
Why did my tracing spell go to him? Normally I wouldn't think about such things, not anymore at least.
But if it concerned my sheep then I had no choice but to think about the threads of fate that surrounded the boy.
"You really don't know do you?" A voice appeared from an empty chair beside me.
"I told you he wouldn't know." A different voice came from behind.
"He himself predicted this, though he has forgotten." A third voice echoed from above.
"Good evening Tristle, Triss, Trist. Always a pleasure, now, what on earth are you talking about?" I said.
Three figures slowly began to take shape. However, spirits of their kind never took shape completely.
With an ephemeral glow, their shapes constantly switched between young and old, tall and short, petite and voluptuous.
The sister spirits danced around me. They laughed and danced on the table as they cheered my name, but I could not hear it.
"Even if you don't know," they said in unison. "The experiment has been completed and we are bound to report back to you, as per our contract." They said in unison
"What experiment?" I asked.
They giggled.
"It's about your sheep." They said.
"As of midnight tonight, when the moon shines bright and the stars of Drion are alight, your sheep will have the soul of another." Tristle said.
"And you will be able to guide his fate." Triss said.
"And guiding his fate, will reveal your own." Trist finished.
I didn't have the faintest idea what they were talking about.
But they were spirits after all, for every drop of wisdom they threw liters of madness.
And I certainly was not going to stay up until midnight. How am I expected to run a farm on four hours of sleep?
Rejuvenating spells aside, it's the principle of the matter.
. . .
DING!
"Your soul has been transmigrated."
LOADING
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–
—
"You are now a super sheep."
Level 1:
Health: 1,000,000
Defence: 1,000,000
Attack: 1
Speed: 5
Stamina: 10
"Soul swap will last 24 hours."