The most empathetic shepherd

"You are now a super sheep."

"Soul swap will last 24 hours."

"What in the frozen hell?!" I cried.

Or at least that's what I wanted to say, but all that came out was the confused sound of a sheep.

The first thing I saw when I woke up were the hooves of a sheep curled up underneath me.

Oh god! I'm not one of 'those' shepherds! I thought, as I jumped out of what I thought was my bed.

But to my astonishment, the hooves jumped right with me.

And rather than landing on my floor in my immaculately decorated bedroom, I landed with a soft thud on the surface of grass.

It was then that the series of text appeared in thin air in front of my face.

So was this the experiment the triplets were talking about?

And apparently… I did this?

I couldn't remember.

But one thing was for sure.

I'm truly a genius! I thought.

It felt incredibly awkward moving my now four legs as I slowly got used to the sensation of being in a sheep's body.

But the challenge only made me more delighted.

What farmer could ever hope to understand his animals greater than this? I jumped around in celebration.

A farm acts as a symbiotic system and now that I could truly understand the life of my sheep. I'd be sure to find a way to increase the productivity of my wool business, I thought.

Oh Mr Patwari was so concerned, but this will surely help make me known throughout the region as the wool king!

How could I forget such a groundbreaking experiment?

In my excitable hopping around my neck was suddenly tugged and I crashed to the floor.

I discovered a rope looped around my neck and tied to a tree.

Okay, I thought in realization, I'm in the body of a sheep, but what sheep? Where am I?

It seems I was in the middle of a forest.

The tree I was tied to stood a few meters away from a small fireplace that sat between two men.

One was sleeping and the other was glaring at me.

"What the hell is this little bastard acting up for!" The glaring one growled as he picked up a rock and threw it at me.

How rude!

However, rather than startling me, he sent his sleeping companion into a near panic and sighed with relief when he realized his idiot friend was being needlessly aggressive towards the highest quality of sheep money could buy.

"Damn it Turin, I told you we should have taken the roads. You know what's supposed to be in these lands." A man who looked like his spine had been stretched out every day since his birth jumped out of his camp bed.

"Wasn't it you who told me this damn sheep belongs to some damn old wizard of damn near invincible power?" The one named Turin replied. "And you want us to use the roads? Really? Besides, fiend beasts haven't been spotted in these parts in years since the purge."

Old wizard of invincible powers? I recalled the strange text calling me a super sheep.

So, I'm now in the body of my missing sheep, I thought.

I really am brilliant.

"And I told you, that if there's even the slightest chance one survived, a sheep is the perfect kind of bait." Said the Stretchy Man. "They were purged in the first place because they kept attacking livestock."

"Well since you're so worried, you can take the next watch, and as for you." Turin suddenly ran at me. With his size it was like a bear charging downhill. He kicked my head with such force that…

Oh would you look at that, I didn't even feel it.

Of course I wouldn't, this is my undying sheep.

Hahahaha, I'm invincible you idiots!

"You, Turin grabbed me round the throat, "calm the hell down."

"You're a real sheep whisperer." Stretchy man said.

"They might be undying, but they're still brainless creatures. Its instincts are still to cower."

This man is really digging his own grave, I thought.

"Besides, if you're so worried about some extinct fiend beast, you can take watch." He said as I laid down by the fire and pulled a blanket over himself.

"Your turn is in two hours…" But Stretchy Man was only met with a loud snore.

He sighed, "well an idiot like you wouldn't notice if one of those creatures did come anyway." He whispered.

So, these two men were the ones who stole my sheep, I thought.

They think they can just steal from me and get away with it?

Not only that, they think they can just rough up my property?

Sheep have feelings too you bastards!

I thought of spells that would boil their blood, or make the under tips of their nails seethe with frostbite.

Ah that's right, that spell will be perfect for them. I thought.

I'll show you what happens when the power of a sheep and its shepherd combine.

Take this!

…

Uh…

Sheep can't use magic…

…

Wait, what about the rest of that text?

-

Level 1.

Health: 1,000,000

Defense: 1,000,000

Attack: 1

Speed: 5

Stamina: 10

-

What the hell is a level?

Do these numbers represent the strengths of this sheep?

Health and defense make sense as I naturally made them invincible.

But 1 attack?

It was then that I noticed a skills section. Rather than noticing it, the information simply appeared in front of me, as if it knew what I was looking for.

Skills:

Instant Regeneration: 'Any damage the user obtains will be healed immediately. Body parts will begin to regrow immediately if they are severed or damaged beyond repair.

…

Those triplet harlots!

Although I don't remember, I put them in charge of this experiment and those idiots have ensured that I can't do anything!

So what if I have good defense and godlike regeneration?

I may as well be a tree if I have no way of attacking some pair of thieving thugs!

Also how arbitrary is this system? What about other attributes?

Where's intelligence, surely if the shepherd is a genius the sheep should be clever too right?

Most importantly there is no number at all associated with my wool quality.

Wasn't that the whole bloody point!?

This is definitely the fault of those poor excuses of spirits, I'll have to discipline them later.

Thankfully it seems my soul will return after 24 hours. I'll just have to endure.

But I will not forget this humiliation!

As soon as I return to my body I will make sure to find these bastards.

DING!

'A new quest has appeared!'

What?

'Sudden Quest: Defeat the fiend beast!

"What do they mean, there's no-?" I baa'd to myself.

At that moment I noticed Stretchy Man's look of horror as he looked up at the tree line above us just in time for a bucket full of saliva splattered onto his face.

"FIEND BEAST!" He screamed.

A black creature with teeth that looked like churned up stone was wrapped around a tree above us. It was serpent like and was as long as six sheep, or so I estimated in the moment.

What do you mean quest? I thought back to the system.

How am I meant to beat that monster if I have no magic?! I'm a bloody sheep for goodness sake! I yelled inwardly.