Meanwhile, back at the tavern in Sedgewick, Ozzy was sipping slowly on his third beer and deep in thought. The group needed to level their skills and stats this next week. They were starting at the bottom compared to regular players. Every point of stats mattered but raising those depended on their individual skills. He had STR skills to spare, and needed more CON and DEX to increase his ability to fight. His specialty was pretty one-sided. Suzette had a great set of skills now. She could level DEX, AGI, and CHA as a barmaid, and said she could also pick up more INT and WIS with her mystery skill. The tertiary skills would be slow after the initial couple of points, but based on how busy this place was, she'd be leveling the fastest of the group. Ben had a job that was sort of all or nothing. All his skills were wrapped up in successful courier runs. Hopefully he got more of those. He could also work on whip and hand cross-bow now, if they could get in some more mob grinding. Rolly had some problems. The poor guy was always upbeat, but Ozzy could tell something was bothering him. ACME hadn't even bought him a sheep dog to go with his class. It seemed like he was working on trying to tame a couple of the sedge beasts. The thought of him taking a pet cow into a dungeon didn't seem really practical. Maybe they could earn a bit more, pool their money and get him a big dog to train? They'd have to work on that. Ozzy had some ideas to pitch to the group. It would suck, but eating the uncured sedge beast steaks each day would get them some CON experience and raise Minor Poison Resistance. They'd have to start meeting up for lunch. Toolmaking also was something to grind if you didn't have a DEX skill. Looking at his own skills, he pondered throwing cabers. It wasn't a weapon he could really practice with. Or could he?He could see at night now, a little, and he really didn't need to sleep much. Maybe it was time to take advantage of Sleepless in Seattle and do some late night grinding. He finished his beer, waved to Suzette, and wandered out to the barn. He eyed the large pile of logs sitting next to the corral full of sedgebeasts. Lyle had herded a bunch in and they were packed tight. Like shooting fish in a barrel, at least until they got riled up a bit and started moving around. Take it slow maybe? Toss a tree then eat some yummy steak? Deal with the effects of the poisoned meat and do it again. It wasn't a great plan, but it was a plan. He got a small fire going in his firepit and carved off some fresh meat from one of the carcasses in the smokehouse.

If Billy or anyone asked what he was doing out here at night he'd just claim he was making sure the fires in the smokehouse were burning all night. A little unpaid overtime. Go ACME. He picked up a tree trunk at least twelve feet in length, balanced it upright, took a couple of steps and flipped it up in the air toward the corral. The log went end over end farther than he had expected and hit with the familiar sound of a bludgeoned sedgebeast.[You killed an adult sedgebeast. I'm not even going to calculate the damage. Really? Combining Caber with Slaughter? You gain 20 points in Caber ThrowingYou gain 22 points in STR.You gain 2 points in Slaughter.]

Ten minutes later, after a small snack, he got another notification.[Congratulations, you aren't Dead!The poison in your system is not nearly enough to kill you, but it's not going to be fun for the next few minutes. Damn, are you really going to try this? We were JOKING about leveling your CON this way...You have earned 5 experience in the skill Minor Poison Resistance and 5 experience in CON.]

OK, he had a routine. Toss a caber, eat some meat, be sick for a bit, and then fix tools while the cows settled down. Maybe he could break some sledgehammers, fix them, and repeat?

"What's step 1 of the plan?" Eddie was determined to keep going over things until these idiots got it right."This shit again? What, do you think we are stupid?" MasterTBlaster was annoyed with Eddie and didn't see the need to go over the plan again. He hated taking orders and hated rigid plans. Where was the fun in that. This guy acted like he was some sort of pro gamer and was riding his ass continuously.Eddie was relentless. "Yes, this shit again. I'm hoping you can show me you'll all be on the same page and I can start scouting the area.""Fine, fine. Step 1: Watch you pull sneaky crap, while we sit here in the dark and wait to burn the hell out of some buildings. We got this.""Don't be such an asshole, Master. We could have been done with this and getting paid if you didn't have such a chip on your shoulder.”

DangerRanger was regretting teaming with MasterTBlaster again - the guy just could not get along unless he was in charge and his plans amounted to shit. It was great working with Eddie; the guy was a pro. Maybe he had room in his crew? Then he could leave these losers behind.

"Thank you, Ranger. You're in charge of these two. I'm going to change and move up." As Eddie moved away from the group, he heard DangerRanger repeating the plan to the other two.

"Step 1: Don't do anything stupid. Stay where we are. Don't over react. Stay in cover.Step 2: On Eddie's signal move up along the preplanned pathway.Step 3: Once we are in position, he'll say 'Hit Them' and we unload with magic and fire arrows on the targets.Step 4: Once stuff is confirmed burning, we retreat, circle wide around the town and meet up with the other teams near the Keep."Edward BriarThorn had wanted a stealthy scout build for his character. He bypassed rogue as too many of the skills were combat oriented vs. reconnaissance. After rebuilding his character twice he'd chosen Druid. The shape changing ability was weak for combat, but ideal for infiltration. Spells allowed him to pass through areas with no hindrance, and leave no tracks. He was practically invisible in heavily forested areas, and could hide inside trees and large bushes. After carefully keeping any recon and shape changing abilities, he quit trying to level most of the combat skills, focused on the spells ‘Quick change,’ ‘Just one of the pack,’ and ‘Sense Predator.’ He was currently level 5 and working hard to move to Tier 2. He moved slowly up to one of the sleeping cattle, touched it lightly, then used Shape Change to assume its form. It took him only 10 seconds to change into a similar looking beast. He moved carefully and slowly, just moving among the sleeping cattle and marking a clear path on his map for the others to follow. Only a few of the cattle were out this way, most were jam packed in the large corral by the barn. The barn and its outbuildings were the target. Some info had been sent down the line that there were a lot of goods ready for shipment. Difficult to steal, but easy to destroy and give ACME a setback in this area. He had just made it up to the back of the corral when his Sense Predator spell sounded the alarm. There was a guard up by the barn. The spell was really going off, like a fire alarm. This psychopath must have hundreds of kills. No wonder scouts in this area kept respawning.It's understandable that with such a strong adversary taking up his attention he missed the stealthy movements of the large sedgebull coming up behind him.Ferdinand was taking his time. He didn't want to spook this little cutie. He didn't know where she had come from, but he'd smelled her from two pastures away. She had to be one of his herd, it was like something about her screamed 'I fit in here'. Luckily it was late enough that Betty was asleep. Damn she was jealous! Didn't she understand he was the 'Big Bull in the Herd?’ It was his responsibility to leave his mark on each of the cows and build up the herd with new calves.

He wasn't ready to set Betty aside just yet. She was one hell of a breeder. Their calves were really improving the herd. But he couldn't neglect his duties. Case in point, this delicate flower in front of him. He was going to claim her as his before one of the other bulls took notice of her. She had a fresh, untainted smell to her you just didn't find in most of the herd! Wasn't she going to be surprised to find out she'd been picked by none other than Ferdinand, Big Bull of the Herd?

It had been a long night for Ozzy. He'd repeatedly killed cows with a caber, broken several sledgehammers, eaten tainted meat, been sick, and then recovered while fixing sledgehammers. He figured dawn was about an hour away. He'd toss one more log and call it a night. Then he'd get a couple hours of sleep and start the day by hanging the carcasses in the barn to smoke. Being tired made Ozzy sloppy. He saw the sedgebeasts were mostly around the back of the corral. The front had a number of dead ones on the ground. But he didn't pay attention to the cow watching him from behind the corral. Nor did he notice a sneaky Ferdinand coming up behind that cow. But somewhere around the start of his throw, he did hear the sound of someone screaming. Ferdinand reared up and moved into position on top of his new lover and prepared to give her a big surprise. Eddie finally noticed the bull as it got on top of him, pinning him in a bad position. A couple of seconds later all confusion about what was going on was made clear, and Eddie went into full panic mode...[Welcome to Ferdinand's Herd!If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.You've caught the eye of the herds preeminent lover boy and he's got a present for you.Hopefully the kids look like you. You have gained the skill: BreederYou have been marked as belonging to Ferdinand.]

Ozzie heard a high pitched human voice coming from the cow and saw Ferdinand being it. "Oh God! Kill it! Kill it quick! Burn the damn thing! Shoot it full of holes! Please, oh please!"The crew sitting bored a hundred feet away in the bushes was only too happy to comply. They saw the large shadowy beast rear up and heard Eddie screaming. "Time to Burn! Twin Fireball!" "Activating triple shot! Activating Rain of Death! Special Flaming Ammo!"Bolts of Blasting launched. Bringing a Bolt of Conflagration online."The group sucked at stealth and following orders, but they were experts at 'yell loud and burn things.'Ozzy finished his three steps and launched the Caber about the time the first explosion went off. The surprise may have added a bit to how hard he threw the log. It sailed up into the air, flew entirely over the corral and came down on top the Ferdinand's paramour. His shoulder exploded in pain from an off target burning arrow.For once Eddie was relieved to die. Another two seconds and he'd have needed serious time with a therapist. The Engine running the game took note of the situation and pondered how to correct the problem. Rape wasn't possible in the game, but no one had ever taken into account a player changing into a female sedgebeast with an amorous bull around. The Engine added a warning to the Shape Change spell and went back to building a large dungeon.Ozzy got a system message that solved part of his confusion.[You have been attacked by a Player. You take 100 piercing damage and 10 fire damage. You have killed the player: Edward Briarthorn, level 5 Druid.You have each earned 500 points of experience in caber, and 50 experience in STR.]

A barrage of fire balls, fire arrows, and assorted incendiary spells erupted around Ferdinand as the trio of players quickly emptied their mana and stamina pools. They killed over a dozen sedgebeasts in the corral, leaving a smoking crater, and destroyed a large section of fence. But they didn't manage to kill Ferdinand. Sedgebeasts have a large amount of hit points. Angry Sedgebulls had triple the normal amount. And their blood red hides were resistant to fire. Ferdinand made a normal Angry Sedgebull look like a calf in comparison. He sported a dozen arrow wounds and he was smoking as he roared out of the crater made by the exploding arrows, and fireballs. And he was very, very angry. His new lover had been slain before they were even properly introduced! He'd been attacked in the middle of a tryst! And the perpetrators were very close. DangerRanger was the first to run. Sniperdiperdoo and MasterTBlaster tried to finish off the angry bull charging them, but they'd already used their big attacks. Normal arrows just stung and fire cantrips were useless. They were hiding behind two small trees. Ferdinand didn't care about trees, he just lowered his head and charged. Trees snapped, bones broke, and the two players were knocked backwards ten feet and stunned. Ferdinand hooked and gored their prone bodies and flipped them over his head. Both landed in the meadow with a bit of remaining health, bleeding heavily. Ferdinand kept going, chasing after the ranger who probably would have gotten away if Betty hadn't come to see what all the fuss was about. She impaled him with her center horn as he ran up. Ozzy came upon the two broken bodies in the meadow. He'd seen the end of the fight and cautiously moved up to where MasterTBlaster and Sniperdiperdoo lay unconscious. He recognized them from the fight at the bunny meadow. He kicked their weapons away from them, undid their armor, and took their pouches and backpacks. Neither protested, being barely alive. One punch for each finished them off. He'd just stacked up their gear next to their headstones when he saw Ferdinand and Betty coming. Betty was looking furious and ready to kill most anything, suspicious of what her bull had been up to. Ranger still dangled from her horn, barely alive. She used a headstone to scrape him off. Ferdinand was a mess of small burns and arrow wounds. His eyes were flaming and he stared hard at Ozzy and then at Betty, finally deciding to not risk her ire.[Ferdinand, Big Bull in the Meadow, Lover of a thousand cows, and Lord of the Herd has decided he doesn't like you. You have slaughtered many of his former lovers and today interrupted him at a delicate moment. Normally your death would be quick and horrible. However, The Lord of the Herd offers you a deal: "What happens at the corral stays at the corral."]

Ozzy nodded his head in assent but was horribly confused. How the hell was he getting a message from a cow? Not dying was good though. He watched the two huge sedgebeasts wander slowly back to the other meadow. He'd have to ask Rolly about maybe moving them further out in the meadows. He gathered up the gear after stripping DangerRanger of his armor and giving him a coup de grace. He piled the gear up on a table in the courtyard, then laid on the ground and took a nap.[My, but you had a busy night! You have killed several Players: Edward Briarthorn, level 5 Druid.MasterTBlaster, Level 3Sniperdiperdoo, Level 3DangerRanger, Level 4You have earned 1000 points of experience, 500 in Caber and 500 in Punching. You have killed 13 sedgebeasts with a caberYou have earned 1260 experience in STR. STR is now at Level 7/7You have earned 60 experience in Toolmaking. Toolmaking is now at level 1/5You have earned 60 experience in DEX. DEX is now at level 1/5You have earned 60 experience in Weak Poison Resistance. This skill is at 1/5.You have earned 60 experience in CON. CON is at 1/5]

Billy logged into the game. He needed to get to work FAST! Layla would be at Rowan Keep soon, but he had told her not to walk along the bandit infested road, and instead wait until he sent a courier for her. That would buy him a few hours. Next, he had to find those scouts he'd hired and get them moving. He needed something, anything - even if it was a big pile of rocks he could claim were ruins. He could put his people to work digging a damned dungeon and try to hold Vern off a few days. If you can't produce, delay. He walked into the courtyard and was met with a curious sight. Most of the workers were up and eating their muffins or groatmeal. One table was piled with armor, weapons, and backpacks. Ozzy was on the ground, face up and snoring. A broken arrow shaft stuck out of his left shoulder and his beard was singed."He was like that when we woke up Mr. Billy. Might have got hurt when the corral blew up." Lyle had taken a good look around the area he usually worked at and decided he'd wait a bit to get started."The corral blew up? What the hell went on here? I was just gone a couple of hours." "Well sir, there's a big crater where the back of the fence was, dead cows all over the place. There were also four headstones out in the meadow. Looks like Ozzy killed them all."Many pairs of eyes looked at the sleeping Ozzy. He was, if anything, bigger than when Billy had seen him a day or two ago. His hands were large and calloused. Neither the hard packed ground nor the arrow wound seemed to bother him. With a snort he quit snoring and sat up, causing most people to move away quickly. "Morning Ozzy. Hard night?""Oh, you know how it goes Mr. Billy. I was sleeping in the barn when I heard some commotion in the meadow and caught some Players screwing around with the cows. They tried to kill Ferdinand and messed up my corral. Don't worry, we'll get it all put back together. After the cows finished playing with them, I sort of walked around and knocked their heads in and brought back all their stuff. Guess I'll have Rolly pull this arrow out of me so I can get to work. Oh, is it ok if I sell all the gear to buy some tool handles? I keep swinging too hard and breaking them.""That's...yeah, that's just fine Ozzy. Sounds like a good way to go about it. You get some muffins and get taken care of." Billy knew there had to more to the story, but dammit, the man had killed a mercenary squad with his bare hands, brought in their gear, and wasn't even asking for a bonus. Ben and Rolly came around the corner from the direction of the tavern. Rolly was walking with a huge grin on his face. He grabbed an entire basket of muffins and started pushing them into his mouth. "These are so good, and I'm so hungry." Ben was sporting a fashionable new hat in the style of a musketeer. "I swear I miss everything. I hear Suzette was dancing on the tables at 5am and now I see you had some fun of your own last night. Rolly! Let’s get this wound of his taken care of so he can heal up and get to work." "Sure, lets head to the tavern. I need something to eat. Do they have steak for breakfast here? We can pull out that arrow and get him sewed up while I'm getting some chow."Billy made a note to tell the tech boys that the 'feel good' buffs were working great. That group in particular seemed happy and doing good work. If only the rest of his crew would get it together in the same way. He organized the rest into 4- and 5-man parties and sent them off into the wilds to start looking over the areas he hadn't assigned to his scouts, praying someone found something interesting. His scouts were just wandering up after an early breakfast at the tavern and morning beers. "Where the hell you three been? I need reports on anything you've found, especially old ruins or caves."Monger laughed. Greenburg pulled out a journal with a hand drawn deer on the front and opened it to a page showing a map of the area. One circular spot was suspiciously blank and surrounded by notes and marked points. Manwar spoke in a low drawl. "Well now, Billy, I don't know about caves, but how about a hidden city about a mile across and sealed by magical runestones. Would that interest you a bit?"Greenburg pointed to a line of copied runes. "I don't have the skill to decipher much of this. But one word is repeated over and over:"

Gadobhra