The six sheep came over the hill faster than Zion expected.
Their hooves tore through the grass as they charged in a loose cluster, heads lowered and eyes fixed on the adventurers who had killed one of their own.
Two more sheep joined from near the creek, turning what had looked like a harmless pasture only moments ago into a wall of white wool racing straight toward the party.
The tank stepped forward and raised his shield.
“Behind me!”
The others moved without hesitation.
The rogue pulled closer to his left side, while the mage and healer shifted behind him.
Zion watched from above with growing anticipation.
This was exactly what he had built the open field for.
The sheep had enough room to gain speed, the adventurers had nowhere nearby to hide, and the nearest fence forced them to either stand their ground or retreat toward the entrance.
The first sheep slammed into the shield with a crack loud enough to carry across the pasture.
The tank slid backward almost a full step before managing to brace himself.
A second sheep crashed into the shield, followed by another from the side, and his arm dropped slightly beneath the repeated impacts.
Zion’s excitement spiked.
“They’re doing it.”
The rogue lunged toward the nearest sheep, but the moment her knife struck its side, another changed direction and charged her.
She twisted away just in time.
The sheep missed her hip by inches before crashing awkwardly into the fence.
The mage reacted next.
“Spread them out!”
He raised his staff and fired a blue bolt toward the ground ahead of the flock.
Dirt burst into the air, startling two sheep enough to break their charge, but the others kept coming.
The tank blocked another headbutt and grunted.
“This is not a petting zoo!”
Zion paused as something warm and satisfying settled through him.
“That’s better.”
The healer placed one hand against the tank’s back, and golden light flowed through his armor.
The shaking in his arm eased enough for him to raise the shield properly again.
The party adjusted quickly after that.
The rogue stopped trying to circle behind individual sheep and stayed close to the tank instead, striking whenever one collided with his shield.
The mage changed tactics too, aiming his spells at the ground and fencing so he could break the sheep’s momentum before they reached the group.
One by one, the sheep disappeared in small puffs of white smoke.
The last one managed to slam into the rogue’s leg before she killed it.
She stumbled backward and caught herself against the fence, then looked down at the bruise already forming along her thigh.
“That actually hurt.”
The mage laughed, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“You wanted to pet them.”
“I changed my mind.”
Zion looked across the empty field where the flock had been.
They had still lost but the party had been forced to change its strategy.
That alone felt like a victory.
The adventurers could no longer walk straight through the floor while treating his monsters like farm animals.
A notification appeared.
[Combat data acquired.]
[Pack Mentality successfully triggered.]
Combat data?
He didn’t realize the dungeon tracked things like that.
His attention returned to the field as he mentally replayed the fight.
Individually, the sheep were still terrible.
One adventurer could probably kill one without much trouble, and the first sheep had already proved exactly that.
But once the others reacted, everything changed.
The open field gave them enough distance to build speed.
The fence kept the adventurers from spreading too far apart, and the hill hid most of the flock until they were already charging.
Zion paused.
He had added each of those things for different reasons.
Together, they had created something much stronger than he expected.
“So the floor matters just as much as the monsters.”
That was useful information.
Very useful.
His attention shifted toward the fence the rogue had nearly crashed into.
Maybe he could move it closer to the hill.
If the sheep forced adventurers toward that side again, the narrower space would make it harder to dodge.
He could probably shift one of the trees too and make the opening even tighter.
Zion was already imagining the new layout when he stopped himself.
The party was still inside.
He wanted to start changing things immediately, but altering the floor while challengers were using it felt suspiciously close to cheating.
More importantly, he wanted to see how they handled the rest of the design as it was.
He decided to save the idea for later.
“Fine.
Keep going.”
The party continued deeper into the pasture, except this time, they moved much more carefully.
***
Gareth kept his shield raised as they crossed the field.
One sheep looked ridiculous.
Eight of them were much less funny.
He rotated his shoulder and tested the soreness in his arm.
“June?”
“I already healed the worst of it.”
June walked behind him with her mace hanging loosely at her side.
Her expression remained calm, though Gareth noticed the way she flexed the fingers of her casting hand.
She had spent more mana than expected on the first encounter.
Mara was only limping slightly.
“I still say the sheep are cute.”
Elias looked toward her.
“One almost broke your knee.”
“Cute things can be violent.”
“That is not a defense.”
Mara ignored him and crouched beside the fence.
The floor had looked simple when they first entered, but the farther they traveled, the more deliberate everything seemed.
The hills blocked sightlines.
The fences redirected movement without making the path feel forced.
Even the sheep had been placed far enough apart that attacking one could pull in others from areas they had not checked.
Mara stood again and dusted off her hands.
“Whoever built this knew what they were doing.”
Gareth looked at her.
“You were calling it a petting zoo fifteen minutes ago.”
“It can be both.”
Elias snorted.
The next encounter went better.
This time, they spotted three sheep near the creek before the animals noticed them.
Elias attacked first and forced one away from the others.
Gareth intercepted the second while Mara rushed the third, killing it before Pack Mentality could draw another large group into the fight.
That was when the pattern became obvious.
Killing a sheep was not difficult.
Keeping the rest from reacting was.
The party slowed down after that.
They stopped treating every sheep like an individual monster and started watching the space around it instead.
Hills became potential blind spots.
Open fields became charge lanes.
Even the harmless-looking fences earned a second glance before they crossed them.
By the time they finally reached the barn, all four of them were breathing harder than they expected.
Gareth looked up at the large doors.
The interior beyond them was dark.
After everything else on the floor, that bothered him more than it should have.
He tightened his grip around the sword.
“Stay sharp.”
I wouldn’t mind petting some sheep~