"I'm not here to fight, but I'm interested in offering you something good."
The buffalos released an echoing snort, showing their interest in Ken's offer. He didn't open his words with what he needed, but with what he could offer them instead.
Ken took out his cauldron and concocted a third-grade Bloodline Refining Pill. He didn't know the exact anatomy of the buffalos, so he used the recipe he had for horses, assuming it'd be effective enough even if not perfect.
When the concoction process was done, 5 pills came out of the cauldron, hovering toward the near 5 buffalos. They grunted in worry as they eyed the pills suspiciously, but the man in front of them lacked any type of ill intent, and their instincts told them to eat the round thing in the air.
Some of the herd already lost interest and went back to eat, while the rest watched the scene unfolds. The five buffalos soon sensed a torrent of energy surges through their body, evolving their cells and refining their bloodline.
They could hear a distant powerful bellow, and they knew it wasn't from the outer world but from the inner mind; it was the call of their ancestor, and they could hear it through the purified blood.
"EEEUUHHHH!"
The five buffalos' bellow almost sounded like a roar. Their yell told every member of the herd how satisfied they were with the pill, and no beast remained indifferent to Ken's presence now.
The animals soon surrounded the young boy, looking at him with covetous eyes and snorting lightly in an affectionate way as if they wanted to sweet-talk him into concocting additional medicine.
"Haha, you want more? Of course, you can have more, but I just need to learn more about your body to prepare the perfect pill for you guys. The pill those five ate was one of my weakest pills, and the better ones can turn you into powerful beasts that would never have to fear any other predator again."
"Euuhhhh!"
One buffalo quickly stepped forward, placing his body right in front of Ken's face. With his height as a young teen, Ken couldn't touch the animal's back with his hand without jumping.
"All right, you will be first then."
Ken channeled his Qi throughout the young bovine's body, scanning it to find the differences between it and the structure of the horses he had researched back at the Phoenix Feather Sect.
Arriving at a conclusion, he began concocting the next batch of pills, and it didn't take long for additional five pills to float to the buffalo. Ken watched the buffalo's body change and improved until the pill was finally ingested.
"Eeuuhh!"
The tall animal snorted enthusiastically and ran to meet with one of the strengthened buffalos from earlier head-on, literally. Their horns met with one another, and the former twisted its head in a swift movement and threw its opponent on the ground. Ken could swear the snorts that followed were mocking laughter.
Fifth-rank beasts were powerful and intelligent, and while they couldn't produce words, they were smart enough to understand them in most cases. Language was an innate ability for most animals in this world, which might be one of the main contributors to the fact that everyone spoke the same language.
Not all beasts could understand human language, but those at the fourth rank and above always had a basic understanding of it.
"See guys? Those pills will make you stronger than your peers, and you will only grow stronger as time pass. Do you want me to make more for you?"
"Euh!"
The buffalos snorted excitedly, happy to see the stranger that came out of nowhere giving them free gifts.
"But nothing is free! I gave you a taste of my pills, but whether you get more will be up to you. I will give a pill to anyone that gives me their mark."
Ken stated in a loud voice, making the buffalos grunt dissatisfiedly when they realized they were victims of a marketing campaign.
None of the animals agreed to the deal, but Ken didn't panic.
"Aiya, those pills are so expensive to make. I've spent months collecting all the herbs needed to make a couple of hundred pills. I will raise my offer to two pills for a mark and remain with nothing."
Ken feigned sadness as he lamented over the lost resources that he worked so hard to accumulate. He could see the temptation in the beasts' eyes, but they still weren't willing to give up their marks. Losing their marks was too dangerous.
"All right, since you guys are so stubborn. I will give up all my belongings to make a fourth-grade pill for you and add it to the two pills I promised earlier."
Ken sat down and concocted the fourth-grade version of the Bloodline Refining Pill. When five shiny pills floated out of the cauldron, the buffalos barely stopped themselves from charging at the treasures.
"How is that? It might even make the sixth rank possible, isn't it much better than keeping a mark that can't help you overcome your limits?"
The buffalos looked at one another hesitantly, unsure if they should take the deal. The appeal of the chance to get to the next rank was irresistible, and Ken already anchored the price for their marks as a single third-grade pill, which made them see the current offer as an extravagant exchange.
The same buffalo that donated its body to science earlier returned to Ken and rubbed its snout against Ken's hand. Picking the hint, the human child took his Blood Token out of his pocket and held it out.
He saw a small rune fly from the buffalo's body and moves to the Blood Token.
"Good boy, here's my part of the deal."
Ken smiled at it sweetly and gave it two third-grade pills and a single fourth-grade one. It didn't take long for the other buffalos to approach him and make the same exchange.
He had to sit there for an hour or two to concoct all the pills he promised, but thanks to his avid robberies, his stocks were full, unlike what he told the beasts.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢