After resting he collected his spoils which are the beast's corpse and core, before mounting Bjorne.
He then pulled out a map and compass while guiding Bjorne on where to go. When he pointed in a direction the tank like Bjorne charged straight ahead without even worrying about what's in front of him.
A trail of broken trees was left in the wake of Bjorne after his directions and it only stopped once they reached an open plane which acted as a marker for the end of the Blood Peaked Mountain Range.
Previously it took him a few days to reach the forest from the city but with the use of Bjorne it only took 8 hours.
When he arrived back at the city that he left Rat Face to look after, he saw major changes even just at the gate. The guards manning the entrance from the forest where both high rank 1, not only that but they where also checking everyone individually and doing a routine check on item goods.
Due to the size of Bjorne he couldn't just casually walk in with him so instead he pulled out a pill he created a few weeks ago for this exact situation. This pill was special as it wasn't from the alchemist master's memories but instead the body cultivator/beast tamers. It was a special pill made of mostly beast materials and rare herbs called the shrinking pill.
A bit on a lack lustre name, but what could you expect from a pill created and named by a beast tamer instead of an alchemist. It was a special pill which does what it's called and shrinks the consumer.
The beast tamer separated it from an alchemist pill by calling it a beast pill, which means only beasts can eat it. It is a grade 0 pill because it doesn't have different strengths, its more like a universal pill based on the grade of the beast.
If you want to give the pill to a grade 1 beast then the matierals required in making the pill would have to be from a grade 1, if the pill was for a grade 2 beast then grade 2 materials would have to be used.
The grade of the beast would dictate the materials needed, though the reason why its ungraded is because no matter how high the grade of materials used it doesn't actually increase the effectiveness.
The pill allows the beast that consumes it to control its size by imbuing the pill with a little Qi. It only allows the beast to shrink and return to its size, it doesn't allow it to get bigger or provide other benefits, but even then it's a very useful pill.
'Man this beast refiner was dumb. He clearly can't see the potential of this pill by calling it a simple pill for convince. If I were to tame a bunch of extremely poisonous bugs that are already really small then give them this to make them even smaller, I would have the most dangerous bugs in existence. That's only for assassination purposes, let alone for reconnaissance.
I could even use it on creatures like Bjorne to turn them into things like Ant Man from back home, as even if they are smaller their strength stays the same meaning Bjorne would turn into a giant bullet with all his strength. Damn the uses of this pill, too bad the materials are really rare as even though 80% of the pill is beast materials and aren't hard to get the remaining 20% are really rare herbs that need to be the exact grade needed. Even with my farm growing them they still take a while to get the exact ones needed.'
He gives the pill to Bjorne who swallows it without hesitation. Once swallowed the pill instead of dissolving like a normal pill instead made its way to Bjornes core and situated itself next to it.
He then explained to him that he only needs to infuse a little Qi into it to reduce his size and then has him reduce his size from that of a giant lorry to the size of a regular wagon. Even though his size if reduced the aura he produces is still one similar to that of a late rank 2 beast.
He obviously doesn't do this out in the open and has long been taking a break from the long journey in his internal world. Once his size has been changed, they leave and arrive at the gate within only a few minutes.
Unlike the first time he visited this city, he no longer has his mask nor the same get up as before. Instead, he is now wearing a deep purple daoist robe with golden accents, with a golden panda emblem on the front, which just so happens to be the royal crest of his family.
Going to the gates wearing this symbol the surrounding people rapidly moved out of the way, they would have anyways due to Bjorne looking quite intimidating but when they saw the crest it made them panic.
He skipped to the front and walked straight through on Bjorne. This was not only due to the crest but also that the guards where under his control anyways and instantly recognise him.
Now being in the city which was recently renamed to Spring Bamboo City, he looks around and is happy with the changes made. The whole city's vibe is completely different. Before the atmosphere was dreary and miserable, but now it's filled with laughter and positive vibes.
The previously grimy streets are now neat and tidy using the cleaning methods he showed the city lord while also making use of the mass amount of jobless people by paying them to do small jobs like this.
The streets where bustling with regular guard patrols being seen and even new areas of the city that where once dumps starting to flourish with new business ventures.
'This is what the city should have looked like from the start, its right next to the blood peaked mountain range which is filled with beasts and other materials so there should be tons of trade goods coming through here. Seems like its finally starting to pick up now that the threat of the gangs where gone and merchants can safely trade.
Seems that once rat face was given a new personality, he is quite good at his job. The previous gang leaders I assume also had a massive hand in this as when all the crime seems to the directly under them from by time wondering around. Exactly as planned.
Its impossible to get rid of crime, but if the crime is under one banner and works with the empire then it creates a balance. With all the crime in the city and surroundings under me/the empire then we can control what happens. Although im sure father also sent some people over to help as well, as even with all the city lords stocked up gold and the undergrounds it still wouldn't have been enough for the make over here.
This is nice though. Ill stay for the night before heading out and vising some of the small towns and villages on the way back to the capital.'
He spends the rest of the day wondering around town showing off his status as someone affiliated with the empires royal family. He enjoys many of the street vendors snacks and tries some of the top-of-the-line restaurants. By the evening he stops by the city lord and gang headquarters to get a progress report and was happy with the income now coming into the city from both the light and the dark side.
The next day he sleeps in a bit in a comfy bed till around 8am before leaving with Bjorne on his trek back to the capital.
When he came across a village, he announced his status as the prince and helped out lots of the villages as many were struggling with the winter. He healed many of the wounded that went hunting and the ones with pneumonia by using some of his thousands of rank 1 healing pills.
He helped many villages and gave many of them enough meat and supply's to last while also leaving a single of his hundreds rank 1 beasts to keep an eye of the village.
He plans to use this as a way to increase his own status within his empire as most people still don't know who he is. He though the best way was to be the hero.
Personally, he hated being the hero but it has many benefits in this current situation which made him ultimately decide on it. First was to increase his reputation and the kingdoms reputation. Happy people mean a happy empire.
Second was that should there be any pretty girls in the villages then they would leave with him without much manipulation due to him portraying himself as kind.
Third was talents. Villages like these have the highest chances of birthing a protagonist level of talent and he wants to make a good impression just in case.
Besides the final reason was why not. He doesn't lose anything, other than a few pills he cares nothing for and a few beasts that he doesn't care about either.
The benefits of being a hero to these people out way by a massive margin of not doing anything.
Every town he stopped by he also did similar things and helped the major and its people. He made sure to enslave every mayor but the good ones who cared where left alone while the bad ones where rewritten to be good by altering their memories and personality.
Due to all the stops the trip which should have only taken a day on Bjorne took a similar time to when he first ran their which is 5 days.
When he saw the gates of the capital city, he sighed a breath of relief at finally being able to relax and go back to his lazy young master type lavish lifestyle for a while.