[Moonlit Starhorn Cow: Daily intake of this silver-ranked cow's milk for a week would increase a person's strength by 100 catties. Effectiveness reduces with continuous consumption.]
Asher's eyes sparkled as he read the description. A hundred catties of strength... from milk alone?
His mind raced, imagining the implications. If these cows could truly produce such milk, the possibilities were endless. The people under his rule could grow stronger without formal training. Soldiers, farmers, even children—strength could become a common trait, and the fragile livelihoods of his people would transform into something else.
His twinkling eyes veered toward the cattle, and without a second thought, he fused them all, reducing their numbers to 507. He spared the last one because it had no partner to fuse with.
In an instant, light enveloped the herd. The soft glow quickly grew blinding, forcing the herders to shield their eyes.
The herders stood frozen in place, their eyes wide with shock as 500 mystical cows appeared in the field, replacing the ordinary herd they had been tending to. Their mouths hung open in disbelief, as if they couldn't quite process what had just happened.
It was as though an egg could easily fit in any of their gaping mouths.
They looked at their thin canes and the size of the cows and were dumbfounded. Had their lord just transformed their cattle into beasts?
The Moonlit Starhorns were famous for their milk and meat, coveted by nobles and large merchant guilds like a magnet to metals. But they weren't just prized livestock—they were wild beasts, roaming in large herds, and few had ever succeeded in domesticating them.
"M-Milord," he stuttered, his voice barely above a whisper, "what... what are these creatures?" A herder asked out of fear, thinking the cows will escape and ravage on their fields or perhaps even harm the people. He couldn't even muster the courage to threaten the mooing cows with his staff.
"They won't." Asher had faith in the upgrade process. It was done in a way that those who underwent the upgrade, man or beast, would know who had caused it.
In a way, it increased their loyalty.
Asher continued, "These beasts know who their master is." He walked among the cattle, his hand brushing against their gleaming hides. "They will obey me, and by extension, they will obey you. They are loyal now, more so than before."
While humans had complex minds, one where their thoughts are often shaped by ambition, needs and survival, it wasn't the same with beasts.
Their minds were simpler, focused more on instincts and immediate needs. This made them loyal in a way humans couldn't be, following the one who had earned their trust.
The herders hesitated but eventually dared to approach the beasts. They flinched at first, their hands trembling as they reached out to touch the Moonlit Starhorns. To their shock, the cows leaned into their touch.
One herder laughed nervously. "They're... gentle?"
"They're docile," Asher corrected, his tone matter-of-fact.
Satisfied, Asher turned toward the lone cow that had been left out of the fusion. "As for this one..."
"Prepare it for tonight's feast. It has been too long since I've had a proper meal." Although Asher's soul entered this body recently, he still felt the same craving the dead Asher had. After all, it was still the same body, and the body craved meat.
Everyone looked toward where Asher pointed, and there, standing out from the rest, was the cow that had not been merged. It seemed oddly larger and plumper than the others.
Why did it look like the fattest of all the ordinary cows?
Kelvin looked at Asher meaningfully.
After leaving the herd behind, Asher walked toward a fenced area where around a hundred bulls were kept.
Just as he was about to inspect them, a new notification appeared in his vision.
[These bulls are too weak to mate with the Moonlit Starhorn Cattle. Would you like to produce ten powerful bulls capable of subduing all 507 Moonlit Starhorn Cattle? Yes or No?]
Asher's eyebrows rose in surprise. 'So you can say something other than the normal upgrade information!'
[Yes. But I prefer being silent,] the system's feminine voice replied with an undertone of pride.
Asher could sense hints of pride in the system's female voice, but there was still restraint laced in her tone. It went to show that he was also the master in their relationship. This conclusion brought his heart to rest.
For he might be relying on the system's power, but he was no servant to it.
"A lord bows to no one," he whispered under his breath.
'Upgrade the bulls,' he commanded.
Swoosh!
The hundred bulls were suddenly smashed together and the result was nothing short of breathtaking.
10, six-foot-tall, muscular bulls emerged. Their skins were silverish-white, and their horns grew bigger and longer. From domestic livestock, they transformed into imposing wild beasts!
[Sterling Bull: A territorial beast that is 10 times stronger than ordinary bulls.]
As these mighty creatures began their advance toward Asher, Kelvin immediately stepped forward, instinctively drawing his sword from the leather scabbard at his side.
He pointed the blade toward the oncoming bulls, ready to defend his lord. But to his surprise, the bulls continued their approach without so much as flinching.
Each of these beasts was silver-ranked, so one more silver-ranked swordsman whose aura was still shaky wasn't enough to frighten them.
However, they could also sense that Asher, who was smaller, was also a silver-ranked warrior, and his aura was hidden but terrifying.
When the bulls reached them, Asher made his move.
Without a word, he pulled Kelvin back behind him and extended his hand forward. In that instant, the bulls screeched to a halt, lowering their heads in silent submission.
"They were just coming to pay respects, Kelvin," Asher said with a soft smile, as though the bulls were no more than docile animals.
…
By the time the sun reached its zenith, Asher had completed his tour and returned to the stone castle. It was a pitiful excuse for a noble's residence, yet there were no complaints.
His focus was on managing the town, on ensuring that the people would survive. He hoped that within a month, there would be enough corn to feed everyone, for he had personally overseen the fusion of all the maize seeds in the town.
He had also encouraged more people to take up farming, offering meat as incentive.
More herders had been hired to tend to the cattle and bulls, and they, too, were eagerly anticipating the evening's feast. Without coin to offer, Asher could only rely on the promise of food to make his people work.
As he entered the sacred hall, Kelvin pushed open the heavy doors. The dim, quiet room was disturbed by the sound, and the first thing Asher noticed was Sirius. The beast, nestled on its bed, roused slightly at the noise. Its ears flicked, and its eyes lazily opened. Seeing Asher, it gave a slight grunt before curling back into a deeper sleep.
Asher sat in the wooden chair opposite Kelvin, who watched the beast with an almost calculating gaze. Sirius was growing into a monster of its own, its size becoming too much for the castle's confines. It was clear that, soon, they would have to rebuild—Ashbournes, it seemed, didn't sit without their beasts.
It was a kind of unspoken tradition.
"Milord," Kelvin began, breaking the silence, "you should visit the ancestral library while I attend to your meals."
Asher gave a quiet nod, the decision already made. Kelvin left, and Asher remained, the silence pressing in around him. His mind drifted, not to the castle or the town, but to the gnawing ache in his chest.
Lia's betrayal stung anew, but it wasn't just that. It was the owner of this body—the former Asher Ashbourne. The life he had lived before Asher from Earth took over had been riddled with promises, one of which involved Liya, the golden-haired Elf Lady.
She had been betrothed to him when he was young, the match made by Count Tigris, who had been quick to secure the marriage when he saw the talent in the young Ashbourne. Liya, five years his elder, had been a vision of beauty, and young Asher had fantasized about marrying her, his idealized dream clouded by innocence.
Then everything changed. His awakening, his transformation, shattered it all.
The years of torment that followed, twelve years of pain, had eaten away at the former Asher Ashbourne's heart until the man had died—until Earth's Asher took his place.
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips, too soft to carry far.
"Women," he muttered under his breath, gripping the armrest of his chair until his knuckles went white.
Standing abruptly, he pushed the tumult of emotions aside, deciding that the only way to silence them was to lose himself in the musty, forgotten corners of the library.