Chapter 4: Deal!
Lucca only woke up at lunchtime still feeling a bit drowsy. Getting up off his large bed he slowly dragged his feet to the bathroom. While being kept awake yesterday by the rooster's cry he was browsing through the market and had found a collection of hygienic products all for 1 coin. Inside there were practically everything he needed from soap to shampoos to toothbrushes and toilet paper including other things.
After brushing his teeth he took a long cold shower to freshen up and when he was finished he ate his breakfast of warm rice and water before heading outside to see how much the old farmer had gotten done.
Once he left through the back door he was met with a perfectly tilted plot of land that was even surrounded by simple white fences. Inside it he could see the old farmer planting the last of the seeds and as he finished he looked up and greeted him.
"Good morning Master" The old puppet said, giving a slight bow.
"Good morning uncle Ben" Lucca responded while rubbing his eyes.
"Master, the seeds have all been planted and the rooster has been tamed" The old farmer exclaimed
"The rooster has been tamed? Good! Where is he?"
'Even though the rooster was beaten up by the old farmer he was still a tier 1 creature. If it's truly tamed then I could ride it out into the forest and it could also serve as a bodyguard while I scavenged for things to sell and eat, I feel like this rice and water combo will get boring really quick.' He thought excitedly.
The old puppet pointed to the big doghouse. "It's no longer aggressive but its being a bit stubborn. Spiritual creatures are all proud like that and it usually takes some time before its willing to listen, unless we give him some incentive of course." He said smiling as he rubbed his thumb with his index finger.
Lucca quickly understood. 'Looks like Carrot and the stick strategy is good regardless of what planet I'm on. 'Sighs' It looks like I'm going to have another expensive mouth to feed.' He thought as he walked towards the chicken house but as soon as he turned around he heard uncle Ben's voice from behind him once again.
"Oh yea I almost forgot, you can speak to him normally he should understand somewhat, I had some free time yesterday so I taught him a bit" Lucca couldn't help but freeze for a split second in disbelief before he continued walking.
'tsk, Old ben sure is a monster.'
As he got closer he noticed that the doghouse now had one of those old wild west bar doors that you needed to push in to enter. He clearly remembered it had no door on it yesterday.
'I'm starting to feel like I underpaid for uncle Ben' he thought as his left eye couldn't help but twitch seeing that the door looked recently made.
Luca then pushed the doors and walked in where he saw the rooster with a swollen face sitting on a big nest with his eyes closed. As soon as he walked in the rooster quickly opened his eyes startled but when he saw who it was he turned his head to the side completely ignoring him.
'He's sulking?.... how... cute.' Lucca couldn't help but let out a smile.
"Old Ben sure was rough with you wasn't he?" He said as he slowly walked to his side. Though he was still a little wary, he trusted old Ben and his ``Taming´´.
"HMPH" The big black bird snorted and turned his head to the side looking away from him.
Lucca scratched the back of his neck, he already felt a little embarrassed having to talk to a chicken and now he was even being ignored.
"Ok look, you and I are both on the same boat so why don't we work together instead of being enemies?"
``HMPH´´ This time the bird turned his head to the other side and harrumphed once again.
"Sighs, Look maybe you might have been one of the strongest creatures where you're from but here you are only a tier 1 beast. The first creature I met when I came here was tier 3! It was a giant golden ape bigger than this whole castle! Do you think you can survive out there by yourself? If you let me ride on your back as we go outside and explore for a bit everyday you can keep this little house to yourself and I'll feed you good food, how about that?``
The big rooster's eye twitched slightly when Lucca mentioned the big ape and he seemed tempted to agree but the pain on his face reminded him of uncle Ben's "taming" once again.
Harrumphing once more he turned his head the other away. 'You had me whacked by that old monster for the whole night and now you want me to be your mount for just shelter and food? keep dreaming!'
Lucca knew he wouldn't be able to convince him with just words fortunately he had come ready. He went into the system inventory and brought out a small bag of tier 1 nuts. It was the cheapest food for spiritual birds that he had found in the market yesterday, and as they could not be planted and were specific only for avian beasts they were a lot cheaper than the banana. For 2HC he was able to get enough to feed the bird for at least a week so his monthly taxes had now raised to around 23HC.
The nuts looked like acorns made out of crystal and inside them you could see a small amount of red liquid swirling about. There was no smell coming from them but as soon as Lucca took the little bag out of his inventory the rooster immediately felt the powerful mana contained in those little nuts and new that whatever was in there was definitely something good.
Opening the little bag the rooster became visibly excited. It was about to snatch the nuts out of his hands when Lucca quickly took it back into his inventory.
"tsk tsk tsk" Lucca said as he waved his index finger "Do we have a deal?"
The rooster instantly bobbed his head up and down. It knew that if it could get to eat like this everyday he would eventually be able to break through to tier 2.
"And I can ride you??" He asked but then quickly frowned, fortunately his old friends weren't here or they would flame him for the whole month. An adult male asking a large black .. chicken if he could ride him? Heck, knowing them they would probably bring this up even when he was an old man on his deathbed.
Lucca could help but let out a smile thinking of his friends but it quickly changed to a lonely one a few seconds later.
While he was thinking about the past the rooster was hesitating. It was humiliating to have such a weak creature using him as a mount, but after much thought he eventually agreed and nodded. 'As long as I can become stronger it will be worth it! As soon as I break through I'll definitely teach that old man a lesson!'
Lucca snapped out of his thoughts before taking the little bag and threw it to the rooster who swallowed it whole. He was worried about him choking but seeing its delighted expression it looked like everything was fine.
"Rest early today, we will go out first thing tomorrow morning" He said leaving the chicken coup.
The rooster didn't even hear him as it was completely drowned in pleasure with his eyes closed and a big smile on his face.
As Lucca stepped outside he found the old farmer sitting on a stump under the sun watching over the farm while holding onto his thick wooden stick which he had used to 'tame' the large bird. If you looked close enough you could see that he was sitting completely still like a statue and his straw hat was slightly transparent but Lucca wasn't surprised. He knew the old farmer was charging his battery as Lucca bought him specifically because he also had that function just like the Little Obsidian Home.
After watching for a bit he turned and walked back to the house. Inside the little castle he sat down on the big comfy couch and opened up the system. When he remembered how close he was to dying yesterday Lucca had decided he needed to get stronger because one day he might not be so lucky.
"Even though the chicken is somewhat strong I still need to get stronger myself, that strength is only borrowed after all and not truly mine, who knows when I will be put in a situation where I can only rely on myself? Fortunately I found this!!" He said while opening one of the tabs. Right at the top of it was written in big letters.
"Cultivation Manuals!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
PeaceAndQuiet
PeaceAndQuiet "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Nelson Mandela
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone