Kael jumped down from his boulder with elegance. His tail swished around, carrying with it a newfound power.
*BA-DUMP*
His heart played the correct beat, filling him with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
Kael felt that now, for the first time in his life, he finally felt alive and aware of himself.
The current him felt like the past Kael had merely been in a trance, playing to the predetermined fate the universe had written for him. A few minutes ago and beyond felt like a dream, NOW felt like he had finally woken up.
The way he saw the world became different. His mind proceeded one thought after the other, most of them being Nihilistic.
"The world," For the first time in a long while, Kael opened his lion mouth to speak, "The world... Is...So.... Lawless," He spoke subconsciously in the same language that Bethel spoke
But his speech was broken and hoarse, seeming constrained and restricted. It sounded like the very act of a lion talking went against the order of the Highest.
Nalii and the rest were surprised by the strange noise that came from Kael's mouth.
Kael ignored the surprised look on their face to relish in the power of the Primordial laws that was soaking him.
All that was left was for him to take a certain action, and he did.
Kael turned to Katari and walked up to her. Katari was a bit flustered by Kael's sudden intrusion into her personal space so she took a step back.
Kael's golden gaze compelled her to remain at her spot. Nalii, Diane, and Priya looked on curiously from the side.
Kael looked deeply into Katari's deep eyes, 'I, Primordial Lion Kael, wish to make an agreement with you...' Kael thought but those words found themselves in the depths of Katari's mind.
The essence of the Primordial laws gathered under the will and direction of Kael in the form of golden strings.
It was already nighttime by now, the half-moon hung far away, with its faint moonlight shining on the savage land.
The glowing strings of golden light that appeared out of nowhere and began gathering in the middle of Kael and Katari were quite eye-catching.
The strings converged and formed a glowing illusory multi-layered circle. This circle had strange characters that both of them had never seen before. Even then, they perfectly understood the message the characters formed and conveyed.
This was a contract, and its content was simply an agreement between Kael and Katari.
It stated that as long as the contract receiver, who in this case was Katari, was willing to become a pride member in the contract giver's -who is Kael- Pride, then Katari would receive a one-time reward of having her Lionheart awakened.
The contract was detailed, containing conditions and necessary actions that could or couldn't be taken. There was only one action that couldn't be done which was Betrayed. The word 'Betrayal' shone brightly, standing out from the rest of the characters.
One action that was also required to be constantly observed by the contract receiver was loyalty. It was a pretty lax contract that only demanded loyalty from its signer.
The consequences were noted to be painful punishment which depending on the severity of the contract breach, could lead to death.
A little clause in the corner was termed 'sharing of power' but it was so inconspicuous that the lionesses didn't glance too long at it, even though they could understand it.
As for how Kael was able to form this contract so soon, it came to him like he was learning how to walk. He knew that the primordial laws were his to make use of, the question was how.
What better way to make use of primordial laws than through the creation of contracts?
Katari stared at the Circular contract, perfectly able to understand every word despite her intelligence level being quite low. She looked up to see Kael's serious face.
Kael waited patiently, whether she signed it or not would determine a lot of decisions he might make later on.
Nalii, Diane, and Priya also could understand the content of the contract. They looked at it with curiosity, then at Kael. They noticed that the contract and Kael shared the same aura.
Something that Kael didn't specify was how or who was going to help the contract receiver awaken her powers or who would dish out the punishment for breach of contract.
This didn't need to be specified since the contract was backed by the name of a primordial and therefore the primordial laws. Anything that needed to be taken care of would be automatically handled by the primordial laws, Kael knew this.
Katari glanced at the contract again, her eyes quivering. Then she turned to look at the three adult lionesses close by who also watched in anticipation of what she would do.
She turned back to see her mother in the distance among the other lionesses. She looked at her daughter once before removing her eyes, turning her attention to the pride leader.
In any pride, no one can challenge the pride leader and expect to continue having a regular life in the pride.
Katari had chosen Kael over the safety of her pride, naturally, the pride members would not treat her well from now on. Even her mother was reluctant to look at her, already looking forward to the next mating season so that the pride leader could give her another set of cubs.
Katari was saddened by this, but she didn't press on it. After all, the connection between lions was mostly based on instinct and would immediately wear off given the right timing and situation.
'I accept!' Although Katari could not talk, her thoughts, which were empowered by the primordial laws, echoed in Kael's mind.
Her voice was feminine, almost childlike, but it was accompanied by a hint of sorrow.
Receiving the acknowledgement from Katari, the primordial contract, enforced by the Primordial laws shone brightly before exploding in a small inaudible pop.
Next, Katari and Kael felt a burning sensation on their foreheads. Kael saw the pride mark appear in golden color in the center of Katari's forehead.
The mark was shaped like a crown, golden with a well-detailed image and black outline. At the same time, Katari also saw a golden mark burn itself on Kael's forehead.
The mark on Kael's forehead was different, it was also golden but had more details to it. It was wider and longer, with a thick base, and the top ended in multiple sharp points.
The golden light died down and everything went back to normal. The golden marks faded away.
Katari had frozen up, she was able to move but could not think of moving at the same time. Her body was undergoing visible changes, her heart in Particular.
If Kael could, he would smile. He could hear Katari's heartbeat following a certain pattern that soothed his ears. It was different from the rhythm his heart had but it was soothing nonetheless.
The primordial laws went to work, helping Katari awaken her Lionheart with immediate effect.
Now, it was time to see what kind of lionheart Katari had awakened.