Devourer's Legacy: I Regressed With The Primordial Crest
Chapter 70: First Beast Contract (2)

Chapter 70: First Beast Contract (2)

"That was easy!" Renard said to himself as he carefully placed the cage containing the baby Keth’mor onto the wooden table in his temporary quarters.

The whole operation had just been a guess, really. But it was an educated guess based on something he’d learned in his previous life—a tragedy that he was now in a position to prevent.

In his pastlife, he’d heard about a terrible incident from his grandfather. It had happened about a year after his awakening ceremony, when he was still struggling to understand his powers and place in the world. His grandfather had been furious about something that had occurred near Draemir territory, and the story had stuck with Renard ever since.

Some poachers had captured a baby Keth’mor from deep within the Great Green Forest, which could sell for enough gold to buy a small estate, and they’d been planning to transport it to the black markets.

But while they were moving the creature, something had gone wrong. Maybe they’d gotten careless, maybe they’d been attacked by other beasts, or maybe the baby snake had been smarter than they’d given it credit for. Whatever the cause, the Keth’mor had escaped from its cage during transport.

The baby serpent that got loose had immediately done what all Keth’mor do when threatened—it disappeared into the shadows. The poachers had searched for days, but finding a creature that could slip between shadows was nearly impossible. Eventually, they’d given up and left the area, probably hoping the baby would die on its own.

But baby Keth’mor survived.

For an entire year, the escaped snake had remained hidden in the forests near a small farming village called Millbrook. It stayed in the shadows, growing stronger day by day by hunting local wildlife. Rabbits, deer, even the occasional wolf—anything it could catch became food for its growing body and developing abilities.

At first, the villagers had just noticed that forest animals were becoming scarce. Hunters came back empty-handed more often. Livestock that wandered too close to the treeline sometimes disappeared. But these were things that happened in frontier communities, so nobody thought much of it.

The real problems started when the serpent reached adolescence.

As it grew larger and stronger, it became bolder. It started hunting closer to human settlements, and its venom glands finally matured. What had been a cute but dangerous baby became a killing machine that could drop a full-grown man with a single bite.

By the time the villagers realized they were dealing with something beyond their ability to handle, it was too late. The beast had grown to full size and had developed all of its adult abilities. It could slip through shadows like they were doorways, appear behind victims without warning, and its venom could kill in minutes.

And the worst of it came during a celebration. The Keth’mor had somehow gotten into the village itself during a festival celebration. In one night, it had killed seventeen people—men, women, children, even the village guards who’d tried to fight it. The survivors had fled in terror, abandoning everything they’d built.

When word reached the Grim family, they’d sent investigators immediately. A village being completely wiped out was serious business, especially when it was so close to Draemir territory.

They had tried to resolve the issue, but were unable to find the serpent. Ultimately resorting for help from other families.

It had taken the Poison king—one of the elders of the Wraith family—working together with a shadow specialist from the Umbra family to finally track down and kill the beast. By then, it had evolved into something that could use both poison and dark elements, making it incredibly difficult to corner.

The investigation afterward had been thorough and brutal. They’d traced the beast’s origins back to the original poaching incident, identified the criminals involved, and hunted them down one by one. All of the surviving poachers had been publicly beheaded for their carelessness and for violating House Grim’s laws about hunting in protected territories.

Renard remembered hearing that story and feeling nothing about it. He was in his own grief of losing his sister to care about others.

But now, with his knowledge of what was supposed to happen, he’d been able to change things.

He’d remembered roughly when and where the poachers would be transporting their prize, and he’d convinced his grandfather to lend him a hundred soldiers.

Lord Augustus had been suspicious about the request, but Renard had managed to convince him that it would be good practice for both the troops and himself.

The plan had worked perfectly. They’d found the poachers exactly where Renard had expected them to be, caught them in the act of transporting stolen goods, and captured the baby Keth’mor before it could escape.

And as an added bonus, he’d saved the lives of all those poachers by offering them honest work instead of letting them continue down a path that would eventually lead to their executions, well of course some lives were lost - but Renard wasn’t really the type to count bodies.

Anyway, it was a good feeling, knowing he’d prevented such a tragedy.

But now came the hard part—actually making a contrcat with the creature.

Renard looked down at the cage on the table. The baby Keth’mor was coiled up in one corner, its brilliant blue scales catching the lamplight. Even as an infant, it was beautiful in a dangerous way. Its scales had an almost metallic sheen to them, and its golden eyes seemed to glow with their own inner light.

It was barely three fingers thick and about eight inches long—truly a newborn. Its scales weren’t fully hardened yet, and its venom glands were still developing. But even at this size, Renard could see the potential for what it would become.

Adult Keth’mor could grow to be twenty or thirty feet long, with scales harder than steel armor and venom that could kill experts. They were among the most feared predators in the Great Green Forest, and for good reason.

But this little one was still young enough to form a proper contract. Young beasts were more adaptable, more willing to accept a human partner if the relationship was established correctly.

The key was patience and respect. Keth’mor were proud creatures, even as babies. They wouldn’t accept domination or force.

Renard prepared himself and walked around the room one more time, checking that all the windows were securely latched and that there were no gaps where the baby snake could slip through. The room was well-lit with multiple oil lamps, eliminating the deep shadows that a Keth’mor could use to escape.

Everything was ready. Now he just had to convince a very angry, very scared baby serpent to trust him.

This was going to be interesting.

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