Devourer's Legacy: I Regressed With The Primordial Crest
Chapter 72: First Beast Contract(4)

Chapter 72: First Beast Contract(4)

Renard focused his attention on the Pact of the Wild ability, checking its status carefully.

[Pact of the Wild]

[A pact forms around the wild heart that runs free. The beasts contracted under this authority are eternally loyal and follow their master to the ends of the world.]

[Current Slots: 0/1]

There were no changes that Renard could see in the skill from his past life, even though this was supposed to be from a Royal rank crest. It was the same ability with the same description, the same basic function.

So he wasn’t really sure how different this version was from what he’d used before. Maybe Royal rank crests just had better efficiency or stronger connections, but the core ability seemed identical.

Anyway, Renard had done this process many times in his previous life, so he felt confident about activating it properly.

He began by moving his essence into the specific pathways that his Wild Heart Blood Crest had created during his awakening. The energy felt warm as it flowed through his body, like drinking hot tea on a cold day. It gathered strength as it moved toward his hands, building up the power he’d need for the bonding process.

The whole thing was like filling a container with water—slow and steady, making sure not to rush or force anything.

"This might feel strange," he warned the baby snake, which was still watching him from the table. "But try not to panic."

The Keth’mor looked at him suspiciously as he slowly reached toward it again. This time, Renard moved even more carefully than before, making sure every motion was clear and predictable so the snake could see exactly what he was planning to do.

When his finger was almost touching the small serpent’s head, it tensed up again, coiling its body like a spring ready to launch. But it didn’t strike this time. Instead, it just watched and waited, those bright golden eyes studying his face like it was trying to figure out what kind of person he was.

Renard gently placed his index finger on the baby’s forehead, right between its eyes where the scales were still soft.

The reaction was immediate and intense.

The moment his essence-charged finger made contact, the baby Keth’mor went completely wild. It thrashed and writhed on the wooden table, trying desperately to get away from the foreign energy that was flowing into its small body. Its mouth opened wide in a long hiss of protest as unfamiliar power invaded its natural systems.

But Renard had expected this kind of reaction. Every beast fought the bonding process at first—it was their natural instinct to resist anything that tried to change them from the inside. The key was to be firm but not forceful, persistent but not aggressive. Like training a stubborn horse or teaching a child to swim.

He kept his finger pressed gently against the snake’s forehead and continued channeling essence into it. The energy flowed like a slow but steady river, unavoidable and constant. It was creating new pathways in the baby’s nervous system, building bridges between its mind and his that would last for the rest of their lives.

The small serpent continued to struggle, it’s brilliant blue scales flashing in the lamplight as it twisted and turned. But gradually, its movements began to slow down. The foreign essence was becoming part of it, mixing with its natural energy in ways that would permanently link them together.

"I know it feels weird," Renard said quietly, keeping his voice soft and calm. "But you’ll get used to it."

The baby Keth’mor’s struggles became weaker and weaker as the bonding process continued. Its golden eyes, which had been wide with panic and fear, began to focus on Renard’s face with something that looked almost like curiosity.

After what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes, the small serpent finally stopped fighting completely. It lay still on the table, breathing hard but no longer resisting the flow of essence between them.

A message appeared in Renard’s mind, written in the familiar blue text of the Providence system.

[You have made a pact with a serpent]

The connection was established. Renard could feel it like a warm thread connecting his mind to the baby snake’s consciousness. It was faint—the creature was still too young and the bond too new for any kind of deep communication—but it was definitely there.

The baby Keth’mor lifted its small head and looked at him with completely different eyes. The pure hostility and fear from before were gone, replaced by wariness mixed with something that might have been curiosity. It could feel the connection too, this strange new link to the human who had captured it.

Renard smiled and slowly pulled his hand back from the snake’s forehead. "There we go. That wasn’t so bad, was it?"

The snake tilted its head to one side, studying him with those brilliant golden eyes like it was seeing him for the first time. Then, very slowly and carefully, it slithered a few inches closer to where he was sitting.

It was the smallest possible gesture, but Renard’s smile got even wider. Progress was progress, no matter how small.

He checked his ability status again to see the changes:

[Pact of the Wild]

[A pact forms around the wild heart that runs free. The beasts contracted under this authority are eternally loyal and follow their master to the ends of the world.]

[Current Slots: 1/1]

[Contracted Beasts: (Unnamed)(Keth’mor)]

Perfect. The system had registered the new contract, and his first slot was now filled. He could feel the mental connection to the baby snake.

"Boa," Renard said to his new contracted beast, testing out the name he’d just thought of. "That will be your name."

The snake tilted its head once again, like it was considering whether it approved of the choice.

There was still a long way to go before Renard could properly work with the snake and use it in actual battles.

Baby beasts needed time to grow and develop their abilities, and the mental connection would need to strengthen before they could coordinate effectively in combat situations.

But still, it felt good to finally make a contract with his first beast in this new life. In his previous timeline, it had taken him months to figure out how to properly bond with creatures, and his first few attempts had been complete failures.

This time, he’d done it right on the first try.

Boa was still small and relatively helpless right now, but Keth’mor grew quickly when they had proper care and feeding. Within a few months, the baby snake would be large enough to be useful in fights. Within a year, it would be a serious threat to anyone who tried to harm Renard.

And unlike his previous life, where he’d had to figure everything out through trial and error, this time he knew exactly how to train and develop his contracted beasts for maximum effectiveness.

Renard reached out slowly and gently stroked the top of Boa’s head with one finger. The little snake didn’t pull away this time—instead, it seemed to almost enjoy the contact.

"Welcome to the team, Boa," he said quietly. "We’re going to do great things together."

The baby Keth’mor just looked at him with those golden eyes, but Renard could sense something through their new connection. Not words or complex thoughts—the snake was still too young for that—but basic emotions and feelings.

Curiosity. Caution. And maybe, just maybe, the beginning of trust.

It was a good start.

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