A WEEK LATER.GRASSY PLAINS OUTSIDE PRIDE'S DEN.
In the grassy plains, a towering tree stood reaching toward the limitless sky as its branches carelessly spread outward, offering shade to the earth beneath it and its inhabitants. On one of these branches, high in the sky, crouched a young man about 15 years old with pale skin adorned in beautiful golden symbols in the shape of flame sparks with red hair like molten magma that rolled down his shoulders onto his back. Around his waist was a simple skirt made out of Rock-tusk hyena skin; dangling around his neck was a simple necklace with one tooth from the Hyena he had killed.
The young man fiddled with the necklace and looked at the beast-skin skirt he had made; deep inside his pupils appeared a sequence of numbers as he began to understand deeper about crafting things. Deep inside his consciousness, he envisioned several clothing articles, weapons, tools, and the methods to create them using Rock-Tusk Hyena materials. The young man smiled excitedly as he nimbly slid down the great tree trunk and moved agilely from branch to branch; his claws seemed to leave a trail on the rugged old tree. He landed on the ground with a tumble and made barely any sound; he quickly got up and started sprinting through the grassy plains toward the direction of the Pride's Den and advancing as stealthily as possible.
He covered himself in mud and avoided all the patrolling elder Flaming Lions, whose old wounds made them incapable of detecting his presence. He quietly made it into the inner mountain of the Pride's den where the caves were, and just as he was about to enter a particular cave of the lion's den, he suddenly became unable to move. A great paw had pinned him to the floor, along with a very threatening growl. The young man closed his eyes and pretended to be hurt by not moving and keeping his eyes closed. The aggressive growls subsided and turned into affectionate growls and grooming. Of course, the youth had gotten caught by the Flaming Lioness Matriarch.
The Matriarch saw no wounds and smelled no blood, her big head lowered and focused on her cub's face. The young man sprang a hug around her neck and licked her face as he let out a laugh and rubbed his face on her cheeks. The Matriarch immediately realized that her intelligent cub had tricked her. She gently lifted her paw and tumbled him over with a low growl, clearly unamused. The smiling young man looked at the Matriarch striding away and noticed she turned back to look at him; he instinctively knew he had to follow her.
The Matriarch did not enter any of the caves but continued to climb the mountain, a clear destination in mind. The young man beside her noticed many other Flaming Lionesses and their cubs climbing beside them. In the cubs climbing the mountain, there was a single similarity. They all had golden symbols similar to the young man, but none were as detailed as his own. Along the way, the Patriarch and Flaming Lions joined and began to climb the mountain.
Finally, the Matriarch reached the mountaintop and in the center of the mountaintop was a depression. The mountaintop was closed off by tall towering rocks that blocked entry from all sides and formed a secluded area. The only entrance to the mountaintop was from the air or the direction where the Matriarch came. The magnificent giant boulders had plant life growing around them and covering them. These were red vines and beautiful red and blue flowers that appeared to be sizzling with heat and fire. It made for a truly grand sight that made the young man utter a gasp of awe as he had never seen anything so beautiful. The bewitching crimson light gave off a wondrous feeling as it bathed the area in a red aura. However, the truly magnificent thing was at the very center of the depression on the mountaintop.
In the center of the depression was a glorious, majestic skeleton of a lion with golden bones. On the forehead of the lion's skull, there was a jewel embedded in the skull. The jewel in the skull seemed devoid of life with a single vertical crack. The golden bones seemed to be sunk into the earth and would not be disturbed no matter how much time passed. There were strange markings on the bones similar to the cubs and the young man, but these markings were much more detailed.
The young man could not help but stare at these markings as if trying to commit them to memory. The position of the skeleton lion appeared to be as if it were asleep when it died as if it knew it was about to take its last breath. The young man noticed that the Flaming Lions, Lionesses, and even the Matriarch and Patriarch lowered their heads to this skeleton. He followed their lead and lowered his head, and so did the other cubs lower their heads almost instinctively. As if on cue, a miraculous sight occurred; the golden bones of the Great Flaming Lion lit up in a golden-red hue. The Flaming Lionesses urged their cubs forward, including the Matriarch, who urged the young man forward with a gentle and slightly anxious nudge.
The young man and the cubs took steps forward until they came directly before the Great Flaming Lion. The golden-red aura encompassed them all, shining resplendently and wrapping the cubs and the young man in a gentle embrace. Suddenly, the symbols on the young man's body began to glow with a golden-red light as it synchronized with the Great Lion. The other cubs fearfully backed away, a look of unwillingness in their tiny eyes.
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Suddenly the young man was lifted off the ground, wrapped in this golden-red light as it lifted him higher into the sky. What should be empty eye sockets of the Great Lion skeleton suddenly became like two scorching suns as the dead jewel in its forehead lit up like a blazing fire. As if the Great Lion breathed life once more, the shaking golden bones began to move slowly, signaling the sleeping lion had risen. The archaic symbols covering the Great Lion began to come alive as they flew off the bones and into the sky.
They delicately rotated in the air as if dancing and showing a story. In a half-suspended state, the young man opened his eyes and gazed into the symbols. For a brief moment, equations of great mathematical difficulty appeared in his pupils. As if trying to comprehend the language of symbols, the numbers constantly shifted to find the absolute truth of the symbols. The golden symbols polymerized into the air and released a terrifying roar that made the birds around the mountain scatter and fly away in horror without looking behind.
The united symbols formed a large lion fang that slammed into the young man's chest like a lightning bolt made of fire and magma. In an instant, the symbols around the young man began to change from flaming sparks to archaic runes. The runes appeared to be some form of language written in lion claw marks. At some point, the young man had lost consciousness, the golden symbols on his body glowing brightly. Aside from the change in the appearance of the symbols, there were no other visible changes in the boy.
The skeleton of the Great Lion suddenly trembled as fine cracks spread from the jewel to the bones, which had lost their golden splendor. Ultimately, the skeleton crumbled and turned into dust that faded away with the strong winds. The Matriarch & Patriarch of the Pride's den were the first to move and check their cub. Similarly, the rest of the Flaming Lions and Lionesses, accompanied by their cubs, came to check on the young man. There was a strange aura among the Pride as they looked at the young man, or more precisely, the symbols.
THE KINGDOM OF YSADRIEL.KING REGINALD'S STUDY ROOM, TUNGSTEN CASTLE.
King Reginald's study room was not very big and gave off a much cozier vibe than anywhere else in his castle. It was a room with a simple desk and a chair on either side, shelves with books of King Reginald's interests, and a few encased items with either historical or artistic value. The room smelled of ink, paper, and a light waft of freshly brewed rich tea and biscuits. In this room, King Reginald and King Harald were locked in a heated debate. The aura in the room now differed from when they were in front of other people; they were much closer and seemed like old friends or brothers.
"So have you thought about it at all?! It's been a week ya stupid old man!" King Harald yelled impatiently. He took a sip of tea and stuffed his big mouth full of biscuits. His beady eyes locked onto King Harald, his big mouth constantly chewing.
"Okay, Rotted-brain Harald! Let's make a deal then! If at the next "viewing" we see anything noteworthy, i'll immediately invest in it" King Reginald replied in a crafty tone, his eyes flickering with a sly light.
"Hmm, whats the catch old man?" King Harald said cautiously, a look of uncertainty in his eyes. However, he wasn't uncomfortable enough to stop eating the biscuits.
"The catch is simple, if we see nothing special in the "viewing" you'll be the one to invest in it! Hahaha!" King Reginald said triumphantly as if Harald would never agree.
"How uncouth! We haven't seen anything special in the "viewing" in 100 years! *Cough* At most it would only be a few unknown species battling or something! *Cough* THIS ISNT EVEN A BET!!" King Harald choked on the biscuits and yelled till he was almost out of breath.
"Hahaha don't worry I'll make it fair! I'll give you three attempts at using the "Viewing machine" instead of the usual one!" King Reginald said confidently as if he were being generous.
"Okay! However! You must agree to one condition first otherwise no deal!" King Harald replied as he lowered his head to eat more biscuits, his expression couldn't be seen.
"....Let's hear it then!" King Reginald thought for a bit before responding, sensing something off with King Harald.
"You'll let me use whatever modifications I want on the machine!" King Harald smiled as he spoke his last demand.
"...That's it? That does sound reasonable...I'll allow it then" King Reginald agreed.
The two Kings didn't bother signing a formal contract since they trusted each other greatly, the Kingdoms of Ysadriel and Korinth had been allies for hundreds of years and many offspring had been married over to both Kingdoms to ensure positive relations. These sorts of bets had been carried out by these two men over the years as a form of entertainment and they never kept score of wins and losses.
"That reminds me, when is the next "Viewing" supposed to be?" King Harald asked ponderingly.
"Well, we can do it for my eldest daughter's birthday tomorrow. A lot of guests are supposed to come, so it would be quite appropriate. I'll leave it up to you to decide since this bet is heavily in my favor. Hahahaha." King Reginald suggested laughingly.
"Oh so you do recognize that you old bastard! I swear my wife told me to stop doing these gambles with you because you become filthier with age! Maybe I should start keeping account of these bets!" King Harald said in outrage, his saliva splattering all over!
"Well nobody told you to accept the bet did they! Hmph! It's all on you if you lose! Hahaha!" King Reginald was quiet elated to look at his friend's furious face.