Reincarnated As A Lion In Another World

The taste of crocodile meat was unique. The meat was chewy and had a texture that Kael had never had in his mouth before.

"It tastes like a cross between chicken and pork," Kael said telepathically while he munched on one of the crocodiles.

Ever since he could talk with telepathy, he had always tried to communicate with the lionesses to increase their closeness. Communication was necessary if he wanted to build a strong relationship that didn’t need contracts to solidify.

Kael had only opened his mouth once to talk but it was hard and the action strained his vocal chords. He was not sure if the lionesses could even talk well if they tried to.

In the memories, Noel, Bethel, and other lions and lionesses had no problem talking with the mouth of a lion. ’Maybe it’s a gradual thing,’

"What is chicken? What is pork?" Olivia’s sly voice sounded in everyone’s mind.

Olivia could not do telepathy obviously, but Priya was able to fix that. She had somehow created a telepathic channel for all nine of them.

This channel was a link between the minds of all members of the Ol-mytee Pride with Priya as an anchor. Kael wanted to be the anchor for this mind channel since he was the leader but he had not yet understood how it works.

For Priya, this ability that came from the mind was almost instinctive, like Katari’s ability to bend space around her. But Kael was a Primordial Lion, with a Primordial lionheart. He did not have these abilities naturally and only got them through the contracts. He would naturally have to expend some extra effort to be able to perform the same abilities.

He gazed at Katari who was eating the tail of the crocodile she had dragged out of the water. Nalii was near her, eating out of the belly of the reptile.

On Katari’s hips, on the two sides, there were deep bite marks. Katari didn’t seem bothered by the injury but Kael knew that she was hurt.

"How are you doing?" He spoke to her privately.

"I…am fine" She hesitated before replying in her mind.

When telepathic communication was commenced, no languages were spoken. Rather, the message was sent in its rawest form and the receiver’s mind processed it in the best way it could. Katari only needed to pass off her complex emotions and intentions and the message would be sent unproblematically to Kael.

"No you’re not," Kael said as he stood up, he had already eaten half of the crocodile alone and was filled up.

He could literally sense the lie in her telepathic words. He walked over to her and sat down between her and Nalii.

He looked closely at the wound. In the wild, it was very dangerous for a predator who relied on meat to be injured. It could affect hunting efficiency and the ability to defend herself.

Katari didn’t act like the bite holes were even there, she didn’t even act like she was that hurt seeing that she was still able to pull such a heavy crocodile out from the river.

But that was all a lie, she was aching and she was aching badly. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of Kael at all.

She knew that the way Kael treated her with more attention and put more trust in her meant that he saw her differently than the other lionesses. Kael was even more likely to be beside Katari at any moment than with any other lioness.

She felt like she was Kael’s right hand, always alert with a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders, responsibilities Kael didn’t give her…

For the sake of the pride dynamic they were building, Katari didn’t want to seem weak at this crucial moment, she didn’t want to seem replaceable.

Kael was oblivious to this, although he wouldn’t really care about what she was thinking. All he wanted was for Katari to be well and healthy, not because she was not replaceable but because she was all he had.

The hassle of finding another trustworthy lioness who also has the space lionheart was not something he wanted to go through again, even if he could. It wasn’t like he could become a cub again and grow together with another cub, groomed specifically for this role… ’Is that even possible?’

Kael shook his head to remove the distracting thoughts. ’If only there was a way to heal her,’ He wondered.

Currently, they were under a tree with an umbrella-like top that did a good job of blocking the afternoon sun.

Kael made it a habit of not resting unless he was under some kind of shade especially if it was during the day. This was something that couldn’t be removed from him, as a former human he was used to only feeling comfortable with some sort of roof over his head.

Nalii who was looking at Kael and Katari and at how her son was looking at the wound on Katari’s hips, couldn’t help but feel bad.

She had been right in front of Katari when the crocodile dragged her yet she was the last to enter the water.

She now had a strong desire to do something about this injury if Katari. If only there was a way…

She looked at the tree they were staying under. Unlike the rest, she could feel the vitality brimming within the tree. It was a very healthy tree that wouldn’t have any problem living for many more years.

This vitality, can it help? The thought flashed through Nalii’s mind. The thought spurred her to make an impulsive decision.

She connected to the rhythm of her heart, drawing on the power within her. The two bumps on her head began to glow a bright green color.

Kael noticed the green glow from the corner of his eyes. He turned to see the horn bumps on Nalii’s head glowing with her eyes closed.

Before he could react, the roots of the tree beneath them shot out of the ground and wrapped around Katari’s waist.

Katari was flabbergasted, this was the second time she was caught off guard today. It left a really bad taste in her mouth.

At first, she struggled to get the roots off her by biting them off. "Don’t fight it" Kael spoke to her.

Instantly, she exercised blind obedience and went still. Kael was a bit surprised at how Katari immediately listened to him. He was sure that the contract did not affect her mind. She could choose not to listen to him if she wanted, the only penalty would be a painful feeling that might not even be noticed at once.

As Katari stood, waiting for whatever that wanted to happen to happen, Nalii focused her senses on the tree roots.

She could feel the whole tree now that she was focusing on it, she could feel the vitality in detail and how it flowed from top to bottom and vice versa.

She sensed the roots that wrapped around Katari and with added focus, she willed for the vitality to move to the roots that were holding Katari.

There was barely any movement as the tree refused to listen. Nalii didn’t give up, she resumed with a stronger will and greater determination.

The vitality began to flow like oil through a pipe. Its movement was slow but at least it was moving.

Nalii found a problem however, the vitality was flowing to the roots but it didn’t enter Katari.

Her brows furrowed and she gritted her teeth, she wasn’t going to stop until she made sure Katari was okay. She herself knew the consequences of being injured in the wild, she had lost sisters to these injuries.

The two horn bumps on her head suddenly grew brighter and bigger. The skin on the top tore apart to make way for the bony appendage that was making itself known.

The vitality that was previously reluctant to move found itself moving with ease as if no longer having control over itself.

Katari discovered that a cool feeling was being transmitted from the roots around her waist to her body. That pain she had been enduring from the crocodile bite was slowly being driven away.

A few moments later, the tree roots uncoiled itself from her waist before digging back into the ground.

The bite marks were gone, replaced by lustrous fur. It was like she was never bitten before.

Nalii fell to the ground weekly, she felt drained of all her energy.

Kael quickly dragged his half-eaten crocodile to her side for her to eat. The best way to recover her Lionheart energy was to eat.

He knew this because whenever he created a contract, a large amount of energy would leave him. This was followed by a period of weakness that could only be gotten rid of after he had eaten something or slept.

The three contracts he had created for Nalii, Priya, and Diane before leaving the Hot Lion Pride had cost him energy. Luckily, he had eaten and rested not long before that, if not he wouldn’t have been able to fight that crocodile or fight his father earlier.

And after the fight, all of them had obviously lost a lot of energy. This was a limit to the power Kael was very much aware of.

Thankfully, they had crocodile meat. Kael allowed his mother to finish eating. Katari went ahead to show the others her hip, it wasn’t so injured as they thought.

She looked at them with a belittling gaze even though they returned it with genuine surprise and concern. ’Hope this behavior doesn’t cause trouble in the future,’ Kael thought to himself while sighing.

After Nalii had finished eating, all that was left were four crocodile heads, some bones scattered around, and the hard armored back.

Kael wanted to take the armored crocodile back along but he didn’t have hands or anything. After calculating if he would ever be in a situation to need them, he decided to let go.

With all done and everyone ready, they resumed their journey under the afternoon sun.