Chapter 2: The World of Beastmen

I was born in the Forest Lion Tribe, the only tribe of the Lion race in the whole Beastman World. A regular beastman had two forms, which were passive and aggressive. Their passive form was their human or human-like form, while their aggressive form was their beast form.

Male beastmen were naturally hatched in their aggressive form and will be able to transform into their passive form once they reach the age of seven. In our tribe, at this age, he was required to attend school with all the other Cubs under the teaching of the assigned elders.

The passive form of a male was only a human-like form because they still had beastly body parts. A Lion has lion ears and a tail but has a human shape.

On the other hand, a regular female beastman was hatched with her natural passive form, which was a full-fledged human form. She has no ability to transform into her aggressive form, even if she cultivates her body. Only a few females were born every generation, so they were required to accommodate multiple male spouses.

Females undergo estrous once a year; it is a state wherein the sexual arousal of a female is heightened and she is ready for reproduction. It was similar to the ovulation of a female human, but their arousal was quite beastly and sometimes out of hand.

Unlike humans, female beastmen lay eggs a week after mating with their spouse or spouses. The higher the number of their spouses, the higher the number of eggs they can produce.

However, not all eggs can hatch into hatchlings, and not all hatchlings can make it to adulthood. It is one of the reasons why a single female is required to take in multiple spouses. Most tribes focus on reproduction to maintain the necessary manpower to survive because the higher the manpower, the more efficiently a tribe can function.

The newly hatched beastmen are called hatchlings until they turn seven, when they will be called cubs. They will then be called "younglings" when they turn 15 until they reach the age of 17.

In our tribe, younglings would have to start helping with any chores assigned by the responsible elders, such as hunting, cooking, taking care of the hatchlings and cubs in the nursery, and a lot more.

A female youngling also starts experiencing her estrus around this period, so underage female tribespeople are separated every mating season to prevent unnecessary impregnation.

Even though female younglings undergo estrus, they are not yet prepared for reproduction, and the risk of death is inevitable. Any male at any age who is caught assaulting a female youngling during her estrus shall be exiled from the tribe.

Once the young beastman turns 18, they are considered adults and are required to participate in the yearly courtship ritual until they can find a spouse and are wed at the end of the ritual.

The ritual lasts for seven days. During the first three days, the participants are observed by the elders for physical rejection before they can proceed with the ritual. It was implemented because there were cases where the male or female showed physical rejection despite their claim of willingness to be tied together and ended up having no offspring.

The females are only required to attend the ritual once, but they can still be invited by their suitors in the succeeding years. The invitation can be accepted or rejected by the female.

A treehouse is provided by the elders to each female upon reaching adulthood. They are expected to be taken care of by their spouse.

Any female identified as sterile shall be sent to the temple of the beastman goddess, where they are expected to serve disabled or abandoned beastmen. Their current mates shall be freed from their spousal ties through a ritual unbinding the male from the sterile female. The freed males are allowed to find another mate.

Males hunt for food, while females process and cook it for distribution to each family. The elders teach the young beastmen how to hunt and do chores.

The strongest male in the tribe is called the "Alpha" and is expected to lead and solve any issues that concern the tribe. In our tribe, other males can invite the Alpha for an official duel during the peace season, and the winner shall be acknowledged as the new Alpha.

Any duel held before or after the peace season is void unless the current Alpha agrees to the succession.

If the Alpha dies due to any reason, their spouse shall succeed, and a battle royal shall be held in the succeeding peace season to determine the new Alpha.

My father, Lev, is the current Alpha of the tribe. He is a rare white lion and the strongest in the tribe. He has soft platinum-silver hair and amber-colored eyes that glisten in the dark, sometimes scaring me when he suddenly appears. There is a long scar on the side of his forehead across his left eyebrow from dueling the previous Alpha. He has a fit but muscular body that makes every female from the tribe drool and fall for him, if only he were not married to my mother.

My mother, Freya, is the most beautiful female in the tribe. She has soft and wavy honey-blonde hair that bounces elegantly with her every move, and her sapphire eyes glisten in the light like a brilliant gem.

My mother has two other male partners beside my father: Drake, a black snake, and Dov, a brown bear. She loves the other two males, despite my father being the Alpha. She loves her children, but she is indifferent to my father, which breaks my heart.

I have four siblings: Lindie, Askook, Orson, and Bjorn. Lindie and Askook are snake cubs, while Orson and Bjorn are bear cubs. My older sister, Lindie, is my only sister. She and older brother Orson hatch three years before me, while brothers Askook and Bjorn are one year older than me. There are two more eggs to be hatched; their genders are yet to be known, but most probably they will be males since females are rare.

My parents and some elder females take turns taking care of me. I was not brought to the nursery like the other hatchlings for some reason.

It has only been a few days since my rebirth, but I can slowly understand the language used in the tribe.