Chapter 3 2 Adult Ceremony

Words : 1433 Updated : Sep 11th, 2025

Sally looked at the raw meat in his hand, and felt nauseated once more, "Keep away from me." The young man noticed her repulsion to raw meat and casually tossed it to a teen boy before eying her stunning visage, growing more and more pleased, "Auro owes me two Crystal Coins, why don't we settle the debt with you." "If he owes you, you go ask him for it. Why should I be the one to settle his debt?" With the bloody raw meat gone, Sally could take a better look at him. He was quite good-looking, with peach blossom eyes and a raffish appeal, tall and strong-built. "Quite the temper," the young man commented as he touched his sensibly thick and alluring lips, "While females are precious, a skinny one like you might even have problems bearing children. You should be thankful to the Beast God if anyone is willing to keep you." "What does being able to get pregnant have to do with one's figure?" Besides, she had the Offspring System, which would prompt her to bear children even if she didn't want to. Sally couldn't be bothered to pay him any more attention and continued walking toward the tribe. The young man followed. It was her bright eyes, like the stars in the night sky, radiating a calm and resolute determination, the more he watched, the more he was drawn to her. "What are you doing?" Sally asked warily. "Going to Auro to collect a debt." "..." Clearly, he was still thinking of her as the repayment. "Lin Lang," a handsome and stable-looking middle-aged man approached them, "It's just two Crystal Coins, I'll repay you right now." With that, he threw two pale green crystal stones to the young man. The young man caught them, then looked at Sally again, "Auro, name your price, I want her." Only then did Auro look at Sally's face, recalling a white female Rat Person he had once kept in the Female Cave, who had suddenly disappeared. Could she be the daughter born from that pregnancy? Although the females in the Female Cave had very low fertility strength, becoming pregnant wasn't entirely impossible; there were precedents. "The adult ceremony will take place in a couple of days. The Witch Clan will rate the fertility strength of the females in the tribe; we'll talk then." "Nobody will want her looking all skin and bones; not worth two Crystal Coins then, maybe not even two Red Coins." "It hasn't been tested yet, what's the hurry?" Auro said to Sally, "Come back with me." Sally glanced at Lin Lang and followed Auro. Lin Lang's gaze lingered on her retreating figure, filled with determination to have her. Auro led Sally to the entrance of a cave; in the open clearing before it, a handsome young man who bore a mild resemblance to Auro was drying meat. Seeing Auro return with someone, he called out, "Dad, do we have guests?" "Robby, this is your sister," replied Auro. "Arrange for her to stay in the empty cave room next to yours; I need to go to the Witch Clan." "Sister?!" Robby was stunned. Auro took a piece of dried meat from the rack and left in haste. Sally noticed some fruits on the rack and immediately walked over, picked up one as big as her fist, and began to devour it. But after just a few bites, she vomited again. Her stomach would not accept fruit. Concerned, Robby asked, "How long have you been hungry?" "I don't know," Sally said, touching her stomach and eyeing the pieces of meat that were nearly dry. Suddenly, she felt a desperate craving. The bloody raw meat was inedible, but this one that resembled beef jerky didn't seem repulsive. Robby entered the house and quickly came back with a bowl of white liquid, "This is sheep's milk, only Dad's allowed to drink it, but you look very weak. Have a bowl." "Thank you," Sally said as she took it and began to gulp it down. Though the smell was pungent, she did not vomit again. "What is the coming-of-age ceremony? What is the Witch Clan?" Sally asked Robby. Robby was a gentle and pure-hearted boy, always ready to answer Sally's questions without reservation. The coming-of-age ceremony was a day when all unmarried adult females of the Rat People Tribe tested their Fertility Strength and chose their Beast Husband. It happened roughly three to four times a year, depending on the number of adult females in the tribe. In the Beast World, females, being inherently weak, were responsible only for reproduction, while the males took on hunting and raised the children. It could be said that females wholly depended on males to survive. In terms of numbers, the male to female ratio was roughly twenty to one, so only the most powerful males could possess a female all to themselves. Most females lived with multiple Beast Husbands. As such, polyandry was common practice in the Beastmen society and a necessity for survival. But even with polyandry, some males ended up without partners. Thus, there was the Female Cave. The Beastmen without mates could vent their physical desires there, as long as they paid with a modest amount of resources. The fertility of females was determined by the Female Stone. Females would drop their blood on the Female Stone, and the stronger their fertility, the more obvious the stone's reaction. Conversely, if there was no reaction, it meant the opposite. Females deemed to have low Fertility Strength were treated as outcasts and sent to the Female Cave. Whether in a matter of months or at most two years, those born with a naturally weak constitution would perish after repeatedly withstanding the assault of multiple males. Auro had returned, and upon learning that Sally had drunk the sheep's milk, he didn't say much, only stating, "I've already registered you with the Witch Clan, Jewel Millet. That's your name. You better perform well in the coming-of-age ceremony in two days, otherwise, I'll have to send you to the Female Cave." "But Lin Lang was supposed to ensure my place, right?" Sally gave Lin Lang a glance before leaving, to confirm his intentions toward her. That gaze full of predatory desire made it seem as though she was already something he owned. And judging by his physique, along with the coarse linen clothes he wore, not beast skin or leaves, he likely belonged to the young elite within the tribe. Auro was slightly surprised, not expecting her to notice this detail. Most females were quite dull and mindless, lacking the intellect to do anything other than bear offspring. It was uncommon to see a smart one – a credit to his own lineage, "Right, two Crystal Coins as insurance." Sally had something on her mind that puzzled her and couldn't help but ask, "Wait a second, why didn't you doubt that I might not be your child?" Auro replied, "I can smell the scent of my bloodline on you; it's a male's instinct to recognize his own offspring. Otherwise, with multiple Beast Husbands sharing one wife, how could one tell which offspring are his own?" "I see. Also, I don't want to be called Jewel. My name is Sally." "That's fine." "I want to rest." "Robby, take your sister back to the cave chamber to rest. Whatever she wants to eat, get it for her." Two days later, the coming-of-age ceremony arrived. Auro gave her a set of coarse linen clothes that his wife had once worn. It was only through asking Robby that Sally came to know Auro's wife had only average fertility strength, had difficulty in pregnancy, and, after much struggle, gave birth to him. She didn't survive long after that. Auro too had been seriously injured in a hunt. After recovering, his strength had greatly diminished. He could only hunt small prey like wildfowl or rabbits, and large game was difficult for him. Furthermore, with Robby growing up and needing to save resources to find a female, Auro decided not to remarry, although he occasionally visited the Female Cave to satisfy his urges. Sally realized that her birth mother, Banyue, was likely one of the females from the Female Cave. Dressed in the ill-fitting coarse linen clothes, Sally went with Robby to the most sacred place of the Rat People Tribe, the Beast God Temple.

Chapter 3 2 Adult Ceremony

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