"Gray." A childish female's voice rang with an echo as if it was said in a stadium. Groggily, Grayson opened his eyes only to find himself floating in a void.
'The fuck!?' He thought as he immediately became alert and began looking around. 'Is this a dream?' He wondered
"Good, you're awake!" The voice said happily without the echo it had before. "I've chosen you, so you'll work as my sacrificial pawn." She said rather bluntly.
"What do you mean?" Gray asked as he searched for the source of the voice. 'I can't really control anything, so I'd say it's unlikely...' He thought as he reached out his hand and tried creating things.
"Hmm~? Didn't I say it rather clearly though~?" She asked with a cute voice.
"No, you didn't, I need more information!" Gray said with an annoyed voice.
"Well, I'll be sending you to another world, but not to worry, you'll have the cushy position of chief in a beast tribe." She said.
"And what about being a sacrificial pawn? What does that mean?" He asked. She sighed.
"You are smart, but you ask far too many questions... It's boring..." She said with a disappointed tone. "Well, not that it matters. You'll go either way." She said.
"I don't want to, not if I don't know everything." He said.
"Agh, fine, I'll split your time, whenever you're in one world, time in the other will pause, this way if you die, you'll just live the other life, of course, you'll be going back and forth for as long as you're alive in both worlds, and I'm not gonna just let you kill yourself, so I'm gonna prohibit that kind of death." She said.
"So I really don't have a choice, do I?" He asked.
"Nope!" She said cutely. He sighed.
"Fine, I guess that's acceptable. How often do I switch between worlds?" He asked as his new fate settled in.
"Hmm, how about every two weeks?" She asked
"That seems... Arbitrary..." Gray said.
"Because it is~." She said happily.
"Well, it should at least make sense, maybe a standard unit of measurement, something like..." Gray said as he trailed off thinking of an appropriate time frame. "A month?" He said questioningly.
"Hmm, I guess that works, not that it matters. Oh, and don't worry, anything you can do in one world you can do in the other, so don't worry about failing that backflip you learned in the other world." She said jokingly.
"Does that mean I could use magic?" Gray asked.
"Oh? Are you interested in magic?" She asked. Gray nodded. "Then I guess I could give you a boost to your magic..." She said.
"Wait, more importantly, will I get abilities when I get there?" He asked.
"Of course!" She said energetically.
"What will I get?" He asked.
"It'll be random!" She said happily.
"I see... Well, it's better than nothing, I suppose." He said. "Also, will you explain the pawn thing now?" He asked. She sighed.
"Don't worry about it, it's nothing major, your life will just be setting the stage for something else. Something bigger." She said. Gray groaned.
"I don't like not knowing, but you probably won't give me any more information, will you?" He asked.
"Not a single sentence." She said.
"Well, I guess that's all acceptable... Well as acceptable as being forced into a new world is..." He said.
"Alright, well, it's decided then! By the way, when you go to the opposite world, the recent memories will be given to you as a reminder of the current happenings and whatnot. Now go! Live that full life I need you to!" She said energetically.
"Hai, hai, I get it." He said unenergetically.
"You could at least match my energy, y'know..." She stated rather plainly. Gray nodded. "Fine~." She said as Gray's vision blurred. The next thing Gray knew, he was in some kind of stone structure as the memories of a different life filled his head.
'So, my name here is Grayson Iron-Claw, son of the chief who died in a hunting party. I'm a part of one of the wolf beast tribes, of which there are twelve. Today is the coming of age ceremony for all of the children of the wolf tribes, including myself. It's done en masse to save on resources and food.' Gray thought as if to organize the memories.
'The coming of age ceremony is for all that have become twelve years of age, as that's when the girls stop developing. Beastmen live to one hundred fifty on average and have lived up to three hundred in the past.' He continued to organize information as he leaned onto the table he was currently sitting at.
"Gray? Are you alright?" A beastman girl asked.
'Ah, that's the mother of this body.' He thought to himself as he looked at the petite girl in front of him. "Yeah." He said. 'It seems this body's previous owner behaved similarly to me, which is probably why that goddess chose me for this, however, as a seventeen-year-old guy, I have much more wisdom... And by that I mean a small amount more...' He thought to himself.
"That's good, you zoned out, so I thought you may be worried about becoming chief when we get back to the Iron-Claw tribe." She said with a wry smile.
"Not really... The only thing to worry about is doing badly." He said. 'By the way, the guys tend to stop developing around sixteen, so I imagine the sex life of this race looks... Illegal...' He thought to himself as he imagined it. 'Well, mixed breeds, and by that I mean beastmen with the blood of another race, tend to develop a little differently, so I'm sure there are plenty of big titted ones too.' He thought to himself as he yet again imagined the thought.
"Well, I'm sure the tribe will know you're doing your best, you're still young after all..." She said, keeping her clearly fake smile on her face. Gray nodded.
'Speaking of... Won't my age be an issue to the people of my tribe?' He wondered. 'I mean, if a twelve-year-old was suddenly put in charge of me, I'd certainly ignore their authority, that is unless...' He thought as he looked at his mother. 'I mean, incest is common here since it doesn't have bad effects on beastmen... According to my information, it's because they're magical beings or something... But, if I were to marry her, then I could potentially consolidate my authority...' He thought as he stared at her intensely.
"Is something on my face?" She asked. He shook his head.
"I want to talk with you outside." He said as he stood up.
"R-right." She said as she stood up as well. They went outside.
'So it looks like a small cathedral, interesting...' He thought as he looked at the building as he walked.
"What did you want to say?" She asked.