"MY DAUGHTER!" her father shouted, striding into the room with wide, disbelieving eyes. His breath hitched as he took in her towering form, fur thick and radiant, the very picture of strength. He flung his arms around her, pressing his face into her black fur. "You've awakened. Have you had a second transformation? Oh my goodness! After all these years—now they can't look down on you!"
Kyla shifted awkwardly, a nervous chuckle escaping her lips. "Ha ha ha," she laughed, rubbing the back of her head with a massive paw. Her stomach rumbled.
Her father straightened instantly, snapping his fingers. "One bowl won't be enough—oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I must order several monster limbs at once! My baby is fully awakened!"
His face split into an ecstatic grin as he dashed toward the door. "My darling's genes are superior to those hairy little mutts!" He cackled gleefully, already fumbling for his phone. "I need to call the family!"
Kyla and Kiloil watched him vanish down the hallway, still flabbergasted.
Gavin exhaled, then motioned toward the door. "I'll explain everything. But first—how about shifting back?"
"I don't know how," Kyla admitted sheepishly. She scratched at the floor before murmuring, "Sorry about before."
"No, it's on me," Gavin reassured her, stretching his arms behind his head. "Just imagine your human self."
Kyla frowned, concentrating. A gasp escaped her as, with a crouch, suddenly, her human body hit the floor. She blinked, staring at her hands—her human hands.
She was back. Except now, a strange, intricate tattoo stretched up her arm.
Gavin's brows shot up as he noticed them, his jaw tightening. "Fuck."
Kiloil crouched down, inspecting her arm curiously. "Why does she have tattoos? Is that a beastmen thing?"
"No," Gavin snorted, stepping closer and tracing a finger along the inked lines. "It means that not only are you an S-Grade Alpha beastmen by fully awakening—you have powers now too."
"What?!" the siblings shouted in unison.
"I have—" Kyla started.
"She has—" Kiloil echoed.
"Superpowers?!" they both yelled.
"Yeah, something like that," Gavin sighed, running a hand through his tied-up hair, clearly regretting this conversation. "Keep it down, please. Your father—well, I don't even know."
He undid his hair, shaking it loose before retying it into a bun. "You'll have to go to the Beast Association, get yourself tested before your powers fully manifest, and register as an S-Grade Alpha."
Kyla flexed her fingers, still mesmerized. "What's an Alpha?"
"You are."
"Okay, but what does that mean?"
Gavin let out a deep sigh and started walking toward the door. "Fuck, I guess I'm giving you guys a crash course in beastmen biology—from kindergarten to high school. Just wait. Let's go in my car to the Association, and I'll explain on the way. Your father can't come. Or, well… you know. Fuck."
"Okay," Kyla nodded, following him. "Sounds like a plan."
"Stan," Kiloil chimed in, tagging along.
Gavin called over his shoulder. "Uncle, we're heading downtown!"
"Alright!" a voice shouted from the kitchen, bubbling with joy. "I'm still on the phone with—yes, Debs, yes, she's fully awakened! I know—"
The trio stepped outside and climbed into an old-school Mustang. The engine roared to life as Gavin pulled out of the driveway, merging onto the street.
They passed through quiet, sprawling suburbs before crossing the threshold into the city.
Kiloil and Kyla's faces were practically glued to the windows, their eyes widening as the towering metropolis unfolded before them. It was nothing like the city they had once known. This one was at least ten times larger, a breathtaking fusion of nature and technology.
Enormous trees, their trunks as wide as buildings, stretched toward the sky, their branches woven with hanging advertisements in vibrant, shifting colors. Monsters with wings of impossible hues flitted between them, weaving through the foliage and the hovering walkways that connected one skyscraper to another.
"Whoa…" Kiloil whispered, his breath fogging up the glass.
They crossed a massive river, its waters shimmering under the glow of floating lanterns. Below them, people with fins and sleek, scaled tails swam in designated lanes or played in swirling eddies of water, their laughter echoing across the bridge.
Gavin smirked at their awe. "We're now in the district for rainforest and jungle folk," he explained. "The suburbs are mixed, but the city is divided into different sectors to cater to every beastmen's needs. If you head further south, there's even an artificial sea for the water folk."
Kiloil barely registered his words, still staring at a small aquatic sector they passed over, where entire floating markets bustled on the surface, merchants selling glowing monster fish and strange, iridescent plants.
"Wow," he breathed.
Gavin continued, his fingers drumming the steering wheel. "There are three genders—Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Alphas make up 10%, Omegas 30%, and Betas 60%. Then you've got the secondary division—male and female, which is just a difference of genitalia. Unawakened beastmen are classified as D and E Grade. Half-awakened are B and C Grade. Fully awakened are S and A Grade. There are theories that higher grades exist, but I'll let the experts explain that one. Also, they all have a differing of about 15 years of life expectancy, E is about 100 and so on. Those with abilties get about an extra 10-40, depending on level."
He turned up the radio slightly. A song filled the car, layered with harmonies swirling like a spring breeze, warm and bright.
"Only those who are fully awakened have the potential to develop abilities," Gavin went on. "Abilities are broken into levels depending on grade. An A-Grade with powers is equal to an S-Grade without, but an S-Grade with abilities? That's something else entirely. It also means you'll have mandatory service."
He flicked his gaze toward Kyla. "You were a B-Grade before, which means you just went through a second transformation. That's incredibly rare. Like one in a fucking million—or billion, give or take."
Gavin exhaled sharply, reaching into the cup holder for a pack of gum. He popped two pieces into his mouth, chewing absently.
The car glided through the city, passing massive skyscrapers, floating platforms, and structures that shimmered like mirages in the midday sun. Hovercars zipped above them, weaving between winged beastmen soaring through the air. The city's landscape was an ever-changing masterpiece, a perfect blend of urban sprawl and untamed wilderness. Streets lined with neatly clipped bushes gave way to stretches of untamed forest, where thick roots cracked the pavement and vines coiled around streetlights. Rivers snaked through the city like veins, and above them, entire ecosystems flourished on rooftop gardens.
It was a concrete jungle in the most literal sense.
And Kiloil and Kyla? They were speechless.