The Beauty's Hidden Beast

79 - Fire Bead (3.5k words)

Mitchell's POV

I've avoided visiting the forest my whole life because I hated getting wet. We scorpions could drown in a small puddle because of our heavyweight. If the ground were muddy, we would get stuck. So, naturally, the rainy forest was our enemy.

We only attacked during the hot and cold seasons, when the rain wasn't pouring down from the sky and the rivers were the calmest.

As a four-striped scorpion male, I discovered that I had the power to propel myself through the water despite my weight. If only for a short while, this made living near water less dangerous.

After traveling through the forest, my eyes have opened. The beastmen were thriving while we were all suffering and dying. Seeing it with my own eyes was different from hearing it from others.

It made me understand the situation's urgency and the need for change.

My father didn't care whether we all went extinct. He had no other interests beside reviving mother. I followed his old way of ruling because I didn't know any better. I thought we were safe and undefeatable with him on our side.

I was a rootless, our species's extinction didn't matter to me either, but that didn't mean I wanted it to happen. Dying as a loser didn't sit well with me.

I didn't want to give other beastmen the satisfaction of killing my people and taking over our territory.

My pride will never allow me to become the butt of their jokes.

"I say we kick all the rootless except for the scorpions and a few chosen ones out of the desert and back to the forest!" I declared to the scorpion leaders who gathered for a meeting in the Flame City, "Let the beastmen deal with their filth and solve their own problems!"

"That's an excellent idea!"

"Brilliant, Your Majesty!"

"What a smart decision!"

I smiled, satisfied with their reactions. Pacing around the throne room, I spoke. "But that's not all. I've visited the beastmen territories and realized that we can't follow their ways and traditions. We are different. We can't treat our females like they do, no matter how hard most of us try and how much our love is greater than theirs."

See my father, for example.

I continued, "Their females are weak, fragile, and can't be left alone without their males' protection. We can't afford that, so here's my suggestion," I said, my eyes scanning their faces. "We will build up our females' strength, train their bodies, and raise their stamina and endurance. Only then can we consider mating with them."

"What?!"

"What?! Did I hear you correctly, Your Majesty?!"

"Females have been born with beastmen's blood in their veins," I emphasized, motioning for Lia to remove her veil, showing the single stripe on her cheek, causing the leaders to hang their mouths open. "Female bodies are capable of great things. They have potential and strength that we are wasting. Clear crystals... We will start with collecting and feeding them lots of clear crystals. As for their training..."

A certain image of a certain foul female popped in my mind. Letting only weak males mate with the females won't solve the problem, but ensuring all the females are strong and fierce enough to endure them will.

I noticed the foul female's body could sustain her male's abilities from the spousal imprints without fainting. Then, I noticed that her stamina was also great. She could endure long periods without resting and could still send her males flying with a kick to their asses.