The Cat Kingdom

As the name of the continent already implied, the Thousand Forest Continent was filled with dense jungles and endless trees.

It was hard finding a single piece of land here that didn't have a tree to accompany it, hence the wildlife here was the most diverse among all the continents.

This also explained why the beast people made this continent their home, a place that suited their nature the best.

Talking about beast people, as Minos's caravan finally entered the forest, one could make out a few beast people within the distance.

Fortunately they didn't seem to have much interest in the caravan, just watching with eagle-like eyes as they passed by.

Minos was especially curious about beast people, so he paid close attention to the one's around here.

Unlike the Cat-Human Hybrid he had seemed to turn into, the beast people here were all Boar-Human Hybrids.

They were all quite tall, standing at around 190 to 200 on average, not to mention their wide builds which added even more to the intimidation factor.

Their skin was especially thick, and they had long tusks that hung out of their mouths, that when paired with their pig-like snout and ears made it obvious what breed they were.

Unlike what some ignorant people believed, beast people were not at all united, and in fact they were among the most xenophobic of all creatures, looking down on any hybrid that wasn't the same as them.

Hence, depending on one's 'breed' they would only really associate with others within that system.

For example, the Cat-Human Hybrids were made up of hundreds of different branches. There were the Lion-Humans, the Cheetah-Humans, the Leopard-Humans, and so on.

However the thing that unified all of them was their shared 'cat' lineage, hence they came together to form the Cat Kingdom.

There were many of such kingdoms across the Thousand Forest Continent, however the Cat Kingdom was by far the strongest at the moment, so it dominated on most fronts.

This also naturally made the Cat-Human Hybrids extremely arrogant, looking down on all other hybrids and thinking themselves superior.

That was about the gist of what Minos knew so far about the Thousand Forest Continent, but he hoped this journey would further his shallow understanding.

"The Boarmen are quite scary looking, huh?" Tylia whispered, pointing towards one Boarman standing in the distance.

"They have their own charm." Minos replied.

"Charm? Maybe you beast people are different, but I just can't see it... Now if you're asking me about charm, I'd have to put Catmen first, then Dogmen, then…"

Not interested in her hierarchy of attraction, Minos put his focus back on the vast forest, the occasional peeping head of a Boarman or Boarwoman intriguing him.

Compared to Catmen who had come together to create a civilization, the Boarmen were much more primitive in their ways, living on the outskirts of the Thousand Forest Continent, constantly causing problems at the borders.

However this wasn't to say they were any less intelligent, rather their culture was one of warfare and pillaging, and even among themselves they constantly fought.

Using his Omniscient Eyes, Minos knew that these Boarmen were part of a nearby tribe called Eukwawa, and in fact the only reason the caravan could travel in peace was because it had long since reached an agreement with the chieftain of the tribe.

Otherwise, with how aggressive most Boarmen were, they wouldn't be able to make it a few minutes before being attacked.

"What about you Minos, which race do you think is most attractive?" Tylia suddenly asked, pulling his focus back from the Boarmen.

"It's all objective, I have no preferences." Minos answered inattentively.

"Boring! How about you guys, what do you think?" She smirked, turning towards her guards.

"Miss, this question…"

"Come on, don't be wimps! Just answer truthfully or else I'll complain to my father that you didn't do your jobs properly." Tylia threatened.

"... Very well then, it's hard to say, but I'd also go for cat people." The lead guard finally answered.

"And you?" Tylia asked, turning her attention to the other one.

"Same."

"See? In my opinion, Boarmen are quite filthy, definitely the lowest among the Beast People."

"Still people." Minos replied as he shook his head, not liking this kind of talk.

"I thought you cat people were all arrogant, especially you Nine-Tailed, so what's with this attitude?" Tylia questioned, having expected Minos to play along with her.

"Not everyone's the same, not all Boarmen are filthy, and not all Catmen are arrogant. Unless I know someone personally, I don't like passing judgment."

"Are you sure you're a Cat Person?"

While she hadn't met many cat people, the ones she did meet were incredibly arrogant, even looking down on pure humans.

Even among cat people there was an internal hierarchy, with the Nine-Tailed naturally being on the top, the others fighting for second place.

This hierarchy bled into all their interactions, putting on a much more submissive and flattering face when dealing with those 'above' them, and doing the opposite to those 'below.'

"From the looks of it, I am." Minos smiled, though he was the only one who knew.

"You're a very strange guy… Nine-Tailed are especially arrogant, after all, even though it's called the Cat Kingdom, in truth it's the Nine-Tailed Kingdom."

"Who knows, maybe I bumped my head as a boy and it made me think differently?" Minos joked, Tylia giggling in turn.

"You know what, that makes sense!"

…

The journey through the Thousand Forest Continent was incredibly slow due to the lack of any real infrastructure.

There were no real roads here, so everything was just going off the caravan guide's memory and experience.

Not to mention the Beast People who were quite hostile, the caravan having even been attacked a few times.

Fortunately no one here was weak, so without much problem they beat them back, but that just made the journey even slower.

But finally, after over half a year, Minos finally noticed a massive wall in the distance, even larger than the one he had seen in the Lukalu people's secret realm.

The wall was so tall that it managed to match the trees, which mind you, were so tall that they nearly reached the clouds.

And given the hostile nature of the Thousand Forest Continent, these walls were actually quite necessary, keeping invading tribes out.

"Minos, look, look! We're finally here." Tylia shouted, having only noticed the walls long after Minos had.

"Just in time. I think I was about to go crazy from boredom." Minos smiled, Tylia nodding rapidly in agreement.

"Me too! But still, I can't believe it, it's actually the Cat Kingdom!" She said, her eyes sparkling like little stars.

"I wonder what the inheritance battle is going to be like… Regardless, I believe you can win Minos!"

"We'll see." Minos responded, not making any guarantees.

After a little more driving, the group finally arrived at the massive gates, dozens of Cat-Human Hybrids standing firmly with heavy spears and full body armor.

Joining the line, the caravan waited patiently for its turn before finally arriving in front of a large Cat-Human Hybrid, standing at nearly two meters tall.

The guard in question had a thick golden mane that wrapped around his entire neck, very clearly a Lion-Human Hybrid.

"Business?" He said loudly, his regular talking voice akin to a roar.

"We are with the Divine Maiden Forest Excursion Group, just here to help transport some visitors." The coachwomen explained.

"The Divine Maiden Forest Excursion Group? Have everyone step off, we'll need to do a personal check before they are allowed entry."

"Naturally." The coachwomen obliged, before spreading the news throughout the small caravan group.

Stepping off, Minos finally had a proper look at these Cat-Human Hybrids, immediately noticing that the majority of them were Lion Hybrids.

This was a bit interesting, but on further thought it was likely that each Cat Person had a different role in society depending on their breed, the lines especially clear given the extreme hierarchical nature that dominated here.

Meanwhile, back at the front of the caravan, the large Lion-Hybrid nodded towards his men, the guards quickly gathering around the caravan to check.

The check was quite intrusive, even going so far as to force everyone to expose the belongings within their Spatial Rings, which was a well-known taboo, but since this wasn't their land, they could only oblige.