"Haaa... I should have slept at the dorms. Now I'm gonna be late for class," a girl yawned, walking into a small ramen shop. She had dog ears and a tail that wagged lazily—a Perro.
She scanned the room and saw a handsome, quiet boy sitting alone. She sat across from him. "Hey! What race are you? I don't see any ears or a tail. Are you hiding them?"
Alistair looked up. She looked a bit dim-witted but friendly. He showed her his phone screen: I am Human.
"Eh? Human?" The girl, Suyu, rubbed her eyes. "In the middle of the Demi-Human district? I must be dreaming."
She suddenly slapped herself hard across the face. SMACK!
Is she retarded? Alistair wondered as she winced in pain.
"Ow... they say you don't feel pain in dreams. That's a lie," she whimpered.
It's not a dream, Alistair typed. He noticed her school badge: Academy of Elves.
"So you're really human? Then how did you get those horns?" she asked, pointing to the small, obsidian nubs Alistair had manifested to shut her up.
"Here is your ramen, sir," the waiter interrupted.
Alistair began to eat. He was a Dragon now; his metabolism required massive amounts of calories, even if he could go weeks without eating later.
"Well, since the ramen is here, I might as well eat before I'm late," Suyu said, digging in.
Alistair chuckled, nearly choking on a noodle.
What's so funny? she asked.
Nothing. Just thinking about a joke, he typed. He watched her eat. She was an Elf Academy student—that meant she had "superior genes," though looking at her, he suspected she might have gotten in through a diversity quota.
Still, she was his first lead. If he wanted to build his "harem" or "inner circle" in this city, a bubbly, gullible dog-girl from the elite academy was a perfect place to start.