After looking her over from head to toe, Alexander concluded she was a canine Demi with a predominantly human appearance. But since she was still a Demi, there were some hybrid parts from the non-human side of her race, which included, but were not limited to, ears, a tail, and a thin layer of fur.

  "She won't eat you," he assured her, extending his hand to help her up. "You can relax."

  Upon hearing a voice trying to calm her, the young Demi snapped out of her stupor and noticed Alexander next to Ocean, as well as the fact he was offering his hand.

  "Let me help you up," Alexander offered kindly to the young Demi, who timidly accepted the help and stood up.

  "Th-, thank you," said the young woman, her head bowed in shame. "A-, and I'm sorry for bumping into her."

  "You don't need to apologize. The mistake was mine," he smiled, somewhat awkward in the situation. "Who would expect to find a wolf like Ocean here?"

  “Let me make it up to you later,” Alexander said kindly. "But first tell me, are you hurt anywhere?"

  Seeing his attitude, she grew even more embarrassed, lowering her head further. "I-, I'm fine. I didn't get hurt."

  "I'm glad to hear that," he said before introducing himself. "By the way, my name is Alexander Ocean, and this wolf here is my familiar, Ocean."

  After extending his hand to introduce himself, Alexander remembered that physical contact with a stranger might be frowned upon by some people and/or in certain cultures, especially between a man and a woman.

  Fortunately it didn't seem to be the case this time, as the young Demi shook his hand and introduced herself timidly: "Ple-, pleased to meet you, Alexander. I'm Diana Littlelight."

  When she raised her head to greet him, Alexander could see the last part of her that was missing for his analysis and was surprised, because she was beautiful.

  Her white skin, clear as ice and clean as jade, contrasted perfectly with the black of her fur and hair, but above all, it accentuated her intense black eyes that seemed to contain the most starry and beautiful of nights.

  Her slightly curvaceous 1.65m figure had straight hair extending to more than halfway down her back, just above the base of her tail, breasts slightly above average, and a roundly shaped butt.

  She was, by all definitions, the perfect combination of a beautiful woman and a cute little animal that people tend to want to protect. But her beauty was hidden by her simple clothes and her shy, reserved behavior, always walking with her head down.

  Even with his excellent perception, he wouldn't have been able to perceive all this if he weren't devoid of most of his social prejudices to analyze her with due care.

  Alexander had already met a number of beautiful women since arriving in this world, mainly saleswomen and attendants, but few had beauty comparable to Diana's, such as Stella.

  Interestingly, although their beauty was practically the same, they were completely different.

  If he had to illustrate this difference, he would place Stella—who was 1.7m tall, with deep azure eyes and hair and a very light tan skin—as a proud flaming blue orchid. She was beautiful, intense, hard to reach, and impossible to ignore.

  Diana, in turn, would be like a small enchanted clover with countless leaves that spontaneously grew in nature. She was contradictorily beautiful when observed attentively, but could also remain hidden forever among the "common clovers" around her.

  Remembering they still needed to eat before going to the dungeon, Alexander concluded it wouldn't be a problem to have a guest this time, as it would be a great way to compensate Diana for knocking her down.

  "We were going to eat. Won't you join us, Diana?" he invited. "That way I can treat you to a meal for the trouble I caused."

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Yo-, you don't need to worry. I'm not hungry," she replied timidly. But as soon as those words left her mouth, her stomach betrayed her, loudly protesting against that choice.

  Diana immediately turned red, her ears drooped, and she lowered her head as much as possible. But before she could turn and run away, or before Alexander had a chance to say anything, his stomach also protested the lack of food, and the two started laughing a bit awkwardly.

  "You don't need to be embarrassed. It's natural to feel hungry after spending the whole day in class," he soothed. "Come eat with us… Don't worry, it won't be anything fancy."

  After some hesitation, Diana accepted the offer and they headed to the commercial area, where most of the city's restaurants are located.

  When the group arrived there, Alexander chose a simple, clean, tidy restaurant with outdoor tables, because of Ocean.

  When the waitress arrived to take their orders, she told them to ensure Ocean wouldn't attack other people. But as soon as that issue was resolved, she started taking the orders.

  As Alexander expected, Diana ordered very little and only the cheapest items. He then repeated her order for himself and made an additional order of 10 large meat skewers, five for Ocean, three for himself, and two for her.

  Before Diana could refuse the addition to her order, Alexander encouraged the waitress to leave, which the experienced waitress understood well.

  Diana blushed slightly but didn't seem angry. "You didn't need to order more food for me… I eat very little."

  "It's not a problem. The price here isn't very high," he replied, pointing to a wooden board with prices. "Besides, we won't risk wasting meat while Ocean is here."

  "Right, girl?" Alexander asked Ocean playfully while petting her.

  "Then I thank you," replied Diana with a small and simple smile.

  "Would you mind talking to pass the time while we wait for the food?" he asked.

  "I-, I don't," she replied, somewhat nervous. "But… I'm not very good at talking to 'other people'."

  Alexander understood she meant strangers, but it didn’t bother him. "It's fine by me. I haven't been talking much either since I arrived in this place where I don't know many people."

  "I recently came from a smaller city to become a hybrid combat student at the Twin Combats Academy," he explained.

  "I also recently arrived in this city to try to enter the academy, but in the support style." Reaching this part, Diana seemed to remember something painful. "But I almost didn't pass the test."

  "Don't worry too much about that. You passed and that's what matters," said Alexander. "You saw the admission exam line and can probably imagine how many people tried to enter and couldn't."

  "Don't devalue yourself like that. Everyone who entered the academy has some potential," he added in a comforting tone.

  His words weren't empty just to cheer her up; he was merely stating the truth.

  With the academy's high standards, even if she hadn't been assigned to an examiner like Lucas, who intentionally made things difficult for candidates just for fun, she needed to have some talent to get in.

  "Thank you," said Diana with tearful eyes. "But I'm not that good. I always freeze up under pressure… I can't even complete most missions as an adventurer."

  "I'm sorry for touching on a sensitive point for you," Alexander apologized. "But if that's the case, maybe we can help each other."

  "Help each other?" she asked, very confused.

  Alexander then took his silver-rank adventurer identification from inside his clothes and showed it to her. "I'm a silver-rank adventurer. I can even clear some intermediate dungeons with Ocean's help."

  Seeing that Diana was a bit surprised, he made a brief pause to let her absorb everything before making his proposal: "I'm learning to use a new weapon, so having some support would be very welcome."

  "N-, n-, n-, no. I would only cause problems," Diana hastily replied upon understanding what he was proposing. "I'm still just iron-rank."

  Upon hearing her answer, Alexander just chuckled lightly. "Don't worry about that, I'll start with beginner dungeons."

  "I can clear that type of dungeon using only my hands," he assured. "I want a supporter just so I don't have to stop for small things."

  Seeing that Diana was uncertain, he continued: "Don't think I'm doing this just for you. Having a supporter who doesn't interfere directly in fights will really optimize my time efficiency and my learning process."

  "I also won't need you to always hit your spells, because I'm strong and resilient," explained Alexander. "Then you can go at your own pace to help me. That should help you get accustomed and not freeze up."

  "But you don't need to answer now," he said, pointing to the waitress coming with a large tray. "Just think about it carefully and answer me after we eat, because the food is already arriving."

  "O-, okay," she replied. "I'll think about your proposal."

  Diana was very thoughtful and insecure during the meal, which was to be expected. But gradually her face softened.

  When she finished eating, there was still one untouched meat skewer and she asked if she could give it to Ocean.

  Alexander didn't even need to answer that question, because as soon as Ocean heard her name and saw the meat, she went to her of her own volition.

  This sudden action startled Diana a bit, but she soon realized Ocean only went to receive the meat being offered to her.

  Noticing Ocean's great intelligence, Diana calmed down, took the meat off the skewer, and began feeding her carefully.

  Ocean, in turn, reciprocated by using her version of |Invigorate| to clean Diana's hands of the meat grease, as she had seen Alexander do countless times after they finished eating.