Ray was now staring at the "burger" in his hands.
After Cù left, it took around thirty minutes for Zillah and Jynn to come back. They brought a large bag filled with three of these burgers, some beverages, and "fries".
The smell was intense, and just holding it in his hands felt greasy. He hesitated for a second before biting into it.
The flavor of the meat, of the tomatoes, and of the lettuce was gone. It was completely swallowed by the taste of the sauce. His eyes widened as he discovered something new.
"Oh, Ray, is it the first time you ate a hamburger?"
". . . Yes."
"So, do you like it?"
'Do I like it?'
He didn't hate it, but it felt like he was being overwhelmed by flavour, he couldn't process what exactly was going on in his mouth.
He looked around the table, his eyes locking onto the tall cup of "soda". He reached for it and took a huge gulp in hopes of calming his mind from the intense flavor.
And he succeeded, but his mouth was not saved, the gas inside the drink attacked his tongue, prompting Ray to start looking at it with confusion.
"I think I'm not used to such food."
"Is that so? You could've told us, we would have gotten something else for you."
"Uhm."
He stared at the hamburger silently.
'I shouldn't waste food.'
He reluctantly ate it as fast as he could and downed the drink in one gulp right after. Next time, he would definitely go hunting with Cù. At least the food that he would hunt and cook would taste better.
"You didn't need to force yourself to eat it, you know?"
"Y-yeah, I could've eaten it if you didn't want it."
"I don't hate it, it's just that I'm not used to it, and I didn't want to waste food, that's all."
Ray coughed into his fist and walked away, leaving Zillah and Jynn eating in peace.
After washing off the grease from his mouth, he once again went to his bed and kept scrolling on the phone, finding out more about the internet and whatever was in it.
However, there was nothing that had caught his interest anymore, however, he strangely couldn't stop scrolling out of boredom.
He found a few history documentaries. Interested in what the world thought about him, he had watched some videos about it. But the opinions were always about the same. "The most evil", "The tyrant of the Dragon Race" , "The only one that could rival the Last Hero.", stuff like that.
In the end there wasn't much to consider, his actions spoke louder than any word. Although there were some theories circulating about some of his stranger actions, like the glass plains situation, most of his well-known appearances resulted in various deaths and destruction.
Ray understood that about himself, after all, what he was interested in was not if people saw him in a different light, just like he had changed in a way.
If there was any change, it was that his figure was no longer seen as scary or threatening. That was bound to be the case, considering that he was supposedly dead but was seen almost like a myth, and for some weird conspiracy theorists, not even real.
The world had changed a lot, or were people always like this? Had he ever stopped for a while to try and understand what humanity was all about?
No, never. He either wanted to eat, sleep, or just fly around. Every time someone appeared in front of him, he just snapped. He became more hot-headed and reacted fiercely, resolving every issue with violence, and so things happened.
Was that because of the corruption brought by the Demonic Power?
He wasn't sure, not anymore.
Was the one with corrupted mind and emotions truly himself, or just a deranged version? But then, what was his real self?
After all, he had been corrupted by demonic power ever since he could remember. So did his uncorrupted version, his true self, never exist, and was it only born after he was freed from the corruption?
Or was his uncorrupted self something that had been buried deep within, something that he had never been able to reach?
Once again, he wasn't sure. It was so frustrating to always arrive at the same answer, 'I'm not sure' this, 'Not anymore' that. It felt like he was being lured by something that constantly went in circles.
In the end, what started as a curious search for the modern world's thoughts on him ended up in a frustrating loop of self-questioning.
So, he decided to turn his brain off for a while and started to watch an 'Anime' that was about a random guy reincarnated as a dragon. Sincerely, it was quite good, there was only one thing that puzzled him.
'Why do they jiggle so much?'
Being from a time when such things were not common, as well as his lack of interaction with female humans, it was quite strange to see such strange focus on that part of their bodies.
"What are you watching, Ray?"
"Hm?!"
At some point Cù had not only come back but was also climbing up to his own bed.
Faced with his question, Ray answered truthfully. He flipped the phone in his direction to show what he was watching.
"I am watching Anime."
"Oh, I know that one. Didn't like it that much. The way they interpreted dragons was cool, but there is too much fan service."
"Fan . . . Service?"
". . . Dude, for how long have you been watching anime?"
"Not long, why?"
"That somehow explains why you are watching that perverted show. Let's go to the desk, I can show you true anime on the PC."
"??"
With a pull, Cù got him out of bed, forcing him to land rather roughly.
He then turned the computer on and started browsing the internet. After looking in the catalog of the particular site that he was on, he smirked.
"This one is quite recent, but I believe it is perfect for beginners, it only has a single season of twelve episodes, but it's peak, believe me."
'Peak?'
After that, Cù and Ray watched half of that anime in a single sitting. As Cù had said, it was "peak", Ray enjoyed it a lot. Looking back, he really shouldn't just watch whatever anime had the word "dragon" or "dragonness" in the title, huh?
"Wooo, just as good as I remember, it's quite fun to just rewatch something you've enjoyed in the past. I should do that more often. Well, I could show some other shows that I like after we finish this one."
"Hm? Oh! Sure."
"Something on your mind?"
"Yeah, why do people make fictional magic systems when there is a real one?"
"Well, because there are some writers that aren't bothered to actually research magecraft, so it's easier if it's a version of it that it's in their control to impose its rules and mechanics. Besides the fact that it's fiction, the best power systems in anime are the ones completely unrelated to magic."
"Ah. That makes sense."
"Well, this is a good place to stop for now. It might seem that it can't get any better, but next episode is where the plot truly kicks off."
"I'll take you on that. So what now?"
"Hm. At this point maybe it's time for dinner."
Ray's eyes widened as he looked outside, the clear orange pigment that adorned the sky indicating just how late it was.
"Well, I'm thinking of going hunting again. Tiana is coming, do you want to tag alon-"
"Yes!"
Ray didn't even let him finish.
"Oh, alright, let's go. I'll message her that we are ready."
With that, they started leaving the dorms. Cù made a point of checking if the other two had their own dinners planned, they said that food delivery was already on the way.
So they left.
Apparently, Tiana had chosen to meet up at the entertainment building. A place especially meant for the free time of anyone in the academy. Conveniently, it was also really close to the academy's forest/hunting grounds.
And so even if it wasn't really close, they would already have had to go near it on the way, so it didn't bother them in the slightest.
"What was she even doing in that place?"
"Hm. If I'm not wrong, she dragged the girls in our class on a shopping spree. Well, the word she used was "convinced", but I'm pretty sure she meant "forced". Anyway, this means that she is already there, we shouldn't make her wait."
"Sure."
They started going towards the entertainment building where she was supposedly waiting for them.
************
Author's Note : I'm back! Sorry for such a long pause between these chapters, I have been pretty occupied with my personal life and because this arc is not really that exciting I've been hit with a lack of inspiration to write it. I will try to keep my update schedule as constant as I can but I can't promise anything and it is quite hard to do it with 2 novels and 2 fanfics being written at the same time, not even mentioning the other works on my mind.
I'm cooked.
Anyways, don't forget to comment your opinions on this chapter, save this novel on your library if you like it and leave some powerstones if you want or a review.
Also, check out my other Novel : This Novel's Plot has Completely Changed