At a galactic academy, students from birdlike, feline, crystalline, insectoid, reptilian, and humanoid species study death worlds and one another’s biology. Five years after Earth joined the Galactic Council, a sole male human arrives through an exchange program. With little known about human biology, he is judged weak in a hierarchy shaped by predator instinct and physical appearance, where Felines and Reptilians rank highest, followed by humanoid species resembling elves, orcs, and goblins.