[That mentally sets Yuan back on his heels a bit, and suddenly all trace of dry humor is gone from his expression. Elves have always been a distant ideal, something he can never reach. Humans were the ones surrounding him as he grew up, jealous of abilities they would never possess and treating him like dirt because of it; elves were the faraway ones who wouldn't accept him because he was tainted by human blood, who would turn him aside for what he was even if he could match them in power.

He resented them, sure. He'd told himself he didn't care to be given the respect he knew he could never have, until he started to believe it. But the idea of elves being treated with anything other than reverence or bitter envy, the idea of elves being regarded as something lesser, is a new and unpleasant one.]

...I had no idea such a place existed. Could exist. I... [He shakes his head.] ...It's...not so very different for half-elves, where I come from. ...That's why I thought you were attacking me.