I've never tasted food this good before.

  It's not like I haven't eaten well before—I have. I grew up with home-cooked meals, fancy dinners, and even some of the best street food from pces I can barely remember. But this? This is something else. Maybe it’s because I was starving, maybe it’s because I almost died, or maybe it’s something about this world that makes food taste... more.

  The moment the first bite hits my tongue, I swear I could cry. It's simple—just a thick stew with chunks of some kind of meat and vegetables I don’t recognize, but it’s rich and hearty, filling me up in a way I didn’t even realize I needed. Each spoonful warms my chest, spreading through my aching limbs like liquid relief.

  I barely remember grabbing the bowl, but now I’m hunched over it, shovelling food into my mouth like some kind of starved animal. I don’t care how I look. My body is screaming for nutrients, and for once, I’m actually listening.

  "Easy there!" The girl—still don’t know her name, but I’m too busy inhaling this meal to ask—ughs as she watches me eat. "You’re going to choke if you keep that up."

  I slow down just enough to shoot her a gre before returning my full attention to the bowl. I don’t know what’s in this, but I swear I can feel my strength returning with each bite. My vision, still a little blurry from earlier, sharpens. My limbs, which had felt like lead weights, lighten just a little. The headache pounding at the back of my skull eases up.

  Sustenance detected.

  Additional Bioenergy Reserves given for the consumption of a cooked dish.

  No traits avaible.

  Aptonoth Meat: 20 days (+20)

  Moonlight Onion: 5 days (+5)

  King Truffle: 7 days (+7)

  Redmaw Root: 10 days (+10)

  Wyvern Spice: 3 days (+3)

  Bristleberry: 4 days (+4)

  Sun Herb: 6 days (+6)

  Time Until Bioenergy Runs Out:

  56 days, 3 hours, 10 minutes, 45 seconds

  Thank god. I don’t know what happens when I run out of bioenergy, and I really don’t want to find out.

  After a few more bites, I finally slow down enough to gnce at the girl, who’s still watching me with that same amused expression. She’s seated across from me at a wooden table, her own bowl barely touched. The room is small, cosy, rocking gently with the movement of the ship. There’s a ntern hanging overhead, casting a warm glow that makes everything feel strangely... safe.

  I put my spoon down, letting out a slow breath. "Okay," I say, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "Now that I’m not dying, mind expining what the hell is going on?"

  The girl brightens, sitting up a little straighter. "Right! Of course! So, like I said before, you’re on a ship headed for the New World. We’re part of the Fifth Fleet, sent by the Commission to investigate the Elder Dragon Crossing—"

  "Yeah, yeah, I got that part," I cut in. "But let’s back up. What is the Commission? What are Elder Dragons?"

  She blinks at me, her mouth opening slightly before she tilts her head. "Wait. You really don’t know?"

  I stare at her, deadpan. "Do I look like I know?"

  "Well... Yes?" She offers to me, looking quite sheepish while doing so. I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose and wince when the action causes the stupid fucking gemstone stuck in my skull to send a spike of pain through me.

  "Okay. My name is Hanna. If you would, please introduce yourself and then kindly expin your best guess as to what this is?" I say, diplomatically introducing myself and then not-so-diplomatically pointing at the aforementioned gem.

  The girl straightens up, pcing a hand on her chest as she gives a small, proud nod. "Oh! Right! My name is I?a. I’m a researcher with the Commission. Well, technically an apprentice researcher, but that still counts!"

  I had to internally swear at my poor lesbian heart at how cute she was because gushing over pretty women - and make no mistake, she definitely was pretty - wouldn't get me answers.

  My best attempt at a deadpan expression must have been convincing because she quickly expined further. "I suspect the gemstone embedded into your forehead marks you as the Sapphire Star."

  "The what now?"

  "The Sapphire Star! It's what became of the fifth and final dragon in the Tale of the Five! One dragon became the nd, one became the mountains, one became rain, one became forests, and the st, You, became a star of brilliant sapphire blue." Damn her chipper face.

  "You think I'm...what, a dragon? I know my body is pretty unusual, but I don't think I look very dragon-like." I say to her, but huff a little in acquiescence. Then annoyance.

  Confirmed. User is a fledgling Elder Dragon. Please consume an unprocessed creature to begin evolution.My petty and spiteful thought was interrupted by the ship suddenly shifting to the side with a loud scrape of stone against metal and wood.