As Hungry Men Do

AND THAT’S HOW I GOT HERE!

Long story short: I had a midlife crisis, got drunk to oblivion in Mexico, and headed straight to the jungle. Next up: starvation, portal, faceplant, dragon.

And speaking of starvation, that’s the crux of the problem.

The dead lizard won’t be preying on me anytime soon, but I’ve got nothing to eat. For the past few hours, I’ve searched every corner in this chamber for food, but other than the dragon itself, there’s nothing edible in here.

Eating a raw carcass isn’t exactly appealing, so I tried to find a way out instead. There’s a massive door at the far end of the chamber, but well, the thing is at least 30 meters tall, made of solid metal. I couldn’t possibly open it.

As for other doors, windows or alternate exits, I couldn’t find any. By the looks of it, I’ll be stuck here until someone comes to check on the dead lizard… but how long will that take?

For the love of God, I’m starving.

The last meal I had was three days ago. I was hoping to find some mushrooms at least, but not even that. There are crystal formations all throughout the chamber, poking out from the walls and columns like magical stalagmites. They’re beautiful to look at, but won’t feed me for shit.

At this rate, I’ll have no choice but to actually eat the damn dragon.

But would that be safe at all?

To begin with, it’s a monster. Its blood could be toxic or something, or I could simply get sick from eating it raw. Furthermore, there’s also the magic energy flowing into it from the runic circles.

I don’t need to be a magician to understand that the magic circles are doing something to its corpse. The question is: what?

If I eat from the dragon, will I be affected somehow? Or could it be these magic circles are just keeping it fresh, and it’s perfectly safe to eat?

God damn it… what should I do?

* * *

I CAN’T TAKE THE HUNGER ANYMORE.

There are so many risks from eating the dragon that I can’t even begin to count them, but if I don’t do it, I’m guaranteed to die here. So, face to face with the inevitable, all I have left to do is to pray and hope for the best.

“God almighty, I know I haven’t been a saint out there, or even prayed much in my life… but please, have mercy on me. Bless this food and watch over me.”

Truth be told, I’ve never been a religious man. But they say desperate times drive you closer to God, and as I’m finding out, it sure seems to be that way. In my case, at least, I do feel this strange sense of reassurance as I lay on my knees and pray.

I’ll be fine. Meat is meat. Just close your eyes and eat it.

Okay, let’s count down.

Three… two… one…

* * *

WELL. HOW ABOUT THAT? It wasn’t so bad after all.

The dragon’s flesh was way too tough for me to chew, so I had to settle to drink some of its blood instead. I don’t know if it was the thirst at work, but the thing tasted unnervingly delicious, like I was drinking ambrosia itself.

At first, I drank timidly from one of the open wounds. After getting a good taste, though, I didn’t mind drinking the blood on the floor instead, as it was more abundant.

What’s more, the dragon’s blood seemed to have healing properties. After a few gulps, the knee injury I sustained was as good as new, and even the bug bites I got in the jungle were gone.

With each drink, I felt more and more revitalized. The fatigue of the past few days was swiftly washed away, replaced with a refreshing sense of strength… of power.

I’m beginning to wonder who is consuming who. Am I the one eating the dragon?

Or is the dragon taking over me as I eat from him?

No matter how much I feed, I can’t seem to be sated.

I’m still so thirsty. So hungry.

I want flesh…

* * *

HOLY HELL, I PIGGED OUT. I kept eating for hours, until I could barely move. Now I’m sprawled on the floor, limbs wide, my belly bulging.

That said… I’m not hungry anymore. Finally. I feared for a moment I was losing my mind there, but once I had my fill, it was like a switch flipped off, snapping me back to my senses.

I’ve got a lot to digest from the experience, and not just in my stomach. But I’ll start with the elephant in the room: eating from the dragon has changed me.

I’m not only healed, but stronger than ever. When I started feeding, the dragon’s flesh was so tough that I couldn’t chew it. But after a few drinks, I felt so empowered that I gave the meat another go, and shockingly, I managed to eat it without problem.

The more I ate from it, the more powerful I felt. By the end of the meal, I was tearing off dragon scales like I was peeling armor plates from a tank. In other words, over the span of a few minutes, I gained the ability to do something I should’ve been physically incapable of.

It’s an outlandish notion, but… I think I absorbed some of the dragon’s power.

The realization alone made chills go down my spine.

Just now I ate what, about a kilogram of dragon meat? It was only a tiny fraction of the dragon’s body mass, and I’ve already achieved the peak condition of my life.

So if the dragon’s flesh is a source of power… then what would happen if I ate the entire thing? There are dozens, if not hundreds of tons of meat left.

If I gorged all of it… could I become a dragon myself?