The time plan on the ship was pretty loose. It was already about noon when Kalmia woke up and got something to eat.

  After that, she went up on the deck again to go ahead and train her magic. She clenched her fist, tried to feel that 'muscle', and the heat within, and tried to punch with the muscle's power. Again and again nothing came out, until, after hours of trying, she shot out a small spark. It was barely visible, but Kalmia could swear she had seen something.

  When she tried again, however, nothing came out. Not just that, she also felt weirdly stiff and tired. Was this a side effect of never having used that 'muscle' before?

  She needed a break before continuing trying it more. While she trained, without her realising it, Maria had sneaked up behind her, watching silently.

  "Are you done for now?"

  Kalmia let out a shriek of shock and looked around before realising that, next to the crew, they were the only ones on the deck.

  "Could you please make yourself noticeable before sneaking up on me?"

  "But where would be the fun in that?"

  Kalmia felt her heartbeat racing.

  "Screw you."

  "Aw, don't be like that."

  Kalmia looked away with a pout on her face.

  "I have something for you to eat. You forgot the time, and your hunger, again."

  Kalmia gave up on seeming angry at Maria.

  "Thanks."

  "No problem, we are friends after all."

  Kalmia sat down to eat what Maria brought to her. It was duck with potatoes and gravy. It was a delicious meal that most wouldn't expect to encounter on a ship. Kalmia guessed that was a privilege of being a student at SIA.

  Without Kalmia realising it herself, she started shoving whole potatoes into her mouth, chewing them and then swallowing them. When she was done with one potato, she shoved in the next.

  "You sure are hungry today, aren't you?"

  Kalmia replied with a mouth stuffed with two or three potatoes,

  "I gueff.".

  "You seemed to have got at least a bit of the hang of it."

  "Ofw wot?"

  "Of magic."

  Kalmia swallowed the potato.

  "Did I really?"

  "You didn't realise yourself?"

  "I thought I had seen something, but I wasn't sure."

  "I see... and you are already this tired from just once being able to output mana?"

  "I guess?"

  "Hmmm... interesting."

  "Does that mean something special?"

  "I... don't know... You better ask Miss Elana."

  "I'll do that."

  "But first finish eating."

  "You're right."

  Fifteen minutes later, Kalmia knocked on Miss Elana’s door. It didn't take long for the teacher to open the door.

  "What are you doing here, Kalmia?"

  "I have a question."

  "Go ahead, ask."

  "I’m completely exhausted from practicing, with only little evidence of magic. Should I be this tired from just a small amount of mana being used up?"

  "I don't know how strong the magic you used was, but as a dragon, even without training, you shouldn't feel that tired. On your entrance test, it clearly stated that your capacity was above average...

  Come in, I'll check something"

  Kalmia did as Miss Elana asked.

  "Sit down on the bed."

  Kalmia sat down.

  Miss Elana searched through some drawers for a tool. When she found it and Kalmia saw it, she feared what would come next.

  "Sorry, but I'll have to make a small cut on one of your hands to test my theory."

  Kalmia held her left hand towards Miss Elana.

  "What is that thing? It looks like a dagger."

  "It is an old relic I happen to own. It is used to check the durability of one's magic veins."

  Magic veins? Once again, it was something new with magic that Kalmia had never heard of.

  "What are magic veins?"

  Miss Elana looked at Kalmia with a face that told more than a thousand words. She didn't believe a dragon would never have used magic or even heard about some of the basics of magic.

  "They are... like your blood veins, flowing all throughout your body. They grow stronger the older you get, but also the more magic you pump through them at once. If you exceed your current capacity, you would die from mana poisoning as those veins would burst."

  Kalmia didn't know how to handle the information she was just given. It was a lot to think about, but she quickly realised it might have something to do with her pretty recent transformation.

  "A dragon has a natural flow of mana throughout its body. A dragon your age shouldn't have that problem, but I just want to make sure. You never know."

  As she said that, she used the dagger to cut open Kalmia’s hand. Kalmia’s face was evidence of the pain this had caused. As she wanted to pull her hand back, Miss Elana grabbed it to hold it in place.

  "Hold still."

  The dagger shimmered in a violet colour.

  "So your organ's capacity is definitely fine..."

  Next, it shrank down to the size of a butter knife.

  "But your veins are in an infant state, where it would kill you to use enough magic to use a flame...

  Stolen story; please report.

  It is as if you wouldn't even be more than a year old..."

  Kalmia guessed as much from her explanation about mana veins. It was because she didn't have those before that she had these problems.

  "We can accelerate the speed of their growth, but it may cause some problems and can only be done once we arrive in SIA. I don't have the materials here."

  "What are the problems you speak of?"

  "If one takes too much of the serum to accelerate it, one's mana veins could burst. It can also cause a lack of hunger, nausea or sudden drowsiness. In some cases, it can even cause accelerated ageing for the time you take the serum, but I guess that should not be a problem for your kind."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  Miss Elana was unsure how to handle that question.

  "Dragons don't age like normal people above the age of 25. They just stay in their peak for thousands of years before growing old. Even then, they don't die from getting old, and their power only grows."

  Kalmia didn't want to seem like she didn't know that already.

  "I know that much. But can't I just enjoy being this young?"

  The teacher nodded.

  "As I said, it is a rather rare side effect."

  "All you can do is either wait, or use the serum once we are at SIA. If you wait, it might impact your ability to practice in school though."

  "I see... can I still decide once I am in SIA?"

  "Of course. We will accept your choice."

  "But what will I do now, about bathing in cold water?"

  "Well, you either look for someone to help you, or you just use the water cold."

  "I guess I can ask Maria."

  Kalmia was about to get up and go out the door when Miss Elana stopped her.

  "Wait, I forgot to bandage your hand."

  "Oh yeah, I completely forgot."

  Kalmia had so much on her mind that she hadn’t thought about the blood dripping down her hand. After being reminded about that, the pain returned and she clenched her other fist.

  "Oh, yes please. Do it quickly."

  "Of course."

  A few minutes later, Kalmia left Miss Elana’s room. Maria had been leaning against the wall outside of Miss Elana’s room, waiting for Kalmia to come out.

  "And, what did she tell you?"

  "Well... I have something blocking my mana flow..."

  "Oh, that sounds like a problem."

  "Miss Elana told me they should be able to fix it in SIA, but during our voyage, I shouldn't try to use too much magic. Could I ask you to make me warm water from time to time?"

  "Sure, of course?"

  "Thank you."

  "No problem. Just tell me whenever."

  "How about right now? I really need a bath."

  "Sure. But you'll just get the water yourself."

  "That's no problem."

  "Then go ahead. I'll wait in front of your room."

  "Thank you."

  "Nothing to thank."

  Kalmia went into the 'utility' room and got a huge bucket of water, which was large enough for a person to jump into, and carried it towards her room. Maria was sitting on the ground when Kalmia got to her room.

  "A bit large of a bucket, isn't it?"

  "Well, it has to be enough to bathe in it, doesn't it?"

  "I guess so."

  Maria walked to the bucket and placed both her hands in the water. Kalmia silently watched as the air around the water slowly began to warm. Another few minutes later, the water was hot. As a matter of fact, it was so hot that most people would burn up if they got in it. That didn't bother Kalmia though, as she liked those temperatures since she had been transformed into her current form.

  "There you go. A large bucket full of hot water."

  Maria sounded quite exhausted.

  "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah. It's just that I used a little too much mana recently."

  "Oh. You could have told me so... I would have searched for someone else to help me."

  "No no, it's fine."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, I am. Now go in and have your bath."

  "Thank you."

  Kalmia took the bucket and carried it into the bathroom, where a bathtub with a pluggable hole at the bottom was located. Through a wooden drain pipe, it was connected with the outside of the ship. Carefully, Kalmia filled the water from the bucket into the bathtub. While a few drops went outside the bathtub, she managed to get almost all the water into it. Then she took her clothes off and got into the bath.

  After the recent days full of exhaustion and sweat, the bath felt even nicer than usual.

  When laying down in the bathtub, she realised how much she had grown in the past year. It wasn't just her height, but also in other places, which she really didn't want to think about. It disturbed her to have become such a voluptuous woman. But sometime in the last few months she kind of learned to handle that feeling and, at least temporarily, accept this fate. It had brought her much grief, but also much joy and so many possibilities. Kalmia didn't know whether these events had been for the best for her, or if she would feel better back at home with her father.

  It’s been hours before Kalmia got out of the bath, but when she did, she felt rejuvenated. Afterwards, all she did was lay down and fall asleep. Her training had been quite tiresome, and all she felt was the need for sleep.

  **CHAPTER 16: END**

  I just don't have the time. I am in the phase of my final exams and stress gets to me in form of a block and I also don't really have the time to get the chapters out. During that time, I will try to improve the older chapters. The story will roughly be the same but I will completely rewrite them most of the time. This takes up less time, is easier to handle in my current mental state and improves the novel to (hopefully) a level I can be proud of.