[Timeline: Year 2041 – The Winter Solstice]
[Location: Class F Classroom – The Imperial Academy]
The cold was gone.
Damien woke up with a gasp, his lungs seizing as if he had just surfaced from deep water.
His body tensed, instinctively expecting the freezing draft of his apartment window, the one that never quite closed properly.
He expected the smell of stale instant noodles, the hum of a dying refrigerator, and the crushing weight of absolute silence.
Instead, got something much different.
CRASH.
"I said simmer, you pyromaniac! Simmer! Not incinerate!"
"I'm trying! This soup has a high boiling point!"
"If you burn the oxtail stew, I'll feed you to the Wyverns!"
Damien blinked, his vision blurry.
The smell hitting his nose wasn't dust like before.
Instead, it was rich, savory, and overwhelmingly complex.
Instead it was rich, savory, and complex. Roasted garlic. Spiced wine. Seared venison. And a hint of... sulfur?
