Having made up her mind, Jona Velli immediately put her plan into action.
Finding a convenient spot to bite into, her white dragon mouth opened wide and she began to gorge herself.
"Mmm~ Not bad, the frozen meat tastes... ow~ fresh!"
Before long, Jona Velli began to sample an entire Gale Magic Wolf, but this time she ate more meticulously and soon discovered a Magic Core emitting mana fluctuations.
Jona Velli raised her dragon head, extended her dragon claw to take out the Magic Core, and began to carefully examine it with her crystal-blue dragon eyes.
The entire Magic Core was roughly diamond-shaped, emitting a faint green glow of magical power.
After observing it for a while, Jona Velli quickly lost interest and swallowed it in one gulp, followed by the sound of crunching.
"Emmm~ Crunchy, not bad, with a faint refreshing fragrance."
After finishing the Magic Core, Jona Velli continued to devour the Gale Magic Wolf.
Once she was mostly full, she left the last remaining wolf as reserve rations.
As the feeling of fullness reached her mind, it was followed by a drowsy sleepiness and a sense of laziness.
It couldn't be helped; True Dragons were like this—once full, they became lazy and wanted to sleep. It was all driven by nature.
Although Hatchling Dragons have more abundant energy, they need sufficient sleep even more to recover spent energy and to grow.
Resisting the intense sleepiness, Jona Velli walked to the cliff face and extended her claws to start digging a hole.
Under her sharp dragon claws, the hard rock was like a shoddy construction project, crumbling at a single grab.
Soon, a small cave capable of accommodating Jona Velli appeared before her eyes.
Ignoring everything else, Jona Velli turned around, aimed her large white backside at the small cave, and performed a reverse parking maneuver.
With her thick, fat, conical dragon tail curled beside her, Jona Velli closed her eyes, gave a yawn, and fell into a deep sleep.
"Goodnight, ow~"
...When the horizon turned the color of a fish's belly and the pale golden morning light spilled onto the earth, everything in this magical world began to wake up.
The white dragon sleeping in the small cave lay spread-eagled, her pink dragon tongue lolling out, and crystal-clear dragon saliva dripping onto the ground, forming a small puddle.
Her round belly rose and fell steadily with the white dragon's breathing.
Jona Velli was woken up by the chirping of birds; her consciousness gradually returned, and she irritably rolled over.
"I'll sleep a bit longer, wu~"
Jona Velli's protest didn't catch the attention of the little birds, and the chirping continued incessantly.
She irritably rolled over several times until she finally couldn't take it anymore. She opened her crystal-blue vertical pupils, which contracted into a thin line.
"Dammit, I'm going to kill you all!"
Jona Velli stood up angrily, but she forgot the size of the cave. As soon as she stood up, she bumped her head against the ceiling, forcing her back down with a face full of dark lines.
Pain? Not really, after all, the defense of her scales was right there.
It was just that Jona Velli felt it was too embarrassing, but fortunately, through this series of actions, the sleepiness in her mind completely faded.
She slowly shuffled out of the cave, looking at the several birds hopping on the tree branches, her pupils contracting again.
Perhaps sensing danger, several sparrows flew away noisily.
Her open white dragon mouth slowly closed, and Jona Velli gave a cold snort.
"Humph, consider yourselves lucky."
As she spoke, a sense of hunger came from her stomach; Jona Velli was hungry again.
Dragon Species are like this; their powerful stomachs allow them to quickly digest the food they ingest.
Jona Velli walked to the Gale Magic Wolf left over from yesterday, extended her dragon head, and swallowed it whole.
But this little bit of food was merely a snack for her; not only could it not satisfy her stomach, it further whetted her appetite.
Jona Velli sighed, picked a direction at random, and took to the air.
She didn't plan on coming back; after all, there was too little food here, certainly not enough to satisfy the consumption of a dragon.
She needed to find a river or a lake; as long as there was a water source, she wouldn't have to worry about a lack of food.
If it were a lake near a plain, that would be even better; that way, Jona Velli's meals could be greatly improved.
Since Jona Velli was only a Hatchling Dragon, her own strength wasn't high—one could even say she was somewhat weak at the moment.
So she maintained a low-altitude flight to avoid being helpless if she encountered avian magic beasts.
After flying for over two hours, Jona Velli spotted a river in the distance.
It was a relatively slow-moving, calm body of water, with a width estimated to be about twenty meters.
The river water was clear, and there were many amphibious magic beasts and herbivorous magic beasts around. More importantly, the opposite bank of the river looked like a plain, which made Jona Velli excited, and her flight speed unconsciously quickened.
Tired? Not at all. Jona Velli's physical body was inherently powerful; she could sustain such a long flight for at least six hours.
Not to mention she would glide for a while every now and then.
After flying for a few more minutes, Jona Velli arrived above the river, but she wasn't in a hurry to go down. Instead, she circled above, observing.
"A very suitable place for long-term residence."
Jona Velli's thoughts settled as her dragon head looked around.
"Whatever, I'll look for a suitable place to nest later. The immediate priority is to fill my stomach."
With that, Jona Velli began to scan below. Quite a few magic beasts had already noticed the white Hatchling Dragon circling in the sky and assumed defensive postures.
After observing carefully for a while, Jona Velli selected a Feral Water Buffalo that was walking with a slight limp and began her hunting plan.
However, water buffalo usually lived in herds and possessed basic intelligence.
Injured members like this were generally protected near the center.
But this couldn't stump Jona Velli. Upon seeing these Feral Water Buffalo, the inherited memories in her mind began an automatic analysis.
[Feral Water Buffalo, a gregarious herbivorous water buffalo known for its brute strength, irritable temperament, and strong sense of territoriality.
However, these buffalo are relatively cowardly and can be made to lose their footing through intimidation.
Feral Water Buffalo meat is delicious and makes for good food. If possible, I'd like to domesticate them all, but it always feels like such a hassle. — Blue Dragon Sage.]
The analysis surfacing in her mind made Jona Velli grin her dragon mouth, which, combined with the wolf blood covering her, looked even more terrifying.
Without hesitation, Jona Velli began to dive, slightly opening her dragon mouth.
Frost Breath condensed in her dragon mouth, and a linear breath poured down, striking the limping buffalo.
"Moo!!"
Frost quickly froze over the skin of the attacked buffalo, and the immense pain made it let out a miserable wail.
Seeing this, the other Feral Water Buffalo stopped eating and soon discovered Jona Velli, who had launched the attack.
They didn't retreat but instead let out a chorus of bellows, looking ready to strike and prepared to counterattack at any moment.
Jona Velli attacked again, a fan-shaped Frost Breath pouring down. A large number of Feral Water Buffalo were hit, and the pain caused them to start running wildly within the herd.