Primal Hunger A Tale of the Grand Skies chapter 4 by EnviTheFool

It was a peaceful night at the Gourmet Guild. Today's big batch of stew had been satisfying and everyone had headed off to their beds by now. Pecorine made sure that everyone was asleep before sitting back up and pulling out the small box she had set under her own bed earlier today. Inside was a perfectly spherical orange crystal around the size of an apple. It seemed inorganic, but one could feel small warmth emanating from it with their hand. It was the core of the primal beast they had defeated a few years ago, known by the name Voracicat.

The big fat cat-like beast of endless hunger and curiosity had become dormant after its defeat, reverting back into this state that was the true essence of all primal beasts. It lacked any kind of appetizing features that the cat's juicy body did. In the aftermath of Pecorine's disappointed over this fact, Gourmet Guild had taken it with them as a victory trophy of sorts... but this was only the will of the guild as a whole. As an individual, Pecorine still wanted to eat it.

An inorganic solid ball had little to no value as far as nutrition or taste were concerned, but this wasn't about any of that. This was about staying true to one's principles. Any living being that was felled in battle had the right to be eaten. Leaving their remains as trophies that would only collect dust was nothing short of dishonorable to the foe. Pecorine had always been firm on this, but had to often hold herself back due to the insistence of her guildmates. Such was the case with Voracicat's core, partially out of concern over the idea of eating a primal, partially out of worry over their guild leader as they considered beyond even her prowess as a gourmand.

Pecorine had robust set of teeth and a strong jaw, but whatever this thing was made out of was even beyond her. It could not be cooked to soften it up nor did it have a shell to be cracked open. The only available course of action was to swallow it whole without any way to soften it up. In preparation, she had practiced with fruits until she was certain that she could handle it. She had waited until the anniversary date of the primal beast's defeat was upon them as a ceremonial gesture. She was more than ready.

The knight gave the core a few licks for lubrication. As she had expected, it didn't have much of a taste to it, but there was still that interesting mouthfeel that was typical to crystals.

"Thanks for the meal."

Pecorine whispered whispered one last words to the core before opening her mouth opened as wide as she could. Her hand slowly pushed the orb inside. Its assistance was vital at this early stage as any additional movement done by her mouth risked dislocating the jaw. The hand continued to guide the orb deeper and deeper, sliding it over her tongue until it started to reach the back. She inhaled through her nose one last time before giving her meal one last push to finally lodge it against her pharynx.

This was the trickiest part. There was a limited amount of time to swallow the entire orb while it was blocking her airways. Pecorine's muscles had to work in perfect unison and rhythm to avoid passing out, especially since there was no one to prevent her from choking out this time.

"Hnnnnngk!"

Pecorine's throat contracted several times in rapid succession, latching onto the unnatural object just as its mistress wanted and inviting it beyond the entry to esophagus.

Glurk, glurk...

Pecorine's throat stretched to its limits. No fruit had made it this far without having been shattered by her constrictor muscles, but obviously that wouldn't cut it for a primal core. Her saliva-coated hand followed the bulge along from outside, doing its best to support its movement in all the limited ways it could.

Glurk, glurk...

She felt dizzy, lightheaded. Feelings of pride and anxiety kept swelling and mixing within the voracious knight as she continued to make progress on this deranged idea of hers. This ultimately was a battle where she couldn't hesitate for a second lest she'd be defeated herself.

"So... get... down there!"

Her focus was so great that she forgot to start breathing again even after her airways had become cleared again. The core had made its way down to the end of her esophagus. She needed one last push. Just one last effort. Just one... more...

GULP!

Pecorine's entire body trembled as she swallowed one last time, allowing her stomach to finally accept its offering. She could feel it slide in slowly before settling down at the bottom of it. Exhausted, she fell backwards onto her bed, finally remembering to breathe. It truly had been the trickiest meal she had eaten so far, but simultaneously she felt immense relief. This had been a long time coming. Any ordinary person might have been concerned as to how she would handle having an "indigestible" object like that inside their stomach, but the cheerful knight knew there was nothing to be concerned about. She was proud of her stomach's power. It could handle something like this just fine.

Pecorine couldn't stop feeling up her stomach until final moments of consciousness... drifting off to have her final dreams as a human being.

It remained uncertain whether Pecorine's inhuman digestive powers truly were as powerful she claimed or whether there were other factors at play, but what ultimately mattered was the end result: the core of Voraricat, a primal beast created to consume others and absorb their essence, would become assimilated by Pecorine over the course of that night. Its own essence and knowledge flowed into her, affecting her dreams and giving her a taste of what was to come.

That night, Pecorine dreamed of food. Worlds of endless food, where everything, everyone, was edible. And while according to her most things in real world already were edible, much to the objection of others, there was one key difference in those dreams: in those worlds, she was allowed to indulge herself. Rules, laws, guilt, shame, duty, limitations of her own body... all of it was gone. The young knight was free to devour everything in her path without a care in the world. 

Skyrealm's newest primal beast, Pecorine, would wake up that morning with a strange feeling of everpresent joy. She felt like she was on top of the world, and she was correct for feeling so; while it would take some time for her to realize it, she had reached an apex that was not possible for a mere mortal. A new chapter in her life had begun...