GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

So she made these three bundles of joy because she had to make offspring. It was a must for her to do so before she could leave the realm into the void and become a divine dragon.

She came begrudgingly to their ancestral grounds for that sole purpose. She didn't expect that she would grow attached to her little ones after they hatched. Her affection for her dragonlings made her feel a little anxious for the last egg that hadn't hatched yet.

She looked toward it now. The lone blue egg with white sparkles on its surface stood in her egg nest. It didn't hatch along with the others.

She thought to herself, "Maybe I made a mistake. But it is not too late yet."

She laid four eggs, but only three hatched. She might have made a mistake during the incubation period, which caused the delay. Such a mistake is possible despite her instincts and ancient memories. No one, including dragons, is perfect.

But things haven't reached the point of no return yet. She is certain of this because she can feel that the egg is still alive. It can still hatch, so there is no need to give up yet. Besides, there are other reasons that can explain the delay, and most of them are good.

Her attention returned to the three bundles of trouble. She watched them eat with rapt attention. They aren't fighting anymore. The wound on the prey has become large enough to accommodate three of them eating at once. But they are still competing.

The fastest eater will eat the most. It is a simple competition, but it will determine how quickly they grow. The biggest one of them has won several times in previous competitions. It gave her a lead over the other two that might extend to other advantages in the future.

The eating session ended with another bout of fighting. They had to fight for the last scrap. The two smaller ones cooperated to deprive the biggest one of more flesh. They fought until only the bones were left. Their teeth still can't break the bones yet, so they had to let it go.

The end of the feeding frenzy was marked by belching. It indicated that they have had their fill and are expelling gas that they swallowed with their food.

She said to them, "It is time for another bath."

This time, they couldn't run before they were drenched. They were far too heavy to move, much less run. But that didn't mean that they wouldn't express their dislike for baths.

They cried out at her with their tiny, undeveloped voice, "Baths are boring, mother."

"Yes. It makes us wet."

"We don't like being wet."

They didn't move, but they spoke a lot about their dissatisfaction.

She said sternly to them, "I don't care. You will do as I say for as long as you live under my care."

There are moments when she can be soft, but there are also moments when she cannot be soft. Moments that require toughness are moments like this, where hierarchy must be established or maintained. They must know who is in charge beyond any doubt.

They told her, "We know, mother."

"You are in control. For now."

They know that they have to do what she says, but that doesn't mean they won't resist. It is their very nature not to bow to another person, even if that person is their mother and is capable of squashing them like bugs.

They shook themselves off after the saliva removed the green blood from their scales. Their mother discarded the bones and said to them, "It is time to sleep."

That got them excited even more than the prospect of eating. Eating is good, but they don't need to eat. The ambient mana is enough for them to subsist and grow. It would be slower than eating, but it is always available and free.

Sleep, on the other hand, is the favorite pastime of their race. Plus, they always get something from their mother before they go to sleep, so they are very eager to go to sleep.

They whined at her, "Tell us a story, mother."

"Tell us about the great ancestor."

"I want to grow up as strong as the dragon king."

It was truly whining because their tiny voice sounded like it.

She smiled at them before she grabbed them by their tails. Then she hauled them over to the nest. She placed them in the small structure made of wool and feathers. Then she lay next to it and placed her head beside the nest.

The nest was too small for her, but it was more than large enough to contain the younglings.

"Alright. I will tell you the story of how the ancestral ground was built by the dragon king."

She decided to indulge them. She doesn't need to tell them since they don't need it to sleep and they already know the story. But it is tradition for mothers to tell their dragonlings stories. Her mother did so to her, and she will do so to her dragonlings.

She started. "The great dragon king was mighty. He was also proud. He had the right to be proud because he was so mighty that he could grab an indestructible fragment of the void universe with his bare hands. He did so to establish the ancestral ground of the dragon race. You can imagine his might…"

They can truly imagine his might. No dragon has seen the dragon king or witnessed this event, but several generations of dragons have acquired enough knowledge and information to help paint a pretty accurate picture. So the three younglings could imagine the story with reliable accuracy as their mother told it.

They can see a mighty being with unrivaled power strolling through the void universe unhindered. He doesn't have a distinct form in their imagination, but his unparalleled might is very clear. It is certain to them that nothing can stop the dragon king.