GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The second and third, on the other hand, don't mind his tone too much. They approached the egg and used their heads to bash it.

Fourth screeched at them, "What are you doing?"

"We are helping you."

"Hurry up and come out."

Fourth yelled at them, "Go away. I don't need your help."

But the second and third didn't listen to him. They giggled as they broke his shell. Even the first joined in amidst fourth's yells for them to stop. They disregarded his demands and hatched him. Then they surrounded him and looked down at him.

"So this is how we looked when we hatched."

"Were we so small?"

"I don't think so. I think he is stunted. He spent too much time in the egg."

"Yeah, he is a runt."

They spoke to each other while examining their new brother. The fourth, on the other hand, was not so excited or happy about the inspection.

He asked them, "Don't you have something better to do?"

"We don't."

"And you can't make us stop gawking at you."

He looked around for help but didn't find it. So he asked them, "Where is Mother?"

They ignored his question. Instead, the first asked, "Why did you take longer in the egg?"

The other two also stared at the fourth and waited for his answer. They expect him to know why he spent so long gestating. All the eggs on the plane hatch at the same time, as long as they are in the same cycle. Each cycle is a thousand years and it is determined by the dragon spirit.

Eggs that are mature have to wait for their cycle to hatch. That means if an egg matures a year after a cycle, it has to wait until the next cycle before it can hatch. The last cycle was almost four years ago. If he hatched now, it must be that he had become mature before the cycle and was delayed by something.

The three of them hatched a month after the cycle, but he took four years. There must be a reason for it, and he must know it. Now they too want to know it.

They know he will know why he was delayed, just like he can already use his divine sense to speak the moment he was born. His bloodline memories, ancestral bestowal, and awareness of when he was in the egg ensure that he is not ignorant of that fact. They want to know that reason because it is very important.

The fourth replied. "Mind your business."

"Come on."

"Tell us."

The first got closer to his face and asked seriously. "What did you see?"

They want to know if the fourth is a runt or if he is special. Those are the two reasons why his hatching was delayed, despite having matured many years before the cycle.

They suspect that he is special. He looks like them, but he feels different. He has small blue scales, two small knobs on his head, and two weak and small wings on his back. They can't tell exactly what's different about him, apart from the fact that his blue scales are not cold to the touch like theirs.

But the fourth refused to divulge his secrets. So they threatened him.

"We will beat you if you don't speak."

Fourth said defiantly, "Go ahead. Do you worst."

They know that it is unlikely that he will tell them, even if they beat him. Dragons are too proud to be coerced by a little pain. Even a dragonling will not be covered by the threat of pain. But the first still went ahead to fulfill her threat. As a dragon, she will say what she says she will do. It is a matter of pride.

She also has to put him in his place. She has to establish the fact that she is the strongest. That is also a matter of pride. So she used her hand to press the fourth to the ground of the nest.

He was pressed beneath her claw in a show of dominance. The amount of force that she applied to him did little damage to him compared to the posture that she forced him into.

The fourth promised vengeance. "I will get back at you for this. I amount of force that she applied to him did little damage to him compared to the posture that she forced him into.

The fourth promised vengeance. "I will get back at you for this. I will beat you up."

"Give it your best try." She said with pleasure and disdain.

She knows just how humiliated he must be. An injury to one's pride is often more severe than a physical or spiritual injury. She doesn't need to hurt him physically to hurt him. The act of forcing him down beneath her claws is more than enough to wound him.

It is more useful than a physical injury because he won't talk, no matter how much she beats him up. So rather than aim to make him talk, she can aim to humiliate him, which is an easily achievable goal.

The shameful posture he was forced into hurt the fourth's pride. But it also emboldened his stubbornness to refuse to divulge his secret. He is young, but he is not foolish. He knows that the more someone wants to know something, the more important that thing is likely to be. He also knows that one shouldn't divulge their advantage to others. So he endured her torments and waited for salvation.

The second and third became bored and returned to wrestling. Their growling and yipping could not match the sounds of the screeching of the fourth and his loud declarations of vengeance that he made with his divine sense. But it came close.

Fortunately for the fourth, salvation came quickly. Mother arrived soon after. Her voice arrived before her body. "I see that you have all introduced yourself."

She has been watching the events in the cave even when she was far away, so she saw everything that happened. She didn't choose to interfere and only decided to appear now. But Legion-8 knew that she must have been watching. He suspects that she would have interfered if anything had been out of place.

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