GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Success tomorrow means partial freedom from Mother. Failure means they will lag behind the others in their progress. To lag behind the others is to lag behind all the dragonlings hatched in their cycle.

Fourth was the only one not concerned. It is because he has already succeeded in the second training. He has just been waiting for this moment to show off.

Unlike the others, who couldn't sleep because of anxiety, he couldn't sleep because he was too excited. The four of them stayed by the opening of the cave, looking out into the darkness and waiting for the sun to rise.

The cycle of light and day is not fixed in the dragon continent. This is because the position of the plane is not fixed. It moves about freely in the realm. Daylight comes when they move into the path of either of the suns. The addition of the third star has only made things more random. But it has increased the amount of daylight that they experience. So they didn't have to wait long for the sun to rise.

The sun didn't disappoint them. It rose majestically and brought light to the plane. Then another sun appeared on the opposite side of the horizon. The second sun is setting, but they entered its path before it finished setting, so the duration of its light will be short.

The dragonlings didn't have to remind Mother before she spoke to them. Her voice rang in their minds like a bell. "Prepare yourself."

They began to prepare themselves. They stretched out their small wings and expanded them to their full length. Their minds were set, and they already knew what to expect, so they were as prepared as they could be. Even then, some of them couldn't help but start to panic when Mother's divine sense grabbed the First.

First was lifted up and out of the cave. She was brought away from the mountain. Her body hung beyond the edge of the cliff. Beneath her were the open skies. Then she was dropped to the ground.

First began flapping her wings. The muscles of her chest contracted and relaxed repeatedly and vigorously to cause her wings to beat on the air.

But flying is not as easy as flapping wings. The air currents have to be sensed. Then she has to decide whether to go against the flow or go along with it. She can't do both of them or none of them if she wants to fly. She has to choose one, and the way she flaps her wings will be in accordance with her decision.

So the first thing she tried to do was feel the airflow with her divine sense and her wings. Then she tried to attune the rhythm of her wings to the air currents. This is not something that can be easily done while falling in the air.

She has memories of flights and the instincts needed to master them quickly. But she is falling, and her heart is thumping in fear because she knows that her mother will not stop her from hitting the ground.

She won't die because Mother will cushion her fall, but her failure will lead to far more than physical injuries. Failure will wound her pride, so it is best if she can focus on flying, but she can't focus on flying because she is afraid of failing.

She is just too anxious. She is thinking more than doing. The thought of third surpassing her filled her mind. It was then that Mother's voice rang in her head.

"Focus. Dominate the wind."

That brought her out of her mental quagmire. It also spurred her on and made her focus. Her performance improved immediately.

Her divine sense was turned into a sphere around her that collected information for her. She was able to identify the air flow around her. She decided to go along with it since it was easier to do. She oriented herself in the direction of the wind and flapped her wings along with it.

She managed to get herself gliding. Her wings are incapable of creating the thrust needed to keep her large body afloat, so the next thing she has to do is augment her flying with mana.

She is to weave mana into the air through her wings. That will enable her wings to become capable of lifting her body. Her wings will serve as the foundation for a large levitation spell that she will continue to use until she becomes transcendent.

But knowing how to do something is different from doing it. Knowledge is different from wisdom. The first generation of dragons struggled to fly too. But they managed to do so because their wings were large enough to carry them.

Generations of evolution in dragons have eliminated the need for wings. This is because wings become redundant at certain levels, and dragons can fly without them. So energy is directed towards more useful things like the toughness of scales, dragon breath, or the power of their inner world.

This has caused wings to be eclipsed by other parts of the body in later generations. So wings don't develop as fast as they should in the dragonlings anymore. It is why her wings can't carry her body on their own, no matter how skilled a flier she is. It has to be assisted by a spell. It is this spell that is stopping her from flying.

Ideally, she should be able to weave the spell since she was able to weave the dragon roar yesterday. But that little experience is not enough, and the flight spell is more complicated than the dragon's roar. All she managed to do was angle her fall towards the lake in the groove. Then she fell into it.

"I failed." She said in sadness.

Mother spoke to her through her divine sense. "Practice makes perfect."

Then Mother grabbed her and lifted her into the air. On her way back to the top, she passed Second brother falling to the ground. He was flailing about like she did.