Chapter 12: The Origin of the Dragon, Essentially Evil

"Crack! Crack!" The familiar sound of eggshell breaking echoed in Muria's ears.

"Haha, today is indeed a good day." Muria looked joyfully at the red dragon egg in the room, which was starting to show cracks. The dragon egg that he had been nurturing for so long was finally about to hatch.

During his slumber, Sophia diligently took care of these six red dragon eggs, replacing those fire elemental crystals that had been exhausted and turned into ordinary crystals.

So, after three years since Muria got these red dragon eggs, he was able to see the hatching of the red dragon eggs on the day he awakened.

"Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!"...

Even more exhilarating voices resounded, these were the sounds of five dragon eggs breaking in succession, that is to say, all the six red dragon eggs had hatched, and not a single one was infertile.

The red dragon eggs broke one after another, revealing six red baby dragons, which were as large as foals. After their birth, they began to utter their true dragon names in the order of their birth.

"Auston Igneel."

"Cynthia Igneel."

"Andre Igneel."

"Jessica Igneel."

"Albert Igneel."

"Renata Igneel."

The six baby dragons that had spoken their true names immediately began to nibble on the fragments of their eggshells, starting their first meal in life, completely ignoring Muria and Sophia next to them.

These newly born red baby dragons, who possess high wisdom, knew that there was no danger at present. Because the two people in the room that emitted a disgusting aura had already spent three years with their eggs, it was reasonable to infer that they would not harm them.

"Crack crack crack." Watching the baby dragons eating the eggshells, Muria showed a smile on his face. Six dragons, three male and three female, were evenly balanced. At the same time, a great sense of accomplishment arose in Muria's heart, for he had successfully hatched all six red dragon eggs.

"Sophia, bring some meat." Muria instructed the housekeeper. He knew that just the eggshells alone could not satisfy the hunger of the baby dragons, they needed more food.

The blonde girl sighed softly at the elated Muria, shook her head, and went out. Before long, she brought back six sun-dried jerky strips and handed them to Muria.

Muria frowned, "Why this kind of meat?"

"A hungry giant dragon can even eat metal and stone, feeding the evil dragon cubs dried meat is enough." Sophia answered.

Muria nodded, squatted down, took the six small jerky sticks that were like meat pillars for Sophia, and then took one out, squeezed it in his hand, and handed it forward.

"Auston, come, eat." Muria showed a gentle smile, calling the name of the first-born baby dragon. This dragon had already finished eating its shell and was now eyeing the shells of its brothers and sisters.

The baby dragon Auston raised his disproportionately large head, looked at Muria. After observing him for a while, he moved his limbs covered in bright red fine scales, dragging his bat-like dragon wings that hung by his side, and bit the chunk of meat, pulling it away.

After that, Muria called the names of the other red dragons one by one, and handed them each a piece of the jerky from his hand.

But just as Muria was about to give the last piece of jerky to the latest-born dragon, Renata, Auston had already eaten the jerky that was half his size in just a few bites.

This baby dragon with a big head and a small body once again looked at Muria. He licked the meat residues in his teeth with his tongue and, using the dragon language learned from hereditary knowledge, ordered Muria, "Give me the jerky in your hand, I'm still hungry."

Listening to this naive voice, Muria frowned, suppressing the anger rising in his heart, "Auston, that's your sister's jerky. If you are still hungry, wait a moment, and I will give you some more later."

"I want to eat now." The baby dragon Auston opened its mouth and spat out a strand of red dragon flame. It started to show its rightful side as an evil dragon - greedy and brutal.

"Not possible." Muria handed the jerky to the female baby dragon Renata, who was eagerly watching him.

Renata was the latest to be born, her size a full circle smaller than her eldest brother. She looked rather frail. If her eldest brother were to compete for food, she would only starve. Thus, she could only rely on Muria.

"Roar!" The nestling Auston who had been rejected growled lowly, flapping his wings, which now seemed more robust. Though he could not fly yet, he was still able to attack with greater speed as he charged at Muria.

"Scoundrel." Muria looked on in both shock and anger as a nestling bit into his tender right wrist. He never imagined that this nestling, who showed high wisdom from birth, would, irrespective of the size difference between them, initiate an attack on him.

The other nestlings around him wore eager expressions as if they too wanted to join their eldest brother in attacking Muria. Seeing this, the flame of anger in Muria's heart burned brighter.

With his patience pushed to the limit, arousal of anger threatened Muria's rationality. He laughed viciously: "Very well, you think that because I hatched you, I wouldn't hurt you?"

Muria stood up, raised his left hand and smashed down, with a force that acted on nestling Auston. This nestling, the size of a colt, was flung away, as his body traced a beautiful parabolic path.

"Thump!" The nestling slammed heavily onto the ground. The crystal floor covered by the magic array was incredibly hard. It did not cushion Auston's body at all; instead, it subjected him to a secondary injury, worsening his condition.

"Roar!" The nestling gave a low growl and staggered to its feet. The wing which hit the ground clung tightly to its body, clearly fractured, as both the foreleg and the hind claw on the same side of his broken wing unnaturally twisted.

"True to the nature of Giant Dragons, even a cub has such strong vitality." Muria watched the nestling who couldn't stand steadily, yet still growled fiercely. His face bore a grim smile.

A ball of anger was burning fiercely in his heart.

Muria raised his wrist and took a look. Only an almost unnoticeable red tooth mark was left. The cub's strongest attack didn't even break his skin. This minor bite wound, barely even a skin abrasion, was not the reason for his rage. What really riled up Muria was the nestling's behaviour.

For a piece of jerky, this creature that he incubated for three years viewed his gentle attitude as a sign of weakness, and recklessly attacked him.

Muria walked towards nestling Auston. He bent down, picked it up by the sides of its chest and abdomen, and smiled at it as it lowered its head trying to bite him: "I'm sorry. I forgot for a moment there that you are merely an Evil Dragon Cub. I'll remember this henceforth."

"Let go of me, you despicable Golden Dragon." Believing Muria to be a pure-blooded Golden Dragon, due to the heavy golden dragon's aura emanating from him, nestling Auston instigated this attack.

Muria completely ignored Auston. He turned around to face the nestlings who were watching him. A smile played on his face: "As of today, I am going to teach you something. Anyone who dares to attack me will face severe punishment."

"For example, like this." A golden thunderbolt emerged from Muria's hand and then surged into Auston's body.

"Howl!" The fierce-looking nestling, who wished to continue biting Muria, let out an extremely tragic scream as the golden thunderbolt climbed onto its body.

Listening to this heart-rending scream, the other five nestlings cringed, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Muria. He seemed far too brutal!

Under the ravage of the golden thunderbolt, nestling Auston's red dragon scales on his body turned pitch-black. Smoke rose in wisps, and a burnt smell of meat permeated the air. After crying out in agony, Auston fainted due to extreme pain, his eyes rolled back.

"Thud." The body of the nestling, covered mostly in black scorch marks, was thrown on the ground by Muria. Dragon scales cracked by the thunderbolt scattered all over the place. The sight was shocking. The other nestlings began to tremble with fear.

"Rest assured; he's not dead yet!" Muria was initially worried that he might have inadvertently killed the nestling, but when he saw its chest slightly heaving, he wasn't worried anymore.

The nestling Auston was still alive. After such a blow, its life force diminished by more than half, but it hadn't died yet. With the vitality of the Dragon Race, as long as they didn't die, no matter the severity of the injury, they would eventually recover.

"Sophia, clean it up, don't let them leave the room, do as you like with the rest." Muria said to the maid-in-chief who was watching the whole incident unfold without a change in expression, before leaving the room.

"I will follow your command, Master Muria." Sophia nodded.

"Whew!" After stepping out of the room, Muria let out a long breath as if he wanted to expel all the suppressed anger from his body.

"Inertia can really kill you." Muria sighed. Even until now, the memories from his previous life were affecting him, impacting his judgement.

"Each Giant Dragon is born with innate knowledge—vast wisdom at birth and their stance." Muria laughed sarcastically at himself, "I knew all these, yet I still harboured illusions towards these Evil Dragon Cubs. Even though they are familiar with my aura, since birth they still viewed me, who possess Golden Dragon lineage, as an enemy.

The Golden Dragon Mother asked me to raise these Evil Dragon Cubs. Dealing with them with kindness just wouldn't work. Modifying the first line in the Three-Character Classic to describe them would be quite appropriate: At the beginning of a Dragon's life, its nature is inherently evil.

To discipline the Evil Dragons, only force could be used. Humph, if the Crystal Dragons can raise the Chaotic Evil White Dragons to be Lawful Good, then I can raise these White-Eyed Dragons to be Husky Dragons."