The pair of lava-like eyes were staring at him, her sharp fangs clearly visible.
After a moment of silence, Agatha stood up,
"Hehe, I see that you're not a liar."
'Phew.'
Max heaved a sigh of relief once he saw that his mother no longer doubted him.
Their parting was so sudden. Agatha, who had been by their side just moments ago, was now packing up her treasures.
Agatha had many treasures, piled up to the size of Agatha herself.
It was not an easy task to pack them all up.
This was the first time Max had seen his mother being so diligent. She shuttled back and forth between her treasure piles, and sorted her treasures neatly.
Max walked up and helped to pack up as they were still family.
However, he was pushed aside by Agatha's fierce gaze.
Sure enough, dragons would never allow others to touch their treasures, not even their own children.
By the standards of dragons, losing a child was of little consequence, as they could give birth to new ones.
If they were to die, then they would be free from all worldly desires, and they would no longer experience any pain.
However, once their treasures were gone, then they would be well and truly gone.
"Mom..."
In the silence, Mia suddenly burst into tears.
This was not the first time Mia had cried. As a giant dragon, this was a very abnormal phenomenon.
"Mom... I don't understand," Mia said. "Did we do something wrong?"
"No."
"Then why are you abandoning us? I-Is our family... Not good enough?"
...
This was not an issue for Max.
After all, they were dragons.
Since they were dragons, they had to act according to the moral standards of dragons.
For other creatures, love and affection were a means of survival.
In a group of animals, those who ignored their young would result in their young being killed by their predators.
However, those who had feelings and were soft-hearted towards their young would protect them.
Those that had survived would inherit the behavior of their parents, and thus, they would protect their young as well.
Just like breathing and eating, emotions were not just a physiological phenomenon, they were a necessity for the continuation of the species.
Dragons, on the other hand, did not need emotions.
After all, dragons were at the top of the food chain.
Even if a Dragon Hatchling were to be abandoned at a young age, they would still be able to survive.
Therefore, dragons rarely had deep kinship.
This was something that Max had realized ever since becoming a dragon.
Perhaps, it was the price for being strong.
Those who exceled in something would usually display different behavior from those who were average.
Humans liked treasures because treasures meant stability, freedom, and comfort.
However, for dragons, it was clear that collecting dragons would give no merit to them. After all, the concept of living expenses did not apply to dragons. Nevertheless, almost all dragons still adored treasures.
...
Agatha was obviously impatient. She stood up and spread her wings as if she was threatening her children.
"Enough! Shut Up!"
"I should never have given birth to both of you oddballs in the first place!"
"I've been here for far too long to raise the both of you! I need to move! And the only possessions I'll bring with me are my lovely treasures, not you two!"
"How will you live in the future? This is something both of you have to figure out by yourselves!"
With that, Agatha suddenly twisted her body and swept her thick tail at Mia, slamming her heavily against the wall.
"Since when did great Red Dragons require someone to look over us?"
"I, Agatha Alexia Galanstrosi, have struggled to survive ever since I was a child. Forget my parents, I don't even have any brothers or sisters! They're all dead!"
"Only the ones who survive in adversity are worthy of being a dragon! This is the test that is given to us by the Dragon God, Tiamat!"
"Do you understand? If you understand, then rest well!"
"Tomorrow. I will set off tomorrow."
"... If you can make a name for yourself in the future, perhaps we will meet again one day."
"Or perhaps, I'll spot your body parts in a human auction one day... Hehe..."
Following her lecture, Agatha returned to her pile of treasures and laid down.
The pain from her mother's tail sweep and her harsh words had silenced Mia's cries. She buried her head and covered her whole body with her wings.
"Sigh..."
There was nothing Max could do in regards to the "domestic violence" that had just occurred.
He had no intention of challenging his mother's patience in that moment.
The most he could do was to reach out his claws to pat Mia's head.
"Don't cry, Don't cry. Mother might leave you, but I won't."
Max comforted her casually and wrapped his wings tightly around Mia's body.
Nevertheless, no matter how he tried to comfort his sister, it was to no avail. Mia continued to cry.
'How did things turn out this way?'
'I'm a human, but I'm acting more like a dragon.'
'This crybaby Mia is acting more like a normal human.'
This thought flashed through Max's mind.
However, he quickly dismissed it.
When Mia ate humans, she did not hesitate. She even thought that it was fun to kill humans.
She was merely unusual in the sense that she depended heavily on her family.
She was just as unusual as her brother, Max.
Early the next morning.
Max was woken up by a gust of wind.
Agatha had already spread her wings, packed up her treasures, and flew away.
Pulling out his wings from under Mia's head, Max walked around the cave.
'Hmm, not bad.'
The originally crowded cave immediately became spacious.
'I can make a sofa here. Let me think... I can grab a few sheep and shave their fur. It's not good for my body to sleep on rocks all the time...'
'Eh? I might as well open a bathtub there. There's a drought of water in the desert, and I haven't taken a bath since I was born. Now that mother is gone, I can do whatever I want...'
'But where should I obtain the water from...'
'I might as well "borrow" some from Longsong Alley. But I definitely transport the water here by myself. This wouldn't fit my image of a dragon. Dammit, I should've convinced mother to leave some of the horses alive.'
While Max was thinking about how he should renovate the lair, he suddenly stepped on something.
It was a bulging sack the size of a basketball.
Max opened the sack.
Shiny gold coins flowed out.
"This..."
Max weighed the pile of gold coins in his hand. There were more than a thousand of them.