I am the Enchantress!

Chapter 164 Talia's Specialty

Wilder was taken aback.

"Abandoned?"

His voice lowered slightly, "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked this. Otherwise, you could have just said it directly—"

Talia shook her head: "It's nothing. More than half of the hatchlings are abandoned. It's perfectly normal."

"Ah—I see."

Wilder nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

When he was a child, he watched "Animal World" and saw many instances of weak cubs being driven out of their nests to fend for themselves, which was very much in line with Darwin's theory.

Does the Red Dragon also follow this approach?

"Why abandon more than half of the hatchlings? Is there not enough food?"

As soon as Wilder finished speaking, he immediately felt that the question was somewhat idiotic.

That's a dragon!

It is a dragon, whose power far surpasses that of other races, and whose caves are said to hold countless treasures!

Will they not have enough to eat?

Nonsense!

Sure enough, Talia shook her head: "I've had enough to eat."

"Um."

If it can provide enough food for someone like Talia, then it really is enough.

"But I was indeed kicked out because of the food," she continued.

"Is it still not enough?"

"what?"

"I mean—why were you kicked out because of the food?"

"When the red dragon cubs reach the age of ten, their physical condition is basically complete. At this time, they will be selected. The young dragons with obvious defects and problems will be driven out of the nest and left to fend for themselves."

In the dimly lit room, Wilder couldn't see her expression, but thankfully her tone was even, suggesting she was recalling these events.

It's not just about being sad.

"Is it because you ate too much?" Wilder asked tentatively.

"No, I eat relatively little."

"Ah—why is that?"

"The problem lies in how I eat it."

As she said this, she was finally moved and let out a soft sigh.

"In what way?" Wilder pressed.

"I don't like eating live animals."

Talia continued, "Every day, my mother would bring us a lot of food, some of which had been bitten to death, some were still alive, and some were even extremely resilient."

"I don't know why, but I can't bear to eat food that's still alive. I always choose to eat the dead. Sometimes I'd rather go hungry than eat food that's still alive."

Wilder nodded.

In this respect, Talia is indeed quite different from the stereotypical image of the red dragon.

Logically speaking, red dragons should be a chaotic and evil race.

They are extremely greedy, extremely cruel, and despise all other species, regarding them all as objects to be enslaved.

As a proper red dragon, it should not only eat live creatures, but also enjoy torturing them to death before slowly savoring their fresh life.

Talia's nature was clearly different.

Wilder couldn't help but recall the first time he went on a gathering mission with her in the border forest.

At that time, she was fighting with a deer for a clump of plants, and she even tried to reason with it, without having any intention of attacking it.

He could have unleashed a dragon's breath attack—

That way, not only can we snatch that clump of plants, but we can also have a roasted venison dinner that night.

Off topic.

In short, Talia is certainly not a qualified red dragon in terms of temperament.

"So—just because you didn't eat live animals, you were driven out of the nest?" Wilder asked.

"Well, but not eating live animals isn't the real reason."

Talia said softly, "My mother thinks I'm not violent enough and don't know how to use the power of anger, so I can't become a truly powerful dragon."

"Um--

Wilder was unable to comment.

From the perspective of dragons, Talia might not actually meet their requirements.

But as a human being, he simply couldn't understand the act of abandoning one's own child; he couldn't empathize with it no matter what.

"After being driven from the lair, did you begin living alone—as a dragon?"

Clearly, Wilder's joke wasn't funny, and Talia didn't even catch it, continuing to answer his question: "I was driven away with four other baby dragons, and we lived together at first."

As she recalled, she continued, "We are all flawed fledglings, but unlike me, whose problem lies in their temperament, the other four fledglings have problems with their bodies."

"Some of them lack the ability to fly, some cannot use dragon breath, and some are extremely weak —"

"In less than five years, they all died one after another, and I was the only one who survived."

Wilder swallowed hard, feeling a sense of shock.

The so-called "self-sufficiency" is actually just letting those abandoned fledglings wait for their demise, with no chance of survival whatsoever.

Of course, Talia is an exception.

She possesses the physical attributes of a red dragon, but lacks only the violent heart unique to red dragons.

She survived.

"And then?"

Wilder asked impatiently.

At this point, Talia's story unfolded like a reverse-chronological narrative film, fueling Wilder's growing curiosity about her experiences.

"Later, I left Yanding Peak for good," she replied.

"Didn't you leave before?"

"No, I was just driven out of the nest, but I didn't really leave that territory."

Talia explained, "I live in the dense forests surrounding the mountains, where monsters often roam. Compared to docile animals, I can barely hunt monsters, of course, it's also for survival. In fact, their meat is very hard to eat."

It tastes awful.

Wilder thought of Bruce, who slept next door; that guy had a particular fondness for kobold meat.

What kind of taste is that?!

"Then why did you leave that forest?" he asked.

"Because the hatchlings that weren't abandoned five years ago have grown up."

Talia said, "They started flying out of their nests to hunt in the mountains and forests. They are very territorial and see me as an outsider, attacking me every time we encounter each other."

"Until one day, I discovered they even wanted to kill me, so I fled that forest and left Smoke Peak for good."

o

Wilder listened silently, without interrupting her recollection.

"After leaving the summit of Smoke Peak, I flew south, trying to find a territory suitable for my survival."

"I have stayed in many places and left for many reasons. The most important reason is that I found that in forests with many monsters, there are often highly aggressive upright races."

"Later I learned that they were called adventurers."

"However, most of them couldn't beat me, but I wasn't keen on killing, so I was always moving around because of their pursuit."

"Until I encountered a group of very strong humans, even stronger than the research team. We had a battle, and I was severely injured, so I could only escape by flying."

"They were tracking me from afar, and I felt I couldn't escape—"

"But just then, I suddenly gained a power that hovered before my eyes, as if it could be used by me with a mere thought—"

In the dim light, she slowly spoke: "Specialty: Human Transformation."