On the way back, Garon discovered that the creature was a female tiger, and he amusingly wondered how such a large beast could find a male tiger. Ferocious types were extremely rare; Garon had only encountered two or three so far, among which this ferocious Frost Tiger was the largest.
Upon returning to the icy cliff territory, under Garon's command, the Northern Ice Spirits worked together to construct a massive ice crystal cage to confine the ferocious Frost Tiger. Garon reinforced it with his Frost Dragon Breath to ensure the severely injured tiger could not easily escape.
The two bear cubs, curious, came over to inspect but were intimidated by the awakening Frost Tiger, cowering behind Garon. Realizing they were out of danger, they then brazenly taunted the tiger.
Garon shooed away the disruptive cubs. Once the Frost Tiger's condition improved somewhat, he exerted his dragon might on it again.
However, the creature was stubborn. Although it trembled under Garon's dragon might, it refused to show any signs of submission, fiercely locking eyes with Garon.
Garon was not in a hurry. He ordered several Northern Ice Spirits to watch over the Frost Tiger before flying away.
A week later, Garon appeared again in front of the Frost Tiger.
By then, due to not having eaten, the tiger was desperately hungry, gnawing at the cage reinforced by the Frost Dragon Breath, its movements slow and dull. At its peak, it might have had a chance to break free, but in its current weakened state, it was an impossible feat.
Garon placed a mammoth leg outside the cage and watched calmly as the scent of blood riled up the Frost Tiger. It fixated on the food, salivating heavily, growling anxiously, and frequently looking up at Garon.
Repeating his tactic, Garon's gaze hardened, and he released his dragon might again.
Weakened physically, driven by the instinct to survive, and tempted by the food, the Frost Tiger finally couldn't bear it any longer. It avoided Garon's gaze, laid down, and began to whimper.
"I still liked your untamed nature better," Garon commented with a smile and tossed the mammoth leg into the cage.
The Frost Tiger devoured the mammoth leg ravenously. Seemingly understanding Garon's words, it stood up, regaining some of its imposing demeanor, though now it showed a hint of submission when facing Garon.
Garon opened the ice crystal cage, and the tiger roared as it stepped out.
The two bear cubs nearby trembled in fear.
After leaving the cage, the Frost Tiger turned to look at Garon and then lowered its head, slowly approaching.
Garon stroked its head and vigorously rubbed it, thinking to himself that he finally had a pet he could touch without being overly cautious.
Two days later, after being fed, the Frost Tiger's condition improved rapidly and was ready to undergo dragon vein transformation.
Garon expended a considerable amount of dragon blood to perform the transformation.
Dragon vein minions understand his commands better and are more loyal. Had it not been in a weakened state, Garon would have performed the transformation two days earlier.
After bathing in dragon blood, the Frost Tiger fell into a deep sleep.
"Finally, a strong dragon vein minion," Garon mused, looking forward to the birth of a dragon vein ferocious type, then flew back to his nest and closed his eyes to sleep.
Time quickly passed, and a week later, Garon opened his eyes, sensing a powerful presence nearby carrying a faint dragon aura similar to his own.
Garon left his nest and turned his head in the direction of the sensation.
What he saw was a white tiger, sharp in tooth and claw, with a layer of scales under its thick fur and a pair of sturdy, sharp dragon horns on its head.
"Its size hasn't changed, but its aura is much stronger; its strength has definitely improved," Garon noted with delight and flew down.
The dragon-veined ferocious Frost Tiger, now closer to Garon, extended its head to greet Garon's dragon claw.
Garon enthusiastically touched its new dragon horns and felt the metallic scales under its fur.
His sharp claws pressed against the Frost Tiger's scale armor, creating cracks just before penetrating. Garon stopped, "The quality of the scales is much less than dragon scales, but it provides some protection."
Thinking this, Garon asked the Frost Tiger to demonstrate its new abilities.
To Garon's surprise, the Frost Tiger sneezed several times and then breathed out a gust of cold wind mixed with sharp ice crystals.
Though not as powerful as dragon breath, it was comparable to a standard third-circle spell.
"After the dragon vein transformation, the ferocious type can use spell-like abilities too, combined with its innate combat instincts."
Garon was very satisfied with his new minion.
In the days
that followed, Garon sent the Frost Tiger out to hunt higher-quality magical creatures. Compared to the Northern Ice Spirits and ogres, it performed exceptionally well with a high success rate.
It even brought back a three-headed cold serpent for Garon once.
The three-headed cold serpent, a large magical creature not weaker than a young white dragon and capable of using three different types of spell-like abilities, was much stronger than an adult Northern Savage Bear.
With the contributions of a strong minion, Garon had access to more high-quality prey, further shortening the time until his next evolutionary sleep.
Under the gloomy sky, the sun obscured by dark clouds and thunder rumbling, the pressure much lower than usual, bone-chilling winds howled, and heavy rain poured.
It was a rare rain on the Northern Ice Plains.
In all seasons, the Northern Ice Plains only experienced occasional rain during summer; ninety percent of the time, it was snowing—light flakes, fine snow, or heavy snow—making rain especially rare.
Garon particularly enjoyed sleeping during rain, lulled by the sounds of thunder and rainfall.
But just as he was about to fall asleep, a potent dragon might swept through, heading straight for his dragon nest.
Apart from the Frost Tiger, which roared defiantly, nearly every creature subdued by the overwhelming dragon might looked up in awe.
"Dragon might?"
Pure dragon might, a supernatural power unique to true dragons, fierce in momentum.
Garon narrowed his eyes and looked outside the nest.
Under the dim sky, a humanoid figure about 1.7 meters tall disregarded the dragon aura and flew directly into Garon's icy cliff territory, the source of the powerful dragon might.
"Sallya, come out, I need to speak with you."
A crisp and elegant dragon language pierced through the rain, accurately reaching inside the nest and caught by Garon's ears.
Was it someone looking for the White Dragon Mother?
Could it be one of her sisters... Garon wondered.