"Why have you come to the Far North Ice Field?"
Garon asked, his brow slightly furrowed as he watched the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon slithering towards him. Once, when he sensed something amiss in the Bone Wasteland but couldn't pinpoint the exact reason, he had warned the serpent dragon, considering its rarity and its pregnant state.
But the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon, obsessed with its growing power, ignored Garon's advice. Desperate to break through to legendary status, it stayed in the Bone Wasteland, devouring peculiar undead creatures. It achieved its goal of becoming legendary, but at the cost of being used as nourishment for an evil god's avatar, almost leading to its demise.
"Garon, I've come to express my gratitude and apologize," the serpent dragon said. "I foolishly ignored your advice and almost died because of it. I was ignorant and failed to appreciate your kindness."
The Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon was now over sixty meters long. By length alone, it was definitely a legendary creature. However, its body was emaciated, its scales dull and tightly clinging to its bones, resembling a massive skeletal serpent more than a robust dragon. It seemed weak and frail, still not fully recovered even after two and a half years. The serpent dragon had barely survived and transformed into a legendary being, but recovering from being drained by the avatar of the Wasteland God wasn't easy.
After hearing the sincere words from the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon, Garon nodded, not holding a grudge against it.
The serpent dragon hesitated, then said, "Although I was fortunate enough to survive, the offspring I was carrying was possessed and never born. So, I've come to the Far North Ice Field with another purpose: I hope to mate again with one of your subordinates to conceive offspring."
Normally, serpent dragons seek a mate only once in their lifetime. But since the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon's pregnancy failed without producing eggs, it did not count as a completed cycle. Birthing offspring at least once was an instinctual duty ingrained in their genes.
Driven by this instinct, the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon sought Uribis again, dragging its still-weak body all the way to the Far North Ice Field.
Serpent dragons have significant character flaws, but they are seriously responsible in this matter. Uribis's willingness to become Garon's follower in search of a mate was evidence of this.
"So, you wish to rekindle your relationship with Uribis," Garon thought, his expression odd.
"I understand. Uribis is still in its old lair. You can go find it. Whether it agrees to be your mate again is up to Uribis," Garon said, unsure how serpent dragons handled such situations. Given the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon's effort to come here, Uribis was likely to agree.
After thanking Garon, the serpent dragon flew towards Uribis's location.
"The time for the unknown legendary creature to appear in the Far North Ice Field and kill Uribis is approaching," Garon thought, watching it leave, his platinum eyes sharpening.
"Could its arrival be related?"
He pondered.
Shortly after, Garon returned to the main nest of the fortress. Yuna was leisurely lying amidst shiny treasures, appearing carefree. However, Garon suspected she might have sensed his return and deliberately assumed her current pose.
"You're back. How's everything in the Lava Sub-Plane?" Yuna asked innocently, blinking her eyes as if unaware of Garon's thoughts.
"Generally good, but things might change," Garon replied.
"Hm? What happened?" Yuna's expression turned serious.
"A portal to another plane opened into the Lava Sub-Plane," Garon explained briefly.
"Someone wants to invade our territory? That's unacceptable," Yuna said, her lazy eyes sharpening, her surrounding energy fluctuating.
"That's my territory, not ours," Garon thought, glancing at Yuna. He liked her but sharing his domain was another matter.
"If someone invades the Lava Sub-Plane, I'll help you fight them," Yuna offered.
Garon's wealth mainly came from the Lava Sub-Plane, and Yuna's from Garon. Indirectly, the Lava Sub-Plane was important to her too. If it faced trouble, her wealth accumulation would be affected, hence her resolute expression.
After a brief chat with Yuna, Garon focused on his own tasks. He concentrated, his time powers surging, forming a mini-time vortex. He didn't exert himself as much as the first time with Yuna, avoiding physical and mental exhaustion.
"Future Garon's Wheel of Time, Golden Garon's Golden Gate."
Images flashed in Garon's mind. Both the Wheel of Time and the Golden Gate that took the ancient power dragon were not just manifestations of time power but adorned with complex runes and spells, offering significant reference value to Garon.
"This growth has made my control over time power finer and more stable in forming vortices that blend the past, present, and future," Garon thought, his expression solemn as he continuously traced runes of time power, which fell onto the mini-time vortex, floating up and down with the flow.
These physical movements were a hint, helping Garon concentrate better, making the tracing of runes more perfect and swift.
Time quietly passed in the still space, and Garon inscribed runes observed on Future Garon and Golden Garon, recording every slight fluctuation in the river of time, slowly understanding their uses.
His greatest benefit from this growth was not just physical but a deeper connection with the river of time, giving him a deeper understanding of time.
He also attempted to alter the structure of the runes, combining his deep connection with the river of time and his understanding, slowly crafting his own runes.
It was a challenging task, but progress, not complete failure, made it interesting rather than tedious. Learning and researching can be joyful and intriguing when progress is visible and efforts are rewarded.
When focused, time seems to pass faster. A week later, Garon exhaled deeply, his gaze flickering.
Reflected in his platinum eyes, the mini-time vortex now clearly displayed dense runes, most inert but some exuding a special aura of time, capable of affecting the river of time.
Garon turned to see Yuna asleep, her head resting on her arms. Home-bound power dragons love to sleep.
Not wanting to disturb her, Garon looked away and gazed into the distance, his gaze piercing through the fortress walls and space, landing on Uribis.
Just then, Garon sensed a change in the time mark. Uribis, which had been staying in its lair underground, had gone out.
"The future foreseen is about to happen," Garon thought.
The time mark on the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon was now in Uribis's lair, motionless, seemingly resting. The time marks on the two dragons had been very close, almost intertwined, indicating their activities, crucial to all species but unmentionable.
Clearly, due to the failure to birth offspring, Uribis, driven by instinctual duty, had reunited with the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon.
Garon closed his eyes, 'seeing' the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon lying motionless in a dark underground cave, its time power surrounding it unnoticed. Not all beings could sense time power, and the serpent dragon was not among them.
Garon then observed Uribis. This ability to watch targets through time marks was new to him; previously, he could only sense their locations, not the surrounding scenes. But after his recent growth, the effectiveness of the time marks had improved.
Observing Uribis, Garon left the fortress and soon soared into the thousands of meters high sky.
Dense clouds formed with each flap of his wings, enveloping his body. His powerful presence disappeared, hidden within the clouds.
Although only eight years old, Garon's white dragon bloodline abilities grew with his strength, not age. His Cloud Mist spell could now conjure fog covering tens of miles.
Mainly used to conceal presence and form, this spell-like ability was much more powerful than any concealment spell Garon knew.
The biting cold wind of the Far North Ice Field blew as the silver dragon vanished into the night.
Meanwhile, Uribis slithered low in the air. Serpent dragons, wingless but with innate flying abilities, were slower than winged dragons.
"How stupid to fail even in breeding," Uribis thought harshly, its aura unsteady.
Breeding was not without cost for dragons, especially with the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon much larger than Uribis. The size difference and nearly a week of continuous effort had taken a toll.
"I'll kick it out once I'm pregnant again," Uribis planned callously.
Rolling around in the snow, Uribis eventually stopped and fixated on a gorilla-like creature leaping through the harsh mountains.
It swiftly captured the three-meter-tall Icefield Gorilla.
"Hey, little thing, come play with your lord Uribis and cheer me up," Uribis said, its spiky body shaking with a cruel smile.
Then, in the prey's desperate and painful cries, Uribis peeled its skin and tore its muscles and bones apart.
Under the night, this bloody spectacle pleased Uribis, which always found joy in tormenting weaker creatures.
The screams were music to its ears.
Suddenly, Uribis tossed the bloody prey aside and used its pale bones to spell "Eternal Dragon" in Dragon Language on the ground.
Garon: . Well spelled, but please don't do it again.
Uribis remembering Garon at such a time was comforting yet exasperating.
"This scene, anyone would think I'm some evil being," Garon shook his head.
At the same time, he focused on the sky.
In the cold night, a ghostly figure on a white horse dashed across the Far North Ice Field's horizon, a legendary being by the speed alone.
"It seems to be just passing through," Garon thought, further concealing himself in the clouds, wanting to see how Uribis encountered this unknown legendary creature.
The figure didn't linger, speeding past.
However, when it passed near the wailing mountain, its pace halted, stopping in place.
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