Li Lin never imagined that young Cythria, who would one day grow into a fearless vanguard guard, could have such a mischievous side. But then again, considering Garen's past, it made sense to him.
A warrior who constantly championed "For Demacia" and "Protecting the Homeland, Justice Shall Prevail" had a childhood marked by bedwetting and blaming it on his sister, Luxanna.
It seemed many heroes had a troublesome streak in their youth.
Li Lin sighed inwardly.
He finally managed to coax the little rascal Cythria back home.
Afterward, he checked the movements of Prince Jarvan IV and his elite guard, ensuring they had bypassed the ambush set by the Noxian warband and were heading straight for the Gates of Mourning.
Given their marching speed, unless Noxus dispatched troops to harass them along the way to avoid exposing their ambush, it would take at least a week to reach the Gates of Mourning.
However, Li Lin anticipated that his minor interference would prompt the Noxian warband at the Gates of Mourning to strike proactively rather than wait for the Demacian prince.
Perhaps in just four or five days, they would clash at the foot of the Gates of Mourning.
Due to the altered timeline, the battle site would be upstream on a different stretch of the Silent River, with scarcely any forests for cover.
Without Li Lin's assistance, it was uncertain if the prince could hold off the enemy at the Gates of Mourning as he had in the original timeline, where he escaped into the forest with the help of Sona's adoptive father, Barrett Buvelle, and encountered the half-dragon Shyvana.
This, however, fit perfectly into Li Lin's plan.
"Sigh, I've become what I hate," he sighed.
[Why do you say that? Is it because of your use of the Lightshield Prince?]
Li Lin remained silent.
Yet, through observing his facial expressions, the AI could roughly gauge his thoughts.
[You need not feel this way, Master,] the AI comforted him. [All your actions are to counter future calamities. Without leveraging the Lightshield Prince, your chances of acquiring Demacia's petricite are a mere 0.0235%, nearly zero.]
[With my calculations, if you leverage this event, your probability of negotiating with the Demacian royal family for the petricite rises to 88.67%.]
[Your actions are for the benefit of Runeterra and its people. Such actions are justified, and you should not feel self-reproach.]
"Hmm… maybe," Li Lin responded, feeling a bit relieved but still burdened by the weight on his shoulders.
Petricite absorbs magic, but it has its limits.
When faced with extremely powerful and pure magic, even the petricite forests of Demacia might not fully contain it.
For instance, the rune mage Ryze sealed the World Runes beneath the petricite forest and could still use his ultimate, "Realm Warp," to teleport within its confines.
Moreover, petricite had never been tested against Void creatures. Whether it would work against beings using Void energy rather than magic was unknown.
Having been in Runeterra for nearly two years, this was the first and only time Li Lin doubted his thoughts and actions.
Foreseeing the future was beneficial, but would his actions truly be effective?
[Master, are we heading to Everpeak next?] the AI's query pulled Li Lin from his chaotic thoughts.
He took a deep breath, pushing aside his stray thoughts. "Set the coordinates. We're going to meet Shyvana's mother."
After setting the coordinates on the map, the armor began to glow with bright blue and white light.
In just a few seconds, Li Lin found himself in a secluded spot on the eastern side of Everpeak.
Nestled between Everpeak and Greenfang Mountains to the north was a Demacian border town. Heavy metal floodgates controlled this small segment of the border where the Tranquil River entered Demacia.
In addition, Demacia stationed a dragon-bird unit here, with their base nestled on Greenfang Mountains.
However, unlike silverwing raptors, dragon-birds were hybrid dragon species, small in size, capable of carrying only one knight at most.
Hence, dragon-birds were primarily used for reconnaissance and disrupting enemy lines.
Even if Demacia knew about the fiery dragon residing at Everpeak, the royal family wouldn't order the dragon-bird unit to engage it.
The mismatch in size and lack of magical abilities made such an encounter akin to sending fodder to a dragon.
Shortly after Li Lin arrived at Everpeak, a mechanical soldier, which had been ordered by the AI to await nearby, flew down from the peak and stopped in front of him.
[Mechanical Soldier No. 4949 reporting, my creator.]
Li Lin nodded. "What's the status of the fiery dragon?"
[It is currently sleeping on the southern peak, 3.67 kilometers away.]
"The southern peak? Avoiding Greenfang Mountains to the north because it senses the presence of Demacia's dragon-birds?" Li Lin muttered.
The AI explained: [Elemental dragons are as intelligent as humans. It likely perceives the threat from Demacia and wishes to avoid conflict.]
[This dragon, named Yvva, has a notorious reputation in the mountains bordering Shurima and Ixtal in the east.]
To better gauge Gaboga's combat effectiveness and avoid underestimating its power, Li Lin had gathered extensive information on Yvva, the dragon named by the Shurimans, Shyvana's mother.
Elemental dragons have a long growth cycle, requiring nearly ten years to hatch from their eggs.
Typically, it takes 10 to 15 years for a young dragon to take its first flight after hatching.
Though elemental dragons are naturally gifted in magic, they need their mothers to teach them elemental breath and hunting skills.
This teaching period usually spans one to two years after mastering flight, with it taking decades to fully learn breath techniques.
If young dragons grow without perishing, reaching adulthood takes even longer.
According to human definitions, an elemental dragon reaches adulthood when it leaves its mother to live independently, which takes 100 to 150 years, depending on the dragon's personality.
An elemental mother dragon begins reproducing only after reaching adulthood, laying 1 to 8 eggs over several decades.
Due to the long reproductive and growth cycles, combined with dragon hunters' extermination of many Runeterran dragons over the past centuries, including elemental dragons, they are now rare across Runeterra, with most residing in the tropical rainforests and mountains of Kumungu in northern Ixtal.
Yvva was an exception among these elemental dragons.
According to the earliest recorded legends, dating back over 400 years, Yvva appeared in the eastern Shuriman records, now preserved in the Kenneneth Grand Library.
These records suggested Yvva had just reached adulthood at that time.
To hunt, it ravaged small towns in the eastern Shuriman mountains and Ixtal's borderlands.
Over the ensuing centuries, Yvva continued preying on Shuriman nomadic tribes, settling down to lay eggs only in recent decades.
In other words, despite possessing human-like intelligence, the beast remained a beast to humans.
After all, they were at opposite ends of the food chain.
Killing a dragon, even an intelligent one, posed no moral dilemma for Li Lin.
[Currently, 79 mechanical soldiers are on standby near the dragon. Shall we wake it and lure it here?] the AI suggested.
"No need to lose more mechanical soldiers. Use my authority to remotely activate Gaboga at Piltover University and teleport it here," Li Lin ordered, glancing in the direction of the sleeping dragon. "I'll deal with it personally."
(End of Chapter)
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