Chapter 10: Stars Shift
Garon, witnessing Hill's failed attempt, realized the issue at hand. He scrutinized the young dragons and sensed from them an unmistakable aura of dominance—a dragon's aura, inherent to apex predators in this world.
According to the inheritance of dragon lore, it is more accurately described as an aura of ferocity.
Adult dragons utilize this dragon aura to paralyze many creatures within their territory with a mere thought, overwhelming their spirits.
In combat against peers, this aura can also oppress the opponent's spirit, serving as a potent supernatural ability.
Supernatural abilities, defined as powers unaffected by spell resistance and difficult to counteract or dispel, include a dragon's breath and, as Garon had recently discovered, his time manipulation ability.
"Young dragons possess dragon aura but cannot control it at will, nor is it strong enough to immobilize prey. Instead, it startles them."
Returning to the dragon nest, the White Dragoness was still sprawled out on her massive icy bed, seemingly in an endless slumber.
Garon found a spot to lie down and while resting, he began to attune himself to his own aura.
He was successful in hunting not just because of his speed from time manipulation but also because, like the younger dragons, he unconsciously exuded his dragon aura continuously.
This was not beneficial.
Particularly when vulnerable, an uncontrolled dragon aura could instead serve as a beacon, allowing enemies to trace the young dragons' location.
The first lesson for a dragon whelp is to learn to control this ferocious power, to master one's dragon aura.
Not just Garon.
Hill, Charles, and Tom were all similarly working on controlling their dragon auras to prevent any unintentional leakage.
Unlike them, once Garon realized the need to control his aura, he mastered it in just over half an hour.
Such talent was one of the benefits of his time dragon physique.
According to the lore of time dragons, "Any skill or language learned is considered a basic skill for time dragons."
This means that any skill that can be mastered through learning is effortlessly utilized by time dragons, much like how he easily learned to subtly manipulate magic while using the White Dragoness's magic gem.
After experimenting with time manipulation and exhausting his mental energy to understand the release and retraction of dragon aura, Garon soon fell asleep.
This sleep was merely to swiftly recover his mental state, not the kind of profound slumber that dragons use to evolve or acquire new abilities. True dragon slumber requires significant time accumulation and energy reserves, not something that can be entered at will.
Garon was soon awakened by a disturbance.
He turned to see the beautiful and enormous White Dragoness stretching her wings, her pale yellow eyes filled with satisfaction from a good rest. However, this contentment vanished as soon as she saw the young dragons.
It seemed the White Dragoness was not fond of young dragons, Garon thought.
She then left the nest and returned with a magic creature she had killed and frozen—a winter wolf. This type of massive, all-white wolf was almost exclusively a magical creature ranked just below dragons.
As the young dragons eyed the food eagerly and lunged towards it, the White Dragoness intervened. She used her sharp claws to divide the winter wolf's body into four parts, pushing the largest piece towards Garon and giving the smaller ones to Hill, Charles, and Tom.
Garon blinked, not hesitating to dig in.
The meat of magical creatures like the winter wolf was not something young dragons usually had access to. It significantly accelerated their growth as it was packed with energy.
If not for the White Dragoness's explicit division, he would have been tempted to snatch some from his dragon siblings.
The reason why the White Dragoness gave him the largest share was clear to Garon.
His growth was the most rapid; he was the most formidable among these young dragons. Even the food supply followed the brutal rule of strength amongst evil dragons.
The weak could only be ruthlessly eliminated.
The three younger dragons watched enviously as Garon devoured his share, their eyes filled with covetous longing. Yet, with the White Dragoness present and after previously suffering a defeat from Garon, they dared not attempt to steal any.
After feeding the young dragons once, the White Dragoness returned to her slumber.
Garon, fully nourished, rested briefly, and once his energy and spirit were replenished, he flew out of the nest to hunt alone.
To grow quickly, he needed substantial food, and if the White Dragoness wouldn't provide enough, he had to capture it himself. Fortunately, there were no powerful magical creatures near the icy cliff nest, which alleviated some concerns.
Moreover, the hunting grounds chosen by the White Dragoness were indeed rich in prey.
Seeing Garon leave the nest to hunt, the three younger dragons quickly made the same decision.
Relying on his formidable physique and the ability to manipulate time, Garon returned from each hunt loaded
with prey, only resting when physically and mentally fatigued.
When he felt sufficiently recovered, he would embark on another hunting spree.
Under the polar day, time slowly passed.
During his hunts, Garon continued to explore other abilities of time dragons, though perhaps due to his youth, he achieved little. However, his combat skills improved steadily with each hunt.
As for the three younger dragons, they mostly returned from their hunts empty-handed.
But as dragons, even as the weakest of the chromatic dragons—white dragons—they were not ordinary magical creatures. After several weeks, as they gradually learned to control their dragon auras and mastered ambush tactics from under the water and ice, they too began to succeed in their hunts and no longer went hungry.
The White Dragoness, maintaining her irresponsible demeanor, provided a magical creature for the young dragons to hunt weekly.
Those moments were the highlight for the young dragons.
The flesh of magical creatures was the best sustenance for dragon whelps, packed with exponentially more energy and nutrients than that of ordinary beasts.
Garon, favored as usual, received the largest share every time, eliciting envy and frustration from the three younger dragons, yet they were helpless to change this.
Life became regular.
Lacking excitement, but it was safe and stable.
Hunting, exploring abilities, waiting for the dragon mother's feeding, beating up the dragon brothers and sister (who never seemed to learn, challenging Garon periodically), and resting.
Days passed in this simple yet fulfilling rhythm.
Days and nights changed as the stars shifted.
After experiencing both a polar night and a polar day, when the entire Arctic ice plain was enveloped in darkness, a white beast with a body length of six meters and a wingspan of eight meters leapt from the icy cliff nest and soared freely in the howling cold winds.