Chapter 241: Young Garon: Father, I've finally seen you!
As the dragon claw penetrated, ripples appeared in the portal of time and space.
The Imaskar spell shimmered with brighter light, restraining the increasingly restless portal of time and space.
Meanwhile,
Garon could clearly feel the consumption of the power of time. Extending his dragon claw through the portal of time and space was far more taxing than tossing a small magic gemstone into it.
His claws, in terms of both mass and size, were much larger than the magic gemstone.
In an instant, his left dragon claw, covered in silver dragon scales, had mostly entered the portal of time and space.
Garon let out a sigh of relief.
He could still feel the presence of his claw.
Garon rotated his claw, quietly sensing the situation on the other side of the portal.
It was cold and chilly, with gusts of wind blowing over his claw and the faint touch of snowflakes landing on his scales.
"Still in the Far North Ice Plains."
Garon was all too familiar with this sensation.
The familiar temperature, the familiar wind, and snow.
He would never mistake this snow-white world where he was born, which held many memorable past events.
"The past Far North Ice Plains."
Garon withdrew his claw.
Looking at the snowflakes on his silver scales, his gaze narrowed slightly.
After a moment, he decided to pass through the portal of time and space himself, to verify what would happen when he met his past self.
This was a venture not without danger.
Still, Garon decided to give it a try.
He believed in the favor of time. As a darling of the river of time, he wouldn't easily encounter trouble. Most importantly, his foresight of the future showed him alive and well, suggesting he wouldn't face major troubles in the past.
Having made his decision,
Garon took a deep breath of the cold air of the Far North Ice Plains.
Immediately,
Under his command, the Imaskar spell ring suddenly expanded again. The diameter of the portal of time and space swiftly grew to about ten meters, standing vertically amidst the swirling snow and wind, towering and unmovable.
Garon, now forty-seven meters long,
His wingspan exceeded fifty meters, and his shoulder height while on all fours was about nine meters.
Folding his wings and lowering his head, the portal was now large enough for Garon to pass through.
Having made his decision, Garon didn't hesitate. Every second of hesitation wasted a significant amount of time energy.
The silver giant dragon slightly bowed his head, then leaped forward.
His massive body passed through the portal like a curtain of light, in the rapidly swirling ripples, he crossed the portal of time and space.
Hum.
In no more than a breath's time,
The scenery in Garon's view completely changed.
The Far North Ice Plains, which originally belonged to the polar night, brightened after he passed through the portal. The night disappeared, replaced by the daytime scene of the Far North Ice Plains. Although the sun was not visible in the sky, it was still bright.
Garon turned his neck, surveying his surroundings.
In the distance, the vague outline of the Dragon Ridge Mountains, the scattered snow falling from the sky, and the howling cold wind... Garon looked down and saw he was still on the towering snow mountain he had just been on.
A magic gemstone with a faint glow left a shallow indent in the snow.
Garon's eyes gradually lit up with joy.
He raised his neck, his platinum dragon pupils reflecting the illusory river wrapping around everything.
To Garon, the river of time was still as it had always been, belonging to his timeline, flowing through past, present, and future. The river he saw now was the same as the one he experienced in his own time, unchanged.
After dozens of seconds, Garon looked towards the territory of Ice Cliff.
With his current mental power, although the distance was not short, he could clearly sense the situation in the Ice Cliff territory.
In the Ice Cliff territory, he sensed several familiar auras.
The White Dragon Mother, three little dragons, and... the young and frail Garon.
"What would happen if I met myself?"
This question re-entered Garon's mind.
He looked in the direction of the Ice Cliff territory, pondering quietly for a few minutes, then withdrew his gaze.
Next, Garon focused on the portal of time and space.
The luster of the portal had dimmed significantly.
This use had significantly depleted the time energy contained within. With its current level of time energy, it was insufficient to expand to a size large enough for Garon to cross.
But this was not a problem.
This portal of time and space was not a one-time teleportation spell.
With the Imaskar spell ring and numerous arcane runes, it had become a device capable of temporal transport. As long as Garon replenished sufficient time energy, it could be restored to use.
The Imaskar spell ring shrank, and Garon stored the portal of time and space.
As for replenishing time energy, he set it aside for now, as he had more important things to do.
After a few more uses of foresight, Garon didn't detect any dangerous anomalies.
He felt much more at ease.
A few seconds later, enveloped in a faint magical light, the massive silver dragon gradually disappeared from the air.
Remembering to pick up the magic gemstone, Garon, maintaining his invisibility, flew towards the territory of Ice Cliff, as remembered.
With Garon's lightning-fast speed, it only took a few minutes before the familiar thousand-foot-tall sheer ice plains appeared in his sight. The peak of Ice Cliff at this time did not have the Immortal Fortress, and there were no kin of Garon, only those belonging to the White Dragon Mother.
Having been beaten by Garon and driven out of the territory, these poor creatures would later be eaten by her in a fit of anger.
At the same time,
Several familiar figures appeared in Garon's sight.
Four little white dragon chicks flew out of the dragon's nest, circling near the Ice Cliff.
The body sizes of the little white dragons were not significantly different, flying unsteadily, seemingly their first flight.
Garon stayed atop the ice plain's peak, quietly observing everything below. Invisibility was not a high-level spell, but with Garon's current strength, no creature in the Far North Ice Plains could detect his presence.
He saw the little dragon chicks, after flying for a while, two of them, one after the other, charged aggressively at the largest of the group.
The largest of the dragon chicks had a mirror-like smooth scale armor, one size bigger than the others, with a ring of fine black scales around its neck.
This was the young Garon.
The young Garon, far from the majestic body and powerful presence of his current self, looked somewhat cute.
"I was quite adorable as a child."
Garon silently observed.
As time ticked away, young Garon quickly overpowered Charles and Tom in the snow, chasing after them to catch Hillary, who was stoking the fire, and giving her a good beating. Then, young Garon stood up, crossing his arms and let out a proud and naive laugh.
"You three, behave yourselves from now on."
"If I tell you to go east, and you dare go west, don't blame me, your big brother, for being unkind."
This...
A dark history, a truly dark history.
Garon, watching the arrogantly cute little dragon chick, couldn't bear to look directly.
He wanted to retract his earlier thought about his younger self being cute.
Due to the influence of his white dragon lineage, young Garon's personality was much more brutal and fierce than now, easily fitting the evil alignment.
"I've seen my past self, and nothing abnormal has happened."
"But what if he also sees me?"
Garon narrowed his eyes.
"Should I scare the White Dragon Mother?"
"She probably won't recognize me now."
Garon suddenly had a mischievous idea.
The aura of the White Dragon Mother was in the dragon's nest below. She was fast asleep, not caring for the little dragons outside.
However, after a brief thought, Garon abandoned this amusing idea.
Moments later, after young Garon had taught his dragon siblings a lesson, he flew into the sky, circling with his tiny body within the Ice Cliff territory, searching for prey.
Unintentionally, young Garon's gaze fell on the peak of Ice Cliff.
Under Garon's watch, the little dragon's body froze, showing a puzzled look, as if sensing something unusual.
"Strange, what's that over there?"
The little dragon muttered.
It seemed to be just an illusion, a fleeting sense of familiarity.
At the same time,
Garon, who had flown high into the sky, concentrated his gaze.
With young Garon's mental power, it was impossible to detect any of his movements. However, now it seemed that due to being the same individual, he had a faint awareness of Garon's scrutiny.
Garon then applied several spells to conceal his presence.
The little dragon shook its head, having found nothing, its vigilance slowly dissipated, and it slowly flew towards other areas of the Ice Cliff territory, its belly still empty.
Garon followed behind.
"Do I really let him see me?"
Garon frowned slightly, contemplating this question.
He didn't ponder for long. After a few dozen seconds, the silver giant dragon's gaze became resolute.
Meanwhile,
Just as young Garon had successfully used his accelerated state ability to hunt down an unfortunate ice fox-wolf despite the prey being startled by his dragon's presence, using his much faster speed compared to the other dragon chicks.
Landing on the snow-covered ground,
Young Garon immediately tore open the broken-necked fox-wolf's skin and devoured it, satisfying his hungry stomach.
In just a few minutes, the small ice fox-wolf entered young Garon's belly, but he was far from full. For a growing dragon chick, this amount of food was barely enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.
"If Hillary and the others also caught their prey, it shouldn't be too much for me, the big brother, to snatch a bit, right?"
Young Garon muttered to himself.
As he spoke, young Garon flapped his short wings, ready to continue his hunt in the sky, using the vast view from above to spot prey.
But at that moment, a heavy breathing sound came from behind young Garon.
Accompanied by a terrifying oppressive feeling that nearly stopped his breathing, young Garon's throat moved with difficulty, and he stood frozen in place, too frightened to move due to the creature behind him.
"White Dragon Mother! Save your child!"
Young Garon cried out in his heart.
The unknown creature's presence behind him was too terrifying, the air around seemed to solidify. Apart from the White Dragon Mother, young Garon couldn't think of anyone else who could help him. He triggered the Dragon Backflow but got no response.
However, the White Dragon Mother was fast asleep in the dragon's nest, unable to hear young Garon's anxious inner calls.
As the whistling wind and snow passed by, time continued its methodical flow.
Several seconds passed, then dozens of seconds, but the creature behind made no move.
Young Garon's extremely tense mood relaxed slightly.
He took a deep breath and slowly turned his body to face behind him.
At this moment, the passage of time seemed to slow down.
The next second, young Garon turned around.
A silver wall immediately entered his sight.
Young Garon was momentarily stunned.
Slowly, he raised his head and neck.
As he did, layers of silver dragon scales, familiar rings of black scales, the majestic and mature face of the giant dragon, and four winding, majestic horns... The massive silver giant dragon appeared in young Garon's view.
Hiss... Young Garon gasped as he looked up at the silver giant dragon.
In his eyes, this silver giant dragon was much larger than his White Dragon Mother. He thought even ten White Dragon Mothers combined couldn't match this silver giant dragon. The oppressive feeling that frightened him was just an unintentional leak from the other party.
Under Garon's silent watch,
Young Garon turned around, his face showing a dazed, silly look.
However, Garon was still Garon. Young Garon quickly reacted.
After coming to his senses, he keenly noticed the similarities between himself and the silver giant dragon.
Especially the nearly identical, but enlarged, ring of black scales, and a pair of platinum dragon eyes.
On the silver giant dragon, young Garon also sensed a familiar aura.
Gradually, he formed his own guess about the identity of this massive silver giant dragon.
So,
Under Garon's astonished and speechless gaze, young Garon hesitated for a moment, seemingly struggling internally. After hesitating for a few seconds, he spoke in Dragon Language: "Father."
Garon:...
Being called father by his younger self.
He felt a strange sense of weirdness in his heart.
But thinking about it, it made sense for young Garon to mistake him. After all, young Garon often wondered if he had a time dragon father, which would explain why he possessed both time dragon and white dragon bloodlines.
Garon didn't want to continue being mistaken for his own father.
He was about to explain the situation to young Garon.
However, at this instant, Garon's gaze sharpened, suddenly looking up at the river of time.
The previously calm river of time was now turbulent.
It was undergoing changes Garon hadn't anticipated.
The river of time was rippling with huge waves, even causing massive surges, happening silently. Aside from Garon, no other creature in the Far North Ice Plains could sense it.
Young Garon couldn't see the river of time yet and was completely unaware, only looking with a puzzled expression at the silver giant dragon who reacted intensely.
Meanwhile,
The dramatic changes in the river of time continued.
"Meeting one's past self indeed causes certain changes."
Under Garon's nervous gaze, the rippling river of time slowly split apart. In just a few breaths, a new river of time appeared in Garon's view.
The moment the new river of time appeared, the one that split to form it vanished from sight.
It didn't disappear; the river of time had just left this timeline.
"A new timeline has emerged."
Garon looked at the new river of time, thoughtful.
He felt a sense of unfamiliarity with the newly appeared river of time.
He still had a connection with this river, but it was much weaker than before.
"It doesn't belong to me."
Garon lowered his head, looking at the dumbfounded young white dragon.
If he hadn't caused any changes to the past, perhaps this new timeline wouldn't have emerged, Garon thought.
"Father?"
"Are you here to visit mother? She's sleeping in the dragon's nest."
Seeing the silver giant dragon looking at him, young Garon weakly spoke again.
"We share the same blood, but I am not your father."
Garon finally spoke, his voice calm.
"Ah?"
Young Garon looked puzzled.
Before he could ask further, the silver giant dragon's body suddenly became illusory and then disappeared from young Garon's view, vanishing without a trace.
Only the large marks in the snow confirmed his previous presence.
Young Garon stayed in place, looking towards where the silver giant dragon had departed, his brow furrowed in thought. After a moment, young Garon's contemplative face suddenly showed a hint of realization.
"The future me."
In the frosty, wave-like clouds high in the sky, the silver giant dragon's massive wings carried hurricanes, blowing the clouds into scattered fragments.
Garon didn't immediately leave this timeline.
He tested his ultimate speed in this timeline, finding no change compared to his own timeline.
After some time, the silver giant dragon, shrouded in a mist of clouds, arrived above a bustling city.
This was the capital of Timor.
At this time, Timor had not yet experienced war. Although internally decayed, it still maintained its surface splendor and prosperity due to its past glory, until Haris plotted the conspiracy for the blood sacrifice ascension ceremony.
Along the way, Garon tested various temporal abilities.
In this different timeline, he lacked a deep connection with the new river of time, but this situation didn't affect his abilities. His time abilities could still be activated normally, without any weakening.
However, he found that his efficiency in drawing time energy from this river of time was significantly slower.
Not impossible to absorb, but much slower.
Almost a tenfold difference.
"Without a deep connection with the river of time, if I stay in this timeline, my growth rate will also significantly slow down."
Garon's gaze narrowed slightly.
He didn't belong to this timeline.
Once he became powerful enough, like becoming an Ancient Time Dragon, he might not be affected by this situation and could freely travel through any timeline. But for now, he couldn't.
To grow normally, Garon needed to return to his own timeline.
Garon understood this.
He didn't plan to stay long in this timeline ten years ago.
At this moment, the capital of Timor was bathed in pale golden sunlight, the already prosperous city seemed to be edged with a faint golden glow, making it appear even more magnificent.
Garon looked down at the capital of Timor from high above.
"Haris"
Wrapped in clouds, the silver giant dragon's gaze swept across the capital of Timor, finally resting on the palace complex of the Timor royal family.
Haris was well hidden; from the outside, it seemed peaceful and serene, without a trace of the evil aura of a lich. But Garon knew well that this man was hiding in a secret corner of the Timor royal family.
Garon held grudges.
He had long thought of killing Haris a few more times if he had the chance.
Now, this opportunity was right before his eyes.
Before initiating the blood sacrifice ascension ceremony, Haris's level wouldn't exceed thirty at most. Even if it did, he wouldn't be a match for Garon now. Garon, now among the legends, was a formidable being.
Garon didn't act immediately.
After careful consideration, he gave up this opportunity.
If he killed Haris now, the young Garon of this timeline wouldn't face his first life-and-death crisis from the legendary lich, nor would he obtain the Life Gem, significantly boosting his strength.
"Leave Haris for this timeline's Garon to kill."
"Spare your life for now."
Garon was still considerate of himself, even if it was a different timeline's self.
Next, Garon found a desolate place.
He had no intention of leaving too many traces of himself in this timeline.
As time passed, a month later, Garon replenished the time energy depleted in the portal of time and space to a level sufficient for his return.
Glancing back at the Far North Ice Plains, the silver giant dragon entered the portal of time and space. Just as he had come quietly, he left the timeline silently.
"I'll store some manuscripts these few days. Let's publish them together on May 15th."
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