Chapter 13: Expulsion

This time, the White Dragon Mother only divided the prey into three parts, giving each to the three little dragons, and none to Garon.

The three little dragons were wildly joyful, casting triumphant glances at Garon, as if to say he had fallen out of favor and would go hungry.

Garon paid no mind to the stares of the little dragons. Instead, he felt a chill in his heart, knowing that the White Dragon Mother was already contemplating his expulsion.

Fortunately, he had prepared in advance; otherwise, an abrupt expulsion without preparation would have led to a perilous wandering life.

Sure enough, three days later, on an ordinary snowy day.

After Garon finished his hunt and was returning to the dragon's lair, he was blocked by the White Dragon Mother standing at the entrance of the cave, not allowing him to enter.

"Garon, you now possess the ability to survive on your own. It is time for you to leave my territory," the White Dragon Mother said coldly in Draconic.

So the White Dragon Mother could speak. Garon was slightly taken aback, looking at the beautiful yet ferocious and indifferent beast, feeling a complex mix of emotions.

The first words of Draconic he heard from the White Dragon Mother were cold and merciless words of expulsion, devoid of any warmth or emotion.

It seemed that to the White Dragon Mother, he was already regarded as a wary enemy.

After all, having lived together for over a year, Garon was not truly a malevolent dragon. He did have some feelings for the White Dragon Mother, but unfortunately, she did not reciprocate, treating Garon as a threat to her position.

"Leave my territory. If you appear here again, I will treat you as an enemy."

To assert her sovereignty and display her power, the White Dragon Mother slammed her dragon claw down fiercely. The immense force caused the ground of the dragon's lair to crack extensively.

Boom!

At the same time, sharp ice crystals burst forth and surged directly towards Garon.

Garon knew that the White Dragon Mother would expel him.

But he hadn't expected her to be so ruthless and furious, launching an attack directly at him.

Caught off guard.

The cold and hard ice crystals struck Garon's body, the powerful impact sending his entire body flying through the air.

After being tossed about ten meters into the air, Garon barely stabilized his body. The white scales where he had been hit showed clear cracks, sending waves of pain through him.

"Scram!"

The White Dragon Mother growled again.

The biting wind of the Far North was fierce and sharp, blowing against Garon, but it was not even a tenth as cold as the White Dragon Mother's demeanor.

Bearing the pain, Garon remained silent.

His expression slightly somber, he didn't hesitate to flap his dragon wings, elevating his body over the ice cliffs and continuing northward to the nesting site he had already chosen.

During this process, his anger gradually cooled down.

Turning his head for a glance in the direction of the ice cliffs, Garon's gaze was icy and silent.

If he had been simply asked to leave, there would have been no issue since the ice cliffs were the White Dragon Mother's territory, and being expelled was not something to resent. However, being beaten before the expulsion was something Garon found hard to accept.

Garon withdrew his gaze, firmly imprinting the White Dragon Mother in his mind.

It wasn't long before Garon left the White Dragon Mother's territory. Under the eternal night sky, he arrived at a small glacial river.

Looking down at the winding river below, Garon landed, disturbing a group of nearby terror-lizards.

Terror-lizards, while named lizards, looked more like crocodiles. Adult specimens could grow about four meters long and weigh two tons, covered with a thick layer of scales, with sharp claws and teeth, and were quite cunning.

There were thirty-three of these terror-lizards in total.

The largest, a terror-lizard leader, was five meters long, only slightly shorter than Garon.

Upon seeing Garon, the terror-lizard leader, along with the rest of the group, surrounded him, raising their heads high, hissing with their long and agile tongues, their pupils shrinking into vertical slits.

Garon's gaze was calm, his platinum dragon eyes sparkling.

He suddenly spread his dragon wings, the eight-meter span blocking the moonlight, casting a massive shadow on the snowy ground, completely overpowering the terror-lizards.

Huff!

Along with the motion, an invisible dragon's might emanated from Garon, sweeping across the group of terror-lizards in an instant.

The terror-lizards immediately became agitated and restless. The terror-lizard leader barely resisted Garon's dragon's might, but under Garon's silent and calm scrutiny, it began to retreat continuously.

In its retreat, it roared and spewed a bright fireball

, but Garon swept it away with his dragon wing, exploding it into sparks. There was not a single mark on Garon's dragon wing, as if what he had swept away was not an explosive fireball but a gentle breeze.

The dragon's magical immunity was quite formidable.

If it had been a pure White Dragon, it could greatly resist cold damage but would fear fire damage and not dare to take it head-on. However, Garon, as a variant Time Dragon, possessed almost complete magical immunity to all attributes.

On that fireball, Garon only felt a bit of warmth.

This attack drained the last of the courage from the terror-lizard leader, who slowly lay down on the ground, whimpering lowly, no longer daring to look at Garon.

The other terror-lizards had already lain down earlier, some even so scared they wet themselves, either trembling or motionless.

After withdrawing his dragon's might, Garon gestured to the terror-lizard leader.

The terror-lizard leader, resembling a crocodile, hesitated, then approached Garon with heavy steps, lowering its horn-covered head.

Garon reached out his dragon claw, petting the terror-lizard leader's head as if playing with a pet.

The texture was rough, with a sandpaper-like grain, surprisingly pleasant to touch.

And the terror-lizard leader, far from resisting, delighted in Garon's strokes.

For a true dragon, subduing followers was a simple matter.

A display of dragon's might was generally enough to make opponents give up resistance.

Sometimes, even creatures of similar strength could not resist the dragon's might, which was not just a matter of aura but a supernatural ability.

Some creatures even actively sought out true dragons to become followers, considering it an honor, mainly kobolds, a kind of humanoid race with a very dilute dragon bloodline, who had a blind worship for true dragons.

After the terror-lizard leader submitted, the other terror-lizards also stood up, surrounding Garon and bowing their heads in growls, as if offering oaths of loyalty to Garon.

This group of terror-lizards was now considered Garon's followers.

They were sycophants, scouts, and, when necessary, reserve food.

It wasn't long before Garon repeated the process with a group of over forty white hunting dogs nearby.

He was in the upper reaches of the small glacial river, where Garon planned to build his nest, so he didn't intend to spare any of the nearby creatures, either killing them or subduing them as followers.

The eight-meter wingspan of the white giant dragon soared through the sky, moving along the glacial river, his platinum dragon eyes surveying the snowy world below.

A few minutes later, Garon's gaze sharpened, a look of puzzlement appearing on his face.

He had spotted a rather peculiar gathering of creatures.

After a moment's thought, Garon shook his dragon wings and sped toward the place he had seen.

Below, beings with bodies of translucent silver-white, as if made of ice crystals, looked up with slight fear at the approaching giant dragon.

Boom!

Garon landed on the ground, closely examining this clan of humanoid creatures living near the small glacial river.

To be precise, they were elemental beings.

In front of Garon were about seventy rough and simple ice houses, crudely made but filled with a rugged beauty.

And the inhabitants of these ice houses were humanoid creatures.

They ranged in height from one to two meters, looking like ice had come to life. Their facial features—eyes, nose, mouth, ears—were distinct, as if carved by someone, yet bizarrely capable of subtle expressions.

Their appearances were exquisitely beautiful, possessing a sort of androgynous allure.

"Water elemental beings?" Garon mused.

When he first saw these creatures, he thought they were water elementals, but upon closer inspection, they were quite different.

Water elemental beings typically had semi-fluid bodies, but these beings were solid ice crystals.

"Probably a variant of water elementals."

Since there was no record of such creatures in the dragon's legacy, Garon named them: Northern Ice Spirits.