Chapter 7: Hibernation

The White Dragoness landed steadily, the floor of the nest trembling slightly as her huge, elongated dragon wings folded neatly at her sides. She watched curiously as Garon suddenly punched himself, then flicked her tail, tossing an object down.

With a thud, it caught Garon's attention.

It was a massive, irregular ice crystal, six meters long and three meters wide.

Inside the crystal was a white-furred, giant bear-like creature, four meters tall and massive. Its fur was unstained by blood, clearly frozen to death without a struggle.

The Arctic Rampage Bear was a top predator in the food chain of the northern ice plains.

They were huge and fiercely combative, with some spell-like abilities.

Spell-like abilities referred to effects similar to spells but not actual magic. These could be used without long incantations, complicated gestures, or specific materials, relying solely on the user's mind and instincts—akin to innate abilities.

However, to the nearly adult White Dragoness, the Arctic Rampage Bear was merely prey.

True dragons were indeed apex creatures across planes, possessing formidable dominion.

She must have gone to prepare food for us, Garon thought, observing the White Dragoness' method of care, which was attentive but not overly so.

Swiftly, the White Dragoness moved to lie down on a bed made of sculpted ice, her eyes closing as she entered a state of rest.

Garon breathed a sigh of relief, noticing that the White Dragoness hadn't detected the theft of the treasure.

Having absorbed the energy of the gemstone, Garon felt satiated and not particularly hungry.

He patted his belly and turned to gnaw on the frozen bear.

Not hungry, but that didn't stop him from eating.

The ice crystal was not as hard as he expected in the mouth of a white dragon, shattering easily like a snowflake cookie.

Mixed with the crushed ice, Garon tore off a large chunk of bear paw meat.

The warm blood, the chewy bear meat, the tough tendons mixed with the crumbly ice gave Garon a surprisingly delicious sensation.

He had expected a difficult-to-swallow bloodiness, but it seems the unique palate of dragons could indeed handle fresh blood meals.

Soon, Garon was deeply engrossed in his meal.

Dragons are known for their large appetites, seemingly never satisfied until they had consumed the essence concentrated in the bear's limbs, eating more meat than their own body size before feeling full.

At that moment, a faint dragon's hum came from nearby.

Hill, shaking her head, slowly stood up.

She looked puzzled, as if she had lost a memory, and her head ached slightly.

But upon seeing the food, Hill quickly dismissed her concerns and rushed over, her eyes gleaming.

Garon chuckled, planning to tease the dragon sister a bit more, but suddenly, a wave of drowsiness emanated from every cell in his body, compelling him to close his eyes, drawn by the cool air of the ice bed.

Shortly after, Garon drowsily climbed onto the White Dragoness' ice bed and settled next to her to sleep.

The White Dragoness sensed Garon's approach, opened her eyes, and lifted her dragon wing to sweep him off the bed.

However, after hesitating for a few seconds, she lowered her wing and closed her eyes, drifting back to sleep.

Perhaps this was her greatest extent of tenderness.

A week later, the prolonged blizzard that lasted nearly half a month finally subsided. The sky above the northern ice plains cleared to a pristine color, the azure sky like a clear mirror, beautifully transparent.

Yet, the entire northern world remained draped in white, a lonely and cold atmosphere pervading the area.

Aside from the howling cold wind, there seemed to be no other sounds.

The high-hanging orange sun cast lukewarm rays of light onto this white world, as if adding a barely visible golden edge. The golden sunlight was visible everywhere.

Dragon whelps grow quickly, their physiques strengthening almost daily. A week after birth, the whelps' muscles and bones had become robust, their claws and fangs starting to show their power, ready to leave the nest and attempt hunting.

Garon, dragon sister Hill, and two other younger dragon siblings stood in a line at the edge of the dragon's nest, looking down.

The White Dragoness had laid six eggs, from which two were not true dragons but dragon beasts lacking dragon heritage. She mercilessly threw them out of the territory in front of the young dragons, likely dead now in the vast ice plains.

Faint golden sunlight slanted over the edge of the nest, refracting through the ice and falling on the young dragons.

In the past week, Hill's body had developed a bit, becoming longer and stronger. Now, due to the sunlight, her body shimmered with a layer of gold, intertwined with her shiny, smooth scales, making

 her quite beautiful.

The two younger dragon brothers were slightly smaller.

Garon, having absorbed the magic crystal's energy, had not opened his eyes for the whole week, nearly always in a state of slumber, growing rapidly. He already looked completely different in scale compared to dragon sister Hill and the others.

A few hours earlier, Garon had awakened.

Upon realizing he had been sleeping next to the White Dragoness, he was initially startled, but seeing she remained undisturbed, he relaxed again.

The White Dragoness was still sleeping, impervious to the nudging and calling of the young dragons, immovable like a dead pig.

Garon thought she surely felt the calls of the dragon whelps but chose to ignore them, indulging in her deep sleep.

You can never wake a dragon pretending to sleep.

The meat of the Arctic Rampage Bear brought by the White Dragoness had been consumed by the hungry whelps, including Garon, all feeling their stomachs grumbling with hunger.

They gathered at the mouth of the nest, on the edge of a steep ice cliff, five hundred meters up, planning to leave the nest and hunt nearby.

This was not due to the White Dragoness being irresponsible.

Because adult evil dragons generally do not provide their young with ample food. They offer just enough to sustain daily activities, then let the impatient whelps hunt smaller creatures themselves.

This was to hone their skills and toughen their bodies.

Every adult evil dragon had undergone this process.

As creatures at the top of the food chain, a week after birth, the dragon whelps, with their hard scales and sharp claws, already possessed the power to battle ordinary lions and tigers.