Chapter 88: Nature Worship, Shadows of Time

"On our way to your territory, we encountered a white dragon."

"It seemed to be the one previously driven away by the Fang Clan. If it weren't for your ferocious tiger kin happening by and helping us resist its attack, we would have been in danger."

"Fortunately, it did not persist too much."

Garon was taken aback, finding fate to be truly wondrous.

Presumably, it was the white dragon mother who encountered the Winter Wolves on her way back. Recognizing them as the wolves that had previously beaten her, she attacked them.

Even after the dragon blood transformation, even if the white dragon mother hadn't seen the ferocious frost tiger, she should have sensed they were Garon's kin.

The essence of a dragon's kin usually carries a scent of their master's draconic aura. Though faint compared to a true dragon, it still serves as a sort of identity marker, recognizable to other true dragons.

"Knowing they were my kin and still attacking..."

Garon shook his head.

However, although she attacked the wolves, based on their injuries, the white dragon mother hadn't been truly serious.

After all, she was nearly an adult true dragon, and such a number of Winter Wolves wouldn't be able to defeat the white dragon mother.

In the past, the ability to drive away the white dragon mother was due to the cooperation of the entire clan of Winter Wolves.

That they returned with only minor injuries probably was out of consideration for Garon's face, as past grievances existed, and evil dragons tend to hold grudges and are small-minded.

To this, Garon felt somewhat puzzled.

The white dragon mother didn't seem the type to regard his face.

Garon treated his kin fairly well, but in the eyes of the white dragon mother, kin were nothing more than reserve food and servants, hardly worth mentioning.

This was somewhat unusual.

He looked down at the ferocious tiger playing with the fierce wolf, planning to enhance its dragon lineage soon.

Given the previous conflict with the human army, it surely remembered the white dragon mother, but when the white dragon mother attacked Garon's kin, it still joined the fight without hesitation, earning itself injuries.

Enhancing its dragon lineage again could perhaps allow it to crush some young dragons.

"How are things with the Minotaur tribe?"

Garon looked towards the Winter Wolf.

After the dragon lineage transformation, although its size hadn't changed, its skin had grown dragon scales, and frost mist curled around its nose and mouth, its claws and teeth becoming sharper. The Winter Wolf solemnly answered, "Since you performed the dragon lineage transformation for the Wolfheart clan, the minotaurs are no longer a match for us."

"We led the wolf pack, breached their high walls, broke into their tribe, and captured a large number of minotaurs, confining them."

"Under the name of the eternal dragon, we have subjected them to your rule."

"However, they are ungrateful and resist to the death."

Not all creatures are willing to become subservient to others, and this minotaur tribe was such a case.

Garon frowned slightly, "Resist to the death?"

Winter Wolves are proud creatures, and if Garon subdued them solely through force, they would likely choose death over submission. Therefore, Garon supplemented his force with promises of fame across the continent for the Wolfheart clan and seduced them with a gentle stance.

But minotaurs?

Sub-races are generally the easiest to subdue. Their willingness to resist to the death made Garon somewhat doubtful.

Facing Garon's query, the Winter Wolf confirmed, "Yes, they have stubborn beliefs, and regardless of threats or enticements, they refuse to submit under your wings."

Stubborn beliefs. Garon's gaze sharpened, "What do they worship? A deity?"

Fearlessness of death and such radical change in nature already indicated fanaticism. Deities usually pay more attention to such devotees.

The Winter Wolf thought for a moment and shook its head, "Not a deity. They invoked some terms while using their powers, which in Giantish seem to mean spirits of nature, spirits of the earth."

Winter Wolves can speak both Common and Giantish, their learning capacity far surpassing that of humans.

They learn Giantish because some Winter Wolf clans often cooperate with frost giants in hunting, making it a mandatory part of their education for the young wolves.

Upon hearing the Winter Wolf's words, Garon's gaze shifted slightly, recalling corresponding information from the dragon heritage.

This minotaur tribe, led by a Minotaur Shaman, practiced a pan-spiritual faith.

Shamans, sometimes known as nature worshippers.

They don't worship a real-existing deity but a natural phenomenon or entity.

Earth, mountains, rivers, blizzards, flames—they worship these elements of nature themselves.

In the eyes of nature worshippers, everything has a spirit; every aspect of the world has a soul, whether

 a tree, a rock, or a flower, holding the same status and value as intelligent life.

Their fervent worship of nature often elicits responses from the spirits of nature, granting them peculiar abilities.

Spirits of nature often possess intelligence, but their strength varies.

Weak spirits of nature can be dispersed by a low-level spellcaster, but powerful ones can rival deities in strength and are more easily able to influence the primary material plane through their close connections with nature.

"The Earth Spirit worshipped by the minotaurs, bearing the title of 'earth,' is unlikely to be weak among the spirits of nature."

"But it may not be a deity-level spirit of nature, as such spirits are far rarer than deities."

Garon mused.

Spirits of nature are valuable; if he could capture them, their deep connections with nature could provide a subordinate with the ability to see all and hear all.

If they couldn't be subdued, erasing their consciousness could create powerful artifacts, though Garon lacked knowledge in this area.

He was merely aware of such records.

However, spirits of nature possess an absolutely neutral disposition.

Nature worshippers fervently believe in them to gain abilities, but in reality, spirits of nature are manifestations of nature's consciousness, lacking emotional fluctuations and not requiring worship.

Unless forced by very special means, they almost never manifest physically.

As Garon pondered, the Winter Wolf reported the outcomes, hesitantly adding, "However, a few minotaur shamans escaped, swearing vengeance in their flight."

"They might attempt to attack you directly."

Garon:

He leaned forward, approaching the Winter Wolf, his tone even, "This is merely a simple test."

"I performed the dragon lineage transformation on you to ensure you could complete the task."

"Wolfevil, the results you've provided are unsatisfactory, perhaps the Wolfheart clan could use a new leader."

The dragon lineage transformation significantly boosted the Winter Wolves' strength. Previously on par with them, the minotaurs should now be completely outclassed by the Winter Wolves.

Under Garon's calm gaze, the Winter Wolf trembled slightly, bowing its head deeply, almost touching the ground, "Due to the surge in strength, some clan members became headstrong and lax, underestimating the enemy."

"It was my oversight, a mistake."

"But please grant me another chance."

"The sons of the Wolfheart clan excel in tracking; they are already pursuing them and will not let those crude minotaurs disturb you."

Garon scrutinized Wolfevil and finally nodded slowly, "Capture all those minotaur shamans alive."

"Then, bring them to the Ice Cliff territory."

He increased the difficulty of the task.

Capturing alive is always much harder than killing.

Once he dealt with the frost giants and secured the gemstone mine, he would need manpower for mining.

Neither ogres nor polar spirits were suited for mining work; polar spirits lacked the strength, and using their spell-like abilities might damage the gem veins, while ogres, being rather brutish, could easily damage Garon's gems.

The earth-worshipping minotaur shamans were just right for the job.

Since they refused to submit, they would be enslaved.

Garon's followers included no pure slaves.

As for their stubborn refusal to comply, Garon felt it wasn't a particularly difficult issue to resolve.

Provided it wasn't eternal oppression, given a chance at survival, no creature wishes to die.

Moreover, for such a race, accepting enslavement was somewhat easier than becoming kin.

This wouldn't undermine their faith, and might even deepen it.

Meanwhile, relieved by Garon's response, the Winter Wolf exhaled. Garon's imposing presence, coupled with his mysterious and powerful abilities, exerted tremendous pressure with every move; the Winter Wolf trembled involuntarily at his stern expression.

Though proud, Winter Wolves also had to adapt to circumstances.

Now that they were Garon's kin, they had long put aside their pride.

Garon actually preferred the prouder Winter Wolves, wishing they could regain some of that, but they found it hard to maintain such an attitude in his presence.

"Rest assured, my lord, the Wolfheart clan will not fail you."

Moments later, the three Winter Wolves left the Ice Cliff territory.

However, the ferocious wolves were ordered to stay by Garon.

He noticed the ferocious frost tiger seemed to enjoy toying with the ferocious wolves, so he allowed it to keep one as a companion.

Ferocious breeds were rare, and these few ferocious wolves benefited from the Winter Wolves' call to the wolf race, otherwise gathering them would be difficult.

The ferocious frost tiger, the sole ferocious breed in the territory, had always been solitary. Due to its fierce nature, the polar spirits were somewhat afraid of it, and two polar bear cubs, having previously provoked the ferocious frost tiger, were even more afraid to approach.

Though of different species, the ferocious frost tiger

 and the ferocious wolves got along fairly well.

However, the trembling ferocious wolves under the frost tiger's claws might disagree.

"Caring for my kin like this, I really am a good lord."

Garon called over the ferocious frost tiger, rubbed its tiger head for a while, and then performed the dragon lineage enhancement.

The ferocious frost tiger, freshly bathed in dragon blood, bullied the ferocious wolf for a while before gradually falling asleep under the influence of the dragon blood.

An unfortunate ferocious wolf was dragged into the den by it just before it slept, serving as a pillow.

Garon dispersed the remaining ferocious wolves, allowing them free roam within the territory but strictly forbidding them from attacking other kin.

Since they were also dragon-kin ferocious breeds, albeit not highly intelligent, they were capable enough to understand Garon's will.

Garon then took the high-quality prey brought back by the Winter Wolves and the ferocious frost tiger to the Ice Cliff dragon's nest.

Part of it he cooked with a fireball spell, enjoying the rich flavor of cooked meat.

Another part he froze with his frost breath, mixing it with ice crystals before swallowing, creating a uniquely delicious flavor.

Since the prey they brought was still alive, it tasted quite good, and Garon was quite satisfied.

Although the Winter Wolves were inefficient, failing to fully subdue the minotaur tribe even after the dragon lineage transformation, the prey they hunted was to his liking.

Skilled in pack hunting, the Wolfheart clan had now replaced the ferocious frost tiger as the kin most capable of providing Garon with quality prey.

After enjoying a rather lavish meal, Garon continued studying spells.

He spent a few hours mastering the storm spell completely.

Next, he could learn higher-level energy-shaping fireball spells and some lower-level protective spells; his transformation school was limited to fourth-level spells, while his curse school had just mastered the storm spell.

After mastering the storm spell and learning a few protective spells, Garon finally broke from his intense focus.

Looking towards the entrance of the dragon's nest, Garon silently recited incantations, constructing spells.

A first-level protective spell, Magic Alarm.

Several basic runes from the school of protection emerged from the air, flew to the edge of the entrance, then landed, branding into the surrounding ice crystal walls and ground, flashing once before disappearing into the air.

This was perhaps the most practical protective spell Garon had learned.

Detect Magic could hardly see Magic Alarm; although only first-level, its effectiveness was quite good.

Often, low-level spells can achieve miraculous effects; such is the charm of magic.

However, other spells like Armor and Shield spells had minimal effect on Garon.

These spells, being too low-level, provided shields as thin as paper to Garon, making it not worth the expenditure of magical energy.

Following this, Garon set up Magic Alarms in many hidden places within the dragon's nest, especially around his treasure storage, layer upon layer.

If any creature dared enter here while he was away, triggering the Magic Alarm, he would be immediately alerted.

After completing all this, he returned to the depths of the dragon's nest, lying down to plan a few days' sleep.

Before falling asleep, Garon picked up the magic greatsword beside him.

As he focused on the magic greatsword, Garon faintly saw some visions, as if they were ancient events that had occurred with it.

Although the magic greatsword looked new, Garon knew it had considerable age, not belonging to this era.

He could feel the traces of years on the magic greatsword.

Such ancient items with a backstory always delighted Garon.

As for those blurred visions he saw, it was a new ability Garon had acquired after awakening from his latest slumber.

He called it the Shadows of Time.