Chapter 13 One-Time Speed
Upon hearing Brian's threat, Hill hesitated, clearly contemplating her next move.
Meanwhile, Brian, standing on the icy ground, had already released the two pitiful Dragon Brothers. He said to Hill, "I'll count to three. If you haven't made up your mind by then, I'll fly up there and beat you."
In the next moment, as Hill continued to hesitate, Brian smiled.
"Three!"
Dragon wings flapped, and Brian took a deep breath, soaring skyward at an incredible speed. Before Hill could react, he was already in front of her, his large head raised high, and then he smashed it down onto her petite head.
A normal Newborn Dragon would never match Brian's flying speed. Even he had only just discovered this ability himself.
When his attention was highly focused, the flow of time around him seemed to quicken, and his movements connected seamlessly, as if he were under a time acceleration spell, swift and agile.
With a sound like mirrored armor clashing, Hill clutched her head and was knocked several feet away, shouting in pain, "You moved before counting to three! You cheated!"
Brian chased after her, grabbing Hill and giving her a thorough beating. "I moved after counting to three. What's wrong with that?"
A few minutes later, Brian had her pinned on the snowfield, belly up and begging for mercy, acknowledging Brian's dominance.
Brain sighed and said, "These dragon brats won't behave unless you beat them."
Brian stretched his limbs, while Hill, Charles, and Leonard, three bruised little dragons, exchanged glances, seeing the schadenfreude in each other's eyes. But when they saw their own reflections in each other's faceplates, they couldn't help but glare at Brian with anger.
Brian clenched his dragon claws into fists. "Keep glaring, and I'll knock your heads off."
The three little dragons recoiled, not daring to meet Brian's gaze. Proud Newborn Dragons feared nothing, but only violence could subdue them.
Humming a tune, Brian suddenly felt life was pretty good. The free-spirited, strength-respecting nature of Evil Dragons suited him well.
Four Newborn Dragons soared within a kilometer radius of the Dragon's Lair, gradually dispersing to search for prey in their sight.
In the White Dragon Mother's territory, centered around the Ice Cliff Dragon's Lair, powerful magical creatures or large beasts like dinosaurs had been driven away, killed, or recruited by the White Dragon Mother.
The closer to the Dragon's Lair, the safer it was.
Unless extremely unlucky, Newborn Dragons rarely got killed near their mother's lair.
Soon, Brian's eyes lit up as he spotted a Fox Wolf.
Fox Wolves weren't magical creatures, just low-level beasts easily crushed by Newborn Dragons.
He dove down, extending his dragon claws toward the Fox Wolf. As Brian's focus heightened, the sensation of time speeding up returned, and his speed surged.
The Fox Wolf barely sensed his presence before Brian's claws caught it, snapping its neck with a crunch.
The Fox Wolf, similar in size to a regular wolf, about six feet long, alleviated Brian's hunger significantly after he devoured it. But he still felt hungry.
During this rapid growth phase, Newborn Dragons had strong digestion and got hungry quickly.
However, Brian wasn't in a hurry to find more prey. Instead, he pondered his abilities.
A week of deep sleep had not only grown his body but also Brianed him a time acceleration ability. This ability seemed passive, with Brian unable to fully grasp its mechanics, except that when he focused intensely, he gained roughly a fifty percent speed boost.
It wasn't just an increase in movement speed. The accelerated time flow around Brian enhanced his overall speed by fifty percent, including attack, dodge, and reaction speeds.
As for the Time Dragon Revert ability he accidentally used before, borrowing time from his future self, Brian wanted to try it again.
But several attempts yielded no results.
He suspected it wasn't that he couldn't use it, but that his future self was too stingy to lend him time.
He murmured, "Forget the Time Dragon Revert for now. Let's master this time acceleration ability first."
With that thought, Brian moved, searching for prey while testing his new ability.
Half a day passed, and though it should have been night, the sky remained unchanged. This was due to the unique geography of the extreme north Ice Field, where day and night cycles lasted six months each.
During the Half-Year Polar Day, the sky was always bright.
During the Half-Year Polar Night, the sky was always dark. It was currently the polar day.
Brian felt a bit tired, landing on the snow-covered Ice Field, leaving a faint dragon-shaped imprint while he was thoughtful.
"The maximum acceleration is one-fold, and I can control it actively."
"Using it repeatedly in a short time doesn't affect my body, but it does fatigue my mind like staying up all night as a human, making my head feel groggy."
"It only speeds me up, not others down."
Having roughly figured out his ability, Brian thought about giving it a name. But a name appeared in his mind through inherited memory before he could.
It was Time Manipulation.
Brian was speechless.
He said,"It's called Time Manipulation, but why can it only speed me up?"
He had planned to name it Time Acceleration, but since the ability already had a name, he decided not to change it.
'Time Manipulation could only speed up with a one-fold limit, probably because I have just mastered it. Maybe it would live up to its name in the future...' Brian mused.
No longer hungry, Brian had caught plenty of prey using his acceleration ability. Although most creatures in this harsh region were alert, even ordinary beasts sensed Brian's presence but couldn't escape his pursuit.
Without lingering long, Brian flew toward the Dragon's Lair. He saw the two Dragon Brothers and one Dragon Sister before reaching it, who looked dejected.
As Hill saw Brian, she asked, "Brian, how much prey did you catch?"
Brian frowned slightly. "Do you want a beating? Call me Brother Brian."
Reluctantly, Hill addressed him as Brother Brian. Brian replied satisfactorily, "Not much, about ten. Just Fox Wolves, White-Furred Tigers, Cold Leopards, and the like."
"Ten?" Charles's eyes widened.
"You've got to be kidding," Leonard said incredulously.
Brian immediately grasped why the young dragons seemed disheartened. They hadn't caught much prey, leaving them hungry and feeling defeated.
Brian found hunting quite simple. Though these Newborn Dragons were newly born, they had the strength to tear apart tigers and leopards. Why couldn't they catch prey?
Brian was somewhat puzzled.
Just then, as a white snake poked its head out of the snowfield, Hill's eyes lit up. She quickly dove from the sky to catch it.
But before she could get close, the snake was startled and darted into the snow, vanishing in an instant.
