Chapter 28 Cloud Mist Magic
Tancred asked, "Lord True Dragon, are you contemplating how to deal with ordinary Ogre Warriors?"
Every species occasionally produced an anomaly. Tancred, with intelligence rivaling that of a human, was far smarter than the average Ogre. He observed and guessed Brian's intentions.
For Tancred, the past few days had been a dream.
Initially, his foolishness led him to provoke a True Dragon, nearly resulting in his demise. Then, he experienced a surprising turn that the True Dragon not only spared him but also to his utter amazement, the True Dragon learned the Giant Language within a few short days and offered him the chance to replace William.
He had been desperate to become Chief, and now he wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
Moreover, submitting to a True Dragon, even a juvenile one, was no disgrace.
Brian nodded calmly, noticing Tancred's hesitance. "Speak your mind," he said in a deep voice.
He had already recognized Tancred's uniqueness among Ogres and didn't underestimate his intellect.
Tancred was delighted and patted his chest confidently. "I know William's habits and preferences. I can lure him out of the tribe. Lord True Dragon, if you can kill William, the entire Bonecrusher Tribe will become your loyal servants."
Brian looked at Tancred in surprise, thinking what a turncoat Tancred was. He was willing to sell out his entire tribe to a Giant Dragon to become Chief.
Brian voiced, "If William knows there is such a turncoat in his tribe..." He shook his head, feeling a bit sorry for William.
After pondering for a moment, Brian inquired more about William and had Tancred point out the general direction of the Bonecrusher Tribe. He instructed Tancred to stay within the Ice River Territory and not to run. With a flap of his Dragon Wings, Brian's figure disappeared into the vast night sky.
In the air, Brian glanced back at the Ice River Territory which was now a tiny dot, as he turned his gaze, flying towards the Bonecrusher Tribe.
He hadn't placed any restrictive magic on Tancred, as Brian currently didn't know any magic. He also didn't restrict Tancred's movements, merely instructing him to stay in the Ice River Territory.
This was a test to see if the Ogre truly intended to use Brian's power to become the tribe's Chief.
If Tancred was smart enough, he would still be there when Brian returned. Otherwise, Brian would have to find a way to destroy the Bonecrusher Tribe instead of subduing it.
At an altitude of over a thousand feet, the cold wind howled incessantly.
Without magical assistance, adult dragons could fly at full speed for days. They could stay aloft for half a month continuously by controlling their speed. Using high-altitude air currents to glide, they could even fly for an entire year without tiring.
This terrifying endurance was due to the dragon having a powerful heart as his source of energy.
A dragon's heart with four large chambers, pumped continuously, provided endless strength to its body.
Scholars studying dragons even claimed that if a rock was placed in an ancient dragon's heart, a single heartbeat could crush it into powder.
Brian's thirty-feet wingspan fully extended, gliding with the air currents. His speed wasn't very fast.
As a young Newborn Dragon, he couldn't yet fly at full speed for days. To conserve energy for unexpected situations, Brian chose the most efficient gliding method. It was slower but safer, and Brian wasn't in a hurry.
Due to the unique polar night environment, the northern Ice Field was shrouded in darkness, making it hard to tell the time.
However, Brian had an excellent sense of time and space, accurately perceiving the passage of time and spatial changes.
Looking down, he saw a peculiar small depressed basin.
The Ice Field basin was bowl-shaped, with scattered black dots visible inside.
True Dragons had the super-distance vision, allowing them to see even snowflakes thousands of feet away if unobstructed.
Brian focused his gaze, clearly seeing the crude houses made of randomly piled stones and the strong Ogres gathered around the campfires with the large cauldrons set up over them.
The large cauldrons were bubbling and churning with thick yellow soup, occasionally revealing the limbs of unidentified Ice Field creatures floating to the surface, creating a rather chilling sight.
Despite their name, Ogres didn't only eat humanoids.
They consumed anything weaker they could hunt. Some Ogres in deep mountains and old forests might never eat a humanoid in their lifetime.
In the center of the Bonecrusher Tribe, a large stone house with several layers of animal skins on the roof stood out. Inside, a ten-foot-tall Ogre was praying devoutly to a wooden, spherical obsidian statue, muttering words.
With dark, rough skin, black sclera, and white pupils, he looked like any other Ogre. The only difference was his two closely spaced heads, one large and one small. Both heads had their eyes closed, praying to the statue.
Suddenly, William seemed to sense something, opening his eyes abruptly. The bigger head's eyes gleamed with more intelligence than the smaller one's.
He grabbed a long staff and a blood-stained mace from a weapon rack, striding out of the house and looking around suspiciously.
Seeing nothing unusual, he looked up, all four eyes scanning the night sky. But apart from some inconspicuous clouds, the vast expanse held only countless stars.
"Chieftain, what are you looking at? Is there food up there?" an Ogre asked, imitating William's upward gaze but seeing nothing.
William's bigger eyes glowed blue as he continued staring at the night sky. After a few minutes, he finally looked away. His two heads glanced at each other, then he shook his head and said, "Nothing, just a trick of the mind."
He returned to the stone house, putting away his weapons, and resuming praying devoutly.
As William prayed, black mist-like threads extended from the statue, touching him like tendrils.
Each touch made his body tremble, his face growing more devout.
High above, Brian was shrouded in a dim, cloud-like mist, blending with the night. Watching William rush out and look around suspiciously, his heart tightened.
He said in surprise, "This William is quite strong, sensing me from such a distance."
Without the Cloud Mist Magic, a pseudo-magical ability he had mastered after his last slumber, he would likely have been exposed.
