Chapter 72 The Dragonborn
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
On a sunny and dry, cold day, Brian had just consumed a barbecued Iceblade wolf, a Limen mammoth frozen in ice, and an Icefall Serpent stretching fifty feet long. His energy was abundant with full magic power.
During this period, he hadn't gone out hunting as he had been deeply engrossed in the study of spells.
All his sustenance had been provided by the Arctic Ice Spirits and the Ogres, saving Brian a tremendous amount of effort. In his view, the greatest advantage of having followers was precisely this.
As for the combat power and growth rate of these followers… it was of negligible importance to him.
After a full meal, Brian arrived at an ice field with a radius of several hundred feet.
There wasn't a trace of snow; the dark brown, hard permafrost bore the marks left by various spells.
Scorched black burns, frost-white patches from freezing, incision marks from slicing...
The old Mage's notes contained mostly research insights, and the recorded spell models were primarily high-level spells, with only one model for each spell ranging from the third to the sixth level. Brian had little to learn from them.
Currently, his mental strength and magical power could support him in casting up to fourth-level spells.
In his previous attempt to inscribe a fifth-level spell model, Brian had exhausted his mental strength without completing it, naturally leading to its failure.
The mental strength of dragons similarly increased with age, with each long sleep bringing substantial enhancement.
Human spellcasters' meditation methods were unsuitable for dragons.
The old Mage's notes described a Fireball Meditation, where one would meditate on a giant fireball in their mind, allowing the flames to burn their consciousness as a means to temper mental strength.
Brian had attempted this method.
Unfortunately, the mental strength increase during meditation was insignificant—less effective than the natural increase he got from a good sleep.
At this time, Brian had already mastered the fourth-level spell, Explosive Fireball.
The power, augmented by acceleration and his staff, left Brian deeply astonished.
Apart from spells of the evocation school, he had also practiced enchantment and transformation spells from the Two-headed Ogre, leaving frost and incision marks on the ground.
Fourth-level enchantments such as Cold Orb and Flames of the Pearl, and fourth-level transformation spells, including Dragon's Breath Simulation and an Enlargement spell, had been mastered by Brian.
He wasn't particularly interested in the two enchantment spells since Frost Breath and Explosive Fireball served as superior replacements, offering similar effects.
His greatest interest lay in the recently learned Enlargement spell.
In the open field, Brian stretched out his dragon wings, eager to try.
Injecting magical power into the Enlargement spell model, he then cast it upon himself.
Instantly, a dense elemental glow enveloped Brian's body.
Within the rising brilliance, his form began to expand rapidly, with his dragon wings widening and lengthening, and his horns growing thicker and more robust...
Soon, a fifty-foot-long, imposing enlarged version of Brian stood on the ground. His wingspan, nearly sixty feet, blocked the sun, casting a vast shadow on the ground.
With an excited expression, Brian's dragon claws struck the ground heavily.
The ground trembled violently, with soil and rocks spraying about, leaving a deep dragon claw indentation surrounded by a web of cracks.
With his fist clenched, power gathered.
Brian thought that in this form, he could probably knock out the White Dragon Mother with a single punch, without the complications he experienced before.
Feeling the rapid depletion of his magical power, Brian, after excitedly wreaking havoc on the ground, dismissed the Enlargement spell, reverting to his thirty-six-foot form.
The Enlargement spell consumed a significant amount of magical power.
However, having experienced a larger form, he felt slightly uncomfortable when suddenly returned to his original size.
"I wonder how long it will be before I can undergo an evolutionary slumber."
Though uncertain of the exact timing, residing in the elementally active Dragon's Lair made Brian feel it would not be long.
He hoped that his next slumber would increase his size to that of an adult White Dragon, akin to his current enlarged form, and if he could also master some temporal abilities, all the better.
Meanwhile, two bear cubs were playfully tumbling and running toward him.
Despite being cubs, they were nearly six feet tall when they stood on their hind legs, already matching the size of common wild bears and even possessing rudimentary spell-like abilities.
Their growth rate was far faster than typical northern bears.
Brian suspected it was due to his influence.
Additionally, the cubs bore a faint draconic aura, though Brian hadn't subjected them to a dragon lineage transformation.
There were three types of non-dragon creatures possessing dragon blood.
The first and most common type were dependents actively transformed by a True Dragon.
The second, like the bear cubs, gradually absorb draconic essence by living in a True Dragon's territory.
The third type was hybrids born from a True Dragon and another species.
These dragon-blooded creatures, known as dragonborns, were quite rare due to the low chance of producing offspring, despite the lack of reproductive isolation between True Dragons and other species.
However, first-generation dragonborns might possess a substantial portion of dragon blood, potentially transforming into dragons and being far stronger than typical dragon-blooded creatures.
Thinking of this, Brian couldn't help but wonder.
"If a high-quality True Dragon like me had offspring with a different species, would they inherit some of my temporal abilities?
"If mated with a True Dragon, would the offspring be a Time Dragon or a White Dragon?
"If I could find a partner from another legendary dragon breed, would our offspring inherit abilities from both our legendary lineages?"
Driven by his curiosity for the unknown, Brian momentarily felt a surge of desire to create a dragonborn. However, this impulse was fleeting.
As a nearly three-year-old Newborn Dragon, such matters were not his current concern.
The bear cubs, seeing Brian, affectionately played around him. After teasing the bear cubs for a few minutes, Brian returned to the Ice Cliff Dragon's Lair.
He laid on his large crystal bed covered with gems and gold coins. Finding a comfortable position, he drifted into sleep.
Having mastered all fourth-level spells, Brian was presently idle.
With no need to hunt and no new knowledge to acquire, Brian's activities were limited to sleeping and resting.
Nevertheless, ordinary sleep also contributed to his growth, albeit far less effectively than evolutionary slumber.
Brian enjoyed sleeping, often retreating to his Dragon's Lair to rest for days, basking in the vibrant, active elemental energy among his treasures.
Now he somewhat understood why the White Dragon Mother was always sleeping.
Three days later, Brian woke up.
Feeling refreshed and with nothing else to do, he decided to go hunting, as his itch to use his spells had not abated.
He already knew his target.
