n mid-air, a white figure flapped its dragon wings, stirring up a gust of whistling cold wind, and quickly returned to the sky above its territory.
Aiming at an open space without any familiars, Garon released his dragon claw.
Boom!
The large ice crystal he had been holding with one claw fell, smashing a dent in the ground. The commotion attracted the attention of many Arctic Ice Spirits, but upon seeing that it was their lord returning, they went back to their own business as if nothing had happened.
Within the ice crystal, the ogre's body was lifelike, its face still bearing a terrified expression.
Garon folded his dragon wings and landed below, examining the ice crystal in front of him.
He hadn't killed the ogre, only frozen it. Because Garon had held back, it was still alive.
As for the reason for doing so, it wasn't that Garon suddenly found ogres pleasing to the eye, but that he had restrained his anger at the moment of exhaling his breath, remembering that ogres were social group-living creatures and rarely appeared alone.
The appearance of one ogre meant that there was an ogre tribe in this area.
"Ogre tribe... this extreme northern ice field really doesn't let dragons live in peace."
Garon didn't want to wake up after hibernation to find his territory taken over by ogres, and then be surrounded by a group of them, seasoned with scallions, ginger, and garlic, and boiled in a pot.
He looked at the frozen ogre in front of him, pondered slightly, and then controlled the ice crystal to gradually dissolve into magical elements.
Thump... The ogre fell headfirst to the ground, still bearing some frostbite marks, but its excellent physique allowed it to open its eyes after only a few minutes, looking around in a daze.
Upon raising its head and seeing Garon's dragon form, the ogre seemed frightened.
It casually threw away the large wooden club, kowtowed and prostrated itself before Garon, speaking in Giantish, which Garon didn't understand.
Garon rested his chin on his dragon claw, scrutinizing the ogre kneeling on the ground, feeling somewhat strange in his heart.
"This ogre doesn't seem that stupid."
The Dragon Inheritance contained records of the ogre race.
What was most easily associated with them was their reckless, impulsive, and clumsy nature, as well as their strong bodies that could adapt to most climatic environments.
In the Noah Continent, the continent where Garon was, the footprints of ogres almost covered forests, swamps, deserts, and tundras... it was a very classic race.
After thinking for a moment, Garon spread his dragon wings, and the shadow enveloped the ogre's body.
While the ogre shivered, Garon said in Noah Common, "Do you understand Common?"
The ogre, hearing Garon's voice, raised its head blankly.
Seeing its reaction, Garon frowned inwardly, knowing that this fellow definitely only knew Giantish.
Since they couldn't communicate verbally and it was difficult to inquire about the ogre tribe's information, keeping it around wouldn't be of much use. It would be better to give the terror lizards and white hounds in the Ice River territory an extra meal.
The ogre had a fishy stench and an extremely ugly appearance. Garon couldn't bring himself to eat it.
With this thought, the look in Garon's eyes towards the ogre gradually gained a dangerous edge.
This ogre was indeed not as stupid as ordinary ogres. It keenly sensed Garon's thoughts, and its face immediately stiffened as it eagerly spoke gibberish.
Hearing some frequently repeated words, Garon's eyes flickered slightly.
"True Dragon? Spare life?"
For some reason, even though it was the first time he had heard Giantish and had no prior understanding of it, after listening to the ogre speak a lot in the current environment, Garon was very certain that he understood the meaning of some words.
He once again recalled the legendary records about Time Dragons in the Dragon Inheritance.
Any knowledge, skills, and languages were the inherent skills of a Time Dragon.
"In terms of language, I seem to have remarkable talent."
Garon realized this and gradually restrained his killing intent.
As for why he had only realized this now, it was because the knowledge of the Dragon Inheritance wasn't stuffed into the dragon's brain all at once, but was more like a treasure trove hidden deep within the mind. Relevant information would naturally emerge in the heart when triggered by specific environments, a kind of conditional knowledge inheritance.
At the same time, the ogre sensed the fading of the deadly danger and breathed a sigh of relief.
But it had just stopped begging for mercy when Garon's sharp platinum dragon eyes stared at it, scaring it into prostrating itself and begging for mercy again.
After pondering for a moment, Garon stopped the ogre's pleas and communicated with it using gestures and the little vocabulary he had just learned.
After all, it was an intelligent creature. Although they didn't share a language, they could understand some general meanings through gestures and movements, especially since Garon had just learned a bit of Giantish vocabulary.
It was somewhat difficult at first, but after the ogre understood that Garon wanted to learn its language, it gradually became simpler.
Garon pointed to the ground. The ogre was stunned for a moment, then uttered in Giantish, "Barak Khan."
Meaning the earth.
He then looked up at the sky. The ogre understood and, looking at the dark cloudless night sky, said, "Lakas."
The sky...
Thus, time slowly passed, and Garon, like a child who had received a new toy, curiously learned a new language.
One word after another was understood by him, and then, relying on the words, he extended to connected sentences. More sentence patterns and grammar were mastered by him, and the more basic knowledge he had, the faster the learning process became.
Just three short days later.
Garon could already have simple conversations with the ogre. Although his Giantish was still somewhat obscure, it was completely sufficient for daily communication.
Throughout the learning process, he showed no impatience at all. Instead, he felt excited and joyful because of acquiring new knowledge.
The joyful feeling was so good that it even surprised Garon a little.
On the other hand, Garon was amazed at his talent in languages. He had roughly understood a language just by listening to the ogre speak it.
"If I had this ability in my previous life, or even just the joy of learning new knowledge..."
Speaking of which, he had now mastered four languages.
Draconic, Noah Common, Giantish, and English.
English went without saying. At this time, relying on the Time Dragon's talent in languages, he had learned it without a teacher and mastered it at a deeper level.
Thinking of this, Garon couldn't help but shake his head, putting the past behind him.
After calming his mind, Garon looked at the ogre, who looked haggard and weak, and said in Giantish, "Ugga, in your Bonecrusher Tribe, how many people are there in total?"
While speaking, he beckoned, signaling the Arctic Ice Spirits to carry over a portion of food for the terror lizards and white hounds.
A basin of fat ice field worms that were wriggling.
These ice field worms lived under the snow and usually survived by eating snow, but their meat was quite plump. Under Garon's guidance, the Arctic Ice Spirits had raised them in captivity to serve as daily food for their pet beasts.
As long as one wasn't bothered by their white, fat, and juicy bodies, they tasted quite good when eaten.
Garon occasionally ate them as snacks. They were cool and refreshing upon entering the mouth, the meat was delicious, and they had a fresh fragrance of snow water.