Abandoned in the mountains, I was adopted by a lizard ~I mastered magic and surpassed my parents, but I didn't know they were legendary ancient dragons~

Chapter 3 I extend my mother’s life

When I turned ten, I finished my breakfast and started my daily reading. Today, I was reading a book called “On the Nuclear Fission of Radioactive Hihiirokane.” According to my mother, this falls under what is known as a “classic,” written thousands of years ago.

“Since you’re human, Hadar, you’ll need to live in human society in the future. For that, you’ll need education. And when it comes to education, classics are essential.”

Because of this reasoning, I’ve been reading ancient books since I was about six years old.

The language used in these books is vastly different from both the language my mother usually speaks and the one I used before I was abandoned, so at first, reading them was quite challenging. After spending months learning basic vocabulary and grammar, the first piece of writing I read was a letter from some prince saying something like “The princess is cute,” which made me seriously question the value of what I was learning.

But now, I think it was worth continuing, as I can read these informative books.

Because of this background, I now know three languages: “Dragon Language,” which is my mother’s native tongue; “Ancient Language” for reading classics; and “Common Continental Language,” which I will use when I eventually enter human society. The language I’m most familiar with is definitely Dragon Language.

After spending an hour reading around 120 pages, I placed a bookmark and closed the book. Then, I began studying magic.

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“Today, I’ll teach you the last magic spell.”

Suddenly, my mother informed me of this.

“The spell is… the Life Extension Magic.”

Up until now, I’ve learned magic in the following order.

First, I started with simple but high mana-consuming spells. While young, using more mana increases one’s total mana capacity, so the approach was to use high-consumption spells frequently to boost my overall mana.

Once I mastered those, I moved on to spells that required advanced mana control but consumed less mana. My mother, incidentally, couldn’t use these spells. She sometimes even took human form to go down the mountain and buy magic textbooks called grimoires for me, so I could learn these spells.

“These kinds of spells are a human privilege, so make sure you master them,” she told me, and I diligently practiced.

Around the age of nine, I started learning spells that required both high mana consumption and advanced mana control.

Spells that required advanced mana control were more prone to misfires. So, I started with low-mana-consumption spells that wouldn’t cause a disaster if they misfired. But once I reached the point where I could cast those spells a thousand times without a single misfire, my mother decided it was time to teach me higher-consumption spells.

For some reason, each time I mastered one of these spells, my mother would be moved to tears, saying, “Oh… to think I’d see the day this spell would actually be cast…” Apparently, she had developed these spells herself.

And now, I was down to the last spell.

“Here is the magic circle.”

My mother showed me the magic circle. As usual, it seemed she couldn’t cast this spell herself.

“I want you to cast this spell on me.”

Hearing that, I hesitated. This was a spell I’d never cast before, only seen the magic circle for the first time.

“You want me to use a spell I’ve never tried before? Doing it live seems a bit…”

“I believe in you, Hadar…”

While I appreciated her trust, that kind of blind faith could lead to an accident.

“Well, if you insist, it wouldn’t hurt to try a test cast first.”

Seeing my unease, my mother allowed me to do a trial run.

It’s a life extension spell, so the target must be a living creature.

A living creature… oh, a rabbit appeared at just the right time.

First, I cast a lifespan analysis spell to determine the rabbit’s remaining life.

It had about two months left. After confirming this, I cast my mother’s original life extension spell on the rabbit.

There was no visible change, but when I used the lifespan analysis spell again, I found the rabbit’s lifespan had extended to 150 years.

“…Looks like it works perfectly.”

“See? There was never any problem with my magical theory or your casting abilities, Hadar. Now, please cast it on me as well.”

My mother’s current lifespan was 477 years. With that confirmed, I cast the same spell I used on the rabbit on her. Her lifespan extended to 1526 years.

Even though I used the same spell, her lifespan increased by over a thousand years. Perhaps the rate of extension varies by species?

“How do you feel?”

“What an incredible effect… I feel noticeably lighter.”

“So, if I cast it multiple times, will your lifespan increase proportionally?”

“Yes, that’s how I designed the spell. If you have enough magical energy, please cast it more.”

Following my mother’s request, I cast the life extension spell eight more times. When her lifespan approached ten thousand years, she stopped me, saying, “Living twice as long as before should be more than enough.”

“What an incredible effect… You’ve grown so much.”

My mother’s delighted expression was something I was used to seeing whenever I mastered one of her original spells, but this time, her joy seemed especially profound. I didn’t quite grasp the magnitude of what I’d done, but extending someone’s lifespan was clearly a significant achievement. Probably.