“Human life is brief and fragile.”
Serie’s amber eyes held a trace of disdain—she had clearly guessed who this spell was intended for.
The statement was both a warning and the wisdom of her own vast experience.
Even after saying that, she still imparted the Magic to Extend Lifespan to Link through the mechanism of magic transfer.
“Alright, now that you’ve learned it, I should be on my way.”
Serie remained as decisive as ever, turning to leave without delay.
“Wait.”
Link called out to her.
Serie turned her head and saw him shouting toward the castle.
“Chris, bring it out!”
Chris emerged from the castle at his call, holding a sword in both hands.
The blade was slender and elegant, radiating a soft glow even under the dreary, overcast sky.
One look was enough to tell it was extraordinarily valuable.
“It’s actually the Sword of the Hero.” Serie recognized it immediately.
She raised her eyes to look at Link, showing not a shred of doubt as to whether he was capable of drawing it.
In her eyes, Link possessed more than enough strength to do so.
Though, no matter how she looked at him, he didn’t resemble a hero in the slightest.
“Forget about that search commission, Serie.”
“What do you mean by this?” She stared at Link in surprise.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Link rested his chin on his claws, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather.
“Does a person need a reason to give a gift to a friend?”
“Besides…” He tilted his head slightly.
“Its color and style suit you quite well. Perhaps you can use it in battle; I think it will find a better home with you.”
Serie firmly refused to accept it, but Link’s insistence was clearly even stronger than hers.
As Serie hesitated, Chris stood behind Link and whispered quietly, “Lord Link, is this really alright? Can we actually fool this Great Mage like this? Isn’t it a bit too crude?”
“Shh. Keep your voice down, and trust in my dwarf brother.”
Link’s vertical pupils narrowed slightly, his tail already wagging in a joyful arc.
“Who knows, she might even end up thanking us.”
Serie had lived for over a thousand years and seen countless divine weapons and legendary artifacts.
To her, the Sword of the Hero was nothing extraordinary.
What truly mattered was the word “friends.”
If I don’t accept it now, wouldn’t it hurt the child’s feelings?
In Serie’s eyes, Link—who was only a few hundred years old—was naturally nothing more than a child.
Gazing at Link, who was likewise a long-lived species, Serie fell silent for a long moment before finally letting out a soft chuckle.
“Thank you.”
[Follow-up Quest: Showcase Stats Completed]
[Quest Reward Distributed]
Hey!
She actually bought it!
Seeing the reward arrive, master and servant exchanged a knowing smile.
Striking while the iron was hot, Link used [New Recruit] on Serie, since he had no idea when they would meet again.
[New Recruit: Use on a target to make them a teammate, granting their synergy and characteristic bonuses.]
As the Prismatic Hex vanished, the system issued another notification.
[Ping!]
[Population +1]
[Synergy & Characteristics Panel Unlocked]
[Automatically acquired all Synergy and Characteristic bonuses from Serie]
While Link was immersed in wild ecstasy, Serie noticed something indescribable creeping into his gaze—as if she were being seen completely through.
Perhaps this was the bond known as friendship.
She tossed the strange thought to the back of her mind and didn’t look back again.
Leaving only a single sentence: “Next time, I’ll research some new magic.”
She was already beginning to look forward to their next meeting.
In her endless lifespan, a touch of a different color had finally appeared.
After Serie departed, master and servant returned to the dragon castle.
Link couldn’t wait to summon his system panel, eager to take a good look at the newly unlocked [Synergy & Characteristics].
[Host: Link]
[Active Hexes: Adaptive Defense (Silver), Superhuman Strength (Silver), Dragon Class Change (Gold)]
[Synergy: Long-Lived Species (2)]
[Characteristics: Pure Caster, Living Grimoire, Long-Awaited Seriousness]
Link scanned the status window, his tail wagging with satisfaction.
The three entries in the Characteristics column were presumably all provided to him by Serie, while “Long-Lived Species” was the Synergy formed by the two of them together.
Link continued to check the details of [Long-Lived Species].
[Long-Lived Species (2): Activated when two or more long-lived species are in the party simultaneously. Long-lived units will possess a far longer life, more detached emotions, and greater difficulty perceiving the passage of time.]
[Finally, someone understands why you remain silent. No need for explanations, no need for goodbyes—my fellow long-lived friend, we shall eventually meet again.]
“Holy crap.”
Link couldn’t help but exclaim.
His lifespan was already long enough; now it could be even longer?
He looked down at his claws, then raised his head to look at the sky.
Just how long was he going to live?
In the future, maybe they shouldn’t call it Long-Lived Species anymore—they might as well rename it Immortal Species.
As for those negative side effects, Link ignored them completely.
He wasn’t even human anymore, so why care about such things?
After all, longevity was such a good thing; what did a small price matter?
Link swiped away the Synergy details and opened the Characteristics tab. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
[Pure Caster: Magic to her is an instinct, not a craft. Increases spell casting speed and spell power.]
[Living Grimoire: She herself is a walking history of magic. Increases spell study speed and spell power.]
[Long-Awaited Seriousness: When you fight alongside her, regardless of your strength, Serie will enter battle in a state even stronger than yours.]
“Is this Serie’s true power?”
It wasn’t just mechanics—it came with raw stats too.
“Sigh, no matter how strong you are, a thousand years of hard magic training ends up shared with me in an instant.”
Sprawled on the ground, Link’s tail wagging grew livelier and livelier.
“It seems I’ll have to work harder at studying magic from now on; can’t let this talent go to waste.”
Reining in his thoughts, he shook his head to clear away any idle distractions.
“Oh right, there’s still one more quest reward.”
Just a single Prismatic Hex had brought him such an immense boost; if he got another one, he could hardly imagine the results.
With a flick of Link’s thought—
[Commencing Hex Selection…]
Three orbs of light emerged from the void once more, slowly arranging themselves before his eyes.
[Item Bag (Silver): Provides random basic equipment.]
[Witch Class Change (Gold): Change class to Witch, but requires a gender swap—The taste of a witch is truly divine.]
[Built Different (Prismatic): Seals your current strongest skill; all your attacks gain additional bonus damage.]
“Holy shit, another Prismatic!”
Such good luck made Link feel as though something invisible and intangible was quietly slipping away from him.
Good news: “A lifespan play.”
Better news: “It’s a long-lived species.”
This time, Link didn’t hesitate and selected [Built Different] directly.
“I only know one Cleaning Magic—seal it if you want!”
Link had a look of complete fearlessness.
Upon successful selection, a strange sensation washed over his body.
He hurriedly cast Cleaning Magic; faint blue mana surged from his palm without the slightest issue.
Link blinked.
He promptly tried to mobilize the mana in his body again, but nothing happened.
“Could it be…”
He tried once more, yet still nothing came forth.
“Oh no! My trump card!”
No matter how he mobilized his mana, flames would never again burst from his fist.
His ultimate finishing move, Fire Punch, had been sealed.
For a moment, Link didn’t know whether to weep or rejoice.
If I had known, I might as well have turned into a dragon girl!