The Age of Dragons (7): An Overpopulation Crisis
A problem had arisen. Not a trivial one... but far more serious than I'd anticipated.
"Don't you think there are a bit too many dragons around lately?"
"A bit? Try a lot."
I chimed in on Ifrit's grumbling.
It started with just me. Then came the seven children born from nature's phenomena gaining self-awareness. Even when dozens more dragons were born from the scales those kids shed, things were fine. But now, centuries later, dragons were pairing up, laying eggs, and their numbers had exploded to nearly thousands.
"Who would've thought the dinosaurs' extinction crisis would come not from a meteor... but from dragons. Never saw that coming."
The dragons born after me and my seven kids had evolved from dinosaurs, so they hadn't escaped the limits of biology. In simple terms, they were creatures that needed to eat to survive.
To sustain their massive bodies, dragons required enormous amounts of food. And with thousands of them rampaging across the land...
Naturally, their prey was the huge dinosaurs that blanketed the earth in vast numbers.
At least the smaller dinosaurs, Lizardmen, and the sparse small mammals were left alone. Though, honestly, even if dragons tried eating those, it wouldn't make a dent in their hunger given their size.
"I'm worried the dinosaur population is dwindling. But I can't just tell the kids to starve, either."
"I heard some dragons are starving because they're losing out in the food competition. One came begging me to do something, so I used magic to turn a huge boulder into meat..."
That was the first time I'd tried transmutation magic to turn stone into meat. The kids clutching their empty stomachs and groaning pitifully—I couldn't help it.
...But honestly, it wasn't tasty. Low on fat, tough and chewy. Still, the hungry kids devoured it anyway.
"We have to do something, right? Or all the kids will starve to death..."
I got that we needed to act, but how?
Introduce new creatures here? No, that would disrupt the ecosystem we'd finally stabilized. Well, it was already chaotic with dragons running wild, but...
Hmm... maybe it wouldn't matter? No, who knows what other problems that could cause. Save that as a last resort. Anything more complex than slimes would definitely backfire.
So... maybe alter the dragons themselves?
But changing already-created life forms is incredibly tricky. Not impossible, but... I didn't really want to.
It'd be nice if these kids could photosynthesize like trees.
Wait. Photosynthesis?
"Did a good idea come to you?"
"Not sure if it's good, but... a little idea popped up."
No clue if it'd work, but it was worth a shot.
Dragons are living creatures. But at the same time, they were beings born from scales shed by nature's phenomena awakened to self-awareness.
From that origin, I came up with one solution.
In short:
'If there's no meat, just eat mana instead, right?'
Not quite a parody of that queen from another world who got falsely accused over a horse comment. Whatever.
Anyway, it wasn't exactly "eating" mana.
Dragons had physical bodies as living beings. Yet they were also offspring of natural phenomena.
In other words, they were half natural phenomenon.
So, what if we leveraged the world's now-abundant mana?
If they could maintain their bodies with mana and minimize eating?
If they could use mana like nutrients to sustain themselves?
"That's why you should teach your children magic to alter their bodies."
I gathered my seven kids and laid it out, explaining how dinosaurs were on the brink of extinction and how most dragons wouldn't survive that either.
"Is the situation that serious?"
"Yeah. There's a limit to how much meat I can hand out. Teaching them magic to sustain their bodies with mana instead will help right now."
"I had no idea things had gotten that bad..."
I nodded slightly at Thetis's words.
The oceans where she and the blue dragons lived teemed with countless fish. Nothing like the crisis on land.
Well, a few desperate dragons did venture into the sea for fish and clashed with the blue dragons... but that was just cute sibling squabbles.
"But maintaining their bodies with mana... Is that even possible, Mother?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
I shot back curtly at Erebos.
Truth be told, he bore a lot of the blame for this mess. He'd shed so many scales from his neck that black dragons were now the most numerous.
If he'd shown a little restraint, maybe it wouldn't be this dire.
"Ahem. Then I'll begin the explanation."
I started describing the magic I wanted them to learn.
Mana is an infinite power of possibility, shaped by will. Master it, and nothing's impossible.
Well, limited by your own mana reserves, but whatever.
"The magic I'm teaching minimizes the biological aspects dragons have and amplifies their natural phenomenon side. It also transforms the heart to gather mana through breathing."
"Transforming the heart... Is that safe?"
"Theoretically, no issues."
Actually, I'd gotten a hint from the "dragon heart" concept in fantasy novels. With their innate massive mana reserves, plus mana accumulating in the heart over time, their bodies would sustain themselves.
Not for newborns, though. Hatchlings would still need meat!
"We can't delay any longer, so hurry. Got it?"
"Yes. So the kids can live without eating like trees? They'll love that—they'll say they're even more like me now."
We all burst out laughing at Yggdrasil's words.
Come to think of it, she was the world tree itself.
"You've all memorized the spell I taught? Now use it on every one of your kids without fail. This magic alone will end their hunger."
With that, my children set off to cast the magic on their offspring.
Here's hoping... it at least delays the dinosaurs' extinction.
I'd love for them to survive into the distant future.
A little time passed.
The magic I'd taught worked brilliantly.
Dragons no longer needed food to survive—it became a leisure activity for tasting flavors.
Fewer fights broke out over chunks of meat, blood spraying everywhere.
Lizardmen could move without hiding from dinosaur-hunting dragons.
Especially the Lizardmen chief I'd enchanted a spear for. He was thrilled.
One big dinosaur was a feast for the whole tribe—a rare treat they couldn't even attempt with dragons massacring them.
Thanks to that, Lizardmen prospered, evolving from pure hunter-gatherers. They developed primitive languages, dabbled in farming alongside hunting.
And most surprisingly, they started building what looked like temples.
The god they worshipped? Obviously, me.
Well, under the name Genesis Dragon.
It had a heavy chuunibyou vibe, dripping with middle-school edginess... but what could I do?
The name was stuck. Now I was in full enjoyment mode.
Oh, right.
The magic worked almost perfectly on the dragons... but there was one unexpected side effect.
With their balance shifting from half-biological, half-phenomenon to maybe 10-20% biological and 80-90% phenomenon...
For some reason... dragons stopped laying eggs. A lot.
Was it the higher phenomenon ratio killing off sexual desire? Or fading instincts to reproduce? Or just super-long lifespans making kids unnecessary?
Annual birth rates plummeted, until barely ten dragons hatched a year.
What the hell... this is scary...