Guardian Of The End

Jason simply hovered in the air while observing Amber's body from above. If it was the him from a few years ago, he would be cursing out loud for such unfairness.

'The world is gray.' He repeated the words told to him by grandmother some time ago. The world wasn't fair in things yet for every piece of bad luck one had, there would be good luck waiting for them in the near future.

'System, remind me to go research about guardians after we are done here.' Jason muttered, his eyes continuing to monitor his surroundings.

[ No need for that host. Once the system has been reworked, you will have a huge source of information, at least that's what Lord Erebus told me. ]

'Ere contacted you?' Jason felt slightly surprised. Unfortunately, he couldn't carry on this conversation for long as Amber suddenly made her move.

"Magma storm." She spoke aloud, her eyes staring directly at Jason.

The cracks running in the ground started oozing lava all over, sending steam into the air.  Jason's eyes could see the same lava depositing inside the ground, making it turn into magma.

'The ground is literally going to attack me.' Jason realized the next instance as the land rumbled mightily.

The ground split into a dozen pieces, all of them being the size of multiple elephants combined. Jason didn't know the exact measurements but he was sure that getting hit by even one of them would land him in coma for years to come.

Suddenly, all of them rose up at once and shot towards Jason immediately.

Jason didn't move from his place and contrary to almost everyone's expectations, he closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath while extending his arms to their fullest such that both of his hand were stretched far out.

The lightning in his feet slowly moved upwards and coiled around his hands. Jason started to descend down from the sky as the equal proportionality of lightning was the only thing keeping him in the air.

"Thunder release…" He murmured, only to give his new technique a cheap name.

Jason knew that the floor below him would be full of lava which would attack him as soon as he came in its range.

He would've rather stayed in the air but by doing so, he would've been crushed by the rocks.

A crackling sound suddenly reverberated throughout the arena, making many children's ears pop. Some of the toddlers and infants present in the arena started crying after hearing the sudden noise.

Even many adults experienced the same thing as a few cries of pain echoed throughout the arena.

'Are both of them really ten years old or are Issac and Ariana fighting each other in a disguise?' Zilan silently wondered but soon dismissed the thought as Ariana couldn't use magma element.

Jason was the cause of all of this as the lightning around his hands suddenly started glowing purple.

It turned so pure that even the slightest twitch of Jason's finger would send it on a rampage.

Jason also felt that if he held the thunder for any longer than a minute, his hands arms would be burnt or torn off by its raw power.

That was why he freely shot the thunder outwards, exhausting more than half of his currently remaining mana.

However, it was worth the mana loss as the thunder lit up the entire arena and bathed it in a purple glow. The thunder shot in all directions with a crackling sound as it crashed with the incoming pieces of magma blocks.

Explosions caused by the clash blinded every single person. Even Zilan had to sense the two participants using their mana to make sure that they were safe.

'This doesn't feel like a kids tournament anymore.' Zilan thought while wondering how those who had been chanting felt.

None of them could see anything this time as the smoke had spread across the entire arena.

Jason and Amber however could keep track of each other, the former with his skill and the latter with the help of Flamey.

The Syrward family and Karna were also watching this from the glass box, waiting for either party to make a move.

However, Karna suddenly pulled into a corner of the room before blinking in surprise.

'Huh?' Karna inquired as he heard the sound of a goat bleating inside his mind. 'Feta, are sure you want to do that?'

"Meh!" came the reply.

'Its your choice in the end.' Karna replied mentally as he was somehow able to talk to his goat through a mental connection.

Karna then silently moved away from the box without anyone noticing him. He slipped through the entrance and walked a bit further away before raising both of his hands towards the arena floor.

"Good luck, Feta." Karna muttered, shortly followed by the sound of Feta echoing inside his mind.

Karna started muttering some chant under his breath as two golden symbols appeared on the palms of both of his hand.

< The Guardian of Animolis has left your body and you are no longer serving as her temporary vessel. >

A mechanical message resounded inside Karna's mind followed by the shattering of his hidden connection with Feta.

The two symbols on his palm also vanished alongside the message as Karna lowered his arms, his eyes looking at Jason with curiosity.

'I wonder what is it about you that led to Feta choosing you as her vessel.' He wondered silently before moving inside the glass box again without letting anyone notice him.

Jason on the other hand saw some kind of fluctuation happening right in front of him. A white window suddenly popped open in front of him, making him squint to read the words correctly.

< The Guardian of Animolis is asking for you to become her vessel. >

< Benefits:

- You will have a mental bond with the guardian allowing the two of you two talk over any distance.

- You can share some of your guardian's mana pool as well as theirs skills. You can also merge together with them in times of need and get a serious power up. >

"What the…" Jason's jaw unhinged slightly, his eyes looking around to see who this guardian figure was.

"Mehhhh!" Suddenly, the sound of a goat bleating echoed inside his mind.

Jason body went still as he wondered whether releasing thunder had short-circuited his brain.

[ Host, its Feta… ] The system mumbled, making Jason narrow his eyes.

"Feta, is that you?" He whispered while looking out for any sudden movement. "Meh twice if its you."

"Meh! Meh!" The goat did as told yet Jason still felt a bit uneasy. He had no idea how feta was even talking inside his head, much less how a guardian had contacted him.

[ "Jason, accept it." ] As if the situation wasn't chaotic enough, a new voice popped up inside his head, making three voices stay inside his head.

'Now who are you?' Jason demanded, momentarily forgetting that there was a fight going on.

[ "Kid, you already forgot your one and only dearest patron?" ] The voice sounded hurt yet Jason could easily decipher how fake it sounded.

'Ok Ere, enough drama. Tell me what is happening.' Jason rubbed his forehead as he was currently stuck in the middle of a chaotic situation.

If Jason considered the entire journey from Duphia to Troyalias, the entire thing had been way too chaotic.

Half of the things hadn't made sense and had happened in weird ways like one plot after the other without either of them being resolved.

[ "I get how you are feeling but unfortunately, your life until your teenage years is going to continue like this. I know its too chaotic and senseless at times but trust me when I say that it will get better later on." ] Erebus tried his best to reassure his only follower.

'Just tell me what is happening currently.' Jason sighed while slowly rubbing his temples.

The smoke had also started clearing meaning that the fight would be getting resumed again.

'Amber could already be planning her another attack while I am stuck here…' Jason observed, his eyes keeping track of Amber's location only to find out that she was standing in one spot for the past five minutes.

[ "Jason, a guardian has a very different role in this world. You know the basic definition so it should suffice for now. Also, look below you." ]

Jason did as told and turned his gaze downwards only to see a pool of boiling lava below him. He was hovering a few feet above it without the help of his lightning.

This irked Jason very much and forced him to ask Erebus yet another question.

'How?' He inquired.

[ "Let's just say the goat named Feta has gotten a bit attached to you. She is the guardian who wants to enter your body. Accept for now and I will come to explain things later during your dream." ]

'I see…' Jason mumbled, his eyes glancing over the content written on the screen once again.

If Feta was indeed a guardian, as Erebus claimed, then it meant that he would also get the same amount of power as Amber.

Though this could result in a stalemate, Jason found it working extremely well in his favor. It was not everyday that he was blessed with such things, after all.

"I accept." He replied in a firm voice, waiting for something to happen.

The windows closed in front of his face followed by complete silence. Jason was left blinking in confusion for a few seconds as nothing seemed to happen.

Then as if someone had turned a broken radio on, a buzzing sound took over the entire arena. It seemed as though the mechanical voice which had announced the arrival of Amber's guardian was malfunctioning a bit.

[ Hello, Jason. ] Alongside the buzzing noise, a gentle female voice entered his years. It contained traces of happiness, excitement and a strange familiarity.

"Feta?" Jason had just asked when the strange buzzing was replaced by the mechanical voice again.

Jason felt like banging his head on the wall just to get a clear sense during the chaos.

< The Guardian of Anipolis has successfully entered the battlefield. >