GUARDIAN OF THE END

Jason didn't know how long he slept for but when his eyes opened up, light was pouring inside his room in the Syrward family mansion.

'System, how much time has passed?' Jason asked while sitting up.

His body felt completely refreshed yet his essential requirements had kicked in. His throat was extremely dry and his stomach was growling.

Jason also had the urge to use the bathroom.

[ Four weeks and a day have passed after you went to train in your dream world. ] The system replied a minute later.

Jason slowly stood up before walking up to the bathroom. An hour later, he stepped back into his room and make his way down the stairs.

'Why does the house feel so empty?' Jason thought to himself since he didn't sense anyone's presence inside the mansion.

"Jason, is that you?" Risa's voice suddenly rang out from the kitchen.

Jason didn't respond and instead walked near the kitchen. He narrowed his eyes and peered inside.

"No, this is not an illusion." Risa smiled when she saw Jason staring at her in such a manner.

"I was just confirming it." Jason shrugged and sat on the dining table. "Please give me a few bottles of water and something to eat."

Risa nodded and gave Jason a bucket of water. She started cooking some food for him while he gulped down the water directly from the bucket.

Risa soon presented him the food which was soon eaten by Jason. Once his body was satisfied, Jason decided to ask Risa why the mansion felt so empty.

"It's because Nora's academy already started today. Ray and Issac went there with him. As for Zara…" Risa's expression darkened.

"She's still not healed?" Jason asked in a surprised tone. He had thought that an expert healer like Risa would've figured something out by now.

"I have not figured out the way to remove the mist surrounding her mana core. I contacted Ariana's family and they haven't had any luck either." Risa told the truth.

Jason fell deep into thought. He was the only one who had had a more personal experience with Hecate.

He also knew someone who knew Hecate much better than he did.

'Hestia, what do you think will be helpful in removing that mist?' Jason questioned his guardian.

[ Truth be told, I don't know. Even when both me and Hecate were goddesses, I hadn't known much about her powers. She was the goddess of mist and magic though. ]

'I see…'

Jason already knew this information but there was nothing else Hestia wanted to tell him. He could only sigh and shake his head.

"When does my academy start? There's a chance that I might found something at the academy which will help in curing both aunt Zara and Amber's grandmother." Jason suggested.

"Nora thought the same thing," Risa smiled slightly. "Your academy will be starting in five days. Someone will come directly to the mansion to pick you up."

Jason nodded in understanding. Since he only had five days left till then, he decided to use his charged lightning bolt in his real life too.

"Grandma, can you oversee something that I am about to do?" Jason asked his grandma. "There's a chance that I might end up burning my hand to shreds."

Risa raised her eyebrows in surprise but didn't say anything. Instead, she nodded in agreement.

The two of them walked out of the mansion together and Jason was surprised to see that cold wind was blowing outside.

He started feeling a bit cold but didn't let it show on his face, or so he thought.

"You don't need to act as though you are fine." Risa commented from behind.

She had somehow managed to bring a jacket for him without Jason noticing it. He thanked her and wore the jacket to warm himself up.

"So, give me an idea about what you are going to do?" Risa finally asked him once they had stepped into the garden.

"Its an upgraded version of lightning bolt." Jason explained. He raised his hand in the next second and started gathering the lightning mana.

'Don't worry about being hurt. Risa is standing right here so even something goes wrong, she can fix it.' Jason told himself and spread the lightning.

The purple mana spread in his hand as sparks flickered around his palm. Jason clenched his teeth when he felt his skin starting to burn.

Risa also noticed this yet she didn't do anything. Her eyes were examining the mana while waiting for Jason to finish.

The mana soon took the shape of a lightning bolt and buzzed with the energy inside it.

"Ugh…" Jason felt a searing pain spreading through his entire hand. He immediately threw the charged lightning bolt and stared at his hand.

His skin had been burned badly and black blood oozed out from his palm. The pain was much worse than what he had expected.

Jason wanted to cut his own hand just to make the pain go away.

[ Except that will give you an even greater pain. ] The system reminded him.

'I know…'

Jason finally sighed in relief when Risa had started healing his hand. His eyes then looked forward to see that his lightning bolt had skidded to the ground.

A small crater had been created in the ground at the place where the lightning bolt had finally hit.

Jason was satisfied to see that the amount of damage caused by the charged lightning bolt didn't decrease even in the real world.

"That was quite good except for the hand burning part." Risa commented, her eyes looking at the hole in the ground.

She had been expecting something much smaller yet Jason had surprised. But then, this might have been the reason for him burning his hand.

"What you just used is an upgraded version of the charged attack," Risa explained. "In order to reduce the amount of burn you are feeling, you should have started a bit small."

Jason opened his mouth to speak before closing it.

'Didn't you tell me to focus of mastering the tiny things?' Jason questioned the system.

[ Even though I wasn't referring to this, I did tell you that. I guess I am too much of a genius to predict this. ] The system replied in a narcissistic tone.

'Yeah, yeah, whatever.' Jason replied before turning his gaze towards his hand.

"Grandma, what is the less powerful version of this attack?" he inquired.

"Well, it causes an even smaller explosion and is mainly focused on improving the time taken by the lightning bolt to hit its target." Risa explained.

She wasn't an expert in these things but due to Issac's absence, she was the only one Jason could turn to for help.

The good thing was that Risa had studied a lot on mana and had experimented a lot as well. She knew the theory and processes behind lightning magic and only lacked the practical experience.

"Try creating a lightning bolt with half the amount of mana you are currently using." Risa suggested.

Jason nodded and started gathering the mana. However, he formed a lightning bolt in just thirty seconds and threw it.

The lightning bolt zoomed through the air at the same speed as the previous one. However, it barely created a hole in the ground.

"You were correct!" Jason cheered when he saw a system window appearing in front of his eyes.

---

< Lightning Bolt (Tier 2) >

- Summon a bolt of lightning.

---

The details remained the same yet Jason had managed to make the lightning bolt skill advance to tier 2.

His hand hadn't been burned either which had led to the lightning bolt skill advancing to the next level.

"Lightning bolt!" Jason summoned another lightning bolt just to check it.

He could hold the crackling piece of energy for as long as he wanted and his hand didn't burn. Upon throwing the lightning bolt, Jason was pleased to find that it still worked the same.

"Magic can easily be bent to your will if you know what you need your flaws and your strengths." Risa quoted the words of her late teacher. "If you understand the basics and know what you have and what you lack, nothing can prevent you from becoming stronger."

Jason nodded in agreement. Magic wasn't as fixed as he had originally thought of it to be.

"Let's go back inside. I will keep practicing things throughout." Jason admitted.

Risa agreed with him and the duo went back inside. Jason had been thinking of borrowing a book but instead decided to check up on Zara's condition.

"Grandma, I want to see how Aunt Zara is."

"Well, she is the same as you remember. But if you wish to see her, we can go to her room." Risa replied.

Jason nodded in response. The two of them began climbing the stairs to reach Jason's aunt and uncle's room.

The door to their room was locked. However, Risa simply turned the doorknob and opened it for Jason to look inside.

'She looks as though she is in a coma…' That was the first thought that entered his mind when he looked at Zara.

She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Her clothes had been changed, either by Risa or Ray.

When Jason touched her body, she felt cold almost as though she was dead. However, he could soon feel her pulse which meant that she was alive.

Jason looked at her face for a few more seconds before walking out of the room. He had seen what he needed to see.

"You done?" Risa asked. She closed the door when Jason nodded.

While walking down the stairs, he asked, "Can you give me a book related to magic to read?"