GUARDIAN OF THE END

While Jason was spending his remaining free time with Risa, a heated discussion was taking place in the royal palace situated in Troy.

"Tell me why do I have to open the chamber again?" Albus Jokovic, the principal of the Royal Vancouver academy, questioned.

"Its because his majesty willed it. If you have any problems, you can schedule an appointment and talk with the king." Zilan replied calmly.

The prime minister was dressed in simple royal family clothes, which included clothes made using magic. The symbol of the royal family was etched on the breast pocket of his shirt as well as the back of his coat.

"But you know that once someone enters the chamber—" Albus began to argue but was cut short by a amused chuckle.

"Maybe I shouldn't have asked Zilan to talk to you. I never expected you to start questioning orders, Albus." Julian walked inside the room where Zilan and Albus had been sitting.

The principal froze up on his spot. He stared at Zilan once before turning his gaze towards Julian.

"Your majesty, I was just curious about the reopening of the chamber since you were the one who asked me to shut it up," Albus said softly. "But if you want the chamber to be opened again, I will definitely do it."

"Good," Julian smiled. "And the next time you ask about such things, make sure to not act disrespectful."

"Your words are my command, your majesty." Albus curtsied.

Zilan, too, bowed his head in respect. Julian looked at the two of them with a satisfied reaction before leaving the room.

Albus slumped down his chair before he wiped the sweat of his forehead.

"You should have told me that your brother was lurking right outside the door!" Albus hissed.

"He is still there." Zilan replied with a serious expression.

Albus immediately snapped to attention but when no one entered the room, he realized that Zilan had tricked him.

"You…" Albus tried to think of the right words to speak but his mind was preoccupied with the opening of the chamber.

"Don't bother. Just hurry back and open the chamber. Make only the first years face the trials. The ones who remain till the last will have to be forced inside the chamber." Zilan quoted the exact same words his brother had told him.

"What about you?" Albus asked curiously. "What're you going to do?"

"I am going to interrogate a very special prisoner. Also, I am going to send a very good clone magic user to the demon kingdom." Zilan replied and stood up.

"Clone magic?" Albus frowned. "I thought that only allowed life mages to mimic body parts to make changes to their own body. Also, I thought only Emerald(SS) ranked life mages could do it."

"You know the truth." Zilan walked near the door before adding, "I'm sending one such person right into the heart of the demon kingdom. The palace of the demon king to be specific."

Albus's eyes widened when he heard Zilan's plan. The principal, however, couldn't ask for more details since Zilan gad already walked out of the room.

"I should get going…" Albus muttered to himself. "Opening the chamber and setting the trials again is going to take at least three days. Thankfully, the first years arrive in four days."

While muttering things under his breath, Albus left the room too.

***

"Are you sure today is the day the academy starts?" Jason questioned Risa.

"I'm more sure about this date then I am of Issac and Ray not entering a gambling den on the way home." Risa chuckled at her own comparison. "Also, are you sure that's all you want to take?"

Jason nodded his head in response. A black backpack hung over his shoulder, containing all of his belongings that he was taking with him.

It turned out that the academy actually had a uniform code so Jason had only packed his noble clothes in the backpack.

Other than that, he had some essential items inside the pack. The rest of it was empty.

"What else can I take?" Jason asked with the raise of an eyebrow.

"That's a good point." Risa agreed. "Which is why I am going to give you something useful to carry."

Jason's eyebrows shot up yet he didn't say anything. Knowing his family, he definitely wasn't about to get a secret family weapon handed down to him.

"I know you are going to keep practicing that new skill of yours and even though I trust the healers in the academy, you should carry this." Risa produced a black leather-bound scroll from one of her pockets.

She handed it to Jason who took it with a curious look. On the surface, the scroll looked pretty normal.

'Inspect.'

---

< Tier 3 Elemental Scroll (1/1) >

- 0//10 uses

- Can be used to store a skill or spell for future use. Can be used by anyone by simply inserting some mana inside the scroll.

---

"In case you ever break your bones or cut one of your limbs, insert some mana inside this and you will be healed." Risa explained.

"That's quite helpful." Jason looked at the scroll for a few minutes before he slid the bag of his shoulders.

[ Ahem, host, aren't you forgetting something? ] The system, which had stayed silent until that point, inquired.

'I am quite sure I didn't forget to pack my herbal shampoo.' Jason replied.

[ No, idiot. I'm talking about the storage feature that your ring has. ] If the system had a body, it would definitely facepalm.

Jason formed an 'oh' with his mouth before checking the ring on his finger. He brought the ring closer to the backpack and touched it with one of the straps.

The bag vanished in the next instance, making Jason blink in surprise.

'I can't believe I forgot about this…'

[ I know you were busy. I'm here to remind you about such things so no need to worry. ] The system reassured him.

'You just rechecked the details of the ring after I used inspect on the scroll, didn't you?' Jason questioned.

[ At least I remembered that you were missing something. ] The system countered.

The two of them would've probably argued for some more time if not for the flashy interruption.

A magic circle appeared a few meters away from Jason and Risa's current location. Since they were standing in the garden, they could see the circle expanding across the ground to cover at least fifty feet of ground.

A few minutes later, three figures appeared in the center of the circle and surprisingly, Jason recognized all three of them.

"Brian and Orion," Jason muttered when he looked at the father-son pair standing together. "And Amber."

Jason's eyes lit up when he saw Amber standing on Brian's left. The red-head girl also noticed him and waved at him.

"Can we please hurry this up?" Brian said in an annoyed tone. "We are already running late and I have one more child to pick up."

"So you are the one in charge of taking the children of the four families to Royal Vancouver academy." Risa smiled.

Seeing her brother being stuck as a teleporter for children, Risa couldn't help but feel amused.

"Hello to you, too, Risa." Brian sighed before gesturing for Jason to come and stand near him. "We have to leave now."

"Goodbye, grandma. I will see you soon!" Jason said his last goodbye to Risa before walking up to the trio.

He stood beside Amber as Brian activated the magic circle. Jason saw Duphia fade out from his view before his vision blackened.

Having experienced teleportation numerous times, Jason was getting used to this sensation.

He only felt dizzy when his feet landed on solid ground again. Jason found himself standing in the middle of what looked like a cathedral from one of his previous life's history books.

Chandeliers lit up the massive hall whereas a high throne was raised at the other end of the hall. However, judging from the dust accumulated on the throne, no one had sat on it for quite a long time.

"Here I thought that grandpa had messed up the dates." A familiar voice sighed.

Zeke Anvilone walked in front of the group with a drowsy expression. This was expected since the time was currently seven in the morning.

"Let's get going." Brina urged.

Zeke stepped into the magic circle too as Brian powered it up for their last destination of the day, the Royal Vancouver academy.

The group of five appeared in a clearing after a few minutes, which was one of the longest teleportations Jason had experienced.

Brian looked slightly tired from his recent teleportations yet he still kept himself attentive.

Jason looked around in the meantime to see that they were in the middle of nowhere. No houses or anything was visible near them.

[ Host, look towards the east… ] The system said in a dazed tone.

'What's in the east?' Jason questioned before he turned to stare at the sky in the east. 'Oh…'

His mouth hung open as Brian cleared his throat.

"Welcome to the Royal Vancouver academy. We will have to walk the rest of the way."