GUARDIAN OF THE END

'After not encountering any beast for the entire day, I thought things were going to proceed smoothly…' Jason sighed.

He turned around and immediately took off. He couldn't risk fighting so many beasts at his current level.

It was better to run away instead of becoming beast food.

[ Uh, host, I don't think these beasts share the same sentiment as you. They're chasing you at full speed. ]

Jason sneaked a look at the beasts and it was enough to make his heart skip a beat. More than dozen beasts were chasing after him and all of them were of different variety!

'Inspect!'

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Threat Level: B(high) rank

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Threat Level: B(high) rank

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Threat Level: B(high) rank

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Jason's eyes widened when he saw the ranks of the beasts chasing him. Most of them were high B ranked beasts.

Hiding amongst them was a low A ranked beast as well. This beast was considered as a leader by the other beasts and all of them were cooperating under its commands.

'Sht…'

Jason suddenly increased his movement speed as he dashed towards the deeper part of the forest. His plan was to shake of his pursuers by hiding inside the thick canopy of the forest.

'That's if I don't encounter in such a situation?! ]

'I don't know! Hestia, can your aura subdue these creatures?' Jason questioned his guardian.

[ It only works on beasts who are at the same or lower level as you. Overpowered skills always come with a price attached to them. ]

'In this case, its a restriction rather than a price.' Jason corrected.

He had managed to shake off a few of the beasts but the A ranked beast was still following him. The A ranked beast was a black cheetah who had managed to catch his smell.

It was trying its best to pursue the young child which would serve as its dinner.

'Oh give up, you overgrown cat,' Jason clenched his teeth while jumping from one branch to other.

By now, most oft he beasts chasing after him had gotten tired. The black cheetah was the only one chasing after him.

It had realized what Jason was trying to do. The black cheetah had then started pursuing Jason by climbing a tree and following him in the same way.

'Beasts get smarter the higher their rank gets. I need to deal with this cheetah or things are going to get hard for me.'

Jason suddenly dived down and landed on the ground. His eyes were focused on the cheetah's movements.

Two lightning bolts appeared in his hands which he threw at the cheetah simultaneously.

Both of the lightning bolts were avoided by the black cheetah, proving Jason's experiment to be successful.

'I can win a fight by using the same old moves. I have to try something new.'

The silver-haired boy suddenly jumped forward with a determined look. A thread made from dark mana appeared in his right hand.

Jason summoned another lightning bolt and tied the thread to it. Surprisingly, the thread didn't break.

It didn't cut the lightning bolt either which worked in Jason's favor. He aimed the lightning bolt and threw it again.

The cheetah was about to dodge it when he sensed that something was wrong. It stared at the thread which was tied around the lightning bolt.

"Raagh…" It growled and launched a attack of his own.

Two ferocious lightning bolts were suddenly released from its paws. Jason was surprised to see that the cheetah was a lighting beast.

'Its a pity that I have to kill you. You would've become a nice beast companion.'

Jason pulled on the thread and detached it from the lightning bolt. Once it had settled on the ground, he jumped back.

The black cheetah glared at Jason with a guarded expression. It glanced at the surroundings for a seconds, forming an escape plan in its mind.

Despite being at a higher rank than the child standing in front of it, the black cheetah felt uneasy. It decided that running away was better for it instead of staying back to fight.

Jason, however, had other plans. Since the beast had already decided to challenge him, he wasn't going to let it go away so easily.

"You should have chosen your opponent carefully."

Jason suddenly vanished from his spot. The black cheetah anticipated an attack in its direction but the attack never came.

The silver-haired boy had simply vanished from the surroundings, leaving the black cheetah confused. It could still smell the boy yet its nose was playing a trick on it.

It could smell Jason in every direction yet couldn't see him.

'I hope this works…' Jason, who standing high above the ground, prayed silently.

He had lined the thread made from dark mana with his sense so that he could distract the wolf.

The bold words he had spoken were also just distractions as he hoped that the cheetah would fall for his bluff.

As soon as the beast would move away, Jason would directly make his way to the stream Hestia had found for him.

Once he was there, he would wash his body thoroughly to clear his scent. Jason would also eat there before figuring out a way to reach the portals.

'I need to go their using stealth. Charging head on towards the portals will attract numerous beasts.'

Jason knew that if he tried hard, he would be able to kill the cheetah. However, killing the cheetah would spread at least a few drops of its blood around the place.

It could also attract the other beasts in the area with a howl which would be dangerous for Jason.

He wasn't interested in taking a risk and decided to get rid of the cheetah in a more secure manner.

'It worked at last.' Jason sighed in relief when he saw the cheetah moving away.

He stayed in his spot for the next five minutes to confirm whether the cheetah had really went away or not.

Once he had confirmed that it was true, Jason leaped from his branch to another one. He maximized his lightning mana input to his current peak and dashed towards the stream.

'With this speed, I should arrive at the stream in a few hours.' Jason observed.

He wanted to use his white lightning to quicken his speed but it was too flashy for his liking. It also attracted a lot of attention, something Jason definitely didn't want for the time being.

He continued to travel from one tree to another for the next few hours. Jason could feel himself tiring after the initial two hours.

He had only managed to cover half of the distance, which meant that it would take him another two hours to reach the stream.

'I have to take a break now…' Jason halted after a few more minutes of traveling.

His body wasn't used to traveling at such a speed for a long period of time. He could comfortably travel at high speed for an hour without tiring himself.

'System, Hestia, please keep an eye on the surroundings.' Jason requested while putting his back against the trunk of a tree.

He closed his eyes and let his body relax for a few minutes.

[ Host, I am useless with my powers sealed. ]

[ I can only keep an eye on beasts that are either at the same rank as you or are weaker than you. ]

'Just try your best.' Jason sighed.

His muscles felt sore and his body was screaming at him to rest. Jason, however, couldn't stay put for long.

'Just twenty minutes of rest and I will be fine.' He thought and kept his eyes closed.

Ten minutes passed by in silence. Jason wondered whether his luck had improved for once.

'Wait, I shouldn't have thought that!' Jason's eyes immediately flew open. He felt a tingling sensation spreading through his body, telling him that something bad was about to happen.

"It would've been less messy if you had kept on sleeping." A rough voice echoed inside Jason's ears.

The silver-haired boy immediately stood up. Lightning flickered around his body as he prepared himself to run away.

He could tell that the words spoken belonged to a beast. Furthermore, they hadn't been translated by his passive beast talking ability.

The words spoken by the beast had been in the human language.

"Oh, you look alert? Don't worry, little half-demon. I am not even present here." The beast chuckled. "I will be waiting for you in the chamber of Rebirth. We will meet again."

Jason could feel his heartbeat increasing by the passing second. He could sense the beast's presence around him but no matter how thoroughly he looked around, he couldn't see the beast's body.

"I just want to tell you that two A ranked beasts are approaching your location. I can't have you dying so soon without managing to reach the chamber. Also, bring that red-head and that overly smart kid with you. Both of them are interesting like you.

I will be waiting for the three of you."

Jason felt the presence of the voice vanishing. He looked around for a few seconds before taking off again.

Jason decided to believe in the beast and continued his journey towards the stream.

'The red-head is definitely Amber. As for the overly smart one… who could it be?'

[ Host, you are fine with what happened right now? ]

'Hmm? This is the usual that I experience from time to time. This is nothing new.' Jason replied sarcastically.

Though he felt weirded out, he was no longer shocked by such events happening to him. Jason had accepted that he had the protagonist luck.

'Anyways, I am heading towards the stream. Once I get there, I am going to take an hour long bath.'

With that, Jason continued his travel.