GUARDIAN OF THE END

While Jason was sitting on the bed, Astryn roamed around the boundaries of the house. She had been doing this for three hours while carving something in the ground.

Issac and Risa let her do whatever she wanted since they had their own problems to take care of.

They went around the town and gathered the citizens before revealing to them that an army was coming to attack the town.

Due to what Duphia had been through in the past, Issac and Risa had created a shelter for the citizens to hide in during times of emergency.

Though the citizens were panicking, all of them were safely led to the shelter created five hundred meters away from the barony.

It was an underground place completely hidden from the eyes of living beings. Though it wasn't perfect, it was better than just a hole in the ground.

After making sure that the citizens were safe, Risa and Issac went separate ways to gather those who could fight. Even though it was a family matter, the old couple didn't shy away from asking for help from others.

Of course, they were going to pay them back with something to make sure that they didn't complain.

The first place that Issac visited was a shelter on the outskirts of the city, made from mud and wood. Sitting in the middle of the shelter was a bald man sitting in the middle of a herd of cows and goats. The man's eyes were closed, making it seem as though he was sleeping.

"Looks like you are done evacuating and need my help." The man suddenly spoke up as he heard Issac's footsteps nearing him.

"Yes, Karna, we need your help. Don't worry, I will compensate you by going on that journey of finding the weapon you want so much." Issac replied while sighing as Karna's ears perked up.

(A/N: Read it as Car-an *cough*)

The old man slowly stood up before stretching his body. He then opened his eyes and something unbelievable followed through.

All the wrinkles on his face and body vanished, turning Karna into a handsome young man with dark brown hair and piercing orange eyes.

"I will make sure you pay me correctly for making me use this form," Karna grumbled while stretching his body. "You better prepare your bones, old man."

"If politeness equaled living time, you would've died in childhood." Issac retorted before the two of them went out of the shelter.

Issac had to take one more person and he knew it was going to take some time.

"Karna, be prepared to close your eyes," Issac suggested. "We will be going to get him out of his house."

"For the sake of…" Karna cursed as he knew who Issac was talking of. "You should have asked him first."

"If I die because of frustration, I am taking you down with me," Issac replied with a toothy grin as the two of them continued to argue the entire way.

Risa on the other hand had some more luck and managed to get the two people along with her after some coaxing.

p While the two grandparents were doing that, Jason was standing at the door of the manor while looking at Astryn do the work.

From what he and the system managed to gather, she was inscribing some kind of runes all around the perimeter.

"She is embedding defense runes all around the house. However, it takes a lot of patience and art." Ray suddenly spoke up from behind Jason as the two males continued to look at Astryn.

'Why do I feel that Ray and I look like perverts staring at a beautiful woman…' Jason mentally thought while looking at his uncle.

[ You both are more focused on the runes so no problem. ]

"Uncle, where did grandpa and grandma go?" Jason asked, hoping to divert his attention.

"Well, they went to bring some of their old buddies to help us and to evacuate the citizens."

"Are their friends old?"

"Jason, I will tell you one thing that you should remember for the rest of your life," A smile appeared on Ray's face.

"Never underestimate old people, especially those belonging to Duphia. That way, you won't be shocked when the time to fight comes."

"Ok… so they aren't sacks of bones…" Jason was somehow able to understand what Ray was trying to convey.

Ray nodded in appreciation as he was happy to see that his nephew at least had some brains at an early age as compared to his father.

'Michael, your wife definitely is one of the smartest in the world and she managed to pass on her genes to him.' Ray thought with an amused look as he left Jason alone and went back inside the house.

There were still a lot of things to do, including the transformation of Jason.

'I wonder how he will look with two fox ears on his head.' Ray chuckled before going up the stairs.

Jason continued to watch the rune work silently while his system tried to scan and understand it.

[ It seems as though she is writing things using symbols and other things. It's a whole new language. ]

'Can you understand what she is writing?'

[ Sadly, I am not at that level. To understand what's written in runes, you will first have to gain a job class related to it and then study and practice it. ]

'I see… Then please upgrade my 'lightning reflexes' skill to the max.'

< 4 System Points have been used. >

Jason then looked at his progression bar as a smile appeared on his face. Both of his currently available job classes were already at 10% progression.

If things continued to go the way they were, he might be able to max them soon enough.

[ Pfft, ] The system snorted. [ That's because the current difficulty is at a very easy level. Once you don't have skills to help you increase the progression of your job classes, what will you do? ]

'Try to receive enlightenment and hope I succeed the first time?'

[ Fair point… ]

Jason then noticed that Astryn had stood up from the ground and the runes she had carved in the ground had long since vanished.

"Looks like you have been observing everything carefully," Astryn said as she materialized in front of Jason.

The young child jumped back in surprise. Astryn had just traveled the entire distance in the blink of an eye, making it look like teleportation.

"How did you do that?" Jason asked with a slightly open mouth as Astryn chuckled.

"I just used runes all around the house which will allow me to teleport here at will, no matter how far I am. Sadly, they only last for two months."

"That's amazing…"

"Indeed," Astryn said while smiling. "I will teach you how to do this once you grow a bit older and learn how to control your mana effectively."

Jason nodded enthusiastically as his maternal grandmother affectionately tapped his forehead.

However, her entire demeanor changed in a matter of milliseconds. The aura of a silent killer appeared around her body as she sensed many people entering the city of Duphia.

The someones were none other than demons and Astryn could tell that they were only there for a certain reason.

"Ray, Zara, come down!" She shouted before grabbing Jason's hand and pulling him inside. She then closed the door and reinforced it to prevent being destroyed by attacks.

Zara and Ray suddenly appeared at the base of the stairs with matching grim expressions. They knew that the demons had arrived in Duphia, otherwise there would be no reason for Astryn to shout.

"Then I guess it's about time I did it." Zara suddenly moved forward before bending down in front of Jason.

She then placed her hand on top of Jason's chest, right above his beating chest.

"I hope you are prepared for this and if not, it's too late."