GUARDIAN OF THE END

'So, she saw the entire thing?'

[ She did. I wonder if she thought you were having a stroke or something. ]

'If she thought that, it was a very bad decision to stay there and watch me. I could have died if that was the truth.'

[ Why don't you tell her that instead of talking to me. Sit up straight and act as though nothing is wrong. ]

Following the system's words, Jason sat up straight and calmed his expression.

His eyes followed Astryn who was barely a few meters away from him. Her face looked devoid of any emotion but a smile bloomed on her face when she saw Jason looking at her face.

"Isn't it a beautiful night?" She asked absentmindedly while looking at the stars.

Jason was barely able to stop his face from twitching as he too gazed up at the stars. It was clear that Astryn was acting ignorant on purpose as she didn't want to directly confront Jason.

Instead, she decided to use a subtle approach.

"Jason, did your grandparents ever tell you about your parents?" Astryn asked while sitting cross-legged in front of Jason.

The boy shook his head as a sigh escaped the woman's lip. She had expected this much from Risa and Issac as she knew that they didn't want to force Jason to think something that he didn't understand.

Yet, she felt sad that the child didn't know about his own parents.

"Well, I can't tell you much about your father since I don't know him that well to be sure of anything. However, I can definitely tell you about your mother," She paused, looking at his expression. "You want to know about her?"

"Yes," Jason replied as a new kind of feeling built up in his chest. "Tell me about my mother."

"Her name is Evelyn and she is very beautiful, even more, beautiful than Risa or me. She is also very kind yet can be very cold and unforgiving as well. Overall, she isn't the ideal wife that people look for."

Astryn's voice trailed off as she realized that Jason might not understand half the words she was speaking.

'Maybe he is too young to know after all.' She was about to change the topic when she saw his eyes shining. He was curious to know more as well as excited to know about the person who brought him into his new world.

"She is extremely strong too. Much stronger than what either of your grandfathers might proclaim themselves as. When she is angry, neither of them will dare to speak a word against her."

A chuckle escaped Astryn's lips as she remembered the past incidents including her daughter. Issac and Fel would try to keep themselves under control whenever Evelyn was near them.

'Ah… I miss those days.' Astryn thought with a dejected look as she saw her grandchild tilt his head in confusion.

"If she is that strong, why doesn't she come and meet me?" Jason asked a genuine question that seemed to momentarily stun Astryn.

She had expected Jason to ask such a question but had no reply ready for it.

[ Looks like she wasn't well prepared for that. ]

'It's not every day you see intelligent five-year-olds being born.'

[ what if there are other reincarnators too? You never know… ]

'That in itself is another story.'

After waiting in silence for a few minutes, Astryn finally found the right words to tell Jason.

"Jason, when you grow up and become strong, you will realize that the world fears the strong yet that doesn't prevent the people from making moves on you. A crippled genius might be a genius but he or she can no longer fight for themselves.

To prevent that, people form groups or such. Sometimes, the strong lose and they lose badly. With no support, they are either faced to go all out and escape or die or being forced into something worse than that. That's why your mother had to escape…"

Astryn finished up as she gently patted Jason's head before looking at the sky. The boy too looked up and suddenly saw a shooting star falling down.

Be it on instinct or not, Jason asked for a wish mentally.

The system too heard the wish and chuckle softly inside his mind.

[ Host, I will make sure that your wish gets fulfilled so you can count on me. ]

'As you say, system.'

"Thank you for telling me about her," Jason said aloud before he stood up and stretched his body.

Astryn saw him do so as she had a longing to meet her children.

Even though Evelyn was somewhere unreachable, she could still talk to her other children.

Astryn then stood up beside Jason as she decided to return back to the demon continent and tell Fel about her experience.

"I will try to visit soon and maybe bring your grandfather with me too. But remember one last thing," Astryn then stared directly into his eyes. "Jason, remember to never let your emotions get the best of you."

Jason nodded his head enthusiastically as she smiled and turned away.

Astryn had decided to leave the runes behind as no one except her could use them. Since that was already done, she moved to the edge of the garden and bit her right hand's thumb.

She dripped a bit of her blood on the ground as it immediately expanded into a circle on coming in contact with the ground.

"Bye-bye, Jason." She muttered under her breath while waving her hand from afar.

The next moment, the circle lit up and she vanished from her spot, leaving Jason alone in the garden.

He stared at the sky one last time before slowly starting to walk towards the door. He now had a goal in his mind, and even though it sounded cliche, was a goal that he wanted to obtain.

It was to become stronger than the prodigies of the kingdom and he needed to do three things to achieve that.

The first was to get knowledge since he had zero idea about the power system and such.

The second was to learn to control mana in the next few years.

The third and last thing was to maximize his job classes to upgrade them to the next level while learning more and more skills. He had a lot of work in his hands yet Jason was ready to work hard.

'But for now, it's time for me to sleep.' He thought while stifling a yawn.

Jason then entered the house again and directly went to his bed. Within a few minutes of hitting the bed, he was fast asleep.

The next day, his basic training started.