GUARDIAN OF THE END

[ Who are you going to ask? ] The system asked as Jason stood up and opened the curtains.

The sun had long since set and the sky was now covered with stars and the moon. Jason sighed at this before turning towards the door.

'I have someone in mind but we will go and meet him tomorrow. For now, let me eat and sleep.'

Since it was already nighttime, Jason decided to go and ask the person he later. There was a high chance that he would be rejected but Jason didn't mind trying.

'It's either a yes or a no.'

---

The next morning, Jason woke up two hours before his usual waking up time. He knew that everyone in the house would be asleep so he quickly bathed and changed his clothes.

While tiptoeing down the stairs, Jason easily managed to reach the door without waking anyone. He then stepped out of the house and started walking towards his destination.

'It feels weird to be the only one being awake at this time.'

While walking through the streets of Duphia, Jason realized that no one in the town was an early riser. Most people would start their day by waking up at eight which was a chill lifestyle.

He continued to jog around while moving towards the outskirts of the town. His goal was to get some milk to start his day.

[ Host, who are you trying to fool? I know that you are going to ask Karna to help you. ]

Jason smiled at the system's words but didn't say anything. His silence was enough for the system to know that it was right, thus going back to its passive state.

After a few minutes of jogging, the boy finally reached the shelter created on the outskirts of the town.

Jason could hear mooing and meeeh sounds coming from inside the shelter, indicating that the cows and goats inside were awake.

He then walked up to the entrance of the shelter and peeked inside.

Sitting with his back against a pole was Karna. The young shepherd had his eyes closed as though he was sleeping but Jason knew that Karna had already sensed his arrival. He just didn't acknowledge it by opening his eyes.

"So I take it that you are not here to buy milk?" The shepherd asked while lazily stretching his body. Without opening his eyes, Karna stood up and turned his head in Jason's direction.

"I am here to buy milk as well as ask you for a favor." The boy replied honestly as his eyes curiously wandered around the shelter.

He had been there to buy milk before too but had never gotten to see inside the shelter. But now that he did, he wondered whether he would drink milk the same way again.

Most of the cows were sleeping--meaning that they were lying on the ground in weird positions--while the awoken ones were lining up at the entrance of the shelter.

The same was true for the goats but the difference was that the younger ones were beating horns with others.

Though the entire place looked clean and healthy, there was a weird smell settled over the entire place which made Jason give Karna a weird expression.

"Young ones have to be taught what to do inside and what to do outside," Karna replied with a straight face before he walked out of the shelter to talk with Jason.

"So, are you going to milk them right now?" The boy asked in a hesitant tone as a smile appeared on Karna's face.

"I will do it soon but I don't think you want to see that."

"Indeed… So, will you do me the favor or not?" Jason asked with expectant eyes as the smile slipped off Karna's face.

"You Syrwards and your 'favors'," The shepherd huffed and Jason could swear that he was rolling his eyes. "Both your grandfather and father asked me for favors too which were too much for a sack of old bones like me."

"But I saw you being completely fine and awesome the other day!" Jason exclaimed as Karna clicked his tongue.

The old man knew that he couldn't refute it by saying that it was a lie since Jason had seen the battle.

He cursed Issac for bringing him to such a small battle that he could have handled alone while barely using 5% of his strength.

In the end, he decided to listen to what favor Jason wanted.

"What do what from me, kid?"

"I want you to teach me how to control my mana and show it in a physical form." Jason then paused before hurriedly saying a few more words thinking that Karna might reject him by saying the same thing his grandparents did. "I will do something in exchange too."

"Hmmm," The shepherd fell deep into thinking before suddenly nodding. "I can help you with that but you have to help me too. It will be an equal exchange."

Jason nodded enthusiastically as he was willing to do anything he can to get someone to teach him. Many would call this as taking the shortcut but Jason called it the smart way.

"Then we have a deal." Karna raised his right hand forward as Jason shook it happily.

What he didn't know was that Karna had managed to use his mana and check Jason's potential in just under a second.

Even the system had failed to detect it and had no idea that a foreign mana had even appeared inside Jason's body.

'So he has the thunder element and an A grade affinity with the dark element. Syrwards and their overpowered family members,' Karna sighed mentally while reviewing the information. 'If trained properly, Jason could become a fearsome half-demon.'

Karna was one of the handful of people Issac had trusted with the secret of Jason's identity. Though half-demons were extremely rare, they were very powerful and the demon race didn't want to let go of them.

Karna knew that if the news reached the ears of the demon king, he would deploy every single person on the continent to go after Jason and bring him to the demon continent.

'But then, he would have to go through a layer of overpowered people including two of his own trusted people. In any case, Issac can only hide Jason's identity until he is ten years old. After that, 'he' will come here to check up on both Nora and Jason.'

Karna decided that by the time Jason would turn ten, he would help him in exchange for the boy's help.

He would have done it regardless of receiving anything but he knew that Jason would count it as something he had to repay.

That was just the way the Syrward family functioned.

"So, what will I have to do?" Jason asked eagerly as he took his hand back.

"For starters," Karna's lips curled up and parted apart to show a toothy grin. "You'll have to milk the cows and goats."