GUARDIAN OF THE END

'Huh?' Jason felt after hearing the system's words.

[ I am just asking you to be careful. I don't know why but I have a weird feeling that something isn't right. ]

'I will make sure to keep my guard up.' Jason replied honestly before he and Nora started walking faster.

***

'I hope they are not sleeping currently.' Jason thought while glancing at the shelter in the distance.

Though it was evening, there had been many instances where the goats and cows in the shelter had been asleep.

There had been times when Feta too had been irritated by Jason coming a bit too soon. That was why he would go out late in the evenings.

"Big brother, why were all of the people moving out of the way?" Nora suddenly asked while tilting his head as the two of them arrived in front of the shelter.

"Well, we are like very important people inside the town. That's enough for all of them to stay wary of us and give us our space." Jason smiled while remembering the fact that they were noble children.

Though their grandfather's noble privileges and other things were missing, he was still a noble on paper and had the hereditary rights which meant that all of his family members were counted as nobility members.

The townspeople usually avoided the two children due to that reason as they owed a lot to Issac and didn't want to cause any problem for his family. Despite that, they were still fearful of the family.

[ Your grandfather doesn't take any sort of taxes from the residents and they are grateful for that too. Not to mention, Issac is a very friendly person who can befriend any person. ] The system added as Jason nodded in agreement.

'But doesn't the king or whoever is in charge of taxes look at Duphia?' He asked back.

[ I don't know about that. Maybe we will be told more about the nobility and how Duphia works in the future. Don't forget that we have only the basic knowledge with us. ]

'True.'

Jason then decided to take a peek inside the shelter to see whether those inside were awake or not. Surprisingly, he found Feta sitting at the entrance of the shelter like a watchman.

"Good afternoon, Feta." Jason greeted the goat while patting her head.

Feta enjoyed getting her head patted before she looked at Nora with a surprised expression. Her eyes focused on him for a few seconds before looking at Jason for an explanation.

"He is my cousin." Jason replied with a shrug.

"Can I pat her head too?" Nora suddenly asked nervously as Jason smiled and nodded.

"Feta likes getting her head patted but make sure to avoid her horns." Jason replied as Nora slowly raised his hand forward and patted the goat's head while avoiding her horns.

For some reason, Jason noticed that Feta was much more comfortable with Nora patting her head as she licked his hand affectionately.

Jason felt as though his brother had managed to befriend the goat twice as fast as he had which made him salty.

"Feta, please look after Nora. Nora, don't anger the goat since she might kick your or poke you with her horns. I am going to practice outside." Jason explained as both Feta and Nora nodded.

He then walked out without any worries as he knew that Feta wouldn't hurt Nora no matter what he did. However, he didn't want him to annoy the goat who had been helping him and would continue to help him.

'Who could have thought that goats could be this intelligent.' Jason amused as he raised his right hand and called on the lightning inside him.

Both Karna and the system had asked him to summon lightning mana instead of thunder one since he wouldn't be able to control the latter. Yet lightning proved to be dangerous too.

'System, what do I have to do to be able to control the size of this marble sized mana?' Jason asked as he looked at the purple marble sized mana ball in his hand and sighed.

[ You would need to practice it both during mana control training and while taking the milk out of Feta. ]

'Ok but what is it?' Jason had realized it in his previous life that he wasn't a patient person and the system holding back on the information was leaving him impatient.

[ Firstly, you have to focus on the exact spot on your palm where the mana ball is. Then slowly, you have to imagine that the ball is expanding throughout our palm. In terms of milking, you will have to use your hands to gather the right amount and aim. ]

'I see…'

Jason still felt a bit awkward while using milking terms while training. He wondered if he had to explain the same thing to someone else, how would it go.

'Nora is about to be five years old soon too. I wonder what types of elements he would unlock.' Jason thought as he closed his eyes and started focusing on the ball of mana.

He imagined the ball slowly expanding and felt some movement in his hands. But the moment he opened his eyes to look at the ball, it vanished.

"Damn it…" Jason looked at his mana to see that half of it had vanished so easily just in the form of a marble mana ball whereas he could have summoned multiple bolts of lightning with it.

[ Don't worry host, you can try again after some time. ] The system reassured him as he sighed and moved inside the shelter. There was no point in practicing without making any progress.

In just a matter of few minutes, Nora and Feta had become good friends as Nora was chasing the goat around the shelter.

Feta was barely moving any faster then her normal walking speed yet Nora still had a hard time catching up to her.

The goat and Jason exchanged a look and smiled as she slowed down and deliberately let Nora catch up to her. He jumped in excitement and looked at Jason for praise.

"You did well, Nora. Now let's go b-" Jason began saying when Feta's head suddenly jerked towards the entrance.

"Meh!" She moved in front of the entrance while pointing Jason and Nora to go behind a stack of hay.

Jason had never seen her act in such a way and remembering the system's warning from earlier, he felt that the best course of action was to hide. He did that by jumping behind a haystack with Nora.

A few minutes later, a group of five appeared at the entrance of the shelter as they peeked inside.

All of them were dressed in normal trousers and shirt but wore a coat on top of the shirt. Theirs coats had the symbol of a sword stuck in a stone etched on their breast pockets.

'Three men and two women.' Jason was peeking slightly to see what was happening. He had no idea who they were yet it was clear that they weren't idle passerbyes.

[ You aren't thinking of fighting them, are you? ] The system asked in a tone which seemed to be ridiculing Jason.

'It depends on what they are here for. They could be just travelers.'

[ Oh yeah? Then the Earth is flat and this world is upside down. ]

'You could have said that its not true and it would have still meant the same thing…' Jason replied as he noticed the party of five look at Feta.

"Hey goat, you understand anything we are saying?" A well muscled man standing at the front asked as Feta tilted her head.

"Meh?"

"Goats are so dumb." The man sighed as he turned towards one of the two women.

The one he looked at had her black hair tied into a braid and had a serious expression on her face.

"Anyone nearby?"

"No, sir." The woman replied firmly as a smile appeared on the man's face. His eyes moved around the entire room

"Then go ahead and turn the entire place upside down. I don't care what you do but I want that guardian beast at my feet right now."