GUARDIAN OF THE END

Unlike Jason, Nora felt no sharp pain in his eyes. Instead, the young demi-human was hit with a sharp head and back pain.

Nora clutched his head in pain as he knelt on the ground. All of a sudden, two fox ears appeared on top of his head alongside a tail, which had torn through his clothes.

"Probably should have made him change clothes." Ray muttered as Zara averted her gaze in an "I forgot" manner.

Nora continued to lie on the ground for a few minutes before he stood up with wide-open eyes. He was going through the same thing Jason had gone through from there onwards as the mist had appeared in front of him.

Issac and Risa also watched Nora while nodding occasionally since they were the only ones who were able to see the mist alongside Nora.

"Fire and wind as expected," Issac muttered while turning his gaze towards Zara. "When did they say they would appear?"

Jason didn't know who these 'they' were but judging from the expressions of the family members, it was clear that they weren't anyone good.

"Five years. Demi-humans release the power of their tails then." Zara replied grimly before turning her gaze towards Nora. He was now standing straight and was examining the new tail he had gotten.

It was a fluffy red tail similar to those of demi-humans Jason had seen in pictures back on Earth. Jason was sure that if he hugged it, he would feel as though he was hugging the soft fur of a dog.

"Then five years is all we have before a fight happens…" Risa sighed as there was nothing that any of them could do about it.

Though there was a chance that they could just settle things by talking but all of them knew that the chances of success were less than ten percent.

In the end, everything would become clear in five years…

***

"Big brother, show me how you used the third form again!" Nora suddenly exclaimed while peeking at a young child sleeping under a tree.

"Nora, you know that I like to sleep during this time. Why do you keep on bothering me?" Jason yawned while opening his eyes and staring at his younger brother.

"You are awake now so show me how to do it!" Nora insisted as he grabbed Jason's right hand and pulled him up.

The latter thought of protesting but then remembered that today was his brother's birthday. Jason also knew that Nora was anxious as well since his relatives were coming to see him.

The 'they' from five years ago turned out to be Nora's relatives yet Jason still had no idea why it meant fighting.

Neither of them had any idea as to how many people were coming or when they were coming but for Nora, the idea of meeting someone like that made him anxious, especially when Zara had said that Nora's skills would be checked.

"Fine, I will show you." Jason sighed before passing a remark under his breath. "Not like you can learn it just by seeing me do it."

He then stood up and raised both of his arms in front of his face. Jason exhaled slowly as a purple mist started wrapping around his arms.

The mist moved towards his hands and started covering them. In a matter of minutes, both of Jason's hands were completely wrapped in the purple mist.

The mist stayed around his hands for a few minutes before he vanquished it and raised an eyebrow at Nora. His expression clearly seemed to be asking "Is that enough or what?".

"Why can't I do it then…" Nora muttered while raising both of his hands and focusing.

Red mist appeared around his arms as he slowly made it move towards his hands. But once the mist started gathering, something went wrong and all of it vanished altogether.

"You know the theory but when it comes to applying it, you fail," Jason said in a wise tone. "You just have to…"

Jason had just begun explaining when he saw Risa waving from the entrance of the house. She seemed to be calling both of them which could only mean one thing.

'System?'

[ A group of ten demi-humans have just entered the town and from the looks of it, they have two children with them. ] The system informed.

'Don't tell me we are going to witness child marriage…' Jason looked at Risa with narrowed eyes as he wondered whether his thought was correct.

If he went by the plot of the novels he had read, ten years was the age when most MCs would be stuck with arranged marriages.

'Usually, the ones who are giving their daughters are an extremely high-class family and their daughters are a bit ugly and twice as arrogant. They also-'

[ Host, please shut up. You are not stuck in a cliche novel and for all we know, the children can be male. ] The system interrupted Jason's train of thoughts as he sighed.

'Ah right…' He and Nora then ran up to Risa before waiting for an explanation.

"Grandma, have they reached Duphia?" Nora inquired in a nervous tone after some time as Risa hadn't said anything.

[ I don't think he needs to be afraid of anything since he is quite good too. ] The system commented as Jason nodded his head mentally in agreement.

Nora had an even higher affinity with an element than Jason did, which was if his thunder element wasn't considered. He had an S grade affinity with the fire element alongside an A grade affinity with the wind element.

Due to that, Nora had taken a few fewer months to learn to show mana in the physical form using the first form. Jason had felt a bit sad about that but he had to move on.

"They are at the entrance of the town and Issac went to meet them," Risa finally replied in a slightly tried voice. "You both should go and sit inside. I am sure they will be arriving any moment now."

Both children nodded and went inside the living room.

[ I still don't understand whether this should be called the main hall or the living room. ] The system commented as Jason and Nora sat down on chairs.

'Well…' Jason had no answer for the system as he looked around the floor.

Just after entering through the door was the hall which extended till the kitchen. However, the hall had many couches and chairs placed after the halfway mark and the stairs were also made near the halfway mark.

'We are not here to be the greatest builders anyway and who the hell cares about this?'

[ Do you even know why we are here then? ] The system inquired as Jason was at a loss for words for a few seconds.

'Life is a slow progressing thing just like how I still haven't gone beyond the forests around Duphia or have not seen any sort of beast. We will figure it out.' He finally replied after wracking his brain for an answer.

[ I am pretty sure cows and goats are also referred to as beasts in this world. ] The system, pointed out.

'Of course not. They are just harmless dairy animals.'

[ Let's stop this weird discussion. ]

Jason rolled his eyes as he turned his attention to Nora. His brother had his face pointed down and seemed as though he was minutes away from giving his final tests.

"Nora, relax. Nobody is going to ask you to fly and do loops in the air, at least I think so. You are not an animal put on display for the spectators to play with. Everything will be fine." Jason reassured Nora since he was used to doing this on Earth.

"Thank you, big brother…" All the nervousness vanished from Nora's face and was instead replaced with a smile.

But before Jason could console and motivate him more, the door opened up. Risa and Issac moved inside the house together, the latter with a twitching face as he held the door open.

He mouthed something starting with 'f' once as a man walked inside the house with a disgusted expression.

Jason immediately noticed that the man looked extremely similar to Zara, especially the red hair he had.

"Such a small house. How do you live comfortably in such a place?" The man asked while frowning as Issac's jaw twitched again.

But before he could retort or worse, punch him, Zara did it for him.

"This is quite a big place for us as compared to your standards. We don't need a huge palace to brood around the entire day, dear brother. Also, have you grown even shorter since the last time we met?"