GUARDIAN OF THE END

Seven blue pillars of light suddenly shot towards the sky and formed a circle around the house.

At first, the pillars of light had appeared only around the outer edges of the manor. But upon looking closely, Jason noticed that they were moving forward inch by inch.

'I wonder if the people in the town think of this as an over-glorified fireworks show…' Jason thought as the pillars soon touched the manor and continued their advance.

Once they had made contact with the house before they suddenly shot towards the sky, forming symbols there.

The shapes of the symbols were similar to that of the alphabets. One of them looked similar to the alphabet 'Z' except for the fact that the line joining the upper and lower line was passing right through the two parallel lines.

'It's a transversal passing through two parallel lines.' Jason realized as he looked at another symbol which was similar to the pie symbol from Earth.

Jason only had the time to look at those two symbols carefully before all of them shot toward each other and met in the middle.

The symbols then combined together before forming one last pillar of light and falling down on the manor.

Jason was almost expecting something big to happen then but the end was anti-climatic. The light just vanished into thin air and nothing spectacular followed it.

"What was that, grandpa?" Jason inquired curiously.

"What you just saw was space magic," Issac replied before he bent down and picked up a stone. "Anyone who isn't our family member or doesn't have permission from us to enter the house can no longer walk into the mansion."

Issac then threw the pebble right through the gate but the moment it crossed it, a blue ray shot at it. The stone no longer existed in the world as nothing was left behind to tell of its presence.

"And that is what would happen to anything or anyone who would try to trespass. The citizens already know about this and we are leaving Karna in charge anyways." Issac explained as the entire family then turned towards the direction of the town.

"Grandpa, where is this ceremony held?" Nora finally asked as Issac pointed towards the North-East.

"The ceremony is going to be held at the public capital of the kingdom named Troyalias," he looked at Jason momentarily before continuing.

"Now before you ask why is it called the public capital, the answer is simple. The kingdom, called Aesares, has two capitals."

Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise as he hadn't expected to hear such a thing. Though he had heard that there were some states in the world with two capitals, he hadn't heard of a country with two capitals back on Earth.

"The two capitals are the public capital, Troyalias, and the royal capital, Troy. The former is used for public events and has many humans living there and it also provides shelter to those coming from other continents."

Risa explained as all of them started walking towards the entrance of the town.

"Troy on the other hand is the center of the kingdom where the royal palace is situated and from where the monarchy works. All rules, laws, wars discussions, and important things are held there and only selected nobility can live there."

Issac added as the two children nodded while walking. It took them around twenty minutes to reach the entrance and Jason hadn't asked any questions in that time.

But after they stood at the gate of Duphia, Jason's curiosity and dread, got the best out of him.

"Grandpa, please tell me that we are not going to be traveling there on feet…" Jason muttered as Issac smiled but didn't say anything.

Instead, he raised his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.

The Syrward family suddenly heard a thumping sound as they turned back to see a horse-pulled carriage halting in front of them.

---

< Thunder Stallions >

< Threat: ??? >

— These stallions have a very solid affinity with the lightning element. They are often used in wars to support the cavalry but they are very hard to tame since they are free creatures who like to roam in the wild.

— Only those chosen worthy by the stallions can board them or order them around.

---

Both the stallions had black flesh and a soft black tail. Their eyes were the same color as their bodies but if one squinted hard enough, he could see a small twinge of purple around the pupils.

Jason had never seen a horse before in reality but had seen videos of them. He could easily say that even the best horses from Earth couldn't compare with the majestic creatures in front of him.

The carriage was being driven by Karna as he stepped down and looked at Issac with an annoyed look.

"You have no idea how hard I had to work to get this here. No one was ready to sell me a carriage when I said that the Syrward family was going to use it.

You are infamous as gamblers, Issac and Risa." Karna muttered before smiling and Jason and Nora.

He patted both their heads a little before walking away while muttering something to himself.

While Risa and Issac sighed, Jason's eyes flickered to the top of the carriage where a symbol had been hand-carved on both the sides.

It was a bird drawn with half of its feathers covered in a coat of darkness while the other half was covered in light.

"That's the symbol of our family," Ray explained as he had seen the two children getting attracted by the symbol.

"Does it have a name?" Jason asked in a fascinated tone as Ray chuckled lightly.

"It's called 'the Bird of Balance' as it shows half of the bird bathed in darkness and half of it covered in light," Ray replied before smiling. "If only my brother had half the amount of curiosity you have."

"Was my father a complete brawn functioning person?" Jason asked with an innocent expression.

"Well, he only used his brain when it was absolutely necessary for him to use it. Otherwise, he would just leave his thinking and planning work to a few of his trusted subordinates."

"I see…" Jason muttered, keeping his eyes glued on the symbol.

"Everyone, get inside the carriage now. Ray and Zara will take shifts while drawing the carriage and will keep shifting every day," Issac clapped his hands to gain their attention before pushing them inside the carriage. "Ray, get in place."

Jason and Nora were the first ones to enter the carriage. But the moment they opened the door, their jaws dropped down.

"How…" Jason's voice trailed off as he looked at the exterior of the carriage before looking back inside.

From the outside, it looked like a small carriage barely big enough to fit five people. But from the inside, it was half the size of an RV.

The carriage had four compartments, two bedrooms with toilets attached to them, one kitchen with a rectangular metal structure placed at the corner, and a living room in the middle.

"This is something known as a space carriage. The insides have been compiled into the small frame with the use of formations, runes, and an inkling of space magic. You both know what formations and runes are, right?" Risa asked as the two children nodded.

"Runes are symbols carved using mana but they don't require any particular mana to function. Some single runes can function on their own while they are those that are required to be connected to be used." Jason explained as Nora continued from where he left.

"Formations always include mixing two or more symbols and they require elemental mana to perform."

Jason and Nora had only learned recently that there was some amount of abundant mana running in their body which didn't have any elemental affinity.

Such mana could be used to power up runes but formations didn't work in them. Though both of them had to admit that they were very hard to learn.

"Good," Risa said in an impressed tone as all of them boarded the carriage. "Now go settle down on the beds or you might fall when the carriage starts."

Nora and Jason nodded as they went into one of the bedrooms and settled down.

With a sudden jerk, the carriage pulled forward as Issac closed the door of the carriage at the same time.

The Syrward family then set out towards Troyalias for the Crystal Ceremony without knowing what might be in store for them at the capital.