GUARDIAN OF THE END

Jason quickly walked through the hall with his head kept slightly bowed. He could feel the eyes of various people on him yet he didn't meet any of their gazes.

He was instead subtly glaring at Issac who didn't seem affected.

"Everyone, meet Jason, the son of Michael and Evelyn," Issac announced in a clear voice before giving Jason an apologetic look.

Risa, who was sitting right beside Issac, also offered Jason an apologetic smile as all eyes turned toward him. Currently, he was feeling like an expensive item being sold at an auction.

"Hmm, so that makes him a half-demon…"

"He doesn't look anything different or special thought."

"I don't know about that but he definitely looks handsome…"

Jason, who hadn't been seeing the faces of those passing the comment, suddenly snapped to attention. His eyes quickly located the owner of the voice before settling over her.

[ Host, remember your words from earlier. ] The system reminded as Jason looked at the woman with a neutral expression while hiding his true feelings.

'She looks familiar to those twins.' Jason noticed as his eyes swept past her auburn hair, flaring red eyes, and slightly dark complexion.

The woman looked the same age as Risa and had her hair tied behind her head in a plait. Her eyes were set on Jason's appearance and feeling his gaze on him, she smiled and waved at him.

Unfortunately, Jason wasn't immune to the charms of older women as he couldn't help but smile back like an idiot.

[ The adventures of a shota in the world of MILFs ] The system commented which broke Jason out of his daze.

'What the hell was that?' He asked while masking his expression as the system chuckled.

[ It could be the name of a novel from Earth. ] It replied before going silent.

Jason also realized that the system's sudden words had made him more focused for some reason. It allowed him to look at the people in the face.

It was clear that all of them belonged to the other families staying there as their coats separated them well. Jason also noticed how many of them were wearing the same coat as Brian, making them belong to the Bloodthorn family.

'Which also means that they are related to Risa in some manner, making them related to me as well…' Jason thought as he realized that many of the people in the room were actually his family members.

Well, they could also be considered as nameless people with whom he didn't have any sort of relationship and didn't want to have one in the future either.

"Come on Ariana, don't tease him when you are inches away from being a hag." Risa pointed out with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh? Did you forget that you are a year older than me?" Ariana asked with a matching smile and if looks could kill, she would definitely be a mass murderer. "Go look at yourself first, old hag."

Many simultaneous sighs could be heard all across the table which surprised Jason. Half of those present in the hall seemed to know about the two women and looked at their bickering as something common.

"Let them be," Issac sighed. "Anyways, you should know about three families no matter what. They are the Bloodthorn family, the Feuer family, and the Anvilone family."

Issac pointed at three different people alongside the names before explaining to Jason that they were the family heads.

But Jason was more interested in the fact that where the Syrward family comprised six people while the others had around ten to fifteen adults present in the hall.

The children weren't present there either which made Jason wonder how big these families actually were.

"Do we have some collaboration with these families?" Jason asked curiously as he felt the number of gazes on him decrease. The attention he had drawn upon himself had vanished which relieved him a lot.

"No, the heads of these families have been friends with me and Risa for a long time. Our children are, or in some cases were, also good friends. You should interact with the younger ones from their families as all of you might find something in common."

"Uh, I already did that…" Jason mumbled as Issac raised his eyebrows in wonder.

"Oho, tell me about it." He inquired with an interested expression as Jason told of his encounter with Amber and her twin.

Issac listened with full attention but since the interaction was limited to a few minutes, Jason was able to finish it quickly.

"You are socializing," Issac ruffled Jason's hair. "That's a good thing for someone your age. Try to make a few more friends if you can."

Jason felt a bit happy as he nodded and picked up a few sandwiches from the table before exiting the room.

'System, remember the face of the Anvilone family head.' He added after a second thought.

[ Sure, host. ] The system replied neutrally as Jason found an empty room to seat alone and eat casually.

He was done eating rather quickly and was left with nothing to do until the start of the ceremony. Jason debated about whether he should try creating a new skill or not but decided not to as there were too many people in the mansion.

"Watch out!" A female voice shrieked as something darted right past Jason's vision. Before he could react, something slippery stuck to his lower arm, making it slightly slimy.

"It's you again…" Jason muttered as he saw the magma salamander, Flamey, sticking to his arm.

The salamander smiled at Jason or at least seemed to do so. Jason couldn't tell much from the creature's face as Flamey suddenly turned towards his fingers.

"I am sorry about him Jason," Amber apologized as she walked inside the room while glaring at Flamey. "It looks like your lightning attracted him a bit too much."

"Why does he like lightning in the first place?" Jason couldn't help but ask as he saw the salamander eagerly staring at his fingers.

"He actually doesn't like lightning at all since it can sometimes paralyze him," Amber explained before swiping Flamey from Jason's arm. "He is attracted to the heat created by lightning. Such kinds of heat are what allows me to keep him under control."

"But judging from how he can run away most of the time, you can't generate such heat for a long time, can you?"

"You are right. That's why it is always useful to have a lightning mage nearby to help in case Flamey gets lost." Amber explained as she patted the salamander's head. "Anyways, sorry to disturb you. You can carry on with what you were doing."

Amber was about exit the room when Jason decided that he didn't want that. He would be left with nothing to do if Amber which would be really boring and might even make him fall asleep.

[ Are you trying to justify your actions to someone? ] The system inquired as Jason felt an underlying teasing tone in its words.

'I am trying to convince myself that I am just desperate to do something else rather than trying to enter puberty early on. Not sure if that makes sense but who cares?' he replied.

"Amber, can I ask you something?" Jason questioned as Amber turned back with a surprised expression.

"Sure." Amber had walked out of the room and was on the verge of leaving. She reentered the room and stood near the door with her back facing the door and her hand massaging the salamander in her hand.

"Do you know anything about the relationship between our families?" Jason asked curiously, hoping to get a genuine answer. Unfortunately, his family had once again neglected from telling him the basic information.

"You don't know about that?" Amber looked confused as she tried to guess whether Jason was being real or not. "Did your family not tell you anything before coming here?"

"I and my grandmother kind of got lost in the Kamizel forest so I haven't really been up to date with such things." Jason shrugged, waiting for Amber to continue.

However, the girl's eyes parted slightly as she looked at the symbol of the bird on Jason's chest before looking at him again.

"So you are Jason Syrward!" She exclaimed. "You are the one my parents have been going on and on about alongside your grandmother, Risa. Why didn't you tell me your full name?!"

"To be honest, shouldn't have recognized me from my first name if your parents had been talking about me that much?" Jason countered as Amber paused though it only lasted for a split second.

"Well, my parents just said that there was this powerful child from the Syrward family who everyone will be looking out for," She argued. "I never got to know your name from them."

"That's fair." Jason agreed as Amber once again seemed surprised.

"You are not going to argue ahead?" She inquired in a confused tone as Jason shook his head.

"You are right about that so what's the point in arguing forward? It will just lead to a pointless argument

"I guess that's true. Anyways, let me bring you up to speed." Amber agreed before walking forward and pulling a chair to sit on.

She then placed Flamey right beside her on the desk she had pulled the chair from before turning her gaze towards Jason.

"For starters, the four families are collectively called the four compound families, and as weird as the name might sound, there's a reason behind that."

"Do the families have people with the compound element appearing every now and then?" Jason guessed since that was the only reason for the name to make sense.

"That's correct. The Syrward family has thunder element, mine has the magma element, the Anvilone has ice whereas the Bloodthorn family is more famous for churning out light and life mages." Amber explained yet Jason showed no expression.

"Amber," He finally spoke up after a minute. "Does that mean that you are a magma mage since you need to provide extreme heat to Flamey?"