GUARDIAN OF THE END

'Who is she then?' Jason asked, an ominous feeling setting all over his body. Fake Risa, as Jason temporarily called her, still hadn't looked back yet Jason still kept her eyes focused on her.

[ I don't know who that is but you better be running the hell out of here! ] The system shouted.

Jason didn't think twice as he activated his lightning steps and ran away at full speed. He could hear his heartbeat echoing inside his ears as the lightning surged through every inch of his body.

No sooner had he traveled a few meters that he felt the hair on his spine standing straight up.

"Haaa..." A sigh suddenly echoed throughout the forest followed by the thumping sound of someone walking. "Looks like my cover is blown."

Whoever the voice belonged to was traveling at a frighteningly fast pace, making Jason wonder whether the person was right behind him.

The sounds of the footsteps also felt as though an elephant was raging through the forest and was about to go on a rampage.

Jason didn't dare to look back and instead forced more lightning to travel through his body. The muscles of his feet suddenly started aching due to the burden of the increased lightning.

Jason regardless managed to find a perfect balance as his speed multiplied.

[ I can't locate where the person is… ] The system mumbled dazedly. [ Just keep on running and don't worry about your feet. The light element should help you. ]

Moments after she had spoke that, the pain in Jason feet started to recede. He hadn't been able to master the healing process in time due to the crystal ceremony yet the passive effect was coming in clutch.

If not for the thumping sound getting closer by the second, Jason would've celebrated the usage of his passive healing ability.

'This feels way too much like a horror move or game chase scene.' Jason noticed while sweating as he suddenly took a sharp, unexpected cut.

It seemed to throw the person of his trail for a few minutes, allowing him the time to control his breathing and mana input.

'System, find a path to exit the forest.' Jason ordered while increasing his pace again.

The more familiar he got with the lightning, he realized that putting more lightning didn't make him faster.

He needed a right amount of lightning to increase his speed and not damage his body at the same time, something he was able to achieve due to the chase scenes from earlier.

Also, the light element hidden inside his body was healing his internal injuries side by side yet if he went overboard, Jason wasn't sure how much healing he would receive.

"Come on Jason, I just want to talk to you!" The voice once again made its appearance and this time, it sounded eerily familiar.

[ it belongs to Alex. ] The system informed slowly.

Jason couldn't help but feel that the kid was bringing him trouble, if Alex was even a kid. He remembered the name Brian had given to the person haunting the forest.

'What if he is really a phantom?' He asked himself before dashing along a path given to him by the system.

If he continued to advance at the same speed he was now, he would be able to leave the forest in a matter of minutes, something Jason was eager to do.

'Even if he hadn't taken him along with us, I have a feeling that he would cause trouble later on.'

[ Maybe. Maybe not. Focus on running for now and we can discuss this while sitting on a comfy couch and eating ice-cream. ]

'Good point.'

Everything seemed to be going well but as soon as Jason reached the exit of the forest, a sigh echoed throughout the forest again.

"Well, I tried asking nicely but I guess you like playing hard to get." Alex's voice entered Jason's ears as he crashed into a forcefield the next second.

The barrier hit his body hard as Jason felt that he had been hit by a truck, not that he had been hit by one in his previous life but the feeling was kinda similar.

He was thrown back in the opposite direction yet his body didn't have any physical damages.

Jason managed to control his body and somehow landed on his feet, looking around the trees with a doomed expression.

His escape had been just cut off, that too by a fucking force field. Couldn't someone just have kicked him to throw him back?

'On seconds thought, a force field sounds less painful…'

Jason suddenly felt as though someone was staring at him from all directions which was impossible, unless the trees had eyes.

"You will be the perfect vessel." Alex's voice once again entered his ears yet this time, the young boy actually appeared in front of him.

Except, he was no longer a child or even a boy for that matter…

A beautiful woman in her twenties was standing in front of Jason. Her ocean blue eyes were focused on his face and her lips were curled up into a smile.

Her hair, still the same blond, were left dangling free and much to Jason's surprise, reached down to her knees.

He wondered how she even traveled with such long hair, much less through a forest at the speed of lightning.

Wouldn't her hair get stuck in a branch or something? Or maybe, they were razor sharp and could cut through things.

If she hadn't been following him, Jason would've definitely considered that to be false.

"Alex?" Jason asked slowly as the woman grinned back at him.

"Even though that's not my real name, you can call me by it." Alex replied, her eyes staring directly into Jason's. "Anyways, accept the thing in front of you."

Jason blinked in confusion for a few seconds before a blueish-golden system window opened in front of him.

---

The Guardian of Mistopia is asking you to become her vessel.

By agreeing to become her vessel, you would be leaving your previous guardian without a vessel and would also be facing severe body pain for a week to quick guardian shifting.

Accept/Decline

---

'What is it with the people of this world?' Jason cursed under his breath after reading the line.

Not only Alex was a girl but she was also a guardian!

Who the hell decided that it was a good idea to pit all the guardians against him?!

'I'm going to have a serious word with Ere on this.' Jason resolved before looking up at Alex.

He opened his mouth to tell that he already had a guardian but before he could speak, someone else did it for him.

"He is my vessel." Feta's voice suddenly swept through Jason's surroundings as he felt his guardian's aura wrapping around his body.

Alex's face turned ugly with fury, her eyes blurring with hatred upon recognizing the voice.

"You…"

"Oh spare me the insults. I'm here to tell you that I will be taking my vessel out of your hands." Feta cut Alex off as Jason felt a surge of energy buzzing through his body.

He turned towards the exit, his back on Alex, and activated lightning steps again. However, his purple lightning didn't appear around his body.

It was instead replaced by a pure white lightning that increased Jason's speed tenfold of the original lightning steps.

< Passive ability: True Lightning has been gifted to you by your guardian. >

Jason could only blink in surprise as he shot out of the forest at an unfathomable speed.

"I don't know how to STOP!" He shouted as he was about to crash into a tree.

He wasn't able to control his body and crashed into… something soft?

Jason had instinctively closed his eyes yet when he opened them, he saw white fur. He was also safely on the ground with his face planted in something soft.

Upon lifting his head, Jason found out that he had been lying on Feta's hide.

"That was a close call." The goat opened its mouth and spoke, making Jason wonder whether he had passed out after hitting his head on the tree and was in a dream.

'No wait…' Jason suddenly remembered that his guardian could speak and looked at the goat in a new light.

"I can already tell that you have questions to ask," Feta sighed. "Yet I think you have some to answer yourself too."

Before Jason could ask what Feta meant by her words, he suddenly felt two familiar auras pop up beside him.

Ray and Risa appeared right in front of the duo as Jason's grandmother looked at him murderously.

Jason suddenly had a bad feeling after seeing Risa's look as she bent down on her knees and stared into his eyes.

He felt intimidated by her actions and stepped back a bit. Risa didn't seem to notice that as she placed a hand on his right shoulder and clasped it tightly.

"Where. Did. You. Go?"