GUARDIAN OF THE END

"Why you?" Hestia asked in confusion.

"Why did you chose me?" Jason sighed exasperatedly. "There were so many options you could've chosen from yet you chose me. Any particular reason?"

"You have two divinities, thunder element and a bloodline with an extremely high compatibility with guardians. You are the perfect vessel for anyone," Hestia suddenly smiled. "But other than that, I know you a bit so its a win-win for both of us."

"I see," Jason nodded. "Then tell me when I was, uh, milking the goat, did you feel anything?"

[ Host! ] The system didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Erebus had a much better reaction as he smiled and tried to hide his laughter. Hestia on the other blushed slightly before faking a cough.

"You only wanted to ask a single question and I gave you the answer to do that. Let's move." She replied as Jason decided to let the topic go.

The less said the better.

"Also, what does the compatibility percentage effect?"

"It basically tells how much power can be used by a vessel and whether a guardian can appear inside his or her vessel. If we had a compatibility percentage below ninety, I wouldn't have been able to use that divine attack earlier."

"Wait, you used a divine attack?" Erebus frowned. "That will not go unnoticed Hestia."

"I know but that was the only possible way to send Hecate and her mists back to Mistopia. She would've forced Jason to become her vessel otherwise and would've taken control of his body." Hestia pointed out.

"Which would've led to her causing destruction to obtain her revenge for being banished from the realm of gods." Erebus sighed before looking at Jason. "Guardians aren't meant to be protectors or destroyers. They can do what they want."

"I didn't ask that." Jason pointed out.

"I knew you were going to ask that sooner or later so I told you about it before."

"Fair point."

The duo exchanged a nod before all of them settled down together.

[ So… what's the goal from here onwards? ] The system asked awkwardly. Surprisingly, its voice entered all three of their heads.

"That's the system." Erebus informed Hestia.

"My only goal is to try to reach godhood and then find myself a nice tiny corner in the temple. I will probably stay lowkey till then so that other Olympian gods don't sense my presence." Hestia finished before sighing.

"I don't have a goal. I just sell drinks, guide the lost people coming to the bar and keep an eye on my patron." Erebus shrugged as he shared his daily routine.

"Well, I thought I had a goal but I don't. I just want to become strong enough to live in peace, if that's even possible with the constant chaos around me." Jason sighed as well.

The three of them then stared at the sky which was now lit with star like things created to due to Hestia's presence.

All three of them were quite weird.

One was a powerful bartender, one was an ex-goddess turned into a guardian and one was a reincarnator who had chaos erupting all around him.

[ Oi, what about me? ] The system interrupted Jason's thoughts.

'You are a lovely guide disguised in the form of a system.' Jason smirked as the system complained in his mind.

It was the first time he was paying attention to its voice in a calm surroundings ever since she had received an upgrade.

'You sound like a female child.' Jason noticed as the system snorted.

[ Says the real child. ]

'Fair point. Maybe I should give you a name.'

[ Oh? ] The system sounded surprised as though it hadn't expected that.

Truth be told, the thought had entered Jason's mind randomly after he had noticed the change in her voice.

"You're thinking of naming it?" Erebus asked from the side as Jason looked at him in surprise.

"You can hear what we are talking about?"

"I mean I can hear anything the two of you are mentally talking about if I want to unless you restrict me from doing so." Erebus pointed out. "You just have to think "No one should hear this" before starting the conversation."

"Ok?" Jason replied.

"Also, don't give the system a name yet." Erebus added. "Don't ask why. You will understand it in a few years."

Jason felt throughly confused yet he decided to follow Erebus's words and not name the system.

Maybe something in the future would make him thank himself for not naming the system.

"Jason, any other questions?" Erebus inquired as the god started planning his return.

Due to the time difference between the bar and Clover, Erebus knew that the jade emperor would definitely know his absence.

Though he remained silent for the time being, Erebus knew that one of the rulers of the temple was indirectly telling him that he disapproved of Erebus's frequent visits.

One prominent example of this way to send depressed gods his way which made his work very much hard. Erebus couldn't tell the amount of sad stories he had heard in the past week.

Or was it the past year?

'Its so hard to keep track of time.' Erebus sighed as Jason finally asked one last thing.

"Can you give me a few more quests so that I can purchase your guide book?" Jason asked as the system chucked in the background.

"Done." Erebus replied before snapping his fingers.

< New quest assigned! >

---

< Breathing is important >

Objective: Breath ten times

Reward: 500 system points

---

Jason's jaw dropped down as he looked at Erebus accusingly.

"You could've let me get infinite system points by giving me such quests from the beginning!" Jason exclaimed.

"No spoon feeding. Consider this as a way of showing sympathy for everything you went through." Erebus replied with a masked expression.

Jason was fuming due to the quest yet he managed to calm down in the end. He took a few deep breaths before hearing the distant system dinging sound.

"Also now that your job leveling system has been removed, I will give you many more quests. I will think of a daily quest as well." Erebus muttered thoughtfully as Jason nodded excitedly.

"I will take my leave then. Also, remember that someone is always watching you." Erebus said at last before vanishing.

Jason was left standing alone with Hestia the sky lit up with stars. Everything turned much brighter all of a sudden as the fragrance of flowers entered his nose.

"Its quite shocking to see how big of an effect he had on the place." Hestia muttered in surprise. "I can't influence your dream perfectly yet he was controlling the entire thing on his own."

"So you mean that some part of this dream is actually conjured up by me?" Jason asked in surprise as Hestia nodded in reply.

Jason's eyes then roamed around the entire place to figure out what part of the place was based on his thoughts.

'The flowers…' It suddenly hit him when the fragrance of the flowers hit him hard again.

The fragrance of Hyacinths had been Jason's favorite back on Earth. It had something soothing about it that managed to calm him even in the worst possible scenarios.

The same fragrance was now present inside whatever place he was sitting in.

'I realize why I loved these flowers so much…' Jason thought silently as Hestia looked at him in confusion.

Only the system understood how Jason was feeling yet it decided to remain silent. Jason finally spoke up after a few minutes.

"So how many guardians can show up from the same realm inside Clover?"

"Around five to ten guardians. Only the strongest being from a realm is called the guardian of that specific realm. Others are referred to by their names." Hestia explained as Jason stood up.

He stretched his body inside the dream world before remembering what Hestia had said about the one week vulnerability he would have.

"I will make sure that I am not attacked in this week so that you can become a more permanent guardian for me." Jason said slowly before looking directly at Hestia.

"Well, I'm not in a hurry myself." Hestia replied with a smile before sighing. "Also I forgot to mention but I have to go into slumber for the next week to properly get used to this new connection.

You can't contact me once that happens and neither can we merge together to enter the ultimate form."

"No worries. Let's get this done as soon as we can." Jason replied nonchalantly as Hestia nodded and suddenly vanished.

< Your guardian has entered a week long slumber. Once they are awake, your bond will strengthen to such an extent that no one except you can shatter the connection between the two of you. >

Once Jason had received the notification, he sighed and took one last look at his surroundings.

[ This place is called dream world. Its similar to lucid dreaming except this is created by a mixture of what thoughts are currently influencing your mind the most. ] The system informed.

The sky had turned extremely less brighter and only a handful of stars were present in it after Hestia's departure.

This was probably due to the fact that Jason's thoughts were similar to the seemingly less empty sky he know.

'I guess after a week, there is going to be another person living in my head. At least I'll have a wolf with me then.' Jason sighed.

[ I guess that's the truth. Well, what are you going to do tomorrow? You are going to have to tell something. ]

'I will think of that tomorrow.' Jason replied before forcing himself to exit the dream world.

He suddenly woke in the real world before sitting straight up.

'For now, I'm purchasing the guide.'