уАКGuardian Of The EndуАЛ


 Chapter 1 Goodbye...

    "All citizens are hereby ordered to go to the nearby bunker or their death is guaranteed. ETA of missile impact is 37 minutes. May we all survive to see the daylight."

    Screechбн.

    A depressed voice spoke through the loudspeakers installed all across the country before the entire thing suddenly went silent.

    What followed was the sound of a person panting.

    For someone who had been running for five hours, the news about nukes beingunched was enough to crush their soul.

    One such person was a seventeen-year boy standing under the cloudy sky while listening to thetest radio broadcast on his phone.

    After hearing the broadcast, a vein popped in his forehead. He had been running for hours only to hear about even more despair.

    CRASH!

    Something hit the ground with full force followed by a crackling sound. Lying on the snow-covered road, was a mobile phone with cracks running across its screen.

    Jason stared at the broken phone for a few seconds before closing his eyes.

    nting his hand firmly against the remaining frame of a broken house, Jason rested his body against it. He wasn''t in a much better condition than the remains of the house.

    Not only had he run out of drinking water a while back, but also hisst way of getting any new information was with the smashed screen of his mobile.

    But he couldn''t care less about it

    He had visited two cities, both of which had been infested by battalions of invading soldiers armed with machine guns, missileunchers, tanks, and various other equipment that he had only seen in movies.

    Remembering the screams he had heard, he started rubbing his temples.

    A war didn''t care about citizens, citizens like him, especially those who couldn''t fend for themselves.

    ''If only all of us could have escapedбн'' clenching his fist, he once again started moving.

    The city he was in had been burned down to ashes due to bombardment. What used to be a flourishing peaceful city was now in ruins.

    The reason?

    Money and greed.

    ''I wonder whose idea it was to give the button capable of destroying the world in the hands of hypocrites and thinking that we will be fine. I will personally dig that person''s grave and spit on his body.''

    He suddenly stepped onto a frozen puddle as he heard a crushing sound below his feet. As he lifted his feet, his face reflected back in the cracked puddle.

    His hair was excessively ruffled, his face had a bruise on the right and his left eye was swollen.

    "Go ahead and live Jason, live for me, live for those who couldn''t."

    Every time he heard those words, he felt like he''d just been punched in the gut for it was thest thing he remembered.

    Jason turned his gaze away from the puddle before making his way to the city center.

    If his memory didn''t betray him, there would be a bomb bunker under the city hall. Hopefully, he could get epted as a refugee.

    ''Just a few more steps and I can rest. Just a few more steps and I can finally stop for the time being. Just a few more steps and Iбн''

    Jason managed to drag his body along the entire pathway.

    Snow had started falling again as he reached the center of the city.

    Unfortunately, another nightmare stood right in front of him.

    "Everybody out! I don''t care if you are a child, woman, or elderly. I want every single person out of this bunker!" The voice of a soldier echoed through the streets.

    Standing about 250 meters away from Jason was an entire squadron of soldiersposed of thirty men armed to the teeth.

    A metal door suddenly opened nearby the soldiers, revealing the entrance to the underground bunker.

    No sooner did a couple of soldiers fire warning shots in the air than the civilians started appearing out of the bunker.

    The soldiers moved around the citizens and surrounded them in a circle.

    The terrified citizens could only cower in front of the guns and intimidating soldiers.

    There were about a hundred humans, terrified to see the end of a gun pointed at their faces.

    Jason had already seen such a scene happening twice with the oues have been unfavorable for the citizens.

    Some soldiers let the citizens do whatever they wanted causing the former to be banished from their country.

    Then, there were those who enjoyed what was happening. The ones who were ''loyal'' to their country.

    Based on that, he could almost predict what was going to happen now.

    ''At this point, I will be happy if the nuke dropped.'' He had already lost everything dear to him and couldn''t care less if the world went down.

    He wished for it to happen as it would remove arge portion of human filth, though innocents would die as well.

    ''I need a thorough cleansing of my mindset I guess.''

    "Now, let''s seeбн" The same soldier who had spoken earlier started eyeing the gathered civilians. Seeing his shenanigans Jason understood his aim.

    A sigh escaped his mouth as he saw the soldier and his buddies advancing toward a few females.

    He could just turn around and run away. There were a total of five cities that had the highest and only chances of surviving the nuke.

    Their bunkers were twice as deep aspared to other cities and had more food stored up.

    However, Jason couldn''t be bothered with that anymore. He would rather use his life to save the innocence of a few people than run away and live a halfmitted life.

    ''Guess my heart is too emotional for my own good.'' Jason rummaged around the pocket of his jacket before taking out a sh grenade.

    He had managed to find it in thest city he had been in the same city where he lost everything he ever held dear.<sub> </sub>

    Looking at the soldiers, he wondered whether a sh grenade would be enough to distract them.

    Even if he managed to distract them, there was nowhere left for him to run.

    ''The chances of sess for me have never been high since the moment I got dumped at the doorstep of an orphanage. Here goes my attempt at doing something for once.''

    Despite wanting to help, Jason actually wanted to enter the bunker.

    It was his only chance at survival and he knew that not trying to enter it would cause him to regret the decision for the rest of his life.

    ''I don''t have much time.'' With that thought in mind, Jason started making his way forward while holding the grenade behind his back.

    Slowly crouching forward he covered more than half the distance beforeing in the point-nk range of the soldiers.

    "Captain, someone is approaching." A timid soldier spoke up, causing the captain who had given the orders to stare at Jason.

    The distance between him and the soldiers had been narrowed down to 45 meters. Just a bit further and he would be able to execute his n

    "Raise your hands in the air this instant or we will shoot you!" The captain spoke through the loudspeaker seeing Jason''s hands hidden behind his back which could be carrying a weapon.

    In times of war, even kids couldn''t be trusted since anyone could turn out to be an enemy.

    Realizing that he had gotten as far as he could, and that was the end of the line, Jason unpinned the grenade and started counting the seconds.

    After taking a deep breath, Jason slowly raised his hands and suddenly threw the grenade.

    "CLOSE YOUR EYES!" the captain shouted but the soldiers had no time to react as the explosion happened right in front of their faces.

    AAAHHHHHH!

    "Get into formation!" The captain shouted but forgot the fact that the shbang had caused them to be temporarily deaf too.

    Jason momentarily wondered how he had ended up being a captain. Perhaps by using money?

    Jason immediately started running towards the bunker opening and the citizens who were being held hostage followed him as they had

    A ringing sensation echoed in his ears alongside the soldiers since both of them had taken the full attack of the sh.

    Jason was able to prevent himself from bing blind by covering his eyes with his arms.

    Although he armed himself with the knife he had also picked up on his way here, he had never used a knife as a weapon before.

    His experience was limited to what he had imagined in his chunni mind.

    Jason''s heart was palpitating. He was solely running on adrenaline.

    ''Just a tiny bit moreбн'' He thought while staring at the opening barely a few meters away from him.

    At the same time, a strange feeling passed through his body. Be it intuition or something else, Jason realized that he was not going to make it.

    The next second, a banging sound echoed through the air. Jason''s ears were still deaf from the grenade so he wasn''t able to hear it.

    That was why he never had any idea that a bullet hit his right leg until the pain spread through his body.

    He immediately fell to the ground but no sound escaped his mouth.

    It was as though he wanted to scream but his vocal cords refused to produce any sound. He looked at thest civilian entering the bunker and holding the door.

    Many civilians had fallen during the chaos but a good majority of 90% had made it to the bunker.

    The man''s eyes were terrified as he looked at Jason''s body lying on the ground, and then at the blood covering the snow.

    "Go on." Jason signaled as the man closed the bunker''s door once and for all.

    This meant that Jason and the soldiers were sealed outside the bunker with no way of escaping.

    Turning around, Jason could see the soldiers had regained their sight though a few of them had experienced third-degree burns on their faces.

    Many eyes turned towards his body as they started advancing towards him, the desire of beating him blue clearly visible on their face.

    Jason rxed his head as he gazed at the starless sky. Dark clouds were covering the entire sky as the snow was falling thus hiding the stars beyond it.

    ''Now, all I need is a bullet to the heart or a truck climbing over my body. Should be enough for reincarnating into another world.''

    A smile appeared on Jason''s face as he thought of reincarnation.

    Although he had dreamt of it many times, he hoped his wish might get fulfilled this time.

    Minutes passed by in this manner however, no-hitnded on Jason''s body. The confusion caused him to sit up with a pained expression as he saw the soldiers banging on the door of the bunker.

    "Open the door and let us in! WE DON''T WANT TO DIE!" The captain shouted while banging continuously.

    Jason had no idea why they were acting this way as the nuke was about to be deployed after a few hours. Tha-that was unlessбн

    "I guess we will see what is going to happen now," Jason murmured and closed his eyes.

    Those were hisst words before his entire country exploded under the power of a 1000 megaton nuke. The entirend got wiped out alongside billions of lives.

    Only five bunkers survived the doom, one of them being the one Jason had saved. His sacrifice wasn''t in vain as he woulde to be known as one of the few civilian heroes of the war.

    Little did he know that it would help him a lot in the future.

    On the same day, millions of white balls floated over the country. No human could look at these balls as they slowly flew away.

    ---

    Somewhere in a bar...

    A white man sipping wine suddenly felt a huge tide of energying from Earth. He put the ss down and closed his eyes to focus. His calm and collected expression suddenly turned to one that disyed interest.

    "Millions of souls..." He muttered while standing up. "Let''s see how many of you can find a good world to live in."

 Chapter 2 The Bar Of Gods

    "Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!"

    бн.

    "Wake up this instance or I will reincarnate you inside Goblin yer as a helpless female viger!" Yelled a sharp voice that suddenly entered Jason''s ears, forcing his eyes open.

    His vision was then sted by a blinding light, temporarily blinding him.

    ''Could I have been saved by a doctor?'' Though it sounded impossible, that was the only reasonable thing he could think of, especially after considering the sudden light which had blinded him.

    "No, you died back then, though you did manage to save all those lives due to which you now have the chance of reincarnating." The voice immediately shattered his theory as he felt confused.

    "Eh??? Can you repeat that?" As a  teenager, Jason had watched anime and read web novels. Although he was no stranger to such concepts, getting to know that they actually existed was another thing.

    The voice clearly didn''t seem to notice or care about his confusion as the owner proceeded ahead.

    "You are offered to choose a patron god to help you lead a better life. I wish you the best of luck finding one." The voice said in a very insincere tone.

    "Patron god?" Momentster, Jason''s vision finally returned and the first thing he saw was the face of a white-haired youth who he assumed to be the person he was speaking to due to theck of presence of anyone else.

    He stood behind a counter with different bottles of alcohol lying on a shelf behind him while casually sipping wine.

    Sensing his gaze, the man raised an eyebrow.

    "I don''t serve alcohol to minors else I would have the FBI on my back. You can have a coke instead."

    "Just tell me what happened after I died," Jason said while looking around.

    He was currently in a bar, which was moderately sized aspared to therge one from Earth.

    It was as big as two high school ssroomsbined together. Stools lined the side of the counter while a red carpet was spread across the floor.

    Nothing about the bar stood out outside those two things.

    "After you died, the explosions wiped out your entire country from the face of Earth. You managed to save that shelter. Looks like your death wasn''t in vain." The white-haired man said, before patiently waiting for Jason''s reply.

    Thetter had no idea about what to say next. Although saving a few people was a good thing though he died in the process, yet he didn''t really care about any of them.

    "What will happen to Thalia and the rest?" He then asked while staring at the bartender''s obsidian ck eyes.

    "Here, sit down and read this."

    Instead of an answer, Jason was handed a pamphlet. He sat down on one of the stools and started reading.

    The bartender summoned a coke for him and ced it beside him before going back to sipping his wine.

    ''You have been chosen to reincarnate into another world.'' Jason slowly read the pamphlet. ''Such chances are only offered to those who either couldn''t live their lives or sacrificed themselves for the greater good.''

    ''Greater good? Sureбн'' Despite the calm expression on his face, Jason was internally cringing. If gods cared about the greater good, there wouldn''t be any greedy humans acting like saints.

    ''Since Gods don''t create fates for people and hardly meddle with such mundane affairs, you cannot me them for anything that happened.''

    Somehow, the second paragraph managed topletely shut up his theory. Whoever wrote it had done his research on humans pretty well.

    "It''s written by a female." The white-haired man added before turning his attention towards the bottle of alcohol.

    It seemed to be trying to pick a bottle to drink.

    Jason stared at him for a few seconds before continuing.

    ---

    ''The ce you are in is known as the ''Bar of Hope.'' You will find many gods around the bar alongside your fellow living beings who have been provided with the same chance as you.''

    ''Don''t bother talking to them because they are not going to do anything for you.''

    ''If a God wants to have you as their follower, they will offer you a contract. The God with whom you decide to sign the contract will be your patron and in turn, you will be marked as their follower.''

    ''Alongside Patrons, other Gods might give you a blessing or a gift. Such cases are rare so refrain from begging shamelessly. Such requests will not be entertained.''

    ---

    "There are people shameless enough to beg from Gods?" Jason asked the bartender as he just shrugged.

    "There have been many cases like this. Some actually end up getting a gift while the result for others is not very ideal."

    The man then looked as though he had found the love of his life. Moving ahead, he picked up a bottle of alcohol and poured it into a ss.

    Jason no longer paid any attention to him.

    ---

    ''Rarely, you might not be a follower but more of a disciple, or maybe something much more. That''s all for now. The God you chose will inform you about the rest.''

    May the odds be in your favor.

    ---

    The moment Jason read thest line, the entire paper went up in mes. He blinked for a few seconds before looking at the bartender.

    "So, this is the bar but where are the Gods?" He slowly asked as the bartender put his ss down and suddenly appeared beside him.

    "Let me take you to the official ce." The bartender muttered before he started walking towards the south of the bar.

    A door suddenly appeared in the wall as the man turned it open. He then looked at Jason, gesturing for him to step through the door.<sub> </sub>

    Gulping nervously, Jason stepped beyond the door into apletely different world.

    Beyond it were thousands of people, dressed in different clothes.

    Some wore clothes from the earth, others wore battle armor, some wore ancient Chinese robes, some had paint on their faces, while some were carrying ancient-looking weapons with them.

    It was full chaos.

    "Go on kid, you will live a new life now."

    The bartender suddenly muttered as he closed the door.

    However, Jason hesitated to move forward. The new area was ten times the size of a ser stadium.

    Despite the size of the ce, it was packed to the brim and bustled with lively activity.

    Though Jason''s life had been lively, the ce was too bright for him. But if he wanted to reincarnate and live a life he had only dreamt of, he had to choose a Patron.

    Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps forward. This caught the attention of a few Gods waiting for new candidates to appear.

    They didn''t skip a beat and moved forward to encircle Jason. He was now surrounded by a group of people asking him to be their followers.

    "God of Tolls at your service, the price for stepping here is signing a contract with me or you will be put in a Burning Pit for Eternity." A short man wearing yellow and ck colored clothes suddenly spoke up and held a piece of white paper in front of him.

    Before he could advance further, the other gods red at him and cut him off.

    "Don''t you listen to this shameless scammer? Choose me, the god of shovels. I will give you a shovel that will instantly kill the person you hit with it !"

    A man wearing shiny silver clothes smiled as he lifted his right hand and a shovel suddenly appeared in his hand.

    Once again, the other Gods red at him.

    "How can you be shameless enough to use your divinity this early in the game!? Let us talk to him too." A few of them called out to him while the others realized that baiting the boy was a good idea.

    "Instead of fighting, be my follower, the Goddess of Gardening, and grow nts all around the globe! Make sure to spread the message of greenery."

    "If you choose me, I''ll make a painting of you and hang it in my bedroom! I will gaze at you every time I visit my bedroom."

    "Which will be once in a century," Another god sneered. "Choose me and I shall provide you with a portable toilet! You will never need to worry about doing your business out in the open!"

    "I will give you a jacket that can turn into a life jacket onmand! You will never drown!"

    "I will give you a waifu pillow that you can hug yourself to sleep! If you ept my offer now, I will make sure you have nice and lew- I mean rxing dreams."

    Soon enough, all the Gods in the circleid out their offers for him while ring or sneering at each other. However, all of them genuinely wanted Jason as their follower.

    They could see how his past life had been and they were surprised to see that a nobody like him had managed to save so many lives.

    Such a person rarely appeared and the Gods knew that if they had him, they would add a good human being to their list of followers.

    They were known as the follower leechers as they made a move on almost half of the people that passed through the door.

    Jason soon started rubbing his temples as he was torn between the choice of having a waifu pillow or looking for another God.

    He had a feeling that it was going to be hard for him to leave the circle since none of the Gods looked as though they would be willing to let him go.

    In their eyes, he was a half-polished diamond hidden amid stone.

    Suddenly, a new voice rose from outside the circle...

    "Looks like someone is causing trouble again. Do I need to report you guys?" The voice was cold yet calm at the same time.

    It seemed to have a chain effect on the Gods as they turned around to see the owner despite already knowing who the person was.

    They looked as if their parents had managed to find their report cards saying that they had failed without style.

    "I apologize for my behavior, Lord Sancus." The god of shovels immediately started kowtowing over and over again before he vanished from his spot.

    All the gods followed his example before leaving one by one until Jason and the god named Sancus remained.

    For a god, Sancus oddly looked like a normal big brother one might have had on earth.

    He had curly blond hair and gray eyes that were currently examining Jason''s face while his own face clearly disyed interest in the boy.

    "Nice to meet you, Jason. I am Sancus, the God of Oaths and Promises." The god extended his hand which made Jason gulp nervously.

    For once, he knew who the god in front of him was. Sancus was a popr figure in web novels and myths.

    All the oaths and promises were sworn in his name and the consequences of breaking them were deadly, or at least that''s how he was portrayed.

    "Correction, me and my twin, Horkos, handle this together," Sancus replied with a wider smile as he could see that Jason was feeling ufortable.

    This was expected since unlike the gods from earlier, Sancus could be considered to be a very high-level god. Even though he was containing his aura, a mortal like Jason could sense his true power.

    "Do you want me to be your follower?" Jason managed to ask without stuttering as his thoughts were running wild.

    "If I wanted to make you my follower, you would be currently at my feet and begging me to give you the contract." The god of oaths replied with another smile as Jason politely decided to ignore the god''s words.

    "Then what are you doing here?"

    "I am here because of the promise you broke."

 Chapter 3 My Bad Luck Follows Me Here Too

    "The promise I broke?" Jason asked in a confused tone. Sancus sighed once before snapping his fingers.

    Suddenly, the floor beneath Jason''s feet slipped away as he appeared on a snow-covered road.

    He immediately recognized the area as it was a short walk away from the orphanage he grew up in.

    Two children around ten sat in the snow with their backs leaning against a tree trunk.

    "Jason, do you think our parents will evere back for us?" Asked a girl with bright red hair and ck eyes.

    Looking at her best friend beside her with an innocent expression, she waited for him to answer. The friend was none other than Jason, just ten years younger.

    "I don''t think so but I promise you, we will get out of poverty one day and achieve what we want." He replied seriously while the girl nodded.

    The scene faded in front of them as Jason and Sancus appeared at the bar once again.

    "I never managed to fulfill it." Jason then turned to look at Sancus''s face. The god of oaths and promises didn''t look angry as he smiled sadly.

    "Humans make and break promises as often as they breathe. They say things like "I will do itter" or "I will write itter" and then forget about it. I don''t care about such things. However, you broke a serious promise."

    Jason was about to protest, but looking into Sancus''s gaze, he realized that the god felt pity for him.

    "The real reason I came here to meet you was to give you this," A purple ball pen appeared in Sancus''s left hand. "Make sure you uphold the promises you make. However, do pay those back who try to take advantage of your kindness."

    Sancus then raised the ball pen in Jason''s direction.

    No sooner did Jason take the pen did Sancus vanish from his spot, leaving him alone in the middle of the crowd once again.

    Jason stared at the pen curiously. Though he couldn''t sense any otherworldly or godly powersing out of it, he could deduce that it was something special.

    He pocketed the pen and continued on his journey to find a patron.

    ***

    "Why did you give him that?"

    Outside the crowded room, Sancus sat in front of the white-haired bartender.

    The God of Oaths didn''t answer the bartender''s question. He instead summoned a golden pen in his hands and started rotating it.

    "Why do you keep handing out your divine artifacts like lollipops?" The bartender asked once again while summoning some purple wine for Sancus.

    Thetter happily took it and started drinking.

    "Every summoning, I hand out two such pens. This time, I handed three pens. Know why?" A red flush spread through Sancus''s cheek as he set the empty ss down on the counter.

    Even though gods never got drunk, they pretended to feel that way. For what reason? They have their reasons.

    "I can''t read the minds of Gods, dumbass." The bartender waved his hand as the ss-filled itself once again." However, I know you. All broken promises remind you of the one you broke?"

    "Yes and till this day, I regret it. That''s why I hand out my divinity to those who were forced to break the promises they made to their loved ones or to themselves to prevent history from repeating itself." Sancus emptied the ss again. "Your wine is too addictive Ere."

    "It''s Erebus!!" The bartender sighed as he looked at the room again and wondered if Jason was having any luck finding patron gods. "Since you handed out a third pen, will it have the same power as the two before it?"

    "Only the boy will know." Sancus smiled before he started drinking the wine again.

    ***

    ''I am dead in a good wayбн'' Jason was currently in the embrace of five beautiful women who each had a ck tailing out from behind them.

    In search of a patron, Jason had somehow been surrounded by five tailed beauties. If he remembered correctly, they were known as a subus.

    So if they had gathered around him for that reason, he was most likely about to be sucked dry in a pleasurable yet unhealthy way.

    From their silky pink hair to their heart-shaped pink eyes, the women oozed an aura of seduction. Their tails flickered behind their bodies in a fashion that showed that they were excited.

    "Sadly, we can''t y with you or ourdy will kill us."

    "It''s a shame that we can''t have a handsome youngling like you as our ything."

    "But then, you had someone you loved."

    "We will still be free to have fun with you if you die once again."

    Four of them spoke one after the other before falling quiet. The fifth one in the group suddenly grabbed Jason''s right hand before cing her own hand over it.<sub> </sub>

    Jason felt something being dropped in his palm as the five subi smiled and waved at him. Then together, they left him alone and vanished away.

    Jason on the other hand opened his fist to see a golden ring with a carved swan drawn on it. For some reason, he felt that it also was an important thing.

    ''I wonder why these gods just keep giving me things without exining anything...'' Jason put the ring beside the pen before he decided to be more careful while exploring.

    This time, none of the gods approached him to sign a contract that surprised him.

    The ones who seemed eager a few minutes ago were now avoiding him.

    ''My bad luck follows me here too...''

    Despite, what he thought, he had a theory about why it was happening but decided to ignore it for the time being.

    After a few minutes of roaming around, Jason''s eyes caught a god that he was genuinely interested to meet.

    ''That is definitely Sun Wukong!'' He felt his heart beating faster as though he was about to meet his favorite hero.

    His eyes were glued on a handsome man, with a golden headband on his head, calmly sitting in one corner of the room.

    Other than that, the man didn''t resemble any of his persona shown on Earth.

    Many humans like Jason woulde and try to approach him. However, they would be repelled by an invisible barrier the moment they crossed a certain radius.

    Despite seeing this Jason tried to go ahead and see whether he could cross the barrier.

    Despite seeing this Jason tried to go ahead and see whether he could cross the barrier. Unfortunately, he couldn''t and was also stopped by the invisible barrier. He had no choice except dejectedly leaving the ce.

    Sun Wukong on the other hand gave him a look of interest before he busied himself with his drink. To the monkey king, someone with two divinities wasn''t that big of a deal.

    ***

    "You know, you can ask Gods to get a contract too," Erebus suggested while summoning a c for Jason.

    After roaming around the other room for at least an hour, the boy returned to the door and entered the previous room.

    Erebus was surprised when he saw Jason return back. He had only seen such a thing happening thrice in his entire life.

    But after hearing the boy''s story, he realized why it had happened.

    Jason on the other hand had managed to learn a few things during his exploration. There were three types of gods: New Age Gods, Ascension Age Gods, and the Primordial Gods.

    The Primordial Gods didn''t take any more followers and never appeared in the room. They were the oldest of gods and rarely left their abodes.

    That was all he could learn with no knowledge of the two other types of gods.

    Furthermore, he learned that the room where the bartender had been sitting was the entrance to the living ce of the gods.

    The room beyond it was the Room Of Reincarnation where the Gods could contract followers from those who were about to reincarnate. Beyond it was what humans called Heaven.

    It was where all three kinds of Gods lived and only a few of the humans being chosen for reincarnation could enter the ce. There, they could talk to the gods more freely and choose one they liked.

    Sadly, Jason was not one such person.

    "Why didn''t you go to the divine temple?"

    "The temple?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

    "The ce beyond that room is not called Heaven. Its true name is the divine temple as it''s the ce where the first God was born so it is a first worshiping spot. At the center of the ce is the pce of the Heavenly Emperor, who is the ruler of all Gods. You might as well try your luck there."

    "I tried asking a few Gods you know and they didn''t want to sign a contract with me. Also, I can''t cross over." Jason and Erebus both sighed at the same time.

    The teenager then took out the two gifts he had received and held them in his palm. Erebus suddenly looked surprised when he saw the two divinities lying In Jason''s hand.

    "Now I know why none of them are approaching." Erebus sighed as he stared at the two divinities of bigger gods.

    He could understand about Sancus but he had no idea why ''that woman'' had given Jason her divinity. Even more surprising was that the divinity looked much more different than her normal one.

    Sadly, Erebus couldn''t ask the woman about it.

    "What do you mean?" Jason asked in a confused tone. He had more or less guessed that both of them were artifacts or simr to them.

    "Very few gods dare to approach someone who has the divinities of two bigtime gods. You''re out of luck kid."

 Chapter 4 Thrown To Another World

    "Every God has something important rted to them. Sancus, for example, has a pen since pens are used to bind contracts with signatures." He exined before smiling.

    "A divinity can be given even if you are uncontracted. It surrounds you with the aura of its owner while you are here."

    Jason fell silent after getting the exnation. He stared at the two objects in his palm, wondering how two simple household objects could contain that much power.

    "So that means that no God wille and be my patron?"

    "Unless it''s someone at a higher level than these two, you are not getting reincarnated," Erebus replied.

    "Why did they even give me their divinities in the first ce?" Jason asked Erebus with hopeful eyes as he expected the bartender to know the answer.

    Sadly, that was not the truth.

    "Don''t look at me like that kid. I am just a mere bartender whose job is to guide the beings chosen to be reincarnated and asionally serve drinks to the Gods." It was clear that Erebus was no longer interested in the conversation.

    He summoned a beer bottle for himself and chugged it down directly.

    Jason calmly waited for him to finish his drink before asking onest question.

    "If you can just make things appear out of nowhere and teleport instantly, you must also be a God unless the bartenders have suddenly be overpowered."

    "Would you believe me if I said that I''m just a humble bartender?"

    "No."

    "I was going to act ignorant for some more time and though I still can, I foresee that you will keep bugging me." Erebus sighed as the empty bottle in his hands vanished. "Yes, I am a God too and my name is Erebus."

    As soon as Jason heard his name, a spark of lightning traveled through his body.

    Previously, he had only been referring to him as the bartender but hearing his name awakened something inside Jason.

    ''I have heard that name before.'' The memory was stuck in the corner of his mind, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t get to remember it.

    "Can you be my patron then?" Jason decided to try his luck.

    "Listen, kid, I can''t have followers for myself so I can''t be your patron god. Just get reincarnated like this or keep waiting for someone else to pick you up. Why do you think I am stuck as a bartender?" He asked while raising his eyebrows.

    "Cause you like to be one?"

    "No one wants to be a bartender, especially in a godly ce like this." Erebus was tempted to teleport Jason to the Reincarnation Room but he refrained from doing so.

    His purpose was to only act as a guide therefore he couldn''t force anyone out.

    Jason on the other hand decided to push his luck or rather, his bad luck. He continued to stare at Erebus until thetter had enough of it and gave in.

    "To form a contract, both the God and the person they are signing the contract with must sign on a Contract Paper using anything they have, for example, a pen, some blood, etc."

    A sheet of white paper appeared in his hand as he nced at its contents with nostalgia. He then passed it to Jason.

    It only had two things written on it. The first one stated that Erebus would be Jason''s patron god and oversee his reincarnation.

    The second thing was that Jason was not allowed to have any other patron god but didn''t have to be an exclusive follower of Erebus.

    "If you want, you can try using Sancus''s pen to sign it," Erebus exined while raising his right hand above the contract.

    No sooner did a golden drop fall on the paper than it transformed into Erebus'' name, appearing at the bottom of the contract.

    Jason stared at the scene with slightly parted eyes before opening the lid of the ball pen. He started bringing his hand beside Erebus''s name on the contract.

    ''Now, he will get repelled.'' Erebus sighed while looking at the hopeful teenager.

    Though he didn''t mean to be pessimistic, he had seen the same scene repeat itself multiple times.

    An invisible barrier would repel Jason as per the jade emperor''s decree and Erebus could only stand and do nothing.

    ''Waitбн What?!'' Erebus''s pupils shrank slightly when he saw Jason''s right hand hovering right above the contract.

    The boy then brought the tip of the pen down on the contract and moved his hand to sign his name.

    The contract had been formed.

    "That wasn''t too hard," Jason muttered before lifting his head and looking at Erebus.

    The Gode bartender looked as though he had just been kicked in the balls. Erebus never expected to gain a follower again, especially in such a manner.

    Suddenly, both the names started glowing on the contract.

    ''Is it because he signed it with Sancus''s divinity? Did the heavenly emperor forget to prevent it from happening?''

    Erebus was expecting someone to pop up in front of him and drag Jason back to the other side of the small room.

    However, no such thing happened and the glowing of the contract slowly started to recede.<sub> </sub>

    "Well, congrattions on bing my follower." Erebus then left the counter once again as he appeared beside Jason.

    Currently, he had to take his newly gained follower to the hall of reincarnation where he would choose the world he wished to reincarnate into.

    "Close your eyes kiddo."

    Erebus then snapped his fingers as a ck light surrounded the two of them. Jason felt his stomach churn as he was lifted off the ground. The feeling was simr to that of going too high while swinging.

    A few secondster, he felt his feet touching the solid ground once more.

    "You can open your eyes now," Erebus announced as Jason opened his eyes to see himself standing in apletely new room.

    Surrounded by misty portal-looking things, he saw many people wandering around.

    "This is the ce where you can choose your new world and enter the portal to get there. Only gods along with their followers cane here. Those without a contract can alsoe here after searching for twenty-four hours." Erebus''s eyes scanned the entire ce.

    It had been ages since he had entered the room since he hadn''t had any followers in a long, long time.

    Now looking at the portals, Erebus was hit with a sense of nostalgia as if he had just seen an old picture of himself.

    There were a total of hundred portals in the ce, each of them connecting the ce to a different world.

    Not every world was as it seemed. There was a portal that led to a world where pigs were the rulers. They would eat anything they saw.

    Then there were a few portals that would guarantee eternal punishment to those who dared to enter them.

    There were also three portals that the new followers couldn''t enter unless they had a high-level god as their patron.

    Only such Gods were allowed ess to such portals and the world beyond them. Erebus knew that he didn''t fill the criteria.

    "Well, you can choose any one of them." He then looked at the dreamy-eyed Jason, lost in thought.

    Presented with so many options, he didn''t know which one he should choose.

    "Can I get a hint?" Unfortunately, Jason''s luck pushing had reached its limit.

    "Kid, you have no idea what would happen if I told you that. Things are already bad enough, the Jade emperor might just app-"

    No sooner did Erebus speak those words than the entire ce started rumbling. The hairs on his body stood up as there were only a few entities who dared to do anything to the hall of reincarnation.

    And the one who had done it was none other than the heavenly emperor.

    The ruler of the divine temple and gods was the heavenly emperor, also known as the Jade Emperor. He was the being who stood above every single person in the entire world.

    Also, he loved making the rules and punishing those who broke his rules.

    "You have broken one of my rules, Erebus." A cold voice resounded inside the bartender''s head as he clenched his fist.

    All of a sudden, Jason felt his body being pulled forward as though being attracted by a ma.

    Erebus''s expression turned grim as he stared at the ceiling. His ck eyes seemed to glow a little and a silent killing aura was released from his body.

    No matter how many restrictions he had, he was still a god.

    "I don''t know how he managed to sign a contract with me but it was fair and square. It''s your powers that are growing weak, old man!" Erebus shouted at the ceiling as he heard a chuckle resounding through the ce.

    p "You are still too short-tempered of a person." The same voice said again before Erebus felt its presence vanishing.</anda>

    Jason''s body jerked to the north as he flew past a few portals. He came to half in front of a coal-ck mist and halted.

    At the same time, Erebus raised his middle fingers and pointed them towards the ceiling.

    "May you get cucked." After cursing, Erebus saw Jason''s body being thrown into the portal.

    "Erebus, I am doing both you and the world a favor. Read its name and also, this isn''t even a punishment."

    Erebus then nced at the portal as his eyes widened a bit.

    "Clover..."

    He then clenched his fists before closing his eyes. His newly gained follower had just been thrown into a world where things were going to be very hard for him.

    That was unlessбн

    Erebus then focused on the contract that connected his soul with Jason to find his location.

    Once he had done that, he opened his eyes and looked at the portal.

    ''Don''t worry Jason, I will help you a bit.''

    Erebus looked at the ceiling onest time, wondering what the Heavenly Emperor was nning, before he stepped inside the portal.

 Chapter 5 Jason Syrward

    Somewhere in the universeбн

    A ck river with still water was present in an enclosed ce. Except for the river, the ce was covered in a curtain of darkness, making it impossible to see anything.

    The only reason the river was visible was due to therge amount white balls floating on its surface.

    <o>,m All of them were glowing and buzzing with energy. Some were extremely bright while others were extremely dim. Out of all the white balls, five were shining the brightest.</o>

    "I always wondered how the Cycle of Reincarnation looked here." In the blink of an eye, Erebus appeared above the ck river and nced at the balls beneath him.

    His eyes then focused on one of the brightest balls as he hovered above it.

    Erebus didn''t dare touch the ck river lest he too got sent to the world as a baby. Gods could be omnipresent due to the number of believers and followers they had in different worlds.

    However, Erebus didn''t have any believers, so if he was reincarnated in the world of Clover, he would be forced to live there until he died.

    He could always kill himself and return.

    "So let''s see, what should I give him? Perfect talent in all paths of powerбн No, that would put him at the center of attention and would practically make him a tool to be used by everyone.

    Maybe I should give him perfect talent in a single fieldбн But that sounds too weak. Maybe a young master? On second thought, he will probably be forced to survive despite that since his luck doesn''t seem to be that good. After all, he ended with me being his patron god."

    Erebus was thoroughly confused as to what he should give Jason. He only wished for the boy to have a good life yet not be forced by anyone to do anything.

    ''There are quite a few souls here with divinities.'' Erebus thought with a surprised expression as he looked around the souls floating in the river.

    He could see some familiar and unknown divinities around him. Erebus fell deep into thought as he looked back at the soul in front of him.

    He could see the pen and the ring being inside the soul and all that was left was his gift. Erebus would have given Jason a divinity if he had one.

    ''Maybe I should just look at his memories to see what he wants.'' Though Erebus had looked through Jason''s life briefly, he had only seen the brief details.

    It took him seventeen seconds to see his follower''s entire life starting from birth to death.

    ''So his best friend, the person to whom he was the closest, died during a war. He was also abandoned at the orphanage by his mother who had an idental child.

    He never experienced parental love, from his parents at least. I am surprised he managed to remain sane after all those shocks.''

    After thinking for some time, an idea suddenly popped inside Erebus''s mind.

    He raised his right hand and twirled his index finger clockwise. A small opening appeared above his finger before vanishing a few secondster.

    ''This is all I can do for you. Hopefully, the small restrictions will prevent me from getting in further trouble with that old snot-covered pansy.''

    With ast nce at the soul, Erebus departed from the Cycle of Reincarnation.

    In front of the soul, multiple blue rectangr-shaped windows popped up. Words started appearing on the screen yet the soul couldn''t see them.

    < Soul found >

    < Initiating soul merging >

    < 10% >

    < 25% >

    < 50% >

    < 64% >

    < 88% >

    < 94% >

    < 100% >

    < System is on standby >

    -----

    Meanwhile, somewhere in the world of Cloverбн

    Plop!

    "It''s a baby boy!" A cheerful voice said while picking up a baby. The voice belonged to a beautifuldy with ming red hair and sea-green eyes.

    In her arms was a newborn baby wrapped in twoyers of blue nkets. The baby''s eyes were closed while his gentle breathing brushed the skin on thedy''s hand.

    "Why is he not crying?" A worried male voice asked as a man in his twenties anxiously looked at the red-haireddy.

    Sweat lined his forehead as he pushed back his silver hair and looked at the baby. He was not the only one feeling anxious as thedy and the other people present in the room shared the same feeling.

    "Risa, try smacking his butt." Another male voice, one sounding older than the former came from the corner of the room.

    Standing there was a man with gray hair and firm amber-colored eyes. His eyes were focused on the baby and the woman holding him.

    < Due to circumstances the host has been forcefully awakened. ><sub> </sub>

    Jason''s eyes suddenly flew wide open as he was sted with the light of the room. His infant eyes couldn''t help the sudden st of colors as he quickly closed them.

    < Host, be prepared. >

    A voice echoed inside Jason''s head but before he could register its meaning, something hard hit his butt.

    A painful sensation spread through his lower body and a cry of pain escaped his lips. As soon as the voice echoed around the room, four consecutive sighs of relief were heard.

    The next moment three figures stepped closer to peer at the baby''s face.

    "I say it here and now, he will grow up to be handsome like me." The gray-haired man''s words managed to earn him three res.

    "I pray that he doesn''t get your narcissistic side, Issac. It would be better if he turned out like Ray." The silver-haired man said to Issac. Thetter rolled his eyes while muttering that he was not narcissistic.

    "You would love to make him a good demon noble like yourself."

    "You said something true for once."

    The two men locked eyes which made them look like rtives considering how Fel looked like he was in his early twenties while Issac looked like he was about to enter his forties.

    "Gentlemen, do both of you want a spanking too?" An irritated voice asked as a silver-haired woman red at the two men.

    "Don''t bother yourself with such trivial things, Astryn."

    "We will handle this ourselves Astryn."

    Issac and Fel replied at the same time before breaking their stare. Astryn sighed before she turned to look at Risa.

    The two women exchanged a knowing look and mentally sighed. Their husbands didn''t like each other and it was clear from the exchange that they had held back.

    Risa and Astryn decided to let the two husbands do what they wanted while they poked the baby''s cheek.

    "Doesn''t this feel like when we had a child for the first time?" Astryn asked curiously as she saw Jason''s hands closing around her index finger.

    His entire hand was barely one-fourth the size of her finger yet it was fascinating to see the baby trying to enclose her entire finger with his small hands.

    ''I hope this passes as something that babies doбн'' Jason thought while taking deep breaths as he could tell how small his lungs were.

    The voice that had spoken inside his head had vanished the moment after speaking. It had left him with a single message asking him to open his eyes.

    Infant Jason couldn''t control his body the way he was used yet he somehow managed to open his eyes.

    < On standby mode >

    A single blue screen awaited Jason as he read the words on it. The screen disappeared the next moment and he was met face to face with two women.

    Due to not knowing thenguage, Jason hadn''t been able to understand what the four people had been talking about.

    However, there had been many simr words to English that he was able to recognize.

    <nguage learned: 1% >

    < Upon hearing more words, the system will be able to decipher thenguage thus enabling the host to understand what is being spoken around him. >

    Two more blue windows appeared in front of Jason yet they disappeared the moment he finished reading them. He instead looked at the faces of the two women looking at him with curiosity.

    "It''s been some time since I have seen purple eyes," Risa muttered before looking at the eyes of every single person in the room.

    She had green eyes while Issac''s were amber. This meant that Jason hadn''t received his eye color from his paternal grandparents.

    Astryn had ck eyes contrasting her silver hair while Fel had light blue eyes. This ruled them out as well.

    "I wondered the same thing when I saw Michael''s purple eyes," Issac suddenly chuckled. "It''s quitemon considering what element we share."

    "True."

    The room then fell silent as the four grandparents turned their gaze towards thest figure present in the room.

    The baby''s mother, Evelyn. She too had the same silver hair like her father and mother while sharing her father''s light blue eyes.

    Currently, Evelyn was lying spine-first on a bed while her eyes closed. Two one-meter (3.2 feet) tall horns were protruding from the top of her head yet none of the present figures seemed surprised by them.

    She had exhausted quite some amount of her power while giving birth and was exhausted in the entire process.

    "Can someone let me see my baby?" Evelyn asked a few minutester when she had gained the strength to sit up.

    Risa handed the ck-covered baby to his mother as she looked at his purple eyes. The baby mirrored her actions and stared into her eyes which made Evelyn smile.

    ''His eyes are the same as His.'' Evelyn suddenly looked lost in thought before she shook her head and stared at the baby.

    She could tell that her parents and parents-inw were waiting for her to name the baby. They had many suggestions in case the name was something like Sunny or Bartholomew but they trusted in Evelyn.

    "I and Michael had decided on a name the moment I tested positive for pregnancy," Evelyn suddenly announced. "He was born in a difficult world with many broken things. I want him to be able to heal some of those broken things like his father and I did. That''s why his name will be Jason Syrward."

 Chapter 6 A Babys Life In A Fantasy World

    "That''s a good name dear." Astryn sighed in relief, followed by the sighs of the three other grandparents.

    They had all heard that Evelyn''s sense of naming wasn''t the greatest and they were worried about the name their grandson would have gotten.

    ''''Looks like we were worried for no reason.'''' They thought at the same time while ncing at Jason.

    The baby had his eyes closed and was sound asleep in his mother''s embrace. It was a strange yet incredible thing how babies could easily sleep at any time as long as they were feeling sleepy.

    Not wanting to wake Jason up, the four grandparents silently left the room. They still had a whole lot to discuss, especially about the child''s future.

    "Now that they''re gone, you can see him too." Evelyn suddenly spoke to empty air. One would think that she was just talking to herself yet that was not the case.

    Hanging from her neck was a pendant with a blue jewel the size of a small orchid embedded in it. If Jason had seen the jewel, he would have definitely said that it resembled sapphire from Earth.

    The jewel, however, was translucent and perfectly smooth.

    "Soul releaseбн" Evelyn added with a slightly tired voice as the jewel suddenly lurched forward. It happened twice before the jewel finally went stationary.

    Gentle wind blew across the room and fluttered Evelyn''s hair. The strange thing was that the room had no windows and was underground.

    "He''ll definitely be handsomeбн" Like a scene from a third-rate horror movie, a whisper echoed around the room. Evelyn''s eyes stared at Jason''s sleeping face before sighing.

    Her parents and inws were soon going toe back and then, she would have to leave her child alone.

    ''But then, the chances of you being born were one in a trillion.'' Evelyn''s hand moved to the back of her neck as she untied the pendant and held it in her hands.

    She then ced the pendant on Jason''s body before putting him on the remaining space of the bed.

    "I'' will miss youбн" Evelyn strengthened her nerves as she stood from the bed. Weakly standing on her legs, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel her heart painfully contracting yet she couldn''t stay there anymore.

    She had already pushed her luck by staying in the room for an entire day. A few more minutes and she could potentially danger her entire family.

    ''Jason, I hope you grow up and have a peaceful life. Maybe one day, we will meet again.'' Evelyn closed her eyes and turned away from the bed.

    Raising her right hand to her mouth, she bit her thumb. A drop of ck blood fell on the ground before expanding into a circle around her.

    The circle covered the entire room which was the size of a basketball court.

    Numerous mystic symbols, all red and ck, appeared inside the circle. The symbols connected with each other before emitting a bright red sh.

    Evelyn vanished with a sh however, it had caused a noise loud enough to alert the others present in the house.

    The four grandparents burst through the door to see Jason alone on the bed with the blue pendant. Evelyn had vanished without a trace but the quartet was not worried.

    (AN: Quartetes after trio)

    Instead, they gathered around the bed and stared at the sleeping baby. Evelyn had left Jason with her pendant before leaving as it had been a gift from her husband.

    Now, it was one of the few things Jason would have of his father and mother.

    "Looks like we will have to leave as well. We still need to tell the king where we went and why." Fel announced while his wife nodded with him.

    The two of them hade from afar due to their daughter. But now, their extended time was running out and they needed to get back to their house.

    Risa gently picked up the sleeping baby in her arms before the four of them climbed up the ground floor (First floor for Americans).

    Fel and Astryn didn''t waste any time and immediately moved towards the door. Unlike their daughter, they couldn''t use a teleportation spell in a crammed-up ce.

    p "Risa, please make sure that Issac doesn''t affect Jason too much. I know that he might have the genes but I don''t think we will be able to survive two narcissistic punches first, talkter kinds of people at the same time."</anda>

    Fel pleaded at thest second as a circle simr to the one Evelyn had conjured appeared below his feet. The symbols were more or less the same yet the circle was thrice the size of Evelyn''s circle.

    The circle wasrge enough to cover an entire house or even a mansion.

    "I am not a narcissistбн" Issac muttered onest as he saw the two demons vanishing alongside the circle.

    His eyes then moved to his grandson peacefully sleeping in Risa''s embrace. Issac felt the same way he had when he first became a father except for this time, the responsibilities on his shoulder were bigger.

    "Risa, any idea on how we are going to get milk for him?" He asked, keeping his tone neutral and serious at the same time.

    "Did you forget that we have a dairy in Duphia?" Risa replied while facepalming as she suddenly realized something.

    Issac very well knew that there was a diary in their town yet he had asked her the questions.

    "Do you want me to bonk you?" The red-head asked while ring at her husband who had a stupid grin on his face. Risa couldn''t maintain her anger as the grin was her demise.

    "Then I will go and get some milk."

    ***<sub> </sub>

    "Oh god, the smell is too retching. Jason, what blunder have you created?!" Issac''s voice suddenly rose only to be cut by the gurgling sounds made by Jason''s stomach.

    He was now one month old and was aware of things going around him. Currently, he was lying on a makeshift cot while his grandfather cleaned his rear end.

    Issac was forced to control his breathing for two minutes before being able to take in clean air. After shooting his grandson a re, he went away to throw the dirty diaper in his hands.

    ''He looked as though he wanted to strangle me.'' Jason thought with an amused expression as he stretched his body.

    As a small way of getting revenge, Issac hadn''t covered up his bottom end. Hisher region was on full disy for anyone who walked into his room but Jason didn''t worry because of two reasons.

    One: he was an infant and two: There were only two people in the house beside him, Risa and Issac.

    His grandmother was currently in the kitchen and was cooking food so the chances of her appearing there were very less.

    < Language learned: 51% >

    After hearing his grandparents talk with him and each other on a daily route, his progression bar had moved up.

    He now understood at least half the things they talked about, albeit missing the other half.

    Jason also knew that he had somehow managed to get his hands on a system that had be an extremely popr trope and cliche in web novels.

    It had reached the point that overpowered main characters had been flying around casually with every character getting bare minimum screen time.

    ''Which makes me wonder if my life will follow the same pattern. A system is the perfect cheat for attracting noble young masters and their family heads toe and try to make me a ve or behead me.''

    Though he was not sure what his talent was, Jason knew that his new world had mana and magic. He had seen Issac using water and air magic to always help and clean his rear end.

    This made him even more curious as to what else was there in this new world. Sadly, all he could learn was what he saw around him.

    He had to act as though he was lost in his world of imagination and didn''t understand a thing that was going around.

    At the same time, his system never talked to him and remained radio silent which made Jason''s life extremely boring. He had tried to activate the system by using words like ''Status'' and ''Link Start'' yet they didn''t work.

    Instead, he spent most of the day sleeping or ying with his grandparents. He had to act as though he didn''t understand them since a baby as young as him probably wouldn''t have been able to understand much.

    Time passed by in this manner and before he knew it, Jason was six months old. He had already started to crawl and moved around the house this way.

    The Syrward family house was a manor with two floors, the bottom floor consisting of Issac and Risa''s separate studies, kitchen, and the living room.

    The second floorprised multiple bedrooms yet only one of them was used.

    Jason was also able to understand 70% of all the things beingmunicated around him and thenguage had been stored inside his brain like English.

    "I wanted to bake a cake when you were born but you wouldn''t be able to eat it. So instead, here is a cake for you now." Risa''s lips curled up as she held a cake in her hands.

    Sitting in his crib, Jason saw his grandmother bringing a small self-baked cake for him.

    The entire thing was covered with chocte frosting which made Jason drool on his clothes. Risa noticed it and quickly pointed her index finger in his neck''s direction.

    With a slight rise in temperature, the saliva evaporated, and realizing his mistake, Jason closed his mouth.

    "He probably got your sweet tooth," Issacmented after seeing his grandson''s actions. He was seated on a chair ced a few meters away from the crib.

    "Go get some more milk, Issac," Risa said with a re that made Issac sigh. He walked out of the room and went in search of more milk since Risa had already used most of it for cooking.

    "This is all I can give you for now." Risa took a small piece of cake not bigger than one inch (2.5 cm) and brought it closer to Jason''s mouth.

    The baby happily ate the piece while savoring the delightful taste of chocte.

    Sadly, he couldn''t eat more than two bites which in turn made him wonder whether Risa had used his birthday as an excuse to cook a cake.

    His grandmother cut a big piece of the cake before putting the entire thing inside her mouth.

    Jason started giving her a gluttonous look despite knowing that he wasn''t allowed to eat anymore.

    ''I don''t mind anyways.'' Jason could feel himself getting sleepy by the second and the only thing he needed was milk.

    Fortunately, Issac returned a few secondster with a milk bottle in his hand and put the sipper in Jason''s mouth.

    He gripped the bottle with his hands and calmly drank the entire milk. But as soon as he finished, an unexpected event urred.

    < Daily Quest: Drink Milk has beenpleted. >

    < 1 system point has been acquired. >

 Chapter 7 I Am One Of The Best Out There!

    ''What a perfect time to appearбн'' Jason thought with sleepy eyes as a blue translucent screen appeared in front of his face.

    The words were written in English and a mechanical voice had also echoed inside his head yet he was on the verge of falling asleep.

    Jason decided that he would ask things after he had woken since doing anything in a half-asleep state was not a good idea.

    ''At least I will have a much better life this timeбн''

    He thought before closing his eyes. In a matter of seconds, he was fast asleep.

    ---

    ''Hello? Anyone lurking inside my mind?'' Jason thought as soon as he woke up.

    The lights in the room were off while gentle wind wasing inside the room through the only window present at the eastern corner of it.

    If Jason had to guess, the time was three or four hours past midnight which was usually the time many babies woke up at.

    He could also feel that his lower clothes were slightly wet. Due to being reincarnated as a newborn baby, Jason''s control over his dder was very poor.

    ''Looks like grandma and grandpa are doing some work.'' Despite the lights being turned off, Jason could clearly see everything as though it was morning.

    The only reasonable exnation he had was his bloodline. Jason knew that he was a half-breed the moment he had seen the horns on top of his mother''s forehead.

    Issac and Risa on the other hand were definitely humans which made him a half-human half something else.

    [ The host is half-human and half-demon. ]

    The same mechanical voice suddenly reappeared inside his head. Simultaneously, a blue-colored rectangr window appeared in front of his face.

    The words spoken by the voice were written on the window in golden color. Jason stared at it in awe for three seconds before going back to his neutral expression.

    ''I take it you are a system?''

    [ Not just any system you might have read about on Earth. I am one of the best out there! ]

    For a brief second, an emotion sparked up in the mechanical voice before dying down. Jason did not make any sort ofment as he had very well read the same thing urring numerous times before.

    Authors promising a different style of system and then going around repeating the entire cycle.

    [ Host, please don''t make prejudices about the system. ]

    ''Then tell me more about yourself. Of course, I will evaluate you on what I do know.''

    [ Ding! ]

    [ The Guardian System is fully active now ]

    [ To ess the Homepage, please say or think ''Homepage'' ]

    ''Homepageбн'' Jason thought while reading the details. He had been expecting more of a status screen yet he was surprised.

    [ Status:

    Quests:

    Job sses (includes skills and spells):

    System shop (LOCKED): ]

    ''Status.''

    < Loading Status screen >

    ---

    Name: Jason Syrward

    Race: Half-Demon

    HP: 20/20

    Mana: 10/10

    ---

    ''That''s it?!'' Jason''s eyes widened when he saw the simple status screen.

    [ Host, I already told you that I am one of the strongest systems. I don''t show stats like intelligence. However, some things on the status screen are currently not present due to the small amount of knowledge you hold. ]

    Jason had already expected something like this the moment he had known he had a system. Though it put him at a major advantage, he had no idea what world he was in.

    The only thing he knew was that he was living in a Barony of Duphia and that was just about it, aside from milk time. Being a baby was not ideal for gaining information.

    ''I should just keep going the way I am until I learn to walk.''

    [ I''d suggest that as well. ]

    ''What is your purpose for being with me?'' Jason then asked while remembering the numerous reasons systems were given yet his system''s reply left him speechless.

    [ It''s quite simple. I am here to make sure you live a happy life. ]

    The next morning, Jason discovered that he could get one system point a day by drinking a bottle of milk.

    He asked the system what he could do with the system points but it refused to tell him anything. He instead received a suggestion saying that he should keep collecting system points.

    ''Not a spoon feeder either. I guess I have struck a diamond in a coal mine!'' Jason''s lips curled up as he happily yetzily turned around in his new crib.

    His new crib was a standard-sized crib from earth meaning that it was 52 inches(132 cm) long and 28 inches(71 cm) wide.

    The only reason he knew these dimensions was due to the system.

    [ You were the one who didn''t believe me when I said I am built differently. ]

    Jason decided to ignore the system''s reply and focused on his status screen. The mana column made it pretty clear that magic was present in his new world.

    He then tried to use the mana to conjure some spells while using the names of some famous spells from his past life.

    ''Fireball!''<sub> </sub>

    ''Explosion!''

    ''Wingardium Leviosa!''

    ''Water Gun!''

    ''Earth style, earth bombs!''

    ''Pichaku I choose you!''

    All of his tries resulted in nothing and to add salt to his wounds, the system chuckled in its own mechanical tone.

    [ Host, you might set the house on fire if you continue this way. Also, there is a chance that you might end up using what little mana you have and we don''t want that happening.]

    ''Why?'' Jason asked, actingpletely dumb.

    [ Because there is a chance that you will be knocked unconscious for an indefinite time. Good enough reason? ]

    Jason couldn''t do anything but sigh. He had wanted to try and see if he could use any magic early on but was quite disappointed.

    ''I guess I just have to wait for someone to teach me or for me to learn myself. Till then, I will enjoy my life.

    ---

    "Say, grandfather."

    "Beh?"

    "No, don''t beh at me. Call me grandfather or grandpa."

    "Beh."

    Issac pulled at his hair in frustration as his grandson refused to call him grandpa.

    It had been two years since Jason had been brought to Duphia and had been living with his grandparents.

    Over the entire year, he only ate, slept, and pooped. That was the best life a child could have had. His grandfather and grandmother had also entertained him during the time so he hadn''t been bored.

    However, he had to make sure that he didn''t slip up or things would have turned extremely difficult for him.

    < Language learned: 100% >

    With the help of his system, Jason was able to learn the entirenguage easily though he only responded to things said to him, that too after one or two tries.

    ''I managed to gain quite a bit of points. If only you would tell me how I could use them.'' Jason directed his words towards the system who had been firm on not telling him much about the points.

    [ You will know about them when the timees. ]

    As for getting a job ss, he had no idea how he was supposed to get one while being a toddler. Nothing strange seemed to happen around him anyway.

    "Jason, are you by any chance, pooping?" Seeing his grandson''s serious face, Issac couldn''t help but wonder if he was pooping.

    After all., he would be the one cleaning it.

    "Beh (Wish I could). Beh (Would have been a fun thing to see your expression)."

    Currently, Jason couldn''t speak. ording to the system, it would take him a small amount of time before he would start speaking frequently.

    He would be able to talk easily before turning three years old.

    Issac on the other hand was wondering whether listening to Jason beh all the day managed to help him learn the kid''snguage too.

    For example, he could understand that Jason was making fun of him in some way. This made the grandpa smile.

    "Making fun of your grandpa at such a young age huh. I wonder if younded with my genes there," Issac then patted Jason''s head. "Your grandmother should soon be returning with them. Don''t let the new kids boss you around."

    Hearing his grandpa''s words, Jason remembered that Risa had left a month ago or so and hadn''t returned since. Issac had told him that she had gone to get some important people and should be returning any minute.

    A month had already passed by in such a manner and if not for Jason, Issac would have already left to find where his wife went.

    "Someone go and kill that brain-dead king. He should at least help us fend off foreigners yet all he does is sit on that goddamn throne andze around." Issac openly cursed a person Jason didn''t know of.

    Today, Issac''s mood was shifting between irritated and normal. If Jason was a normal baby, he would have managed to irritate his grandfather with his constant begging for attention.

    Being a smart baby on the other hand meant that he could easily do things others couldn''t and that wasforting his grandfather.

    "Beh."

    Issac suddenly turned to look at his grandson with a surprised expression. He could feel that his grandson was urging him to go forward.

    "Jason, you don''t understand what is happening. I can''t leave you no matter whatбн" He stared into Jason''s bright purple eyes which reminded him of his oldest son, Michael. "Your grandmother is a very strong woman and I am not that worried."

    Contrary to what he said, Issac''s expression remained full of worry. Jason decided to lighten up his grandpa''s mood as he stood up from his chair and walked up to his grandfather.

    He then tried to reach for his hand while staring upwards which brought a smile to the man''s face. Issac bent down and picked Jason up before tickling him.

    Jason couldn''t help but giggle as his grandfather continued to tickle. However, they were suddenly interrupted by a pounding sound on the door.

    For a moment, Jason saw Issac''s amber eyes glow golden as dashed up to the second floor in a matter of seconds. Issac entered his own room and pushed open a closet before putting Jason inside.

    "Don''t make any sound. If Ie back, I will say "Melons are better than lemons". Understood?"

    "Yes."

    "Oh look who can talk now." Issac red at Jason

    The old man then closeed the closetpletely as his whole demeanor changed. The joking and yful aura around himpletely vanished, leaving behind nothing.

    He slowly climbed down the stairs and reached the door. He already had an idea who was there to see him and he was not a big fan of them.

    With a quick turn of his hand, Issac opened the door to see nine men standing outside. All of them had ck tails wagging behind them.

    Their faces and bodies were hidden by a ck clothing material while they held swords in their hands.

    "Looks like he managed to catch wind of it. Now, I''ve to deal with you guys." Issac sighed. "Oh well, let''s get this over with."

 Chapter 8 Last Minute Rescue

    Jason waspletely unaware of what was happening outside his house. He remainedpletely silent, only breathing quickly.

    Nor could he hear anything that was happening outside and his vision had mostly been blocked by clothes and the stuff he was hiding behind.

    ''I wonder why grandpa''s face looked like that.'' During the small amount of time Jason had spent with Issac, he realized that the old man was quite a cheerful person.

    Jason had never seen his grandpa look as serious as he was just a few moments ago.

    Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream entered Jason''s ears, sounding exactly like Issac''s scream. He barely held himself from making any sound as the screams continued to rise.

    [ Calm down Host. Take a deep breath and focus. The scream you heard was not from Issac but someone imitating him. ]

    As soon as Jason heard the system''s words, he calmed down. He then thanked the system before controlling his heartbeat and remaining still.

    The screams stopped after a few minutes as Jason waited for something else to happen. While thinking of that, he realized that his hearing far outshone those his age.

    [ It''s most likely due to your bloodline or something. ]

    ''I wonder if grandpa is okбн'' His thoughts deviated from the original topic. While thinking of that, Jason suddenly heard a creaking sounding from right outside the closet.

    Both he and the system thought the same thing simultaneously.

    ''Fckбн''

    [ Damn it! ]

    The only difference was that one cursed while the other didn''t.

    In front of his eyes, the closet door started creaking open. Jason was lyingpletely still as he was hidden by the clothes.

    However, two hands reached inside the closet and grabbed his waist.

    "So you are the kid that managed to catch the eye of his majesty. Honestly, it seems like overkill." Jason''s eyes widened as grabbing his body was a man with cat ears popping out from his head.

    His body suddenly froze as he looked at his mask-covered face. The man had done something to freeze him and the system didn''t miss it either.

    < Body has entered a frozen state. >

    ''Gee thanks, I couldn''t have figured that out myself.'' Jason replied sarcastically while his eyes were fixed on the man''s face.

    "Aw, you are looking at me as though I am about to eat you. Don''t worry, I fry kids before eating them so you are safe for now." The man started chuckling at his own joke before continuing to stare at Jason.

    ''So he is Lady Evelyn''s son.'' The man then squinted at Jason as he felt small traces of mana inside Jason''s body.

    Mana didn''t start developing until children were at least 5 years old and even prodigies only got their mana when they were nearly two years old.

    Only a once in a century type of genius would develop mana before that and looking at the baby in his arms, the man realized that he was indeed one such person.

    ''This makes it so much easier for me to bind him to me since he already has mana inside him.'' The man lifted his right hand and ced it on top of Jason''s forehead.

    Suddenly, ck colored chains emerged from the man''s hand as they started wrapping around Jason''s body. The chains hadn''t bound around him tightly yet he could feel them numbing his body.

    < Forbidden Sealing Arts: Chains Of Darkness. > A system window opened in front of him as Jason soon started to feel panic building inside his chest but the chains started to cool that down too.

    Not only that, but he could also feel his mind slowly turning numb.

    ''Do people get the chance to be reincarnated a second time?'' Jason wondered as a strange coldness slowly started building up inside his body.

    <Warning! Host''s life power is being sealed >

    < System defense measures activatedбн >

    < Errorбн >

    < System level is too low to fight backбн >

    ''Looks like even a system doesn''t give me enough power. Who is this man though?'' He felt as though he had experienced the same thing in the past.

    [ Damn it! Don''t give up on me Jason. Listen to me and focus on my voice while I try to do something. ]<sub> </sub>

    Using the system''s voice as an anchor, Jason felt his mind clear a bit which gave him the ability to think clearly. He decided to use his onest move.

    The one thing he had only done thrice since the day he was born. The one thing that was his ultimate weapon for the time being.

    Heбн cried!

    And by crying, Jason wailed as though someone had just hit him hard.

    The man realized that something was wrong as he quickly moved his hand over Jason''s mouth and silenced his voice.

    Unfortunately for him, Jason had already managed to obtain what he wanted.

    ''I am feeling sleepyбн'' The chains around Jason made his body feel tired. Judging from the name the man had muttered, it was some kind of sealing thing.

    This meant that one year after being born, he had already managed to get something inside him sealed up.

    [ Lifeforce, better known as the soul, is a very important thing. If one''s soul is sealed in any way, one would lose their free will.

    It''s simr to making someone a ve. But don''t worry, I have found a way to prevent that from happening. ]

    ''And how did you know that? Actually, scratch that. Just tell me the methodter on.'' Jason asked the system but no response came back.

    It looked as though the system was still preparing something as though it was creating something.

    However, before the man could seed in making Jason a ve, a killing intent filled the air.

    The intent was so thick and dangerous that the masked man unconsciously took a step back.

    Issac suddenly appeared directly in front of the man. His expression was stone cold as lightning ran around his body.

    Issac then casually kicked the man in the abdomen and took Jason back. To someone watching it from afar, the entire event ured in the blink of an eye and wouldn''t beprehensible if not seen under slow motion.

    The masked man seemed to stumble a little as he stared in Issac''s direction. The old man had managed to push him back with a single kick.

    White lightning ran around Issac''s body freely as he held Jason''s in his embrace. He could see the chains around the boy and that fueled his anger.

    "Tell your king, lord or whoever sent you, that if I see a single one of your kind in this ce again, I swear on the Syrward family name that it will rain destruction on your continent." Just to make himself clear, Issac flicked his index finger in the man''s direction.

    A bolt of lightning flew out of his finger and hit the man in his right shoulder. Suddenly, his entire arm went numb.

    "Now, you won''t have a working arm for a few years," Issac said with a blinding smile as he raised his entire right arm forward. "You better get moving unless you want to lose the functioning of your body."

    The man clenched his teeth and immediately disappeared from his ce. He left Isaac''shouse to see his nine subordinates lying dead on the ground.

    A ck void surrounded the nine dead people as they vanished alongside the masked man. Never could he have thought that Issac would not have changed despite growing old.

    ''We will not forget this defeat.''

    ---

    Issac released a huge sigh as he sat down on the ground. No matter how cool and powerful he had acted, he was still getting old.

    Using his powers to the fullest would make him feel very tired and would deplete his mana quickly.

    But due to Jason''s crying, a surge of adrenaline had taken over his body which forced him to use his powers.

    Thinking about his grandson, Issac decided that it was better to examine the chains around Jason''s body.

    "Huh?" However, when he looked down at the child, he saw that the chains around his body had vanished. ''Did breaking their contact force the termination of the seal?''

    Issac didn''t understand what happened. However, seeing that Jason was soundly asleep, he decided to take him to bed and keep watch over him.

    What he and Jason didn''t know was that something weird was happening inside the child''s body.

    The pen that Jason had received from Sancus had a special power that the boy wasn''t aware of. However, it was because of that divinity that he was alive.

    At the same time, system notifications rained down on Jason''s face.

 Chapter 9 Child Of Darkness

    < Darkness has been absorbed inside the host''s soul. >

    At midnight, Jason suddenly woke up from his slumber. The cold feeling from earlier along with the chains had vanished.

    But a single look at the messages sent chills down his back.

    < Soul has been corrupted by the darkness >

    < A countermeasure has been found >

    Once again, the chains appeared around Jason''s body. His breathing started getting heavier as his eyes traveled towards his grandfather sitting on the ground.

    Issac had a tired expression on his face as he saw the chains appear around Jason''s body but instead of panicking, he calmly looked at his grandson.

    "It will soon be over." Issac gave Jason a hopeful smile yet it never reached his eyes. Issac already knew what the chains could do and he was hoping that it would reduce its effect on Jason.

    < Convert the darkness to job ss?

    Warning - If the host chooses to remain with the darkness, your soul will be corrupted by the end of the yea.It is rmended that the host converts the darkness into the job ss >

    < Cost: 500 system points. >

    ''Just do it!'' Jason cried as he could no longer inhale air. Issac had turned his eyes away from the scene while trying to keep himself calm.

    Thankfully, the system soon converted the darkness into a job ss.

    < 500 system points have been deducted

    Remaining: 47 >

    < Darkness has been sessfully converted into the job ss: Child of Darkness >

    < Price: You cannot unequip it as the main job ss. >

    < Child of Darkness: A person born with the Darkness inside their veins. No matter what, the Darkness will never leave them. Kind of like a Yandere girlfriend >

    The chains around Jason immediately vanished as he released a sigh of relief. Issac, who had been watching over him, looked bbergasted.

    He had expected the chains to close around Jason''s stomach, forming a seal around his navel. Yet nothing like that happened and Jason looked relieved.

    ''I should get him checkedter onбн'' Issac then closed his eyes and let his body rx. In a few minutes, he was out cold.

    Jason paid no attention to his grandfather as several system screens had popped open in front of him.

    < Skill tree for the job ss: Child of Darkness is now open >

    < You can chose two skills for free! >

    ---

    < Dispel >

    60 Mana

    - Releases an aura to suppress the damage of the four basic elements by 20%

    ---

    < Confusion >

    50 Mana

    - Releases a curse that can confuse the enemy for 3/5/8 seconds randomly.

    - Confused target will not be able to distinguish friend from foe and might attack oneself.

    ---

    < Repel >

    <o>,m 80 Mana</o>

    - Releases an energy st to repel a portion of the iing attack back at the user.

    - Only works on the four basic elements.

    Repelled portion: 5% >

    ---

    < Hidden in the Shadows >

    Passive skill

    - While staying under a shadow (Under the shadow of a tree for example), all traces of the user''s aura will be concealed.

    ---

    ''Repel sounds like a handy skill to have. As for the second one, I am confused between confusion and the passive skill. Any help system?''

    [ My suggestion is that you currently pick confusion and unlock the rest of the skillster. Your ''drink a bottle of milk'' quest willst till you turn three which means that you can reap its benefits for one more year. ]

    ''Then I will follow your advice.''

    After choosing the two skills, Jason saw a skill tree opening under his job information alongside another section.

    < Child of Darkness >

    < Level: 0

    Progression: 0.1% >

    [ Your progression will move up when you master a maxed skill or receive some sort of enlightenment. At every 5% milestone, the job ss will level up.

    Therefore, when you reach level 20, it''ll be like reaching 100%. Once it reaches 100%, the job ss can be evolved to the next stage.]<sub> </sub>

    The system automatically replied to the question that had been building up inside Jason''s head. As a two year old, he couldn''t do much about the progression except using his skills.

    Both ''Confusion'' and ''Repel'' now had something new in front of them

    ---

    Confusion (0 / 5)

    Repel (0/10)

    ---

    [ This is where the system pointse into y. They can be used to instantly max or unlock a skill. The host can also do these two things by using and understanding them on his own. ]

    Jason listened to the exnation carefully before looking at his status page. A sigh escaped his lips as he realized that he couldn''t use any of his skills even in base form, much less the evolved form.

    He decided to think about themter and turned around to look at his snoring grandpa.

    "BEH!"

    "What happened to the ducks?!" Issac suddenly woke up before realizing where he was and what had happened.

    He turned back to look at his grandson, giving him a judging look only to hear a growling sound from Jason''s stomach.

    "You better start speaking soon kid cause I am tired of hearing you ''Beh'' all day." Issac said in an annoyed tone as a smile appeared on Jason''s face.

    "Grandбн"

    Suddenly, Issac stood up from his ce as he heard Jason starting to call him grandpa. The old man looked at his grandson with hope while nodding in encouragement.

    "Grandбн. Grandma." Jason finished before giggling, making Issac almost spit blood on the ground.

    He looked at his grandson smiling in delight before sighing. After all, Jason was just a kid, a serious one at that but a kid nheless.

    "Well, I better get this house fixed before your grandmother arrives as well as feed you. I don''t want to sleep outside when she arrivesбн or worseбн face the slipper of shame!"

    Issac then stood up whileining about his old body before he left the room to find something for Jason to eat alongside a ss of milk.

    ''If only he knew that I can''t really speak ''Grandpa''.'' Jason thought with an amused look as he stared at the ceiling.

    Despite his perfect understanding of thenguage, speaking words was not easy for him.

    He could only ''beh'' at that point and it would take him at least a few more months to learn to speak.

    But if his grandpa had his way, Jason would learn to speak things in less than a month.

    ''Hopefully, grandma arrives soon and I get saved.'' Jason prayed silently before he closed his eyes.

    Issac returned with some milk soon and after finishing it Jason drifted off to sleep.

    ***

    Another month passed by in this manner and Issac''s worries continued to rise. He would often take Jason out on strolls around the house but never leave the boundaries.

    Issac knew that once he walked past the boundaries with Jason, it was going to be game over.

    He had to wait till Jason turned five years old before allowing him to go outside freely. It pained Issac to restrict his grandson but he had no other choice.

    "Grandpa, y with me."

    Jason said while pulling on Issac''s leg. The gray- haired man was casually leaning against the trunk of a tree.

    Though his body posture was calm and casual, Issac''s eyes were roaming around the perimeter to check if anything was suspicious.

    "Let''s y a game Jason. Whoever remains silent for the longest time wins. The game starts now." Issac spoke without paying any attention to Jason.

    The young child pouted his lips and walked to the start of the manor.

    The Syrward family manor was a two story manor the size of a small Ser (Football) field. The familynd continued to go on until it was stopped by a tall fence.

    Risa had made sure that thend was taken care of making it full of grass and trees. It could be considered as a garden created by a beginner.

    ''Your measurements are strangely urate yet I wouldn''t have known how the ce looked if it wasn''t situated right in front of me.'' The system had told Jason rough measurements using the terms that he understood.

    [ Then the host is dumb.]

    ''Yes, I ept I am dumb when ites to measurements and maths.''

    Back on Earth, measurements and mathematics had never been his strong forte. That problem was however solved by his ever brilliant system.

    The only way Jason knew where the garden ended was due to a fence ced around it in a circle.

    Currently, he was standing in front of the only entrance to the ce which was a door made in the fence.

    The fence in itself was no joke as it was ten feet tall (304 cm) and was entirely made from barbed wires.

    Both the system and Jason had a feeling that the barbed wire also had a special property that prevented people from crossing over it.

    ''System, how much area can you scan?''

    [ Hundred yards away from the fence.Beyond that, my sensory range ends but don''t worry. Both your natural growth and system points can help me ovee these minor setbacks. ]

    Jason then kept staring out of the fence for a few minutes while wondering when he could step outside.

    Issac and Risa had forbidden him from stepping even a single foot outside the fence. Jason had agreed to that so he could only look in the distance while waiting for Risa to return.

    "She''ll be arriving in a few minutes," Issac suddenly ced his hand on Jason''s shoulder before his face lit up with a real smile. "She finally remembered to talk with me."

    Jason''s eyes slowly grew apart as he saw a red circle appear right outside the fence. On the count of ten, the circle got filled with symbols and started glowing at the center.

    With a sh bright enough to blind both Jason and Issac, the circle went off.

    "Looks like someone missed me dearly." While being blinded, Jason and Issac heard Risa''s voice. "I too missed you both but thanks to me going out, our family is bigger now. Jason, time to meet your younger brother and his parents."

 Chapter 10 Welcome Back

    Jason''s vision recovered after a few seconds. He was then able to see Risa right in front of him, a tired smile resting on her face.

    The red-head woman was tired after running around for two months. She had been surviving on bare minimum sleep and food for the past few weeks.

    In the end, the result was worth the effort.

    "Jason, meet Ray, your father''s younger brother and your uncle," Risa spoke while cing her hand on the shoulder of a young man in his mid-twenties.

    His hair was the same as hers, ming red. The two of them even shared the same eyes which made Jason wondered whether he was a younger gender-bent version of Risa.

    ''Looks like there are children and parents who do look alike.'' His eyes then fell on the woman standing beside Ray.

    [ As a reminder, that is your aunt so hold your horses. ]

    ''Easy for you to say and bruh, I wasn''t nning on doing anything.''

    [ That was just a reminder. ]

    The aunt was extremely beautiful, to say the least, and had red hair too. Her hair was a slightly darker shade, simr to blood. It went all the way down to her waist while being pulled behind her head.

    Her eyes were glinting ck like coal when it''s on the verge of burning. Jason did his best to not stare at her womanly spots and did slightly seed with some effort.

    He knew that he was a pervert but not someone who would fantasize about his family members. That would be disgusting.

    [ Phew, I was worried about nothing.Not only is the host aware of being a pervert but also knows where the line between disgusting and pervert lies. Now it should be clear to a few people what to expect. ]

    ''I will take that as apliment.'' Jason tried his best to prevent his face from twitching as he turned his attention to examine thest person present.

    It was a child, someone clearly around his age but younger. HIs figure was grabbing onto the woman''s right leg and hiding behind it while asionally peeking at Jason.

    "Nora, don''t act like that." The woman sighed as she bent down and picked him up. She then held him in her arms before looking at Jason. "I am Zara, Ray''s wife and this is our child, Nora who is also your younger brother"

    Nora seemed to share the tradition with his father and grandmother. He had the same red hair and green eyes yet his face came from his mother''s side.

    He looked like an innocent young child,pletely opposite of Jason who sometimes looked as though he was nning to take over the world.

    "H-Helloбн" Nora whispered in a barely audible voice, despite which he smiled and waved to his younger cousin.

    "Hello!"

    Nora suddenly hid his face in his mother''s chest. Jason nced over at Risa who just gave him a ''You will get used to it'' look.

    "We will continue this inside, folks. Thest thing I need is everyone staring at us." Risa then opened the gate in the fence and stepped inside, followed by Ray, Zara, and Nora.

    Jason walked to the back of the group as he saw Issac ring at his wife. Risa just red back and the two were locked in a ringpetition.

    Ray and Zara sighed simultaneously as if they had seen the same scene multiple times and were getting tired of it.

    ''If he is their son and she is their daughter-inw, of course, they have seen this multiple times. I wonder why they didn''t live with Issac and Risa.''

    Seeing all of them walking together, Jason realized for the first time that he was the only one without anyone walking beside him.

    [ At least you didn''t say alone. ]

    ''How can I forget you, my highly sarcastic system.''<sub> </sub>

    Jason then rushed forward and appeared in front of Risa and Issac. The two broke their ring contest to look at him,only to feel a bit guilty.

    "Now that I am back, I will bake a cake just for us." Risa suddenly said with a wink to which Jason winked back.

    The two were hardcore sweet tooths and the slightest mention of anything sweet perked their ears. Issac could only help and sigh as he wondered how his wife still hadn''t gotten diabetes.

    ''Wish I could be a healer like her.'' He sighed before picking Jason up by the waist and ruffling his hair.

    Issac knew that he would have to soon tell Risa about what happened while she was gone. He had already managed to get the entire house repaired so no evidence was left but Issac knew that Risa would know about it sooner orter.

    ''I guess I won''t be the mood spoiler. Happiness doesn''tst forever anyway so I should enjoy this time too.''

    Issac then ruffled Jason''s hair once again as the child quickly tickled him. Both of them startedughing which made Risa giggle and look at least significantly younger.

    Ray seemed surprised to see both his mother and fatherughing and smiling like that. It had been a few years since he had seen them do anything like that.

    ''I wonder if he inherited Michael''s ability to make a room lively? however, his ways might be a bitбн.'' Ray couldn''t help but look at Jason. He wished that his father and brother''s genes didn''t make Jason like them too.

    The entire family entered the manor and sat down at the dining table. It covered the entire room and had chairs for ten people. Issac and Risa sat beside each other while Jason was on his grandmother''sp.

    Zara and Ray took the chairs across each other. The room was awkwardly silent and no one said a single word for a few minutes.

    "W-what is your name?" Nora broke the silence while stuttering a bit as he looked at Jason.

    "Jason," He replied with a big smile. "You can call me big brother if you want."

    "Big brotherбн" Nora then lifted his head to look at his mother''s face. "Big brother is someone older than me but now by that much?"

    "Big brother is someone not only older than you but someone who also cares about you and that you look up to," Ray replied from the side with a sad smile as he looked at Isaac. "Just like mine was."

    The silence once again descended on the ce as Nora was the only one who didn''t know what was being talked about. He could only stare from one face to another helplessly.

    "So, what is the reason for you to be back?" Issac asked as his expressions suddenly got masked. He maintained a full poker face and so did Risa.

    Ray could only sigh in dismay before looking over at Nora.

    "Originally, I was nning on sending Nora here but after I saw mother, I decided that both me and Zara shoulde back too. That was why it took an extra month to shake off all those following us.

    They will definitelye here in a few years, maybe when Nora turns ten.We will have to fight them then, with or without your help. But in all honesty, I missed this ce and you both."

    Ray''s eyes were gleaming with honesty as Issac and Risa both took deep breaths.

    "Jason, please climb down," Risa whispered in Jason''s ears as he slid down herp and let her stand.

    "The next time you think of leaving, I will tie you up," Issac said in a cold voice as he stepped closer to Ray and put his right hand on his head, albeit with too much force.

    "And I will blind you so you can''t see anything," Risa added while mming her hand on top of Issac''s.

    Ray''s face twitched a little but he didn''t say or do anything. His parents removed their hands a few secondster but they ruffled his hair before doing that.

    "Wee back," Issac said as he and Risa moved to the kitchen. "We will be back with the food shortly."

 Chapter 11 It Runs In The Family

    Time passed by in this manner and Jason got more familiar with his family.

    Ray and Zara had left the manor three years ago, three months after his mother had gotten pregnant. Although they stayed in contact, they didn''tmunicate much.

    Zara too had gotten pregnant shortly after, however, it turned out that she wasn''t a human. Zara was a demi-human and her pregnancysted for an entire year making Nora six months younger than him.

    Jason hadn''t been told about it directly and instead heard it in the passing conversation.

    Nora on the other hand slowly opened up to the new environment and the three new people he met.

    Mostly, he would trail behind Jason to see what his big brother was doing.

    Jason wasn''t too worried about Nora following him as he was harmless in every single way possible. However, he was salty about the fact that Nora could talk and had started walking earlier than him.

    "Demi-humans develop a bit faster than us normal humans. If human babies start walking once they turn a year old, demi-human babies start walking when they are 6 to 8 months old.

    If human babies start speaking meaningfully while at least two years old, demi-human babies can speak while being one year and four months or so."

    After Risa''s exnation, Jason wondered what else could Nora do faster than him. Risa however said that these differences onlysted till they turned five.

    In this manner, Jason''s third birthday came and went by.

    Although he no longer got any points from drinking milk, the system reassured him that there would be more quests that would allow him to do so.

    [ Just wait patiently. It''s not like you are dying now. ]

    ''I might have cancer or something else so I have no idea.''

    [ ..бн ]

    бк

    2 YEARS LATER

    бк

    So today is the day you get to see what kind of affinity you have?" Nora asked in an excited voice as he and Jason were seated side by side at the dining table.

    "Mhm."

    Jason currently had a pastry stuffed in his mouth and could barely talk. Nora facepalmed at his big brother''s actions as he waited for him to finish eating.

    "Well, my birthday starts when the clock hits midnight so that will happen in two hours," Jason replied as he stood up and took his te to the kitchen before putting it down in the sink. "So yeah."

    Inparison to Jason''s attitude, Nora was the one who looked more excited. He was genuinely waiting to see what his big brother would get since he was a half-demon.

    "Nora, your birthday is still six months away. Save some excitement for it." Zara called out with a smile as she was the one clearing the dishes.

    Instead of using her hands, she was just doing everything using her index finger and wind element. The wind would easily clean the dirty dishes while Zara would heat it up to kill any germs growing on them.

    Compared to what Jason had expected, his new world was more modern in regards to things like germs, infections, etc. Though due to magic, the concept of science wasn''t as researched, so it was less advanced.

    [ Do you want to make a bet with me host? ]

    The system''s voice echoed inside Jason''s head as he went back and sat at the table. Issac, Ray, and Risa were out hunting to catch beasts to eat and fish to catch.

    Nighttime was good for hunting since many beasts expected humans to not enter the forest but that''s when the trio nned to strike.

    The person staying back would change every week, that is the one babysitting the kids would change every week. If not, the one doing it would have been bored to death.

    ''Depends on what the bet is.''

    [ Let''s bet whether you get one of the four basic elements. I bet that you will get all four of them. ]

    ''And here I thought that you knew about that.''

    [ Of course I don''t know about that. ]

    ''So much for an all knowing system.'' Jason replied while smiling as the system politely decided to ignore his reply.

    Neither of the two knew much about the elements or magic except for the things Issac had taught them.

    There were four basic elements that almost every person with mana could use for small tasks like lighting a fire or watering the nts.

    They were none other than fire, water, wind, and earth. Both Jason and the system knew that there would be other elements and had a few ideas about them too.

    But since they didn''t have any confirmation, they decided to keep their ideas to themselves.

    At five years of age, a person got to know what element they had an affinity with and could use skills and spells of.

    ''Then I bet against you. If you lose, I get ten system points.''

    [ Challenge epted. ]

    < A new quest has been generated! >

    ---

    < A Normal Bet ><sub> </sub>

    - The system and host have a bet with the system being in favor of the bet and the host being opposite of it.

    Reward: 10 system points

    Penalty: The system''s voice will sound as though it''sing from a loudspeaker for an hour.

    Time limit: none

    ---

    ''That''s an overkill for a penalty.'' Jason thought while epting the quest.

    He then started talking with Nora about what they would do after unlocking their elements and how they would use them.

    Soon enough, the members of the Syrward family came back and sat on the dining table to eat.

    For an hour, the entire family sat together at the table and ate their food.

    "In exactly an hour, you''ll be five years old Jason. Most people only awaken their mana at this age and get to know the element of their mana," Issac paused to look at Jason''s face to see that he was listening attentively.

    "But you already developed yours when you were born so you will only unlock your affinity. In the morning, I will exin everything you need to know about the elements."

    "I will be waiting then," Jason replied.

    The family continued to talk idly yet none of them seemed interested in the topics they were talking about.

    Their attention was instead focused on when the clock that hung a few meters away would strike midnight.

    Surprisingly, the calendar and time worked almost the same way as that on Earth. The only difference being the months named differently and leap years not existing.

    Ten minutes before midnight, the four adults of the family stood up and looked at Jason.

    "Follow me," Issac said while making his way to a section of the house which Jason and the other family members visited almost every day.

    It was the shoe rack at the entrance of the house where all the shoes were kept.

    No sooner did everyone arrive than Issac pushed the shoe rack away with his hands and the wooden objectplied easily.

    Isaac then went down and lifted the carpet to look at the wooden floor.

    "Open," Issac muttered while lifting his right thumb to his mouth and biting it.

    He then dropped his red blood down on the wooden floor and the entire house started to shake.

    A few minutester, a shining metal door about ten feet big appeared in the ce where the rack had been.

    Issac bent down to pull the metal door open by its handle. It went down to reveal a set of stairs.

    The stairs led to the basement where he had been born. It was also the same ce where he had met his mother for the first time only to never see her again.

    Jason tore his gaze away from the basement and instead looked at the blue pendant hanging down his neck.

    That was the only thing he had received from her. No photo of his father or mother was present in the house yet he knew that photos did exist.

    [ I guess I will add that to the list of things you will do. Meet your parents. ]

    ''You forgot that my father is dead?''

    [ Pfft. After reading that many novels, you should at least know that the dead aren''t dead half the time. ]

    ''Whateverбн''

    Jason then turned his gaze up to look at Issac who had a smile back on his face.

    "Sooo, I guess all of you know what is going to happen next?" He asked, his smile converting into a devilish grin.

    "All four basic elements." Zara dered while looking at Jason.

    "Nah, he will have lightning, wind, and maybe a light element." Ray countered as he too stared at Jason.

    The young boy wondered why his elements that were yet to be unlocked were being discussed by all of them.

    "We are betting to guess your element or elements. The one who is the most far off will have to look after both of you for a month," Risa exined to the kids before cing her bet. "Lightning element only but a perfect grade one."

    Jason didn''t know what to say as he looked at Issac, the only one who hadn''t betted yet.

    "Don''t give us that look. Gambling is fun and it runs in the family so you might get this urge in the future too," Issac said only to see both of his grandsons along with the other three giving him judging looks. "Also, my bet is thunder."

    ""As if!""

    Zara, Ray, and Risa chorused, making Issac chuckle. He just gave them a ''You will see'' look before bending down and sitting on his knees.

    He ced a hand on Jason''s shoulder before staring into his eyes with seriousness.

    "You better not make me lose orбн"

 Chapter 12 Good Luck, My Descendant

    After the betting session came to a halt, the entire Syrward family descended down the stairs.The basement was exactly how Jason, Zara and Ray remembered it.

    A room the size of a basketball court with a in white bed having enough space to fit five to six people is positioned in the middle.

    "Jason, stand in the center of the room," Issac ordered before stepping back. "All of you, go around and stick to the corners of the room."

    Everyone followed what they were told as Jason remained standing in the middle of the room. He was both excited and nervous about knowing his elements.

    [ Everything will be alright, host. ]

    ''Are you sure?''

    [ I thinkбн ]

    A sigh escaped Jason''s lips as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in both of his eyes. It was as though someone had just rubbed chili powder into his eyes.

    The clock struck midnight the next minute as tears started forming in the corners of his eyes making his vision blurry.

    Through his blurred vision, Jason saw the anxious expressions of his grandparents. Risa gave him an encouraging nod as he managed to survive through the pain.

    A few secondster, he saw ck mist appearing in every corner of the room.

    [ Only you can see it, host. ] The system informed before going silent again.

    The ck mist slowly started gathering in front of his chest. However, he noticed that there was another hidden mist inside the ck colored one.

    Jason had no idea how he managed to see that through his blurred vision yet it was clear that there was another color of mist hidden in the first one.

    The hidden mist was white as it seemed to be merging with the ck one.

    Both the mists formed a sphere in front of Jason''s chest before passing directly into his body.

    ---

    < Dark element has been acquired >

    < Dark mage job ss has been acquired.

    To unlock the job ss, learn how to control dark element. >

    ---

    System notifications rang inside Jason''s head but they didn''t end there.

    ---

    < Light element has been acquired. >

    < Light mage job ss has been acquired.

    To unlock the job ss, learn how to control the light element. >

    ---

    After the entire sphere of energy had vanished and Jason had read all the system notifications, the system finally spoke up.

    [ You won the bet, host. ]

    < Quest: A Normal Bet has beenpleted. >

    < 10 system points awarded. >

    < Total system points: 432 >

    "Jason, do you feel something strange inside your body?" Issac asked while taking a step towards his grandson.

    Only he and Risa had been able to see a glimpse of the sphere that had appeared in front of Jason.

    Judging from that, all the family members had lost the bet but Issac no longer cared about that.

    He had been told that noble demons went through a special thing once they turned five. Despite being a half-demon, Jason still fell into that category which made him anxious.

    "No, I am all riбн" Jason''s voice suddenly trailed off as he felt the sharp pain return.

    This time, everyone present in the room could see his right eye glowing red. The glow started to brighten before all of a sudden, Jason vanished.

    Nobody moved from their spots. They werepletely still as they had been frozen by what had taken ce.

    ''Jason, please don''t die.'' Risa prayed inside her head, hoping that her grandchild would remain safe.

    She had heard Astryn exining a few things to her which had worried her too. But she could only wait to see the ou.

    "We can only wait now." Issac spoke her thoughts aloud while tightly clenching his fist.

    Hopefully, Jason will return alive.

    ***

    Meanwhileбн

    ''Beautiful.'' In front of Jason was a garden full of different kinds of flowers.

    Although he didn''t know the name of half of these flowers yet the entire ce was extremely beautiful.

    Like the calm before the storm, winds started blowing all around the garden. Jason''s hair was ruffled by the blowing wind as he looked around with slightly narrowed eyes.

    Knowing that something was wrong, Jason tore his gaze away from the beauty of the ce and looked around.<sub> </sub>

    "Nice day, isn''t it?"

    Jason suddenly jumped to the side as he heard a man speak behind him

    He turned around only to meet the gaze of a man wearing a coat.

    The man had silky ck hair and blood red eyes. He had the aura of a high ss person or a noble surrounding him. His clothes matched his aura too.

    ck trousers and a white shirt alongside a knee length velvet coat.

    The coat had a symbol etched on it yet Jason couldn''t understand what it symbolized. All he could see was a ck diamond and a red drop falling on it.

    [ It''s a drop of blood falling down on a stone. ] The system said before going quiet.

    Jason wanted to question what it meant but the man seemed to be staring at him. He knew that he couldn''t stay mum for long and decided to ask a question.

    "Who are you?" Jason asked the first question that entered his mind

    The man fell deep into thought before deciding to reply to Jason''s questions.

    "I have many names. The prince of darkness, the destroyer, the void user, the cmity bringer and what not," The man sighed. "However, my real name is Aiden."

    "Okбн My name is Jason." Jason then extended his hand towards the man who raised his  eyebrows with an interested expression.

    ''Been a long time since someone didn''t recognize me despite hearing my name.'' Aiden thought while shaking the boy''s hand. ''He is also not a pure demon but a human and demon hybrid. Interesting.

    DING!!

    The moment their fingers touched, a sound echoed inside their minds, surprising both Aiden and Jason.

    [ A fellow system holder has been detected. ]

    Aiden blinked for a few seconds before suddenly startedughing as he looked at Jason in a new light.

    He couldn''t believe that he was meeting someone like Jason despite having seen countless noble prodigies.

    ''I wonder which family he belongs to.'' Aiden thought curiously as he noticed that Jason was on the verge of asking a question.

    "Except that message, you can ask me anything you want." Aiden intercepted with a wink, making Jason widen his eyes.

    [ He has a system tooбн ] Albeit a bitte, the system finally expressed its shock at what it had seen.

    ''Tell me something I don''t already know.''

    [ But I only know what youбн I will go research a bit. ]

    "What is this ce?" Jason barely managed to prevent himself from rolling his eyes.

    "This ce is called the Garden of Myths but that''s just a myth. This is just the domain where I am stuck for eternity."

    "Eh?" Jason didn''t understand half the things Aiden had spoken yet thetter didn''t seem too interested in exining more.

    "Don''t hurt your brain thinking too much about this." Aiden then turned his head towards the northern direction as though anticipating someone''s arrival. "Jason, what elements did you awaken?"

    "Dark andбн" Jason hesitated for a few seconds before revealing his second element. "Light."

    He didn''t know why he had told Aiden his elements yet there was something they had told him that it was the right thing.

    Perhaps it was his intuition or just someone pulling the strings.

    Aiden suddenly startedughing for the second time when he heard the two elements the child had unlocked.

    He had sensed that Jason had a dark element but never could he have expected the child to possess a light element as well.

    It almost reminded him of what happened in the past which cut hisughter short.

    "Ha, sorry for that," Aiden said while wiping tears off his cheek. "Looks like you are a member of a family directly descended by me. Do you know thest name of your demon parent?"

    Jason shook his head at that since he had no idea what his mother''sst name was. However, Aiden had already expected this to happen.

    Looking at the child, Aiden couldn''t help but feel that something about him would change the world. Maybe because he had a system or the fact that he reminded him of the past бн

    ''To think that someone like him would appear thousands of yearsterбн'' He thought before bending down on the ground so that he could directly look into Jason''s eyes.

    "Jason, can you promise me one thing?"

    "Depends on the promise." All of Jason''s senses were screaming that he should get away immediately yet he maintained his stand.

    Hearing his reply, a smile appeared on Aiden''s face.

    "Whatever you do, never reveal to anyone that you have those two elements. I guess the people living with you will tell you this sooner orter but still, don''t tell anyone about it."

    "Why?"

    "Because there is a reason light and dark are not supposed to meddle together." Aiden stood up and stared at the distance once again. "Looks like my time with you is about to end. Whatever you do, do not attack it with your own attacks."

    "What?" Jason asked with a confused look as Aiden shook his head.

    "Good luck, my descendant." Just like the way he had appeared, Aiden vanished from his ce.

    Seconds after he vanished, a howl echoed through the entire ce as the hair of Jason''s back stood up.

    He turned to look towards the north and what he saw was enough to send shivers running down his spine.

 Chapter 13 Repel!

    Standing in the distance was a wolf about the size of a tank. A thick coat of silver fur was gleaming on its body alongside split pupils, lightning yellow eyes. There was a five feet (152 cm) horn protruding from its forehead.

    When the wolf felt Jason''s gaze on its body, it suddenly jumped forward and soared through the air.

    Jason realized that the wolf was aiming for him and immediately started running as though his life depended on it.

    Well it probably did.

    ''System, what are the chances of me defeating that thing?'' Jason asked while gasping for breath.

    Running while being a child wasn''t fun at all, especially when a big wolf was chasing you for no apparent reason.

    [ 0% percent ] The system replied in a monotone voice.

    Excellentбн

    ''You could have at least softened the blow by saying something like 0.1 percent!'' Jason cried as he felt the ground tremble.

    THUD!

    The wolf suddenlynded on the ground creating a huge crater.

    Seeing that Jason had managed to put some distance between them, it opened its mouth and released a screeching howl that solidified into a sound wave attack.

    The attack moved forward at the speed of sound and destroyed everything in its path.

    Jason thought about dodging the attack by running in another direction but he had a feeling that he would be dead before he could put some distance between him and the attack.

    In the end, he barely evaded it by using the simplest and most adequate method for a child his age.

    He sank to the ground.

    It was at that moment that he was thankful for his short height. However, his chances of being able to defeat the wolf were still non-existent.

    ---

    < Confusion (0/5) >

    50 mana

    - Releases a curse that can confuse the enemy for 3/5/8 seconds randomly.

    - Confused targets will not be able to tell allies from foes and might deal self-damage.

    ---

    < Repel (0/10) >

    80 mana

    - Releases an energy st to repel a portion of the iing attack back at the user.

    - Only works on the four basic elements.

    Repelled portion: 5% >

    ---

    ''Run Jason, run!'' While running, Jason nced over his skills. He could try using either of them but there was no guarantee that the attack would do anything to the wolf.

    The 5% especially looked gloomy to him.

    All of a sudden, the hair on his back stood up as the wolf released another howl.

    "Aooo!"

    Five wolves that looked exactly like the big wolf appeared in front of it. All of them were the same size as Jason, just a bit smaller.

    This marked them as cubs considering the fact how huge the big wolf was.

    < A new quest has been assigned! >

    ---

    < Child Versus Wild >

    - Defeat the five baby wolves to show them that a human doesn''t give up that easily.

    Reward: 10 system points per wolf killed.

    Failure in doing so will get you killed by the wolves.

    Time limit: б▐

    ---

    Jason immediately epted the quest while knowing that he couldn''t possibly win something like this.

    His only hope of winning against the five cubs was repel and confusion and to make sure he had a chance, Jason decided to max out the skills.

    < 15 system points have been deducted. >

    ---

    Skills tree:

    < Confusion (maxed skill) >

    100 mana

    - Releases a curse that can confuse the enemy for 5/8/11 seconds randomly.

    - Confused targets will not be able to tell allies from foes and might deal self-damage.

    ---

    < Repel (Maxed Skill) >

    150 mana

    - Releases the dark element to repel a portion of the iing attack back at the user.

    - Only works on the four basic elements.

    Repelled portion: 20% >

    ---

    As soon as he maxed out the skill, Jason saw his progress bar move up to ten, indicating that his job ss leveled up to 2.

    He gained 5 points per level but he didn''t have the time to enjoy that.

    The big wolf howled once again as all five of the wolf cubs charged toward Jason. He could easily tell that they thought of him as prey, making it the only advantage he had.<sub> </sub>

    He would use their ignorance to the fullest and only then could he survive.

    ''Come on, use some skill attack. Don''t juste and casually bite my head off.''

    Jason soon realized that standing still would lead to physical contact as a result of which he would immediately die.

    So instead, he decided to run away while looking back. If the wolves didn''t attack him using a skill or spell, he was going to have some major problems.

    ''Hopefully, they fall for my acting and I can defeat them before I run out of mana.''

    Jason''s n was to act scared before breaking down and letting the cubs attack him, thinking that he had given up.

    His n depended a lot on his mana pool which had increased considerably after he had unlocked his elements which had somehow affected his HP too.

    ''Yes!'' Jason finally felt that he could win the fight as he saw that wolves had suddenly slowed down their moment speed.

    They decided to demonstrate the attack shown by the big wolf in hopes of showing off.

    They shot five airwaves from their mouths as they shot moving in Jason''s direction. Their size was half of Jason''s body size which made him a lot more confident in approaching the attacks.

    "Repel!"

    "Repel!"

    "Repel!"

    "Repel!"

    "Repel!"

    He spammed the Repel skill five times as one of the five waves moved back towards the wolves.

    As he used this skill, Jason learned that he could actually choose where he wanted to repel the damage to and even use it push all of the attacks at once.

    He chose the wolf on the leftmost side and pushed all of thebined damage onto it, immediately rolled away as the wolf who was hit by the attack cried in pain.

    The total damage he had reflected back was 100%, making it as strong as one of the airwaves the wolves hadunched originally.

    And judging from the wounds and the cries of pain, the damage Jason had caused was significant.

    ''To think that they were about to blow me with five of such attacks.'' Jason had spent 750 mana on his attacks and only managed to heavily wound one of the wolves.

    He had also managed to dodge the attacks by doing awkward anime poses which somehow worked effectively.

    [ Host, the big wolf will still be there even after you defeat the cubs. ] The system suddenly reminded him as it kept a check on the movement of the big wolf.

    ''I know.''

    On cue, the big wolf in the distance released another howl and the five cubs did the same. Now, five smaller waves followed by an extremely big wave were traveling towards Jason.

    Jason realized that the waves had trapped him and he would have to face one of them head-on or all of them would hit him.

    ''But what if Iбн'' He began thinking and cut the thought midway as the attacks were getting too close to him.

    Instead of running away in the other direction, Jason started moving forward. Though he felt like a fool while doing it, he felt that there was no other way for him to survive.

    ''Here goes nothing.'' Jason took a deep breath as he took one of the airwaves head-on.

    The attack hit him squarely in the stomach and pushed him back. While gritting his teeth, Jason saw that the attack had taken half of his health points.

    However, it allowed him to proceed to the next step.

    "Repel!"

    The five wolf cubs soon realized that something was wrong as Jason threw the big wolf''s attack in their direction.

    It hit all of them at once since Jason had spread the attack. But even such a smaller version of the original attack was enough to throw them several hundreds of meters back.

    The moment their bodies stopped drifting backwards, Jason saw that the five wolves were lyingpletely still on the ground.

    All of them had died from the single attack.

    Jason sessfullypleted the quest and gained fifty points from killing the wolves but the danger was far from over.

    An enraged look was visible on the big wolf''s face as it raised its head and howled towards the sky. Suddenly, dark clouds started appearing all over the starry sky and covered it to the brim.

    Thunder struck as the dark clouds gathered above Jason''s head. The horn on the wolf''s forehead started glowing the same shade as its eyes as waves of power leaked out from it.

    A purple lightning bolt shot out from the tip of the horn and traveled towards the sky. The clouds rumbled once as Jason saw lightning coursing in them.

    If he was going to face that attack, he might as welly on the ground and wait for the lightning to strike his body.

    ''I wonder if dying as a virgin twice can gain me some favors from the god or goddess of virginity.'' Jason wondered while sitting cross-legged on the ground.

    [ Despite the situation we are in, why are you thinking of that. ]

    ''Well, it''s not like I am going to survive this.'' Jason replied with a shrug.

    He had already epted his fate so the only thing he could do was sit on the ground and raise his hands.

    He pointed the middle finger on his left hand towards the sky while pointing the middle finger of his other hand towards the wolf.

    His act of disrespect might make some low level god furious since he was technically pointing towards the heave.

    Perhaps, they would strike him in some other painful way and kill him before the wolf could.

    "Aoooo!" Hearing the howl, all the hair on Jason''s body stood up as the clouds rumbled once again.

    The entire sky was illuminated as a purple lightning bolt shot towards Jason''s body.

    ''Holy sh*t, that''s sorge. I think that''s the biggest and thickest thing I have ever seen.'' Jason then realized something. ''That could have a double meaningбн''

    [ Hostбн ]

    BOOM!

    Jason smiled bitterly and closed his eyes as the bolt of lightning hit his body.

    He felt no pain.

    ''Huh?'' Jason opened his eyes to see that he was bathed in lightning and was glowing purple. It even seemed to obey hismand and move around the way he ordered it.

    Unknown to him, the pendant on his neck was slowly sucking all the lightning inside the blue gem. A few momentster, Jason''s entire body returned to normal as a system notification appeared in front of him.

    < Pure lightning has been consumed. >

    < Thunder Mage job ss has been unlocked. >

    "Ehhhh?!"

 Chapter 14 Thunder And Lightning

    < Thunder Mage: A person with the power of wielding raw lightning and having lightning traveling through their veins.

    - Can consume natural lightning to convert into progression points. >

    Skill tree:

    < Lightning Bolt (Maxed Skill) >

    200 mana

    - Summon a bolt of lightning.

    ---

    < Lightning Reflexes: 1 / 5>

    Passive skill (Can be turned on or off)

    - Decreases the time taken to react by an entire second while increasing normal speed by 3%

    ---

    Alongside the job ss, Jason also got two new skills. He then looked at the wolf curiously as he raised his right hand.

    "Lightning bolt!"

    A crackling sound went through the air as a purple lightning bolt appeared in Jason''s hand.

    Staring at the raw lightning, he threw it toward the wolf wondering whether his puny attack could do anything to someone who had hit him with a lightning bolt the size of three telephone polesbined.

    The result was even more disappointing than what he had expected as the lightning bolt moved towards the horn and was absorbed by it.

    However, he could let it go considering that he had gained a new job ss and two new moves.

    Though it wasn''t going to give him the power to beat a beast as dangerous as the wolf.

    ''I wonder when the wolf will start taking me seriously and go all out.'' Jason knew that the wolf had only been ying with him and if provoked, could deal some serious damage.

    Furthermore, Jason would run out of mana just after a few moves.

    ''If I can''t win, I should look for somece to hide and try to escape.

    As soon as the thought entered his mind, the wolf suddenly froze in its ce. Jason''s body started fading before he vanished.

    The wolf raised its head towards the sky, only to see Aiden grinning down at it.

    "He has potential toбн"

    -----

    At the Syrward family residenceбн

    Jason appeared inside the same room again as he patted his body to make sure everything was still the same.

    He then looked around to see Issac sitting on the bed anxiously.

    The moment Jason appeared, he immediately stood up from the bed and approached Jason while hugging him and ruffled his hair.

    "I knew that you would survive!" Issac''s smile was bright enough blind a person. He then gestured for Jason to sit on the bed before doing the same thing himself.

    The grandpa-grandson pair then stared at each other before Issac asked an important question.

    "What happened?"

    "I-" Jason started to talk about what happened but no sound came out of his mouth. He tried it once again, however, the results didn''t change.

    [ You- ] The system began exining but was cut short by Issac.

    "Don''t try again," Issac sighed as he realized what was wrong. "Most likely, you can''t tell the details of whatever you went through to another person.<sub> </sub>

    Jason nodded before he tried something else and surprisingly it worked. He then told his grandpa about the fight with the wolves and how he had been struck by lightning.

    "Jason, are you a ghost now?" Issac asked while touching his grandson''s hand to find that he was very much alive.

    Jason rolled his eyes at Issac''s behavior before he continued on.

    "Soбн this means that you can now control lightning as well," Issac muttered as he fell into deep thinking.

    Jason had obviously omitted the part of having a system for the time being. Though he might tell his family about it in the future, he had no ns of doing it anytime soon.

    "However, what you experienced means that you are a Thunder Mage," Jason suddenly froze when he heard Issac''s words. "Only then could you have survived that blow. Seeing that you also have the dark element too, you are pretty strong already.

    "Shouldn''t I be a Lightning Mage?" Jason curiously asked as he recognized the proud tone his grandpa replied in.

    "A Lightning Mage is someone who can only use mana to generate lightning." Issac then lifted his right hand as sparks of purple lightning appeared around his fingers. "Thunder mages are much stronger as they have a purer version of lightning inside them. Andбн"

    "And?"

    "I will tell you the rest after judging your skills."

    Jason then sighed at his grandfather''s words before he remembered that it was time for him to learn everything about mana and such things.

    "Grandpa, it''s time for you to uphold your promise."

    "For now, sleep or else your grandmother will scold both of us. Though I promise that I will tell you in the morning." Issac replied as Jason nodded andid down on the bed.

    "Goodnight, grandpa."

    "Goodnight, Jason."

    Momentster, Jason was sleeping soundly on the bed while Issac looked over him.

    He then stood up from the bed and exited the room. Issac then started making his way towards the door and exited the house.

    Duphia was a ce that was situated very close to a beast forest. The founders of the city had carved a path between the forest to travel between Duphia and other ces.

    ''Now that I think about that, I am actually a Baron and Duphia is a Barony. Well, a Barony is still better than a Fief in name.''

    Even though Duphia was a barony, its status was simr to the level of a Fief. Issac was called a baron on paper but his status was that of a mere lord too.

    ''Well, not like I wanted to meddle with nobility either way.'' After going outside the gate of Duphia, Issac ventured into the forest before stopping randomly.

    He then lifted his right hand towards the sky and closed his eyes. His expression turnedpletely serious as a crackling sound resounded throughout the forest.

    "If only he knew the true power of thunder," Pure white lightning appeared around Issac''s body as he opened his eyes and raised his hand towards the sky. "Thunder God''s Wrath!"

    A five-meter-tall thunderbolt emerged from his hand as it shot towards the sky. Suddenly, the thunderbolt stopped mid-air before bursting into hundreds of thunderbolts of the same size.

    Lightning in itself was something to fear however, Thunder was on an entirely different level. It was just not a mere sound but it was something more dangerous than that.

    Issac had this power with him since the moment he was born. He had even been hailed as a prodigy, a prodigy who had thrown away everything he had.

    ''I wonder what your future will hold Jason.'' Issac thought as the thunderbolts in the sky vanished.

    Issac wanted to test a few more things but decided against it. He didn''t want the residents of Duphia to wake up to a thunderstorm.

    The old man then walked back to his house and saw the time. Morning would soon arrive and he didn''t have a wink of sleep.

    ''But I guess a few hours of sleep is better than none.'' Issac sighed before he walked up to his room to see Risa peacefully sleeping on the bed.

    He looked at her sleeping face for a few seconds before lying beside her and closing his eyes. A few minutester, he too was sound asleep.

    That night, no one had realized that Issac had created an entire thunderstorm worth of thunderbolts before making them vanish.

    As for Jason, he was peacefully sleeping,pletely unaware of the dangers that were brewing in another corner of the worldбн Obviously.

 Chapter 15 A Young Troublemaker

    On the Northern continentбн

    ""F*ck!""

    Astryn and Fel suddenly sat up straight on their bed as they felt their heart rate shoot up. Their eyes suddenly started glowing, a trait belonging to noble demons when they experienced an abnormality or were using their true powers.

    Both of them looked at each other before climbing down the bed. They had just sensed an abnormality and there was only one person who could''ve caused it.

    "I knew that their genes were going to be trouble for us," Fel cursed as he hurriedly wore his clothes. "Now that Jason awakened his elements while managing to cause a ruckus, the others are definitely going to send someone to the Southern continent to investigate."

    Both Astryn and Fel knew that all the other high-ss nobles had sensed the same thing they had.

    Their special ability allowed them to see changes in power caused by demons.

    Whenever a demon would make a huge breakthrough or achieve something important, all the nobles would be notified of it.

    "It''s technically our fault that they were notified of him," Astryn pointed out as she finished wearing her knee-length dress. "The same thing happened with Astryn."

    "Don''t remind me of that," Fel grumbled as he bit his thumb and dropped his blood down on the ground.

    A red circle appeared inside the room as Fel vanished with a bright sh of light. Astryn did the same thing as her husband and vanished from her room.

    Her grandchild was in trouble.

    ***

    [HOST, WAKE UP! ] The system shouted as Jason''s eyes immediately flew open. He heard Issac''s snoring enter his ears as he sat straight.

    That was when he was met face to face with a pair of glowing ck eyes. Jason instinctively yelped which made Issac open his eyes with azy expression.

    However, the gray-haired man suddenly sat up when he realized who the eyes belonged.

    "Astryn, it''s not a good idea to prank someone at 3 in the morning..." Issac grumbled as a woman stepped forward.

    Jason''s jaw dropped when he saw how beautiful the woman was.

    She looked as though she was in her early twenties and was wearing a blue dress that brushed her lower thighs. It was slit at the knee and perfectly highlighted her womanly curves.

    [ She is your maternal grandmother, hostбн ] The system was trying hard to notugh at Jason''s reaction when he learned that the young woman was actually old enough to be his grandmother.

    "Good to know that you are so active and ready to fight an ambush, Issac," Astryn said sarcastically. "Now stand up and get Risa here."

    "You better exin what you are doing here at this time or I will throw thunder at you." Issac then vanished from his spot with a crackling sound.

    Astryn and Jason were left in the room alone as he stared above at his grandmother''s face.

    Astryn''s expressions softened down when she saw the little child look at her with curiosity.

    She felt bad about how she had scared the child but in her defense, Astryn had never expected Jason to wake up.

    ''Good to know that he would have woken Issac up in case something bad happened.''

    "Hello, Jason. My name is Astryn and I am the mother of your mother, making me your grandmother." Astryn smiled before bending down and extending her hand forward.

    Jason stared at the hand for a few seconds before shaking it. A small shock passed through their hands, making Astryn''s smile widen.

    However, it didn''tst for long as Issac returned with Risa, Ray, and Zara.

    Astryn was stunned for a few seconds as she saw the couple together. She gave Risa a long look as the red-head woman just shrugged and mouthed "I will tell youter".<sub> </sub>

    "Jason went through something known as a noble evaluation test where the young demons appear in a garden and they fight a small wolf cub.

    Most of them can''t kill it but the few who do are considered extremely talented or have abnormalities.

    Noble demons can sense when that happens and the signal varies from time to time. Jason managed to send a signal strong enough to mark him as one of the most talented among young demons."

    Astryn finished as all eyes turned to Jason.

    The child looked at them with a confused tone, acting naive. Jason knew that if he told them that he understood what they meant, they would give him even weirder looks.

    [ I wonder how they will react if they heard you fought five wolves and defeated them all. ]

    ''I hope grandpa keeps his mouth shut about that.''

    Jason regretted telling his grandpa the truth about the fight but Issac knew how to keep his mouth shut. The old man just gave Jason an encouraging look before looking back at Astryn.

    "That means that they must have sent some of their minions toe here and check who caused that fluctuation in energy. Fel must''ve gone to talk to the other family heads."

    "Yes, and that''s why we have to prepare for demons reaching this ce."

    "How much time do we have?" Risa asked while looking down at Jason. His expression had turned serious on the mention of demonsing to Duphia to check over him.

    This meant that there was a good chance that some of them might try to take him away by force since everyone wanted to have geniuses under their leash.

    "We have a few hours at least, a day at most. I will help strengthen your defenses but I can''t openly fight due to my position," Astryn paused as she red at the four adults. "Make sure that none of them escape and live to tell the tale."

    Astryn had decided to use some of her own powerful defense spells to make sure that none of the Syrward family members suffered anything fatal.

    Even though she wouldn''t be openly fighting, she would be on the lookout for possible runners.

    In every group formed by demons, there would be a single person who would run away with all the gathered information in case anything went wrong.

    They were the fastest in the group and extremely dangerous if not caught. That would be Astryn''s job when someone arrived.

    ''What a young troublemaker you are,'' Astryn thought while looking at Jason. ''Evelyn had mine and Fel''sst name protecting her but you will have to rely on your family''s powers. But then, they can do it if they want. This will prepare them for the future.''

    Astryn knew that Zara and Ray had a child too whose birthday was about to happen soon. She was one of the few who knew that Zara was a demi-human and who she truly was.

    Her child would have a hard life just like Jason''s. She couldn''t help but wonder why the Syrward family was full of such people.

    Jason, the cause of the entire incident, silently sat down on the bed.

    [ Host, what are you thinking? ] The system asked in a gentle tone.

    ''I am thinking about how I can help them. I killed a few soldiers during the war and that was enough for me to retch everything I had eaten. However, that gave me the experience and the guts to kill.''

    Jason then paused before taking a deep breath.

    ''I-''

    [ Don''t, ] The system interrupted before he could continue.

    [ You are no longer on Earth without anyone to rely on. Here, people love you and that''s why they are trying to protect you. So for once, ept someone''s help without thinking of paying them back. ]

    Jason was left stunned when he heard the system''s words. Every single one of them was true which made him sigh.

    ''You are right there. I will leave it to them.''

 Chapter 16 Never Underestimate Old People

    While Jason was sitting on the bed, Astryn roamed around the boundaries of the house. She had been doing this for three hours while carving something in the ground.

    Issac and Risa let her do whatever she wanted since they had their own problems to take care of.

    They went around the town and gathered the citizens before revealing to them that an army wasing to attack the town.

    Due to what Duphia had been through in the past, Issac and Risa had created a shelter for the citizens to hide in during times of emergency.

    Though the citizens were panicking, all of them were safely led to the shelter created five hundred meters away from the barony.

    It was an underground cepletely hidden from the eyes of living beings. Though it wasn''t perfect, it was better than just a hole in the ground.

    After making sure that the citizens were safe, Risa and Issac went separate ways to gather those who could fight. Even though it was a family matter, the old couple didn''t shy away from asking for help from others.

    Of course, they were going to pay them back with something to make sure that they didn''tin.

    The first ce that Issac visited was a shelter on the outskirts of the city, made from mud and wood. Sitting in the middle of the shelter was a bald man sitting in the middle of a herd of cows and goats. The man''s eyes were closed, making it seem as though he was sleeping.

    "Looks like you are done evacuating and need my help." The man suddenly spoke up as he heard Issac''s footsteps nearing him.

    "Yes, Karna, we need your help. Don''t worry, I willpensate you by going on that journey of finding the weapon you want so much." Issac replied while sighing as Karna''s ears perked up.

    (A/N: Read it as Car-an *cough*)

    The old man slowly stood up before stretching his body. He then opened his eyes and something unbelievable followed through.

    All the wrinkles on his face and body vanished, turning Karna into a handsome young man with dark brown hair and piercing orange eyes.

    "I will make sure you pay me correctly for making me use this form," Karna grumbled while stretching his body. "You better prepare your bones, old man."

    "If politeness equaled living time, you would''ve died in childhood." Issac retorted before the two of them went out of the shelter.

    Issac had to take one more person and he knew it was going to take some time.

    "Karna, be prepared to close your eyes," Issac suggested. "We will be going to get him out of his house."

    "For the sake ofбн" Karna cursed as he knew who Issac was talking of. "You should have asked him first."

    "If I die because of frustration, I am taking you down with me," Issac replied with a toothy grin as the two of them continued to argue the entire way.

    Risa on the other hand had some more luck and managed to get the two people along with her after some coaxing.

    p While the two grandparents were doing that, Jason was standing at the door of the manor while looking at Astryn do the work.</anda>

    From what he and the system managed to gather, she was inscribing some kind of runes all around the perimeter.

    "She is embedding defense runes all around the house. However, it takes a lot of patience and art." Ray suddenly spoke up from behind Jason as the two males continued to look at Astryn.

    ''Why do I feel that Ray and I look like perverts staring at a beautiful womanбн'' Jason mentally thought while looking at his uncle.

    [ You both are more focused on the runes so no problem. ]

    "Uncle, where did grandpa and grandma go?" Jason asked, hoping to divert his attention.

    "Well, they went to bring some of their old buddies to help us and to evacuate the citizens."

    "Are their friends old?"

    "Jason, I will tell you one thing that you should remember for the rest of your life," A smile appeared on Ray''s face.

    "Never underestimate old people, especially those belonging to Duphia. That way, you won''t be shocked when the time to fightes."

    "Okбн so they aren''t sacks of bonesбн" Jason was somehow able to understand what Ray was trying to convey.<sub> </sub>

    Ray nodded in appreciation as he was happy to see that his nephew at least had some brains at an early age aspared to his father.

    ''Michael, your wife definitely is one of the smartest in the world and she managed to pass on her genes to him.'' Ray thought with an amused look as he left Jason alone and went back inside the house.

    There were still a lot of things to do, including the transformation of Jason.

    ''I wonder how he will look with two fox ears on his head.'' Ray chuckled before going up the stairs.

    Jason continued to watch the rune work silently while his system tried to scan and understand it.

    [ It seems as though she is writing things using symbols and other things. It''s a whole newnguage. ]

    ''Can you understand what she is writing?''

    [ Sadly, I am not at that level. To understand what''s written in runes, you will first have to gain a job ss rted to it and then study and practice it. ]

    ''I seeбн Then please upgrade my ''lightning reflexes'' skill to the max.''

    < 4 System Points have been used. >

    Jason then looked at his progression bar as a smile appeared on his face. Both of his currently avable job sses were already at 10% progression.

    If things continued to go the way they were, he might be able to max them soon enough.

    [ Pfft, ] The system snorted. [ That''s because the current difficulty is at a very easy level. Once you don''t have skills to help you increase the progression of your job sses, what will you do? ]

    ''Try to receive enlightenment and hope I seed the first time?''

    [ Fair pointбн ]

    Jason then noticed that Astryn had stood up from the ground and the runes she had carved in the ground had long since vanished.

    "Looks like you have been observing everything carefully," Astryn said as she materialized in front of Jason.

    The young child jumped back in surprise. Astryn had just traveled the entire distance in the blink of an eye, making it look like teleportation.

    "How did you do that?" Jason asked with a slightly open mouth as Astryn chuckled.

    "I just used runes all around the house which will allow me to teleport here at will, no matter how far I am. Sadly, they onlyst for two months."

    "That''s amazingбн"

    "Indeed," Astryn said while smiling. "I will teach you how to do this once you grow a bit older and learn how to control your mana effectively."

    Jason nodded enthusiastically as his maternal grandmother affectionately tapped his forehead.

    However, her entire demeanor changed in a matter of milliseconds. The aura of a silent killer appeared around her body as she sensed many people entering the city of Duphia.

    The someones were none other than demons and Astryn could tell that they were only there for a certain reason.

    "Ray, Zara,e down!" She shouted before grabbing Jason''s hand and pulling him inside. She then closed the door and reinforced it to prevent being destroyed by attacks.

    Zara and Ray suddenly appeared at the base of the stairs with matching grim expressions. They knew that the demons had arrived in Duphia, otherwise there would be no reason for Astryn to shout.

    "Then I guess it''s about time I did it." Zara suddenly moved forward before bending down in front of Jason.

    She then ced her hand on top of Jason''s chest, right above his beating chest.

    "I hope you are prepared for this and if not, it''s toote."

 Chapter 17 Get Out Of My Hometown!

    A wave of shock traveled through every single part of Jason''s body as he visibly shuddered.

    < An unknown mana has entered the body. >

    < The mana has been processed and identified as the host''s aunt''s mana. >

    < Precautionary measures have failed. >

    Zara then closed her eyes before she focused the mana to travel through Jason''s body.

    It slowly started gathering near his heart as she concentrated the mana into a small cube beside Jason''s heart.

    "This should be enough." She muttered before standing up and looking down at Jason. "Please say ''transform'', Jason."

    "Transform." Jason did as told as the cube beside his heart suddenly expanded. A few secondster, the mana from the cube reached his head before pouring out.

    [ Host, you now have fox earsбн ]

    ''EH?!''

    Jason lifted his hands to his head before patting down his hair.

    He suddenly felt two fluffy earsing out of the top side of his head, making him stare at Zara for an exnation.

    "We are going to act that you are our firstborn child while Nora is our second-born child. Demi-humans, both half and full, get their ears at the age of five.

    Their tails then develop when they are ten years old. Those ears were necessary for you to y the part."

    Jason looked from Zara''s face to Ray''s to Astryn''s face. He could tell that they were trying not to smile at his behavior despite the situation they were in.

    "Now, you have to act dumb if they ask you any question you don''t understand. As for Nora, we will pretend that he is sleeping." Astryn exined before looking at the door with an anxious expression.

    At the same time, the system warned Jason that seven living beings had entered its sensory range and were quickly running towards the house.

    "Won''t they find it suspicious that no one is there in the city?" Jason asked aloud as Ray shook his head.

    "The entirety of Duphia stays inside their homes on Sundays and spend time with their families or do something alone. No one would suspect that all of the citizens have been evacuated."

    Jason sighed in relief as he was thankful for having his fifth birthday on Sunday. In this way, no one would ever suspect anything.

    He then kept track of the new guests with the help of the system and went on guard when a knock on the door was heard.

    *Just so you all know, I am invisible and will speak to you through this method.* Astryn spoke casually inside their minds as though it was an everyday thing for her.

    Ray nodded before he turned the doorknob open.

    Standing outside were seven men dressed in formal ck clothes and matching caps.

    The one who had rung the bell stood in the center of the group and gave Ray a small bow.

    "Are you by chance the Baron of thisnd?" The man asked in a polite voice, pointing his cap down a bit.

    Jason and the others immediately realized that the caps were there to hide the demons'' horns.

    This meant that they had released their true powers since a demon''s horns only appeared when they had released all of their power.

    It was clear that they weren''t there just to talk so Jason didn''t see any point in keeping his fox ears. Regardless, he kept them there.

    "I am afraid that might be my father, Issac. I am his son, Ray Syrward." Ray replied in the same polite tone. "How can I be of any help?"

    "Hmm, we were just wondering if you sensed any shift in the natural energy around the ce."

    "Natural energy? I am sorry but this barony doesn''t have spirit magic users so we can''t really sense changes in the natural energy."

    Both Jason and the system were left confused by the new terms being spoken but they didn''t have the time to ask for any exnation nor was it the right ce to do that.

    "I seeбн" The man replied as he brought his right hand to the top of his cap. "In that case, I am afraid that we might have to ask some more questions."

    *Ray!*

    "I know," Ray said with a smile as he stared at the seven men.

    They had released their auras in perfect synchronization which would have made most normal humans drop down on their knees.<sub> </sub>

    Contrary to that, Ray straightened up a bit as he raised his right hand and pointed out of the house.

    "If you want to y power-up, go do it outside. Get out of my home." Alongside the words, Ray flicked his index finger in the group''s direction.

    A swirling storm the size of a basketball was released from the tip of his index finger as it hit the group.

    The storm expanded in a matter of seconds and took them away.

    All of them started spinning with the storm before they were thrown away in random directions.

    Theynded in the garden around the manor as a symbol awakened below them. The next second, their bodies caught fire and died of spontaneousbustion.

    ''Uh system, please don''t think of such terms while watching the rune being activated. I don''t want to be reminded of science in a magical world.''

    [ Sorry. My bad. ]

    The system had been muttering a few words ever since the rune had been activated. Jason wouldn''t have minded it if not for the fact that most of them were scientific terms.

    ''It''s right though. They definitely died that way.'' Jason looked at the ashes sprayed across the part where the group had stood.

    The kill had been instant and quick which made Jason want to learn how to create runes himself.

    After all, who wouldn''t want to learn such things for protection as well as an assault?

    [ Good thing this ce doesn''t have mind readers or at least those who we know. ]

    ''Yeah.''

    Jason then saw Astryn appear in the same spot as she quickly carved the rune again before appearing back inside the house.

    In the process, she had also managed to make the ashes vanish, making it seem as though nothing had happened.

    *It''s just the beginning. The demons who just died were most likely test subjects. Though I have a feeling that we didn''t need to worry after all.*

    Astryn muttered as both she and the system suddenly sensed multiple demons approaching the house from different directions.

    She decided to y it safe and waited for all of the demons to reach the house.

    The moment all of them had stepped inside the fence, she used her runes and turned them into ashes.

    She continued this process until more than sixty demons had died.

    ''Are they testing the limits of the runes?'' A frown appeared on Astryn''s face as another group of demons appeared inside the fence.

    They kept appearing one after the other which made the entire thing look staged.

    Astryn decided to let the demons approach the house and ryed her thoughts to the other three.

    Zara, Jason, and Ray shared the same opinion as they waited for the group of demons to reach the house.

    However, the entire group vanished when they were just ten meters away from the house.

    Thousands of demons then appeared inside the fence at once as Astryn nodded her head slightly.

    ''So they were waiting to see when the runes would run out. If I kept on using the runes, I could have kept them running long enough for them to get suspicious.''

    Astryn slightly praised herself for thinking of that before telling the others that there was no need to worry.

    All the demons gathered outside weren''t exactly throwaways but they weren''t too far away from being called such.

    *I am sure only Ray alone could handle them. But I guess it was a good thing that I appeared here as a precaution.*

    Astryn was thinking of telling Issac that everything was fine but decided to let the old man do whatever he wanted.

    She instead focused her attention on the strongest demon in the mini army while trying to figure out which noble house he belonged to.

    "So what should we do now that we know they are all rather weak?" Zara asked while sighing as an idea suddenly appeared inside Astryn''s mind.

    *Until the time Issac shows up, why don''t you both do some target practice?*

 Chapter 18 Throwaway Character

    Zara and Ray stepped out of the house, leaving Jason and Astryn standing at the door.

    The husband-wife pair didn''t look the least bit bothered by the hundreds of demons gathered in their garden.

    All of them were wearing light battle armor, painted red and ck.

    Their horns were no longer hidden and rose high above their heads. Most of the horns were between two to three feet tall.

    However, the tallest horns were five feet tall and belonged to a man dressed casually in trousers and a white shirt.

    His horns were mostly ck with a slight shade of red on the tips. A smile rested on his face as he looked at the duo.

    "So you are the ones I have heard so many rumors about," The man spoke while cracking his knuckles and whistling. "You do have good taste in women, humans."

    *Huh, I don''t even know this demon''s name. I don''t think that he even belongs to a noble family. You might kill him identally while sneezing too hard.*

    Hearing Astryn''s words, Zara and Ray couldn''t help but chuckle a bit.

    This seemed to irk the demon as he puffed his chest a bit, making the ''I am a throwaway character'''' wording appear at the top of his head, or at least that''s what Jason thought.

    "Did I, Astaroth, make a joke?"

    "Your name in itself is a joke man," Ray replied while smiling as Astaroth''s cheek twisted.

    *Though it''s very much fun to see this, I am sure that someone is behind him so don''t waste too much time.* Astryn gently reminded as she was sure that a demon-like Astaroth was sent there by someone else.

    Astryn wasn''t too worried about Astaroth''s life because even if he died, the demons on the demon continent knew that the Syrward family was no joke.

    Furthermore, her husband was already gathered with the other demons so every end was already covered.

    A sigh escaped her lips as she saw that despite her reminder, Ray couldn''t help but make certainments about Astaroth.

    ''System, can you store up aunt''s mana in some way?'' Jason on the other hand was focused on the mana inside him.

    [ There is a way to do it but it will cost a hundred system points. Do you want to proceed ahead? ]

    ''Yes.''

    < 100 system points have been used. >

    < Mana had been stored inside the host''s soul and will not be consumed any further. >

    ''Nice.''

    Jason felt the ears on his head vanishing as all of Zara''s mana was taken away by the system.

    Since there was no need to be afraid of the demons, Jason decided to store up the mana for future use while shifting his attention toward the gathered figures.

    [ If converted to numbers, Zara had used roughly twenty thousand mana on you out of which, I saved ten thousand. The rest was already used. ]

    The system gave a detailed report to Jason who mentally nodded.

    "We know that there is a demon in this ce, a five-year-old demon with huge potential. He is ours and we will take him back," Astaroth dered as he could no longer handle Ray''sments.

    All of the gathered demons immediately snapped to attention as they looked at the husband-wife pair.

    Ray and Zara could tell that the talking time was now over and they would now have to fight.

    But to them, this fight was over an hour ago.<sub> </sub>

    "Already surrendering?," Astaroth smirked. "Looks like my overbearing presence is too much for you."

    "Spoken like a true third-rate viin who would never be heard from again after this moment," Zara smirked back before she spat down at the ground.

    Mysteriously, the wind moved upwards and the spit fell on Astaroth''s forehead.

    "You will see for yourself how strong I am." He said while wiping the spit off his forehead with a disgusted expression.

    He then summoned a ck spear and closed his eyes.

    It looked as though he was preparing something big but Ray and Zara looked unimpressed.

    "Ohe on, couldn''t youe up with something better?" Ray asked while yawning before raising his hand in the demon''s direction.

    A sphere of wind shot out from his hand at rapid speed and hit Astaroth directly in the chest.

    Whatever the demon had been nning on doing no longer mattered as his concentration was broken and he was sent flying.

    The demons standing behind him raised their shields in an attempt to stop Astaroth but it was a wasted attempt.

    With a single sphere of wind, Ray had managed to shake up the entire demon army and he wasn''t even paying attention to them.

    "You!" Astaroth shouted as he tightly sped his spear and shot forward.

    This time it was Zara who attacked but unlike Ray''s small attack, she decided to do something big.

    She raised her right hand high above her head as a fireball the size of a truck suddenly appeared in her hand.

    Astaroth did a double-take when he saw the fireball. He slowly started stepping back before throwing his spear toward Zara.

    A smile appeared on her lips as she suddenly lowered her hand and threw the ball in the manner of a baseball pitcher.

    Jason watched the entire scene in awe as the ball of fire flew forward and burned through the spear in just a second.

    "AHHH!" Astaroth released a scream while running as the fireball seemed to be chasing him.

    The proud and arrogant demon from earlier had been reduced to a screaming little child which made Jason wonder whether his family members were Chinese protagonists.

    The things that had happened seemed exactly like a Chinese trope but to witness it, in reality, was a new experience for him.

    ''I want to do it tooбн'' Jason thought with wide-open eyes as the fireball chasing Astaroth suddenly vanished.

    Zara and Ray then grinned at Astaroth while the other demons trembled in fear.

    They had been told that they were just going to take a child to the demon continent but they could have never experienced such a thing in their life.

    They wanted to run away but they had nowhere left to go.

    Astaroth had also guaranteed that they would die and the man who had brought them there was missing.

    "Ray, should we end this?" Zara suddenly asked while raising her right hand again as Ray nodded.

    "Sure."

    Astaroth and the demons were terrified of what they had heard as they closed their eyes.

    Their end was near.

 Chapter 19 You Should Not Tell Lies

    Ray too raised his hand alongside Zara''s as both of them were smiling.

    The demons had already prepared their funerals and the few ones who hadn''t been trying to run away.

    But before either he or Zara and Ray could do anything, a rumbling sound echoed around the entire barony.

    Dark clouds gathered above the manor and the next second, a bolt of lightning fell down on the ground, resulting in smoke, rock, and dust being thrown around.

    Rising from the smoke was Issac standing with two old men beside him. A smile rested on his face while the other two men had dejected expressions as though they had just been defeated in an argument.

    [ They are strongбн] The system muttered in a stunned tone as it sensed the powers of the two old men beside Issac.

    It couldn''t tell the exact power levels of the two neers since it didn''t have the knowledge of the power system.

    Despite that, the system could tell that the old men were as strong as Issac, who imed to be the strongest person alive so it wasn''t really a goodparison.

    Both Jason and the system then focused their attention on the two men as they saw them grumble silently.

    Jason knew the old man standing on Issac''s right.

    His name was Karna and he was the only shepherd in Duphia.

    Karna looked bored while standing in his position but when Issac nudged his shoulder, he sighed.

    He then closed his eyes as his body suddenly started to age backward, that too at an rming rate.

    The bald old man with wrinkles on his face quickly turned into a handsome young man who would make thedies swoon by smiling.

    Slightly silky blond hair had appeared on his head which seemed to bring out the color of his orange eyes.

    Jason looked at the Shepherd with slightly wide eyes for a few seconds before turning his gaze to the third man in the group.

    The first thing that entered his mind was whether he too would have a sudden glow up like the Shepherd.

    But all he saw was a scowl and the man muttering something to Issac.

    [ "Bruh, that''s not even a demonmander level threat and you summoned me? Even Ray alone could have taken care of that small fryбн" ]

    ''You can tell what they are saying?'' Jason''s mouth suddenly hung open as he realized that the system could read lips.

    [ It came in the package. Ain''t I awesome? ]

    ''бн''

    He then took in the man''s features.

    The man had curly ck hair all of which seemed to be curled in different directions, giving him the look of someone who just woke up from his sleep.

    Since Jason had never seen him before, he couldn''t tell the color of his eyes. He could however tell that the man looked as though he was in his early thirties.

    Though judging how old his grandfather and Karna were and how young they lookedpared to their ages, Jason decided to not think much about the man''s age.

    Furthermore, the ck-haired man was wearing a white coat that reminded Jason of the doctors and scientists back from Earth.

    Now that Jason had seen all three of them clearly, he could tell that Issac looked the youngest.<sub> </sub>

    [ Your grandfather always looks young so I guess Karna can''t pose any challenge to him. Damn, you got the good genes host. ] The systemmented.

    ''System, have you made a full scan of my body from A to Z?'' Jason asked in a slightly awkward tone as he heard a fake mechanical cough.

    [ Yesбн ]

    ''I seeбн''

    Jason''s gaze turned towards Issac who seemed to be praising Zara and Ray.

    [ "Good job holding on guys. Now leave everything to us and go back." ] Issac said while maintaining his smile as the husband-wife pair looked at each other.

    [ "Dad, these demons barely seem like a challenge. I am sure even Jason, with a little help, could defeat them." ]

    Both of them said at the same time but Issac didn''t seem to be listening. The husband-wife pair sighed and instead walked back to the manor.

    Astaroth and the demons were left confused by the change in atmosphere as they looked at the three men.

    "Aww," Issac suddenly raised his hands to his chin and pouted. "You think underestimating us will let you live?"

    The Syrward family facepalmed at the way Issac spoke while Jason giggled slightly.

    The two men beside Issac didn''t seem to pay much attention to his words either and looked as though they would rather be somewhere else.

    Issac on the other hand didn''t seem to mind their behavior as he cracked his neck a bit before smiling.

    "Well, let''s fight now. We will only fight using punches and kicks. Deal?" Issac asked cheerfully as the other two sighed and nodded.

    "I guess not using magic or weapons would indeed be fun," Karna admitted. "The loser will have to treat the other two to wine from their personal stock."

    "I should have known that you brought me here for that reason onlyбн" The coat-wearing man muttered as Karna and Issac grinned.

    As for Astaroth, he was wondering what the hell was happening.

    Wasn''t this a battlefield? Why the hell are you old men talking about wine?!

    "You dare underestimate one of the nine demonmanders?! Just cause I am below the sins doesn''t mean I am weak!" Astaroth suddenly shouted, forgetting his embarrassing performance.

    The ck-haired man suddenly paused as he turned his head in the Astaroth''s direction.

    Jason could now see the color of his eyes. Red like human blood.

    Astryn felt a weird yet invisible aura emitting from his body. She turned her gaze to stare at Astaroth who was a goner in her eyes.

    If he managed to escape by someone in a hundred trillion chances, the demons back on the continent would kill him.

    After all, he angered someone way beyond his league.

    "You should not tell lies that you are one of the nine demonmanders. You are not even a captain, much less a general. If the seven sins or the emperor heard your ims, you would have been yed alive."

    The man said in a cold tone as his eyes glowed once before turning normal.

    No one knew what happened but the next second, Astaroth''s head rolled down on the ground, his eyes wide open as though he had seen something that no one else could.

 Chapter 20 Deal Or Death

    "Wowбн" Jason''s mouth was wide open as he saw the massacre happening in front of him.

    Issac was the one leading the charge moving so quickly that Jason''s gaze could barely catch up to his movements.

    If not for his enhanced eyesight, he would have lost track of Issac a long time ago.

    The old man was a flurry of lightning as he dashed from one spot to another, killing multiple demons with every blink of Jason''s eyes.

    Karna wasn''t that behind as well.

    Duphia''s only shepherd held a staff in his hands as he swung it through the lines of the demons.

    The coat-wearing man hadn''t moved from his spot after killing Astaroth. His eyes were moving throughout the army, looking at his two friends ughtering numerous demons.

    "Since I defeated the strongest one amongst them, I am the winner." The coat-wearing man said before yawning as he kicked Astaroth''s head in the army''s direction.

    "Tsk, you used magic, Amon!" Issac shouted as he appeared directly beside Amon and red at him. "I am sure that I specified the fact that we could only use kicks and punches."

    "I will cut myself some ck considering how you dragged me away for such a small thing," Amon snorted before stretching his arms. "I am gonna go back and continue my sleep."

    Amon then vanished from his spot, leaving behind a resigned Issac.

    The old man sighed as he almost regretted his decision to bring Amon out.

    He had known that the demon they had been facing was just another dummy sent on his death.

    Astaroth was just there to gather the information and see the kind of backing Jason had. Astaroth however had died before sending any information or that''s what it looked like.

    ''Risa should be handling the rest.'' Issac thought, knowing full well that the real information gatherer was hidden somewhere far away.

    He suddenly heard a groaning from one of the many demons lying on the ground.

    He turned out with a purple lightning bolt gleaming in his hand before throwing it at the person.

    "Just stay dead."

    ***

    "Hmm, that was an interesting development. To think that I would sew him in such a ce after so long." A man standing in the forest outside Duphia muttered before turning his gaze away from the barony.

    He was a good 5 kilometers away from the barony yet had seen the entire thing progress. The recent change of events made him wonder what he should do next.

    But before he could decide his next move, he sensed someone nearing him and looked back to see a red-head woman behind him.

    She was standing on a branch of the tree behind him as her eyes were taking note of his movement.

    "Nice to meet you,mander Nero," Risa said with a polite bow as she jumped from her branch to the branch Nero had been perched on.

    He had been hidden between the trees yet Risa had easily managed to notice him.

    For the first time in a long time, Nero felt a bit uneasy while having another human so close to him.

    He kept his expression masked while examining Risa as well. Though she looked just like any other human, he had heard her name before and had been warned about her too.<sub> </sub>

    "You must be the one called Risa. I must say that I have heard quite a lot of good things about you."

    "I can''t say the same for you. I am surprised you didn''t enter Duphia. Guess so many powerful people made you put your tail in between your legs and run away." Risa snorted as she waited for Nero to do something.

    However, Nero was a man of careful decisions and had a very high threshold for insults.

    He could control his anger perfectly and direct it somewhere else, like the current moment.

    "What do you want with me, Lady Risa?" Nero asked with a fake smile on his face as  Risa snorted for the second time in a row.

    The two exchanged a silent look before she proceeded with what she wanted.

    "I am just here to ask what you would like to choose," She said while looking straight into Nero''s eyes. "Deal or death?"

    "You might be powerful and your healing might be heavenly but do you think that you are strong enough to defeat a demonmander on your own, especially a real one?" Nero asked while raising his eyebrows.

    Despite the information he had, Nero believed in what he saw himself.

    He could sense that Risa was a strong woman but he had a feeling that she was hiding her powers.

    Risa didn''t say anything as she moved at the speed of light and ced her index finger on top of Nero''s neck.

    The demonmander felt a paralyzing sensation spreading throughout his body.

    He realized that all of his organs had been paralyzed and that he could no longer move his body.

    Nero tried countering it with one of his skills but he had clearly underestimated Risa''s powers.

    Instead of freeing him from the paralysis, Nero''s skill transformed into an offensive skill and damaged his right hand.

    He gritted his teeth while ring at Risa. She had a smirk on her face as she retracted her hand.

    Nero felt his body reverting to its original condition as his hand automatically healed.

    He rubbed his hand and checked his body condition to make sure nothing was wrong before looking at Risa with seriousness.

    "Looks like you live up to your reputationбн" He muttered while wondering what would have happened if Risa had decided to kill him.

    However, both of them knew that it wasn''t possible considering the fact that Nero''s death would cause a huge uproar in the demon continent.

    He was amander, someone of a huge rank. His death would make other demonse to Duphia and that was something Risa didn''t want.

    "You know, I can always try running away since I know you won''t kill me," Nero suddenly said while raising his hands in the air.

    "Though I don''t want to cause a scene, I can always do things worse than death to you," Risa replied with a small smile as Nero sighed.

    "Fineбн"

    Risa nodded appreciatively before resuming her talking.

    "So, what was I saying? Ah yes, deal or death?"

 Chapter 21 How Not To Be Rich

    Nero could only sigh as he contemted what to do. He decided to take a small risk and if he failed, there was only one option that he could choose.

    As quick as lightning, he swiped his arm forward to sh Risa''s throat.

    Her body exploded into dust, surprising Nero. But his surprise didn''tst for long as he felt a finger pressing on the back of his throat

    His body went numb again as he sighed and gave up. He had lost control over both of his arms anyway so he couldn''t y tricks anymore.

    "Come on! You just had to agree to the deal and we could have skipped the drama," Risained while keeping her index finger pressed against  Nero''s nape. "But I guess you guys only understand violence."

    "Let''s talk about the deal," Nero said, his tone turning into full business mode. "I will leave this ce right now and never tell anyone about what I witnessed.

    I will just use Amon''s name and that will scare almost every single demon from even stepping here. That sounds good?"

    Nero cared about his life more than anything and didn''t feel ashamed to strike a deal just because he couldn''t fight back.

    More than that, he was someone who was humble enough to swallow his pride to save himself.

    Risa almost seemed impressed with this but she had seen much better people throughout her life. She put her hand down before nodding.

    "Swear on the name of Styx and Aiden." She said while moving in front of Nero.

    She could see the small trace of fear on his face when he heard the name Aiden.

    "As you wish," He replied with gritted teeth. "I swear on the name of the Goddess Styx and the first demon king, Aiden. If I break my words in any manner or even slightly attempt to, I shall die on the spot."

    "No need to tell me that," Risa replied in a satisfied tone before releasing him from the paralyzed state and vanishing from her spot.

    Nero waited for a few minutes before sighing and moving from the tree.

    He moved his hands over the inner pockets of his coats and felt the items he had kept there gone.

    ? ''Not only did she bind me with an oath but also stole from me... What a bad day.'' Nero thought as he started making his way back to the demon continent.

    ---

    "Ooo, you managed to get this from him too?" Issac asked with an impressed look. "Well done, Risa."

    "I knew that this woulde in handy," Risa replied while tossing a ring from one hand to another.

    The entire Syrward family was currently seated at the dining table as Risa told them about her side of the story.

    She had asked for help from a few fighters in Duphia who had gone around the entire ce and killed any demon that might have been spying.

    Risa herself had dealt with amander and had taken a ring from the inner pockets of his coat. She didn''t want to praise herself like Issac but she knew that she was an aplished thief.

    "What is this though?" Nora, who was now awake and brought up to speed with what happened, asked while staring at the ring.

    It looked like just any normal ring one would see and forget about in the next moment. Except it was made from pure gold and had a tiny blue jewel the size of an ant embedded in it. (So a very expensive ring.)

    "This is something known as storage or space rings which are extremelymon. You can think of this as a backpack in which you can store many things without having to worry about carrying them. You just have to take care of this ring."

    Risa exined and to show the usage of the ring, she tapped the table with it.<sub> </sub>

    The next moment, the entire thing vanished and the ring lightly glowed once. The table once again appeared back in its initial position as Jason and Nora stared at Risa with starry eyes.

    ''System, do you have an inventory like that?'' Jason asked while looking at the ring with keen interest.

    He had read about them in hisst life and knew that they were created differently in every world. Their rarity and such too depended on the world they were in.

    However, he was more interested in knowing whether his system had an inventory simr to the ring.

    [ Currently, I don''t have any inventory, however, you can buy one after unlocking the shop. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to unlock it. ]

    Jason didn''t seem to mind that as he was satisfied with knowing that he could unlock the system shop in the future.

    "So, what''s inside it?" He asked aloud as Risa shrugged.

    She had yet to check the inside of the ring but upon being asked, she swept her gaze inside the ring.

    "Hmm, looks like he came with the bare minimum. Some money, five instant cast scrolls out of which, four are spells that I know, some healing and mana regeneration potions which look as though they were brewed by one of the best potions masters in the whole demon continent."

    Issac''s eyes started shining when he heard the names of the items found inside Nero''s ring. He calcted all of them into money while thinking of keeping the important items.

    "Keep all of the healing and mana potions but leave one from each type. Keep the scrolls as well. As for the rest, we will sell it." Issac announced as Risa shifted the items.

    "Huh?" Jason was immediately confused by this so he decided to raise a question. "Why don''t we keep everything for ourselves instead of selling it?"

    Hearing his question, humorlessughter echoed around the entire room. Except for Nora and Jason, everyone else was chuckling slightly.

    "Jason, one of the major things our family specializes in is ''How not to be rich''. You already saw the bets we made on your element." Ray started as Risa took over.

    "Now imagine such bets at arge scale with different types of wagers. Now imagine losing more than half of them and not being able to pay the wager."

    As soon as she finished her words, Jason realized what they were trying to imply.

    Not only was the family not rich, but they also had debt too. Jason almost felt like facepalming at that moment but refrained.

    "So it means that you will use all that money to pay back the debt to impatient debtors?"

    "Yeah." Issac and Risa replied simultaneously as Jason sighed while looking at the ring.

    He just shook his head in dismay and stretched back. However, Issac had other ns for him.

    "Oi, you already forgot what we were supposed to do today?" His grandpa asked while standing up. "Get up from your chair."

    Jason was confused for a few seconds before it hit him.

    "I forgot for a second that I turned five not too long ago and have little to no idea about mana and all that." He muttered under his breath before standing up and following his grandpa.

    Together, they went into the forest as Jason was eager to know more about mana and magic.

    Under the setting sun, Duphia once again turned into a peaceful town to which nobody would give a second nce.

 Chapter 22 The Basics Of Mana

    "You done?" Issac asked as he saw Astryn heading for the door.

    Jason''s grandmother had taken it upon herself to get rid of the bodies and Issac had to admit that she did so brilliantly.

    No one would ever be able to tell that a battle was just fought in the garden.

    "What does it look like?" Astryn asked back. "Do you see any drops of blood or a dead body anywhere?"

    "Yeah yeah, good job," Issac replied without paying any attention as he took off for the forest alongside Jason.

    Astryn gave them onest look before sighing and entering the manor.

    ---

    "Let''s start with the basics. Most living beings have some amount of mana inside them which develops an element when they turn five and find their affinity.

    Issac exined as he and Jason stood in a random clearing in the forest.

    "As in the element they can use with the mana?" Jason asked back as his grandpa shook his head.

    "Yes and no. The mist you manifested earlier told us what element you had an affinity with and how far you could go using that element.

    However, you don''t necessarily need an affinity to use basic magic.

    For example, almost any person with mana can light a fire using fire magic or clean dust using wind magic, even if they don''t have an affinity with it.

    The only difference between them and those with an affinity is the time they will take to learn the simple thing."

    "Then what are the grades and advances for them?"

    "The grading begins from F, which means no magic talent or affinity, and goes up to Z, which means perfect talent or affinity. Every letter grades how far a person can go in the field of magic with their element."

    "Ahбн" Jason muttered before looking at Issac with an interested face. "Then what is my grade?"

    "You have an A-grade affinity with the dark element which is considered good with only the S and Z grades being above it. As for your other elementбн" Issac''s voice trailed off as he had no way of telling Jason his grade.

    Thunder mages were extremely rare with only a few of them appearing in every generation. They would usually be hunted down to prevent them from rising to power or being taken by others.

    In the past, they were also taken as ves or forced to bind their loyalty to a particr family.

    But that was until Issac grew up and showed the world who he was. After that, Michael inherited his thunder element and now his grandson had it too.

    ''I should not tell him that he can consider it as Z grade lest he gets careless and bratty like those talented noble kids.'' Issac thought before saying out loud. "I have no idea what that is."

    "I seeбн" Jason sounded almost disappointed but he decided to believe in Issac''s words.

    [ He could be lying. ]

    ''And we have no way of knowing it. Even if we knew what it was, what would we do? Boast in front of kids our age and call them bumpkins?'' Jason replied while mentally snorting as he waited for Issac to continue.

    "Let''s move on to the elements themselves."

    (AN: The info dump ising... *sighs at the number of people skipping.)

    Issac immediately noticed the spark of curiosity sparking in Jason''s eyes. "The mostmon are obviously the four basic elements, Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire."

    "Let''s start with Water which is calm as well as ferocious. Its opposite is fire which can burn through things with sheer force. Both of them can counter each other depending on the situation and the talent of the person using them."

    To demonstrate his point, Issac raised his right hand and two tiny spheres the size of ying marble balls appeared on his index and middle fingers.

    One of them was made from water while the other was made from fire. He brought both of them closer to each other as they suddenly evaporated and vanished.<sub> </sub>

    "Moving on, we have the Wind element which can be sharp or gentle in a matter of seconds. As for thest basic element, it''s the good old solid Earth which is mostly used for building things."

    Issac then pointed his index finger towards the ground and manipted the Earth to create a small castle.

    He then flicked his finger forward and cut through the top of the mud castle.

    "Such kinds of basic magic is known as tier Zero magic or tier Zero spells or skills, to be specific. You will learn more about them in the future. Till then, focus on the physical part."

    Issac then dispersed all of his magic before continuing.

    "After that, we have the four advanced elements. They are called Lightning, Dark, Light, and Life. I don''t think you need an exnation on the first one, do you?"

    Jason shook his head in response as he was too focused on Issac''s words.

    "Good. Let''s start with Dark magic which includes many things but mostly focuses on Curses, Seals, and Necromancy.

    Life magic is the opposite and focuses solely on healing. As for Light magic, it can be used to create illusions as well as boost yourself and allies."

    "Your grandmother is an expert in using light and life magic while I know thunder and wind magic. After the advanced elements, we have thepound elements. One of them is Ice. Ice is a mixture of wind and water.

    The second upgraded element is Magma, a mixture of Fire and Earth. Thest one is the Shadow element. Long story short, they''re all simply a mixture of two different elements that merge into one.

    Those with Wind and Water elements have a 50% chance of being able to wield Ice and the same is true for Magma."

    Issac finished up as he could feel that Jason was about to ask a question. He just sighed and nodded for the child to go on.

    "What about the Shadow element? Why didn''t you describe it?"

    "No one on the southern continent, at least no human being, has an affinity for the Shadow element. All we know is that it''s a mixture of Light and Dark." Issac replied honestly as Jason suddenly seemed lost in thought.

    ''Perhaps that''s the reason Aiden asked me to keep my Light and Dark elements a secret.''

    Neither Jason nor the System knew what would happen if he revealed his two elements so for the time being, he decided to hide it.

    "Now, Thunder is supposedly apound element too but doesn''t have a pair. Nobody knows how you can have the thunder element but its clear that it belong to thepound element category since its an upgraded version of lightning.

    Many think it''s just the purest or raw form of lightning magic which makes it one of the strongest elements."

    Issac then raised both of his hands and summoned two lightning bolts. Both were purple yet the one in his right hand was glowingbrighterpared to the other one.

    Furthermore, the lightning seemed to attract Jason towards it. Issac could only smile at this as the lightning bolts vanished.

    "A Thunder magic user will always recognize another Thunder magic user due to the pull their magic has towards each other.

    But the chances of there being more than one thunder mage every generation is almost zero percent. Anyways, thest elements are the supreme elements of Time, Space, and Void.

    The only thing you should know is that these element users can destroy cities or perhaps even kingdoms on their own. Nothing else is known about them."

    Issac then fell quiet as he let his grandson get the entire thing inside his head.

    He knew that it might have been boring since he himself had almost fallen asleep while reading about the basics.

    Issac hoped that Jason didn''t feel the same about him verbally telling him everything.

    ''Even if he does find it boring, he will realize what kind of ce the world is and how important this knowledge is. Though that will happen only after a few years. Till then, I will make sure nothing happens to him.''

    Issac thought while looking over his grandchild. Together, they walked back to the manor after being done for the day but Jason had no idea that Issac was carefully thinking about his future.

    After all, it was something that he had promised his son a few days ago before Jason was born.

 Chapter 23 A Nightmare From The Past

    After Jason and Issac had returned, they ate their dinner in silence.

    "So grandpa, when are you going to start teaching me the basics of magic?" Jason asked after finishing his dinner while staring directly into Issac''s eyes.

    His grandpa was forced to put down the dessert he had been eating to answer Jason''s questions.

    "I won''t teach you anything yet," Issac shifted his gaze towards his wife who was sitting opposite him. "You will have to first train to control your element with Risa."

    Jason nodded as he climbed down from his chair and left the dining room. His mind was still thinking of the battle and how easily Issac and Karna had killed all those demons.

    However, the coolest person was Amon who had managed to scare Astaroth by basically doing nothing.

    ''I would like to be that powerful too...''

    For some reason, Jason exited the manor moments after thinking that .

    "Status." He said aloud as the status window appeared in front of him.

    ---

    Name: Jason Syrward

    Race: Half-Demon

    HP: 1800/1800

    Mana: 5000/5000

    Child Of Darkness(Main Job ss): 10%

    Thunder Mage(Subjob ss): 10%

    ---

    His mana and health points had grown considerably after unlocking his system and his progress bar for both his job sses had moved up too.

    Jason then opened his skill tree for both of his job sses. Two blue windows opened up side by side as Jason saw that he had one new skill to unlock in each of his job sses.

    ---

    < Night''s Blessings (Passive) >

    - During the nighttime, all of your statuses will be twice as powerful as their original amount.

    - This doesn''t apply to HP.

    < Requires 30 system points to unlock. >

    ---

    ''System, how am I supposed to know what my multiplied stats are if I don''t know my base stats?''

    [ Simple: You don''t. ]

    ''бн''

    Jason didn''t know whether tough or cry at this so he just decided to ept it and unlocked the skill.

    The skill already came out maxed and moved the progression bar of his main job ss by another five percent. However, that didn''t unlock any new skills for him leaving him with no way to increase his progression.

    Jason had no idea what kind of ''enlightenment'' he would need to get progression.

    He thought of asking the system but changed his mind when he realized that the system would most likely reply with "you will know when the timees" or something simr.

    [ You are bing a smarter host. Good job. ]

    Jason simply ignored thatment and moved on.

    ---

    < Lightning Sense (Passive) >

    - Allows you to sense a lightning mage from 500 meters away.

    < Requires 20 system points to unlock ><sub> </sub>

    ---

    ''I ain''t buying that now.'' Jason thought as he closed up his skill trees. Currently, the skill was useless to him since there was no use in knowing whether the people around him were lightning mages or not.

    [ Well, I don''t create them so don''t me me. ]

    ''I never intended to do that.''

    [ Thank you for being so sensible. ]

    A sign escaped his lips as hey down on the ground and stared at the sky. The stars were visible all around the night sky followed by a single moon just like Earth''s moon.

    Seeing it, Jason was reminded of the time that he used to stargaze with Thalia from their orphanage. He would hardly see any stars as the sky was mostly obstructed  with haze.

    Now, he could see the entire sky yet didn''t have anyone to watch it with.

    [ *Cough* ]

    ''You don''t count as a person.''

    [ Having me is better than being alone. At least I will make sure that you don''t feel lonely. ]

    ''I''m not sure if that''s a good or bad thing.''

    Jason then wondered what had happened to Thalia.

    He had seen her get shot in the chest at point-nk range meaning that her chances of survival had been pretty much zero.

    He would have liked to delude himself by thinking that she would have survived due to some miracle but sadly, he had seen her dead body copsing right before his eyes.

    The memory was still freshly carved into his mind and made his heart hurt whenever he thought about it.

    Jason knew that it was already toote to divert his mind as the memories of the war filled his mind.

    The eyes of terrified children as soldiers broke inside their orphanage. The screams of agony and fear when the soldiers started putting down every single person that even moved.

    Jason had been standing at the door when he had seen his best friend darting forward to save a ten-year-old who was about to be shot.

    She had plunged a knife into the soldier''s chest and somehow managed to twist it before being peppered with bullets.

    Jason remembered that his mind went nk as he dived near the soldier''s body and used it as a meat shield.

    On the body, he had found two grenades, one normal and one sh. He had instantly opened the former, counted to nine, and thrown it away while dashing away.

    The banging sound had left him temporarily deaf as he managed to blow every single person inside the room.

    He too had suffered from the st but it was restricted to his arms.

    [ Host, calm down. Your heart rate is increasing! ] The system''s gentle voice entered his mind yet Jason could no longer make sense of it.

    He clearly remembered the mutted bodies that lined the floor and Thalia''sst words. He hadn''t cried or rather, the tears refused to fall.

    All he had done was scream. He had screamed until his throat had constricted and he couldn''t speak anymore.

    He had left the orphanage with burning mes while trying to control himself.

    [ Host, you are no longer on a battlefield. You are in a new world, surrounded by a family that loves you and will fight to protect you. ]

    "B-butбн" Jason began speaking but was suddenly cut off by the system.

    [ I know that it still haunts you. I know you are jolted awake by your nightmares many times. I didn''t say anything as I thought you would grow out of it but that was a mistake. I should have known that a nightmare from the past is still fresh in the present. ]

    Jason''s heartbeat slowly started to calm down as the system sessfully managed to console him.

    ''Well, I guess having you is better than trying to find a psychologist in a magical world.'' Jason sighed as he dispelled his memories of his past life and sat straight.

    But before he could rx, the system faked a cough inside his mind.

    ''Now what?''

    [ Your maternal grandmother saw everything and now, she ising hereбн ]

    ''бн''

 Chapter 24 Tell Me About My Mother

    ''So, she saw the entire thing?''

    [ She did. I wonder if she thought you were having a stroke or something. ]

    ''If she thought that, it was a very bad decision to stay there and watch me. I could have died if that was the truth.''

    [ Why don''t you tell her that instead of talking to me. Sit up straight and act as though nothing is wrong. ]

    Following the system''s words, Jason sat up straight and calmed his expression.

    His eyes followed Astryn who was barely a few meters away from him. Her face looked devoid of any emotion but a smile bloomed on her face when she saw Jason looking at her face.

    "Isn''t it a beautiful night?" She asked absentmindedly while looking at the stars.

    Jason was barely able to stop his face from twitching as he too gazed up at the stars. It was clear that Astryn was acting ignorant on purpose as she didn''t want to directly confront Jason.

    Instead, she decided to use a subtle approach.

    "Jason, did your grandparents ever tell you about your parents?" Astryn asked while sitting cross-legged in front of Jason.

    The boy shook his head as a sigh escaped the woman''s lip. She had expected this much from Risa and Issac as she knew that they didn''t want to force Jason to think something that he didn''t understand.

    Yet, she felt sad that the child didn''t know about his own parents.

    "Well, I can''t tell you much about your father since I don''t know him that well to be sure of anything. However, I can definitely tell you about your mother," She paused, looking at his expression. "You want to know about her?"

    "Yes," Jason replied as a new kind of feeling built up in his chest. "Tell me about my mother."

    "Her name is Evelyn and she is very beautiful, even more, beautiful than Risa or me. She is also very kind yet can be very cold and unforgiving as well. Overall, she isn''t the ideal wife that people look for."

    Astryn''s voice trailed off as she realized that Jason might not understand half the words she was speaking.

    ''Maybe he is too young to know after all.'' She was about to change the topic when she saw his eyes shining. He was curious to know more as well as excited to know about the person who brought him into his new world.

    "She is extremely strong too. Much stronger than what either of your grandfathers might proim themselves as. When she is angry, neither of them will dare to speak a word against her."

    A chuckle escaped Astryn''s lips as she remembered the past incidents including her daughter. Issac and Fel would try to keep themselves under control whenever Evelyn was near them.

    ''Ahбн I miss those days.'' Astryn thought with a dejected look as she saw her grandchild tilt his head in confusion.

    "If she is that strong, why doesn''t shee and meet me?" Jason asked a genuine question that seemed to momentarily stun Astryn.

    She had expected Jason to ask such a question but had no reply ready for it.

    [ Looks like she wasn''t well prepared for that. ]

    ''It''s not every day you see intelligent five-year-olds being born.''

    [ what if there are other reincarnators too? You never knowбн ]

    ''That in itself is another story.''

    After waiting in silence for a few minutes, Astryn finally found the right words to tell Jason.<sub> </sub>

    "Jason, when you grow up and be strong, you will realize that the world fears the strong yet that doesn''t prevent the people from making moves on you. A crippled genius might be a genius but he or she can no longer fight for themselves.

    To prevent that, people form groups or such. Sometimes, the strong lose and they lose badly. With no support, they are either faced to go all out and escape or die or being forced into something worse than that. That''s why your mother had to escapeбн"

    Astryn finished up as she gently patted Jason''s head before looking at the sky. The boy too looked up and suddenly saw a shooting star falling down.

    Be it on instinct or not, Jason asked for a wish mentally.

    The system too heard the wish and chuckle softly inside his mind.

    [ Host, I will make sure that your wish gets fulfilled so you can count on me. ]

    ''As you say, system.''

    "Thank you for telling me about her," Jason said aloud before he stood up and stretched his body.

    Astryn saw him do so as she had a longing to meet her children.

    Even though Evelyn was somewhere unreachable, she could still talk to her other children.

    Astryn then stood up beside Jason as she decided to return back to the demon continent and tell Fel about her experience.

    "I will try to visit soon and maybe bring your grandfather with me too. But remember onest thing," Astryn then stared directly into his eyes. "Jason, remember to never let your emotions get the best of you."

    Jason nodded his head enthusiastically as she smiled and turned away.

    Astryn had decided to leave the runes behind as no one except her could use them. Since that was already done, she moved to the edge of the garden and bit her right hand''s thumb.

    She dripped a bit of her blood on the ground as it immediately expanded into a circle oning in contact with the ground.

    "Bye-bye, Jason." She muttered under her breath while waving her hand from afar.

    The next moment, the circle lit up and she vanished from her spot, leaving Jason alone in the garden.

    He stared at the sky onest time before slowly starting to walk towards the door. He now had a goal in his mind, and even though it sounded cliche, was a goal that he wanted to obtain.

    It was to be stronger than the prodigies of the kingdom and he needed to do three things to achieve that.

    The first was to get knowledge since he had zero idea about the power system and such.

    The second was to learn to control mana in the next few years.

    The third andst thing was to maximize his job sses to upgrade them to the next level while learning more and more skills. He had a lot of work in his hands yet Jason was ready to work hard.

    ''But for now, it''s time for me to sleep.'' He thought while stifling a yawn.

    Jason then entered the house again and directly went to his bed. Within a few minutes of hitting the bed, he was fast asleep.

    The next day, his basic training started.

 Chapter 25 Not A Prodigy

    "Can''t I sleep for a few more minutes?" Jason asked while sleepily rubbing his eyes.

    "A few more minutes aren''t going to make that big of a difference," Risa said in a definite tone as she pulled his nkets. "Now get ready and meet me outside in ten minutes."

    Risa then put the nket on top of his closet and stepped outside the room. Jason watched her go with a dejected expression as he forced himself to sit up.

    He wanted to go back to sleep but Jason knew that making Risae back for a second time was not a good idea.

    Jason then got ready for the day by quickly brushing, which in his new world meant using a small silver metal cube embedded with formations.

    One had to put it inside the mouth and wait twenty seconds before taking it out. It would not only clean the entire mouth but will also get rid of bad breath.

    Jason was happy with such an invention but what he loved the most was hot water. The plumbing system was vastly different from Earth and he had no idea how it worked.

    But what he knew was that he enjoyed using it.

    After bathing and changing into a fresh pair of clothes, Jason stepped out of the house and met his grandmother at the doorstep.

    "Well, at least you are on time." She said with a sigh before taking him out in the garden and making him sit down near a tree.

    She then raised the index finger of her right hand and tapped his forehead.

    < Grasping power has been increased by 75% for the next hour. >

    Jason kept his face emotionless yet he was surprised to see the notification in front of him.

    Issac had indeed told him that the light element also gave boosts to allies of the one using it. However, he hadn''t told Jason that a buff could be applied to mental abilities.

    "Jason, pay attention to what I am about to show you," Risa then pulled his attention towards herself as she lifted her right hand in front of his face. "Focus on my palm."

    Jason did as told and kept his gaze on Risa''s hands. A few seconds went by without anything happening or so he thought.

    [ Host, mana is gathering in the palm of her hand. Though you can''t sense or see it, I can clearly tell that it''s mana. ]

    ''Is she trying to make a shbang in front of my face?'' Jason felt chills run through his back as he firsthand knew how dangerous a shbang was.

    He was debating whether to look away or not when a golden mist started materializing in her hand.

    "This is my light element mana present inside my body. Currently, the mana is in raw physical form. To use spells and such, you first need to gather your mana in the palm of your hand and that too in physical form."

    After finishing her exnation, Risa dispelled the mana and ced her palm on Jason''s right shoulder.

    "Loosen your body." She said before closing her eyes and focusing on Jason''s body.

    < A foreign mana source has entered the body. >

    < The mana source can''t be fought against. >

    Risa''s lips curled up while she kept her eyes closed. She used her mana to do a thorough checking of Jason''s body before opening her eyes.

    ''I guess that was expected.'' She thought while maintaining her smile before speaking aloud. "You have any idea of what I did?"

    "You passed your mana inside my body?" Jason replied with a ''maybe'' expression.

    "Nice. I indeed passed my mana inside your body and ran a thorough checkup of your mana cores. You will definitely be wondering what that is but instead of telling you that, you should try looking for it yourself.

    "Eh?" Even though Jason had an idea about what mana cores were, he decided to y dumb like the five-year-old he was.

    "Just try closing your eyes and think what is the most rted thing to your element." Risa hinted as Jason closed his eyes and focused.

    The first thing that entered his mind while thinking of the dark element was evil which was not a surprise seeing how it had been drilled in his brain that dark was always evil.<sub> </sub>

    Over the years, Jason had read a few things either breaking this rule or using a scientific exnation from the main character''s point of view.

    Both of the times, he had felt satisfied with the oues and now, he wondered whether he could apply the same theory in Clover.

    ''I guess night is the most rted thing to the dark element.''

    As soon as the thought entered his mind, Jason saw something appearing in front of his closed eyes. The object was a sphere almostpletely ck except for a few white dots spread all around it.

    Some sort of mist appeared and disappeared around the ck side while the white spots remained the way they were.

    Two ''A''s floated above the sphere, one ck, and one white.

    ''So this is my mana core huh.'' Jason then opened his eyes to look at Risa''s smiling face.

    "So, what did you see?" She asked while raising her eyebrows.

    [ Host, tell her that you saw a single ''A'' floating above apletely ck sphere. ] Before he could reply, the system''s voice interrupted him.

    ''Any reason?''

    [ Due to what Aiden said, I decided that it was best if Risa just saw you having the dark element with a single ''A'' floating above it. Since we don''t have that much knowledge, I thought it would be best if we kept some things hidden. ]

    ''Good thinking system. But if it''s safe, I will reveal my supposed ''light'' element to my family too. Keep it hidden till then.''

    [ Noted and executed. ]

    "I saw a ck sphere with the letter ''A'' floating above it," Jason replied as he saw Risa nodding.

    "The sphere is your mana core, the ce where your manaes from. The letter that you saw is the grading of your mana core or in other words, your magical talent or affinity to use that particr element."

    "I remember that grandpa told me that an A grade is very good, right?"

    "You have a very good affinity but you are not a prodigy. They are born with a golden spoon in their mouth yet it is filled with poop. The amount of politics that revolves around them is just too much."

    Risa then quietened down as she realized that she was speaking to a child. Half the words would have gone above his head so she decided to change the topic.

    "Anyways, that was just your dark element. What I want you to try and see is your thunder element."

    "Ok." Jason nodded enthusiastically as he once again closed his eyes.

    The first thing that entered his mind was of course thunderstorms which lead to another thought.

    ''Would I able to create storms like that?''

    [ Maybe. ]

    ''That would look so cool. Imagine flying high into the clouds and being wrapped in thunder and then crashing down in the middle of an army or something.''

    [ You might be able to achieve that in the future. For now, please focus on the task at hand. ] The system politely reminded him as Jason once again focused on his element.

    This time, a bright purple sphere appeared in front of his eyes. Sparks of thunder flew from the sphere as it kept rotating.

    And above it was three question marks of the same color, each of them beingpletely same.

    Jason immediately opened his eyes and told Risa about what he saw. His grandmother only smiled at him before opening her mouth to speak.

    "That is something that even a prodigy can''t have."

 Chapter 26 You Will Learn From Your Mistakes

    "So I am a prodigy and not a prodigy at the same time?" Jason asked while thinking whether he should be happy or sad about his luck.

    On one hand, he would pass off as a good dark mage while on the other hand, he had the thunder element which didn''t have any grading.

    "I guess you can say that," Risa replied before her eyes turned serious. "Remember one thing, never and I mean never, show your thunder element to anyone. Just disguise it as a lightning element."

    Jason nodded before Risa decided to resume her teaching.

    "The first step towards bing a mage, someone who can use mana and process it to do things, is making the mana appear in front of you. What I showed you earlier is one way to do it."

    Jason listened attentively as Risa went through two more ways of making the mana appear out of one''s body.

    The second way to do this was to focus on your entire body instead of a focused portion and try releasing your mana in this manner. Ayer of thin mana would then cover the entire body if anyone managed to do it.

    Though the second way was much easier than the first one, it also meant that the level of precision and the amount of mana required greatly decreased and increased respectively.

    "The third way is rather unique so you should probably step back a bit," Risa warned as Jason took a few steps back and waited for Risa to show him the third way.

    His grandma raised both of her hands together before joining them as if she was about to pray.

    She then took a deep breath and exhaled. A white mist slowly started gathering around her palms and soon enough, her entire hand was covered with mana.

    "This way is simr to the first way," Risa spoke while taking her hands apart. "However, it doesn''t require the same amount of focus. You can just make all of the mana in your arms move towards your hands this way."

    After she was done, Risa showed all three ways again so that Jason would memorize what to do.

    The boy indeed managed to learn all the steps but was still confused about what option he should choose.

    "Now, you roughly have six months to practice as much as you can and talk with me. After that, my attention will be divided between both you and Nora, and might not be able to give both of you the required time."

    Risa then patted Jason''s head once as a smile appeared on her lips. She could see the determination in Jason''s child, reminding her of her children''s childhood.

    Risa had taught all of them magic herself and was proud to say that they hadn''t been behind the prodigies with expert teachers.

    ''I wonder if you will reach the same level.'' Risa never thought that if someone was a prodigy, their son or daughter would have to follow the same path.

    For her, strength was only up to the point where one could protect their loved ones.

    ''So, what should we try first?'' While Risa was thinking of the past, Jason consulted the system.

    He also looked at his mana side by side while making sure that Risa didn''t find him staring at an ''empty'' ce.

    ---

    Mana: 5000/5000

    ---

    Jason had more than enough to use all of his skills at least a few times.<sub> </sub>

    He could summon ten lightning bolts with this much mana which was probably more than what any kid his age could do.

    [ You are right about that, host. Let''s try all of the methods one by one to see which will be the easiest. Also, only focus on your thunder mana. ]

    After hearing the system''s words, Jason raised his right hand and focused on his palm. He closed his eyes in concentration and thought of storms and anything rted to thunder.

    Yet nothing happened for the next few minutes but that didn''t make him lose focus.

    Jason instead changed his thoughts and imagined a small orb of lightning appearing in the palm of his hand.

    The moment he thought that he felt something expanding in his chest and right arm.

    Jason immediately directed the feeling towards the palm of his hand as sparks of lightning flew around his arm.

    A secondter, a banging sound echoed around the entire ce as Jason was thrown back by the explosion.

    "Don''t be so over enthusiastic kiddo." Risa immediately appeared behind Jason and ced her knee right behind his backbone.

    Jason felt like throwing up and emptying his stomach. His vision was getting blurrier every second and he felt a sharp pain rising in his right hand.

    "Looks like you burned through 95% of your mana," Risa muttered as she bent down and ced her right hand on Jason''s shoulder. "Genezen."

    As soon as the words left her mouth, a golden light appeared around Risa''s right hand. The light then passed through her hand into Jason''s body and started relieving him from the pain.

    "I guess that''s the end of day one of training. At least you ended the day with an explosion." Risa then put her hands under Jason''s shoulders and lifted him off the ground.

    Thetter had started feeling sleepy as he felt his eyelids getting heavier by the second. By the time Risa had brought him to the mansion, his eyes were already closed as he had passed out.

    Risa only had a small smile on her face as she took Jason to his bedroom and ced him on the bed.

    "You will learn from the mistakes you make." She whispered in his ear before leaving the room.

    Down in the hall, Issac was waiting for her with a curious expression as he had seen Jason being carried to the bed.

    "What happened?" He asked as Risa climbed down thest stair. She then looked at the couch in the room and patted it before sitting down.

    "He did the same thing Michael did and ended up using almost all of his mana in one shot," She finally replied while chuckling. "It was so simr that I wondered if it was staged."

    "So I guess he will be reckless too," Issac added as a smile blossomed on his face. "But I hope that Evelyn''s genes do make him a bit more sensible than Michael when he was a child and a teenager."

    "Only time will tell that," Risa replied while sighing herself as Issac sat beside her.

    The old couple stared at the door of the house as though waiting for someone to open it ande inside.

    "Indeed, only time will tell."

 Chapter 27 Failure After Failure

    "Ughбн Why does it feel as though I went drinkingst night?" Jason groaned as his eyelids slowly opened up.

    His head was hurting badly the same way a hangover would have. The curtains in his room were drawn shut so he had no idea what time it was.

    [ It''s evening, host. You were knocked unconscious in the morning due to expending your mana in one huge go. ] The system''s voice was like a soothing melody to Jason. It seemed to reduce the pain in his head to quite some extent.

    As his headache started to disappear, Jason remembered that he had tried to make his mana appear in physical form which had resulted in an explosion.

    The explosion had thrown him back and Risa had prevented him from hitting the ground. After that, his memory had gone hazy as he had lost consciousness in his grandmother''s arms.

    ''And here I thought that I would be able to do it on the first try.'' Jason thought while chuckling humorlessly.

    [ Though you have talent, it doesn''t mean that your execution would be good either. You just have to keep trying until you seed. ] The system provided some wise words from Jason''s memories in hopes of trying to cheer him up.

    However, Jason wasn''t demotivated at all. He stood up from the bed and pulled the curtains to see that the sun had already started sinking.

    ''Tomorrow, I will try the same thing again.'' Jason thought as he made his way to the stairs and started climbing down.

    His grandfather and grandmother were seated at the dining table and were chatting happily with Nora. The young demi-human face lit up with a smile when he saw Jason arrive.

    Thetter pulled up a chair and sat on it before looking at Risa.

    "So, you know what you did wrong?" The read-head woman asked while keeping her face expressionless.

    "I used much more mana than I should have," Jason replied as he saw Risa nod. "But I didn''t exhaust my mana reserve, did I?"

    "No, you didn''tpletely use your mana, or else you would havended in aa for a month."

    Hearing her words, Jason thanked his luck that he hadn''t used all of his mana. Being out ofmission for a month would make him lose a huge amount of progression.

    "Then how can I limit my mana usage?" Jason then asked but both Issac and Risa shook their heads.

    "Every person has their own understanding of mana and how to use it. Neither of us can help you know yours," Issac replied before pointing at Jason. "Only you can find the way you want to go in."

    "Then I will let my mana recoverpletely and practice again," Jason replied with a slight bow as a delicious smell suddenly hit his nose.

    His stomach growled loudly as he hadn''t eaten anything the entire day.

    "I forgot to mention but your aunt and uncle had captured a bear today and were cooking it outside," Lisa smirked while seeing her grandson''s gluttonous expression. "They should be bringing it in a few minutes."

    That night, Jason ate till his stomach was about to explode before going to sleep.

    The next morning, he was awakened by a ringing sound echoing in his ears. He had asked the system whether it could replicate his rm back from Earth and the reply had been yes.

    It was early morning when Jason had decided to wake up and go outside for practice.

    ''Yesterday, I used too much of my mana while trying to make it appear in the palm of my hand. Maybe the second option will be much easier for me.''

    After thinking that, Jason nted his feet apart and closed his eyes in concentration. Risa''s mana had appeared around her body in the form of a cloak and Jason tried his best to imitate that.

    [ Host, be careful. Risa is not here currently to help you. ] The system warned as Jason lost his concentration.

    ''I know that. Now, don''t interrupt me unless it''s something urgent.'' He replied and focused on his thunder element again.

    Just like yesterday, Jason felt something expanding in his chest as he imagined it spreading throughout his body.

    Slowly but surely, the thing in Jason''s chest spread across his body until he could feel it in each of his limbs.

    Jason then imagined a cloak of mana surrounding his body and felt the mana leaving his body. He felt that he was about to seed when the mana left his body.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t appear in the way he wanted it to appear.

    "Sh*t," Jason muttered as he felt his skin being covered by a gooey thing. Upon looking at his arms, he could see a yellow slime-like material cover his entire body from head to toe, like a cloak.<sub> </sub>

    It would have been so bad if not for the smell that the slime produced. It smelled as though someone had left dead fishes out in the open for weeks and the same smell came from Jason.

    He knew that if he went back home in such a manner, Risa was definitely going to be mad at him while Issac wouldugh wholeheartedly and give him two thumbs up.

    ''Not like I have any other choiceбн'' Jason thought while wiping the fingers of his right hand free of the slime and closing his nose.

    He then made his way to the manor and entered it silently. But due to his luck, Risa and Issac were right there in the hall.

    Risa, who was moving a small desk, paused and stared at Jason''s body. Issac did the expected and chuckled loudly.

    "Jason, go and wash yourself right now," Risa said with a small smile. "We will talk after that."

    For some reason, Jason felt that his grandmother was not angry which was surprising. Risa was one of the most cleanliness loving women he knew and someone like her would have been angry at the yellow slime he had dragged in with him.

    ''Could it be that she had experienced the same thing?'' Jason wondered as he quickly made his way to his room and removed his clothes.

    After entering the shower, he spent an hour rubbing his body free of the slime. There were no soaps in Duphia since the shower itself was made using magic.

    The water that passed through it was not only extremely clean but would also fragrant. So after such a long bath, Jason smelled as though he had just been sprinkled with a special spring collection perfume.

    <o>,m "That was quick." He muttered while wearing a new pair of clothes. His old slimy clothes had already been taken away and the floor had been killed.</o>

    No traces of the incident from earlier remained as he had washed all of the slime down the drain. Though he had no knowledge about the drainage Jason was sure that it could easily dispose of the slime.

    Otherwise, the entire house was going to be smelling gross for quite some time.

    After getting ready for the second time, Jason made his way down the hall to find Risa waiting for him.

    "You tried using the second way?" She asked with a smile as Jason nodded.

    "I didn''t expect it to end that wayбн"

    "Getting a cloak of mana on your skin is easy and results in the same thing that happened to you. However, getting one in the air is much harder but you can keep trying. Don''t worry about your clothes or the floor."

    Risa finished before patting Jason''s head and encouraging him to continue. She then excused herself by saying that she had a few chores on her hand and that he could continue his practice.

    ''If only she knew that I ended up using half of my mana to create a slime cloakбн''

    ---

    Two months passed away in this manner yet Jason had no progress.

    After the blunders created by the first two ways, he wasn''t enthusiastic about using the third one. He decided to not use it until he managed to use either the first or the second way.

    Due to that decision, he would either be knocked unconscious till the end of the day or would juste back home as a monster from some children''s book.

    Jason tried asking Risa or Issac for tips but the two of them would refuse by saying the same thing.

    His aunt and uncle weren''t any help either as they would spend most of their time outside the manor.

    He had no idea as to what they did but knew that both of them were the only ones bringing back food for the family to eat.

    Nora on the other hand would oftene to see him practice and would giggle whenever he would end up making a mistake.

    If not for being like a real younger brother, Jason would have already pulled Nora''s cheeks to teach him a lesson. Nora also pulled him back to the house if he fell unconscious so there was that too.

    Despite the many failures, Jason didn''t lose hope. But after waking up on his bed after being knocked unconscious for the umpteenth time, Jason realized that he couldn''t do it alone.

    ''I need a teacher.''

 Chapter 28 An Equal Exchange

    [ Who are you going to ask? ] The system asked as Jason stood up and opened the curtains.

    The sun had long since set and the sky was now covered with stars and the moon. Jason sighed at this before turning towards the door.

    ''I have someone in mind but we will go and meet him tomorrow. For now, let me eat and sleep.''

    Since it was already nighttime, Jason decided to go and ask the person heter. There was a high chance that he would be rejected but Jason didn''t mind trying.

    ''It''s either a yes or a no.''

    ---

    The next morning, Jason woke up two hours before his usual waking up time. He knew that everyone in the house would be asleep so he quickly bathed and changed his clothes.

    While tiptoeing down the stairs, Jason easily managed to reach the door without waking anyone. He then stepped out of the house and started walking towards his destination.

    ''It feels weird to be the only one being awake at this time.''

    While walking through the streets of Duphia, Jason realized that no one in the town was an early riser. Most people would start their day by waking up at eight which was a chill lifestyle.

    He continued to jog around while moving towards the outskirts of the town. His goal was to get some milk to start his day.

    [ Host, who are you trying to fool? I know that you are going to ask Karna to help you. ]

    Jason smiled at the system''s words but didn''t say anything. His silence was enough for the system to know that it was right, thus going back to its passive state.

    After a few minutes of jogging, the boy finally reached the shelter created on the outskirts of the town.

    Jason could hear mooing and meeeh soundsing from inside the shelter, indicating that the cows and goats inside were awake.

    He then walked up to the entrance of the shelter and peeked inside.

    Sitting with his back against a pole was Karna. The young shepherd had his eyes closed as though he was sleeping but Jason knew that Karna had already sensed his arrival. He just didn''t acknowledge it by opening his eyes.

    "So I take it that you are not here to buy milk?" The shepherd asked whilezily stretching his body. Without opening his eyes, Karna stood up and turned his head in Jason''s direction.

    "I am here to buy milk as well as ask you for a favor." The boy replied honestly as his eyes curiously wandered around the shelter.

    He had been there to buy milk before too but had never gotten to see inside the shelter. But now that he did, he wondered whether he would drink milk the same way again.

    Most of the cows were sleeping--meaning that they were lying on the ground in weird positions--while the awoken ones were lining up at the entrance of the shelter.

    The same was true for the goats but the difference was that the younger ones were beating horns with others.

    Though the entire ce looked clean and healthy, there was a weird smell settled over the entire ce which made Jason give Karna a weird expression.

    "Young ones have to be taught what to do inside and what to do outside," Karna replied with a straight face before he walked out of the shelter to talk with Jason.

    "So, are you going to milk them right now?" The boy asked in a hesitant tone as a smile appeared on Karna''s face.<sub> </sub>

    "I will do it soon but I don''t think you want to see that."

    "Indeedбн So, will you do me the favor or not?" Jason asked with expectant eyes as the smile slipped off Karna''s face.

    "You Syrwards and your ''favors''," The shepherd huffed and Jason could swear that he was rolling his eyes. "Both your grandfather and father asked me for favors too which were too much for a sack of old bones like me."

    "But I saw you beingpletely fine and awesome the other day!" Jason eximed as Karna clicked his tongue.

    The old man knew that he couldn''t refute it by saying that it was a lie since Jason had seen the battle.

    He cursed Issac for bringing him to such a small battle that he could have handled alone while barely using 5% of his strength.

    In the end, he decided to listen to what favor Jason wanted.

    "What do what from me, kid?"

    "I want you to teach me how to control my mana and show it in a physical form." Jason then paused before hurriedly saying a few more words thinking that Karna might reject him by saying the same thing his grandparents did. "I will do something in exchange too."

    "Hmmm," The shepherd fell deep into thinking before suddenly nodding. "I can help you with that but you have to help me too. It will be an equal exchange."

    Jason nodded enthusiastically as he was willing to do anything he can to get someone to teach him. Many would call this as taking the shortcut but Jason called it the smart way.

    "Then we have a deal." Karna raised his right hand forward as Jason shook it happily.

    What he didn''t know was that Karna had managed to use his mana and check Jason''s potential in just under a second.

    Even the system had failed to detect it and had no idea that a foreign mana had even appeared inside Jason''s body.

    ''So he has the thunder element and an A grade affinity with the dark element. Syrwards and their overpowered family members,'' Karna sighed mentally while reviewing the information. ''If trained properly, Jason could be a fearsome half-demon.''

    Karna was one of the handful of people Issac had trusted with the secret of Jason''s identity. Though half-demons were extremely rare, they were very powerful and the demon race didn''t want to let go of them.

    Karna knew that if the news reached the ears of the demon king, he would deploy every single person on the continent to go after Jason and bring him to the demon continent.

    ''But then, he would have to go through ayer of overpowered people including two of his own trusted people. In any case, Issac can only hide Jason''s identity until he is ten years old. After that, ''he'' wille here to check up on both Nora and Jason.''

    Karna decided that by the time Jason would turn ten, he would help him in exchange for the boy''s help.

    He would have done it regardless of receiving anything but he knew that Jason would count it as something he had to repay.

    That was just the way the Syrward family functioned.

    "So, what will I have to do?" Jason asked eagerly as he took his hand back.

    "For starters," Karna''s lips curled up and parted apart to show a toothy grin. "You''ll have to milk the cows and goats."

 Chapter 29 Ahh! The Milk Is So Thick!

    AN: Gentlemen, don''t let your thoughts wander somewhere else. This is a family-friendly chapter. Or maybeбн xD.

    ---

    "Ok, so I have to milk- Wait what?!" Jason did a double-take as he saw a grin appear on Karna''s face. The shepherd was clearly about to enjoy the things that would happen next.

    "Don''t get me wrong here but I do need help in milking all these animals," He casually waved his hand over the herd of animals. "I am getting old you know and my back hurts the more time I spend doing these things."

    Jason''s jaw twitched a little when he heard Karna''s reason. He wondered whether Issac and Karna were friends due to their matching personalities.

    After all, even though Karna looked old, he was in no way weak. He also didn''t need to do anything manually and could collect the milk from the animals easily by waving his hands and using a bit of magic.

    Jason would have to do the entire thing manually which was not a fun thing. He wondered whether it was a clever n formed by Karna to make him quit just after a few days.

    ''If that''s the case, I will stay here until he teaches me.'' Jason thought resolutely before nodding at Karna.

    "So, when do we start?" He asked aloud.

    "We start right now." Karna then led him to the interior of the shelter before settling down on a chair.

    The shepherd raised his index and middle finger to his mouth and whistled loudly, followed by the movement of the animals inside the shelter.

    A herd of goats suddenly got into line as Karna nodded in approval.

    "Good morning, Feta," Karna greeted the goat standing right in front of the line. "Today, I am going to manually take your milk. You mind?"

    "Meeeh!" The goat bleated before shaking its head and getting into ce.

    Karna then lifted a silver bucket beside him and ced it under the goat. He started the process immediately after that.

    ''Ughбн'' The entire time, Jason felt extremely awkward and wondered how he could even manage to do such a thing. He hadn''t made the mistake of thinking that it would be an easy task and now that he had seen it, he knew it was hard.

    [ Need a shortcut? ] The system asked.

    ''There is one?'' Jason sounded surprised as he was eager to know a shortcut to help him get things quicker.

    [ Yes there is. ] The system chuckled as Jason got even more eager. However, its next sentences made him look resigned and continue to observe Karna. [ Its self-practice. ]

    Jason continued to observe Karna a few more times as the shepherd went through several goats. Soon enough, Jason was ready to try it himself as he gestured to Karna that he was ready.

    "Just be gentle and everything will go well." Karna encouraged as Jason gulped and saw a goat move in front of him.

    He began doing what he had seen Karna do and started the process.

    ''Be gentle. Be gentle. Be gentle.'' He repeated the same thing over and over before he pulled on the object near his hands softly.

    "Ahh!" Suddenly, a spray of pure white milk directly hit him in the face. Karna couldn''t prevent himself fromughing as Jason jerked back.

    "Stay still." The shepherd ordered as he got hisughter under control. He then waved his hand in front of Jason''s face as the boy felt someone sshing water across his face.

    The milk was immediately washed away from his face as Jason rubbed his eye which had directly been under assault by the goat.

    Jason then gave the goat a lethal re to which it responded by showing her horns in his direction.

    He didn''t want to admit it but the look the goat was giving him was quite lethal as he averted his gaze.

    Jason suddenly felt something soft under his right hand as he looked down to see Feta standing right under his right hand.

    "Don''t worry about being attacked. Feta is very kind and gentle as long as you don''t threaten her or do anything wrong with her." Karna spoke after seeing the exchange. "Let''s continue."<sub> </sub>

    Jason nodded as he felt a bit more confident after hearing Karna''s words and the change in goats was also a good thing.

    He once again bent down and started the process again. He kept his head far away this time but by doing so, he managed to press quite hard which made Feta meeeeeh loudly.

    Feta red at him simr to that from thest goat before she licked his right hand and walked away. Jason sighed at this as Karna patted his head gently.

    "I didn''t learn it in one day either and just so you know, I started manually. Come back daily at the same time and we will try again." Karna said encouragingly and was about to go back inside but was stopped by Jason.

    "What about teaching me?" He asked curiously as Karna smiled,

    "Your lesson for today was already over, Jason," Karna replied before walking back inside and not looking back once.

    ''Did he just scam me or something?'' Jason wondered, knowing well that there would only be a single reply.

    [ He definitely didn''t and it''s just day one. Try again tomorrow, host. ] The system encouraged, making Jason sigh and looked down at the ground around the entrance to the shelter.

    Karna had left a bottle of milk for him before leaving. Jason bent down and picked it up before drinking itpletely.

    ''It feels sweeter for some reason.'' He observed silently before making his way back.

    After reaching the manor again, Jason focused on the palm of his hand. The result was the same.

    "Grandma, big brother is knocked out again!" Nora, who was now awake and looking at Jason from one of the windows of the manor, shouted.

    Risa''s footsteps echoed around the house as she climbed down the stairs while sighing. She walked out of the door and saw her grandson knocked out cold on the ground.

    "I did say that you will learn from your mistakes but that doesn''t mean you will keep on doing the same thing over and over again. The results won''t change that easily." Risa sighed as she picked Jason up and took him back to the manor.

    From that day onwards, Jason would go to Karna''s ce daily and would take the milk out of Feta. The goat had also started bing friendlier with Jason and would gently meeeeh if he pulled too hard.

    A month passed by in such a manner before Jason managed to learn how to control where the milk would fall.

    "It''s impressive to see that you can learn this much in a small span of time," Karna muttered in a genuinely impressed tone while observing Jason.

    Thetter rolled his eyes at the praise as he stood up from the ground.

    "I have been working for free for an entire month. You better teach me something today or I leave." Jason demanded while ring at Karna.

    Feta, who had been watching him carefully, shook her head and moved away. She had seen the same thing happen a few times and Karna had already sent Jason back too many times.

    Feta could tell that Jason was getting impatient and today was the day when he wasn''t going back since his expression contained resolution. In the end, she was fine with anything as long as she got to sleep and eat.

    "You still haven''t realized it, have you?" Karna asked with a gentle smile as Jason kept on staring at his face.

    "What?"

    "What you have been doing for a month was a part of your training," Karna replied while sitting down on his knees so that he could be at Jason''s eye level. "Go ahead and try using the first way to present your mana."

    Jason was doubtful that he had received any training by milking a goat. However, it didn''t hurt to try.

    "If I am knocked unconscious, you better drop me at my home." He said with a re before he closed his eyes and raised his right hand.

    Jason then focused on his mana and slowly brought it out, expecting it to blow and knock him unconscious. Contrary to his expectations, it didn''t happen.

    "What did I tell you?" Karna smiled as a ball of light appeared in Jason''s palm.

 Chapter 30 Today Was A Good Day

    "Iбн" Jason had no words as he saw the purple ball of light in the middle of his palm. It was a marble-sized ball and was translucent.

    But ifpared to what he had been doing in his past summons, the marble ball was a huge step forward.

    "Try using the same method you use while milking Feta," Karna suggested again as Jason nodded enthusiastically. The result he had gotten made him see Karna in a new light as he decided to listen to the shepherd''s words carefully.

    He then focused on the ball of light and gently spread it. The ball seemed to get bouncy in Jason''s palm as it jumped an inch in the air before settling down on Jason''s palm and vanishing

    Jason looked up at Karna for an exnation even though he knew that it was way too quick for him to be learning everything.

    "Watch and listen closely." Karna raised his right hand in front of Jason and casually summoned a ball of light in his palm.

    The size of the ball was the same as the one Jason had summoned but felt different from his. Karna let it stay in his palms for a few minutes before the ball started shaking.

    "You know how to direct the milk to the bucket but you don''t know how much pressure to apply," Karna said as the ball bounced up and down. "Simrly, you now know where to gather the mana but don''t know how much to gather and control it."

    The ball suddenly expanded to be the size of a baseball before shrinking down to be the size of a curled-up ant. Karna then dispelled the ball of mana and looked at Jason with a smile.

    "So how do I control the amount?" Jason asked calmly as Karna''s smile widened a bit. He opened his mouth as Jason''s ears perked up to listen to the important instructions.

    "We will work on that tomorrow."

    Jason blinked in confusion as he wondered whether Karna was joking but it turned out to be true when the shepherd moved back inside the shelter and left him standing alone.

    With no other choice, Jason returned home. Since he hade to practice in the evening, the sun had set down when he reached the manor.

    Karna had been calling him twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, for practice.

    Though Jason didn''t like waking up in the morning, the breakthrough he had made changed things for him. He resolved to continue showing up daily until he learned all three ways to show mana physically.

    "So, any progress today?" Risa asked as Jason entered the dining room and sat down on his seat at the dining table.

    Jason had already told his family that Karna had been teaching him in exchange for his help and they didn''t seem to mind much.

    Jason wondered why none of them had offered to teach him. He knew that there must be a reason behind it or it was just the fact that all of them were toozy or careless.

    That was why he had decided to not keep having Karna as his teacher a secret. The news would have reached Issac''s ears anyways.

    [ Then how are you going to exin about me to them? ] The system asked in a curious tone as Jason smiled and politely ignored it. He couldn''t answer the question regardless.

    "I can summon the mana in a marble-sized ball form," Jason replied as he raised his right hand and demonstrated the process.

    Risa was surprised to see Jason making so much progress in a lesser amount of time. The other members of the Syrward family were currently out and Risa was left behind to take care of the two kids.

    "You are doing well, Jason. Now eat your dinner and sleep soon. I don''t want you to fall ill." Risa replied with a smile as she patted his head before moving out of the room.

    Jason quickly finished his dinner before dashing up the stairs two at a time. He rushed inside his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

    After settling down on his bed, Jason decided to use the first way a few more times but he showed no further progress.

    Jason exhausted all of his mana soon enough and decided to go to sleep. Despite the exhaustion, Jason found out that he couldn''t sleep due to the excitement he felt inside.

    He kept tossing and turning in the bed for hours before realizing that unless he did something, the entire night would go by in such a manner.

    [ Go and drink some warm milk. It will help you sleep. ] The system said in a gentle tone as Jason stood up and rubbed his eyes.

    He was tempted to use the first way to present mana to the fullest and knock himself out but that would create a loud explosion and would wake up the entire house.<sub> </sub>

    Despite howzy he felt, Jason decided to go down to the kitchen to fetch a ss of milk himself. He exited his room and made his way to the stairs when he noticed something.

    ''The lights are still on?'' His sleepiness was suddenly reced by alertness as he saw the lights in the hall being still on. ''System?''

    [ The time is currently 2 am in the morning and no, there is no one else in the house except your family. ]

    Jason tiptoed to the bottom of the stairs before bending down and seeing beyond the stairs.

    He knew that no one in their right mind would try to rob his family and the system had also confirmed that there was no intruder in the house. This could only mean that some super-secret important discussion was going on.

    "So, you will be setting out now?" Risa''s voice entered Jason''s ears as he saw his grandparents standing in the middle of the living room.

    "Nora''s birthday is less than five months close. If I help Karna in finding that bow, it''s going to take 3 months at least. Ray and Zara will be going with me too so I don''t want to risk it after both of my grandchildren would be five years old."

    Issac replied while tightening theces of his shoes. He had a small bag hung on his back and was looking out at the entrance of the manor.

    "I have to set out now. Make sure to keep them safe," Issac added before chuckling. "But looking at the history of our family, something is bound to happen so make sure they don''t die."

    Risa could only sigh while shaking her head as she knew that Issac was telling the truth.

    Jason on the other hand turned his gaze towards the door to see Zara and Ray standing outside with their own bags.

    "Then I guess I will look after them in the meantime. I hope Jason doesn''t feel too bad about losing his teacher for a few months." Risa muttered.

    "Make sure to divert his attention. Imma set out now." Issac replied before he walked out of the door. Zara and Ray followed him as the three of them left the manor.

    Risa watched them go silently as she closed the door before going towards the kitchen.

    Jason on the other hand was still hiding while cursing at his bad luck. Just when he had started making progress his teacher was leaving him.

    [ Host, don''t forget that I am here to help you. After closely observing how Karna summoned his mana and what he said, I think I can teach you enough to at least notg behind too much. ]

    ''Really?!'' Jason felt like jumping in excitement but then remembered what the time was.

    He then acted as though he was half asleep by closing his eyes and walking up to the kitchen.

    Risa was easily able to hear his footsteps as she turned to look at his fake half-asleep version.

    "Trouble falling asleep?" She cocked an eyebrow at him as Jason slowly nodded.

    She turned back and picked up a ss made from a yellowish metal. Risa then ced her index finger on the rim of the ss and supplied it with a bit of mana.

    The entire ss lit up with red patterns before returning back to normal. Jason wondered what Risa had done with the ss but he got the answer to his question when he started drinking the milk.

    "I always keep a ss or two of milk outside just in case," Risa added as Jason finished the ss and wiped his face.

    He was genuinely starting to feel sleepy as he said goodnight to Risa and moved back to his room.

    While lying on his bed, Jason closed his eyes and got ready to sleep.

    ''Today was a good day and tomorrow would be good tooбн''

    Jason remembered that he used to think the same words back on earth whenever he had a bad day. He motivated himself by thinking he had a better day than a lot of other humans.

    But for once, he thought the same words genuinely and fell asleep.

 Chapter 31 Moving Out Of Duphia For The First Time

    The next morning, Jason decided to sleep inte. Despite the resolution he had felt, there was no point in practicing twice without the proper guidance.

    Jason would practice just in the evenings and be done with it.

    Risa didn''t wake him up either since she knew that Jason had overheard her and Issacst night. She instead decided toy down and have some rest but Risa wasn''t the type of woman who could easily nap in the afternoon.

    ''Maybe I should just take the kids out with meбн'' She stood up ten minutester before sighing and patting herself on the back for trying.

    Risa realized that noon was steadily approaching and that Jason was still asleep. Risa had to admit that she had seen her children break records but Jason was next level.

    ''I guess that''s enough sleep for now.'' She thought while climbing the stairs and entered Jason''s room situated right beside the stairs.

    Inside, the boy was sleeping on the bed in a weird twisted sort of way. His mouth was slightly open and if Risa squinted a bit, she could see that he was drooling on his pillow.

    "Somethings never change." She muttered while remembering how Issac slept and how Michael used to sleep. She then shook her head before she walked beside the bed.

    Risa reached forward and put her index finger directly above Jason''s face. A secondter, water sprayed out from the tip of her finger and sshed on Jason''s face.

    "Ahh!" Jason immediately sat up with a bewildered expression just to see Risa standing right beside his bed.

    "Get ready. We are going on a trip outside the town." Risa grinned at her grandchild''s expression before drying him with her magic and leaving the room.

    Jason watched her walk away as he stifled a yawn and stood up. He quickly got ready for the day before going down and eating breakfast.

    Nora was also present there though he had eaten his breakfast hours ago. Nora had also been informed of his parents and Issac''s journey though he didn''t know the real reason for it.

    Both he and Nora were however distracted and extremely excited about the trip since it was the first time they would be going out of their town and exploring the wilds.

    "Don''t leave my side and don''t do anything unless I ask you to. Those are the only things you have to take care of and we will have fun." Risa exined as she arrived at the dining room with a bag on her shoulder.

    The two kids nodded enthusiastically as they left the manor. Risa didn''t lock it in any visible way and simply made the two children walk in front of her. She then guided them towards the back of the town where the fields expanded.

    Duphia was divided into three parts, the outskirts of the entrance of the town, the town itself, and the fields that stretched behind the town.

    The fields were where the people went to work and were further connected to the forest beyond them. They were also one of the major revenue-generating things or rather, the only revenue-generating thing that happened in the town.

    Risa was taking the two of them to the forest beyond the fields since that area was much safer aspared to other parts of the forest that surrounded the town.

    ''That''s wheat and rice and vegetables. Most of the crops are the same as what they were on Earth.'' Jason observed while walking through the fields.

    He was able to identify many of the crops but there were some he had never seen before. But since he wasn''t going to be a botanist, he didn''t pay much attention to them.

    They continued to walk under the scorching sun for half and before the trio reached the middle of the fields.

    A structure was built there for the farmers to rest and get some shelter from the sun.

    "Grandma, why didn''t you tell us that half of your time will be spent on actually exiting the town?" Jason asked while sitting down on a bench inside the structure.<sub> </sub>

    Nora sat beside him and wiped the sweat off his forehead. The two of them were tired of walking this much, especially under direct sunlight which was expected since they barely moved outside.

    "Walking is good for your health. When you grow up, you will be adventuring and that would require you to walk." Risa reminded as she took the bag on her back off.

    "Unless we catch ourselves a steed." Jason pointed out as Risa smiled and nodded. She then took out the lunch and passed it to the two children.

    ''That is unless I create a car here.'' Jason thought while eating as the system chuckled at his words.

    [ You think creating a car is easy? ] It asked smugly.

    ''How hard it can be?'' Jason asked without realizing that his nightmares from Earth were soon about to start.

    [ Well for startersбн ] The system thenunched into a ten-minute lecture that covered the basics and fried Jason''s brain to the core. Even the sun hadn''t had that effect on him.

    ''Never mindбн I will just settle for carriages if they exist.'' He replied while sighing.

    [ You can definitely create those if they don''t exist. ] The system replied cheerfully as the trio started walking again.

    After another hour of walking, they finally reached the point where the fields connected with the forest.

    A fence governed the boundaries of the fields, most likely to prevent beasts froming in. Jason had read a bit about the beasts with the help of the system but the books Jason had been given to read didn''t contain much information.

    "Don''t touch the fence or you will get electrocuted," Risa said in a warning tone as she looked at Nora.

    The young demi-human was about to touch the pointed fence but backed off on Risa''s warning. She then grabbed and lifted both of them up while looking around the fence.

    ''So they sealed the exit,'' She thought before looking at the top of the fence which was almost twice her height. ''They should know that this can only stop the weakest of the beasts. If the big ones decided to attack, this fence wouldn''t even tickle them.''

    Risa then tightened her grip on the two children and bent down. The next second, she had jumped over the fence andnded on the ground of the forest on the other side.

    Jason and Nora were both left shocked and amazed by what they had just gone through. The entire thing had happened in the blink of an eye and they had crossed the fence.

    ''System, she had jumped over the fence right?'' Jason asked in a dazed tone>

    [ Yes, host. Do you need me to show it to you in slow motion? ]

    ''No needбн'' Jason still felt shocked as Risa set him and Nora down with a grin.

    "I don''t like to boast but your grandfather isn''t the only one who can do cool things at an old age." She added before looking around the forest with a rxed look.

    The forest around Duphia was like her yground so Risa wasn''t too bothered that any beast would attack them. And even if any of them did appear, she could easily defeat them.

    "So, are you both ready for some exploring?"

 Chapter 32 I LIWI IKIL OYU!

    ''I expected more but this is turning even more boring than the trips the orphanage used to take me on. At least I had Thalia''spany back then.'' Jason thought while stifling a yawn.

    It had been more than ten minutes since they had crossed to the other side of the fence yet he hadn''t seen a single beast since then.

    Not even a bird had made its appearance making him wonder whether the entire area was free of beasts in general. Considering how the ce was too close to the vige, it might be the truth.

    "The beasts are too afraid to get close to the town because of your grandfather, aunt, and uncle. They hunt a little too recklessly and end up scaring most of the beasts. It''s going to take us a long time before we can see one but by then, it would be evening."

    Risa exined as though she had read his mind but it had been pretty easy considering the facial expressions he had been making and keeping.

    ''So this is an explore the nature kind of trip.'' Jason sighed mentally as he nced at Nora who was still a bit excited but overall looked disappointed.

    If not for him being a reincarnated person, Jason was sure that he would also retain a bit of his excitement like his younger cousin since he was seeing a new environment.

    ''Most of these nts are simr to those on Earth. I would''ve rather slept at home.''

    Risa, of course, knew this yet she still made the two children keep on moving and she wasn''t doing it just so that they could see even more nts.

    There was something that she needed to take care of.

    "Jason, Nora, tightly grab my legs and stick close to me," Risa ordered as they appeared in a bit of an open spot. Jason and Nora did as asked with confused expressions.

    Risa''s eyes then moved to a path of grass which seemed normal or still as she pointed her index finger in its direction. A goldenser beam suddenly shot out from her finger and pierced the bushes in the blink of an eye, leaving a huge ck hole.

    A cry of pain was heard the next second as the remaining of the bushes were suddenly torn down. A creature jumped out of the bushes with deadly agility and red at Risa.

    Jason could only catch a glimpse of its bloodshot eyes and slightly green skin before it dashed at Risa with a speed too fast for Jason''s eyes to follow.

    "I LIWI IKIL OYU NAD TAE OYU!" The creature shouted yet Jason had no idea where it wasing from. Risa on the other hand started rubbing her temples.

    "When will you goblins learn to talk properly." She muttered before pointing her index finger in a random direction.

    THUMP!

    The moment Jason blinked, he heard the sound of something hitting the ground. His eyes then saw the same creature lying down on the ground with unfocused eyes.

    ''So that''s how a goblin looks in this worldбн'' He thought before examining the goblin''s body.

    The creature lying on the ground had a simr body structure to that of a human except that its skin waspletely green like that of algae.

    The goblin''s mouth was slightly open and Jason could see that its canines were extremely sharp too. He couldn''t see any other visible difference between him and the goblin which was barely a few inches taller than him.

    ''Wait, why am I looking inside a goblin''s mouth? Ew, ew, ew... What''s wrong with me?!'' Jason suddenly shook his head to scatter his thoughts before looking at Risa who soonunched into an exnation.

    "What you are seeing in front of you is a goblin, marked by their green skin and sharp canines. This one is only a child, perhaps a few years older then you. They aren''t known for their magic or speed and are verymon ves if trained properly."

    Risa exined while looking at the goblin''s body but no sooner had her gaze fallen on it that the creature lunged forward in an attempt to bite her leg off.

    ''It didn''t die even after getting its brainpletely destroyed?'' Risa looked surprised as the goblin repeated the same sentence from earlier.

    "I LIWI IKIL OYU NAD TAE OYU!"

    "Oh shut up." Risa then double-tapped the goblin by putting a hole in his chest and another hole in his skull.

    The goblin died for the second time yet Risa made sure that he was thoroughly dead this time.

    "No goblin around this one''s age can show such speed even if they are lucky enough to get a wind or lightning element." She added while kicking the goblin''s right hand.

    <o>,m "They get elements too?" Nora asked while tilting his head slightly, The question might have seemed like a stupid question if not for the fact how young he was and hisck of knowledge about other species and creatures.</o>

    "Yes, beasts have elemental affinity the same way humans have. They have rankings and stuff that you will learnter on. However,mon goblins have a one in a thousand chance of getting an E grade affinity so that doesn''t exin how this one was so quick."<sub> </sub>

    Risa was constantly being bugged by the goblin''s behavior, especially how it had gotten up even when she had killed it once.

    ''How did it even manage to reach here? Goblins are not intelligent and are supposed to travel in hordes and stay near caves or dungeons. Not only was this one traveling alone but it was also following us for quite some time.''

    Risa had realized that the goblin had been following them the movment they had started walking after crossing the fence.

    She was sure that it had been trying to find a way to cross the fence safely yet had failed in doing so. Whereas a normal goblin would have hit the fence directly and would have been electrocuted.

    Though they were intelligent goblins too, they had gone through a lot of evolutions and were much stronger than the one she had killed.

    ''I should take him back to Duphia.'' Risa thought and was about to lift the goblin''s body when something strange happened.

    The entire body got covered in a greenish gooey material which started decaying the goblin''s body at a rapid rate. In front of her eyes, the goblin''s body vanished and turned into acidic residue.

    "Is that what happens when a goblin dies?бн" Jason asked in a surprised tone as he stared down at the pool of green acid left behind.

    "No, that''s not what happens. Generally, it would have taken the body anywhere between a day to a week to dpose and mix with the ground unless someone had interfered with it." Risa looked around with an alerted expression.

    She felt that something was wrong though couldn''t exactly figure out what it was. Risa decided to take the children back to Duphia before returning to investigate and lower her alertness a bit.

    "Jason, Nora, hold on tightly," Risa said as she picked the two children up and dashed towards the fence.

    Perhaps dashed was the wrong word to describe what she did since one moment Risa was standing between the trees and the next moment, she was on the other side of the fence with the children.

    ''System, I would like to see that in slow motionбн'' Jason felt a bit dizzy as he sat down on the ground while looking at the sky.

    He felt nauseous to the core and barely prevented himself from puking and emptying his stomach.

    Nora was much worse than him as his face had turnedpletely pale. Jason was sure that the little demi-human was resisting the urge to puke much more than he himself was.

    "I am sorry but you have to go through that once again. You can roam around the city if you want but it''s important to get there." Risa apologized as she grabbed onto the two children and moved again.

    This time, the three of them appeared in front of the manor as Risa dropped them at the door and went back to the forest.

    Jason knelt on the ground while clutching his stomach and taking a few deep breaths. Nora was on the verge of puking before Risa quickly touched their foreheads and sighed.

    "Both of you stay inside Duphia''s boundaries. I hate to leave you both but I have to go. I will be back insoon and please don''t do anything dangerous." Risa exined while patting their heads. "You are free to explore the city."

    Risa then vanished immediately as she went in the direction of the forest to investigate alone.

    The two children theny on the ground and stared at the sky. They hade back around early evening but neither of them had anything to do.

    That was until an idea appeared inside Jason''s mind.

    "Nora," Jason sat up immediately as his brother''s eyes looked at his face. "Would you like to have some real fun?"

    "As long it doesn''t need me to walk for hoursбн" The young demi-human muttered as Jason shook his head

    "No, it doesn''t require you to do that. In fact, it''s just a fifteen minutes walk away."

    "Then I am ready to go," Nora replied as the two of them stood up and stretched their bodies.

    "Let''s go then." He smiled before the two of them started making their way to the outer edges of the town.

    Perhaps ying with the goats would serve as a great distraction for them. Jason had already started forming ns but he was forced to stop his train of thoughts as the system suddenly interrupted.

    [ Host, be careful... ]

 Chapter 33 Dont Anger The Goat

    ''Huh?'' Jason felt after hearing the system''s words.

    [ I am just asking you to be careful. I don''t know why but I have a weird feeling that something isn''t right. ]

    ''I will make sure to keep my guard up.'' Jason replied honestly before he and Nora started walking faster.

    ***

    ''I hope they are not sleeping currently.'' Jason thought while ncing at the shelter in the distance.

    Though it was evening, there had been many instances where the goats and cows in the shelter had been asleep.

    There had been times when Feta too had been irritated by Jasoning a bit too soon. That was why he would go outte in the evenings.

    "Big brother, why were all of the people moving out of the way?" Nora suddenly asked while tilting his head as the two of them arrived in front of the shelter.

    "Well, we are like very important people inside the town. That''s enough for all of them to stay wary of us and give us our space." Jason smiled while remembering the fact that they were noble children.

    Though their grandfather''s noble privileges and other things were missing, he was still a noble on paper and had the hereditary rights which meant that all of his family members were counted as nobility members.

    The townspeople usually avoided the two children due to that reason as they owed a lot to Issac and didn''t want to cause any problem for his family. Despite that, they were still fearful of the family.

    [ Your grandfather doesn''t take any sort of taxes from the residents and they are grateful for that too. Not to mention, Issac is a very friendly person who can befriend any person. ] The system added as Jason nodded in agreement.

    ''But doesn''t the king or whoever is in charge of taxes look at Duphia?'' He asked back.

    [ I don''t know about that. Maybe we will be told more about the nobility and how Duphia works in the future. Don''t forget that we have only the basic knowledge with us. ]

    ''True.''

    Jason then decided to take a peek inside the shelter to see whether those inside were awake or not. Surprisingly, he found Feta sitting at the entrance of the shelter like a watchman.

    "Good afternoon, Feta." Jason greeted the goat while patting her head.

    Feta enjoyed getting her head patted before she looked at Nora with a surprised expression. Her eyes focused on him for a few seconds before looking at Jason for an exnation.

    "He is my cousin." Jason replied with a shrug.

    "Can I pat her head too?" Nora suddenly asked nervously as Jason smiled and nodded.

    "Feta likes getting her head patted but make sure to avoid her horns." Jason replied as Nora slowly raised his hand forward and patted the goat''s head while avoiding her horns.

    For some reason, Jason noticed that Feta was much morefortable with Nora patting her head as she licked his hand affectionately.

    Jason felt as though his brother had managed to befriend the goat twice as fast as he had which made him salty.

    "Feta, please look after Nora. Nora, don''t anger the goat since she might kick your or poke you with her horns. I am going to practice outside." Jason exined as both Feta and Nora nodded.

    He then walked out without any worries as he knew that Feta wouldn''t hurt Nora no matter what he did. However, he didn''t want him to annoy the goat who had been helping him and would continue to help him.

    ''Who could have thought that goats could be this intelligent.'' Jason amused as he raised his right hand and called on the lightning inside him.

    Both Karna and the system had asked him to summon lightning mana instead of thunder one since he wouldn''t be able to control thetter. Yet lightning proved to be dangerous too.

    ''System, what do I have to do to be able to control the size of this marble sized mana?'' Jason asked as he looked at the purple marble sized mana ball in his hand and sighed.

    [ You would need to practice it both during mana control training and while taking the milk out of Feta. ]<sub> </sub>

    ''Ok but what is it?'' Jason had realized it in his previous life that he wasn''t a patient person and the system holding back on the information was leaving him impatient.

    [ Firstly, you have to focus on the exact spot on your palm where the mana ball is. Then slowly, you have to imagine that the ball is expanding throughout our palm. In terms of milking, you will have to use your hands to gather the right amount and aim. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    Jason still felt a bit awkward while using milking terms while training. He wondered if he had to exin the same thing to someone else, how would it go.

    ''Nora is about to be five years old soon too. I wonder what types of elements he would unlock.'' Jason thought as he closed his eyes and started focusing on the ball of mana.

    He imagined the ball slowly expanding and felt some movement in his hands. But the moment he opened his eyes to look at the ball, it vanished.

    "Damn itбн" Jason looked at his mana to see that half of it had vanished so easily just in the form of a marble mana ball whereas he could have summoned multiple bolts of lightning with it.

    [ Don''t worry host, you can try again after some time. ] The system reassured him as he sighed and moved inside the shelter. There was no point in practicing without making any progress.

    In just a matter of few minutes, Nora and Feta had be good friends as Nora was chasing the goat around the shelter.

    Feta was barely moving any faster then her normal walking speed yet Nora still had a hard time catching up to her.

    The goat and Jason exchanged a look and smiled as she slowed down and deliberately let Nora catch up to her. He jumped in excitement and looked at Jason for praise.

    "You did well, Nora. Now let''s go b-" Jason began saying when Feta''s head suddenly jerked towards the entrance.

    "Meh!" She moved in front of the entrance while pointing Jason and Nora to go behind a stack of hay.

    Jason had never seen her act in such a way and remembering the system''s warning from earlier, he felt that the best course of action was to hide. He did that by jumping behind a haystack with Nora.

    A few minutester, a group of five appeared at the entrance of the shelter as they peeked inside.

    All of them were dressed in normal trousers and shirt but wore a coat on top of the shirt. Theirs coats had the symbol of a sword stuck in a stone etched on their breast pockets.

    ''Three men and two women.'' Jason was peeking slightly to see what was happening. He had no idea who they were yet it was clear that they weren''t idle passerbyes.

    [ You aren''t thinking of fighting them, are you? ] The system asked in a tone which seemed to be ridiculing Jason.

    ''It depends on what they are here for. They could be just travelers.''

    [ Oh yeah? Then the Earth is t and this world is upside down. ]

    ''You could have said that its not true and it would have still meant the same thingбн'' Jason replied as he noticed the party of five look at Feta.

    "Hey goat, you understand anything we are saying?" A well muscled man standing at the front asked as Feta tilted her head.

    "Meh?"

    "Goats are so dumb." The man sighed as he turned towards one of the two women.

    The one he looked at had her ck hair tied into a braid and had a serious expression on her face.

    "Anyone nearby?"

    "No, sir." The woman replied firmly as a smile appeared on the man''s face. His eyes moved around the entire room

    "Then go ahead and turn the entire ce upside down. I don''t care what you do but I want that guardian beast at my feet right now."

 Chapter 34 MEH MEH!

    "MEEEEEH!" Feta bleated as she nted her legs and red at the five humans. As though the goat sensed danger, it was ready to attack or protect.

    Jason gulped nervously as he watched the man stare directly into Feta''s eyes. Nora was watching them silently as well though he had no idea what was happening.

    "So you are the guardian of this ce or are you protecting the real guardian?" The man asked in an interested tone as the others behind him started chuckling.

    "With all due respect Otis, anyone can tell that a weak goat like her can''t be a guardian beast." The woman from earliermented.

    Otis grinned after hearing her words and moved towards Feta. He bent on his knees in front of the goat and stared into her eyes.

    Feta immediately attacked him with her horns yet her attack never made it. His hands suddenly shot forward at lightning-quick speed and grabbed Feta''s horns mid-charge.

    "I wonder how a goat would look with just one of her horns." He wondered aloud before lifting Feta off the ground while just holding her from her horn.

    Otis stood up straight while tightly clutching the horn of the goat before chucking her at the nearest wall.

    The goat flew through the air at the speed of a bullet before hitting the wall with a huge thump.

    Her body slowly slumped to the ground as blood started pouring out from the base of her horn. Her entire body was also full of bruises yet Feta didn''t look unconscious.

    "Still conscious?" Otis asked in a surprised tone before turning towards the others. "You guys go and search the ce. I will teach this goat a lesson that she should respect humans."

    The other four party members sighed before they started making their way to where the animals were sleeping or at least had been until a few minutes ago. Feta''s crash against the wall had woken all of them up.

    ''What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?'' Jason on the other hand kept thinking the same thing over and over. He had no idea what he could do to prevent Otis from harming Feta further.

    [ Host, what do you want to do? ] The system''s voice suddenly sounded like an anchor which prevented him frompletely panicking.

    ''I don''t want Feta to die or for these guys to find the guardian beast, though I have no idea what that is, I don''t want them to get it.''

    [ Then raise your arm and chug a lightning bolt at that Otis guy because from the looks of it, he is going to kill Feta. ] The system informed as Jason''s eyes turned towards Otis to see him walking towards Feta''s wounded body.

    Jason raised his right hand high in the air and after aiming carefully, threw a bolt of lightning forward.

    He had aimed the lighting bolt in such a way that it would directly pass through the man''s head.

    The lightning bolt was inches away from passing through Otis''s skull but that''s where things went wrong. The hair on Otis''s back stood straight as he realized that something was wrong.

    He immediately jumped to the right and the lightning bolt got stuck in the wall instead. Otis''s eyes then turned towards Jason as he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

    "So there is someone here who went undetected by her," Otis muttered in a curious tone as he looked down at Feta. "Looks like you were trying to protect the goat with that attack."

    Jason suddenly had a bad feeling passing through his body as he had no idea how things would progress further.

    He had a feeling that if Otis even managed tond a single attack on him, he would be dead.

    [ Don''t worry host. Your grandmother should be arriving here soon. ] The system reassured.

    ''Huh?'' Jason felt confused about this and despite the situation he was in, he paused for a second. How could Risa appear there if she had no idea about his location?

    [ Your grandmother had cunningly nted a mark on your body without even me noticing it. If you ever got into danger, like right now, it would activate and give her your location. Sadly it onlysts for an hour. ]

    After hearing the system''s words, Jason felt a huge burden lift off his body. Though he had celebrated a bit too early.

    Otis suddenly grabbed Feta''s neck and dragged the goat behind him towards Jason. His eyes were sparkling with enjoyment as he threw the goat''s body in front of Jason with a grin before standing over it.

    "So there are two of you huh," He muttered while looking at Nora. "You wanted to save this goat so why don''t you do something now that I am standing right in front of you?"

    Jason barely prevented himself fromshing out as he knew that anything he would do would only provide entertainment to Otis. Nora on the other hand stared at Feta with a look of horror on his face.

    ? "What are you here for?" Jason asked in a gritty voice in hopes of distracting Otis and surprisingly it worked.

    "You can talk?" He mocked before smiling again. "Anyways, we are here for a guardian beast which you won''t know about so let''s drop the topic and move on to killing the goat."<sub> </sub>

    Otis replied and was about tough aloud when a weird sound spread throughout the entire shelter. Even the party members who were searching around heard the voice which made them put their guard up alongside Otis.

    "Is that the guardian or did you do something boy?!" He shouted but before he could do anything or Jason could reply, Feta immediately stood up in front of them and opened her mouth.

    But instead of a bleat, words came out of her mouth.

    "MEH MEH MOFO!"

    Jason couldn''t believe both his ears and eyes as he looked at the Feta. Though he could only look at her for a second before his eyes were blinded by a bright sh of light.

    However, he had caught the sh of a different being standing in Feta''s ce with two burning hornsing out of its head. The words had also been spoken by this creature and that was all Jason had been able to catch.

    ''System did you capture her new form?'' Jason inquired since he would be able to see it again in case the system captured it.

    [ It escaped meбн ]

    ''I see.'' He sighed and waited for the blindness to be gone.

    Suddenly, Jason felt someone''s hands wrap around his body but his vision was still blinded. The system came in clutch and told him that it was Risa whose hands surrounded him.

    There was also a chance that it was her who had caused that sh.

    Jason would''ve believed that theory if not for the fact that he and the system had seen something.

    ''I will ask her what happened in the future.'' Jason thought as he felt himself drifting off for some reason.

    He had no idea about how much time had passed by when he was asleep but when he woke up, the moon was out and stars covered the sky.

    Jason was sleeping in the open under the biggest tree present in the Syrward family manor.

    "Mind telling me what happened?" Risa''s voice entered Jason''s ears as he looked at her sitting right beside him with her back against the tree. "The moment I appeared at the shelter and upon entering it, both of you were lying unconscious near the entrance alongside the other animals there."

    "Uhбн" Jason tried to remember what he had seen yet he found his mind to be nk.

    He remembered taking Nora to meet Feta at the shelter but couldn''t remember anything that had happened after he had practiced his mana control.

    [It''s a strange thing, isn''t it. It would have been fine if you forgot but for some reason, I don''t remember anything either. Feels like a forced plot or someone controlling thing. ] The systemmented as Jason mentally rolled his eyes.

    ''I am sure that there would be some reason for this. I don''t believe anyone under a god''s level can even tamper with you.'' He pointed out.

    [ That is true as well. I guess we will have to wait and see.] It then went silent since nothing was left to say.

    "I don''t rememberбн" He replied aloud as Risa sighed and rubbed her temples. It was as though she had almost been expecting that response.

    "Nora gave me the same reply. Why does this always happen with our family?" She asked herself instead of Jason before pointing towards the house. "Go and sleep now and we will talk tomorrow."

    "But I slept for so long already..." Jason replied yet Risa didn''t seem to care.

    "Just go and lie down on the bed. I am sure you will sleep after some time." She ordered.

    Okбн" Jason sighed as he wondered why he had been out in the first ce but he decided to keep his mouth shut. He said goodnight to Risa before standing up and making his way to his bedroom.

    ''I hope I don''t have weird dreams tonight.'' Jason thought while lying on the bed and closing his eyes to sleep.

    Unfortunately, he had a dream of a goat flying through the air while shouting "MEH MEH MOFO!" at the top of its lungs.

    ''I hate weird dreams...'' Jason thought before realizing that he could actually think inside his dream.

    Now that was something he hadn''t experienced before...

 Chapter 35 Weird Dreams

    "Yup, weird dreams." Jason muttered as he saw a goat dancing to the ''baby'' song. The lyrics of the song were stuck in his head as forced himself to turn his gaze away from the goat and look around.

    Jason had never had such a dream before and the goat just added extra weirdness to it.

    ''This is a weird world.'' He thought while looking up at the sky to see it beingpletely without any other object. The ground and everything else were normal but the sky stuck out for some reason.

    It didn''t look like night and was more of a pure ck. No matter what Jason did, he kept on looking at the sky while trying to figure out why it was empty.

    "There is no use in doing that. It would forever remain empty under my presence." A voice suddenly spoke behind Jason as the goat suddenly vanished.

    Jason turned around to see his patron god staring him in the face.

    "What are you doing here, Ere?" He asked in a confused tone.

    "Don''t call me by that name," Erebus replied while rubbing his forehead. He then looked at Jason before replying to his question. "I am here to exin why you can''t remember anything from that moment."

    "A plot hole resolved so soon? sphemy!" Jason gasped.

    "Have your brain cells also reduced to the level of a child? Actually, scratch that. Your brain will also be of a child if you are stuck in one''s body."

    "What were you exining again?" Jason asked while faking a cough as Erebus shook his head.

    ? "The reason you can''t remember it was because I had to remove your memories as well as the system''s memories so that neither of you would know what happened," His tone suddenly went serious. "The event has shaken a few gods in the divine temple as well."

    Jason looked surprised when he heard Ere''s words as he caught on to what the god trying to imply.

    "So they are likely to pay attention to this world more due to the events."

    "You are indeed right."

    Both of them then nodded before Erebus looked up at the sky and smiled.

    "We will meet again sometime in the future. Keep on trying to upgrade your job sses while making the progression move up. I am going to simplify things a bit for you so that your brain doesn''t get overloaded withplicated things."

    After saying that, Erebus vanished from the spot and the sky slowly started getting filled with stars. Jason sat down and saw this happen until he was woken up by the sound of his rm.

    [ Host, did your patron god visit you? ] The system asked curiously as Jason nodded.

    ''You weren''t able to hear it?'' He asked while sitting up and stretching his upper body.

    [ Generally, I can see your dreams but can''t hear what is going on but this time, I couldn''t even look at it. ]

    ''I see. Anyways, Erebus coded his words and told me that a few gods are putting their attention on me and him since we are a very unlikely pair. This means that we will be facing many problems in the future.''

    [ But then why did he remove our memories? ]

    ''He said that it had to do something with other gods and the incident that happened yesterday. I am just interpreting that he said that but there is a chance that he meant something else.''

    [ I seeбн ]

    Jason then got on with his daily routine and visited the shelter. He tried asking Feta what had happened yesterday but the entire conversation included a lot of "MEHs" and head shaking.<sub> </sub>

    In the end, Jason gave up and continued on with his daily routine. Wake up, go to the shelter, practice, get back home, eat, y with Nora, again eat, nap, go and practice again,e back, eat and sleep.

    That was the routine he followed every day and time passed by in such a manner. Soon, Nora''s birthday was only a day away and Issac, Ray, and Zara were nowhere to be seen.

    Risa wasn''t too worried as she was still in touch with them and knew that they would appear before his birthday. That turned out to be true as Issac burst inside the house when only an hour was left until Nora''s birthday.

    "How are you all?" He asked in a cheerful tone as Jason and Risa both rolled their eyes.

    Nora on the other hand started running towards Issac who grinned and bent down with his arms wide open.

    "Mother! Father!" Nora ran right beside him and hugged the arms of his parents who had just entered the house.

    On the other hand, Issac looked as though he would be blown by the wind. Jason felt bad for his grandpa as he walked forward and patted Issac''s shoulder.

    "Don''t worry grandpa. Emotional damage is a verymon thing inside a family." Jason said while patting his grandfather''s shoulder which seemed very odding from a five and a half years old.

    Issac sighed dramatically as he lifted Jason off the floor and grinned. He then put him down and looked at Risa.

    "We found the bow Karna wanted but it took us too much time to find it. We had to travel through a maze for two months and then had to find it in a pyramid." Heined as Risa rolled her eyes again.

    "Should have thought of that before promising Karna that."

    "How was I supposed to know that the braindead of a demon king would send out such weak demons?!"

    "Then there is no point inining then." Risa finished as she walked up to Nora and his parents to check up on them.

    "Grandpa, there is no use trying. Grandpa is too powerful for us." Jason said while looking at his grandpa who nodded.

    "You are right Jason. Anyways, Karna is back so you can resume your training now. You should be able to use the first form perfectly in about two to three years."

    "That much time?!" Jason was surprised to know that such a simple-looking thing took so many years to reach the perfection.

    "A prodigy with perfect Z rank talent would have also taken a year and three months minimum to master it. You would have taken more time as well if not for Karna." Issac replied as Jason slowly nodded.

    The entire family then gathered above the same spot in the house again where the door to the basement was.

    "I guess all of us are gonna bet that Nora will have both fire and wind element so there is no point in holding a bet," Issac muttered while opening the entrance to the basement.

    The entire family then climbed down and waited in the room for a few minutes. Time went by before only a few minutes were left until midnight.

    "Grandma, will Nora also cause some kind of thing like I did?" Jason curiously asked while remembering how his birthday had caused an entire army of demons to show up on their doorstep.

    "Guess we will find that out now," Risa replied with a smile and Jason could tell that she didn''t know about it.

    "Nora," Issac suddenly called after five minutes. "Stand in the center of the room now. You will be five years old in a matter of seconds though I hope that we don''t have to fight someone again."

    "Issacбн" Risa muttered as the entire Syrward family facepalmed. After all, Issac had just jinxed them.

 Chapter 36 Relatives From Afar

    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 asionally 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 simr 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 happensбн" 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 sess were less than ten percent.

    In the end, everything would be clear in five yearsбн

    ***

    "Big brother, show me how you used the third form again!" Nora suddenly eximed 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.

    Thetter thought of protesting but then remembered that today was his brother''s birthday. Jason also knew that Nora was anxious as well since his rtives wereing to see him.

    The ''they'' from five years ago turned out to be Nora''s rtives yet Jason still had no idea why it meant fighting.

    Neither of them had any idea as to how many people wereing or when they wereing 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 werepletely 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 thenбн" 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 ites to applying it, you fail," Jason said in a wise tone. "You just have toбн"

    Jason had just begun exining 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 marriageбн'' Jason looked at Risa with narrowed eyes as he wondered whether his thought was correct.<sub> </sub>

    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-ss 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 rightбн'' He and Nora then ran up to Risa before waiting for an exnation.

    "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 systemmented 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 systemmented as Jason and Nora sat down on chairs.

    ''Wellбн'' 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 ced 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, rx. 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 disy for the spectators to y with. Everything will be fine." Jason reassured Nora since he was used to doing this on Earth.

    "Thank you, big brotherбн" All the nervousness vanished from Nora''s face and was instead reced with a smile.

    But before Jason could console and motivate him more, the door opened up. Risa and Issac moved inside the house together, thetter 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 simr to Zara, especially the red hair he had.

    "Such a small house. How do you livefortably in such a ce?" 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 ce for us aspared to your standards. We don''t need a huge pce to brood around the entire day, dear brother. Also, have you grown even shorter since thest time we met?"

 Chapter 37 My Children Versus Yours

    "Nice to see that you haven''t changed much sister. You are still wearing those in mundane clothes as well." The man who Zara had called her brother smiled gleefully as he drew attention toward her clothes.

    Jason had no idea what effect he had wanted to create but one thing was sure, he didn''t have a sense of fashion,

    What he was wearing reminded Jason of the Victorian-era movies he had seen. The man was dressed in purple trousers with a white shirt and long red furry overcoat that touched down to his knees.

    He gave the vibes of a cosyer who had tried mixing two outfits together or at least that''s how Jason felt.

    But one look at the others and it was clear that they were more or less thinking the same thing.

    "And I see that you still love those fancy clothes of the royals, Kerwin. Looks like whatever I said entered your body from one ear and was thrown out from the other." Zaramented as the two siblings locked eyebrows.

    It was clear that both of them had bad blood between them. Issac was silently hoping that Zara would kick the daylights out of Kerwin. Fortunately, Risa was there to prevent this from happening as she interrupted Zara and Kerwin.

    "We can always have these chit-chatster but you must have been tired. Pleasee inside." Risa fake smiled as she weed Kerwin and his group inside.

    Out of the ten demi-humans that had appeared there, seven were guards. The two children turned out to be one male and one female who stood on either side of Kerwin.

    ? "Are they your children?" Zara inquired curiously as her eyes swept over them.

    "Why else would I bring them along?" Kerwin snorted as he turned to look at Nora seated on the chair. "I had to show them what other royal blood connections they had."

    "Then I guess your children love to act asedians or something," Risa remarked while hiding a smile as she looked at the two young demi-humans.

    The boy and the girl looked around Jason and Nora''s age but their dressing style was heaven and earth apart.

    While Nora and Jason were dressed in simple pants and a shirt, the two demi-human children looked as though they were going to a fancy dress party.

    They wore matching silver and golden robes alongside makeup that would''ve made a clown feel ashamed of his skills.

    Jason felt likeughing aloud when at the two young demi-humans but refrained from doing so. The other members of the Syrward family were in a simr situation as they tried to prevent themselves fromughing.

    Kerwin had already realized that his children were being made fun of silently so he decided to change the topic.

    "So what did he get, a B or a C grade affinity?" Kerwin inquired while trying to judge Nora''s potential.

    "He got an S and A grade affinity." Zara refuted immediately as Kerwin clicked his tongue.

    "Same as them then. Both have an S grade affinity with fire but A got an A grade affinity with water while Felix got an A grade affinity with wind element." Kerwin took the names of his children while telling their affinities.

    Zara then gestured for Nora toe towards them as he stood up from his seat. While taking a deep breath, Nora slowly made their way towards them and soon enough, he was standing in front of them.

    ''All of them share the same red hair except for A.'' Jason noticed that red hair seemed to run in the family however A had aqua blue hair, tied behind her head in a ponytail.

    Though Kerwin and both of his children shared the same dark green eyes.

    [It''s surprising to see how Nora is a prince now. Who could have thought of that? ] The systemmented as Jason was staring at his brother.

    ''The ones who knew would have.'' Jason stated the obvious as he could imagine the system facepalming.

    [ Anyways, I wonder knowing the fact that he is a prince affect the way he will grow up. ]

    ''You mean to say whether he would grow up like Kerwin? That was definitely a quick impression you made of him in just a few minutes.''<sub> </sub>

    [ Sometimes, people just show what they are. ]

    ''Can''t argue with that.'' Jason replied as he stared at Kerwin and Zara.

    Both of them were royals yet werepletely opposite. One loved the high-ss lifestyle while the other loved the simplistic approach.

    One had a prince''s pride and the other didn''t even act like a noble much less a princess.

    ''It''s strange yet so true to see how different siblings can be.'' Jason sighed as he finally decided to focus on the conversation going on between the two siblings.

    "Father sent me here to check up on Nora and see how he is doing," Kerwin announced. "And if he doesn''t do good, he will have to be taken back to the demi-human kingdom which means you will be going with him too."

    Silence followed his words as Risa, Zara and Issac tried to digest his words. Even Jason and Nora were left stunned by this.

    Though they had some idea that Kerwin wasing to see how Nora was doing, they had never expected the real reason to be so deep.

    "And what are you going to test him through?" Zara asked while maintaining a neutral tone.

    "They are going to show physical representation of mana and have a fight. My children versus your child." Kerwin exined as he pointed toward his children and then pointed towards Nora.

    Zara inhaled sharply as she knew that Nora alone was no match for Kerwin''s children. She was sure that he had trained them specifically for this test and Nora''s chances of victory were zero.

    If she tried to refute it, not only would her brother make fun of her and her child but her father would also be involved in it. Zara was standing in a ce where she couldn''t choose either of the two options.

    But before she could reply, someone else did it for her.

    "That''s not fair though. If you want to fight, then I will join Nora''s team and help him." Jason chimed in as he stood beside his brother and ced a hand on his shoulder.

    Though he wanted to help Nora from the beginning, he was itching to teach Kerwin a lesson for suddenly appearing and saying such things.

    Sadly, Jason knew he was nowhere near the level where he could hit Kerwin so he settled for the next best thing. Defeating his children in whatever test that came next.

    [ Then do it hard enough for the both of us. ] The system suddenly chimed in as a system window appeared in front of him.

    ---

    < Breaking The Pride Of A Prince >

    - Defeat A and Felix and remove the pride Kerwin has.

    Reward: 25 system points

    Penalty: Humiliation and no progress for a week

    Time limit: Till the time the test runs

    ---

    ''System, you have a good timing.'' Jason grinned as he epted the quest and stared at Kerwin.

    "So, what is your answer, mister prince?"

 Chapter 38 I Might Smash Something

    "Who are you again?" Kerwin asked with a frown as Issac took the initiative of introducing Jason.

    "He is Michael''s son." His lips curled up into a smile when he saw the expression of disbelief on Kerwin''s face.

    Four words were all it took to shake the demi-human prince and make him look at Jason in a new light. Jason once again wondered what kind of person his father was to have an effect like this.

    "Then it''s fair that he joins in too. The physical representation of mana will be based individually while the battle will be a tag team one," Kerwin announced while looking at the four children. "Is that clear to all of you?"

    All of them nodded in understanding as Kerwin then headed out. His children followed him alongside Zara and Nora. Jason on the other stopped his grandparents from going out.

    "Why did his expression and tone change when you mentioned father''s name?" He inquired as both of his grandparents sighed in response.

    "He wasn''t afraid of your father. He was afraid of your other grandparents, more specifically Astryn. She had killed thousands of demi-humans in an event in the past and he knows that you have her blood." Issac exined.

    "Then why didn''t she kill all those demons in one blow a few years back?" Jason felt surprised or at least did his best to look so.

    He already knew that something had restricted Astryn from using her powers so all he wanted was to hear the revtion.

    "That was because she is connected to the demon king himself. The king of demons has a forced connection between him and all the powerhouses of his empire," Risa started exining.

    "Whenever any of them use more than 5% of their power, he knows about it and can also tell their location."

    After hearing her words, Jason understood why Astryn had only helped them passively. He could imagine what kind of powerhouse she would''ve been otherwise.

    [ She would be a one-woman army. ] The system stated.

    ''Thanks for stating that, captain obvious.'' Jason replied while nodding his head in understanding.

    Satisfied with the answer he got, Jason too moved out of the house with Issac and Risa. The three children had gathered around a tree with Kerwin standing in front of them. Jason also joined them just in time to hear Kerwin telling the rules.

    "All of you will show the physical representation of mana in the three ways:pression, expansion, and gathering. I will be judging you off the small details of how you do it and how much time you take."

    After stating the rules, Kerwin raised both of his hands and showed the first form of physical mana representation,pression.

    [ Four seconds to make the mana appear in the palm of his hand. He is quite impressive.] The systemmented as it had managed to record the time it took for Kerwin to summon a red mist ball of mana in his palm.

    He then increased the size of the mana ball until it became a watermelon and then decreased it to the size of a marble ball. Once done with that, he made the red mist ball swirl around before making it vanish.

    Compression was basically the first way of showing mana that Jason had learned.

    "Your turn now." Kerwin ced his hands down and looked at the four children.

    ''This is so easy.'' Jason stifled a yawn as he was the only one who looked unfocused. He casually raised his right hand in front of him and used his lightning mana.

    A minuteter, the mana had turned into a baseball-sized purple mist ball in his hands. Jason then decreased the size of the ball to that of a marble ball before increasing it to a watermelon''s size.

    Jason then vanquished the mana just in time to see, A summoning a red mist ball in her hand. She also showed the same things that Jason did before vanquishing her mana.

    The two older siblings then looked at Felix and Nora who still hadn''t summoned their balls of mana

    The two demi-humans had their eyes closed in focus and did this for another minute. Both of them then opened their eyes at the same time as two ring red balls of mana appeared in their hands.

    Kerwin looked at their mana control for another minute before nodding at their performance.

    "All of you passed stunningly and I can tell that there is no need for me to see the other ways. Let''s move on to the battle." Kerwin exined. "The first party to knock out both of the members on the other side win."<sub> </sub>

    Zara gritted her teeth after hearing this as she knew that neither Jason nor Nora had any fighting experience. A and Felix on the other hand would have received training from the best fighters in the demi-human kingdom.

    ''Not only that but Nora also didn''t have his tail powers bloom out today. Jason, all of this depends on you.'' Zara prayed.

    Even though it was rare, some demi-humans didn''t grow their tail permanently even after turning ten years old. Such demi-humans only unlocked their true powers when faced with a tearjerker of emotions or a life-ending situation.

    Zara would''ve trained Nora a bit however, she couldn''t do it. Her reason for not being able to do that was the same as to why Risa and Issac couldn''t train either of their grandchildren. The same applied to Ray.

    Kerwin somehow seemed to know this as he made the children stand in teams while having a smile on his face.

    "Each team will only have one active fighter at a time. To tag your teammate, you have to p their hands. If two people attack at the same time, it will be counted as a disqualification. Nora and Felix will be the starters."

    After both sides had heard the rules, A walked up to Jason and Nora and bowed down a little.

    "I am asking you nicely so please back down now. We won''t be responsible if a few of your bones break down." She said politely while maintaining a poker face.

    ''Bich please, I have read this line so many times that it''s almost registered in my head. You are not the main character here.'' Jason thought about saying these words aloud but refrained.

    After all, actions spoke more than words.

    "We will ask you the same thing then except, I might smash something instead of just breaking it. So good luck in trying to save yourself." Jason replied with a calm smile as he extended his hand forward.

    A nced down at it with a disappointed expression yet she still shook it.

    ''He has a strong grip.'' She noticed while shaking his hand as Jason withdrew and patted Nora''s shoulder.

    "We will keep things simple. If you see Felix go in for the tag, do the same. Don''t fight her on your own." Jason whispered as Nora nodded and advanced.

    On the other side, Felix also advanced with confidence. He raised his right hand in Jason''s direction and pointed at him with his middle finger.

    "How dare you touch my sister who every boy in the kingdom wants to marry?!" Suddenly, Felix''s calm expression vanished and was reced by a true sis-con that knew no bounds to what he should say. "I will break your PP for that."

    Jason almost choked on air when he heard that line.

    ''What the hellбн Why is this turning into aedy Japanese isekai story?''

    [ Maybe cause that''s your destiny. ] The system joked.

    ''Good use of sarcasm system. Nice to know that you still have it.'' Jason replied while wondering whether its words could be true or not.

    He shook his head to get rid of such thoughts before giving Felix two middle fingers.

    "Then I guess you wouldn''t mind a lightning bolt through your heart. First beast Nora, kid and then we will talk." Jason challenged aloud.

    Kerwin coughed a little after hearing Jason''s reply as he hadn''t expected his son''s sis-con side to suddenly pop out. He knew that there was no point in trying to say anything to Felix especially after he had made such a deration.

    "Felix, you won''t get any chocte for a month now." Kerwin dered as Felix''s expression suddenly changed.

    He made puppy eyes at his father but it didn''t have any effect. Once Kerwin said something, he would not change his words, not even for his children.

    "Enough. If anyone is in a near-death situation, their respective guardians or parents will save them. Now start the battle!"

 Chapter 39 Is That All You Got?

    Nora immediately dashed forward while trying to use the wind element. Nora had been training with Jason and Karna for the past few years after having unlocked his elements.

    Nora had been able to use his fire element fairly well but he had barely been able to  use his wind element. That was why he had asked Karna to help him in using the wind element.

    ''Think of your as a part of the wind. There is air around you so you mix with it and flow like wind. Now send this feeling towards your legs and you will be able to increase your speed.''

    Karna''s words echoed inside Nora''s mind as he imagined himself to be one with the wind. He suddenly felt a tingling sensation pass through his legs as his speed increased threefold.

    He shot forward with the help of his wind element and focused on his fire element  simultaneously.

    ''He is too impatient and quick.'' Jason and Zara thought at the same time as they realized what Nora was nning to do.

    There was a chance that he would be able to catch Felix off guard but if he didn''t, he might be exposing himself to great danger.

    "Fireball!" Nora shouted as he opened his mouth and shot a red me ball out of his mouth.

    The fireball was the size of three overgrown watermelonsbined as it flew directly towards Felix. Due to the momentum it had gained because of Nora''s speed, the fireball zoomed through the air and managed to hit Felix directly in the chest.

    "Is that all you got?" Contrary to everyone''s expectations, Felix didn''t look the least bit bothered.

    His entire body was wrapped in mes yet neither his body nor his clothes were burning. He instead stretched and gave Nora a smile..

    ''Could he haveбн'' Kerwin turned his gaze towards the entrance of the house where his seven guards stood and one of them had his eyes half shut.

    It was enough for him to understand what was happening and why his son was perfectly fine despite being hit by a fireball at a point nk range.

    ''Wait till we get home, Felix. I am going to beat the crap out of you.'' Kerwin formed a fist but couldn''t do anything in the middle of the match.

    He knew that if he said anything, his reputation would also take a steep hit and he didn''t want that. So for the time being, he decided to remain silent and watch the fight the way it was going.

    "Now let me show you what a real fireball is," Felix grinned as Nora suddenly broke out of his daze. "Fireball!"

    He sucked in a lot of air before opening his mouth and releasing it in a hug st of fire. The fireball was the size of a two-story house as it came towards Nora at full speed.

    Nora was frozen on his ce when he saw the size of the fireball. It outshone his fireball in every possible way and made him realize how far behind he was.

    "And though all those thoughts are fine, you need to move your ass!" Jason suddenly shouted as his younger brother broke out of his daze and looked back.

    Nora realized that what Jason was saying was the truth. He then took a deep breath before running towards his big brother at full speed.

    "Pass." He tapped his brother on the shoulder before going to stand in the corner.

    ''I took the pass but I have no idea what I am supposed to do against thatбн'' Jason thought as he faced the iing fire ball.

    The fireball looked enormous and dangerous at the first nce but it was moving a bit slowly. Furthermore, Jason didn''t panic and thought calmly.

    ''Well, I haven''t perfected this skill but it doesn''t hurt to try.'' Jason thought as the system chuckled in the background.

    [ Like you have any other choice. Don''t worry, I will make sure that you don''t die and your grandparents are here anyways so your chances of dying are zero. from the beginning. ] It reminded.

    ''Here goes nothing then. Also, I knew that.'' Jason then closed his eyes in focus as he felt the heat of the fireball approaching closer, albeit a bit slowly.

    "He is so afraid that he can''t move or even open his eyes." Kerwin snorted as he saw Jason standing in one ce without moving one bit.

    However he soon remembered that the fireball was created by cheating so he lost the excitement of making fun of Jason.

    "Either you are dumb and hide it or you are just inly dumb." Issac replied back as he looked at Jason with a smile. "Its clear that he is nning on doing something."

    Despite saying that, Issac had his guard up and was ready to swoop in and save Jason in case anything went wrong.

    ''Why do I feel a weird energying from that fireball?'' Issac couldn''t help but wonder whether there was something wrong with the fireball. However he couldn''t focus on it for the time being.

    Jason on the other hand was smiling as he knew that he had managed to pull all the attention on him. It was the perfect moment to use his skill.

    "Lightning steps." He muttered under his breath at thest second and immediately vanished from his ce.

    Everyone, including Kerwin, were left surprised when they saw Jason vanishing right before the fireball could have hit him.

    [ Looks like it worked. ] The system sounded impressed as Jason smiled and appeared behind Felix.

    ''Indeed.''

    ---<sub> </sub>

    < Lightning Steps (Progressable skill) >

    3000 mana

    - Allows the user to move with the speed of lightning for ten minutes

    ---

    ''Good thing I created this skill.'' Jason thought while pushing the shback away for the time being,  After all, he was currently in the middle of a fight and didn''t have the time to think multiple things.

    Jason summoned some of his mana towards his right foot and covered it in raw purple lightning. With a devious grin, he shot directly towards Felix''s spine and felt his leg connect with the demi-human''s spine.

    "AHHH MOMMY!"

    Felix suddenly fell on the ground as Jason stood on top of his body with a triumphant expression. He walked off the prince''s back and looked at Kerwin with the same devious grin before turning to look at A.

    "I am not responsible for this." He said with a wink before walking to stand beside Nora.

    "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" Kerwin suddenly thundered as he broke out of his daze and ran towards his son.

    He gently pressed his back to see that Felix''s spine had almost been smashed in half. Any sudden movement and his son would most likely die.

    His gaze traveled to where Jason was standing but he couldn''t say anything. He was sure that his son''s attack would have done a simr thing to Nora if not worse.,

    Though he knew that his sister or Nora''s grandparents would have saved him. But in Felix''s case, Jason had suddenly attacked him while Kerwin had been in a daze.

    Now it was toote for his son unless he got him healed.

    "You got a healer on you or do you need my help?" Risa suddenly asked as she could tell that Felix''s condition was quite gentle.

    "I have a healer but he can''t do anything currently," He then paused and broke the restraints he had on himself. "Please save my son."

    That was all that Risa needed to hear as she bent down on the ground and ced her hand beside Felix''s body.

    She then started drawing symbols on the ground and asked Kerwin to continue the fight.

    "Now, you have to stop before you actually damage the opponent. In case you can''t stop yourself, one of the adults will stop the fight for you." Kerwin added as he looked at his daughter.

    She had a calm and neutral expression on her face but it was pretty clear to him that A was going to look for revenge.

    He also knew that Jason still hadn''t used all of his powers and what he had shown was just a trailer.

    ''The next fight is going to be much more dangerousбн'' Kerwin thought with a sigh as he knew that he couldn''t back down.

    Jason on the other hand wondered whether he could have repelled the fireball first and then hit Felix in the fireball''s direction.

    ''Damn, I missed such a good chance to burn him with his own fire.''

    [ Why did you even want to attack him like that? ]

    ''Mhm, I don''t lie characters like him.'' Jason replied with a straight face as the system choked on air on its imaginary body

    [ You think this is a novel? ] It said astonishingly.

    ''Well, I don''t like him. Jason shrugged.''

    [ Not like you know that many people here anyways. ] The system pointed out.

    ''He was about to burn Nora alive and I didn''t like his father''s behavior. Those were the reasons for what I did.'' Jason argued.

    [ So basically, you wanted to smash their pride? ] The system sounded somewhere between impressed and full of horror.

    ''Yes.''

    After hearing Jason''s reply, the system was somewhat satisfied. It then went on passive mode and decided to observe the rest of the fight carefully.

    Jason turned his gaze towards A who looked fired up for taking revenge. Kerwin also saw this as he wondered what kind of fight they were going to see now.

    He prayed that his daughter kept her calm and things remained under control. Kerwin then started the fight.

    "Begin!"

 Chapter 40 Jason Versus Aila

    "Water prison: Limb version." A muttered under her breath the moment the battle started.

    Two spheres of water suddenly appeared around Jason''s legs, followed by his hands. Both of his limbs were sealed off by the water spheres as he felt them increasing the weight of his limbs.

    It was as though the water had suddenly turned into dumbles that were chained to his limbs and were dragging him down.

    ''She is the older sibling for a reason.'' Jason nced at A raising her hands in his direction. ''But then, I am the older sibling too despite me and Nora being cousins.''

    Jason suddenly dashed forward and used the remaining time of his skill. The water spheres however had decreased it speed to such a level that A could track him with her eyes.

    He was forced to use a ranged attack due to that since she could track his moments in close range.

    "Lightning bolt." Jason muttered as a purple lightning bolt appeared in his right hand. He immediately aimed it at A and chucked the lightning bolt.

    Though the lightning bolt moved at the speed of lightning, A was somehow able to dodge it in time.

    [ Host, don''t move your arms to much. I think there is something about the water prison that we are missing. ] The system alerted Jason before he could throw another lightning bolt.

    ''How am I supposed to attack her then?'' He inquired despite knowing the answer just to see what the system would suggest.

    [ By grabbing the lightning bolt through your mouth. ] It replied in a neutral tone.

    Jason sighed after hearing the system''s words as he quickly opened his status screen to check his mana.

    ''Wait, something isn''t right...'' Jason realized that the mana used to summon previous lighting bolt was twice the original amount.

    His eyes fell down on the spheres of water that hadpletely submerged his hands and fee. However, all four of his limbs were still dry.

    ''System, scan them thoroughly.'' Jason instructed as he summoned a lightning bolt in between his mouth and held it there.

    ''Why is he doing that?'' Issac and Zara blinked in confusion as they didn''t understand  the logic behind Jason''s behavior.

    However, both of them were soon able to think of multiple theories as they realized that the spheres of water was something much powerful than just water dumbles.

    Kerwin on the other hand narrowed his eyes as he looked from one sphere of water to another.

    ''How did he figure it out so soon? Just what is this kid hidingбн'' Kerwin of course knew what his daughter had nned but he hadn''t expected Jason to figure out the real purpose of the water spheres so soon.

    [ Host, these spheres are mana suckers too. The moment you use your mana for an attack that uses your limbs, they will suck the same amount of mana making you use double the original amount of mana. ] The system informed, having finished its scan.

    [ Also, it doesn''t suck any mana from your movement skill because it was used before the spheres stuck to your body. Also, only a minute remains before your skill ends. ]

    Jason gritted his teeth as he threw the lightning bolt at A again. She seemed to be trying hard to focus yet failed badly due to Jason''s constant attacks.

    She was getting fed up with them and to stop Jason, she decided to use one of her trump cards.

    While dodging a few more lightning bolts, Amunicated with her father through nces. Kerwin nodded slightly, having understood what his daughter wanted to do.

    A smiled a bit before jumping straight in the air. She jumped around thirty feet in the air which left Jason slightly shocked. At the apex of her jump, A bit her ruight thumb and dropped her blood on the ground.

    ''So she can already use her bloodline well...'' Zara narrowed her eyes as she knew what A was doing.

    Zara was sure that Jason''s chances of victory were very less unless he was hiding a few more trump cards.

    ''I don''t know whether you are hiding them or not, Jason but this is the right moment to reveal them.'' Zara thought while staring at Jason.<sub> </sub>

    He was trying to remove the water sphere on his right hand with the help of the lightning bolt in his mouth but the results weren''t good. His gaze was also fixated on A as he saw changes taking ce in her body.

    All of this was going around simultaneously in less than a minute as two blue cat ears appeared on top of A''s head. The ears were soon followed by a ck cat tail that came out from behind her and curled up

    ''How the hell did I miss a hole in her clothes?!'' Jason was baffled as he noticed that the tail hadn''t pierced A''s clothes.

    [ That statement sounds very perverted for some reason. ] The systemmented nonchntly.

    ''Only a real pervert will see it that way.'' Jason replied before he nced down at the sphere on his hand. He pushed the bolt of lightning inside until it came out of the other end.

    Jason then left the bolt hanging in the sphere while turning to look at A.

    ''Just a few more secondsбн'' Jason felt the sparks of lightning from the lightning bolt slowly spreading inside the sphere.

    He was making a gamble by doing this and had no idea whether his little experiment would work and get him freed.

    He just needed a few more seconds to figure out whether he could break free of the spheres but A wasn''t going to give him that time.

    "Water shurikens." Ten spinning shurikens suddenly shot out from A''s palm as they targeted Jason.

    The boy tried to dodge them by running around but soon realized two things. One that the shurikens were continuously following him and two that the waters spheres were getting heavier the more he moved.

    Fortunately, his experiment worked which made Jason sigh in relief.

    ''Payback time.'' Jason thought as dashed in A directions, passing right beside a water shuriken that grazed his shoulder and left a huge wound.

    Jason gritted his teeth in pain as he saw the wound  through the torn part of his shirt. He managed to hold on despite the pain in his arm before the sphere on his right arm  suddenly fell down followed by all other.

    "Whatбн" A''s jaw dropped slightly as Jason smiled and reached a few feet away from her. A was still in the air though she had fallen by ten or so feet.

    "I wrote a proverb right now. Wanna listen?" Jason paused and without listening to her reply, continued on. "A lightning bolt a day leaves you paralyzed."

    "How is that a proverb?" A asked in a confused tone.

    "Who said it was meant to be one?" Jason replied with a shrug before he jumped in the air and appeared right in front of him.

    "Wait what?" A waspletely confused by Jason''s words yet her guard was up as Jason had jumped right in front of her, his jump barely being half as high as hers.

    "Sorry but I don''t wait for people I don''t know," Jason replied. "And now, let me demonstrate the proverb for you."

    A cracking sound resounded throughout the ce as Jason once again activated his movement skill and flickered mid-air, surprising A.

    His hand appeared right in front of her chest before he touched it with his index finger.

    "Nightie Nightie." He smiled before passing lightning right inside A''s body, though he controlled himself.

    < Ding! >

    < ''Breaking The Pride Of A Prince'' has beenpleted. >

    < Rewards have been distributed. >

 Chapter 41 A Family To Rely On

    ''Nice.'' Jason smiled while turning his gaze towards Kerwin. "I only knocked her out so she is safe."

    The demi-human prince stood on his ce while looking at both of his children.

    One of them was being treated by Risa while the other one lying unconscious on the ground.

    ''No wonder he is her grandson as well as those two''s childбн'' Kerwin thought as he remembered the fight between the demi-human kingdom and the demons.

    He still got terrified while thinking of how Astryn had been burning one demi-human after the other. The only thing he had done was stand and watch.

    Kerwin had a feeling that if Jason was not kept in line, he would follow the example of his demon family and would be a powerhouse.

    "That was a good fight," Kerwin said with a fake smile stered on his face. "You are a great fighter and magic user at such an early age Jason. Where did you learn all this from?"

    "I learned it by meddling with goats, cows and bulls." Jason replied with a straight face Kerwin''s face twitched a bit.

    It was clear that he didn''t believe Jason. Jason didn''t care much about whether Kerwin believed him or not.

    ''If only he knew that I was telling the truth. Well, not my fault he is dumb.'' He thought while shrugging before looking at Nora Nora.

    "You were so cool, big brother!" Nora said excitedly as he high-fived Jason before leaning closer to him and whispering in his ears. "Can you teach me some moves?"

    "Of course." Jason''s reply made Nora jump up and down in excitement.

    In the past few years, Jason had found out that there were quite a number of young animals in the shelter and many of them were around his age too.

    Karna had suggested him to battle a few of them head on and since they didn''t have any mana, it was pretty easy for Jason to fight them while using his lightning element.

    That was also how he had ''identally'' created his movement skill and had learned to move around more freely.

    Jason was also sure that his grandparents would question him about thatter on so he decided to save some of his energy to answer their questions.

    The duo then walked to stand beside Issac as their gazes shifted over to where Risa was healing Felix.

    Though Jason felt a bit bad about to dealing a major injury to the demi-human, he had done it knowing well enough that Risa would heal him.

    [ Oh please, I was the one who reminded you about that. ] The system pointed out.

    ''So what? I formed the n to hit hard enough and make his father beg grandma to heal him. You just yed twenty percent part in the n.'' Jason refuted a secondter.

    Risa on the other hand finally stood up as she wiped beads of sweat of her forehead. She then turned in Kerwin''s direction and nodded slightly.

    "He should wake up in ten minutes. Till then, why don''t youe inside and have something to eat and drink?" She asked politely but Kerwin didn''t look too enthusiastic about staying with the Syrward family any longer.

    "No, I wouldn''t want to interrupt your life anymore. We will be taking our leave now." Kerwin snapped his fingers as the group of seven guards he had brought suddenly assembled behind him.

    Jason looked at them thoroughly for the first time but even then, there wasn''t much for him to see. All of them were dressed in the same ck outfit with a mask on their face.

    Their hairstyles were the same and even their genders were hard to determine. Jason didn''t want to make any assumptions as he had been surprised way too many times on Earth.

    ''System, do you have a gender identifier  just to prevent a misshaping from happing in the future?'' Jason inquired.

    [ I might develop that feature but no guarantees. ] The system replied though it sounded a bit unsure.

    ''I see.'' Jason then turned his gaze away from the guards and looked at Kerwin.

    Surprisingly, the demi-human prince chose the exact same moment to look at Jason as their gazes met.

    "Goodbye for now," Kerwin said without breaking eye contact as three of the guards bent down on the ground and bit their right thumbs.

    They had bit hard enough to draw blood as they smeared it on the ground. Three circles of different colors suddenly originated from the drops of blood and spread around.

    Jason now knew that they were called magic circles which were usually drawn in high level spells.<sub> </sub>

    Since he had seen the same circle before, Jason was able to tell that it was a teleportation spell that the three guards were using.

    ''System, are the symbols from this magic circle same as the one mother and grandma Astryn used?'' Jason asked curiously.

    He felt as though some of the symbols were clearly different from those he had seen in the past.

    [ You are right, host. Some of these symbols are different than the ones in your mother or grandmother''s magic circles. As for why, we need to research more. ]

    Jason nodded in agreement and was about to make his way to the shelter when he suddenly felt chills running down his back.

    "Jason, I hope you take good care of yourself in the uing years." Kerwin said with smiled, making Jason feel extremely unsettled.

    He felt a weird sensation pass through his body as he suddenly went on guard.  Call it an instinct or not, Jason felt that something was very wrong with him.

    Risa too sensed that something was wrong as she felt a very minute amount of mana running through the atmosphere.

    [ Host, I detected a curse in your body... ] The system mumbled as Jason''s emotions suddenly took control of his body.

    "You goatfker!" Jason suddenly shouted while summoning two lightning bolts in his hands. He threw both of them towards Kerwin at the same time and that too with deadly uracy.

    The demi-human prince was surprised but before the lightning bolts could hit him or he could find an insult to retort with, the magic circles ignited below him.

    Kerwin and the rest of his party vanished but before doing that, he smirked at Jason.

    The lightning bolts traveled straight through an afterimage before skidding down to the ground a few meters away.

    "What did he do?" Issac inquired suddenly as he looked into Jason''s eyes.

    He was the first to recover after Jason''s sudden outburst and knew that his grandson would never call the other person someone who indulged in questionable activities with a goat.

    Jason was at a loss of words since he hadn''t nned what to say after the sudden outrage. However, Risa was there to reply for him.

    "He cursed Jason..." She muttered while gesturing for both Nora and Jason toe closer.

    Risa ced her hands on their shoulders and did a thorough scan of their bodies. Issac on the other hand felt like butchering something up.

    ? "Only Jason has the curse." Risa dered before looking at her grandchild with a small smile. "Though I can remove it."

    After hearing her words, everyone turned upbeat. Risa then bit both of her thumbs and smeared some blood on Jason''s forehead.

    She created a magic circle around him which took more than half an hour. But as soon as shepleted the circle, she stood up and stretched her body.

    "Issac, do the honors and light up the magic circle with more than half of your mana." Risa ordered as Issac nodded.

    He knew what his wife wanted to do and to be honest, Issac was itching to do it as well.

    Jason''s grandpa then bent down near the circle and touched Jason''s forehead with his right index finger.

    Jason suddenly felt an enormous amount of energy pass through his body for a split second before passing right into the magic circle.

    Suddenly, a ck ball of light shot out from Jason''s forehead and shot out far in the sky.

    "That was the curse inside you. I sent it back to Felix since I had marked him while healing him. Now he will be effected with a curse twice as bad as the one used by Kerwin." Risa exined with a smile as Jason nodded.

    [ What did I tell you about having a loving and caring family? ] The system asked smugly.

    ''Yeah...'' Jason replied as he realized one thing.

    He had a family he could rely on.

 Chapter 42 A Gray World

    "I guess today''s fight taught you both a lesson," Issac muttered. "People don''t y fair or fight fair. If you want to survive, you either climb above them using your ideals or y their games and be the victor."

    For once, Jason felt that his grandfather had parted wisdom with him. The words described the event perfectly which led him to look at Risa with hopeful eyes.

    "I will try to teach you a bit about curses and healing." Risa sighed as she knew what Jason wanted.  "Then we will start this learning from tomorrow. I just want to eat and sleep nowбн" He added, making Risa and Issac smile.

    The entire Syrward family then had dinner with the absence of Ray. Jason and Nora were curious about his disappearance but decided to not ask any questions.

    The events of the days had left thempletely tired, both mentally and physically. Finishing their dinner, they stood up and directly went inside their rooms, crashing on the bed in a few seconds.

    Jason stared at the ceiling for quite some time while recalling the events of the day. He finally had gotten the chance to use his skills in real time and had learned a lot.

    ''I wonder if not for grandma, what would''ve happened to me?'' He couldn''t help but think despite not knowing what the curse actually had been..

    [ Whatever the curse was, it is no longer inside your body. You don''t need to worry about such things anymore. ] The system pointed out, making Jason chuckle.

    ''System, have you ever thought why human brain loves to think of unlikely scenarios?''

    [ No?... How is that rted to the current topic? ] It asked in cofnusion.

    ''I don''t know the answer to my question as well as your question. Just felt like asking them.'' He replied before closing his eyes and shifting a bit.

    It didn''t take for his tired body to fall asleep and Jason was soundly asleep after a few minutes.

    The system on the other hand kept thinking of what Jason had said. It found out that the question had been etched in its database, refusing to move out no matter how hard it tried.

    [ Maybe I need to sleep tooбн ] The system muttered before going silent.

    ***

    The next morning, Risa came to wake Jason up at nine. She would''vee two hours earlier if not for the fact how Jason''s body was still tired.

    "Let''s start with the basics again. What do you know about dark, light and life element?" Risa inquired a still feeling sleepy Jason.

    The two of them were currently sitting under a huge tree in the garden as it protected them from the harsh  sunlight while allowing them to do things outside.

    "Light element is usually used for creating illusions and to grant blessings. Dark element is the opposite and is used to curse people alongside destroying things.

    It is also used to create seals and raise the dead. Life element is used for healing people." Jason recited the definitions, making Risa sigh.

    "So you have printed the book words inside your mind. Maybe I shouldn''t have trusted Issac to teach you about the elements." Risa muttered before shifting her gaze over to Jason''s face. "<sub> </sub>

    "Tell me what do you think about the element, not what the book or any other person has taught you."

    "Hmmбн" Jason fell into deep thought. "I don''t know if this counts but when I first heard the names of the elements, I thought that dark meant evil and light meant good. I don''t know about life though."

    After hearing his reply, Risa nodded in approval. It was as though she had almost been expecting that answer.

    "Most children think like that but one thing you should know is to never associate the dark element with evil and light element with good. There is no evil in dark and no good in light."

    "Okбн" Jason replied, his thoughts wandering to the ideologies of the different webnovels he had read on Earth.

    Seeing his confused self, Risa decided to exin it in a more practical manner.

    "Jason, this world and its people aren''t just good or evil. It sounds simple and good on paper do divide people into these categories based on their actions but you will never find people who arepletely good or evil.

    You can say that this world has gray people, those who are a mixture of both good and evil. Even you and me are examples of such people." Risa paused as she saw Jason trying to process everything.

    "I see." He replied simply, having thought about it from his experience on Earth.

    "Once you start going out, you will see for yourself how true this statement is."

    Jason nodded in agreement, having experienced such a thing in hisst life.

    Risa noticed that Jason seemed to have understood what she had said. She decided to shift the topic, knowing well that it was upon him to apply her words practically.

    "Now, lets talk about life magic. Many believe that light and life magic are simr in nature since both could be used to heal. Many say that life magic is an advanced branch of light magic since it can''t bless people. This entire thinking is wrong."

    Risa raised both of her hands for Jason to see before summoning two balls of mana.

    A ball of white light appeared in her left hand and a semi-golden ball of light appeared in her right hand.

    "The white mana in my left hand is light mana and the one in my right hand is life mana." Risa exined while bringing both of her hands closer. "Do you notice any other difference in them except their color?"

    Jason squinted hard but he didn''t notice any visible difference except their color. Since he didn''t see any physical difference, he shifted methods and used his own mana to sense the two mana in Risa''s hands.

    Jason controlled his mana to move around Risa''s hands while trying to sense a diference.

    In less than ten seconds, he spotted something big.

    "Light mana almost feels the exact same as dark mana whereas life mana feels like somethingpletely differentбн"

 Chapter 43 Risas Teachings

    "Exactly," Risa smiled as she vanished the two balls of light. "Light and dark elements are basically the same despite looking different. That is why I, a light magic user, can use curses the way I did before."

    Her words made sense to Jason, making him put away his previously known knowledge of magic and listen to her carefully.

    "Simr to how I can use curses with the help of light magic, you can also heal yourself using dark magic. The normal mage won''t be able to tell the difference between the two."

    "Then why is it said that dark magic is only focused on certain things and light magic is only focused on certain things?" Jason inquired, remembering how Issac had exined the two elements to him.

    "Jason, if I told you something that would change your change your mindset on how you view magic as well as make you stronger, would you go around spreading it for others to use?" Risa questioned.

    The realization finally struck Jason as to why the two elements were introduced in the manner in which they were introduced.

    "So that means that most of the poption has no clue about what light and dark magic truly areбн" He mumbled in reply.

    "Indeed. There are only certain ces where this knowledge. The only other way to get it is to have a teacher that can teach you." Risa nodded in agreement.

    "So that means only certain dark and light mages ever get to know the truth about the two." Jason felt as though he had gotten some sort of enlightenment after hearing the exnation.

    ''System, how far am I from unlocking the dark mage job ss?'' Jason inquired.

    [ Around eighty percent has been done. Perhaps after this training session with Risa is over, you might unlock the job ss. ]

    ''I see. Remember to tell me the difference between that and my main job ss then.'' Jason replied before asking something different from Risa.

    "Grandma, a dark mage who can also use light magic will always be superior than the normal dark mage, right?"

    "Hmm, that''s true in most circumstances whereas there are certain times when the normal dark magic user might prevail stronger. It depends on a lot of factors." Risa answered honestly.

    "Jason, who taught you that lightning movement skill yesterday or if you created it, how did you create it?" She then asked while raising an eyebrow as Jason coughed.

    "I fought two goats and their horns made me create that skillбн" He replied honestly.

    "Uhбн" Both Risa and Jason felt suddenly awkward at the mention of such a thing but it was not Jason''s fault.

    He was telling the truth since Karna had pitted him against two goats and had made them chase after him.

    In the middle of it, one of their horns had been inches away from piercing his butt which had been a traumatizing experience for a child his age.

    He had only managed to get away by experimenting with his lightning element which had led to him creating the skill.

    ''You should have told me earlier that I could create skills. I would have created overpowered skills.'' Jason grumbled to the system who started chuckling.

    [ Then why don''t you create some now, host? ]

    Jason didn''t have a reply for that so he decided to tell Risa the entire tale. After she was done hearing him, Risa wondered whether it was a good idea to let Karna teach Jason further on.<sub> </sub>

    But then, it was not like she could teach him anything as well.

    ''I guess it''s still better to let him do it instead of doing it ourselves.'' Risa sighed aloud before she resumed what she had been teaching.

    "Going back to the topic, go ahead and try summoning your dark element."

    "Ok." Jason then raised his right hand in front of him and thought of the dark element.

    This time, he thought of the dark element as something present inside his body instead of anything rted to darkness.

    Minutes passed by in such a manner but nothing appeared in his palm.

    "Ehhh?" Jason felt confused as Risa smiled and raised her right hand.

    The next second, a ball of purplish-ck mana appeared in her hand which seemed to surprise Jason. His eyes slightly parted when he realized that the mana was none other than dark mana.

    "Howбн"

    "What did I say earlier? Dark and Light elements are the two sides of a coin. They are opposite yet are joined at the center." Risa replied as her ball of mana suddenly turned white.

    ''I wonder why Aiden was overreacting then. Any opinions?'' Jason thought while focusing on Risa''s actions.

    [ Perhaps there is something we don''t know of? We need history books for that. ]

    "Grandma, please show it again," Jason asked aloud.

    "See closely." She showed the entire thing again as Jason asked the system to record it for him.

    He then summoned his dark mana once again but this time, he decided to use the third form of physical representation of mana, gathering.

    Jason made the mana gathering in the palm of his hands move all around his hand before fixing its point on the thumb.

    Suddenly, a semi-transparentyer of mana wrapped around his palms yet Jason was far from done. He knew that theyer was so thin that it would vanish soon.

    So instead of trying to improve it, Jason joined his hands and forced the mana to move to the top of his thumbs.

    He gathered all of the mana there as both of his thumbs were then covered by ayer of purple-ck dark mana. He repeated the same process all over his hands before they werepletely covered in the purple-ck mana.

    "That should work," Jason muttered while pointing his hand in the direction of a very small tree in the garden.

    [ Calm down host, we are not trying to be an overachieving Chinese main character with a system! ] The system suddenly interrupted as it realized that Jason was going to use the mana to create a skill.

    Jason however didn''t stop and instead, shot out the dark mana from his hands...

 Chapter 44 Dark And Light Magic

    A three inches long piece of ck mana detached from Jason''s hands, solidifying mid-air, before hitting the trunk of the tree.

    It looked as though a mini-ck version of Jason''s lightning bolt had gotten stuck in the tree.

    Jason, however, smiled at the sess achieved by him on the first attempt.

    ''Maybe I do have some talent.'' He thought before hearing a DING echo inside his head followed by the opening of multiple system screens.

    < Dark mage job ss has been unlocked. >

    < Dark mage: A person that can use dark magic. >

    ---

    No skills.

    ---

    Jason blinked in surprise after seeing nothing appearing in the skill tree page. The system immediately exined things from there.

    [ It''s because there are no basic skills provided this time. There are certain job sses like this out there with no basic skills provided and you will have to create your own skill for progression. ]

    ''Hmm, I wonder if you are more of a guide than a cheat.'' Jason mused before shifting his gaze over to Risa.

    Though she looked a bit surprised by his sudden dark magic usage, she didn''t seempletely blown away.

    "Well, that''s the quickest I have seen someone use magic just after being taught about their element," She then paused and smiled slightly. "Or that''s what I would have liked to say but no, there are those who could do this without exnation."

    She patted his head at his attempt before shifting her gaze towards the piece of dark mana stuck in the trunk of the tree.

    Risa stared at it for quite some time and the more time passed, the more surprised she felt.

    ''He might not be the quickest learner but he is definitely the moststing oneбн'' Risa observed.

    "Jason, do you have some kind of other help that you are not telling me about?" She asked aloud, wondering whether he had some secret blessing helping him.

    "No, I just understood how I could use it myself," Jason replied nonchntly though he was slightly nervous on the inside.

    Jason didn''t feelfortable about revealing his system to anyone currently. Though he might reveal it in the future, Jason currently didn''t want to reveal the fact that he had a system.

    "I was about to teach you the basics but I guess you managed to grasp them on your own," Risamented. "So instead, I am going to teach you how to heal yourself using dark magic."

    She suddenly ced her hand on his right shoulder and sucked some of his dark mana, making it appear on the palm of her hand in the form of a ball.

    Risa brought her other hand closer to her mouth and bit her thumb tightly. opening a wound and drawing blood.

    ''System, make sure your record that.'' Jason ordered as he closely focused on what Risa was doing.<sub> </sub>

    The ball of mana in her hand was swirling quickly as it moved directly to the wound and hovered over it. The mana then slowly entered the wound and in less than a second, the wound closed up.

    "Dark and light magics work in simr ways, the only difference being that dark element removes the number of dead and dying cells while life and light magicpletely recover the damaged cells," Risa exined as she showed her healed thumb to Jason.

    ''Science follows me here tooбн'' Jason thought before deciding to try the same thing himself. He lifted a sharp stone off the ground but before he could inflict a small wound on his fingers, Risa stopped him.

    "Woah, slow down kiddo. You can''t just open a wound and expect yourself to heal it that easily. You need to practice it before doing that because if you are careless, you might end up destroying your entire hand."

    Jason threw the stone back on the ground before sighing. More training and practice.

    ''Like father, like son. Both of them definitely share that restless energy and excitement to learn and show off something new.'' Risa mused.

    ''System, can you confirm that I won''t have to learn physics or chemistry here? I have forgotten most of it by knowбн'' Jason on the other hand wondered whether science was more closely rted to magic than he had thought it was.

    [ Host,  if we get that stuff here, leave it on me and focus on things you can do. ] The system sighed.

    Having been reassured with an appropriate reply, Jason proceeded to ask some questions.

    "Grandma, the dark element is corrosive, right?"

    "Well yes but that depends from person to person. Only those with an A grade affinity or higher can freely control the corrosive nature of the dark element making it possible for them to heal themselves and others."

    "Then how much can the dark element heal if there is no life mage present around me and I am severely injured?" Jason questioned.

    "Well, it can most likely heal anything below bone, muscle, or tissue damage. Basically, anything too internal or deep cannot be healed by either dark or light magic. Only life magic can heal such things.

    "I see...."

    The system didn''t want to admit it but it was getting slightly bored by the topic of the conversation that was going on.

    It wanted to either skip it or have someedy going around from time to time but neither of those things seemed possible to it.

    [ An exnation now... ] It yawned knowing well that Risa would provide some exnation.

    "Jason, consider that light and dark magic are two sides of a coin. Though they are different sides, they are connected in the middle.

    Where light magic heals cells, it also has a small amount of corrosiveness and vice versa with dark element. Life magic is something separate."

    "So somewhere in the middle, they are both the same," Jason muttered feeling enlightened. "How can I practice the two elements then?"

    "Hmm, my suggestion would be to do it fishes since it would work well on them and you could eat themter on," Risa replied.

    "Uhбн" Jason abstained from asking another question as he knew that Risa had realized it herself. There were no fishes present inside Duphia.

    "Let''s go fishing." She smiled as the two of them headed towards the town''s entrance.

 Chapter 45 Thats Not Fishing...

    Jason didn''t know whether Risa thought of fishing in the same sense that he did. Though the word might be the same for both of them, the process used to catch fishes might differ.

    If it was the same as Earth, Jason would rather stay at home as hated fishing.

    It was a very boring and idle thing for him and Jason would rather use that time to do something that he actually liked.

    Jason knew that wherever Risa was taking him would help him, no matter how boring the thing might be.

    Also learning how to heal himself with the help of dark element would help him a lot in the future.

    ''It might even help me understand that secret type of mana which had been mixed with my dark element.'' Jason wondered before taking a sweep of his surroundings.

    The two of them were still inside Duphia and were getting a few stares from those in the streets.

    Jason wondered why all of them still stared at him despite the many times he had passed through the same ce. Most of them should''ve gotten used to it by now.

    The stares reduced in number the further they walked towards the entrance before vanishing all of a sudden.

    Risa and Jason then stepped out of the town together, thetter setting out towards the front of the forest for the first time, not counting the time Issac had taken him out for the basic exnation.

    Jason also remembered that except for the little encounter with the goblin in the forest, he still hadn''t seen any formidable beast.

    [ Maybe we will get to see one today and I will be able to examine it. ] The system spoke hopefully.

    Both Jason and the system were a bit hopeful about encountering a beast considering the fact that they were going to hunt for some in the first ce.

    "Grandma, where exactly are we going?" Jason finally questioned after walking for around fifteen minutes.

    "I told you, didn''t I? We are going to go fishing and catch a few fish to eat as well as practice on." Risa replied nonchntly while taking a few turns around the forest, moving towards uneven paths.

    It was only after moving this much that Jason started noticing changes in the flora.

    The trees became taller and grew much further apart, covering arge area on their own. The canopy overhead also grew thicker and little sunlight made it to the forest floor.

    Strange hooting noises could be heard every now and then, indicating that many bird-type creatures were present there.

    "Jason, stick close to me and keep your eyes open." Risa suddenly ordered as she took a sharp turn and went past some bushes.

    Jason''s body suddenly went alert as he stuck closer to Risa''s leg, not being able to see much due to his height.

    However, he was much less worried since he knew that his grandma would strike down any beast daring enough to approach them.

    Risa and Jason soon stepped out of the bushes and continued their journey, the former taking many cuts and leaving Jason confused as to where they were. He lost count of the number of cuts taken soon.

    "We have reached our destination!" Risa suddenly announced as she took another turn through a cluster of bushes.

    Jason slowly followed her just to step into an open area.

    Several meters away from him was a hugeke with slightly pale water. There was quite a bit ofnd around theke before the forest started.

    It was covered so well that if one didn''t know of its existence, they would have likely missed it.

    ''How can ake be there in the middle of such a forest thought?'' Jason thought curiously while wanting to take a closer look at thekewater.

    "Don''t get that close to theke," Risa warned, having seen the look in Jason''s eyes, and ced a hand on Jason''s shoulder. "Stay here and watch me closely."

    After giving out the instructions, Risa stepped closer to theke and touched the water with her fingers.

    [ Damnбн ] The system muttered in a mind-blown tone as it sensed movement happening throughout theke.<sub> </sub>

    At first, the entireke seemed calm but that onlysted for a few seconds. The surface water started moving ferociously as a whirlpool opened up in the center of the water.

    This was followed by an inhuman cry as something suddenly shot out of the whirlpool.

    Jason''s jaw dropped down as his eyes followed the movement of an extremelyrge shark shooting towards Risa.

    < Inspect is active. >

    < Showing example of Inspect to host.>

    ---

    < Lakewater Sharkodono >

    < Threat: ??? >

    бк Amon shark that resides in the water of deepkes. The number of such sharks in a singleke usually resides between two to five.

    бк Its intelligence is very low and attacks the first thing it sees moving on the surface of the water in hopes of trying to eat the creature.

    ---

    Jason blinked in confusion when he read the details on the shark but his confusion didn''tst for long enough.

    ''For someone with that name, its details are not that impressive. I guess it''s found in almost allkes with deep water and isn''t strong enough to be that remarkable.'' Jason observed.

    His eyes were glued on the shark in the air which was only a few meters away from reaching Risa and biting her head off.

    Contrary to what a normal human would have felt, she didn''t look the least bit worried about a shark attacking her. Risa instead stifled a yawn and raised her right hand in the shark''s direction.

    "Jason, look carefully. I am going to teach you how you can fishmon sharks like these." She dered as a white ray suddenly shout out from her hand.

    The white ray hit the shark in the eye with deadly uracy, throwing it off bnce.

    The shark released a slight groan, something Jason didn''t know was possible.

    Risa''s attack had blinded the shark temporarily and had thrown its momentum.

    The shark started falling down but Risa wasn''t going to let it go. She jumped off the edge of theke, appearing right beside the falling shark in the blink of an eye.

    Risa ced her hand directly on its body and before it could react, she pierced it using another ray of light.

    Blood dripped down in theke as the shark''s body suddenly went limp. Risa then grabbed it by one of its fins and tossed it on thend before following suit.

    Once shended on thend, she smiled and looked at Jason''s abashed expression.

    "How was that?" She asked while brushing her hands.

    "That''s not fishingбн" Jason muttered while looking at the dead shark lying at Risa''s feet. "That was wrestling with a sharkбн"

    "Hmm, I don''t see the difference between them," Risa shrugged slightly. "The end goal is to get the fish and I did it without breaking a sweat. It''s fishing only."

    Jason gulped when he heard her reply as he turned his gaze towards theke. If what she had said was true then that meant that the concept of normal fishing didn''t exist for her.

    Did that mean that he too would have to wrestle a shark?

 Chapter 46 You Are My Shark!

    < New quest has been assigned. >

    ---

    < First Fishing Session In Another World. >

    бк Capture three fishes before leaving theke.

    Time limit: Three hours

    Reward: 30 system points (10 per fish)

    ---

    ''Hmm, this is a win-win quest since I can gain ten points per fish even if I fail.'' Jason observed before he epted the quest and turned his gaze towards theke.

    The sharp smell of the shark''s blood as well as the red color of the water seemed to have attracted numerous fishes to the surface.

    Jason was able to spot many smaller fishes as he decided to capture them rather than going after a shark thrice his size.

    While searching for a perfect target, he also found out that inspect didn''t work on any of the smaller fishes.

    [ Not every beast is important enough to be shown by inspect. Only those above a certain level will be identified by inspect, allowing you to separate weaker beasts from the stronger ones. ] The system exined.

    Jason slowly walked to the edge of theke, a lightning bolt in his hand. Risa didn''t stop him this time as she could see that he had the lightning bolt aimed at theke.

    She could more or less guess his n as Jason then threw the bolt into the center of theke, right where the whirlpool had been present.

    The lightning spread through the water for a short period, frying a few fish before vanishing.

    < 1% progression made on ''Thunder Mage'' Job ss. >

    Jason squinted hard to see three roasted ck fishes floating in the middle of theke.

    ''System, you didn''t tell me that killing fishes would allow me to level up my job ss easily.'' Hemented simultaneously while summoning another lightning bolt.

    His eyes darted all around theke before settling on a school of fishes zigzagging through the water, possibly to avoid getting eaten by bigger predators.

    Each of them were one foot tall and had very thin white bodies, simr to that of an eel.

    It turned out that they were actually eels as Jason was able to see their information in detail using inspect.

    ---

    < Salty Eelfish >

    < Threat: ??? >

    бк A hybrid of a saltwater fish and an eel. No one to this date has been able to understand how such a creature was born, for the better or for the worse.

    бк Such fishes usually move around in groups and attack hostile beings by using salt water attacks. The evolved version of the fish can use lightning attacks too.

    ---

    A n formed inside Jason''s mind as he aimed and threw the lightning bolt at the school of Eelfish.

    He stepped back after that and started gathering the dark element using the gathering method from earlier.<sub> </sub>

    "Grandma, can dark element be used in any form?" He inquired while making the mana move towards the tips of his fingers.

    "Dark element is flexible enough and can be anything you want it to be," Risa replied, her eyes slowly following Jason''s movements.

    Jason smiled as he rxed his shoulders a bit and turned back towards theke. The bolt of lightning he had shot had managed to hit quite a bit of Eelfish and but they hadn''t been toasted like the fish from earlier.

    ''I guess they have some lightning resistance due to their bloodline.'' Jason assumed, thrusting his right hand forward at the same time.

    "Net of darkness!" He couldn''t resist the urge to shout the name of the skill he had just created.

    Purple-ck strings shot out from the tip of Jason''s fingers, weaving together to form a fisherman''s.

    Jason felt a connection between him and the as he used it to direct the towards the few Eelfish he had hit earlier and had dazed.

    He felt the soak inside the water and with a sudden jerk, Jason closed the around the Eelfish and pulled on it.

    ''Not now.'' He slowly started pulling them while keeping a note on the surrounding fish.

    The fishes he had captured in the were half a dozen in number. He had already closed the gaps of the to barely a few centimeters to prevent them from escaping.

    Risa watched this with her eyebrows raised high in wonder. She was surprised to see that someone as young as Jason had thought of such a n.

    ''I guess having so much time on his hands gives him new ideas to experiment with.'' She thought while smiling slightly, her eyes following the movement of the fish inside the.

    Jason had almost pulled it to the edge when one of the nearby fishes decide to lunge at it and get the easy prey.

    ''So I guess their information was correct.'' Jason thought as he noticed that the fish closest to the new was none other than a Sharkodono.

    He decided to let the shark get close to the as the ten feet tall beast increased its speed. It opened its mouth wide open as Jason got to see the shark''s sharp teeth up close.

    He then shifted his gaze towards the Eelfishes and saw them trying to attack him or trying to break the down.

    But they couldn''t do anything due tock of time as the shark closed its mouth around the.

    Jason watched this silently as he was about to do something that would either kill the fishes in one blow or would make the shark pull him away.

    "Lightning!" Suddenly, sparks of lightning shot from the tips of Jason''s fingers as they traveled throughout the.

    Both the Eelfishes and the Sharkodono realized that something was wrong but it was toote by then.

    The lightning reached the end of the and fried both of them. Not only were they still in contact with the water, but the was also sticking closely to their bodies.

    The Sharkodono had it worst since the lightning had roasted its body from the inside. due to the being inside its mouth.

    But since it was much stronger than the other fishes, it somehow managed to release the and run away.

    Jason saw this as he held the with only his left hand and raised the other in the fleeing shark''s direction.

    "You are my shark! No way am I going to let you escape after all that!" Jason shouted aloud but instead of summoning a lightning bolt, he experimented with his dark element again.

    He knew it was a risky move but a simple lightning bolt wasn''t going to cut it.

    Jason took a deep breath as he shot his hand forward while once again shouting the name of his on-the-spot created skill.

    "Harpoon of Darkness!"

 Chapter 47 Its Simple And Not Simple

    At first, only a straight thread of dark element shot out from Jason''s hand. He had to tweak it a little to make the end pointed before making the entire thing thicker and more dangerous.

    Jason directed the newly formed harpoon straight towards the shark with full force. It tore through the air with blinding speed before impaling the shark''s back.

    Jason then made the harpoon go deeper inside the shark so that it was deeply stuck inside its body.

    As he didn''t know any curses or wasn''t familiar with dark element''s corrosive property, Jason used the same trick from before and sent lightning through the harpoon.

    The shark couldn''t do anything except groan in pain due to the lightning frying its insides.

    Jason was happy with his endeavor until he realized that he had no way of pulling the shark''s body out.

    Even if he did manage to grab it using a, he knew that the others fishes wouldn''t go that easy on him, meaning he would have to repeat the same process again and again.

    "Jason, pull out the with the Eelfish," Risa suddenly ordered while jumping off the edge of theke simultaneously. "Leave the shark to me."

    Jason nodded once, shifting his attention to the with the Eelfishes and pulling it with full force.

    The predators in the area could only watch the go on thend. Even they were intelligent enough to know that touching the would lead to the same fate as the shark from earlier.

    < Quest has beenpleted. >

    Jason''s mood further brightened up when he saw the questpletion message and the number of fishes he had managed to capture by using dark element on the first turn.

    Risa also appeared on thekeside with the shark and smiled proudly. She ruffled Jason''s hair with her free hand as thetter felt proud of himself too.

    [ Well, it was kinda expected since you know the basics and only had to manipte the entire thing to your will. ] The systemmented.

    ''You think that was easy? I had to mend the entire thing so specifically because if there was even a single mistake, I would have given rise to some new useless thing.'' Jason refuted.

    He was telling the truth as he had to imagine how a harpoon exactly looked.

    He then had to convert the thread into the harpoon mid-air to get the desired weapon.

    Jason felt a slight headache in the back of his head due to that but he was able to ignore it temporarily after thetest battle.

    [ By the way, I forgot to mention that you can create your skill after naming it. I didn''t create them the moment you called out those names just in case you felt like changing themter on. ]

    ''I will do that at night.'' Jason replied as he looked at Risa.

    His grandmother was somehow holding two sharks on her shoulders which made Jason wonder where she was getting all that energy from.

    ''I wonder if she takes some steroids or if the light element can boost her that much.'' Jason wondered while changing the dimensions of the a bit to change it into a carryover bag.

    He swung it over his shoulders just like Risa and waited for her to move towards the forest. Risa however was staring at theke as though she was looking for something.

    She continued to do this for a few minutes before she shook her head and walked in front of Jason.

    "Let''s go back and surprise everyone with these fishes," She grinned. "Though if they ask where we find it, tell them that I took you to the edge of the forest where the river is."

    Jason nodded as he and Risa started making their way back towards the family mansion.

    ***

    The remaining Syrward family was surprised by the fishes brought by the grandma-grandson pair. Their surprise only increased after knowing that Jason had helped in catching half of those fishes.

    "Good job Jason." Issac proudly ruffled Jason''s hair the same way Risa had done it.

    Jason only smiled, his gaze meeting Nora''s who was looking back at him with glinting eyes as though he was looking at his role model.

    The adults then started preparing to cook the fishes and everyone divided their work. It took some time but a delicious dinner was served and all of them ate until their stomachs couldn''t intake more food.<sub> </sub>

    Jason retired to his room after walking for a few minutes to digest his food. While lying on the bed, he decided to name the skills.

    ''System, do you think that ''Dark Net'' is a good name for the thing?'' Jason inquired while trying to brainstorm for another name.

    [ Well, if you had chosen ''Dark Web'' as a name, there would have been some problems. This name is fine. ] The system replied as Jason nodded and confirmed the name.

    ---

    < Dark Net >

    500 Mana

    бк Launches a made from dark element from the user''s tips which can be controlled as suited by the user.

    бк Making additional changes to the costs extra mana.

    ---

    Jason moved over to the next skill while noticing the fact that there wasn''t any time limit on any of his skills. He greatly appreciated the fact of not having to wait for his skills to be usable again.

    Though the mana cost was higher for some of his skills, it was much better than having a time limit.

    ''Dark Harpoon. That''s the name for the harpoon attack I did.'' He announced as another system window appeared in front of him.

    ---

    < Dark Harpoon >

    500 mana

    бк Launches a harpoon from the wrist whose front end can be created by the user as per their wish.

    бк Minor changes can be made to the harpoon without costing extra mana but major changes will require extra mana.

    ---

    ''Wait, neither of them had an upgrade bracket or a progressable skill bracket next to them.'' Jason noticed.

    [ Well, I can''t really judge what category they fall into, though they did increase your current progression. It will depend on how you use them in the future so they are subjected to major or no change at all. ] The system informed.

    ''I see.'' Jason then remembered that he had passed lightning through his harpoon and the.

    But it was pretty clear that he had just used his mana to transfer lightning from his palms so that didn''te under any sort of particr skill.

    ''System, can you please tell me the difference between my main job ss and Dark mage one?'' Jason asked thest thing he had in his mind.

    [ Well it''s simple and not simple at the same time. The least I can tell you is that your main job ss is mostly focused on moves that don''t specifically require dark mana and are less on the direct damage dealing side.

    The Dark mage job ss ismon to those with the dark element. It includes curses, seals, creation, and necromancy, many of which are doable by your MJC. ]

    ''Both of them can allow me to use necromancy?'' Jason interrupted as he remembered hearing Issac saying that dark element allowed one to use necromancy if they were skilled enough.

    [ Yes, both can use necromancy but there is a major difference in the two ways. I can''t really exin this in detail using words since even I don''t know the entire thing. We just have to wait to find more information on this in the future. ]

    ''I see.'' Jason replied, atst, closing his eyes to sleep.

    That night, he had dreams of fighting fishes.

 Chapter 48 Serial Killer Laboratory

    "Rise and shine." The next morning, Risa once again came to wake him up except she came quite early.

    Jason still half asleep mumbled in reply, "Eh??? But I don''t have schoбн Yes grandma!" his eyes suddenly flew open, sitting straight up in under a moment.

    Risa gave him a weird look. "I will see you downstairs in ten." She decided to shrug it off in the end and left his room.

    Jason on the other hand wiped beads of sweat off his forehead, having almost slipped up.

    He was usually woken up by the system but Risa''s voice had made him remember his memories back from Earth.

    [ Someone used to wake you up at the orphanage? ] The system inquired curiously.

    ''There was an old grandma that used to work at the orphanage after her retirement. I remember that she used to wake all of us kids up before sending us to school.'' Jason sighed, knowing well that she had died during the war.

    He got ready for the day and went downstairs, wondering what type of training Risa will make him go through.

    ''Did any fishes even survive?'' Jason questioned while remembering how most of the fish had been eaten byst night.

    [ I don''t think we cooked the Eelfish since the sharks were quite heavy for the stomach to digest. ] The system pointed out, making Jason nod in agreement.

    After that, Risa and Jason sat at the dining table and ate their breakfast in silence. Once they were done, Risa simply stood up and asked Jason to follow her.

    He didn''t ask any questions as they made their way towards the back of the manor, an area that Jason rarely visited.

    "Uh grandma, how am I going to learn how to use my dark element for healing when the fishes we brought are dead?" Jason suddenly questioned.

    "Hmm, who said that they arepletely dead?" Risa raised her eyebrow. "It was a rhetorical question so don''t answer."

    Risa then led the two of them towards a sleek ck metal door situated at the back of the manor. The door didn''t have any visible locks on it but when Jason pulled on it, it didn''t budge slightly.

    Jason eyed the door once again while remembering that he had once encountered it while ying with Issac in the past.

    His grandfather had told him that the door was the entrance to Risa''s secretboratory.

    Risa turned out to be a bit of a researcher and she carried out her research in the area beyond the door.

    As for when she got the time to do that? Only she knew.

    "Jason, please close your eyes and ears. Also, hold your breath for a few seconds. Don''t do anything until I tell you to." Risa suddenly warned him, her right hand closing around the doorknob.

    She turned it open the next second.

    The door creaked open before a blinding sh of light went off. Jason had already closed his eyes yet he still felt white spots appearing in front of his eyes.

    Jason felt Risa''s hands around his shoulders as she guided him forward.

    "There are stairs below you so be careful." Her voice sounded a bit muffled yet Jason could still make out the words.

    He climbed down the stairs slowly until Risa asked them to stop.<sub> </sub>

    Jason could tell that they were standing at the bottom of the stairs as he heard a clicking sound repeating itself.

    "You can release your breath now but when you feel my hand on your shoulder, hold your breath again." Risa''s voice entered his ears once again as she lifted her hand off his shoulders.

    ''System, can you see what is happening?'' He inquired.

    [ Risa is opening some kind of weird door by cing her hand on it and releasing mana through her fingertips. The door is slowly opening inch by inch using her mana though I can''t see anything on the other side. ] The system informed.

    Jason patiently waited for Risa to ask him to open his eyes but the moment didn''te for a long time.

    She guided him inside the door again but this time, even the system couldn''t say anything.

    "Sorry you had to go through that but there were a few things in there that you are better off not knowing about." Risa apologized as the sound of a door closing was heard. "You can open your eyes and release your breath now."

    Jason finally got to see where he was as he looked around at his surroundings with curious eyes.

    It was the same size as a small library with numerous shelves covering the edges. However, all of them had been covered up by a ck curtain so no one could see the things on the shelves.

    Jason''s eyes then fell on the center of the room where he saw a huge ck table with medical equipment ced on it.

    He suddenly felt shivers creeping up his spine when he saw a few of the equipment which was better left undescribed.

    Risa also noticed that as she quickly snatched all of them away and deposited them on one of the shelves.

    After making sure that they had been covered properly, she faked a cough and exined about the ce to Jason.

    "This is myboratory and though that equipment may have made you feel as though this is a serial killer''sboratory, it isn''t. You do know what a serial killer is right?"

    "I do," Jason replied with a second thought as Risa narrowed her eyes but didn''t say anything. Jason didn''t realize it at that moment but he had barely dodged a bullet.

    "Anyways, most of the stuff on these shelves are things that I haveбн collected through the years and you wouldn''t want to see them," Risa then reached closer to the table as Jason too followed her.

    She then bent down a bit and opened one of the manyrge drawers that were attached to the table.

    Jason counted more than twenty such drawers which wasn''t surprising considering how the table started from one end of the room and went to the other end.

    Though its width was only half the size of its length, the table in itself was thergest one Jason had ever seen.

    [ It isrge enough to fit at least eight of those sharks from earlier. ] The systemmented as Risa finally stood up with a jar in her hand.

    "One of the Eelfish you had caught yesterday turned out to be carrying eggs that managed to survive due to the mother''s body providing them shield. I gave them a, let''s say slight boost, and they hatched."

    Risa then opened the jar slowly and put her hand inside it. Jason hadn''t noticed it before but he did now. There was water inside the jar.

    Risa dipped her hand deeper inside the jar and gently pulled out a baby Eelfish barely a foot long. However, something was wrong with them as they would suddenly start shuddering at an interval of thirty seconds.

    "Though they were protected, your lightning still dealt some damage to them. Your goal is to undo that damage by destroying the harmful cells in their bodies and allowing their growth to resume once again."

 Chapter 49 I Want To Be A Cloud

    "Grandma, you do realize that I don''t even know the C in corrosion property of the dark element?" Jason asked while staring at the baby Eelfishes.

    "I know that but you have to start somewhere. Its not like you have to go somewhere important that you can''t practice this" Risa replied with a straight face, cing the jar of Eelfishes on the table while leaving one of them outside.

    "I am on the other side of the room. Don''t touch anything and just practice. Yell my name if you need anything." Risa exined before walking out of the door and closing it behind her.

    Jason sat down on the ground the moment that happened. He decided to know a bit more about his system first before practicing.

    ''System, I can only have one sub-job ss equipped at once, right?''

    [ Yes, host. You will only gain progress for the sub job ss you have equipped and as for the other job ss, you can only use two skills or spells from it. To use more, you will have to shift job sses. ] The system informed.

    ''That''s quite a coincidence considering how I only used two skills from my dark mage job ss.'' Jason replied before eyeing the Eelfish once and sighing.

    "I hope I don''t make things worse than what they are already areбн" Jason muttered as went near the Eelfish on the table and ced his hands right above it.

    He focused on his dark element before summoning it in his fingertips. It took some time but after he was done gathering the mana, Jason touched the fish''s body with his index finger.

    The body of the fish felt slippery to touch but Jason didn''t think to much about.

    He released the stored up dark mana in his finger as it prated the fish''s body, opening a small wound in its skin.

    Jason realized that he would have to constantly keep in contact with the wound to supply the fish''s body with mana, making it much more ufortable.

    Not to mention that he still had to control the mana and direct it towards the damaged cells hindering the Eelfish''s growth.

    He decided to start slowly by making a small portion of the mana move towards a single cell and destroy it.

    But halfway through, the fish suddenly jerked, making Jason not only lose his focus but also shift his finger.

    The mana went out of the control and rushed throughout the fish. In less than a minute, it spread all inside the fish and destroyed its body from the inside, thus killing it.

    [ Well, at least it didn''t burst up. ] The system consoled as Jason sighed and picked up the dead body of the fish.

    It felt slightly slippery in his hands as he dashed to the corner of the table where a dustbin of sorts was ced. He put the fish inside it and closed the lid before sitting down at his original position.

    ''To destroy the corrupted cells, I first need to learn how to use the corrosive property of dark element and then learn how to control it in certain cases like this.'' Jason brainstormed for quite some time before deciding to just leave theb.

    There wasn''t anything for him to practice his skills on inside theb and he had to go outside.

    "Grandma!" Jason yelled as the door opened up and Risa peeked her head inside.

    Compared to the woman from moments ago, Risa looked as though she had just went on a motorbike ride. Her hair were ruffled wildly and were tangled in some ces.

    Her cheeks were slightly flushed and she looked as though she had been in the middle of something when Jason had interrupted her.<sub> </sub>

    "I want to go outside and practice there. If I keep on using my dark element here, I will kill all of the fishes before learning how to use my dark element."

    "I see. We will repeat the same thing we did while getting here." Risa replied and two minutester, Jason was standing outside the house.

    Though he was going to practice, Jason was going to the shelter first. The sun had came up long ago and the time was thirty minutes till noon.

    Jason wouldn''t have cared much about the time if not for the fact that he saw Nora and Zara standing near a tree in scorching sunlight.

    Jason stood around the corner of the house as he spied on the son-mother pair.

    ''So that''s why grandma doesn''t teach Nora.'' Jason soon realized that Zara was the one who had been training Nora the entire time.

    Perhaps training was the wrong word as simr to Risa, Zara only showed things and didn''t tell how to do them.

    The two of them were currently practicing how to manage the size, shape and hotness of a fireball. Jason decided to leave them alone as he took a full rotation and walked to the shelter.

    The moment he stepped foot inside the shelter, Feta came dashing and hugged him. Jason patted the goat''s forehead for a few moments and then only did she leave him alone.

    "I know we haven''t met for some time Feta, and yes, its nice to meet you too. Is Karna inside?" Jason questioned the goat as she shook her head.

    He sighed in annoyance and went to sit near a tree. Jason had only came to the shelter to get some tips from Karna but it seemed that he had wasted his time.

    Despite the hot weather, cool wind had starting blowing from the north and it was enough to make Jason feel rxed as he slumped down.

    He rested his head on the tree''s trunk while ncing at Feta. The goat hadid on the ground beside him and was sleeping calmly.

    Jason smiled at this before turning his gaze towards the sky. He saw the clouds moving slowly which soon made him yawn.

    ''I want to be a cloudбн'' Jason thought while yawning once again. He then closed his eyes and was about to take a nap when the system  suddenly interrupted him.

    [ Host, Issac is making his way here... ]

    Jason groaned a bit as he stood up and looked in the direction of the manor. The system was indeed correct as Jason could see the silhouette of his grandfather rapidly approaching him.

    ''I really want to be a cloud right now.'' Jason sighed while ncing down at Feta onest time.

    He wondered how easy of a life the goat must be aspared to his. While sighing with a dejected look on his face, Jason stood up and made his way towards his grandpa.

    ''I wonder what new drama is awaiting meбн''

    ***

    This novel is officially contracted! The gifts and golden tickets feature is now unlocked and you guys can send them *temporarily forgets the absence of readers on his novel...*

 Chapter 50 Invitation To The Crystal Ceremony

    Issac and Jason met halfway as Jason noticed that his grandfather was very serious.

    "Jason, you are going to meet someone very important shortly so make sure that you remain the way you are. Don''t try to please him too much." Issac said hurriedly.

    After hearing the message, Jason started walking to the manor, curious as to what Issac meant.

    ''Who could be that important for grandpa toe right up to me and tell me to be my usual self?'' He couldn''t reach a conclusion by the time he reached the manor and entered inside.

    Jason entered the living room as his eyes moved toward the sofa.

    An unknown man with a neatly trimmed beard and salty white hair was seated on the sofa.

    His gaze slowly moved towards Jason as he looked at him from head to toe.

    He had been dressed in a simple shirt and trousers but the man seemed unimpressed by his looks.

    It was expected considering the fact that he was wearing a shining gray suit atop a pink shirt. The man''s hair was neatlybed back, and his gaze rested on Jason''s face.

    "Are you the one called Jason?" The man asked in a slow deep voice as Jason nodded.

    "Who are you?" He asked back as the man narrowed his eyes a bit. His gaze shifted behind Jason as the boy turned back to see Issac standing behind him.

    "I expected more from Michael''s son but I guess I should have kept my expectations low considering the fact how the Syrward family lives." The man spoke without bothering to lower his voice as a vein popped in Issac''s forehead.

    "Everyone has a different way of living their life. We have our own and you have your own," He replied through gritted teeth before pausing and curling his lips a bit. "At least for the time being."

    "Mhm, you are right. I guess you already know why his majesty sent me here?" The man asked while fixing the cor of his suit.

    "Yes I know about it and I am not sending him there," Issac replied firmly as the man cocked an eyebrow.

    "And you think I care? Unless he has a teacher and by that, I mean one who is qualified," The man replied, and as Issac opened his mouth to reply, he continued. "And no, Karna doesn''t count as one no matter how much he helped the child."

    Issac''s mouth opened and closed without making any sound. He had no idea how the man managed to know about Karna teaching Jason because nothing traveled out of Duphia.

    ''Did a spy appear again?'' Issac wondered curiously since he had nothing to reply to the man with.

    "You are a very rude person, Brian," Issac muttered as the man scoffed and stared down at Jason.

    "I will see you in a month child. If you are lucky or unlucky enough, you will end up under me." Brian said nonchntly before turning his back on the two of them. He then walked out of the manor.

    "Grandpa, why do I feel as though he just insulted both of us and left before we could even think of aeback?"

    "I feel the same Jason except that he really did insult us before moving out." Issac sighed as he sat down on the sofa, his eyes looking at Jason.

    "I am sure you are itching to ask a question, but please wait for a few seconds. I need toe up with some retorts to shut Brian up the next time I see him."

    Jason nodded and sat down opposite of Issac. It took his grandpa a few minutes to think of the retorts before he moved ahead and exined everything to Jason before he could ask anything.

    "Brian came here to give you an invitation to the Crystal ceremony. It is a yearly event that takes ce a week after the new year. All kids between ten to fifteen years of age are invited to it."

    Issac''s gaze then fell on a candy lying on the table in front of him. He raised his hand towards it and put it inside his mouth before continuing.<sub> </sub>

    Crystal ceremony basically consists of kids fighting each other in front of an enormous crowd. You have to showcase your talent and have to battle using all of your abilities, hiding a few trump cards of course."

    "So it''s basically an all-out show-offpetition." Jason summarized as Issac nodded before moving on.

    "The goal of this ceremony is to get all the talented children in one ce. All the guilds, sects, and other powerhouses of the kingdom would be there in hopes of getting disciples or students.

    You are basically being asked to show off to get chosen by them." Issa revealed the truth.

    "Can I decline them?" Jason asked immediately as Issac shook his head.

    "Even if you only get a single offer, you have to take it and join it. This rule is only applied to nobles but it doesn''t matter to most of them.

    This rule only exists for the sake of politics since many of the children already get fixed positions inside the most prestigious guilds."

    Jason and Issac sighed simultaneously as both of them were tired of such corruption.

    "I am about to be targeted by a lot of such organizations and individuals, aren''t I?"

    "Well, you are one of the most famous children on the continent. The heads of the various organizations would be hungry to get you under their wing and use your powers." Issac replied truthfully as Jason took a deep breath.

    "Nora would being along too, right?"

    "Yes, he will."

    "Then I will make sure that he enters a guild or gets a trustworthy master or something along those lines. I hate politics and pointless nobility games."

    Jason had firsthand seen what politics could result in and how corrupted nobility lead to a corrupted kingdom.

    Though he knew that there would be many who were against the idea, his goal was to find one such person for Nora.

    "But what about you? Who will you choose?" Issac asked in a low tone as Jason smiled but didn''t reply.

    "Grandpa, why can''t any of you or Uncle Karna teach me?" He instead asked a question that had been bugging him ever since he started his training with Karna.

    "Well, the two generations of the Syrward family before you and Nora are under a curse that prevents them from teaching anyone anything more than the basics or they die.

    As for Karna, he has bad blood with the king and they don''t allow him to be an official teacher."

    "So basically, all of you have annoyed the rulers of not only this kingdom but others around the world too." Jason finished as Issac nodded with a grin. "I guess now I understand why grandma taught me that way..."

    Issac then stood up and bit the candy inside his mouth. A sweet and sour taste filled his mouth as he walked toward the door.

    "Now that you have less than a month remaining till the ceremony starts, you have to practice a bit harder," Issac exined as the two of them stepped out in the light sun rays. "But before that, why don''t we rx and nap a bit?"

    "бн" Jason sighed once again but despite that, he didn''t argue. He and his grandpa took shelter below one of the trees in the garden and closed their eyes.

    But before dozing off, a thought echoed inside Jason''s mind.

    ''Will I be stuck in the middle of politics as a helpless child?''

 Chapter 51 Using Corrosiveness

    "Ughбн That''s the seventh child I have killed today." Jason sighed while sitting on the floor and looking at the table.

    He was back in Risa''sboratory after ten days of trying to control the corrosive property of the dark element.

    All his tests had been run on non-living things and after nine days of trying, he had finally managed to cut a leaf into half by destroying it from the center.

    But the difference between using it on a non-living thing and a living being was much greater than Jason could have thought.

    [ Host, its not something that you learn in just one day. Even prodigies take time to learn things and you are already doing pretty well. ] The system tried to cheer Jason up, being half-sessful in his its attempt.

    ''I know, I know. Its just that I know the theory but can''t apply it. I need to rte this to something easier in terms of learning and learn it as well, simr to the three physical representations of mana.'' Jason sighed.

    He picked up the mutated fish from the table and dropped it in the dustbin.

    Jason stared at the jar of Eelfishes for a few seconds before deciding to leave the ce again.

    Instead of calling Risa, he took out a small steel dagger from his clothes. He put the dagger against his right thumb and used it to create a small cut.

    Jason then deposited the dagger back inside his clothes after sheathing it. His eyes moved onto the ck blood dripping out of the cut on his thumb.

    He shook his head once to clear his thoughts before bending down on his knees and drawing a ''X'' symbol on the floor.

    "Teleport." Jason muttered as the ''X'' suddenly started glowing. It pulsed three times before exploding with a bright sh of light.

    Jason felt his body lifting of the floor before setting down again. His eyesight returned a few secondster as he found himself standing on top of a simr ''X'' symbol in his bedroom.

    After constant back forth from the house to theboratory, Risa had gotten frustrated and had created a two-way teleportation for Jason.

    It had only used his blood as a medium and had opened up a teleportation method between his bedroom and theboratory.

    ''What is it that I am doing wrong? What is the thing that is stopping me from seeding?'' Jason asked himself a few times before sitting on the bed and closing his eyes.

    He rested his head on the palms of his hands while trying to think of the ce where he wascking.

    Jason took a deep breath as he analyzed everything he had done till that moment yet he had no idea where he had went wrong.

    ''Hmm, could it be the way I am looking at the dark element? I have been thinking of corrosiveness as a destroying property but if I think of it as a healing element, would it change anything?'' He wondered.

    Jason suddenly stood and pped his cheeks. The sound resounded through the entire room as Jason went to the bathroom and washed his face.

    He then stood on the ''X'' symbol in his bedroom and said ''teleport'' again. The same thing happened again as Jason appeared in theboratory.

    ''Its a difference of how I see things.'' He thought while remembering how humans on Earth always said that if you changed your mindset ording to the situation, you could do anything.

    Jason had always thought of it to be foolish and he still believed that it was foolish, but his view was now restricted to those on Earth.

    [ Host, you could be wrong you know. There might be a chance that your theory is wrong and that you are going to be disappointed. ] The system warned as a smile appeared on Jason''s face.

    ''I have been failing till now so even the slightest hope can uplift me but if I fail, its not like I can fall any lower.'' He reminded before taking another Eelfish out of the jar, leaving only three of them behind.

    ? He inhaled sharply while seeing the fish jerking right and left.<sub> </sub>

    Jason eyes stayed glued to its movements before he ced the index finger of his right hand on the fish''s body and closed his eyes.

    ''If the dark element can destroy things, it can also heal them.'' He thought over and over again before summoning the dark element on the tip of his finger and pushing it inside the Eelfish.

    Jason''s control over the element had gotten much better aspared to the past few days and he was swiftly able to guide the dark element towards the destruction causing cells which had increased over the days.

    ''You can heal it!'' Jason thought as he forcefully pushed the mana inside one of the cells and activated the corrosiveness.

    Since he still couldn''t control the amount of corrosiveness which led to the cells being destroyed in rapid session. Jason felt a searing pain shot up his right arm as he pulled his hand back with a jerk.

    The Eelfish suddenly went mad as it jumped in the air twice before writhing on the floor.

    However, Jason''s attention was soon shifted away from the fish as he looked down at his own arm. Multiple cuts had appeared all around his arm and blood was dripping from all of them.

    Jason knew that all of them had just appeared as he clenched his teeth and managed to hold the pain.

    ''Its not even that much blood loss and I am already feeling dizzyбн'' Jason thought as he felt slightly dizzy and stumbled a bit.

    Jason somehow managed toy down on the ''X'' and activate it. He appeared directly in his room. He slowly dragged himself out of the room and down the stairs, leaving behind a trail of ck blood.

    But the moment he stepped on thest stair, Jason felt his head roam once before he was able to get himself together.

    ''I don''t feel dizzy anymore.'' He observed while looking down at his arm. The cuts were shockingly starting to close up as Jason silently sat down on thest stair.

    ''System, run aplete check of my arm.''

    < Runningplete check of armбн >

    < Checkpleted. >

    [ Host, it seems that when you were trying to eliminate the destruction causing cells in the fish, you let your dark element run a bit to wild. It also spread throughout your arm and even managed to reach your headбн ]

    Jason was silent at the system''s exnation as his eyes looked down at the healing wounds. They were soon about to close up and the blood that had poured out had dried on the skin.

    The question was obvious.

    ''How is it possible that something that can cause major destruction to a body only managed to put small cuts on my arm and those too are healing on their own?''

    [ Host, I don''t know how that is happening. I will need to watch what happened a few more times before I can say anything with confidence. ]

    ''How much time will it take?''

    [ Around a week or so. Till then, please don''t practice healing those fishes lest you destroy your entire arm. ]

    ''Then what am I supposed to till then?''

    [ I don''t know. ]

 Chapter 52 A Small Victory And Preparations

    For the next week, Jason went to the shelter daily, something he had left after Karna had taught him all the basics.

    He would usually get the goats out and take them to graze early in the morning or would battle a few of them.

    Jason had also tried increasing the duration of his ''Lightning Steps'' but he had been unsessful so far.

    "Hahaбн" The boy panted as he sat down with his back against a tree and his face towards the shelter. "I wonder what happened to the cheat that I was supposed to receive."

    Even though Jason said that, he was d that he hadn''t received a spoon feeding system or something along those lines.

    [ Huh, look who ising to like the things he has without wishing for more. ] The system teased.

    ''You couldn''t stay quite for long enough, could you?'' Jason retorted in an annoyed tone, making the system chuckle once.

    [ I finally managed to understood what happened back then but you will need to go to theboratory to practice this. ] It replied seriously.

    "You know what? I am going to sleep and go thereter on." Jason mumbled and before the system could finish sighing, he was fast asleep.

    [ What should I do about you, hostбн ]

    ***

    "So you are telling me that the small amount of light mana we had seen earlier was responsible for healing me?!" Jason asked, feeling baffled.

    [ You are asking that for the fifth time host and I think you already know the answer to thatбн ] the system sighed.

    Jason shut his mouth quickly to prevent himself from saying the same thing for the sixth time.

    Instead, he looked at the wound that he had cut on his thumb with the help of the dagger earlier.

    It would have taken at least two days for it to healpletely yet there was no wound in its ce now.

    ''I gotta test thisбн'' Jason thought as he took out the dagger again and cut another cut against his thumb.

    Though he felt like a masochist while doing that, Jason was too focused on seeing the cut. Hopefully he wouldn''t get addicted to experimenting too much...

    He closed his eyes and sent a small amount of dark mana towards the wound. He felt the pain from the wound increase as the dark element rioted around.

    The pain gradually reduced and in front of Jason''s eyes, the blood dried up. The wound started closing as Jason inhaled sharply.

    He turned his gaze towards the Eelfish he had sessfully used the corrosive property of dark element on.

    It had been kept in a separate case and had notably different growth then the ones who still had the destruction causing cells in them.

    "System, I think that I might have stuck jackpot," Jason said in a dazed voice. "If I can turn this into a passive ability, I might be invincible to a certain extent."

    Happy with his discovery, Jason decided to resume his practice again. In the following three weeks, he didn''t make any notable advancement.

    He had sessfully managed to destroy over fifty percent of the infected cells in each of the remaining Eelfishes but he had wounded himself six more times during that.

    But just as he had expected, the wounds automatically healed after he had focused a bit on the mana running inside his arm.

    Jason and the system also noticed that using the corrosive property of the dark element drained his mana much quicker than normal.

    Though no new skill had been formed after Jason''s experiments, he had decided to use ''Double-Edged Healing'' to refer to healing using the dark element.

    Jason also realized that going to the shelter to chill for some time was a good way to rx. But fighting with goats was getting boring and Jason had realized that he had to fight beasts now.

    He couldn''t increase his power level without getting into dangerous near-death fighting experiences.

    [ Host, you should be careful what you wish for. ] The system suddenly interrupted his train of thought as Jason raised an eyebrow.

    He was currently lying on his bed while trying to act asleep. Risa was standing just outside his room and the moment Jason would wake up, she woulde inside and ask him to pack.

    Even though the Crystal ceremony was eight days away, the Syrward family had to leave for it the next day.

    This meant that they couldn''t celebrate new year but neither of the two children minded that. They were instead interested in getting to see more children their age.<sub> </sub>

    Though Jason was a bit guarded regarding the nobility, he had to admit that getting to explore the world and getting involved in some action was something that he very much  needed.

    ''I don''t think I can oust grandma.'' Jason sighed as he sat up and looked at the door. Risa opened the door at the same time as her eyes wandered over Jason with a sweet smile.

    "Jason, get ready for the day and after having breakfast, please bring everything you need to take downstairs." Risa exined before closing the door and getting started with her own preparations.

    Jason felt like sleeping once again but since he was awake now, the chances of him falling asleep were very low.

    ''Well, its not like I can go there without taking any clothes or important stuff with me.'' Jason thought as he stood up and got ready for his day.

    After eating his breakfast, he got back into his room and tore through his closet.

    [ To think that you only have five shirts and three trousers in your entire closetбн ] The system sounded astounded as Jason just shrugged and grabbed the clothes tightly.

    ''I am not a woman. I can make due with these easily so there is no need to get extra clothes.'' He replied but the real reason was that Jason had learned it early on to be grateful for what he got.

    He only had two pairs of clothes back on Earth and it was hard to go in his life with them. Though there were a few second hand clothes giving to the orphanage, Jason never took more than a single piece of cloth.

    The habit had followed him to Duphia as well. He also noticed that the only other things he needed were basic daily life things and his pillow.

    ''And to think that I am a noble child. I wonder how many of those snot nosed brats are going to be flexing at the ceremony.'' He sneered.

    Jason then went down in the living room to see Nora standing there with a simr set of things. Though his younger brother held one more thing in his hand, a sheathed dagger.

    It was the same dagger that Jason had, hidden inside his clothes and ready to be taken out at a moment''s notice.

    Nora was nowhere near the na?ve kid he had been some time ago as Zara had trained him well. Butpared to Jason, who was very well a middle aged man by mentality, he was still a kid.

    ''It would be good if he can retain this behavior in the future but things change. I wonder how the ceremony would go.'' Jason thought as he and Nora heard the sound of footsteps echoing around the stairs.

    They turned to stare at Ray and Zara stepping down, each of them holding a suitcase of their own.

    For some reason, Jason''s face twitched a little as he wasn''t able to avoid looking at his own stuff and then his aunt and uncle''s stuff.

    ''Oh well, they are adults. Who knows how much stuff I would be carrying in the future.'' He thought before putting his stuff down on a chair and waiting for his grandparents to show up.

    Risa and Issac took their sweet time in appearing, one of theming with the stuff from upstairs while the other one walked inside the door, respectively.

    "I guess everyone is ready to go," Issac muttered as he walked up to the living room. He was holding a golden ring in his hand that none of them had seen before.

    However, Zara and Ray soon realized what it was as they brought their suitcases forward and held it in their arms.

    Issac then touched both of them once with the ring before muttering something under his breath.

    Both the suitcases suddenly started fading and in a matter of seconds, they vanished from the duo''s arms.

    Jason and Nora''s jaw dropped down as they exchanged a nce before looking at Issac with surprise.

    "How did you do that?" Asked Nora.

    "Was that space magic and is that a space ring?" Jason asked while stepping closer to Issac.

    "Woah, wait for some time. Let us finish the packing and lock the house. Issac will answer your questions then." Risa suddenly interrupted as both the children nodded and  brought their stuff to Issac.

    Risa followed suit and once all of them were done, the entire family wore their shoes and stored an extra pair in the ring.

    Jason''s eyes were continuously looking at the golden ring and was only pulled away when he had do to something important.

    But once they had stepped out of the house and were ready to leave, his eyes were pulled away by something even fascinating and awe aspiring then the ring.

    "Look closely children. I am going to teach you how you to lock the house," Issac said with a grin as he wore the ring and sat down.

    He then bit his right thumb and ced it on the ground right in front of the gates.

    "Lockdown!"

 Chapter 53 The Bird Of Balance

    Seven blue pirs of light suddenly shot towards the sky and formed a circle around the house.

    At first, the pirs 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 showбн'' Jason thought as the pirs 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 simr to that of the alphabets. One of them looked simr 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 simr 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 thenbined together before forming onest pir 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 spectacr 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 exined 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 thoseing from other continents."

    Risa exined 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 pce is situated and from where the monarchy works. All rules,ws, 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 feetбн" 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: ??? >

    бк 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.

    бк Only those chosen worthy by the stallions can board them or order them around.<sub> </sub>

    ---

    Both the stallions had ck flesh and a soft ck 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''tpare 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 exined 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 Bnce'' 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 aplete 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 nning work to a few of his trusted subordinates."

    "I seeбн" 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 pped his hands to gain their attention before pushing them inside the carriage. "Ray, get in ce."

    Jason and Nora were the first ones to enter the carriage. But the moment they opened the door, their jaws dropped down.

    "Howбн" 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 fourpartments, two bedrooms with toilets attached to them, one kitchen with a rectangr metal structure ced at the corner, and a living room in the middle.

    "This is something known as a space carriage. The insides have beenpiled 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 particr 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 exined 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.

 Chapter 54 Magic Is Both Fascinating And Complicated

    Jason and Nora soon found out that the entire carriage wasn''t kid-friendly at all. There was nothing there for the two of them to do but fortunately, the carriage did have a few windows to look out.

    However, upon peeking out, they realized that they couldn''t exactly see anything as the carriage was moving at too fast of a speed.

    It was simr to that of a car from Earth and Jason realized that being in the carriage was soon going to be a nightmare for him if he didn''t find something to distract himself with.

    The reason for this was the fact that Jason was extremely prone to car sickness. The carriage on the other hand was slightly worse as he could feel every single cut, every single bounce, and the eleration or deeleration in speed.

    Perhaps it was restricted only to him but Jason knew he would soon throw up if this continued.

    "Grandma, can I ask you something?" Jason asked in an attempt to distract hmself?

    Risa, who was seated on a wooden chair near the dining table, replied, "Do you even need to ask that question? Just go ahead and ask me whatever you want."

    Jason sat down opposite of her before raising his right hand  and summoning a small amount of dark mana on the tip of his index finger.

    "How can I control the corrosiveness of the dark element?" He asked before looking around for an object on the dining table.

    His eyes fixed themselves on a stack of ordinary-looking tes ced in the middle of the table. He picked one of them up before touching it with his index finger and releasing the corrosiveness.

    Risa watched it with a close look as a big crack suddenly appeared in the middle of the te followed by rust appearing on the broken edges of the te.

    Jason then lifted the two pieces of the te apart while sighing. He had been trying to only make a small crack appear yet like always, he had lost control and broken the te in half.

    "What you asked is a pretty useful yet difficult question to answer," Risa admitted as she took the te from Jason''s hands and joined the broken edges. "To control the corrosiveness, you need some kind of thing you can rte to. For exampleбн"

    Risa quietened down as she looked down at the cracks of the te. A white light appeared at the tips of her right hand''s fingers which soon moved to the broken parts.

    In front of Jason''s eyes, the crack suddenly started to heal. He had no words to speak when the entire te waspletely restored to its original shape.

    "You thought that light and life magic could only heal living things?" Risa asked with a smile as Jason slowly nodded. "

    Well, it''s true for most light and life mages but simr to dark magic, those with an A grade or higher affinity can heal non-living things."

    "But how?" Jason finally overcame his shock and asked while taking the te in his hands. It waspletely solid and looked recently purchased.

    "Why can dark element break non-living things?" Risa asked back which forced Jason to think about it in detail.

    "Because it can cause destruction?" He replied stupidly but surprisingly, Risa nodded.

    "Both life and light magic follow the opposite principle and if you master them enough, you can heal broken objects. But when ites to living beings, all three of them can reverse their roles."

    "That means that a stronger life or light mage can also deal internal damage to someone?" Jason asked in a surprised tone as Risa nodded.

    Jason felt that he had once again received enlightenment on dark magic and to prove his point, the percentage of his  ''Dark Mage'' job ss and ''Child of Darkness'' job ss increased.

    "Magic is soplicatedбн" Jason muttered as he ced the te down and looked at his own hands.

    "Magic is both fascinating andplicated. Even the most experienced magic users don''t understand some things. After all, it''s not something that is restricted to a certain limit." Risa gently exined as Jason stood up and nodded.<sub> </sub>

    But instead of returning back to the bedroom, he decided to go outside.

    Going out was also much simpler than Jason had expected as there was another door in the carriage that connected it directly to where the driver was sitting.

    Jason had been wondering where Issac was but after opening the door, he realized that the one driving the carriage was none other than Issac.

    "Where did uncle Ray go?" Jason asked curiously as he stepped out into the driver''s area and closed the door behind him.

    The searing wind hit him directly in the face, making his silver hair stand back on the edge. He came and stand beside his grandpa while throwing his legs down the edge of the seat.

    "Ray is currently doing somethingбн important with Zara," Issac replied as Jason suddenly felt awkward though it onlysted for a few minutes.

    He was soon lost in the sensation of the wind hitting him while the scenery changed all around him. Jason could now understand why his grandpa had let Ray go back without any problem.

    If possible, Jason also wanted to experience such a thing but instead of driving a carriage, he wanted to ride the stallion itself.

    ''Perhaps I can do that once I get a bit older. Ten-year-olds riding horses is kinda impossible and dangerous at the same time.''

    [ Host, did you forget what the descriptions of the Stallions said? ] The system suddenly interrupted as Jason shook his head.

    ''No, I remember it quite clearly.''

    [ Then if you can make them think that you are worthy of riding them, you can easily ride them. ] The system replied before going silent as Jason''s eyes shifted to the Stallions.

    The system had been right about that as Jason saw the two majestic horses running with the help of the lightning element.

    Their swift and graceful moments made Jason look like an amateur when he used his ''Lightning Steps'' skill. He kept studying the horses for a few moments before deciding to tear his eyes away.

    Without him realizing it, the sun had already started setting down. Jason looked at Issac''s face to see that he was still wide awake.

    ''I don''t think he is going to fall asleep tonight. Poor stallionsбн'' Jason felt sorry for the stallions before making his way back inside the carriage.

    "Jason, you will be sleeping with me in the second bedroom since we are currently at a loss for beds." Ray suddenly said the moment Jason appeared in the living room.

    He nodded slightly before sitting down on one of the chairs and starting to eat his dinner. Everyone seemed a bit tired on the first day of travel due to which dinner was over quickly.

    After that, everyone moved into their rooms before settling down on the beds.

    Jason noticed that Ray was asleep moments after hitting the bed as hemended his uncle mentally for having such an ability.

    ''Maybe I can have a good sleep tonight.'' Jason thought while realizing how great the world of magic actually was.

    Due to reading novels, he thought that he would have an advantage but that theory didn''t work very well for him.

    Despite that, Jason was very much happy with his new world and everything that was left for him to explore,

    With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes and finally went to sleep.

 Chapter 55 Issacs Wise Decision

    Jason was wrong about getting a peaceful sleep as he woke up more than a dozen times throughout the night. Overall, he barely got five to six hours of sleep which wasn''t good for a child his age.

    For the next two days, they didn''t stop anywhere and the new year passed without any of them celebrating or even subtly mentioning it.

    What surprised Jason the most was the fact that he hadn''t seen another town or even a vige from the time they had set out.

    However, the road below them had changed to a concrete path which meant that there were getting close to another town.

    "Ok, everyone. We will be stopping for a break today and in a day or two, we will reach the capital." Issac''s voice suddenly echoed inside the carriage as it came to a sudden halt.

    None of those inside the carriage felt the sudden jerk this time as Jason stared out of the window in his room.

    He couldn''t get a view of the city from there and decided to just see it up close.

    He moved towards the carriage door and exited the carriage with the rest of his family.

    They were standing in front of a huge entrance to a city as Issac went to talk with the guards standing at the entrance.

    Jason''s eyes examined the boundaries of the cityбк twenty meters tall stone walls surrounding the city from all sides.

    "You are good to go." A guard spoke to Issac before returning to stand on his post.

    Issac stepped towards the stallions and freed the reigns around them, thus setting them free. The stallions turned away from the city before rushing out into the wild.

    Having freed the stallions, Issac touched the carriage with the golden ring and stored it inside it.

    "Grandpa, are you sure that they''lle back?" Jason inquired while stepping into the city with the rest.

    "Don''t worry, they wille back if I whistle loudly enough. There are quite loyal to the one they consider worthy." Issac replied casually.

    As the Syrward family progressed through the city, Jason and Nora curiously observed their surroundings while wondering what the name of this new big city was.

    The beginning of the city only had a handful of shops while the rest were just people''s homes. The clothing and talking style was mostly simr to that of Duphia, making Jason feel relieved.

    Unfortunately, he had made his judgment quite early on as they were yet to explore the noble section.

    The shops soon turned into expensive jewelry and clothing stores whose prices went so high that Jason''s mouth was left hanging open.

    The houses also turned into manors much bigger, grander, and more luxurious than the Syrward family manor.

    Jason soon started feeling a bit uneasy as he felt weird in the middle of such a ce. The people they now started encountering were wearing fashionable clothes and dresses which made them stick out like sore thumbs.

    Issac very well knew about this yet he had still brought them to the particr section of the town.

    ''It''s better that they learn about the outside world starting from here. Things would be much easier for them at the capital.'' Issac thought while staring at a few humans passing remarks about his family.

    He maintained his silence and took them to a massive ck and red building situated barely a kilometer away from the residence of the city lord.

    "This is where we will be staying for the next three hours," Issac exined as Jason looked straight up to see the building having more than thirty floors.

    It was a very luxurious hotel which made him wonder whether they would even be allowed to step inside.<sub> </sub>

    Surprisingly, the two guards standing outside paid them no attention and allowed them to go inside without any obstructions.

    Issac walked in front of the family as he appeared at the reception. A beautiful woman wearing a white silk dress was sitting at the reception with a permanent smile stered on her face as she looked at Issac and the rest of the Syrward family''s appearance.

    "How can I be of help to you?" The woman asked with a creepy smile.

    "I would like to have a room here for three hours and I want to have a room with a view," Issac replied politely as the smile suddenly slipped off the woman''s face.

    "People like you shouldn''t even be allowed to step in here and you are already bold enough to ask for a room? What makes you think you can buy one room in such a ce?" She asked with a sneer as Issac sighed.

    ''Another cliche or trope or whatever this is.'' Jason observed while staring at the woman.

    [ Host, I think it''s not right to pass it off just as a cliche. You think anyone on Earth would have treated you better if you had appeared in in clothes in a supercar showroom or one of the best hotels on the continent? ]

    ''I guess that is true as well. I am sure she would have reacted differently if we had better clothes but I guess most people just judge someone by their clothes and appearance.''

    [ And that is why this thing is used in many novels to show that no matter where you might go, most of humanity will remain the same. ]

    "I guess I should have worn this from the start." Issac sighed a second time before a half ck, half white ray of light shot out from the golden ring on his finger.

    The light settled down on his shoulders before spreading around his body. Suddenly, a coat adorned Issac''s upper body which made the receptionist''s face go pale.

    The coat went down to the starting of Issac''s knees while it was loosely hanging around his shoulders.

    The coat wasn''t too formal and was a mixture of ck and white spread evenly throughout the coat. There were only two designs on it and both of them were the same.

    It was the bird of bnce that Jason had seen on the carriage. The bird was drawn on the breast pocket of the coat as well as at the back of it.

    The coat in itself didn''t seem that much expensive yet the effect it had on the woman was priceless.

    "The thirtieth floor is yours, sirбн" She mumbled under her breath and took a golden card from the desk in front of her.

    Issac took the golden card from her hands calmly before gesturing for the rest of the family to follow him.

    Jason couldn''t help but stare at the receptionist''s face while walking as he could see the sweat lining her forehead and the rest of her body.

    "Grandpa, why didn''t you do anything against her?" Jason couldn''t help but ask the question as he caught up to his grandpa.

    "Jason, the only thing I would have done by taking any action against her was getting her fired and ruining her life," Issac replied with a smile as they reached the end of the hallway.

    There was a slot in front of them for the card and as soon as Issac ced the card in the slot, the ground below them shook a bit.

    Their vision was also blinded by a sh of light but once they had recovered it, the Syrward family found themselves standing in a luxurious room at the top of the hotel.

    "I won''t destroy someone''s life just because they were stupid or rude. She would also learn from this and be careful next time. I don''t want to create a scene anyways." Issac finished with a smile as Jason slowly nodded.

    Perhaps his grandpa was much more wiser than he had originally thought.

 Chapter 56 Kamizel Forest

    Jason had the best bath in his life in the hotel room. The hotel bathroom had a jacuzzi which he stayed inside of for at least 30 minutes.

    He came outside feelingpletely refreshed and was treated with some of the best food in his life.

    Sadly, the three hours went by soon and they had to leave the hotel. Issac however had a surprise waiting for all of them.

    "I guess we should start dressing like nobility from here onwards because who knows what kind of people we might encounterter on." Issac sighed, the incident from a few hours ago still fresh in his mind.

    He rotated his right hand in a three-sixty degree notion as a pair of clothes suddenly dropped into his other hand.

    He passed them on to Jason before repeating the same process until all of them were holding a pair of clothes in their hands.

    "Now go and change into those clothes. Today told me that even after so many years, the society hasn''t changed one bit." Issac ordered as everyone chose separate rooms to change quickly.

    "They look soбн different," Jason muttered as he unfolded the clothes and stared at them.

    A pair of sleek ck trousers cut straight and a bit loose to offer easy movement. A white shirt with a ck check design throughout the fabric and atst, a long ck coat with the bird of bnce drawn on the back and on the breast pocket.

    Jason quickly changed into the trousers and shirt but when he looked at the coat, he realized that it was a little too big for him.

    If he wore it, it would definitely touch his ankles and make him trip over. Not to mention that he would look extremely awkward in it.

    [ Host, just wear it. ] The system urged.

    Jason was still doubtful yet he wore the coat around his arms. The moment it settled over his arms, the coat suddenly shrunk down to perfectly fit around his arms.

    Jason blinked for a few seconds before reaching to touch the lower portion of the coat and right in front of his eyes, the entire thing shrunk before stopping just a few inches above his knees.

    Jason looked at the mirror in the room to see that he looked extremely smart in the outfit.

    He looked like a true noble.

    He walked back into the living room to see that everyone was dressed the same way. Everyone except Zara

    The demi-human princess was wearing a beautiful ck dress that brushed the bottom of her thighs. The dress wasn''t too tight around her body yet it still made her figure look splendid.

    Jason also noticed that the bird of bnce was also drawn above on the top right side of the dress, directly above her heart.

    The bird however wasn''t drawn anywhere else and no other traces of white was present in the entire dress.

    However, there was another symbol drawn on the opposite side of the bird of bnce.

    It was a spear burning with bright red mes

    For the first time since Jason had met his family, he felt as though they were true nobles and not a band of loud gambling countryside idiots.

    ''I guess clothing really changes the way one looks at you.'' Jason thought as the Syrward family left the floor and walked in front of the reception.

    "Have a good day! If any of you ever n on visiting the city again, please contact me and I will reserve the best things in the city for you!" The same receptionist said enthusiastically while bowing to Issac.

    "I will keep that in mind," Issac replied with a charming smile before he winked at the woman. "And if you ever need lessons on anything regarding love, feel free to hit me."

    The receptionist blushed a little but she neither epted nor declined Issac''s offer. Jason had to say that if someone didn''t know Issac and Risa''s age, both of them only looked as though they were in theirte twenties or early thirties.

    [ Speaking of that, we never got to know their real age. ]

    ''Yikesбн''

    They then moved towards the Northern gate of the city as they had entered from the Southern gate.

    ording to Issac, the capital wasn''t that far away. They just had to go straight north and pass a huge forest before they would arrive at Troyalias.<sub> </sub>

    ''What was the name of the forest again?'' Jason inquired.

    [ Kamizel forest. What are you going to do with its name anyways? ]

    ''Nothing. I am just wondering whether inspect works on forests too.''

    [ That''s a good question. Maybe we will find it out once we enter the forest. ] The system went on observation mode again as the Syrward family stepped out of the gates.

    Issac raised his right hand to his mouth and whistled loudly. Seconds after he had whistled, the two stallions from earlier suddenly stopped in front of the family.

    Issac winked at Jason before patting their heads. He took out the carriage a few minutester and tied the stallions again.

    "Everyone inside," Issac said as he sat on the driver''s ce with Jason sitting right beside him.

    The other family members got into the carriage as Issac whistled again. The stallions once again started moving as Jason enjoyed the sensation of feeling the wind against his face.

    Jason rxed back in the driver''s seat while enjoying the scenery around them. Though the stallions were still moving as fast as ever, Jason could notice the asional change in scenery.

    He even saw two viges sometime after they had left the city but he couldn''t observe them carefully.

    "Haбн" Jason suddenly gasped as the carriage started moving with sudden jerks.

    The concrete road had been reced by a dirt one that apparently had too many rocks or pebbles in the way.

    The sudden shift made Jason''s stomach churn as he clutched his mouth and hung to the edge of the seat.

    Issac also noticed this as he gently whistled and the stallions slowed down. The moment they came to a halt, Jason jumped down the carriage.

    He unsteadilynded on the ground before making his way to a tree and getting down on his knees. He emptied everything he had eaten before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

    ''I hate travel sickness...'' he cursed mentally.

    "Travel sickness is a very annoying thing." Risa''s voice entered his ears as Jason opened his eyes to see his grandmother standing above him.

    Seeing that his condition wasn''t extremely bad, Risa touched his forehead with her index finger and used her life magic to fix the headache building in Jason''s head.

    He felt much better after she was finished and stood up.

    That''s when Jason noticed a thick closing of trees in the distance while also noticing that he couldn''t see how far the dirt path went once it entered the forest.

    "Is thatбн"

    "The Kamizel forest?" Risa finished before nodding to indicate that the thick cluster of trees growing in the distance was indeed the entrance to Kamizel forest.

    Jason decided to pay attention to the trees and other things as he used inspect on the forest. Much to his surprise, it worked.

    ---

    < Kamizel Forest >

    < Threat level: ??? >

    бк Kamizel forest is spread for kilometers and anyone traveling to Troyalias has to pass through the forest.

    бк Though the forest isn''t dangerous for those traveling in groups, it can certainly be dangerous at times. Other than being a natural habitat for beasts, Kamizel forest is also the prime location for bandits.

    бк It is advised to proceed with caution since the death rate inside the forest is much greater than 50%

 Chapter 57 Vision Control

    ''So it does work on locations as well.'' Jason thought while sitting in the carriage again.

    He stretched his body once before deciding that being in the driver''s seat was a bit dangerous while they were traveling inside the forest.

    Though Jason had faith in Issac that he would protect him, he didn''t want to be a part of any other mishap.

    [ If any bandit decides to try to loot us, I will feel sorry for them. ] The systemmented.

    ''Well, at least I know that I will get to see my grandparents in action again. I will ask grandpa to use his lightning element while fighting so that I can take some pointers.'' He replied while staring out of the window in his room.

    Little to no sunlight was passing inside the forest but since night was approaching, Jason couldn''t exactly tell whether it was due to the low sunlight or due to the thick canopy overhead.

    ''Good thing my bloodline allows me to see in the dark.''

    Jason had never really understood how his ability worked but one thing he was thankful for was the option to toggle his ability on and off.

    Otherwise he would have faced many difficulties in trying to sleep.

    Hours slowly passed by as full night appeared around the forest. Ray had switched positions with Issac as he continued to drive them through the cover of the night.

    Jason, who was trying to sleep, groaned. ''I guess I am not having any sleep tonight.''

    A flock of birds who were suddenly active at night were screeching right outside the carriage.

    Jason couldn''t fully me the birds for his inability to sleep. His churning stomach wasn''t helping him anyways.

    <o>,m [ Maybe try licking a lemon for that? ] The system suggested gently as Jason sat up with a low groan.</o>

    He then stood up, slightly shaking due to the shaking of the carriage. He activated his night vision as the interior of the carriage suddenly became clear to him.

    However, his vision was fifty percent as good as it was in daylight. His surroundings were also barely lit as though someone had turned on an old style CFC bulb.

    ''Well, not like I have to fight someone.'' Jason thought as he started making his way to the kitchen.

    But no sooner had he taken a few steps that the carriage jerked to a halt.

    Jason barely managed to prevent him from falling by using his lightning mana to stabilize himself.

    "Ughбн" Jason clutched his stomach while looking out of the window in the room.

    The carriage had basically stopped in the middle of nowhere which seemed to confuse Jason.

    He quietly made his way to the living room to investigate and instead found Risa standing near the door of the carriage.

    Jason took a quick scan of the other bedroom to see Nora sleeping soundly while Zara and Ray were missing. But what irked him most was the fact how Nora was soundly sleeping.

    ''How can he be asleep in such a situation? I thought demi-humans were supposed to have better sensesбн''

    [ He is a demi-demi-human so maybe it had the opposite effect on him. ] The system suggested, feeling a bit weird while saying that name.

    Jason agreed with the system too as he made his way to the carriage entrance.

    "Why did we stop?" Jason questioned aloud as he now stood right beside Risa.

    She seemed surprised to suddenly find Jason standing right beside her. This was due to the fact that the interior of the carriage was pitch ck.

    Though Risa wasn''tpletely blind like a bat in daylight, she could only see clearly by using her light element inside the carriage.

    "I guess your bloodline reallyes in clutch during the night." Risa muttered before tapping the door. "Something is wrong with the carriage wheels. Ray and Issac are out there trying to fix it while Zara is keeping guard."

    "I seeбн" Jason replied as he opened his MJC menu. From there, he went and essed the skills and chose a particr one.

    ---

    < Night''s Blessings (Passive) >

    - During night time, all of your status will be twice their original amount.

    - Does not apply on HP.

    ---

    ''If this applies to everything, does that mean my senses also double?'' Jason questioned curiously.

    [ Well, I have no idea. Maybe you can try focusing on one of your senses? ] The system suggested. [ Also, how the hell did you forget that this skill has been applied for quite some time? ]

    ''I don''t really do anything at night system.'' Jason reminded before closing his eyes.

    He then focused on his hearing as he heard his heartbeat echoing through his ears.<sub> </sub>

    Jason focused more on his surroundings and after some time, he was able to hear Risa''s heart beat clearly.

    ''Its quite taxing but I can definitely do it. Combined with my natural hearing and eyesight, I can use this skill to its full potential.'' Jason replied before reading the description of the skill again.

    ''Wait, shouldn''t this be possible automatically?''

    [ If it was active all the time, how hard would it be for you to continue doing everything normally? ] The system asked, shutting Jason up.

    He instead focused his attention onto his eyes and concentrated for a few seconds. His vision suddenly exploded as the entire carriage went white.

    ''What was that?!'' Jason shut his eyes immediately yet his vision still had a few white spots.

    He turned his natural ability off and lost the focus of the skill as his eyesight slowly returned to normal. He had to blink a few times to clear his vision before he could turn his ability on again.

    [ I don''t think that was twice the amount of what you could seeбн That was something else. ] The system said uneasily as a system panel suddenly opened in front of Jason.

    < A new skill has been created. >

    ---

    < Vision Control >

    Passive skill(Can be turned on and off)

    - With the use of mana, you can control your vision freely.

    Note: Using this skill may result in temporary blindness, bright shes, white or ck spots in your vision, bad normal vision or can even lead to permanent blindness. Use with caution.

    ---

    "Now that is an overpowered and extremely dangerous skillбн" Jason was awestruck after reading the details of the skill.

    Vision control could potentially grant him the ability to see almost anything that others couldn''t see yet he would be put in danger as well.

    ''The potential of this skill is unlimitedбн'' Jason thought again before looking at Risa.

    She hadn''t noticed the sudden outburst he had and Jason was thankful for the cover of the darkness.

    "Does changing a wheel take that long?" He finally asked a few minutester.

    ording to the system, more than twenty minutes had passed by in such a way.

    "I don''t think they are just changing the wheels. The chances of a new carriage''s wheels breaking down this soon are quite less." She replied.

    Jason immediately realized what she was hinting at. "Someone deliberately made sure that our carriage will break down. Could it be bandits?"

    "It could be bandits," Risa agreed. "The only was of knowing it for sure is to check outside. Stick close to me."

    Risa then opened the door of the carriage and stepped out, Jason following her closely.

    The outside of the carriage was surrounded by a thick mist of sorts that had spread across the entire ce.

    The mist was so thick that Jason could barely see a few feet in front of him. He got a bit closer to Risa who seemed to be struggling with the same thing.

    Jason debated whether to use his vision control to see through the mist but soon shut the idea down. Going blind during a situation like this wasn''t a good idea.

    "Uyaaa!" Suddenly, a crying sound pierced through the cover of the mist and entered the duo''s ears.

    Jason and Risa both looked around with guarded expressions, ready to attack  at a moment''s notice.

    "UYAAA!" The cry came louder this time and sounded as though it belonged to a little girl.

    Jason took a quick nce at the surroundings and didn''t find Issac, Ray or Zara anywhere near the carriage.

    Could they''ve sumbed to some bandits or was something else going on?

    The mist around the forest started swirling as it revealed a path to the two of them.

    Risa and Jason were no fools to walk on the path as they thought it was meant for them.

    However, they were wrong as the silhouette of a child around Jason''s age was made visible. The child seemed to be walking in their direction while wailing loudly.

    The fog seemed to part in front of the child as it got closer to the duo.

    "Jason be prepared to attack, dodge or bring out lolipops as soon as we can see the girl." Risa suddenly said as she lifted her right hand in the girl''s direction. "After all, its not daily that we find little girls stranded in the middle of a forest."

 Chapter 58 The Child

    Risa suddenly shot a ball of light in the young girl''s direction.

    The ball of light seemed to swallow the mist as the surroundings became much clearer to Jason and Risa.

    The trees surrounding them had grown much apart and the path had also gotten wider.

    Though it wasn''t an optimal ce to fight, it was much better than the closely packed trees they had left behind.

    "Grandma, do ghosts exist?" Jason couldn''t help but ask as he remembered the horror stories told to him in the orphanage.

    "They do exist but not in ces like this. Also, ghosts can''t make any sounds." She replied without turning her gaze away from the iing figure.

    Maybe her version of ghosts was different than the ones Jason was used to.

    As though stuck in a horror movie, Jason felt that time had slowed by ten times. A few seconds felt like minutes as the figure kept on moving forward.

    ''Finallyбн'' Jason sighed in relief as the figure finally appeared out of the fog.

    The figure was a young child around Jason''s age, wearing in shirt and pants. Jason couldn''t exactly tell whether the fellow child was a boy or girl since the child''s appearance seemed to be in the middle.

    ''Blond hair like the golden young heir of a powerful n. Blue eyes as deep as the ocean alongside a charming faceбн'' Jason observed the child''s appearance closely before taking a decision. ''when in doubt, go with boy.''

    Risa on the other hand was looking at something else as her face was set in a frown.

    ''Why do I feel traces of his mana in the fogбн'' Risa looked around the fog once again while trying to sense the presence of others around her, the attempt being in vain.

    Risa was usually good at sensing the presence of others around, something that had helped her in getting the upper hand against Nero, the demonmander who hade to take Jason to the demon continent years ago.

    However, something in the forest seemed to be obstructing her senses.

    Risa firsthand knew that the eyes could deceive so she relied on her other senses too. However, all of her senses weren''t working properly at the current moment.

    ''If this is a trap, the chances are that there are other people hiding under the cover of the mist and they will attack us in the next few minutes.'' Risa''s expression turned guarded as she made her way to the child.

    Jason followed her, ready to whip into action if anything went wrong. His senses were honed after spending countless hours watching fantasy things in hopes of escaping reality.

    [ And let me stop you there. This is not the time tounch into a lesson on anime watching. ] The system gently interrupted as Jason sighed mentally.

    "What''s your name?" Risa asked while being five meters away from the child.

    The response was quite obvious as the child wailed again. "Uyaaa!"

    Risa was an expert at handling crying babies but her options were currently limited.

    "Hey, kiddo. Look here," She suddenly called out in a gentle and warm voice as the child stopped crying for a few minutes.

    Jason felt a soothing sensation spreading ording his body, something the system didn''t fail to notice.

    [ Host, I think yours emotions have just been soothed to make you feel a bit more rxed. I never thought magic could be used in such a wayбн ]

    Even Jason was surprised to hear that Risa had controlled his emotions. However he had a feeling that she hadn''t done it directly.

    ''System, can you tell whether Grandma is influencing the child''s emotions or not?'' Jason asked while noticing that the boy had wentpletely silent.

    The mist around them had also started getting much thinner as both Risa and Jason could clearly see their surroundings.

    "Do you want to see something fascinating?" Risa questioned as the boy slowly nodded in approval.

    His eyes were glued to Risa''s face as she slowly directed his attention towards her right hand.

    A ball of light appeared in her palm before she threw it at the child''s face. He jerked back reflexively but the light stopped a few feet away from his face before exploding into multiple colors.

    Both Jason and the boy watched it with fascinated expressions as Risa''s eyes took a sweep of their surroundings.

    ''Looks like the mist is somehow rted to this childбн'' Risa observed as the fog  . ''There are four people hiding in the trees and a dozen in the bushes. I wonder why they are still waiting.''<sub> </sub>

    Risa''s senses were back due to which she had sensed numerous figures surrounding her. She had no idea what connection they had with the child but it was clear that they weren''t there for sightseeing.

    "Jason, on the count of three, go around the boy and keep him distracted. Make sure he doesn''t start crying." Risa whispered before tearing her gaze away from him.

    She then counted to three with the help of her fingers before vanishing.

    Jason immediately raised his right index finger and summoned a bit of lightning around it.

    He didn''t say anything as he raised his finger to his hair and moved it around. A few strands of Jason''s hair suddenly stood up as the boy looked at him with a fascinated expression.

    "Can I try that too?бн" He mumbled while looking down as Jason smiled and moved forward. He knew that Risa was doing some killing and his only job was to make sure that the boy didn''t cry.

    ''People should take tips from me on how to handle a child.'' Jason thought as he sent a spark of lightning into the boy''s blond hair and made them stand up as well.

    [ I wonder if you were this narcissistic in your past life too. ] The system snorted as the boy looked at his hair with a fascinated expression.

    ''I never had anything to be narcissistic about in my past world. Perhaps this is my true nature or just grandpa''s genes affecting me.'' Jason replied without much thought as he looked around to see whether he could locate Risa.

    [ She is at the top of the tree thirty meters away from you, interrogating someone. ] The system notified as Jason''s gaze shifted to where the system had told him.

    He caught a glimpse of red hair flying through the branches of the tree as Risa suddenlynded at the base of the tree. She looked at Jason for a split second before vanishing again.

    Jason''s eyes had been too slow to capture her moments but thanks to the system, he could keep track of her location.

    ''None of them are speaking anythingбн'' Risa on the other hand was going from one person to another in a matter of seconds, trying to obtain some information out of them.

    She had managed to learn that they were bandits who resided in the forest for quite some time but none of them had mentioned a definite time.

    Risa hadn''t been able to get any other information out of them. Many would argue that a few seconds was too less of time to interrogate someone but Risa wasn''t a normal interrogator.

    She just needed a few seconds to get inside a normal human''s mind and everything was done then. Risa decided to try her luck with all those surrounding her and until then, Jason was keeping the boy distracted.

    Risa finished interrogating and killing all of the bandits in the next five minutes and much to her disappointment, she ended with nothing.

    "How did it go?" Jason asked as Risa appeared beside him. She just shook her head before looking at the boy.

    He too stared back at her, looking a bit nervous butpared to the wailing mess from earlier, he was much moreposed.

    "What is your name?" She asked gently and this time, the boy didn''t cry.

    "Alexбн" He averted his gaze while telling his name as Risa nodded and extender her right hand forward.

    "Well Alex, I don''t know who you are, what you are doing here or how the fog is connected to you but I am not going to leave you here." She dered as Alex''s eyes stared at her hand.

    Jason could tell that Alex felt a bit hesitant and confused as to what was happening. Jason could very well understand such a feeling as he encouraged him with a nod.

    "Um, can I call you big sister?" Alex mumbled while extending his hand and wrapping it around Risa''s index finger.

    "No, call me aunt. I am too old to be anyone''s big sister," Risa smiled. "Now, if you promise to not cry again, I will show you more magic."

    Hearing her words, Alex''s eyes lit up. He nodded hurriedly in case Risa decided to change her offer.

    ''I have to find out more about him while finding the trio. Why do such things keep happening to our family?'' Risa remembered that thest time they hade to the ceremony, something strange had happened back then too.

    Trouble seemed to be following the Syrward anywhere they went which made Risa wonder when she would get a break.

    ''But then, I did enjoy the past few years very much. The house had be so lonely with just me and Issac.'' Risa shook her head before she started advancing in the direction of the carriage.

    "Risa?!"

    No sooner has she taken a step that someone called out her name, making her turn back. Her face suddenly nk expressionless when she saw who had called out her name.

    "Youбн"

 Chapter 59 Troyalias

    "Where have you been?!" A salt white-haired man suddenly dashed towards Risa with a worried look.

    Jason narrowed his eyes a bit as he recognized the man. His name wasбн

    [ Brian. ] The system supplied as Jason nodded his head in acknowledgment.

    Brian had been the guy who had invited the Syrward family to the Crystal ceremony and was also the person who managed to shut up Issac, an event Jason remembered clear as day.

    [ Its a surprise how you don''t remember his name yet still remember the interaction you had with him. ] The system amused as Jason shrugged in response.

    ''I only remember him because he managed to shut grandpa up. If we get some time to talk, I would ask him for some tips on how I can do that.'' Jason replied as he examined Brian''s appearance.

    Compared to what he had seen in the past, Brian was dressed in a more casual manner. He looked ready to go on an exploration yet still managed to retain his noble aura.

    ''Wait, he is dressed the same as meбн'' Jason noticed that though Brian''s clothes were slightly better in quality then the ones he had been wearing, they were initially the same thing.

    Brian''s coat was bright purple with a rose symbol drawn on the chest. A drop of blood, Jason presumed, was dripping down one of the petals of the rose.

    "I have been here only, staying inside the carriage," Risa finally replied after taking her time to digest Brian''s sudden appearance. "Nora, is also inside theбн"

    Risa turned around to point at the carriage when her mouth suddenly closed. Her eyes parted as she looked around with a wild expression.

    "Carriage right thereбн" She finished her sentence before staring down at Jason with a shocked expression.

    Jason reflected her expression as he had nothing to say.

    ''System, I wasn''t hallucinating the entire time, right?'' Jason asked in a confused tone as both him and Risa exchanged a look.

    [ Even if you were hallucinating, I don''t think that''s the case for Risa as well. There is something else going onбн ] The system replied as Brian finally spoke up.

    "Both of you were inside the forest for 5 days," he spoke in a clear voice. "The ceremony will be starting tomorrow. Also, Issac is going crazy so its better that if we get out of here."

    Brian then turned around before Jason could catch the expression on his face. He rose in the air slowly, surprising Jason as he realized that Brian could actually fly.

    "You know what to do." Brian looked at Risa who nodded and ced her hand on Jason''s shoulders before turning her gaze down at Alex.

    Alex had been silent the entire time considering how he didn''t have any say in the talk between Brian and Risa. However what bugged Jason was the fact that Alex didn''t look the least bit surprised at the vanishing for the carriage.

    "Brian, can you handle three people at once?" Risa suddenly asked as she too lifted in the air alongside the two children.

    "Three?" Brian asked with a confused expression as his eyes moved over Jason and Risa. "There are only the two of you here though."

    Risa inhaled sharply as her grip of Alex''s shoulder tightened a bit.

    "I guess I am just really tired and confused after all that happened." Risa sighed as she pointed the finger at Brian and then towards herself and Jason.

    Brian thought that she had referred to the three of them as a group and nodded considerably. He turned his head towards the north and started flying with the duo there.

    Risa on the other hand raised her right hand''s index finger to her lips. Jason understood that she wanted him to remain quiet as he nodded in acknowledgment.

    The system was reviewing everything that had happened from the moment Jason had woken up so he had a lot of free time while they were flying.

    He spent some time staring at Alex while trying to figure out who he was. He gave up a few minutester, realizing that Alex was more focused on the scenery beneath them and didn''t even look at Jason.

    [ Host, look forwardбн ]

    Jason''s eyes turned forward before parting suddenly. His mouth was left hanging open as he saw a huge square shaped building in the distance.

    The building was at least 400 meters high and covered a distance the size of ten football fields from Earth. This enormouslyrge structure looked as though it was capable of housing at least a million people.

    This was a rough estimate Jason had thought off by looking at the building from afar but the truth would only be revealed when he would get closer to the building.<sub> </sub>

    "That''s the ce where the ceremony will take ce," Risa smiled while noticing the expression of awe and shock on Jason''s face. "Its much bigger from the inside."

    Jason gulped nervously as he tried to imagine the crowd that would be present inside the  massive structure. He had known that the event would be huge considering it was held all around the kingdom.

    But Jason had underestimated it to quite an extent.

    [ You have crowd phobia? ] The system asked curiously as Jason rolled his eyes.

    ''I used to be super nervous even while giving presentations in front of my ss. Such a thing is going to kill meбн

    [ Introvertsбн ] The system almost sounded disappointed but Jason no longer paid it any attention.

    Brian was increasing their flying speed with a constant velocity and the capital was getting closer.

    Jason could soon see that the capital too was surrounded by walls but they were much different than those in thest city they had stopped in.

    They were enormous and half the size of the massive structure though they too were made from stone, one of a much higher quality with strange symbols carved all over them.

    "Are those protection runes or something like that?" Jason asked aloud as he looked at the carved symbols more closely, trying to find one that he could recognize.

    "You can consider them protection runes but they are much moreplicated. These runes were carved on this wall thousands of years ago and over the ages, many changes have been made to them. They are the oldest structure of the capital."

    Instead or Risa, Brian exined about the walls to Jason. Thetter seemed satisfied before his eyes suddenly caught two symbols that he recognized.

    ''That''s Theta symbol and that''s Omega symbol.'' Jason''s eyes darted across the wall as theynded on the ground.

    Two bright red hundred meter tall gates were present in the center of the wall. They looked like the gates to a mansion and the metal formed a weird pattern all around the gates.

    Jason could easily see past the gates, making him wonder why they were there in the first ce. They certainly didn''t seem as though they could stop anyone from entering. Furthermore, they were open so they didn''t seem to be serving any purpose.

    A man and woman were also standing near the gates with a calm expression. They looked at Brian before raising their eyebrows.

    "They are with me." Brian replied as he rushed inside the gates with Risa and Jason closely following him.

    Alex on the other hand was seeing the walls with his jaw wide open. He was so awestruck that Risa had to push him forward which was extremely awkward.

    The man and woman looked at the group with an interested look yet their gaze passed right through Alex.

    He didn''t exist for them or at least that''s what it looked like.

    "Grandma, what are we going to do?" Jason whispered as they passed through the gates and entered the public capital of the kingdom, Troyalias.

    "Let''s go see the rest of the family first. I will see what to do after that." Risa replied but before either of them could walk further, something crashed down at them.

    Risa could only blink as she felt someone hugging her. Issac came into her vision the next second with his arms wrapped around her back.

    He was tightly hugging Risa to his chest which made her cheeks get just a tidy bit red. This was due to the fact that they were standing at the  entrance of the city and many were staring at them.

    "Issacбн" Risa coughed slightly as Issac finally pulled away before bending down and doing the same with Jason.

    Jason didn''t know what to do as he patted Issac''s back slightly before his grandpa pulled away.

    "I would have torn that forest down if Brian didn''t show up with the two of you in the next hour." He spoke in a protective manner as Jason and Risa exchanged a look.

    Both of them could tell that Issac wasn''t joking. Fortunately, they had returned before Issac could haveunched himself towards the forest and torn it down.

    "We had no idea that we were missing though," Risa pointed out before looking down at her left side. "But first of all, can you see this child?"

 Chapter 60 Phantom Of Kamizel Forest

    "Of course I can see him," Issac replied with a confused expression as Risa''s eyes brightened for a second. "Did something happen in the forest which made Jason invisible for you?"

    Risa''s brightened expression was soon reced by a disappointed one as she slightly nodded.

    "Enough chit-chat. Let''s hurry to your staying ce," Brian said in an annoyed tone as though he would rather be somewhere else than stand with the trio. "I have to hear the entire exnation and mark Jason as present too."

    Issac looked as though he was about to retort but stopped midway due to receiving a re from Risa. He knew that it was better for him to not say anything to Brian as long as Risa was there.

    "Let''s go then." Issac muttered as Brian nodded and started making his way through the city.

    Jason finally got to see around the city as he noticed that despite the amount of people at the entrance, no structure was built around the walls of the city.

    The real thing started from a few meters away with various kinds of shops and stalls lining the sides, most of them blocking the houses behind them.

    ''This is a good way to have some sale. They can sell things at an unfair price to vige people and no one will know.'' Jason looked at a few of the stalls and the amount of people buying things there.

    Though a few of the items interested him, there wasn''t anything in particr that he wanted to buy. His attention was instead directed towards the huge structure he had seen before.

    It looked even massive up close as Jason could tell that it was an arena which also looked ancient like the walls. The outer part was made from a golden brown material which made the entire thing shine in the sunlight.

    Jason wondered how many people were actually staying in the capital and how many of those were going to show up the next day.

    [ Mhm, around a million people at least. ] The system casually replied as Jason felt like coughing blood.

    ''That''s not going to be good for my heartбн'' He replied while noticing that they were moving towards the upper end of the city.

    The ground below them had turned into white and red tiled one and the shops had been left behind. Simr to thest city they had stayed in, mansions and expensive hotels started appearing all around them.

    Brian stopped in front of one such manor which wasn''t as bog as the others around it but was still quite big. It was around the size of the manor the Syrward family had in Duphia.

    "We will be staying here for now." He exined to Risa before opening the doors and stepping inside.

    Risa hesitated to step inside considering that Alex was with them. She didn''t feel safe about taking him inside but there wasn''t anything else that she could do.

    Leaving him in the forest wasn''t an option because if he had cried, the fog would''ve most probably returned and caused problems for her.

    ''And here I thought that I rarely caused trouble.'' Risa sighed before walking inside the manor with Jason and Alex beside her.

    Brian guided them into the living room where Ray was pacing around the room with a worried expression while Zara had her eyes closed in concentration.

    Zara''s eyes suddenly opened as she looked at the group with a relieved expression. Ray also stopped pacing around and stared at the new arrivals.

    "What happened?" He questioned while looking at Jason and Risa. The duo realized that he had not noticed Alex either as they sighed mentally.

    "Its a long storyбн" Risa muttered as the entire family settled around the room while Brian remained standing at the entrance of the room.

    Risa then began telling the tale from the moment when Jason had approached her in the carriage and how they had talked before stepping outside.

    "Wait, can you repeat that?" Brian interrupted as soon as Risa reached the part where the she and Jason first met Alex.

    "Uh, we both met a child around ten years of age with blond hair and blue eyes wailing in the middle of the fog?" Risa said with a confused expression as Brian suddenly fell deep into thought

    "Hmmбн" He hummed slowly before looking at Jason and Risa. "The phantomбн"

    "I guess you have finally gone crazy." Issac amused as Brian smartly avoided him.

    "Risa, I think you just met one of the biggest mysteries we have faced in the past two year." Brian muttered as he walked up to the sofa. A white glow suddenly shot out from his ring finger as Jason noticed a bright blue ring there.<sub> </sub>

    ''Space ring.'' Jason guessed that it was a space ring and his guess was confirmed once the light turned into a two foot wooden table. The table was ced in the middle of the sofas and couches as Brian finally settled down on one of them.

    "Now before you ask anything, let me tell you a bit of history." Brian exined as he waved his hand over the table and multiple structures appeared over it.

    Jason realized that the table showed the capital city alongside the forest. Brian carefully traced a path between the forest with his index finger to reveal the path the Syrward family had taken to get to Troyalias.

    "For the past two years, there have been several instances of families going missing while taking this path of the forest. We tried investigating it many times but never found the reason for it." Brian muttered as he traced over the trees.

    A red circle appeared around the pair of trees before appearing all around the forest.

    "From all the information we gathered, these are the areas where people would usually get separated from their families but there were certain instances when an entire family would vanish."

    "Wait, you mean an entire family would vanish in the middle of the forest never to be heard again?" Zara asked while frowning as her eyes remained glued to the miniature model of the forest.

    "Till date, there were only 5, now 6, instances when someone returned from the forest. But none of them had any idea that they had gone lost. However all of them and you have two things inmon," Brian pointed at Risa and Jason.

    "Each of those five families had children around ten years of age with them and their carriage had also broken down in the forest."

    "Except the fact that our carriage actually never broke down," Issac pointed out. "Risa and Jason suddenly vanished the moment we had gotten out of the forest."

    "Which brings us to the question, how is it possible that no one realizes anything?" Brian sighed. "Unfortunately, we haven''t found any solid fact about it or if the capital has caught on to something, it hasn''t been shared with me."

    Brian then made the table vanish before looking around. He was waiting in anticipation for questions and surprisingly, the first one came from Jason.

    "What was that phantom thing you were talking about?" Jason asked remembering that Brian had muttered the word phantom.

    "Its just a theory we came up with," Brian replied while shrugging. "Two out of the five families who returned said that they heard the wailing sound of someone in a fog covered area. They said that the moment the crying vanished, the fog receded."

    "Which would also be around the same time you would have been able to sense them." Risa added before narrowing her eyes at Brian. "Which technique did you use to sense where me and Jason were?"

    "Your statement in indeed correct," Brian ignored the question. "That''s why we named the figure as the ''Phantom of the Kamizel forest'' who can only be heard and seen by his outline."

    "Brianбн" Risa continued to stare at the man as after a few minutes, Brian sighed.

    "I used the family connection." He replied while raising his hands as Risa''s eyes parted apart. Issac, who had been quiet the entire time, suddenly stood up and grabbed Brian''s cor.

    "That was supposed to have been removed the moment she broke ties with you." He said in a deadly cold voice while his grip on Brian''s shoulder tightened.

    "I can''t believe you thought that we would have removed that tie. Also, its a blood bond so father only lied to you both to not cause any trouble. However, we never got the chance to use it since the moment we used it, Risa would''ve been notified of it."

    Brian pulled himself away from Issac''s grip and stood up. He straightened his shirt and coat before tapping the table and putting it inside his ring again.

    "Anyways, I have spent too much time here," Brian muttered while making his way out of the room. "Don''t bete for the ceremony. There are certain people interested in meeting Jason and Nora."

    Brian then exited the house yet no one stood up to see him out.

    Jason noticed that the four adults had various expressions of doubt and disbelief on their faces. Moving out of the room would only mean that he would lose vital information about whatever they would talk ahead on.

    [ Unless they kick you and Nora out themselves. ] The system pointed out.

    ''That''s always a possibilityбн''

    "I think there is something all of you should know aboutбн" Risa suddenly said as her gazended on Alex. "Back in the forest, we saw more than just an outlineбн"

 Chapter 61 I Have Had Enough Dialogues

    "There were bandits present in the forest, hiding under the cover of a thick mist. The mist also prevented me from sensing them yet the mist suddenly cleared and I was able to kill those bandits." Risa exined.

    She then went ahead to exin the entire event as Jason noticed that she omitted a lot of details. It was clear that Risa was hiding Alex but for what reason? Jason didn''t know.

    "So that means that the phantom is connected to those bandits in some way," Ray muttered before looking at Risa with a curious expression. "You did interrogate them, right mother?"

    "Of course, I did that but got nothing of importance. Something is going on in that forest that we don''t know of." Risa replied as Issac shrugged.

    "It doesn''t matter to us anyway. Let''s just have dinner and go to sleep," Issac started making his way towards the entrance of the room. "All of us are dead tired and to make sure that we look good tomorrow, we are going to sleep early."

    The entire family followed him as Issac led them to the dining room in the mansion. A group of butlers served them delicious food including many things that Jason had never seen before.

    He ate them a little hesitantly but after finding out how tasty they were, he munched down three tes full of food.

    Even though Risa and Jason had not realized how much time had passed, their bodies had still undergone the two days physically. Such an amount of food was required to make up for the nutrition they hadcked in thest two days.

    "Jason,e to my room," Risa whispered as soon as Jason had finished his dinner. "I have something to talk to you about."

    Jason nodded slightly before leaving the dining room. He asked one of the butlers to guide his room and much to Jason''s surprise, it turned out that his room was right beside Risa''s.

    "Can I ask why we can''t have rooms on the first or second floor?" Jason asked the butler as the two of them stood in front of the door to his room.

    "It''s because this mansion originally belongs to Master Bloodthorn." The butler replied while keeping his head slightly bowed.

    "You mean Brian?" Jason remembered the symbol he had seen on Brian''s coat and it perfectly matched with the name.

    "Yes, that''s master Bloodthorn. The rest of the mansion is upied by other families who know the master well, including his own family. This floor is only given to the Syrward family due to that." The butler exined.

    "I seeбн Thank you for the exnation."

    "It''s my pleasure, young master." The butler replied before bowing once. "You can call out for me if you want anything. My name is Alfred."

    The butler, Alfred, then walked away to take care of his work. Jason watched him disappear from his sight before entering his room.

    ''I keep forgetting the fact that I am a noble too.'' He sighed while taking a look at the room. It looked like an exact copy of the five-star hotel one Jason had seen in thest city except for the fact that it was much smaller in size.

    He noticed a mirror attached to the closet inside the room as he walked up to it. Jason then stood in front of the mirror and looked at his appearance.

    His clothes still looked as though he had only worn them an hour ago. They looked freshly ironed and not even a single spec of dirt was visible anywhere on them.

    [ Those suit you, host. ] The system suddenlymented as Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise.

    ''What''s with the suddenpliment?''

    [ Just felt like saying it. Nothing else. ]

    Jason shrugged at the system''s reply. He never understood the system half the time but that''s how their rtionship had turned out to be.

    Jason walked up to the door again and stuck his right ear on it. He heard the sound of someone walking into the room beside his.

    He opened the door slightly to see Risa walking by. Jason immediately opened his door and walked outside.

    "Huh?" Risa seemed surprised when she saw Jasone out of the other room. "To think that they would give you the room right beside mine instead of giving it to Issac."

    "Brian must hate grandfather too much," Jason replied. "After all, he is the owner of this ce and could''ve asked the butlers to do this."

    "Brian has never liked Issac so that could be the truth." Risa sighed while rubbing her temples. "Anyways,e inside."

    Jason and Risa then walked inside the other room while locking the door behind them.

    "When did hee here?" Jason immediately asked with a confused expression as he saw Alex sitting on the bed. "Waitбн He wasn''t in the dining room either!"

    Jason had no idea how he hadn''t noticed that Alex had vanished right in front of him. Upon asking the system, it turned out that Alex had been sitting in the room ever since they had left the living room.<sub> </sub>

    "While Issac was taking all of you to the dining room, I took Alex here and asked him to stay here," Risa replied as the two of them looked at Alex.

    He was casually sitting on the bed and staring at the ceiling, seemingly lost in his own world.

    "Alex, you have been here the entire time?" Jason suddenly called out as Alex turned his head in their direction.

    "Yeah, I have been sitting here just like she asked me to." He replied with a cheerful smile while pointing out at Risa.

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder how Alex hadn''t been bored the hell out. It had clearly taken more than an hour for Risa and Jason toe to the room and without anything to distract himself with, Alex had been left alone in the room.

    "Alex, can I ask you about a few things and expect you to answer honestly?" Risa approached the bed and sat right beside Alex.

    "If I know the answer, I will tell you whatever you want to know," Alex suddenly paused. "As long as I don''t feel ufortableбн Bad things happen when I feel ufortable."

    Risa and Jason exchanged a nce as they remembered the incident in the forest. Both of them agreed silently to not pressure Alex into telling them anything lest it brought the fog or some other horror to the mansion.

    "How long have you been living in the forest for?" Risa asked as Alex fell deep into thought.

    "As long as I can remember for so around two years." He replied confidently the next minute as Risa nodded.

    "Good. Now did you know those men who were there in the forest, hiding under the cover of the fog?"

    "Iбн" Alex''s face suddenly turned grim. "I don''t want to talk about that."

    "Then what have you been doing in the forest for the past two years?" Risa asked in a gentler tone but Alex''s expression only seemed to worsen.

    "Jason, move back." Risa suddenly said as Jason followed her instructions and backed away from the bed.

    Risa had enough years of experience to recognize the expression on Alex''s face. It belonged to someone who was about to blow out.

    "Alex, calm down. There is nothing wrong here and you are safe." Risa spoke gently but her words didn''t seem to reach his ears.

    Jason could only watch Alex''s face distort as it went through a series of different expressions.

    ''System, what are the odds of this building blowing up in the next five minutes?''

    [ Hmm, I would say one in ten but it depends on Alex. Who knows how powerful he is. ]

    ''Once again, you suck at being an all-knowing system.''

    "They beat me up so much that I had to cry to stop themбн They would then use the fog created by me as a cover and would kill othersбн" Alex mumbled as he closed his eyes. "I could do nothing except watch themбн"

    Jason didn''t know why but he felt as though Alex''s personality had been shifted. He had this feeling just by listening to the few words spoken by him.

    ''Why does he give the vibes of a main character about to unlock his true powers soon after experiencing torture and painбн''

    On cue with his thought, Alex suddenly opened his eyes to reveal that his blue eyes were glowing.

    "I hated thatбн" He mumbled again as Risa suddenly started rubbing her temples.

    "I have had enough dialogs from kids about to break loose of their power in one lifetime. If you don''t want to listen to my words, fine." Her hand suddenly flickered forward and touched Alex''s forehead.

    Alex''s eyes suddenly rolled back in his head and he fell back. The entire atmosphere became calm as Risa sighed and turned toward Jason.

    "I know that you already know this but still, don''t tell anyone about this," Risa spoke before taking one of the chairs in the room and sitting down on it.

    "You could have just knocked him down the moment his expression turned grim," Jasonmented as he also pulled a chair and sat beside her.

    "Then we wouldn''t have gotten to hear those words and would have not known that he was being used. Most things that I do have a reason." Risa replied as the two of them looked at the unconscious Alex.

    "Grandma," Jason spoke without looking at Risa. "What are you going to do with him?"

 Chapter 62 The Feuer Twins And Flamey

    "Nothing. It''s clear that he is definitely the phantom that Brian mentioned. We don''t know much about him and leaving him outside isn''t safe either. He will be staying with us for the time being." Risa admitted.

    "What about tomorrow then? I am sure there will be those at the ceremony who can see him considering many powerful individuals will be attending." Jason questioned.

    "We will worry about that tomorrow," Risa smiled. "Go to your room and get a good sleep. Tomorrow is going to be hectic."

    Jason was about to walk away when he remembered the talk Risa and Brian had had about family connections. "Grandma, how are you connected to Brian?"

    "He is my younger brother," Risa replied with a rueful smile as Jason didn''t pry further. He turned around and walked back to his own room while being lost in his thoughts.

    ''Tomorrow, I will show my skills to a huge amount of people.'' He silently stood in the middle of his room and observed the objects inside.

    He had enough offensive, defensive, and trick skills for a child his age who hadn''t been taught much.

    Jason knew that there would be noble prodigies present at the ceremony who had the advantage of good tutors and might be leagues above him.

    ''However, they won''t have the experience of falling into so many weird situations.'' Jason thought with assurance before lying down on the bed.

    Though there was a good chance that he could be wrong, he didn''t give that thought another thought.

    ''I just wish for this to be over peacefullyбн'' Jason thought atst before sleeping.

    However, deep inside, he knew that such a thing would be near impossible.

    ***

    The next morning, he was awoken early by Alfred who seemed to be in charge of doing this with all of the Syrward family members.

    "Young master, please freshen yourself up ande down to eat. If you get lost, please call out for me." Alfred spoke from outside the room as Jason yawned.

    Jason wondered how he was even woken up in such a manner before remembering that the system also used a few of its rms to wake him up.

    Surprisingly, he had gotten a good sleep despite the events of the day.

    [ At least you are used to such nervousness. I am hundred percent sure that there will be many children present today who are going to be nervous wrecks. ] The system reminded as Jason stood up and started his day.

    After having a nice bath and wearing his clothes, he left the room and started making his way downstairs.

    ''Come to think of, these clothes are reallyfortable to sleep in as well.'' Jason thought as he reached the second floor just in time to see two children roaming around with a lost expression.

    Both of them were wearing simr clothes like Jason and looked around his age.

    ''Wait, are those two twins?'' Jason squinted a bit to see that both the children were twins, one boy, and one girl.

    Both of them had ming red hair alongside a slightly darkplexion which made them look tanned. Their eyes were bright red like their hair and the two of them seemed to be walking around while trying to figure something out.

    ''Don''t tell me that they are lost with the stairs being barely a few meters away from.'' Jason mused.

    [ They could be trying to find something. ] The system pointed out as Jason shrugged and decided to confront them.

    It was his natural helping nature that made him do that.

    [ Just admit you want to see the twins up close. ] The system sighed as Jason didn''tment on its words.

    "Um, Hello? Are you both looking for something?" Jason asked awkwardly, forgetting the fact that he was not very good at having conversations with strangers.

    However, he got his wish fulfilled and could observe the twins up close.

    Both of them looked at him with a surprised expression as though they hadn''t seen or heard himing toward them.

    "Yes, we are looking for my pet Magmoleanader." The girl replied after a few seconds.

    "Magmoбн what?" Jason asked while trying to figure out what the female had just spoken. The girl seemed used to such behavior as she sighed.

    "My pet magma smander. He is about one foot long and can change his color to match the surroundings," her eyes hovered over to the symbol on his chest. "Hmm, what''s your name?"

    "You first." Jason automatically replied before facepalming inside. It had be a habit of his to ask the other person''s name first before saying his own and he wasn''t able to stop it from showing up.

    "Amber, Amber Feuer." The girl replied without much thought before extending her hand forward.

    "Jason," Jason replied as he shook her hand before pulling back.<sub> </sub>

    [ Well, at least you didn''t act as though you were touching a girl for the first time. ] The systemmented.

    ''Hey, I am not that shy or introverted. Also, it takes time for my real self to show up when I meet someone new. Who knows whether either of us would meet again in the future.'' Jason argued as the system chuckled.

    [ I won''t say anything. The future will tell everything itself. ] It replied as Jason turned around and was ready to walk away.

    "Wait, can you help us find it?" The boy suddenly asked as Jason turned back and raised an eyebrow.

    "Why would I do that and gette for breakfast?" Jason questioned. "Also, what makes you think that I can find a practically invisible creature?"

    "Cause helping people in need is good for your karma?" The boy answered back as Jason fell deep into thought or at least acted to do so.

    [ Why don''t you help them? The girl would be happy if you help her find her smander and you would feel good. ] The system asked as Jason felt like chuckling aloud.

    ''First, I don''t simp and second, I met them like three minutes ago. I have had enough of helping people for one lifetime.'' Jason replied with a shrug yet he couldn''t move away without answering the twin.

    "Look, my eyesight isn''t much better than yours so I don''t think I can help you. Maybe you should try attracting it with things it would like." Jason suggested as Amber sighed.

    "I would have done that but I currently can''t do it..." She sighed as Jason raised an eyebrow.

    "And what is that?"

    "Lightning or extreme heat," Amber replied firmly as Jason''s expression suddenly went nk.

    His eyes automatically lifted to the ceiling as he barely held himself from cursing. There was no way that this was just a coincidence!

    "I can help you then." Jason sighed as he raised his right hand and focused for a second. The burning smell of lightning filled the atmosphere as sparks of lightning flickered around Jason''s fingers.

    He summoned a one-foot lightning bolt the next second and held the crackling power in his hands. Amber and her twin looked at the lightning bolt with glinting eyes yet they didn''t look surprised by the disy of Jason''s powers.

    ''They must be used to younger kids showing off their powers.'' Jason thought as something suddenly jumped past his vision.

    Jason felt something sticking to his arm as a dark brown smander suddenly materialized at his arm.

    Amber wasted no time and lunged at the smander, securing him by the waist. Her hands suddenly released bright red mes that wrapped around the smander and forced it to stay put in her hands.

    "You are quite troublesome, little me." She sighed as Jason blinked in confusion.

    "His name isбн little me?" He asked while looking at the smander and Amber. Jason had heard some weird names back on Earth but this seemed to be a new low.

    "His real name is mey though I like calling him little me," Amber grinned when she saw Jason''s surprised expression. "I have seen many people with that expression so I no longer mind them."

    "I seeбн Nice meeting you." Jason replied as he started making his way down again.

    "Thank you for helping!" Amber and her twin-spoke at the same time as Jason nodded, resisting the urge to flip his hair.

    [ You have sudden shifts in character. ] The system observed since Jason had gone from being awkward to wanting to flip his hair.

    ''I need like ten minutes and a few conversations to get the other person''s basic personality. I can be a bit more open then.'' Jason replied as he climbed down the remaining stairs while wondering how strong the two of them could''ve been.

    Jason had gotten to know that his inspect skill didn''t work on humans as well as certain objects. He could use it on the objects in the future but ording to the system, he could never see the information of other humans or other races.

    ''It would have been a cool power to see that.''

    [ It would have meant more work for me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep track of multiple stats? ] The system grumbled as Jason smiled.

    ''I guess that''s the reason my status doesn''t show more stats.'' He pointed out before stopping right at the entrance of the dining hall.

    He then peeked inside to see that almost all of the chairs inside the dining room were full, all of them upied by adults or at least people who were five or more years older than Jason.

    No one around his age was visible around the entire hall. Jason decided to smartly retreat and ask Alfred to deliver his food.

    Unfortunately, he hadn''t been that quick and sneaky in ncing inside.

    "Jason,e inside! I want you to meet someone!" Issac suddenly shouted as Jason inhaled sharply.

    He was on the verge of running but knowing Issac, he would change after Jason.

    ''What''s the worst that can happen?'' Jason sighed before sagging his shoulder a bit and walking inside the crowded hall.

 Chapter 63 The Four Families

    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 ring 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-demonбн"

    "He doesn''t look anything different or special thought."

    "I don''t know about that but he definitely looks handsomeбн"

    Jason, who hadn''t been seeing the faces of those passing thement, 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, ring red eyes, and slightly darkplexion.

    The woman looked the same age as Risa and had her hair tied behind her head in a it. 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 systemmented 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 rted to Risa in some manner, making them rted to me as wellбн'' 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 rtionship 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 somethingmon.

    "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 exining to Jason that they were the family heads.

    But Jason was more interested in the fact that where the Syrward familyprised 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 coboration 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 inmon."

    "Uh, I already did thatбн" 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.<sub> </sub>

    ''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 againбн" Jason muttered as he saw the magma smander, mey, sticking to his arm.

    The smander smiled at Jason or at least seemed to do so. Jason couldn''t tell much from the creature''s face as mey suddenly turned towards his fingers.

    "I am sorry about him Jason," Amber apologized as she walked inside the room while ring at mey. "It looks like your lightning attracted him a bit too much."

    "Why does he like lightning in the first ce?" Jason couldn''t help but ask as he saw the smander eagerly staring at his fingers.

    "He actually doesn''t like lightning at all since it can sometimes paralyze him," Amber exined before swiping mey 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 mey gets lost." Amber exined as she patted the smander''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 smander in her hand.

    "Do you know anything about the rtionship 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 beforeing 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 eximed. "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 onlysted 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 ced mey 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 fourpound families, and as weird as the name might sound, there''s a reason behind that."

    "Do the families have people with thepound 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 exined 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 mey?"

 Chapter 64 Amber And Andrew

    Amber had no reply to what Jason had said. She stayed quiet for a few minutes before opening her mouth slightly and replying.

    "Iбн" Her voice trailed off after the first word since no matter what she said now, Jason would get suspicious.

    [ Looks like you caught her off guard. If she says no, she took way too much time to answer. If she said yes, it''s the truth. Noments could be a reply but that too can be taken as a yes. ] The system sounded impressed.

    ''I just connected the dots. It was something fairly obvious if you knew where to look.'' Jason replied while mentally shrugging.

    "Don''t worry, if it''s a secret, I won''t tell anyone about it," Jason reassured her yet Amber didn''t look half convinced.

    "I shouldn''t have spoken that muchбн" She muttered while sighing as she had no choice except to trust Jason''s words. But since she had only met him some time ago, she had zero percent trust in him.

    "You are not the only one who slips up. I have done the same thing multiple times so I can understand how you are feeling." Jason gave her a charming smile but it looked as though his looks weren''t going to make Amber trust him more.

    "Are you a thunder mage then?" Her eyes moved across his face as she tried to notice any slip in expression he might have.

    "Yes, I am a thunder mage." Surprisingly, Jason replied with the truth.

    Amber was left shocked by how casual Jason sounded while revealing that he had the thunder element.

    It was even more shocking when considering the fact that both Jason''s father and grandfather had the thunder element as well, something that was told to her by her parents.

    Amber couldn''t help but wonder what kind of genes were going through the family to have three thunder mages in three generations one after the other.

    She even wondered whether they were going around doing cult business or some kind of ritual to ensure this.

    "I have a feeling that the heads of our families are discussing about us now and sharing some of our powers with each other. There is no point in hiding my power if you are going to know about them anyway." Jason informed.

    "Now that you mention it, my grandmother would definitely do thatбн" Amber muttered before looking at Jason''s smiling face.

    She had been raised in a very special manner which had allowed her to meet all kinds of people and get a good appraisal of people''s personalities.

    Amber could tell that Jason had told her the truth yet she couldn''t seem to figure out his personality. Though she had to admit that this wasn''t the first time she had failed in doing such a thing.

    "Looks like I was worried over nothing." Amber sighed in relief before picking up mey and pressing her hand over his head.

    The temperature in the room suddenly climbed up by multiple degrees as Jason could sense the movement of mana around Amber''s hand.

    [ Host, try using vision control right now but make sure to keep the mana input above nine hundred and below one thousand. ]

    Jason did as told and toggled the skill on. He subtly controlled his mana to use the right amount of it in his eyes and all of a sudden, he could see tiny red and brown particles leaving Amber''s hand.

    The particles were flowing directly inside mey which seemed to rx the smander to a huge extent. It seemed lost in its own world as Amber suddenly lifted her hand.

    "What are you staring at?" She asked with a confused expression as Jason suddenly averted his eyes and shook his head.

    "I was wondering how mey feels." He replied with half the truth while shutting the skill off.

    Jason was immensely happy to see that there was no defect in his vision this time. He had also controlled the mana well enough to not face any problem and hadn''t let it go out of control.

    ''With the right amount of mana control, I can do a whole lot of things with this.'' He thought with a slight smile before standing up.

    "Wanna go outside?" He asked Amber since he had gotten bored by sitting inside the entire time.

    "I was nning on doing that with my twin but I guess the more the merrier?" Amber smiled as she too stood up with mey wrapped around her right hand.

    "Right." The two of them then walked out of the room as Amber went to get her twin while Jason waited for her near the entrance of the manor.

    [ Hmm, you seem excited host. ] The system muttered as it saw Jason being in a good mood. There weren''t many times when its host was in the mood for exploration but the system knew that it was due to the fact how peaceful Duphia and its surroundings had been.

    ''This is because things are going to be much more interesting here and I want to see how people react. It''s not easy to get the stereotypes from novels out of one''s mind.'' Jason exined before remembering that he had to inform his family about it.

    "Alfred." He spoke aloud as the butler suddenly appeared in front of him. After all that Jason had seen, it wasn''t a surprise for him that someone could appear in front of him that quickly.

    "Please tell grandpa and grandma that I am going out," Jason ordered before adding something as an afterthought. "Do tell them that I am going out with the twin grandchildren of Ariana Feuer and inform her about this too.

    "As you say, young master." Alfred vanished at the same speed he had appeared as Jason continued to wait.

    "Sorry if we made you wait too long." Amber walked down the hallway a few minutester with her twin right beside her. "I had to take care of some emergency rted to mey."

    "No problem. I understand how hard it is to take care of a pet." Jason had experienced taking care of the goats when he was training with Karna.<sub> </sub>

    However, he had only taken care of Feta which was much easier aspared to taking care of all the goats in the shelter.

    "You seem to be familiar with all things I have a problem with. Are you telling the truth or just lying to impress me?" Amber narrowed her eyes a bit as Jason shook his head.

    "Nah, I take care of a goat back at my home. She requires a lot of care but I can tell that she is a lot less troublesome than mey."

    "You might be right," Amber replied with a smile before turning towards her twin.

    He seemed to understand what she meant and stepped forward towards Jason.

    "I am Andrew Feuer. Nice to meet you." Andrew said while extending his hand forward. Jason shook it enthusiastically and told his name in response.

    After the introductions, the three of them were ready to go out and explore.

    "So, where do we start from?" Jason asked curiously as the twins shrugged simultaneously.

    "Honestly, we areing here for the first time as well so we know the same amount of things as you do," Andrew informed honestly as Amber nodded from the side.

    "We were hoping that you might know a bit but I guess we were wrong," Amber sighed. "But I guess we can now roam around the ce like friends."

    "Yeahбн" Jason muttered while feeling strange. He didn''t want to feel like a character from a novel but he had to admit that he had never known making friends would be this easy.

    He had spent most of his second life restricted to Duphia and had missed a lot of childhood experiences. Nora was the same yet Jason didn''t feel as though the demi-human was bothered by it.

    [ After all, that was what had been normal for him. If he had grown up on Earth or had perhaps experienced a much normal childhood before, things would be different for him as well. ] The system exined before chuckling a bit. [ Also, congrats host! ]

    ''Huh?'' Jason looked visibly confused but the opening of a system window left him baffled.

    ---

    < Achievement Unlocked: FFF! >

    < 10 system points have been awarded. >

    ---

    ''What does FFF mean?'' He immediately asked while ncing at the twins to make sure that they weren''t looking in his direction.

    Fortunately, the two of them were discussing nearby ces where they could go without any worries and enjoy a bit.

    [It means First Female Friend. ] The system replied while giggling which sounded extremely weird considering how it had a mechanical tone.

    But Jason didn''t focus on that as his jaw was twitching slightly after hearing the full form of FFF.

    ''That is not funny.''

    [ Not to you. ] The system corrected before deciding to stop teasing Jason.

    Jason wanted to reply to it but the twins had decided on something and wanted Jason''s opinion on it.

    "There is a statue in the center of this section of the city which is quite famous. We will go thereter too as it is on the way to the arena but going on our own would be more fun. What do you think?" Amber cocked an eyebrow as Jason took a few seconds to reply.

    "I guess you are right. It shouldn''t be thatfar anyways so we can go there right now." Jason replied but before the three of them could set out, Alfred suddenly appeared in front of them.

    "Young master Jason, young master Andrew and young mistress Amber, your grandparents have said that you can explore the city freely and that they woulde to pick you up in thirty minutes at the statue of hope. Stay safe." Alfred recited before vanishing.

    The three children exchanged a look before smiling. They had nothing left to worry about and could explore with freedom now.

    "Let''s go, guys!" Amber eximed excitedly as the trio started making their way to the statue of hope, not paying attention to the stares they were getting.

    ***

    "Why do I have to be stuck with watching the children?" Ray questioned as he followed the trio through the streets.

    "It''s because we can''t allow them to go without any protection but we will ruin their fun by sending someone alongside them. That is why we are following them undercover." Replied a calm and collected male voice.

    Ray could only sigh at this as he looked at the man beside him. Both of them had been assigned to keep an eye on the children or rather, they had lost against their wives who were originally going to do it.

    "Then can I at least ask why the hell are we dressed as clowns?"

 Chapter 65 The Ash Phoenix

    "Let''s just change our clothes to something more suitable." The man replied with a sigh. The two of them were dressed in a clown''s dress and felt extremely awkward.

    They had been asked to wear this by both of their family heads however Ray and the man knew that their parents just wanted to make fun of them.

    "Let''s do it quickly and leave," Ray muttered as the two of them went into separate rooms and came out a minuteter, dressed in normal clothing.

    They didn''t look like the normal group of citizens one might find but they didn''t look like nobles either. Furthermore, both of them were wearing wigs to ensure that the disguise was held.

    Overall, it was a half-ass attempt at disguising themselves.

    "Matt, do you know who created the noble coat that all of the higher noble families wear?" Ray asked curiously as the man named Matt shook his head.

    "No one really knows about him except the fact that he is a space mage or was a space mage. All I know is that the things he made are way too useful."

    "That I can agree with."

    The two men then jumped on top of the manor in the blink of an eye before jumping towards the next building in the line.

    Their moments couldn''t be seen by anyone as they were flickering at a rapid speed for anyone''s eyes to adjust to them.

    "There they are." Ray pointed at the trio of children walking towards the statue while talking amongst themselves.

    Matt also stopped beside Ray to look at his children before shifting his gaze towards Jason. Except for his looks, Matt couldn''t sense anything striking about the boy.

    ''Michael was so shy and showed off his powers easily yet this boy doesn''t even feel like he is powerful. I wonder what kind of powers and personality he has.'' Matt wondered silently.

    The two of them thought that they were perfectly hidden and that no one could be able to see them. They were half correct there as no one present below could see them.

    [ Host, your uncle, and someone else is keeping an eye on you and the twins. ] The system informed Jason as it had sensed the arrival of the two men.

    ''Well, it''s kind of obvious that they are here since we are just ten-year-olds.'' Jason replied without feeling anything strange as he continued to look around at his surroundings.

    It was clear that the other noble families wanted to showcase their wealth. They had several things made from gold and whatnot hanging around their houses which highlighted them as wealthy.

    But to Jason, all of them were foolish ornamentals since thieves would target such houses before the others. Though it would be risky, the reward would be too enormous for them.

    ''I wonder how much this kingdom could prosper if this money was used in developing the kingdom.'' Jason thought with a sigh as the three of them could finally see the statue.

    It was made in the center of a crossroad on top of a marble base. The statue wasn''t of a person but instead showcased a gigantic bird.

    "A Phoenixбн" Jason muttered as he saw the bright red wings of the bird depicted perfectly alongside the mesing out of the edges.

    The Phoenix statue''s eyes were pointed towards the sky as though it would take off in the next second and fly away.

    [ Host, look at the bottom. ] The system suggested as Jason''s eyes turned to the bottom of the statue to see a golden que with words written on it.<sub> </sub>

    "The Ash Phoenix," He read aloud. "The guardian bird of the Vancouver kingdom. Legends say that the Phoenix''s cry warns the kingdom of a great peril that is about to happen soon."

    Jason knew a lot about the mythical creature but this was a first for him. He had read it somewhere back on Earth that the Phoenix brought the news of destruction with it but he had never heard of it being a warning creature.

    "Hmm, I don''t think that this Phoenix even exists." Amber wondered aloud as her twin raised an eyebrow.

    "Your reason?" Andrew asked as Amber rolled her eyes.

    "It''s because no one has heard or seen the Phoenix for an entire decade. Thest time it was seen was during that time but after that, there hasn''t been any news on it." She replied yet Andrew looked doubtful.

    "There hasn''t been any crisis in the kingdom since then. That doesn''t mean it''s fake."

    "You forgot about the substantial crisis a few years back? The southern region of the kingdom had no food to eat for eight months!"

    Jason watched the two of them go back and forth as though they were ying a tennis match. Neither of them seemed interested in stepping back and continued to argue which the other.

    "Ok kids, that''s enough. The Phoenix is real and you should get that drilled inside your mind." Suddenly, a man interrupted the twins as they lifted their heads to look at the neer.

    The man was wearing a red soldier''s uniform and had his face set in a firm expression. Even Jason knew that he was a guard in the city and was supposed to maintainw and order there.

    "We are supposed to wait here for our family. We won''t cause any more disturbance." Jason immediately took over as he politely responded to the guard.

    However, he wasn''t paying any attention to Jason''s words. The guard''s eyes were instead focused on the coats the children were wearing.

    ''Those coats and symbols...'' The guard immediately recognized who the children were as hisplexion paled.

    "Ahhбн Go ahead and do whatever you want. I thought that you were some of the kids whoe here from the other sections of the city and try to annoy the shit out of other people." The guard spoke hastily.

    He then turned around and ran as though he was a thief caught in the act of stealing something.

    Jason blinked in surprise as he hadn''t expected the coat to work that well. The twins got back into their argument as though nothing had happened.

    Jason on the other hand turned his attention back towards the statue as he tried to wonder whether he would get to see such a majestic creature in his lifetime.

    [ Host, do you know that there is somethingmon between you and a Phoenix? ] The system suddenly asked as Jason tilted his head in confusion.

    ''Both of us have dashing and piercing eyes?'' He guessed since that was the only simrity or resemnce he saw between him and the Phoenix.

    The system could only sigh at its host''s answer but it couldn''t dere it as wrong.

    [ Well, that is correct but there is something else. A Phoenix can seldom die. As long as it wishes to live, it will keep on rising from the ashes again and again. ]Jason finally realized what the system was saying as he smiled and looked up at the sky.

    "A creature that rises from its ashes. That''s what a Phoenix and I have inmon."

 Chapter 66 Welcome To The Arena Of Troyalias!

    "So we are taking him with us too?" Jason whispered while passing his eyes over Alex.

    "I don''t think knocking him out and then locking him inside a room will do anything good. We will think of the problemster on." Risa replied as she adjusted her position a bit.

    She was standing right between Jason and Alex, where thetter wasn''t visible to anyone for unknown reasons.

    All four families were currently making their way to the arena in a huge group with the family heads moving in front.

    But since the Syrward family only had six members, all of them were walking in the front alongside Alex who seemed shocked by the huge mansions and posh nobility area around them.

    Jason would have also felt fascinated by this if not for the fact that he was nervous about the ceremony.

    The arena in itself was a terrifying ce to look at but the thought of hundreds of thousands of people sitting inside it would make anyone''s nervous jingly.

    [ Let me distract you with something nice. ] The system had already anticipated this and was ready with something to counter Jason''s nervousness.

    < New quest assigned! >

    ---

    < Tournament Of Prodigies >

    - Get a ce in the top 3 in the uing tournament to prove that all the blood, sweat and tears you spent in training wasn''t worthless.

    Reward: ???

    ---

    ''System, have I ever told you that you are the best?'' Jason asked with a sudden shift in attitude as the system chuckled.

    [ No need, host. I already know how awesome I am. ] It boasted yet Jason was no longer paying attention to it.

    Jason''s eyes were focused on the entrance of the arena which was a huge 40 meter opening in the middle of the structure.

    Two guards dressed in glossy ck hooded robes stood on each side of the gate. Their faces were hidden by ck masks which made Jason wonder how they were able to see or breathe.

    However, he didn''t have too much time to think about it as they stepped inside the gates.

    "Make sure to follow me closely or you might get lost." Risa ordered both Jason and Alex as the two children nodded and trailed behind her.

    The other family members also told the same thing to those behind them and the order reached the back of the crowd.

    Jason''s eyes examined the interior of the arena yet there weren''t a lot of things to see as they were walking through a huge hallway.

    Three different paths had been present in the arena yet all of them ignored those paths and continued to walk straight towards a brightly shining opening at the end of the hallway.

    [ Host, not everyone ignored it. Look behind. ] The system told as Jason turned his head back to see that all of the members of the other three families had vanished.

    He then looked around to see that only the family heads, their children and their grandchildren remained behind. Jason noticed Amber and Andrew walking behind Ariana as well.

    He suddenly changed his direction and went to talk to the twins.

    "Feeling nervous?" Jason asked aloud since both the twins seemed lost in their own worlds.

    "Duh. We are the heirs of such powerful families and if we mess up, the others will see us as stepping stones. We have to make sure to give our best out there." Amber replied calmly yet Jason could tell that her mind was in chaos.

    Andrew didn''t speak anything and instead nodded to agree with his twin''s words.

    "You are right," Jason sighed in agreement. "I wonder how the other children are feeling."

    "There are feeling more or less the same but the real pressure is on those who are considered the future of the family." Ariana suddenly interrupted. She had been listening to the conversation for some time and it reminded her of the time she had appeared for the ceremony.

    "You guys don''t have to worry too much. Just throw a few kicks and you will be done." Ariana reassured them as the remaining group suddenly took a right turn.

    The exit to the hallway had only been a few hundred meters away yet they had taken thest turn in the hallway instead of going there.

    They continued to walk through the new pathway, Jason felt slightly more rxed.

    It was simr to how he used to get anxious before an exam but when the time to give the exam came, he would be extremely focused and would be able to finish it with full focus.

    After a few minutes of walking down the corridor, they finally reached the exit.

    "Damnбн" Jason''s jaw immediately dropped down when he saw the exit open up into the highest spot in the arena.

    Everything below looked extremely tiny yet what shocked him even more was the amount of people present below.

    There were hundreds of rows with sits for the people to sit on and watch the match withfort, each row being separated from the other with the help of railings.<sub> </sub>

    The noble families as well as the lesser known sects and institutes had special ces for them which were visible due to the special seats created for them.

    However, all of them had a g dropping down from the railing to showcase which group they belonged to. Jason also noticed that none of them were wearing matching clothes like him and the others around him.

    His gaze shifted forward to see that they were moving towards a ss bow created right beside a cut out ce.

    ''That''s where the members of the royal family must sit,'' Jason thought as he saw numerous thrones ced in the cut out area.

    It also had a banner hanging down from the railing which had the symbol of a sword surrounded by clouds drawn on it.

    It was the symbol of the royal Vancouver family.

    Jason wanted to observe it for some more time but he was forced to move towards the box. It was a structure made from blue ss panel which waspletely opaque from the outside.

    "Its a ce where the heads of the top 3 academies, the sect masters of the top two sects, the heads of the highest noble families and other important people of the kingdom sit." Risa exined after seeing the expression of curiosity on Jason''s face.

    "Then why-" He began asking but was immediately cut off by Risa.

    "All of them can bring their family members as well as some prodigies of their respective group with them to the box. That''s why you all areing with us." Risa pointed toward the adults and children other than the family heads.

    Jason also followed her hands as he saw five more children traveling with them, ecluding the twins.

    Two of them were sticking close to a man and woman who looked like their parents while two others were walking side by side with a bald man in his fifties.

    [ He is the head of the Anvilone family. I don''t know about that man and woman, though they belong to the Bloodthorn family. ] The systemmented.

    The two of them could see that both the couple and the two children were wearing Bloodthorn family coats.

    "Grandma, who are they?" Jason asked in a voice that was only heard by Risa.

    "Theyбн," Risa was about to answer Jason''s question when she suddenly realized who he was pointing at. "That woman is Brain''s ex wife and those two are their children. The man is the woman''s new husband."

    Jason opened his mouth slightly before closing it when he heard Risa''s words.

    "That''sбн unexpected." He replied while staring at the woman and children.

    "That''s life," Risa replied while shrugging. "Also, quicken your pace. We have startedgging behind."

    The duo then caught up to the others by increasing their pace while Alex quietly trailed behind them. His was still in shock at the scenery and the amount of people present there that he decided to just focus the duo

    ''Who''s that though?'' Jason curiously asked as he looked at thest unknown child in the group.

    [ I think he is also a member of Brian''s familyбн ] The system muttered but that was obvious seeing how he was also wearing the purple coat of the Bloodthorn family.

    Jason''s attention then shifted forward as they reached the box. Jason saw a door in the ss pane which opened on the inside. The others had already moved inside and only he, Risa and Alex remained.

    The moment Jason entered the ss box, almost every single pair of eyes inside turned towards him. He was able to maintain his cool this time but Jason could tell that all those looking at him were nomon people.

    "He is my grandson." Issac informed while settling down amidst a group of old men who seemed to be emitting weird auras.

    "Hmm, why don''t you introduce him to us?" One of the men suggested as Issac gestured for Jason to make his way to them.

    Jason obliged as he walked towards the group while feeling multiple gazes watching him.

    "Jason, this here is my old pal, Gus Breserk, the duke of the duchy of Morgar," Issac pointed to the man from earlier as Jason observed him carefully.

    Gus was a man in his forties with sleek ck hairbed to the right side. His eyes were hazel brown and were observing Jason with a curious look.

    Jason also saw two other men sitting beside Issac and Gus who were soon introduced by the former.

    ''System, just recognize their faces and titlesбн'' Jason muttered as he knew that he would likely forget their names if they didn''t y major role in his life.

    "Now that we are done with the introductions-" Issac began to say something but his voice was suddenly cut off by a buzzing sound echoing through the entire arena.

    "Ah, sorry for that!" A voice suddenly echoed around the entire arena as Jason walked over the edge of the ss pane and looked outside.

    "Now who is thatбн" Jason muttered as he saw a man flying right in front of him.

    The man had curly blond hair and shining rust colored eyes which were roaming through the crowd below. He was also wearing a red coat with the same sword symbol drawn on the banner etched near the heart and the back of the coat.

    "He is the prime minister." Risa suddenly replied as she came to stand beside Jason. "He will be hosting this event."

    "Wait, a prime minister?" Jason asked in a confused tone as he hadn''t expected to see a prime minister in a monarchy kingdom.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, wee to the arena of Troyalias. As most of you might know, I am Zn Vancouver, the prime minister of the kingdom," Zn introduced with a smile. "Also, I am going to be the host of today''s event. So without further dy, let''s start the Crystal ceremony!"

 Chapter 67 So This Is How It Begins

    "Let''s start today''s event by introducing the top 3 academies of the kingdom," Zn smiled while directly looking at the ss box. "I wee, Angelica Medron, principal of the PearlSea academy,

    Kn Kikiko, principal of the Wisteria academy, and atst, Albus Jokovic, the principal of the Vancouver academy!"

    Jason noticed three people standing up inside the ss box. A golden halo appeared over their heads as they were suddenly summoned outside the box.

    The three principals flew right beside the prime minister and waved at the crowd below before reappearing inside the box.

    After that, Zn did countless introductions to make sure all of the important figures, all the noble families as well as the principals of the various sects and academies were made known to the crowd.

    He then went ahead to exin how the children between ten to fifteen years of age could choose to join any of the academies.

    "If anyone above that age isn''t able to enter any of these, they will have to either enter the army or get admission into the Public Academy of Vancouver and start studying to get a job in the administration section." Zn reminded.

    He then pped his hands once as the few whispers that had started below quietened down. Zn looked at the ss box once again before turning his head towards the noble families below.

    "I am sure that after that lengthy journey as well as the boring introductions, all of you are bored out of your mind. However, its now time for the yearly event to begin." Zn spoke as Jason suddenly felt Risa''s ce her hand on his right shoulder.

    "Good luck." She squeezed his shoulder a bit before stepping back and looking at Nora.

    The demi-human was sitting between his parents calmly as though mentally preparing himself for the uing event.

    All of a sudden, a golden halo appeared on top of is head and his body started flickering a bit.

    [ Host, look above your head. ]

    Jason did as told and was surprised to see that a golden halo had appeared above his head as well. He soon realized that a golden halo had appeared above all the children that hade to the box together with their families.

    All of their bodies were slightly flickering due to the effects of the halo as Jason could almost see through his arms at certain moments.

    "There will be two sets of battles between two different groups of children. The first will be between the nobles who are ten or eleven years old and haven''t fought here before." Zn announced, snapping his fingers simultaneously.

    Around fifty children suddenly appeared on the arena floor, including Jason and Nora. The halos above their heads vanished and their bodies returned back to their opaque form.

    Zn slowly descended down towards the arena floor such that he could get a better look at the children and look for the potential prodigies up close.

    ''Damnбн'' Jason felt his heartbeat increasing by the passing seconds. Hundreds of thousands of eyes were currently staring at the arena floor, making his nervous and twitchy.

    However, he wasn''t the only child feeling that way. The others around him were also avoiding looking at the crowd while a few were biting their nails.

    It was obvious that none of them had faced such a huge crowd before.

    "We have two children from each house here, the total number being sixty four. All battles will happen simultaneously between two randomly shuffled children.

    No magical equipment or weapons can be used and any such objects on your body will be teleported back to your family members.

    A battle will end if anyone quits or is too close to getting severely injured. In the case of thetter, I will personally make sure that none of you are hurt. You children are the future of the kingdom after all." Zn smiled reassuringly.

    He snapped his fingers for the second time and the children were automatically shuffled into pairs of two.

    Jason found himself staring at a noble boy with algae colored hair and a face permanently set into a sneer. Upon seeing Jason''s clothes, algae boy''s expression, as he had been temporarily named by Jason, went alert and serious.

    "You will have a fifty meter area to move around and there is a forcefield separating all of you. If you touch the forcefield, you will be disqualified." Zn reminded. "Begin!"

    ''Huh, just like that?'' Jason felt weird to see apetition being started without a countdown though he didn''t have much time to ponder about it.

    Algae boy immediately rushed towards Jason after hearing the starting words. He had a feeling that if he managed to defeat the noble boy in front of him, his family would be extremely proud of him.

    Jason on the other hand didn''t want to use magic so early in the fight. He decided to test his physical prowess for the time being by dodging the attacksing his way.

    Algae boy punched forward with his right hand, aiming to hit Jason in the face. He felt that his blow would connect with his target yet Jason managed to dodge him fairly easily.

    ''His speed can''t bepared to that of the goats.'' He amused while remembering how quick the goats back at the shelter had been.

    Algae boy couldn''t evene close inparison to that speed though he had one advantage that the goats didn''t have. He could use magic.

    "ming Water Fist!" Algae boy shouted as water suddenly appeared around his fists.

    The water seemed normal at first but when steam started to rise from it, Jason decided to not get fried in the first battle.

    Instead, he smiled, making algae boy feel extremely uneasy and unsettled. He paused whatever his next move was about to be and tried to dash back to a safe distance.

    "Lightning bolt." Jason noticed algae boy''s retreat and summoned a lightning bolt. Algae boy''s expression turned a bit grim as lightning was the natural enemy to his water magic.

    But he wasn''t in the mood of surrendering this easily.

    "Water bomb!" A sphere of water appeared in the algae boy''s right hand. He threw it towards Jason with deadly uracy who in turned threw his lightning bolt towards it.<sub> </sub>

    The two attacks shed mid air and created a small explosion, thus resulting in a thin cloud of smoke. Algae boy could see small spots on the other side of the smoke cloud but his vision was mostly blind.

    Jason on the other hand had made use of his natural superior eyesight as well as vision control ability to locate algae boy.

    He wasted no time in summoning another lightning bolt, this time a bit bigger, and chucking it towards the algae''s boy''s heart.

    The lightning bolt tore through the thin cloud of smoke and made its way straight towards algae''s boy''s chest.

    "Ahh!" He shrieked loudly, forgetting everything about defending himself or fighting.

    Algae boy felt as though he would die in a matter of seconds but when the lightning bolt was inches away from passing through his chest, an invisible fore field appeared in front of him and destroyed the lightning bolt.

    Algae boy was left blinking in confusion but in the next instance, he was teleported away to his noble family.

    ''Wowбн'' Jason''s eyes had caught the appearance of a huge screen overhead during the battle. He could finally look at in detail and was surprised to see its quality.

    The screen''s height reached near the ss box, starting from the base of the stands. All the matches were disyed in his high quality on the screen across sixty four separate blocks.

    Jason saw his image being disyed in one of the squares alongside the word ''winner'' being disyed on the lower portion of the specific screen.

    He also saw Amber''s face being disyed on the screen in a simr manner indicating that she had won as well.

    ''I never knew formations could be used in such a mannerбн'' Jason thought in wonder as it was clear that the screen was created with the help of formations. Its appearance had been rather sudden as well.

    [ Since it''s here, why don''t we use it to see a few interesting battles? ] The system suggested.

    ''Good idea.'' Jason praised the system as his eyes moved from one screen to another in search of a familiar face.

    Unknown to him, many people were observing him silently. Some of them being those who Jason knew well.

    ''Looks like all those lessons helped the kid a lot.'' A bald man sitting on top of the right wall of the arena thought with a smile. ''I wonder how Issac would react if he saw me here instead of guarding Duphia.''

    The bald man was none other than Karna who had left Duphia toe to the capital. Though he had left Amon in charge, he knew that Issac was going to be pissed to see him there.

    ''Well, good thing I am here to tell him of the news.'' Karna gaze moved from Jason to Nora who had just won his battle against another fire user.

    His gaze then moved towards the ss box as he stared from one Syrward family member to another.

    ''Syrwards and their problems.'' Karna sighed as stood on top of the wall while shifting his gaze away from the arena floor.

    "So they finally arriveбн" He muttered before jumping on the wall. To anyone else, it would have looked like suicide yet Karna steadily flew through the air andnded on the ground right beside the arena.

    His appearance suddenly changed as white hair appeared on his head and his body turned twenty years younger.

    Karna moved his arms a bit more freely before he casually walked through the streets knowing well that most of the capital would be at the arena.

    Though there would be guards ced all around the city, he wasn''t too worried about them.

    "If the demi-humans sent an envoy, the demons would''ve sent one too. The question is, who will they send?" while muttering to himself, Karna reached the Phoenix statue.

    Around a dozen guards were ced all around the statue and all of them turned to stare at Karna at once.

    Yet he didn''t pay them any attention and continued making his way towards the entrance of the city.

    "Captain, did you see something?" One of the guards asked his head while rubbing his eyes.

    "I thought I didбн Must have been a trick of light." The captain replied as all of them got back in their positions.

    They had seen a man walk past them for just a second yet the next second, the man had vanished and all that remained was the bright sunlight poking their eyes.

    Karna passed through several ces where guards were posted and the same thing repeated itself until he reached the city''s entrance.

    Karna jumped straight in the air and came to rest on top of the walls that surrounded the city. From there, he could get a clear look of the city yet he was more focused on something in the distance.

    ''They came preparedбн''

    A carriage pulled by majestic flying beasts was making its way towards the capital. Even though the carriage was still kilometers away, Karna could easily see the symbol etched on top of the carriage.

    It was the symbol of the royal family of the demi-human kingdom.

    "So this is how it beginsбн" Karna muttered, sensing the arrival of trouble and chaos. He didn''t know why but he felt that the Syrward family was going to be in the middle of the uing chaos.

    That meant that he would be pulled in the chaos too but that was something Karna had epted long ago.

    "Syrwardsбн" He sighed onest time before making his way back to the arena to warn Issac and the rest of the Syrward family about the iing chaos.

 Chapter 68 Fighting Nora

    "Andrew and Nora both cleared the first round too," Jason muttered as all of the fights of the first round were over and thirty two children remained.

    Some houses had been knocked outpletely whereas some had both of their children still standing in the center of the arena.

    "The second round will start in a minute." Zn suddenly informed as he snapped his fingers and the children once again got divided into pairs.

    "Hey brother."

    "Hello Nora."

    Jason and Nora now stood in front of each other, making them opponents for the second round. Both of them were looking into each others eyes and were ready to fight at a moment''s notice.

    A minute flew by quickly as Zn once again announced the start of battle.

    Jason and Nora didn''t move immediately, both measuring the others movements while trying toe up with a n.

    "Fire bomb!" Nora decided to test Jason a bit as he summoned a fireball the size of a baseball in both his hands.

    He jumped back using his wind element to boost him a bit and threw both the bombs at the same time.

    Jason had already fought the same move in his previous match. He wasted no time in summoning a lightning bolt and throwing it towards the iing bombs.

    It cut through both the bombs easily, except neither of them exploded. The lightning bolt continued to move towards Nora who looked at it with a smile.

    "Jason, remember the time when Felix summoned that gigantic fireball?" Nora smiled as he called Jason by his name.

    Thetter immediately understood that Nora was serious about the fight and that something big was about to happen.

    "Yes, I remember that. I had saved you back then so the match could continue." Jason replied regardless as he activated his ''Lightning Steps'' skill silently.

    "Since then, I wanted to create something like that too despite knowing that Felix had cheated." Nora spoke before joining his palms together. He then touched his index finger together and formed a fist with the remaining portion of his hand.

    Jason narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ss box instinctively. He couldn''t see through the ss box yet he had a feeling that someone was looking down at them.

    Jason''s instincts were correct as all eyes inside the box were currently focused on the screen which showed the duo''s battle.

    "Zara, you taught him a tier 2 spell?" Risa slowly asked as Zara smiled proudly.

    "I decided to teach him something that he could use as his trump card. Though I would have liked Nora to use that in the semi-finals or finals, its his choice to use it against Jason." Zara exined, her eyes following Nora''s moments.

    "Jason''s moments would be restricted in such a small area and if Nora is using the spell I am thinking he is, things can go wrong for Jason." Issac was also having a conversation on this with his friends.

    "Both of your grandsons are showing off I guess." Gus observed, his eyes moving from one screen to another.

    "As if Issac didn''t do that in the past." Another old man snorted and soon enough, all of them were chuckling.

    "At least they got the right genes." Issac pointed out as things calmed down and everyone focused on the battle again.

    Both of these things had been going of simultaneously so Nora had prepared his spell the moment Issac had stopped speaking.

    "me Vortex!" Nora then pointed his hands towards Jason as a red wave of energyunched out from the palms of his hands.

    A ten meter swirling tornado made out of mes was summoned right in the middle of there small battling area.

    Jason stared at it with narrowed eyes as he judged the area he could move around in. The possibilities were rather small since most of the space was taken by the tornado.

    "Oh, I forgot to tell this but the fighting area is much longer now. Also, there is no penalty for touching the fore field now." Zn''s voice echoed around the arena as Nora''s expression distorted.

    Jason on the other hand smiled at his brother as his form flickered. Nora couldn''t even follow Jason''s movement as he was too quick for the eye to see.

    Most of the audience was also focusing their eyes on the duo''s battle. Nora and Jason had stolen the spotlight and even those from well known noble families were ignored.

    ''He is not even using thunder element and is still fighting like that.'' Amber noticed as she watched Jason''s battle directly instead of looking up at the screen. ''But then, his battle isn''t over yet.''

    Amber was the first one to finish her battle and had been looking at her twin''s battle. However, she too had been attracted towards Jason and Nora''s battle due to the tier two spell Nora had used.<sub> </sub>

    Amber herself had a very high affinity with fire element due to her magma affinity and she could tell that Nora''s mes were inches away from touching the power of her own mes.

    She wondered whether the entire Syrward family was full of such people because even though they were less in number, they were more famous than most of the noble families gathered there.

    "Nora, your attack was quite surprising you could have defeated me. As for how? We will talk about thatter on." Jason suddenly spoke as he appeared behind Nora, a lightingm bolt buzzing with power in his hand.

    He held the bolt of lightning right around Nora''s throat as he was teleported out of the arena''s floor in the next second.

    Jason then sat down on the ground and stared at the screen, waiting for all the fights to be over. The audience looked disappointed at his actions as they had expected Jason to do a shy move.

    The nobles on the other hand were thinking somethingpletely opposite.

    ''If this was a real fight, he could cut his throat with the lightning bolt as well as use his free hand to capture the person. He was in a minimum risk zone unless the other person had a trap.'' Zn was also thinking about Jason''s move while looking over the other fights.

    He didn''t believe that shy moves were the best since the most deadliest moves were those who were either silent or were toorge to avoid.

    Zn felt that if Jason and Nora had been fighting for real, the former could have easily killed his opponents numerous times.

    Zn silently noted Jason''s name inside his mind as potential prodigy to bring under his banner.

    ''That is if his grandparents let him do that.'' The prime minister sighed knowing that Issac and Risa would never let anyone from their family fall under their wing.

    Zn couldn''t me them either especially after what had happened to Risa and Issac''s daughter. If he was in their ce, he wasn''t sure whether he would''ve even appeared for the event.

    ''Only sixteen children remain now. Two of them are the Feuer twins. Three from the Bloodthorn family, two of Brian''s children. Two children from the Anvilone family also made it here. If I add Jason here, that''s half of the participants from those four families.''

    Zn counted the remainder of the children with a surprised expression. He hadn''t expected to see half of them being from the four families.

    The remainder of the participants weren''t from well known families either. Zn knew that many of the noble families didn''t have ten years old this time around yet the low number surprised him.

    ''I can''t add anyone under my banner this time. None of those eight families would allow their children to do that and choosing the other eight is only worthless.'' Zn sighed as he snapped his fingers and got everything ready for the third round.

    This time, Jason was matched with one of the children he had seen earlier.

    "What''s your name?" Jason asked casually as he looked at his opponent, someone wearing the purple clothes of the Bloodthorn family. He was one of the two children who Risa had said were Brian''s children.

    "Orion Bloodthorn."

    "I see. Good luck for the fight, Orion." Jason smiled as he saw that his ''lightning steps'' skill still had two minutes remaining.

    "Same to you." Orion replied politely as Jason could finally see the resemnce between him and Brian.

    Both of them had the same ck eyes that were mostly set in a cold expression with the asion showcase of emotion.

    Jason upped his guard a bit for this round as he wondered what moves the boy would. But the moment the fight started, he was left surprised.

    "I abstain." Orion raised his right hand in the air as a halo appeared above his head and teleported him away.

    p Jason blinked in confusion as he looked at the screen to see ''winner'' appearing below his name again. Suddenly, Amber was also dered the winner as Jason saw Brian''s other child getting teleported back to the box.</anda>

    [ I smell a plot in the making. ] The systemmented as Jason shrugged.

    ''Our lives roam around plots. I wonder what a normal person''s life would feel like.'' Jason replied as he saw the fights pass by.

    In the end, eight children remained. The Feuer twins, one from Anvilone family, one from Bloodthorn family, three others and Jason himself.

    Jason then fought his quarter finals match which ended rather quickly. He just had to activate his movement skill and travel behind his opponent to end the fight.

    Thest two fights had left Jason bored but when it was time for the semi-finals, he knew that things would get interesting.

    "So its you and me, Andrew." Jason grinned as his opponent for the semi-finals was Andrew.

 Chapter 69 Jason Versus Andrew

    "One battle field now ranges up to half the arena." Zn reminded as he looked at the remaining participants with interest. He could already tell who would win and advance to the finals.

    Though he was slightly doubtful about the match between the Feuer child and Jason, the oue would be clear few minutes after the match''s start.

    "On the count of three, you will start," Zn announced as he started counting in reverse order, the audience chanting alongside him. "Three, two, one, start!"

    Andrew, having seen the oue of Jason''sst round, immediately attacked his opponent.

    A ten meter snake madepletely out of mes lunged towards Jason who eyed it with a fascinated gaze. He had seen Nora use his fire element to create various types of things yet the young demi-human couldn''te close inparison to Andrew''s snake.

    ''If not for the fact that itpletely made from fire, I would''ve thought that it was a real snake.'' Jason then decided to reveal some more of his skills, ncing up at the ss box for just a split second.

    Issac and Risa noticed this and exchanged a look across the box. They could tell what their grandson was nning to do and the only thing that was left to be seen was the way he would do it.

    "Dark Net." Jason muttered under his breath as heunched a made from his dark element in the direction of the snake.

    The was the same length as the snake which meant that unless the snake was curler, it wasn''t possible for the next topletely capture the creature inside it.

    Jason also knew this but he hadn''t been aiming at capturing the snake in the first ce. Instead, he flickered from his spot, using ''Lightning Steps'', and appeared right behind Andrew.

    "me Burst!" Andrew shouted the moment he saw theunched out of Jason''s hand.

    Andrew had expected this to happen after seeing the previous fight. He had already came up for a countermeasure just in case such a thing happened.

    Mana moved to the all parts of his body before forming a coating on his skin for half a second. It then shot out in the form of football sized fireballs which shot in every direction.

    Jason was barely able to dodge one of those due to moving out of the iing fireball''s way. The others had went around various parts of the arena before hitting the force field and vanishing.

    Andrew gave Jason a small smirk knowing that he had surprised thetter with his attack. Jason on the other hand felt excited at the fact that Andrew was giving him a challenge.

    [ Host, don''t use any other move except the ones you have used till now. ] The system suddenly stated as Jason moved a good distance away from Andrew.

    ''Even though I barely have any other move left to use, may I ask the reason as for why I can''t use any other move?'' He inquired while summoning a lightning bolt and throwing it at Andrew.

    His gaze then looked at the dark which had stuck to the fire snake''s body and held it one ce. Jason was surprised to see that the fire from the snake''s body didn''t seem to be doing anything to the.

    [ Just trust me on this. ] The system replied before going silent as Jason sighed. He decided to follow what the system had said and decided to use his already shown skills.

    ''I can still make adjustments to my used skills right?'' He inquired while dashing forward with another bolt of lightning in his hand.

    [ Yes, you can do that. ]

    After getting the system''s approval, Jason decided to use an old move of his that had never been officially converted into a skill.

    ''I guess this one is a bit modified version of it.'' He thought while throwing the bolt of lightning forward.

    Andrew had dodged the previous lightning bolt and was about to do the same with the current one too. Jason had been betting that Andrew would do the same thing again and his gamble paid off.

    The moment Andrew moved away to dodge the iing lightning bolt, Jason once again appeared behind him with another lightning bolt in his hand.

    Andrew noticed this and used the same move from earlier except he made one big mistake. He used the same thing again expecting it to have the same effect on Jason.

    "Check." Jason announced as he threw the lighting bolt in his hand towards the iing fireballs.

    ? The two attacks collided mid-air but instead of not exploding likest time, Andrew''s fireballs exploded and created a smoke screen around the two of them.

    ''I guess this is why control makes a big difference when fighting.'' Jason observed. Andrew hadn''t been able to control his fireballs properly due to the sudden attack by Jason which had forced them to explode.

    However, Jason had a much supreme control on both of his elements thanks to the many hours he had spent practicing.

    Andrew on the other hand realized that something was very wrong and his temporary loss of vision only worked against him.<sub> </sub>

    ''He threw another lightning bolt in my direction before appearing behind me!'' Andrew suddenly realized that the first lightning bolt had never reached him and neither had he seen it touch the ground.

    Moments after the realization, Andrew heard a crackling sound resound through his ears followed by an extreme amount of heat.

    "Checkmate." Jason spoke again as he the bolt of lightning passed from right beside Andrew''s throat.

    Many might say that he missed or that he purposefully did it to not deal any damage to Andrew. Jason would''ve also thought like these people if not for that fact that he had been the one creating the n.

    Though it had seemed that he had aimed the bolt of lightning towards Andrew, his original goal had been the dark stuck to the ground.

    He had freed it from the ground and had sensed that the fire snake had been absorbed by the next. So the moment the smoke screen had been created, Jason had vanished and appeared right beside the.

    He had easily been able to pick it up without feeling any kind of heat and had thrown it at Andrew alongside a lighting bolt.

    ''I wonder how he looks.'' Jason thought curiously as the smoke finally cleared up the audience was left stunned.

    Andrew waspletely wrapped in the dark that Jason had created from the starting of his chest to his knees. However, an even more surprising thing was that the radiated mild amounts of heat energy that increased the temperature around Andrew.

    Though Andrew wasn''t too worried about the temperature, being a high level fire mage, the heat made it difficult for him to break the as it somehow seemed to be strengthening it.

    "I abstain." Atst, he sighed and gave up. The around him suddenly turned to ashes as he was teleported back to the box.

    The audience pped loudly for Jason before shifting their gaze towards the other ongoing battle.

    < Questpleted. >

    < See rewards? >

    ''I will see themter.'' Jason replied after seeing the system window open. He was instead focusing on Amber''s battle.

    [ She has a unique way of fighting. ] The systemmented as both it and Jason were observing the fight.

    Amber wasn''t going on the offensive and instead seemed to be tiring her opponent out. Jason also noticed that she was only using her Earth element against her opponent which weirded him out.

    ''I think she is trying to learn how to be defensive in an actual fight.'' He suggested after seeing how Amber used her Earth element to manipte the ground.

    Those with a C grade affinity or higher could make use of the natural elements around them and manipte them with the help of mana.

    Amber was doing the same thing with the arena floor and was using it to create structure after structure. She would use the Earth as cover to protect herself from the attacks of her opponent, one of the two children Jason had seen with the old man.

    The boy wore a bright blue coat with the symbol of the Anvilone, an icicle with a blood red tip, shown on its back. Jason wondered whether the boy was an ice mage as all of his attacks had been wind attacks.

    His attacks contained enough force to break through the structures created by Amber but she didn''t looked the least bit worried.

    Jason noticed that she kept track of the boy''s moments, improvising her own strategy along the way. Soon enough, she was able to predict the boy''s move but he couldn''t do it as Amber hadn''t been offensive till now.

    As though sensing that the match had been going on for too long, Amber suddenly stopped controlling the Earth.

    The boy immediately put his guard up yet Amber smiled at him.

    "You were too focused on me." She said with a wink as the boy blinked in surprise. But he didn''t get the time to say anything as the ground below his feet suddenly opened up into arge hole.

    Amber had somehow managed to lure the boy to an area under her control and from there, she had managed to send him underground.

    A bright sh of light went inside the hole as the boy was teleported back the box. Amber then turned to look at Jason with a smile that didn''t reach her eyes.

    "I will be serious now." She announced as two golden rings suddenly appeared above their heads, teleporting them back to the box.

 Chapter 70 Lifelong Friend

    "Before proceeding to the finals, we will hold the match for the third position. We will then hold a thirty minutes break before the finals." Zn announced as Andrew and Amber''s previous opponent ended in the arena below.

    Jason and Amber were left in the box with their respective families. The two didn''t even get the time to exchange a look as their families started talking to them.

    "You fought well," Issac smiled while sitting beside Jason. "Now you just have to beat that girl and you will be the winner."

    "I know." Jason replied firmly as he stared down at the arena to see Andrew fighting fiercely with his opponent.

    He felt his blood pumping too as he wanted to be in the arena again and fighting. "Though there is one thing that you have to do in the next round," Risa whispered and exchanged a nce with Issac. "Jason, you have to make use of your thunder element in the finals."

    "Huh?" Jason blinked, wondering whether he had heard the right words. "Didn''t you say that I had to hide my powers?"

    "That''s what we said earlier but after holding a discussion with the heads of the other three families, I found out that all four of the families have a prodigy this year. That girl, Amber, will also use her magma element. Ariana told us that." Issac exined.

    Risa nodded in agreement. "All four of the families are trying to show that this time around, we have a few prodigies too. We have to do this so that the nobles know that you kids are powerful too and have to be taken seriously."

    "Ok, I will use my thunder element in the finals. Though my control over it is still not good, I think I can control it for a few minutes." Jason replied, his gaze shifting back to the match.

    A surprising scene awaited him. Amber''s opponent from thest round was suddenly throwing icicles at Andrew and the temperature below had fallen extremely low.

    Andrew continuously used his fire element to counter the attacks yet it was clear that the icicles being thrown by the boy were different from normal ice.

    "His name is Zeke Anvilone," Issac stated, noticing Jason''s eyes closely following Zeke''s movements. "He and Amber were supposed to use theirpound elements in thest fight but both of them used their weaker set of elements instead."

    "I wonder what the fight would''ve been like then." Jason muttered as he knew that Zeke had already won the bronze prize.

    His attacks and strategybined with his element was way too much for someone like Andrew to handle. He only had his fire element to rely on and it didn''t do him any good.

    Zeke had also realized this long ago and was instead trying out the limitations of his powers if they were used in a very small amount.

    ''This should be enough for not.'' Jason thought as he saw Zeke suddenly changing his pace. The ice mageunched in the air with the help of his wind element before raising his arm towards Andrew.

    Zeke barely whispered the name of his next attack but due to the system, Jason was able to clearly hear it.

    [ "Icicle barrage." ]

    Hundreds of icicles suddenly shot from Zeke''s palm and zoomed towards Andrew. However, Andrew didn''t look as though he had lost his fighting spirit.

    Amber''s twin raised both of his hands towards up and unleashed a huge wall of fire. Jason had a feeling that he was using all of his mana just to create a stable wall of fire.

    The first dozen or so icicles melted after passing inside the wall of fire. Andrew looked a bit happy at this but it was clear that he would be the one loosing in the end.

    He was only able to maintain the fire wall for a few more seconds before it started to shrink.

    "I abstain." Andrew sighed as he vanquished the fire wall and let himself get teleported back to the box.

    Jason nodded in approval since he would''ve also dome the same thing if he had been Andrew''s ce. It was important for a person to know when they had to back down from something.

    Everyone inside the coliseum started moving as it was time for the thirty minutes break. Even those sitting in the nobility rows or the ss box had stood up as they went to do some important stufff.

    The ss box still had more than half of the original amount of people inside, including the entire Syrward family.

    None of them had anything to do or at least that''s what they thought. Issac had been calmly sitting in his seat and talking to his friends when he felt a small twinge of electric current up his spine.

    "Excuse me but I have to go find Ray now. I will be back soon." Issac excused himself as he stood up and exited the ss box without saying anything to anyone.

    Only Risa and Jason felt a bit suspicious about Issac''s behavior.

    "Grandma, where is uncle Ray currently?" Jason asked curiously as he remembered that he hadn''t seen Ray even before entering the box.

    "Ray went to the Kamizel forest upon Brian''s request. He went there to see whether we can find anymore bandits and such." Risa replied with a shrug before smiling. "Jason, do you want to eat something sweet?"

    "Un!"

    "Then let''s go eat something."

    ***

    As soon as Issac left the coliseum, he rushed back towards the Bloodthorn mansion. His body wasn''t visible for even a second as he reached the mansion in a matter of seconds.<sub> </sub>

    "Karnaбн" Issac muttered as he saw the shepherd of Duphia standing in front of him in his young form. "I thought that you were joking about being here."

    "I wouldn''t joke about something that important." Karna pointed out yet Issac didn''t look convinced. Karna thought about saying something in his favor but quickly dismissed the thought. "We don''t have the time to talk about that right now."

    "I know. Also, are you sure that it''s Kerwin who hase here to talk with Zn and that the demons have sent someone as their representative too?" Issac inquired, his eyes turning serious.

    "I saw the demi-human carriage myself and after lurking around the royal pce created here, I am ny percent sure that the demons sent someone too." Karna confirmed as Issac fell in deep thought.

    He knew that the demi-humans and the demons could''ve only sent a representative if something wrong was happening or if they wanted to gather something.

    Issac knew that his theory sounded far fetched and unbelievable, he had a feeling that the two parties would try to capture Nora and Jason too.

    Or he could bepletely wrong and they were here to talk about their kingdom''s rtionships or something.

    "Let''s go and see whether they are talking with Zn currently." Issac replied after thinking for a long time. "Tell me you kept track of the demi-human carriage and its residents."

    "What do you think of me as?" Karna grumbled, making Issac grin.

    "I think of you as my friend. A lifelong friend." He dered as Karna could only shake his head and sigh.

    "Let''s just go. You take us around the important parts of the city and I will make sure that we aren''t captured."

    "Sounds like a n." Issac grinned before cing a hand on Karna''s shoulder. "Be prepared for an extremely fast ride."

    Issac then activated his thunder element and in the blink of an eye, the two of them vanished from the spot.

    The first ce Issac wanted to check was the royal pce built in Troyalias. It wasn''t used by the king of the kingdom as it was Zn''s pce.

    Zn''s pce was barely an attraction of the city due to the arena situated in the middle of the city, though it was built well.

    Perhaps it was wrong to call the entire structure as a pce since it was designed in such a way that it could be used as a stronghold in case of an attack.

    Five tall towers around half the height of the coliseum surrounded the pce, all of them painted red and white and connected by towering walls made of ck stone. The walls don''t have a single opening, neither in the form of a hole or a window.

    A huge gate with colossal red metal doors guards the only entrance to the pce followed by a posting of guards standing all around it as well as on the guard posts created on the towers.

    The houses of the wealthiest, most influential, strongest as well as the most intelligent humans surrounded these walls.

    "This reminds me of the castles we ransacked in the past." Karna muttered as the two of the suddenly appeared inside the walls.

    Karna then used his skills to prevent the two of them from being seen by the guards. They then looked at the real pce in the distance which was much smaller aspared to the walls.

    Zn had designed it specifically while keeping defenses and a strategical building in mind. That was one of the qualities of the prime minister that Issac liked, he didn''t waste money on useless things.

    ''If only he could be the king.'' Issac sighed aloud before the two of them got closer to the pce.

    Entering it was mostly impossible, even for high level mages. The security, which included sensory type mages, were active throughout the pce.

    Even Issac wouldn''t have dared to enter the pce if he didn''t have Karna with him.

    "We will take a look around the pce in less than five minutes. If we don''t find anyone, we go back to the coliseum and search there." Issac exined the n before the two of them went to the back of the pce.

    They found one of the backdoors in the pce which was used by the servants.

    Security was present there too but Issac''s speed and Karna''s abilities allowed the duo to easily bypass the security.

    The duo then roamed around the pce for a few minutes and checked almost every important room known to them.

    Though they had a few unfortunate encounters, one happening inside a bedroom where two lovers were embracing each other, Issac and Karna managed toplete their search.

    "I guess we are going to the coliseum now." Karna muttered as they suddenly appeared at the walls surrounding the pce.

    They hadn''t found anything inside the pce which could only mean that the three parties were gathered at the coliseum.

    "Indeed." Issac then shot out towards the coliseum, determined to hear the discussion.

    ''I hope that we hear an important discussionбн'' Karna sighed as he was dragged away by Issac, his lifelong friendбн

 Chapter 71 Zilans Plan And Rework

    In a ce situated behind the thronesбн

    "So, have you located that family?" A demi-human with tomato red hair questioned Zn.

    Both of them were sitting opposite of each other while trying to guess the other''s motives. Though both parties had shared their opinions, they were not ready to trust the other fully.

    "Don''t worry, Kerwin. Nora Syrward is present here though I have no idea how you are going to get him," Zn replied, indicating that he wanted to know Kerwin''s n. "Issac will rip your arms and feed them to you before letting you even touch that child."

    The demi-human prince looked the least bit interested in sharing his n on capturing his nephew.

    "What I need is a distraction. Also, I am not the only one who is here to kidnap a child." Kerwin muttered as both of them turned to look at the third figure in the room.

    A familiar demonmander was sitting on a couch in the room. He lifted his head to meet the other two''s gaze before smiling.

    "I guess I am the only one who can create a distraction big enough for the two of us to take Jason and Nora away." The demonmander replied.

    If Jason saw him, he would of course just nce over him as he had never met the demon. Risa on the other hand would be cracking her knuckles.

    The demon was none other than Nero. He was the one who had led the investigation ion Duphia years ago and was once again back at the ce to kidnap Jason.

    He had been ordered to do so by the demon king, using the Crystal ceremony as a distraction. Though considering the amount of security, it was kinda impossible to do that in front of so many eyes

    ''Who knew that the demon king rummaging inside my head wouldn''t count as breaking the oath I swore back then.'' Nero mused while remembering the past.

    Immediately after returning to the demon continent, his memories had been searched by the demon king. He had seen everything that had happened back at Duphia alongside Nero''s other memories.

    The demonmander patted himself on the backter on as he thanked himself for not indulging in any activity that the demon king hated.

    However, despite seeing his memories, the demon king hadn''t made a move until currently.

    Nero had no idea what the demon king was thinking but for him, following orders correctly was enough.

    After all, he had reached his position by following orders only.

    "Then you can start your n moments after the finals are over," Zn replied in an emotionless tone. "I believe you should see Jason''s progress before that."

    Both Nero and Kerwin were suddenly interested in seeing the finals after hearing that the half-demon.

    "When you call to give them the awards, we will strike." Nero muttered as Zn nodded and asked the two of them to go the opposite side of the arena so that they would directly be facing the ss box.

    Though it initially sounded stupid, there was another hidden ss box there so that a few people could watch the battles in the arena without any interruptions.

    It was usually used by royal family members if they wanted to avoid the public eyes. However, it hadn''t been used since a long time and many people had forgotten about its existent.

    ''Well, getting them to believe that I''m on their side went smoother than expected.'' Zn thought silently knowing well that he had managed to convince Nero and Kerwin that he was on their side.

    He still had his guard up as he knew that Nero and Kerwin were no kids. Both of them would expect a betrayal yet not on that Zn had nned for them.

    Unknown to all three of them, two men were lurking right outside the supposedly secret room.

    "Oh Zn, why are you trying so hard to y both the sidesбн" Issac muttered from right outside the door.

    He and Karna had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation from outside.

    Issac knew that Zn secretly nned to get both the prince and Nero captured and ask the kings of their respective kingdoms for some kind of gifts to get the two of them back.

    Though the n sounded nice in theory, Issac knew that it was bound to fail. The current demon king was nothing like his predecessors.

    Even if the demi-human king was fooled a bit, the chances of the same thing happening with the demon king were dead zero.

    Furthermore, Kerwin was the son of the demi-human ruler so the chances of his father agreeing to something like that were high.

    As for Neroбн his chances were less than zero, ording to Issac that is.

    "You think warning him about this would work?" Karna asked curiously as Issac shook his head.

    "If I know anything about Zn is the fact that no matter how hard you try, you can''t make him change his decision. Also, he didn''t decide to warn us about this thing so there is no point in warning him."

    Issac then stood up and stretched his body a bit.

    "Let''s go back to the box." He dered before grabbing Karna''s shoulder and vanishing from their ce.

    However, he still felt a bit doubtful.<sub> </sub>

    ''There is no way that Zn doesn''t know the truth. Could he be doing this due to his brother''s request?'' he thought silently.

    Issac and Karna then appeared right in front of the ss box.

    "Issac, what did you tell your family before leaving the ss box?" Karna inquired curiously as Issac paused in his steps.

    "I told them that I was going to get Rayбн" he muttered while trying to find an excuse.

    Issac knew that Ray had gone to the Kamizel forest to do some more research on the phantom of the forest.

    Issac decided to just tell his family the truth as he knew that Jason and Risa hadn''t believed him in the first ce.

    What Issac didn''t know was that Alex had went alongside Ray as he had wanted to help the family.

    Risa had also contacted Ray so Issac''s n had flopped either way.

    Issac and Karna then stepped inside the ss box before making their way towards Risa and Jason.

    Karna attracted little to no attention as he was back to his old form.

    But those who knew him looked at him in surprise as they knew what the old man could do. After staring for a few seconds, they averted their gazes since Karna wasn''t there to do anything to them.

    Jason and Risa were calmly sitting in their eats and were eating chocte ice-creams. Though as soon as they felt two familiar auras around them, they turned to look at Issac and Karna sitting right beside them.

    "Karna, what are you doing here?" Risa immediately inquired while looking around with narrowed eyes.

    She could tell who knew about Karna''s real identity and due to his old form, the others didn''t recognize him.

    Otherwise, it might have led to some awkward situations.

    "It doesn''t matter why I am here. There is something that all of you should know." Karna replied as Issac summoned Zara and Nora closer to them with a hand gesture.

    After all of them gathered around, Karna created an invisible noise proof bubble around them to prevent any information from leaking outside.

    Though they got a few weird looks, everyone seemed to decide that they had better things to do than stare at a group of family bringing chaos with them.

    Issac thenunched into an exnation of the recent events as the expressions of the Syrward family members became grim.

    [ You don''t need to worry too much about the kidnapping since its guaranteed that you will be safe. ] The system pointed out.

    ''Yeah but I''m more worried about the future. Grandpa is saying that there might be a war taking ce in the future. My progress is way too damn slow to be of any use in a war.'' Jason pointed out.

    [ Host, you are tenбн ] The system sighed. [ Also, that''s brings me to your reward. Open your quests section and im your reward. ]

    Jason did as told and collected his reward for thepleted quest. He was still curious to see what rewards the question marks were holding.

    DING!

    < After observing the status of the people of the world as well as the power system, the system will be undergoing aplete rework. >

    < Some features avable after rework: System shop, simplification of progression. >

    < Time required for the rework: 1 hour

    Note: You can use all of the system''s abilities during the rework. >

    < Start rework? >

    A barrage of system windows hit Jason in the face. It took him a minute to read all of them but after he was done, he immediately agreed to start the rework.

    He cared about his progression a lot but the unlocking of system shop seemed more important to him.

    If Jason remembered correctly, system shops were usually the storehouse for some of the most important and powerful items.

    He would only need to wait for an hour to confirm whether it was true or not.

    [ In the meantime, you have the finals to look forward to. ] The system pointed out as Jason looked out of the ss box.

    Zn was already floating in the air in front of the box. Simultaneously, two golden halos appeared above Jason and Amber''s heads.

    "Now that the break is over, it is time for the final battle. Please wee Amber Feuer and Jason Syrward with loud cheers!"

 Chapter 72 The Guardian Of Magmaland

    "Jason, don''t hold back." Issac whispered in Jason''s ears once before he was teleported down to the arena floor.

    Amber and Jason appeared in the arena with a fifty meter distance between them.

    Amber had a smile on her face and was cracking her knuckles. Jason on the other hand stood in his position calmly while summoning small sparks of lightning around his fingers.

    [ To use thunder effectively, you have to use your lightning element to its full potential. Always remember that Thunder is more than just a sound. ] The system suggested hopefully.

    Jason would be lying if he said that he wasn''t nervous.

    It would be the first time he would actually be using his thunder element in action and had no idea how thing would go.

    "The rules remain the same except that you have the entire arena floor to fight on." Zn exined, his eyes ncing at the hidden box once. "The battle starts on the count of three."

    The crowd, alongside Zn, started the countdown. The moment the number reached zero, Jason felt the ground below his feet starting to tremble.

    An earthquake shook the entire arena floor as slight cracks ran against the ground. Jason''s eyes were fixated on Amber, the smile from earlier still visible on her face.

    ''I guess she isn''t going to hold back.'' Jason thought as he activated his lightning steps skill while keeping an eye on his mana.

    He had already used his skill way too frequently and if not for the break, Jason was sure that he would have run out of mana mid-fight.

    "Phewбн" Jason exhaled slowly while letting his lightning mana run wild around his body. A pping sound resounded throughout the arena as sparks of lightning flickered around Jason''s body.

    He suddenly shot in the air, the lightning now visible around him. It was wrapped around his limbs in the form of tendrils and gave him the look of a god descending from heavens.

    ''So he is showing his thunder element. I guess I should use magma too.'' Amber suddenly closed her eyes in concentration before joining both of her hands together.

    The trembling ground suddenly went still, making Jason feel uneasy. He decided to not take a risk and pointed his right hand towards Amber.

    The lightning running wildly around his arm suddenly centralized itself towards the target and shot from Jason''s arm in the form of a huge lightning bolt.

    The audience held their breath in silence as the lightning directly struck Amber. A cloud of smoke block anyone from seeing the oue of the sh.

    ''She survivedбн'' Jason narrowed his eyes while slightly using his vision control. Though he wasn''t able to see clearly through the smoke, his eyes could see mana in any object or person.

    An outline of sorts would appear around the person Jason would look at with his eyes, the color of the outline depending on the type of mana the person or the object had.

    Currently, Jason could see Amber standing still in the middle of the smoke. A mixture of bright red and brown outline was visible around her arms.

    However she wasn''t the main focus of Jason''s eyes.

    He was staring at the objects Amber seemed to have summoned at thest possible second to avoid getting hit by the lightning.

    It was a huge rock the size of two elephantsbined, both in height and width. Small pores were also present in the rock which seemed to be oozing some kind of fiery substance.

    The smoke had initially been produced by the sh between the rock and the lightning but the fiery substance was making sure that it didn''t die down.

    ''Magma element.'' Jason felt something click in his mind as he suddenly flew backwards, just in time to dodge one such rock flying in his direction.

    Jason finally got a clear view of the rock and it was enough for him to avoid getting hit by one of them or else he would be a t tire.

    Suddenly, Jason saw another living source of mana pop up right beside Amber. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he sensed that the new living thing was someone familiar.

    "Uh, is it allowed to use your pets during battles?" Jason asked aloud as Zn stared at him with a surprised expression.

    The prime minister had of course known about the sudden appearance of another living being beside Amber despite the smokescreen.

    Zn hadn''t expected Jason to be able to know about the creature as he couldn''t see past the cloud of smoke. Or at least that''s what Zn assumed.

    ''Wait, are his eyes glowing?'' Zn paused, his eyes narrowing to get a clear view. However, what he had seen must''ve been a trick of light as Jason''s pupils looked normal.

    "Pets are allowed as long as its either one with a soul bond or its a guardian." Zn replied firmly, knowing well that Jason would''ve no idea about either of the two categories.

    Zn had been present at the time when the Syrward family was cursed to be not able to tell any sort of helpful information to their future generations.

    The king at that time had been Zn''s father. At that time, Zn had felt that the punishment was way too light but over the years, he finally understood why his father had ced such a curse on the Syrward family.

    It was to make sure that they weren''t able to turn their future generation into powerhouses. This would ensure that the bnce of power was maintained.<sub> </sub>

    ''If only father knew how wrong he was.'' Zn sighed mentally as his eyes kept track of the battlefield.

    Neither Jason nor Amber had made any move and the audience was left waiting in suspense.

    Amber was hesitating to do anything due to the fact that Jason had managed to pierce through the smoke and had foiled her surprise attack.

    Jason too was hesitating to attack as he had a feeling that the thing Amber had summoned would attack him alongside her, making the fight a two versus one.

    ''System, is it just me or does that shape remind you of mey?'' Jason inquired while trying hard to focus on the shape of the creature.

    It was definitely not longer than a feet and had a lizard like body. It also had a tailing out from its rear end, making it look a whole lot like Amber''s pet magma smander.

    [ It does look like him though he seemed harmless. ] The system stated while looking at the creature through Jason''s eyes.

    ''Most things that look harmless and pretty are sometimes the most dangerous ones.'' Jason reminded.

    The crowd was getting bored of the long stalemate where both the children weren''t doing anything.

    "Come on, just throw a few attacks and be done!" Suddenly, a man''s voice rose throughout the arena, soon followed by many more chants.

    Jason watched the audience with an emotionless face, silently wondering the reason for all the nameless people shouting together.

    He could understand the feeling that they wanted to see some action but only five minutes had passed since the start of the match. Also, wasn''t it clear how tense the situation was?

    [ They are not the ones on the floor of the arena and nor are they the ones seeing the entire picture. Its just cheap entertainment for them before their kids can choose an alliance. ] The system sighed.

    Jason was about to argue with the system on that yet someone else beat it to him.

    "Some humans can never learn to be patient when they don''t understand the situation." A tired voice suddenly echoed around the entire arena.

    The voice had an ent no one had ever heard before yet for some reason, they felt a bit suppressed by it.

    "I didn''t know she could summon a guardian." Risa muttered in an impressed tone while staring at Amber''s grandmother, Ariana.

    "She learned from the best. Though we didn''t get any guardian bearer in our family for ages, we still kept teaching our children to the best of our abilities." Ariana''s voice contained traces of pride which was quite rare to see.

    "Must be nice to be able to teach your grandchildrenбн" Risa muttered under her breath as the twodies watched the smoke vanish from the arena.

    The trembling of the ground resumed once again, this time much stronger than before.

    < The Guardian of Magmnd has chosen to enter his vessel. >

    Jason saw a blood red window open in front of him. At first, he thought that it was a system window telling him of what was about to happen in the future.

    But one nce around him told Jason that everyone was seeing the same message. Though the others didn''t see it in a window like his and had instead heard the message echoing around the entire arena.

    The smoke cleared up, allowing Jason to finally see mey perched up on Amber''s right shoulder.

    The magma smander''s eyes were glowing a shade of blood red simr to the window that had opened up in front of Jason.

    His body was also releasing a dangerous aura which had managed to put the entire arena in silence.

    "I eptбн" Amber suddenly mumbled as mey vanished from her shoulder.

    Jason could still track his aura as the smander''s aura suddenly merged with Amber''s aura. A heat wave blew over the entire arena, drying out the atmosphere in a matter of seconds.

    The cracks created in the ground by Amber''s attack during the beginning of the match suddenly started widening, forcing Jason tounch himself higher in the air.

    He had temporarily turned off the release of lightning around his body as it cost him a bit too much of his mana.

    If not for how he could recover one mana per thirty seconds, Jason was sure that he would be running out of mana sooner orter.

    A few secondster, another message echoed around the entire arena.

    < The Guardian of Magmnd has entered the battlefield sessfully! >

 Chapter 73 Chaotic Finale [Part 1]

    Jason simply hovered in the air while observing Amber''s body from above. If it was the him from a few years ago, he would be cursing out loud for such unfairness.

    ''The world is gray.'' He repeated the words told to him by grandmother some time ago. The world wasn''t fair in things yet for every piece of bad luck one had, there would be good luck waiting for them in the near future.

    ''System, remind me to go research about guardians after we are done here.'' Jason muttered, his eyes continuing to monitor his surroundings.

    [ No need for that host. Once the system has been reworked, you will have a huge source of information, at least that''s what Lord Erebus told me. ]

    ''Ere contacted you?'' Jason felt slightly surprised. Unfortunately, he couldn''t carry on this conversation for long as Amber suddenly made her move.

    "Magma storm." She spoke aloud, her eyes staring directly at Jason.

    The cracks running in the ground started oozingva all over, sending steam into the air. Jason''s eyes could see the sameva depositing inside the ground, making it turn into magma.

    ''The ground is literally going to attack me.'' Jason realized the next instance as thend rumbled mightily.

    The ground split into a dozen pieces, all of them being the size of multiple elephantsbined. Jason didn''t know the exact measurements but he was sure that getting hit by even one of them wouldnd him ina for years toe.

    Suddenly, all of them rose up at once and shot towards Jason immediately.

    Jason didn''t move from his ce and contrary to almost everyone''s expectations, he closed his eyes.

    He took a deep breath while extending his arms to their fullest such that both of his hand were stretched far out.

    The lightning in his feet slowly moved upwards and coiled around his hands. Jason started to descend down from the sky as the equal proportionality of lightning was the only thing keeping him in the air.

    "Thunder releaseбн" He murmured, only to give his new technique a cheap name.

    Jason knew that the floor below him would be full ofva which would attack him as soon as he came in its range.

    He would''ve rather stayed in the air but by doing so, he would''ve been crushed by the rocks.

    A crackling sound suddenly reverberated throughout the arena, making many children''s ears pop. Some of the toddlers and infants present in the arena started crying after hearing the sudden noise.

    Even many adults experienced the same thing as a few cries of pain echoed throughout the arena.

    ''Are both of them really ten years old or are Issac and Ariana fighting each other in a disguise?'' Zn silently wondered but soon dismissed the thought as Ariana couldn''t use magma element.

    Jason was the cause of all of this as the lightning around his hands suddenly started glowing purple.

    It turned so pure that even the slightest twitch of Jason''s finger would send it on a rampage.

    Jason also felt that if he held the thunder for any longer than a minute, his hands arms would be burnt or torn off by its raw power.

    That was why he freely shot the thunder outwards, exhausting more than half of his currently remaining mana.

    However, it was worth the mana loss as the thunder lit up the entire arena and bathed it in a purple glow. The thunder shot in all directions with a crackling sound as it crashed with the iing pieces of magma blocks.

    Explosions caused by the sh blinded every single person. Even Zn had to sense the two participants using their mana to make sure that they were safe.

    ''This doesn''t feel like a kids tournament anymore.'' Zn thought while wondering how those who had been chanting felt.

    None of them could see anything this time as the smoke had spread across the entire arena.

    Jason and Amber however could keep track of each other, the former with his skill and thetter with the help of mey.

    The Syrward family and Karna were also watching this from the ss box, waiting for either party to make a move.

    However, Karna suddenly pulled into a corner of the room before blinking in surprise.

    ''Huh?'' Karna inquired as he heard the sound of a goat bleating inside his mind. ''Feta, are sure you want to do that?''

    "Meh!" came the reply.

    ''Its your choice in the end.'' Karna replied mentally as he was somehow able to talk to his goat through a mental connection.

    Karna then silently moved away from the box without anyone noticing him. He slipped through the entrance and walked a bit further away before raising both of his hands towards the arena floor.

    "Good luck, Feta." Karna muttered, shortly followed by the sound of Feta echoing inside his mind.

    Karna started muttering some chant under his breath as two golden symbols appeared on the palms of both of his hand.

    < The Guardian of Animolis has left your body and you are no longer serving as her temporary vessel. >

    A mechanical message resounded inside Karna''s mind followed by the shattering of his hidden connection with Feta.

    The two symbols on his palm also vanished alongside the message as Karna lowered his arms, his eyes looking at Jason with curiosity.<sub> </sub>

    ''I wonder what is it about you that led to Feta choosing you as her vessel.'' He wondered silently before moving inside the ss box again without letting anyone notice him.

    Jason on the other hand saw some kind of fluctuation happening right in front of him. A white window suddenly popped open in front of him, making him squint to read the words correctly.

    < The Guardian of Animolis is asking for you to be her vessel. >

    < Benefits:

    - You will have a mental bond with the guardian allowing the two of you two talk over any distance.

    - You can share some of your guardian''s mana pool as well as theirs skills. You can also merge together with them in times of need and get a serious power up. >

    "What theбн" Jason''s jaw unhinged slightly, his eyes looking around to see who this guardian figure was.

    "Mehhhh!" Suddenly, the sound of a goat bleating echoed inside his mind.

    Jason body went still as he wondered whether releasing thunder had short-circuited his brain.

    [ Host, its Fetaбн ] The system mumbled, making Jason narrow his eyes.

    "Feta, is that you?" He whispered while looking out for any sudden movement. "Meh twice if its you."

    "Meh! Meh!" The goat did as told yet Jason still felt a bit uneasy. He had no idea how feta was even talking inside his head, much less how a guardian had contacted him.

    [ "Jason, ept it." ] As if the situation wasn''t chaotic enough, a new voice popped up inside his head, making three voices stay inside his head.

    ''Now who are you?'' Jason demanded, momentarily forgetting that there was a fight going on.

    [ "Kid, you already forgot your one and only dearest patron?" ] The voice sounded hurt yet Jason could easily decipher how fake it sounded.

    ''Ok Ere, enough drama. Tell me what is happening.'' Jason rubbed his forehead as he was currently stuck in the middle of a chaotic situation.

    If Jason considered the entire journey from Duphia to Troyalias, the entire thing had been way too chaotic.

    Half of the things hadn''t made sense and had happened in weird ways like one plot after the other without either of them being resolved.

    [ "I get how you are feeling but unfortunately, your life until your teenage years is going to continue like this. I know its too chaotic and senseless at times but trust me when I say that it will get betterter on." ] Erebus tried his best to reassure his only follower.

    ''Just tell me what is happening currently.'' Jason sighed while slowly rubbing his temples.

    The smoke had also started clearing meaning that the fight would be getting resumed again.

    ''Amber could already be nning her another attack while I am stuck hereбн'' Jason observed, his eyes keeping track of Amber''s location only to find out that she was standing in one spot for the past five minutes.

    [ "Jason, a guardian has a very different role in this world. You know the basic definition so it should suffice for now. Also, look below you." ]

    Jason did as told and turned his gaze downwards only to see a pool of boilingva below him. He was hovering a few feet above it without the help of his lightning.

    This irked Jason very much and forced him to ask Erebus yet another question.

    ''How?'' He inquired.

    [ "Let''s just say the goat named Feta has gotten a bit attached to you. She is the guardian who wants to enter your body. ept for now and I wille to exin thingster during your dream." ]

    ''I seeбн'' Jason mumbled, his eyes ncing over the content written on the screen once again.

    If Feta was indeed a guardian, as Erebus imed, then it meant that he would also get the same amount of power as Amber.

    Though this could result in a stalemate, Jason found it working extremely well in his favor. It was not everyday that he was blessed with such things, after all.

    "I ept." He replied in a firm voice, waiting for something to happen.

    The windows closed in front of his face followed byplete silence. Jason was left blinking in confusion for a few seconds as nothing seemed to happen.

    Then as if someone had turned a broken radio on, a buzzing sound took over the entire arena. It seemed as though the mechanical voice which had announced the arrival of Amber''s guardian was malfunctioning a bit.

    [ Hello, Jason. ] Alongside the buzzing noise, a gentle female voice entered his years. It contained traces of happiness, excitement and a strange familiarity.

    "Feta?" Jason had just asked when the strange buzzing was reced by the mechanical voice again.

    Jason felt like banging his head on the wall just to get a clear sense during the chaos.

    < The Guardian of Anipolis has sessfully entered the battlefield. >

 Chapter 74 Chaotic Finale [Part 2]

    Name: Jason Syrward

    Race: Half-Demon

    Guardian: The Guardian Of Anipolis

    Mana: 20000/20000(base) , 900000000/900000000 (guardian)

    ---

    Power.

    Raw power.

    Jason felt raw power rushing through his veins as his body went through a series of changes. All the sweat umted during the fight vanished and the feeling of tiredness he had slowly started feeling vanished.

    Jason felt that with a single punch, he could shake an entire mountain.

    [ System to host, we currently have a fight ongoing and though the power-up sure is nice, you might get defeated due to not paying attention. ] The system''s voice suddenly broke him out of his daze.

    His eyes directly moved to where Amber was standing before flickering over to Zn. The prime minister was staring at Jason as well, their gazes meeting mid-air.

    ''Guardian of Anipolisбн I remember big brother sent a group of five elites to capture that guardian who was supposedly seen inside Duphia.'' Zn slightly narrowed his eyes while remembering the past.

    The elite group had never made it back to the capital and Zn''s brother, the king, had refused to send anyone in search of the elite group.

    It was clear that the five had been killed yet the question that remained was, who killed them?

    Zn had always imagined that the guardian had killed them but now that he was in the presence of the same guardian, his theory was confirmed.

    ''I have to talk to that boy,'' Zn thought before ncing at the secret ss box on the other side of the arena. ''Which means that I have to take care of them as well.''

    Of course Zn had no idea that Issac had already overheard his conversation beforehand and knew what he was nning.

    Simultaneously, Jason also recovered the memories that had been removed from his mind by Erebus.

    They came crashing down on him like a waterfall, making him clutch his head. It felt as though someone was poking holes in his head using needles.

    [ Jason, calm downбн ] Feta''s voice suddenly echoed inside his head, slightly numbing the pain.

    Jason did as instructed and tried to calm himself, resulting in multiple failures and headaches. However atst, he was finally able to calm himself down and navigate through the set of memories.

    ''Feta, was it you who killed that Otis guy and the rest of his teammates?'' Jason inquired as he had went through the set of memories.

    [ They are not exactly dead. Just stuck in another world. ] Feta sighed, knowing well enough that she owed Jason an exnation. [I will try to exin things afterwards. Just focus on defeating that smander for now.]

    The moment she finished speaking, a barrage of magma rocks shot towards Jason. It was only due to his eyes that he was able to see theming towards him despite the smoke.

    [ Try doing the same thing you did before but instead of throwing the thunder out casually, think of it as one of your limbs and control it that way. ] Feta instructed as she used her experience to guide Jason.

    Jason did as told as he summoned a huge voltage of lightning around his arms. The raw power traveling through his veins made Jason''s ears pop a bit, something he didn''t pay much attention to.

    He instead focused on the lightning while thinking of the raw energy he had released earlier. The crackling sound once again spread throughout his surroundings as thunder escaped his body from the tips of his hands.

    The entire arena was taken up by a storm while Jason felt the thunder extending like a part of his own body.

    He followed Feta''s words and tried to control them in this manner. At first, the thunder seemed to be going out of control as it directly shed against multiple magma rocks.

    ''Come on Jason. You have been through way too many chaotic situations to be slowing down right now!'' Jason shouted at himself mentally.

    Tic!

    A clicking sound suddenly resounded through his mind as the thunder stopped advancing. It froze in the air as though someone had paused time.

    Jason blinked in surprise when he saw this happen but he didn''t have the time to stop and separate. He immediately made the thunder move around him and destroy the magma rocks one after the other.

    Jason couldn''t help but be surprised by how well he was doing as all of the magma rocks were destroyed one after the other.

    This resulted in even more explosions and spreading of debris all around the arena floor. Amber wasn''t spared from them either, having to erect a firewall in front of her.

    Jason chose this moment to advance in and attack as the thunder moved towards his legs. He felt even faster than the moment he used his lightning steps, appearing directly behind Amber in the blink of an eye.<sub> </sub>

    ''The hellбн'' Amber''s eyes caught Jason moving behind her a split second before he hit her squarely in the chest

    mey had managed to erect a magma shield for her yet the rock had easily been shattered by Jason''s kick, sending debris directly towards Amber''s body and inflicting minor wounds.

    One of the magma pieces, however, directly struck her right should and left her arm numb.

    "I won." Jason spoke clearly as he appeared behind Amber once again, his index finger touching the back of her throat as sparks flew all around the duo.

    "I knowбн" Amber sighed as she felt mey''s presence slowly leaving her body. The smander instead appeared on her left shoulder and red at Jason.

    Thetter red back at the small lizard for a few seconds before averting his gaze. Jason had better things to do than indulge in a staringpetition with a smander.

    He retracted all of his lightning back towards his body before ncing right at the ss box.

    Jason could tell that his actions would''ve attracted the attention of too many people but he didn''t seem to care.

    He had not only won thepetition but had also managed to gain a guardian, something he knew very little about.

    Jason''s spirits were very high and he was feeling good, thinking of the awarding ceremony, when he felt strength leaving his body.

    [ I am sorry Jason but you have to use your own strength to stay standing now. I will be back during the night. ] Feta''s voice sounded very far away as she left Jason''s body.

    The ten-year-old felt as though someone had just sucked all energy out of his body. His head felt a lot dizzy as though he would crash down on the ground the next second.

    His legs had suddenly turned jelly-like as he stumbled in an attempt to keep standing straight.

    ''Systemбн'' Jason was about to ask as he suddenly lost bnce and was about to fall face forward. ''I guess that''s how the tournament arc endsбн'' He thought while falling.

    "You did excellent. I''m proud of you, Jason." A familiar voice entered his ears as Jason fell his body hitting something solid yet soft.

    His eyes were only slightly open as he caught a trace of red hair, instantly knowing that it was Risa.

    "Grandmaбн" Jason murmured as he heard a chuckle.

    "Of course, kiddo." She replied, her voice containing traces of pride.

    Jason was leaning on her back before Risa turned around and grabbed him by the shoulders. She then raised her right hand and pressed it to his forehead.

    Jason felt his strength returning slowly as his eyes opened fully. He nced around to see that Ariana, the head of the Feuer family, was kneeling down beside Amber.

    She too looked exhausted just like Jason, the fight having drained both of them physically as well as mentally.

    [ This is one of the huge aftereffects one faces after merging with a guardian. ] The system informed after Jason had recovered to quite some extent.

    ''Maybe that would''ve been a good thing to know before actually connecting with one. What if we were in an actual battlefield?'' Jason questioned while standing straight on his feet.

    [ Not like its my fault! Erebus prevented me from telling you the truth as he had a feeling that you would refuse to ept Feta as your guardian. ] The system spoke in its defense.

    ''I was just joking, no need to get this serious.'' Jason amended before ncing in Zn''s direction again.

    The prime minister wasn''t looking back at him and instead seemed to be staring into the crowd. Perhaps he had located someone important inside the crowd.

    ''I need to stop them before they make their advance.'' Zn, however, was trying to think how he could stop Kerwin and Nero before they could leave the hidden ss box.

    He debated whether to go there himself or not but never got the chance to make a decision. If he suddenly approached that area, people would get suspicious.

    Perhaps he could try talking to them telepathically.

    ''Damn it!'' Zn cursed as he suddenly felt the auras of the demi-human prince and Nero popping right behind the arena.

    He wasn''t the only one who sensed them as both Risa and Ariana had sensed them too.

    The two old women exchanged a nce,municating through gazes instead of words. Both of them knew that the two auras weren''t good news.

    "One of them is that guy Nero and the second one is Kerwin. I told you about them before." Risamunicated without speaking anything.

    Ariana nodded slightly before both of them turned their gazes down. They were thinking the same thing.

    They were going to capture Nero and Kerwin.

 Chapter 75 Be Prepared For The Future

    Risa and Ariana circted some of their mana to the bottom of their feet and let it pass into the ground.

    Nero and Kerwin, both of whom had been nning to go unnoticed underground, felt the mana approaching them steadily.

    Both of them immediately snapped to attention as they knew that their n had been foiled.

    "Damn itбн Its her." Kerwin muttered under his breath while ring at the ground above him.

    Nero looked up simultaneously as well since both of them were quite familiar with the mana. Both Nero and Kerwin had felt the same mana in the past few years.

    "Risaбн" Nero mumbled before exchanging a nce with Kerwin. "I don''t think staying under the ground is a good idea anymore."

    "Oh you think?!" Kerwin eximed sarcastically. "It''s the worst thing we could be doing right now!"

    "You could have said that without that tone." Neromented, his lips curling up slightly. "Well, good luck trying to escape on your own."

    Kerwin blinked in confusion for a few seconds before realizing what Nero meant but by then, it had been toote.

    Nero''s body flickered right in front of Kerwin as the demonmander vanished and appeared right inside the secret ss box again.

    Nero had already anticipated that something like this would happen so he had set an escape route for himself. He knew that the demi-human prince would be overconfident and had left him behind as a bait.

    Kerwin was left baffled by this as he felt two pressures suddenly weighing him down. Only one of them belonged to Risa while the other was unknown to Kerwin.

    "Kerwin, I thought that cursing one of your children would''ve made you understand that its useless to do anything against my family but I guessбн I was wrong." Risa''s voice whispered inside Kerwin''s mind.

    The demi-human prince felt his body slowly freezing up as he started rising towards the surface. Risa was looking at him with a cold expression above ground.

    However, no sooner had Nero''s head popped out of the ground that his body got stuck in the ground. He looked at Risa with a slightly terrified expression but she wasn''t looking at him.

    "Arianaбн" Risa''s eyes met with Ariana''s as the two women came to a silent understanding.

    The head of the Feuer family wrapped her mana around Kerwin and instead of yanking him to the surface, she created multiple magic circles around him.

    Kerwin felt his consciousness slipping away as the magic circles seemed to suck his mana.

    Ariana was deliberately doing that so she could conserve her own mana while making sure that Kerwin had no way of counterattacking them.

    Zn watched this from the sky with an emotionless expression on his face.

    The prime minister knew that neither of the two women would pull the demi-human prince out in front of the public eye. He would be taken somewhere else, a ce which Zn had to know no matter what.

    "Now after a short thirty minutes break, we will start the award ceremony followed by the seniorpetition!" Zn suddenly announced as the crowd started to disperse.

    Since there was an enormous crowd in the arena, some chaos had issued all around which Zn decided to use as a perfect distraction to slip away.

    Zn hurriedlynded on the ground and whispered a few words inside Risa''s ear.

    "Teleport him to the hall used to enter the royal pavilion." Zn muttered before taking off again and making his way to the room from earlier.

    Nero would also be present in that room to discuss what they were going to do now. Zn knew that if he didn''t talk to the demonmander soon, things would be going wrong.

    ''Ugh brother, why did you have to force me into such a task?!'' he cursed while slipping into an corner of the arena and directly teleporting inside the room.

    Zn saw Nerofortably sitting on a couch with a bored expression.

    ''He knew that this would happen,'' Zn sighed mentally. He had already taken this into consideration long ago so he wasn''t surprised by it.

    "Looks like they managed to sense your presence quite easily. I don''t think we will be sessful in catching that child again," Neromented, his eyes directly staring into Zn''s eyes. "Unless you have another n."

    "There is a n that I had kept in backup in case anything went wrong." Zn informed as he slowly approached Nero. "That n is quite easy and has a hundred percent sess rate."

    "Oh?" Nero cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "Then why don''t you reveal it?"

    "The n is to capture you." Zn snapped his fingers while staring straight at Nero.

    The demonmander didn''t look the least bit surprised as a a silver magic circle appeared around his hands as well as his feet.

    He silently stared at Zn and watched the prime minister approach him. The hints of a smile were visible on Nero''s face.

    "My suggestion to you is that you should release me and let me go back home. Nothing would happen then and I will never mention that this incident happened." Nero suggested with a small smile.<sub> </sub>

    "No, you are not getting out of this city. For the time being, I will send you to the royal pce." Zn replied as he raised his right hand in front of Nero''s face.

    He touched the demon''s forehead with his index finger whilst chanting something under his breath.

    Nero continued to look at him with an amused look as though he didn''t care one bit about himself getting captured.

    ''Humans never learn. His majesty told me so much however he was wrong about one thing,'' Nero silently observed. ''This man is far too dangerous to be left alive.''

    During the time Nero had spent with Zn, he had realized how smart the prime minister was. He also felt that Zn was being forced to do what he was doing.

    If it was left upon him, he would''ve never allowed Nero or Kerwin to pass into the human territory.

    Nero couldn''t help but wonder what position the Vancouver kingdom would be in if Zn was the king.

    "Zn, be prepared for the future." Nero suddenly dered at thest second before his body flickered rapidly.

    The demonmander was then sent off to the royal pce situated in Troy, just in time for Risa and Ariana to arrive in the hall leading to royal pavilion alongside Kerwin.

    Jason and Amber were also present with them, both of them having recoveredpletely.

    "Where are we?" Amber questioned immediately after taking a nce at their new surroundings.

    "We are in an area behind the pavilion created for the royal family." Ariana replied patiently, her eyes permanently fixed on Kerwin.

    "What is he doing here, grandma?" Jason''s eyes were also focused on Kerwin, being curious as to what the demi-human prince was doing there.

    "We are wondering the same thing though I''m sure that he was here to capture Nora." Risa informed.

    Jason had also thought of the same thing when he had first seen Kerwin appear beside the quartet just for a split second before all of them had vanished. But there was still something that didn''t seem right.

    How had Kerwin managed to get inside the arena and sneak underground without anyone noticing?

    ''System, do you think that it was an insider work?'' Jason questioned curiously, knowing well that the system would agree with him.

    However, the reply never came.

    < The system voice can''t answer the host until the upgrade isplete. >

    < Time remaining: 25 minutes >

    Seeing the system screens appear in front of him, Jason sighed audibly. Jason had never noticed the system''s absence before as he did now.

    The two of them had almost grown up together, talking and figuring things out together. Its absence seemed a bit unsettling to Jason at a time when he needed someone to talk with.

    ''Oh wellбн'' Jason''s eyes shifted away to Amber who chose the exact same moment to do it as well.

    "How are you feeling?" she mouthed.

    "Slightly bored," he replied honestly. "I wish something happens quickly."

    "Me too."

    That was the end of their conversation as Zn finally arrived. The prime minister''s eyes immediately shifted to Kerwin before looking at the two women warily.

    "Follow me." He dered while turning around and walking away without looking back once.

    Jason and Amber followed him on their grandmothers orders, the two women trailing behind them with Kerwin in between them.

    The demi-human prince had his mouth shut close as he stared at Zn''s back with hatred.

    ''Did Zn help him enter this ce?'' Jason couldn''t help but wonder as Zn suddenly stopped in front of an open ck door.

    "Come inside." He spoke once again before entering the room beyond the door, followed by Jason and Amber.

    Risa and Ariana also entered the room with Kerwin as the door shut behind them. Kerwin opened his mouth simultaneously and shouted in rage.

    "Zn nned it all!"

 Chapter 76 I Will See What I Can Do

    "Yeah, we know that. Tell us something that we don''t know." Risa muttered, surprising both Zn and Kerwin.

    Neither of them had been expecting such a response from Risa.

    "What do you mean by that?" Zn questioned, his eyes flickering from Risa to Kerwin and back.

    But before he could reply, a new voice interrupted them.

    "You should definitely enchant this room with stronger runes or formations. The defenses are so weak." Issac''s voice entered the room as the door opened up momentster.

    Karna and Issac then walked inside the room with curious expressions as Issac''s gaze fell on Kerwin.

    "How are you doing, little puppy?" He asked with a grin while approaching Kerwin. "How does it feel to be put on a leash?"

    "Youбн" Kerwin was at a loss of words as he didn''t know how to counter Issac. The demi-human prince could only grit his teeth and listen to the insults casually tossed his way.

    Issac grinned at this as he had been wanting to say the same things to Kerwin back when he had appeared at their home in Duphia.

    "Issac, you can do thister on. For now, we have to question Kerwin." Risa reminded as she knew that her husband would spend too much time insulting Kerwin.

    Issac sighed once after hearing her words, his eyes turning serious as he stared at Kerwin. Thetter felt slightly intimidated by Issac, something Issac could easily do if he was serious.

    "We heard your entire conversation with Nero and Kerwin. Kerwin is standing right here and as for Nero, I am sure that you shipped him off, didn''t you?" Issac raised an eyebrow while looking at Zn/

    "Iбн" Zn brainstormed the best thing to say. He could say that Issac was bluffing, something he was well known for, but the old man looked too serious.

    Zn also knew that the runes embedded around the room weren''t at a level which would prevent someone at Issac''s level from hearing things.

    Furthermore, Issac had Karna traveling alongside him and thetter could easily mask their presence. Both of them could''ve easily heard the entire conversation and left silently without Zn sensing their presence.

    "Yeah I had that conversation," he sighed. "Though I never nned to let them do anything."

    "Thought so." Issac and Risa said simultaneously as Jason decided to take a seat and watch everything progress.

    His theory was turning out to be true but there was a twist he hadn''t expected.

    "You do know that what you are trying to do is bound to fail? The demon king this time is too smart." Issac gave Zn a sidelong nce as the prime minister sighed.

    "Sit down first." He suggested before taking seat himself.

    The room had a huge amount of shuffling as almost everyone sat down, except for Amber and Ariana.

    "We will be taking our leave now." Ariana announced and before anyone could say anything, she vanished alongside Amber.

    "I guess we can start now." Risa sighed as Zn stared at Kerwin.

    "I didn''t actually want to do this but it was brother who requested me to do this. You three must be knowing how persuasive he can be."

    Issac, Risa and Karna nodded in agreement, each of them having met the current king of the kingdom and having talked to him.

    ''This is turning out to be quite interesting.'' Jason silently thought. ''There are so many plots going on around the kingdom and the general public isn''t aware about that.''

    Jason then remembered that he was still ten years old, something that the system reminded him frequently.

    "He asked me to invite both Kerwin and someone from the demon kingdom here while telling them that I could help them kidnap both of your grandchildren.

    At first I was reluctant but once he managed to convince me, things became difficult. I sent the letter to both of them and after the response, Nero showed up yesterday while Kerwin only appeared today."

    Zn then went ahead to exin the details of their meeting to them. There meetings had been short yet involved a whole lot of things.

    Jason had already zoned out from the conversation, having heard everything of importance to him.

    He was now looking at his skills and recounting the fights he had today. It was the first time he had fought against other kids his age.

    The only challenging fights had been those against the twins, especially the one with Amber. Jason had managed to test his skills to a great degree while fighting Amber and had also managed to get a guardian.

    The fight with Nora would''ve been more interesting as well if they had more space and Noah knew how to fight cunningly.

    ''From what I know, a guardian is someone who protects something or someone. Does that mean that Feta is my protector?'' He questioned himself as there was no one he could talk to.<sub> </sub>

    ''Or maybe it doesn''t literally mean a protector. Maybe it means something like a power sharer. Ugh, I need to know more about this.''

    After going around in circles, Jason decided to sigh and listen to the conversation again.

    "I can''t do anything about it," Zn admitted in a slightly frustrated tone. "I know that this won''t end the way brother is expecting but I am helpless."

    "Then don''t follow his orders." Issac dered firmly. "You''ve already sent Nero to his pce but don''t do the same with Kerwin. Say that the Syrward family took him with them."

    "Iбн" Zn''s voice trailed off as he tried thinking about his options.

    Jason on the other hand wondered what kind of person the king was to have such kind of influence on Zn''s actions.

    The prime minister looked like someone who didn''t like to follow orders and do what looked the best to him.

    The king must be someone with either a threatening personality or a person who could convince you to march to your suicide.

    "I will see what I can do." Zn sighed in the end as Issac and Risa nodded.

    The two of them then stood up, Risa approaching Jason while Issac went beside Kerwin. Karna too stood up and created a magic circle below them in less than a minute.

    The group took onest nce at Zn before the magic circle activated and they vanished alongside the demi-human prince.

    ''I wonder what brother will say about thisбн'' Zn wondered silently as he too left the room with a grim expression on his face.

    Zn knew that after the ceremony was done, he would have a hard time exining things to his brother.

    But as long as he didn''t reveal the truth about where Kerwin was, he would be fine.

    The Syrward family on the other hand appeared back at the Bloodthorn family mansion, specifically inside Issac''s room.

    Issac tossed Kerwin down on the floor before discussing things with Risa.

    "We should leave him here for the time being and ask Alfred to take care of him." Risa suggested as the two men nodded in agreement.

    Alfred somehow appeared inside the room in the next second and bowed to both of them.

    "How can I be of help?" The butler inquired as Issac pointed at Kerwin who still had all of his limbs paralyzed by Risa.

    "Make sure he doesn''t leave this room or tries to contact anyone. His limbs are paralyzed and he can''t use his mana." Issac gave a quick run down of the situation as Alfred nodded.

    "Leave that on me then." The butler replied confidently as Risa, Issac, Jason and Karna teleported again.

    All of them appeared inside the ss box this time, getting many surprised gazes from those around them.

    Though the surprise quickly passed away as the people in the box were used to sudden appearances.

    He sudden flurry of events had also left Jason a bit tired, making him wonder whether teleportation caused mental as well as physical strain on one''s body.

    ''Ugh, why doesn''t time pass quickly?'' Jason groaned internally as he waited for the system to be back again.

    Not having the constant voice of the system inside his head was leading to him feeling a bit lonely.

    ''If this was a system novel, I can imagine the amount of people spamming ''weakling'' in thements.'' Jason mused as he suddenly saw Zn appearing in the arena, making him wonder whether the break was already over.

    It didn''t feel as though that much time had passed.

    "The prize distribution ceremony will now begin after which we will start with the fifteen years old age group." Zn announced in a loud and clear voice as Jason, Amber and Zeke appeared down at the arena floor.

    While wondering about what he would receive, Jason curiously stared at the time remaining until the upgradation of his system.

    ''Fifteen minutes remain.'' He sighed mentally.

    Jason then looked at Zn again who was now standing on the arena floor.

    "The award for the winner isбн"

 Chapter 77 Ring Of Vancouver

    "The ring of Vancouver." Zn rummaged inside the pocket of his coat a bit before taking out a pure marble white ring.

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder whether he was being handed a valuable item or not by the way Zn had handled it.

    Zn handed over the ring to Jason who examined it curiously.

    The ring looked a bit too big for any of his fingers yet Jason remembered how his coat could adjust itself to meet the requirements of his body.

    Thinking about that, he slid the ring on his right index finger. The ring suddenly took the same shape as his finger.

    The white metal ring felt cool on his finger, sending a rxing sensation up his body. It didn''t look as though it was something special.

    ''Let''s see what inspect has to say.'' Jason thought while using the inspect skill on the ring, followed by the opening of a system window.

    ---

    < Ring of Vancouver >

    бк This ring is enchanted with invisible runes and a bit of space magic, allowing the user to store up to a hundred items inside, each less than 5 meter wide and 6 meter tall.

    бк Living things can''t be stored inside the ring. Anything stored inside the ring will also not rot and remain in the exact same condition it was put in.

    Currently stored items: 0 / 100

    Secret ability: Upon inserting mana inside the ring, it can take the shape of a six inches long, weight-adjustable dagger.

    ---

    <o>,m ''Oh? So this is actually a storage ring that can turn into a dagger!'' Jason thought while slightly raising his eyebrows.</o>

    Not only the ring served as an extremely useful object, it also turned out to be a life saving material.

    "The prize for the runner up is a space ring capable of holding fifty items." Zn announced as he handed Amber a dark blue ring with a few red carvings on it.

    Though the ring looked cooler than the one Jason was wearing, it didn''t seem to have the special dagger property he had.

    Jason also observed that inspect worked on objects that he didn''t own, which rose the question бк what was the limit of his inspect skill?

    Could he see the details of any magical thing or there was some sort of restriction that his skill had? One thing that Jason knew for sure was that inspect didn''t work on normal items he used everyday.

    ''Reminds me that I never used inspect on the coat.'' Jason suddenly remembered as he testingly used inspect on his coat.

    ---

    ???

    ---

    ''That was anti-climatic.'' Noah thought with a sigh as Zn handed the final prize.

    Zeke got a ring simr to the one Amber had but that was only true for its outer appearance. His ring could only store up to twenty five items.

    Items kept in his ring would also start rotting after a day which meant that he would have to constantly take edible things out and put them in again.

    ''Maybe it doesn''t work that way.'' Noah thought but didn''t have time to think more about his theory.

    "Now, to start the event between the fifteen years old. I would like to wee the principals of the three academies again to bring their students out first!" Zn suddenly announced.

    Three halos appeared above the heads of the three children as Zn sent them back to the ss back.

    His gaze was fixated to the ss box as well as the three principals of the academies stepped out of the ss box in order to introduce the children participating from their side.

    Angelica, the principal of PearlSea academy was the first one to introduce the participants from her academy.<sub> </sub>

    "Liana Vancouver and Sasha Medron." She announced boldly as two water bubbles, each six feet wide, appeared on either of her sides.

    A few secondster, the bubbles popped, making two beautiful females appear right beside.

    Both of them were wearing simr clothes to Angelica, blue shirts with dark blue overcoats and knee-length pleated skirts.

    Jason wondered whether those sitting at the bottom were getting a heavenly look or not. He soon dismissed that thought knowing well that some kind of magic would definitely be used in such situations.

    ''Though the real perverts will always try hard.'' Jason sighed while looking down to see numerous males as well as quite a number of females trying to get a good look under the skirts of the trio.

    But just by staring there for a few seconds, they suddenly seemed to go blind and rub their eyes in pain which usuallyted for a few seconds.

    Then there were those who still didn''t know the lesson and once again tried to look up, which ended up burning there eyes before knocking them out.

    ''There all kinds of people in the world.'' Jason mused before settling down on his seat and looking at the two other principals introducing the participants from their academies.

    Kn, the principal of Wisteria academy went next. He looked extremely calm and he only took the names of his two participants.

    "Azar Kikiko. Kaori Vancouver." He announced as two dark green vines shot out from his body.

    The wines wrapped around the air beside him and formed a cocoon of sorts which was big enough to fit a person inside.

    Jason already knew what would happen next as he turned his attention away from the arena and instead looked at the ring again.

    "Grandma, do you know about this ring?" Jason suddenly inquired, making Risa shift her attention towards the ring.

    "Its something special from the royal family. All children get that when they turn ten and hold it until they reach fifteen. Its not possible for anyone outside the royal family to get their hands on this, except those who won it here." She exined.

    Jason looked at the ring in a new light as he took it off his finger and looked at it clearly. To think that a white metal ring was that rare.

    ''I wonder how the dagger looks.'' Jason wondered silently before deciding to check the dagger form of the ring.

    He controlled his mana a bit before sending it inside the ring through his right hand. The white metal on the ring suddenly illuminated as runes started appearing on its surface.

    The runes looked as though they had been etched in fire, ring the entire metal ring. The special effectsted for about ten seconds before the ring suddenly expanded in Jason''s hand.

    It turned into a long six inches metal dagger. The de looked as though it was made from steel while the hilt was made from a reddish metal.

    The entire dagger didn''t look anything special to the naked eye yet to make sure that he wasn''t skipping anything, Jason used his inspect skill on the dagger.

    ---

    < Dagger of Vancouver(replica) >

    бк A seemingly normal dagger made for quick attacks but has a hidden ability.

    бк The user can adjust the weight of the dagger by inserting their mana into it and thinking about the new weight.

    ---

    Jason''s eyes brightened in excitement as he now held his first weapon. Though it didn''t have any shy moves, it was still powerful enough for a child like him.

    Jason then converted the dagger back into the ring and slid it onto his finger. He sat back with a rxed expression just in time to see thest principal introduce his participants.

    "I present before you the second prince of the kingdom, Hiro Vancouver as well as the daughter of our very own prime minister, Aysel Vancouver!"

    ***

    AN: I will be uploading a second chapter today. This one doesn''t meet the win-win criteria sadly. *cries in writing more*

 Chapter 78 Stranded Alone

    The entire arena burst into cheers and ps as they introduced the two most important children attending the event.

    "Both Liana and Kaori are princess too yet none of their principals showed off. I guess that''s the reason Issac and Albus get along." Risa sighed while watching the two children pop up right beside Albus.

    They didn''t need any special entrance to tell the crowd of their presence as their principal had already done that task for them.

    ''So these are all those who will control the future of the kingdom.'' Jason thought while staring straight forward.

    The big screen from earlier had once again appeared for the audience to see the fight morefortably.

    It was currently showing the six gathered children who seemed to be the center of attention at the event.

    Jason attention shifted from one of them to the other, lingering a bit longer on the girls as he checked theirбн appearance.

    If the system had been active, it would''ve definitely passed ament at this, however, Jason was currently spared from those.

    "Now its time for the children from the other academies, sects as well as noble families to make their appearance." Zn announced while snapping his fingers.

    The prime minister''s eyes were currently fixated on his daughter as the other participants appeared on the arena floor.

    All of them looked confident while standing on the arena floor as they waited for the battles to begin.

    They felt ready to fight in the event as they had five years of experience under their belt. They were what one might consider the uing generation of prodigies while the ten year olds had been the ones in their developing stage.

    Jason was enthralled to watch their battles as he knew that he would pick up quite a lot of maneuvers from their fights.

    However no sooner had Zn shifted the children that Risa touched Jason''s shoulder.

    "Jason, we have to go." She said grimly, her expressionpletely serious.

    Jason had no idea what she wanted to do as Risa stood up alongside him. Issac and Zara were also about to do the same yet they were stopped by Risa.

    "Don''t follow. Neither of you are needed."

    Satisfied with their silence, Risa grabbed Jason''s hand and walked out of the ss box.

    "Alex just contacted me." She dered after walking a bit further away from the box.

    Jason looked at her with a surprised look. "I didn''t know that you could contact him." He replied.

    "I didn''t knew that it could happen either until I got his message," Risa admitted. "He told me that the fog returned and he can''t find Ray. He also said things are getting chaotic inside the forest."

    "Did you try contacting uncle yourself?" Jason inquired as he knew that Risa could contact their family members.

    "I did try that but he isn''t responding. I would not have taken you there under normal circumstances but Alex specifically asked me to bring you," Risa informed. "Also you have a guardian now so I don''t have to worry too much."

    Having informed him of the what she had heard, Risa closed her eyes and focused on her mana.

    A magic circle appeared below them, making Risa sigh.

    "I usually don''t like to create teleportation circle as they cost too much mana and I''m always off spot from the location I want to arrive at," She muttered. "But I guess this is an emergency.''

    Jason felt as though Risa was trying to convince herself to use the magic circle which worried him a bit as they could end up literally anywhere.

    "Maybe you can ask someone else to do it?бн" he suggested.

    Risa shook her head in response. "Let''s see what happens."<sub> </sub>

    The magic circle suddenly ignited below their feet, making the two of the appear hundreds of kilometers away from the capital.

    Jason felt his body tearing itself a bit, something he hadn''t experienced before while using a teleportation magic circle.

    His eyes were also forced shut and prevented him from seeing anything. The only thing keeping him calm was the feeling of Risa''s hand on his shoulder.

    It took a few seconds for Jason''s body to stabilize as he felt his feet touching solid ground again. His vision returned a split secondter as he forced his eyes open to stare at his surroundings.

    ''This feels familiar to the ce we entered the Kamizel forest through.'' Jason observed while looking around at the forest.

    Though it was eminent that this entrance of the forest was different from the other one as there wasn''t any path caved to enter of exit the forest.

    ''I guess grandma was telling the truth.'' Jason observed that Risa was not standing beside him.

    He didn''t know when but her hand and vanished off his shoulder yet he was left stranded.

    [ Well, that was expected. ] Risa''s voice suddenly went off inside his head. [ Stay right where you are. I wille pick you up. ]

    Risa''s voice was gone at the same speed it hade, leaving Jason stranded alone at the entrance of the forest.

    ''So that''s how the other family members stay in touch over long distances.'' Jason noticed as this was the first time he had been contacted by Risa.

    Her voice had appeared simrly to how the system talked with him. However, unlike the connection he felt with the system, Risa''s voice had sounded more independent.

    ''I wonder how long it would take for her toe and get me.'' Jason wondered while sitting down near a tree, his back directly against the trunk.

    His eyes were on high alert as he continued to monitor his surroundings. Nothing interesting seemed to be happening, leaving Jason bored to the core.

    "Hmmmбн" Unknowingly, Jason started humming. It was the first time he was sitting truly alone without looking over him.

    This alone time led to him thinking about his current life truly for the first time.

    ''This world is so much better inparison to Earth, despite humans being rtively simr to Earth. This world is also a lot more interesting and judging from how my family is jinxed, my life is eventful too.'' Jason chuckled a bit, his eyes moving towards the sky.

    He had gotten used to his new life with the asional chaotic things happening every now and then

    Yet there was still one thing that itched him sometimes.

    He still didn''t have a goal, or rather, an end goal. Jason did resolve to be strong and meet his parents some day but that had instead turned into a slow progressing goal.

    There weren''t any overpowered legacies or techniques being handed to him to give him a substantially huge growth.

    Though getting a guardian did help him, it was more like a temporary stage unless Jason was missing something.

    [ It ain''t a novel bruh. I mean you can surely grow strongerter on but you are just ten right now. ] A familiar voice suddenly buzzed inside Jason''s head, the voice sounding more humane than ever.

    ''System?''

    [ Who else could it be other than my great self? ] The system amused as a notification appeared in front of Jason.

    < System updateplete. >

    < See new features? >

 Chapter 79 Upgrades And Meeting Together

    "Definitely." Jason replied surely as his status screen suddenly appeared in front of him. Except this time, it waspletely remodeled.

    Jason had been expecting a few changes at best yet the new look of the system screen made his jaw drop slightly.

    ---

    Name: Jason Syrward

    Race: Half-demon

    Main Job ss: Child of Darkness

    Sub-Job ss(1): Thunder Mage

    Sub-Job ss(2): Dark Mage

    Active Skills: Confusion, Repel, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Steps, Dark, Dark harpoon.

    Passive Skill: Night''s Blessings, Vision Control, Lightning Reflexes

    ---

    Jason peered at his status screen for quite some time, looking over the details with observant eyes.

    He noticed that the mana and health points section had been removed after the update though he didn''t know the reason for their removal. The skills addition, however, was very convenient.

    [ It was because you don''t need them anymore. Your current mana recovery speed is one point per second. ] The system suddenly informed as it could tell Jason''s next question.

    Jason felt a bit surprised by this revtion yet one mana point per second wasn''t that fast of a time. It basically meant he could recover sixty mana in one minute and during a life or death battle, it wasn''t that great.

    ''But that doesn''t mean that you should remove it. Its so easy for me to lose my mana and fall unconscious without realizing it.'' Jason pointed out.

    [ You also have a guardian. ] The system countered before asking Jason to open the system menu.

    Due to not using it for years, Jason was surprised to see that the feature was still there.

    ''Menu,'' Jason thought as another window opened in front of him.

    ---

    Status

    Guardian

    System shop

    ---

    Three simple options were present on the screen. Jason had been hoping to see the system shop open be unlocked since a long time ago and now that it was open, he couldn''t help but smile at it.

    He quickly pressed on the system shop button first and saw the screen expand further.

    ---

    A Guide to Clover by God of Shadows [500 system points]

    Exnation to the new system[Free]

    ---

    Currently only two options were present for Jason to chose from. The choice wasn''t that hard either as he didn''t have the points to buy the first item and the second was free.

    Since the second option was free, Jason would be a dumb person to not chose it. After all, free things were good most of the time.

    He pressed the information option and the system took over from there.

    [ The first few noticeable changes are made to your status screen. Everything rted to you has been assorted there for quick and easy navigation. Your job ss progression system has also bee reworked. ]

    Hearing the exnation, Jason pressed his MJC and saw its details open up in front of him.

    It just gave the details of the ss followed by the skill tree as the progression meter from earlier waspletely gone.

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder whether he could no longer level up his job ss or something like that.

    [ Erebus reworked the system after seeing how things were progressing in Clover. Now its more suited to the current world rather than just a basic system. ] The system exined side by side.

    It continued on the moment Jason was about to ask a question. [ You have the freedom of creating any skill you want now as well as setting its limits depending on your body. Your potential is no longer bound by the system''s judgments. ]

    Jason opened and closed his mouth once before exiting the details on his job ss. His mind was already working hard to think of all the possibilities that had opened up for him.

    However, he still had one more thing left to be checked before he could use this new thing to his advantage.

    He shifted his attention to the new addition on his menu page.

    Jason opened the guardian column a momentter and watched the screen open in front of him, his eyes scanning the content from top to the bottom.

    ---

    Guardian: The Two Horned Guardian of Animolis

    Pros:<sub> </sub>

    бк Almost infinite mana with a regeneration of one mana point per 0.000001 seconds.

    бк ess to the guardian''s share of mana.

    бк A few of the guardians skills and abilities.

    бк Getting the stats of the guardian whenbined.

    бк Status of one of the nine guardians of Clover[Dormant. Current percentage: 99%]

    Cons:

    бк After separating from the guardian(after merging,), your body will feel extremely weak.

    бк The other eight guardians in the world will be able to sense your presence and you can sense theirs too.

    бк You will have to take care of the realm of Animolis at times.

    <o>,m бк Your life might be in constant danger from those trying to benefit from your abilities.</o>

    ---

    The guardian section was longer than most of the things Jason had currently seen.

    Both the pros and cons were vital on their own and Jason understood them well, except for one of them.

    ''Who are the nine guardians of Clover?'' Jason inquired but before the system coulde up with a reply, Risa appeared right beside Jason.

    "I hope you didn''t face any troubles." She muttered, her eyes scanning Jason''s body from head to feet. Risa seemed to be looking at his body for injuries and after making sure that he was all right, she looked him in the eyes.

    "I''m fine." Jason replied casually.

    Risa seemed contempt with his answer and body condition as she took a nce around their surroundings.

    "Hmm, we should start exploring the forest now. I don''t think it would be a good idea to stay here till night." Risa muttered as the two of them made their way to the forest entrance.

    Evening was already approaching steadily, making Jason wonder how the battles back at the arena were progressing.

    He continued to wonder about that while asionally talking to the system. Both of them were also thinking whether Ray was all right or not.

    There was a good chance that something had happened to him, which was of course obvious. But the thing was that Ray was quite strong so whatever had happened must be on another level.

    [ it might have been simr to what we experienced in the forest a few days back. Even the strongest of people can''t fight against mental attacks. ] The system pointed it out.

    ''Yeahбн''

    At first, Jason didn''t seem to notice where they were going yet he soon had an unsettling feeling wash over his bodies.

    It was as though something foreign had suddenly appeared inside his body.

    Risa still hadn''t taken a turn for a long time and they had been going straight for as long as Jason could remember.

    [ It has been around twenty minutes. ] The system provided helpfully yet even it sensed that there was something wrong going on.

    Jason was trying his best to not feel uneasy yet he gave up a few minutester and asked, "Grandma, you do know where we are going right?"

    "I know this ce on the back on of my hand. I know where we are going." She replied nonchntly as the uneasy feeling in Jason''s gut increased.

    ''I don''t think she would ever say that.'' He thought while narrowing his eyes.

    [ Neither do I think that. Host, touch her skin for a brief seconds. I will run a scan on her body. ] The system suggested.

    ''I didn''t know you could do that.'' Jason replied in a surprised tone as he increased his pace a bit such that his hand brushed against Risa''s hand.

    Thetter didn''t seem to notice as Jason pulled back, returning to his original walking pace. However, his eyes were fully alert as he looked around from time to time.

    [ Its a new feature. Now let me scan her body. ] The system informed before going silent.

    Jason on the other hand wondered why such things happened to him. Also, how was someone even able to look and talk exactly like Risa yet turn out to be someone else.

    ''Unlessбн''

    Jason suddenly remembered how the mist hade and Alex had appeared in front of them. The mist had also been hiding the bandits which neither him nor Risa had noticed.

    What if that mist could do many more thingsбн

    Jason decided to up his guard in the meantime and tried to dispel his mind of conspiracy theories. He also slowed his pace a bit so that he was behind Risa.

    Thetter wasn''t paying any attention to him so Jason was safe for the time being.

    [ Host, stop right where you are! ] The system eximed all of a sudden, forcing Jason to stop in surprise.

    Risa still continued to walk as Jason looked at her nervously. The moment she looked back, he would be fucked.

    ''What is it?'' he inquired, swallowing nervously. He was ready to dash or move forward depending on the system''s next words.

    [ She isn''t your grandmother. ] The system spoke softly. [ Someone is impersonating her. Its an imposter... ]

 Chapter 80 He Is My Vessel

    ''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 bnce as his speed multiplied.

    [ I can''t locate where the person isбн ] 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 wasing 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 troubleter on.''

    [ Maybe. Maybe not. Focus on running for now and we can discuss this while sitting on afy 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 ying 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 simr.

    He was thrown back in the opposite direction yet his body didn''t have any physical damages.

    Jason managed to control his body and somehownded 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 painfulбн''

    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 matterбн

    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.<sub> </sub>

    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, ept 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 be her vessel.

    By agreeing to be 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.

    ept/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.

    "Youбн"

    "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 reced 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 intoбн 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 nted 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 waitбн'' 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 ced a hand on his right shoulder and sped it tightly.

    "Where. Did. You. Go?"

 Chapter 81 A Vessel To The Creator Of Mists

    "I, uh, got kidnapped. Sort of." Jason said the first words that appeared inside his head as he saw the visible confusion on Risa''s face.

    After all, he had provided the right exnation yet hadn''t told her the details.

    Jason eyes then shifted over to Ray who was also looking at him, albeit a bit more confusedly.

    "Maybe I should exin it from the beginningбн" Jason sighed as he recited the recent events from the start where he had appeared outside the forest and had met Alex disguised as Risa.

    Risa didn''t look surprised when she learned that Alex had turned into her to fool Jason.

    "I found Ray around the entrance of the forest too, or at least I thought that I did. It turned out that Alex was going to make me his vessel," Risa exined.

    "Thankfully, I came there on time, distracted Alex and dealt him some damage before running away." Ray added as he was brought up to speed with the recent events by Risa.

    Ray had been initially surprised by the entire thing, however, he was a Syrward. He had epted the strange and chaotic things his family went through long ago.

    He was now left wondering whether that part of the family had shifted over a bit too much to both Jason and Nora as both of them went through so many troubles, the former much more than thetter.

    "You both were able to attack and get away from Alex?" Jason asked with slightly open mouth as the two of them nodded.

    "I mean, it wasn''t that hard. We certainly didn''t face a banner and was able to get out of the forest easily," Ray replied before pausing.

    Both him and Risa exchanged a nce as though they had just realized something.

    "Unless that was Alex''s hidden intention all along." Risa finished before looking at Jason with a grim expression. "Do you know any reason due to which Alex might be after you."

    "That''s all I know. If not for Feta, I would be stuck inside the forest until who knows how long." Jason sighed as all eyes turned towards the goat.

    Feta had the decency to just nod and acknowledge the fact that she was being praised.

    [ I''m your guardian after all. ] She said inside his head.

    ''Do you have any idea why Alex, or whatever her real name is, was trying so hard to get me and Risa to be her vessel?'' he questioned.

    [ Guardians like me have a generally high level ofpatibility with certain bloodlines. The Syrward family bloodline is the most favored one by all guardians as your family ispatible with all of us. ] Feta replied honestly.

    ''My family is also the mostpatible with trouble.'' Jason sighed.

    [ There is one thing that has been bugging me though. ] Feta added. [ Guardians can only chose people under twenty to be their vesselsбн ]

    ''Wait, was Alex also trying to get Risa to be a vessel in case I couldn''t be one?'' Jason asked.

    Feta, however, didn''t provide him with a reply as she herself was thinking about things in detail. She decided to remain silent on the topic until she had reached a solid conclusion.

    Jason on the other hand stared at as he tried to figure out why Alex would choose her as a vessel.

    "Grandma, did you see any sort of holographic window open in front of you?" Jason inquired.

    "There was one saying that the guardian of Mistopia wanted to be my guardian and then it listed the pros and cons of having a guardian." Risa replied. "That was what you saw too I suppose."

    Jason suddenly had an unsettling feeling spreading throughout his body. Was something wrong or was someone lying again?

    [ I don''t know who is lying yet we have to figure it out soon. ] The system suddenly spoke up. [ I feel as though something is going to go terribly wrong.]

    ''You aren''t the only one feeling that way.'' Jason admitted. He was secretly relieved that he could at least trust the system in such a situation too.

    ''What was Alex trying to do and how did Risa see that window?'' Jason brainstormed hard. ''Why did Alex go after Risa and Ray separately before going after me?''

    Jason was trying to connect all the dots together yet there was something missing that prevented him from doing so.

    At the same time, Risa and Ray started discussing about the events in the capital.

    "The fights between the second group should have started soon. Also, Kerwin is still present in our room at the hotel, albeit unconscious." Risa muttered.<sub> </sub>

    "Can I punch him a few times once I get back? I am feeling slightly stressed." Ray replied while cracking his knuckles.

    "You can do it as long as he stays unconscious. I don''t want anymore drama for some time." Risa sighed.

    Ray looked as though he was about to protest, however, Jason spoke up before Ray could say anything..

    "Alex was trying to make sure that those who could see her were separated from those who couldn''t," the realization stuck in coldly in the stomach. "Her original target was Nora from the start."

    Ray and Risa both went silent as they processed what Jason had spoken. His words made perfect sense as Risa and Jason were the only ones who had been able to see Alex.

    "This means that weneed to get back to the capital right now. Ray, I leave this on you." Risa dered as Ray used his wind magic to lift them in the air.

    Ray focused in the direction of the capital as all of them shot forward at a neck breaking speed.

    Jason had to close his eyes to do the sheer pressure created by the wind. They shot forward at such a speed that Jason believed they were almost going to tore through the walls surrounding the city.

    [ Alexa is going after Nora due to him being a demi-human. ] Feta muttered beforeexining her statement. [ Alexa is the guardian of Mistopia and her specialties are mist creation and illusions. She can replicate anything with full uracy. ]

    ''What does that have to do with Nora?'' Jason inquired as he registered that Alex was short for Alexa, a genius move taken by the other guardian.

    Although he already knew the major reason for Alexa to go before Nora, it didn''t make sense for her to try so hard to get to Jason.

    Or maybe he was just overthinking thingsбн

    [ Its because he not only has good levels of fire and wind affinities but also the fact that he belongs to your bloodline. He is the perfect vessel to the creator of mists, one of Alexa''s nicknames due to the fact that she lives in the mists. ]

    ''Damnбн'' Jason didn''t know what to say as they zoomed past the walls and headedstraight towards the arena.

    No guard was able to catch up with their speed as they saw the walls of the arena.

    They had moved pretty fast but could a guardian be faster than them? The chances of that happening were extremely high.

    Jason knew that Issac or Zara wouldn''t be able to see Alexa yet he hoped that Issac could sense that something was wrong.

    His grandpa had an innate ability to sense such things which was useful how many messes the entire family got into.

    "What are we going to do if we do catch Alexa?" Jason asked, using the guardian''s real name.

    [ Its not her real name and Feta is not my real name as well. ] Jason''s guardian provided helpfully though he wasn''t in the mood to learn new names.

    "Alex is Alexa aka a she?" Risa asked as Jason momentarily nodded. "Once we do see her, we will throw her back to the ce where she came from."

    "Uh, how are we going to do that?" Jason couldn''t help but ask as Risa sighed exasperatedly. "Also, doesn''t that mean that we will be basically throwing her back into the forest to torment us or someone else in the future?"

    "We will think of that once we actually find Alexa. For all we know, she has already taken Nora as her vessel." Risa stated what could be a very obvious thing.

    If Alexa was fast, that would be the first thing to do. Getting a child like Nora to agree with her request would also not be that hard.

    That''s why Ray had made all of them travel at such a quick pace. As a father, Ray was the most worried as he didn''t know what might have happened at the arena.

    "I guess we do things only when we actually see them." Jason sighed as they appeared closer to the arena.

    Ray didn''t look as though he would stop and directly made them go the ss box. The three of themnded near the ss box in the next few seconds.

    Feta had went inside Jason''s body in the meantime.

    Risa suddenly grinned despite the situation. "That''s the Syrward way, Jason."

    ***

    AN: Sorry for thete upload. I just edited this chapter. Daily uploads will continue fromregr timings.

 Chapter 82 Its My Real Name

    [ I''m hiding in your shadow so that no one can sense me. ] Feta exined as they walked inside the ss box to see that majority of it was empty.

    "Where the hell were you guys?" Issac inquired as the three of them slid beside Issac and Zara.

    Nora was sitting with them too and nothing looked out of ce.

    "Well the thing isбн" Risa hurriedly exined the entire scenario to Issac who rolled his eyes a bit. It was as though he had been expecting something like this.

    "I''m just waiting for a day when we can go out and not have these many troubles." He sighed before looking straight at Nora. "You feeling anything kiddo?"

    "I don''t think soбн" Nora mumbled. He had been sitting in the same ce for a long time and still hadn''t faced any problems.

    ''Did we guess wrong or was this another distraction?'' Jason couldn''t help but wonder.

    He had no idea what Alexa was nning, however, she seemed to be making them go around in circles.

    She definitely had a target or was she just showing that she had a target in mind?

    [ Don''t over think things too much. Alexa is someone who hadn''t had a vessel in a long time. I thought she would retire from her but looks like she suddenly got a wave of motivation. I don''t know how what that is though. ] Feta exined.

    Jason sighed and stared at the screen ahead to see that the prize distribution ceremony was going on again.

    The ceremony looked hundred times bigger than what ten year olds had gotten.

    "The award for the winner, Hiro Vancouver, is the mythical spear Ataraxia." Zn announced as a spear suddenly appeared in front of him.

    The spear in itself was a marvelous piece to behold. It was made from a bright red metal and had number carvings done it.

    It also had an aura of supremacy surrounding it.

    "I wonder what the first ce would''ve received if Hiro didn''t win." Ray suddenlymented as Issac and Risa nodded in agreement.

    "Ataraxia has always been handed to those who are going to be the king. If Julian passed it to Hiro, he is basically dering him as the crown prince of the kingdom." Issacmented.

    ''Julianбн that''s a new name.'' Jason observed. It was pretty obvious that the name must belong to the king of the kingdom as only he could dere the crown prince.

    All of them focused back on the screen as Zn handed the spear to a boy with blond hair and gray eyes.

    Jason noticed that all members of the royal family had the same blond hair. It was a trait possessed by all members of the royal family.

    Hiro didn''t have any expressions on his face as though he wasn''t affected by the things being handed to him.

    [ He must''ve gotten a high level of training at maintaining a poker face. ] The system suggested.

    ''I guess that''s kind of obvious considering how he is the son of the king and apparently the next in line to the throne.''

    Zn finally passed the spear to Hiro as a ripple of power went across the entire arena.

    Ataraxia had a glowing aura around it, the color of the aura same as Hiro''s eyes.

    ''Inspect.'' Jason silently thought as a system screen opened in front of him.

    ---

    < Ataraxia, the spear of legacy >

    Rank: ???

    - This spear contains the legacies of all those who have wielded it during their reign as a king.

    - It has the power to channel the emotions of the wielder on will and can be used to effect the emotions of others as well.

    ---

    ''It''s much simpler than I thought.'' Jason observed before staring at the three question marks with a sigh.

    He was yet to know many of such details that would help him greatly. However, Jason could now obtain this information on his own.

    ''A couple more system points and I can buy that guide. Hopefully it will have all the information I need to know.'' He hoped as Zn went ahead to distribute the next reward.

    "The award for the second position isбн" Zn''s voice suddenly trailed off as thick mist gathered all around the arena.

    The hair on Jason''s back immediately stood up as he and Risa exchanged a nce. They were the only ones present there who had seen the mist before.

    The scenes from the forest were still fresh in their mind as well as what Alexa had done recently.

    [ Its her. ]

    [ Its Alexa. ]<sub> </sub>

    Both the system and Feta spoke up at the same time as Jason immediately stared at Nora. The other members of the Syrward family also got closer to each other as they formed a circle around Nora.

    Zn was trying to figure out what was happening yet the first thing he had done was to get closer to his daughter, Aysel.

    A silence settled over the entire arena as one by one, people started falling asleep. Only those above a certain level of power were able to stay awake as a terrifying chill spread over the entire arena.

    Jason felt himself on the verge of losing consciousness but he was saved by Feta''s interference.

    [ Try not to think about sleeping. ] She suggested as Jason looked around the ss box.

    All most all children present in the ss box were asleep, except for Jason and Amber who were kept awoke due to their guardians.

    "Jason, use your guardian powers and stay awake." Issac ordered as lightning flickered all around his body.

    Jason could feel the aura of powering out of Issac and he knew that his grandpa was currently in a serious mood.

    The rest of his family members had simr feelings yet they didn''t disy anything on the outside.

    Jason noticed that mey had wrapped around himself around Amber''s neck and was looking around with glowing eyes.

    ''Will you stay as a goat if you appear normally?'' Jason inquired.

    [ No. I simply took the form of a goat because it was the easiest to blend in with. My real form is actually a wolf and that will be the form I will appear in from now onwards. ]

    ''I see.'' Jason wanted to ask her more about her real form yet he was currently preupied.

    The mist had gotten thicker around the arena yet nothing else seemed to be happening.

    ''I need to get these children out of hereбн'' Zn was currently looking down at the children as well as adults lying unconscious on his feet.

    He was holding his daughter in his arms while looking at the sky which had turned ck. He couldn''t see anything else clearly due to the mist which seemed to be blocking his senses.

    "You shouldn''t have done that, Hestia." A voice suddenly swept over the entire arena as a tornado of mist suddenly appeared inside th ss box.

    Issac and the rest moved around Nora protectively as Zara held his in her embrace. Jason fully believed that they could handle Alexa on their own yet something seemed to itch the back of his mind.

    ''System, tell me that I''m not the only feeling that something is amiss.''

    [ When is anything like this simple? ] The system questioned back. [ However, I also think that something doesn''t add up. If she wanted to Nora as her vessel, she wouldn''t attack him in front of so many people. ]

    ''Exactly.'' Jason stared at the tornado of mist inside the ss box with observing eyes.

    It was spinning around on only one spot and was about 30 feet tall. If one stared close enough, they could also observe that the tornado was moving forward inch by inch.

    [ Jason, I am sorry. ] Feta suddenly spoke inside his head as a wave of power knocked him over.

    He fell on the ground face-first as he prevented himself from facing any injuries by nting his hands on the ground.

    ''Why are you sorry?'' he immediately asked while trying to stand up only to find that the strength had left his legs.

    [ She was after you all along, ] Feta admitted. [ I thought that she was trying to get to your brother yet she is still pursuing you. ]

    ''Then why are you saying sorry?'' Jason used his lightning element to provide some energy to his legs as he finally managed to stand up.

    [ Host, your mana is being sucked out of your body at an astonishingly faster rate. You are only awake due to the extra mana provided to you by meyбн ] The system announced.

    Jason turned his gaze towards Amber just in time to see that the young girl was also facing the same problem.

    It was only due to mey that she was managing to stand straight.

    [ It takes a person and their guardian around one week to form a bond. During this time, any other guardian can still chose the same person to be their vessel. ] Feta exined. [Also, I''m sorry because it was due to me that you got into this drama.]

    ''If you didn''t be my guardian, Alexa would''ve made me her vessel and by the looks of it, she is a total yandere.''

    [ That is true as well. ]Feta agreed as the tornado had moved closer to the Syrward family.

    Issac and Risa had tested a few of their attacks on the tornado yet all of them had been sucked inside by the rotating column of mist.

    ''Also, who is Hestia?'' Jason asked atst, remembering that Hestia used to be the name of a goddess from Greek Mythology.

    [ Its my real name. ]

    Before Jason could respond, the tornado suddenly seemed to be growing exponentially bigger in size until it touched the ceiling.

    It started moving forward at a rapid speed as Jason was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea.

    Only then did he realize that the tornado was heading straight for him though the purpose for its approach was only known by a single person.

 Chapter 83 Accept My Offer Or Watch Them Die

    "It''sing for me." No sooner had the words left Jason''s mouth that the mist around him thickened.

    He couldn''t even see an inch in front of him as several hands grabbed him from all directions.

    ''Waitбн'' Jason suddenly looked down to see a pair of hands grabbing him from under the ground. It was simr to a scene in a horror film.

    "The mist is a powerful thing if you know how to use it correctly." Alexa''s voice echoed inside Jason''s head as he was suddenly pulled below the ss box by the pair of hands.

    [ Breathe calmly and try to... ] Hestia started suggesting before all of a sudden, Jason felt her presence going away.

    ''She could''ve at least told me how to protect myself before vanishing.'' Jason frowned as he found himself standing in the row of seats directly below the ss box.

    [ I think you''ve more pressing matters to attend to right now. ] The system pointed out as Jason suddenly opened his thunder mage job ss.

    He remembered the passive ability that had been handed to him earlier and was curious to see what it would give him.

    ---

    < True Lightning (Passive) >

    - You have the ability to use the four different types of lightning.

    - Currently avable types:

    White lightning: White lightning is the silent deadly type of lightning. With the help of this lightning, one can reach a speed fast enough to transcend thews binding their bodies to a world, that is if their body can cope up with such speed.

    Remaining types: 3

    ---

    ''So this was the type of lightning that helped me escape from Alexa earlier.'' Jason observed as a piercing sound suddenly entered his ears.

    It was the sound one might heard while writing too hard with a chalk on a ckboard.

    All hair on Jason''s body stood up as he heard words being spoken directly inside his mind.

    "Jump down the railingбн" the voice was a whisper at first but secondster, it started getting louder and harsher. "JUMP down the RAILING! JUMP DOWN! JUMP DOWN!"

    Jason clutched his head tightly as the voice kept on getting louder and louder.

    [ Host, what is happening? ] The system asked in a worried tone as it couldn''t hear the voice.

    The words went undetectable and were only heard by Jason who slowly edged towards the railing in front of him. He felt as though the blood vessels in his brain were being torn by the voice.

    [ Host, don''t move! ] the system shouted as it realized what Jason was nning to do. [ I am sure that someone would soone to get you. Just stay where you are. ]

    The system tried to soothe Jason but it didn''t work. The voice was too powerful in his head as Jason reached the ceiling and groaned a little.

    "Fine, I''ll jump down!" He shouted before using a bit of his lightning and jumping over the railing.

    The voice immediately exited his head as Jason found himself falling from several meters of height.

    His could only see the ground as the mist was still there to block his vision. Jason could think much more clearly as he took a deep breath while falling.

    ''Squashing to death couldn''t be that bad.'' He wondered.

    In less than a few minutes, Jason would turn into a half-demon meat paste spread across the arena floor.

    The only was to prevent that was to find a way to either safelynd on the ground or go to some other ce in the arena.

    Jason feared that if he chose to return to any of the rows in the arena, the voice would return and haunt him. This left him with only the first option.

    "Dark harpoon." He muttered under his breath and directed his hand towards the arena floor.

    A harpoon made from darkness shot out from Jason hand as he made the end thicker.

    ''Hopefully, it doesn''t strike anyone on the ground.'' Jason thought while directing the harpoon towards the ground and letting it sink in the arena floor.

    Once it was embedded in the ground, Jason raised his hand towards the arena rows and randomly shot another harpoon.

    [ Direct it a bit up and towards the left. ] With help from the system, Jason managed to embed another harpoon in one of the arena''s pirs.

    He quickly joined the two harpoons together in the middle before using it to slide downwards.

    Jason was able to control his speed due this and barely prevented himself from dying as his feet touched the ground a few secondster.

    "That was a close call." Jason muttered while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

    The danger was still far from over as Jason felt as though someone was watching him.

    "Zn, are you here?" Jason asked aloud as he looked around the mist while trying to figure out where the presence was watching him from.<sub> </sub>

    "Jason?" Zn''s voice replied as Jason''s ears perked up.

    "Yes, it''s me." He replied while looking around with eager eyes. However, he soon realized that the voice could''ve belonged or not belonged to Zn at the same time.

    [ Be careful. ]

    ''Once again, thank you for stating the obvious.''

    [ Hey, at least I''m wishing you luck. Without my wishes, you would be dead on the ground. ]

    Jason was about to refute back when he noticed that the mist was receding. He summoned lightning bolts in both his hands as he noticed that his environment was different from that of the arena.

    "You can drop those right there." Alexa''s voice entered his ears loud and clear.

    Jason whirled around to see that the female guardian was casually sitting on a throne made from wood and grass.

    Her blue eyes seemed to be staring at his face, amusement clearly visible in them.

    Jason found himself standing in the middle of a forest again, probably the Kamizel forest at that.

    The mist was slowly vanishing as Jason stared directly into Alexa''s eyes and threw the lightning bolt towards her.

    As he had expected, the lightning bolt vanished before it could even reach her.

    "Its futile to resist," Alexa smiled. "Your attacks can''t reach me, meaning that you don''t have any way to attacking me."

    "Why do you want me as your vessel?" Jason asked aloud, hoping to provide the system with enough time toe up with a strategy. "Don''t you have one already?"

    "No, I don''t have a vessel. This is my real body," Alexa replied before standing from her throne. "You are the best vessel any guardian could ask for. Your body is 99 percentpatible with all guardians."

    "That still doesn''t exin why you are chasing after me solely. Did my looks charm you too much?" Jason raised an eyebrow even though he knew that the chances of that happening were quite low.

    That was unless Alexa was a shotacon. Though it didn''t matter as he was simply trying to buy some time.

    "You do look handsome but that isn''t enough to charm me. The real reason I want you as my vessel is because you have a verypatible body with dark magic. I can unleash my true powers without any problems if I inherit your body."

    ''I guess that''s the g for us to run away. Any idea as for how we can run away?'' Jason asked.

    [ The best I coulde up with includes you controlling your white lightning and dashing out of whatever this ce is. ]

    ''That''s not exactly a n.'' Jason sighed.

    "What if I refuse to ept?" he asked Alexa in order to think of his escape himself.

    "If you refuse to ept my offer. All of them die." Alexa raised her right hand and flicked her wrist over the entire area.

    The remaining mist vanished in an instant as Jason got a clear look of where he was. However, he couldn''t pay attention to his surroundings due to the scene on the ground.

    Thousands of children were lying on the ground unconscious on the ground. One nce and Jason could tell that they were the children who had gathered in the arena.

    Upon looking closely, Jason spotted Nora, Andrew, Zeke, and even Orion among those lying on the ground.

    Amber was no where to be seen as Jason remembered that she had managed to regain her consciousness just like he had.

    "How do I know that none of them are an illusion?" Jason slowly asked. "I know that you can change yourself to look like others. What if you converted some rocks into them?"

    "Are you really ten?" Alexa asked back before sighing. "But I guess its my fault for doing that. I should have just used this n from the starting."

    Alexa suddenly started floating in the air as the blond woman made her way towards Jason. A child rose from the thousands lying on the ground as both of them appeared in front of Jason.

    "Raise your arm." Alexa ordered and this time, Jason obliged as he raised his right hand forward.

    Jason''s eyes were set on the child Alexa had chosen as he looked at the little red-head boy with a grim expression.

    The child was none other than Nora.

    "You asked me whether they were illusions or not," Alexa grinned. "Now see for yourself."

    She flicked her right hand in Nora''s direction as a cut appeared on his lower arm. The cut ran from his wrist to his elbow as red blood dripped down from the wound.

    ''It''s warmбн'' Jason thought as he the blood dripped down on his arm.

    "Now you can either ept my offer or watch them die," Alexa stated as the wound on Nora''s arm automatically closed. "I will start from him of course."

    Jason was left stunned as he stared into Alexa''s eyes. He had to make a choice before she changed her mind and decided to kill someone to make a demonstration.

    The only problem was that no matter what he chose, he would lose in the end.

 Chapter 84 Hecate

    "Can I ask what your real name is?" Jason suddenly asked as Alexa looked at him with interest.

    "So you know Hestia is her real name huh." She amused. "Mine''s Hecate. Anything else you want to ask to buy some time for your non-existent help to arrive?"

    ''She is somewhat smart at least. Also system, now that we are captured, how can I call out to Hestia for help?''

    [ Uh, maybe think about her? ] The system replied hesitantly. It had already given up on trying to think of a way to escape as all paths were currently blocked.

    ''Hestia, this would be the perfect time to show up.'' Jason thought while reaching out to his connection with Hestia.

    He tried his best to contact his guardian yet no response ever reach him. Jason just sagged his shoulders before shooting the children lying on the ground a nce.

    He would be able to hold on if a few of them died yet the thought of thousands of children dying due to him was too much for Jason to handle.

    "I am ready to ept your offer." He sighed in the end as Hecate grinned.

    (AN: Sorry to ruin your immersion but I just wanted to point out that these name changes can be confusing. Please bare with me and I promise you won''t regret it.)

    Hecate smiled at his words as she put Noah''s body down on the ground and looked straight into Jason''s eyes.

    "You can ept that then." She ordered as a window opened in front of Jason.

    ---

    The Guardian of Mistopia is asking you to be her vessel.

    ---

    Jason stared at the screen for a few seconds before sighing. He had no idea what would happen if Hecate entered his body yet he didn''t seem to be having many options.

    [ There''s always the option of dying avable for you. ] The system said, its voice barely a whisper that Jason would''ve missed if not for the fact that it had echoed right inside his mind.

    ''I would rather live with her as my guardian then die.'' Jason smiled ruefully.

    He had already experienced death once and it happened when he had lost everything. Right now, he had a lot of things that he didn''t want to lose.

    ''Perhaps that''s why people love cold and indifferent main characters. They don''t have anything tying them down and can take any decision they want to take.'' Jason observed but before he could ept Hecate as his guardian, a chuckle echoed inside his mind.

    [ You remind me of someone I used to know, Jason Syrward. ] Hestia''s voice echoed inside his mind as something suddenly wrapped around his body.

    Jason felt as though he was sitting near a firece during winters and was drinking a cup of hot chocte.

    [ I''ve that effect on people when I first meet them. I''m the goddess of the hearth after all. ] Hestia''s voice once again entered his mind as Jason''s eyes parted in surprise.

    ''Waitбн you are a goddess?!''

    [ No, your mind is ying tricks on you. Now be silent and let me teach Hecate a lesson.]

    Jason suddenly felt himself losing control of his body as a window opened in front of him.

    ---

    Will you allow your guardian to use your voice to talk?

    Yes / No

    ---

    Jason blinked once before choosing yes. He then lifted his face to look at Hecate who had a smug expression on her face.

    Hecate''s face, however, was soon covered by a frown as she saw Jason staring her right in the eyes.

    "Hurry up and ept the request. What are you waiting for?" she inquired as a smile appeared on Jason''s face.

    The strange thing was that he hadn''t willed his lips to move up and it hadn''t happened unconsciously either.

    "Hecate, you never understood why I stepped down from that position of power, did you?" Jason''s mouth moved yet the voice didn''t belong to him.

    Instead it was Hestia''s voice speaking through Jason''s mouth.

    "Hestiaбн" Hecate looked as though she had just been told that she was adopted from a sewer. Her eyes immediately jerked to look at the children as she tried to kill one of them in order to make Hestia stand down.

    Unfortunately for her, it was toote.

    "You can try doing that once you''ve answered my question." Hestia spoke again.

    Hecate''s body suddenly froze as Jason felt a wave of power spreading throughout his body. It was Hestia''s powers working her way over Hestia''s body as theter was rendered useless.

    "You were a fool to give up your position as one of the twelve gods of Olympus." Hecate spat at Jason''s feet as she looked at Hestia with hatred. "Why did you give up that power?"<sub> </sub>

    "Because if I didn''t, we wouldn''t have the current twelve gods that we do now. I chose the position of the Hearth tender because it was the best job for me back then." Hestia sighed.

    [ Jason, can you lend me your body for a few minutes? I swear an oath on my name that I won''t do anything foul using your body. ] Hestia asked mentally.

    ''Uh, sure.'' Jason gave her the permission to use his body as he suddenly felt his body slipping out from his control.

    Hestia took control over his body the next second as she looked at Hecate with a slight smile.

    "But once I was abandoned and locked on that separate realm, my hatred towards all gods grew equally. If not for Aiden, I wouldn''t be here currently."

    Hecate visibly flinched when she heard the name Aidening out from Hestia''s mouth. Jason on the other hand felt slightly confused.

    ''Are you talking about Aiden who has ck hair and red as blood eyes and is known by various names?'' Jason inquired.

    [ You know him? ] Hestia sounded surprised yet her surprise didn''tst for long. [ We will talk more about thister on. ]

    After saying that, she turned her attention towards Hecate before raising her right hand forward.

    "You are lucky that Jason''s body can''t handle my powers or I would''ve smited you. Currently, I''ve to settle for banishing you."

    Jason''s right hand suddenly started glowing as a beam of divine wrath shot from his palm and hit Hecate right in the head.

    The guardian''s eyes widened as she shot backwards and hit the trunk of a tree. Hestia stared at her for a few seconds before giving the control back to Jason.

    [ We will talk once you are asleep. ]

    ''But Erebusбн'' Jason''s voice trailed off as he realized that Hestia had slipped away.

    He sighed aloud before looking at the children and trying to figure out his next move. Jason then looked straight ahead as he saw Hecate''s body slumped on the ground.

    He made his way to her and ced his hand on her neck in an attempt to hear her pulse. But once he didn''t find anything, he sighed in relief.

    From Hestia''s words, he knew that Hecate wasn''t dead and just had been banished to who knows where.

    Jason wondered who the body belonged to as he stared at the sky. Night had already arrived and Jason knew that many beasts in the forest would''ve started hunting at this time.

    [ You can try contacting Risa using the family connection. ] The system suggested.

    ''I would''ve done that if I knew how to do it.'' Jason pointed out as he summoned a lightning bolt and passed it through Hecate''s body such that the lightning bolt pinned her to the tree and prevented her from running.

    This was a precaution in case she suddenly woke up and decided to attack him.

    Jason then looked at the children onest time before trying to talk with Risa.

    "Hello, grandma. can you hear me?" Jason asked aloud while thinking of Risa. He didn''t know how this worked and could only hope that his voice got through to Risa.

    ''Until then, what do you think is happening system?'' Jason asked while sitting down near a tree.

    [ You have to be more specific as a lot of things have happened recently. ]

    ''I mean what do you think about Hestia being a goddess and such,'' Jason corrected. ''If I remember correctly, she was the thirteenth Olympian and the goddess of the Hearth while Hecate was the goddess of witchcraft.''

    [ You are correct about that. Both are definitely the name of goddesses yet what role they will y in your life is still unknown. ]

    ''Well, I can already tell that I am about to be wrapped in the middle of some mess soon.'' Jason sighed audibly. ''I wish I could just live the life of a ten year old in peace.''

    [ You might get that wish fulfilled but what will you do in the future. Most protagonists face problems in their teenage years. ]

    ''Looks like you learned many things from me.'' Jason nodded his head in acknowledgment. ''However, I am no protagonist.''

    [ You are one no matter which angle you look at it with. ]

    ''Well then if I am a protagonist, I''m a very lousy one with an all talk and no action of a system.'' Jason smiled as he could tell that the system felt offended.

    [ Hmph! At least you have me to talk with. You won''t feel lonely because of that. ]

    ''Yeah, Yeah. I know.'' Jason finally stood up as he decided to contact Risa once again before trying to find his way out of the forest.

    "Can anyone hear me?!" Jason shouted aloud as his voice echoed around the forest. He knew that it wasn''t exactly the best move as he might have attracted many beasts but he had no other option.

    A few minutes passed by after Jason had shouted yet no one appeared in front of him.

    *rustle!*

    Jason suddenly heard a group of bushes rustling as he activated his night vision and was ready to lunge at whoever was hiding in the bushes.

    However, he was surprised when someone''s voice came from the bushes. "Maybe you should try a less screaming approach from next time."

 Chapter 85 Back At The Mansion

    "Grandma?" Jason asked in an uneasy tone as Risa suddenly stepped out of the bushes.

    Jason looked at her for a few seconds before summoning a lightning bolt.

    He had seen enough illusions to question everything that was happening in front of him. For all he knew, Hecate was alive and was trying to put him in an illusion.

    "Melons are better than lemons, Jason. Always remember that." Issac''s voice suddenly appeared from behind Risa as Jason''s grandpa made his appearance.

    He had spoken the exact same words he had told Jason years ago when someone hade to kidnap him which had resulted in his obtaining his MJC.

    Jason slowly lowered his guard down as Issac and Risa moved towards him.

    They were soon followed by a huge group of people including Zn, Ariana, etc.

    All of them went to check up on the children while Risa and Issac walked up to him.

    "Did you get hurt anywhere?" Risa asked as she checked his body for injuries.

    "No, I am not hurt anywhere." Jason replied as she stepped away from him.

    Risa then nced towards Hecate''s body which was still pinned by Jason''s lightning bolt.

    "She was the body being used by that guardian." Jason informed as the three of them neared the body.

    "She is clearly dead," Risa muttered. "I will''ve to scan her body thoroughly to know anything else."

    Issac understood what Risa was implying as he tapped the body''s shoulder with the ring on his fingers.

    The body vanished in the next few seconds and all that remained was the lightning bolt Jason had used.

    "Jason, I''m sorry but you''ll have to tell us what happenedter on." Risa said in a pitying voice.

    "Can I do that after having a nice bath and a good sleep?" Jason asked with hopeful eyes as Risa nodded.

    "You can have all of that once we get back home." She added.

    Suddenly, numerous people started drawing magic circles on the ground.

    All of them were drawing teleportation circles that would take all of them, including the children, back to the arena.

    Once they were at the arena, they would wake the children up and proceed in a much more organized manner.

    "You aren''t going to help?" Jason asked while looking at Risa.

    "I don''t trust in my teleportation skills enough to go help them. Who knows where I''ll take us." Risa admitted.

    "Trueбн"

    Once the magic circles were drawn, all of them ignited at the same time as everyone teleported away to the arena.

    Issac and Risa pulled Jason aside and silently left the arena for the mansion.

    "Jason, are you sure you are all right?" Risa asked again while walking.

    "Um, why do you think there is something wrong with me?" Jason asked in confusion.

    "No reason. I''m just worried about you." Risa replied before sharing a nce with Issac.

    Jason could see that both of their eyes contained a little bit of uneasiness which made him frown internally.

    p ''System, is anything wrong with my body?''<sub> </sub></anda>

    [ Except for the fact that you smell terrible, everything else is fine. I don''t know why they are behaving like that. ] The system replied nonchntly.

    ''Ugh, I do smell.'' Jason observed as he took a sniff of his body and coughed slightly.

    What he didn''t know was that Hestia''s usage of divine power had overexerted his body and had made a few noticeable changes in his appearance.

    The system wasn''t able to detect them as it was not capable of sensing divine energy.

    On their way towards the mansion, Jason wondered what Hestia would say if she knew that Erebus was his patron god.

    ''Speaking of gods, I wonder who this Aiden guy was and what he did.'' Jason silently thought while reminiscing about the man he had seen long ago.

    His memories of Aiden were a bit blurry yet he knew that the man was an important person.

    ''System, can you like give me quests a bit quicker? I want to buy that guide in the shop.''

    [ I don''t control the amount of quests you receive. You''ll have to ask Erebus for it. ]

    ''So you aren''t calling him lord or anything like that.'' Jason observed.

    [ Any problem with that? ]

    ''Nah.''

    After reaching the mansion, Jason immediately went to his room. He entered his bathroom immediately and saw that the bathtub was filled to the brim with slightly hot water.

    ''Must be Alfred''s doing.'' He thought before removing his clothes and diving straight into the bath.

    Jason finally let himself rx after the events of the day as he reyed them one by one inside his mind. It had been one of heck of a day.

    ''Well after such a tiring day, all I want to do is sleep.'' Jason sighed as he got out of the bath an hourter and dried his body.

    After wearing his clothes, Jason came outside to find that some of his favorite foods sitting on his bed in a te.

    ''Risa must have asked Alfred to get me this.'' He leisurely ate the dinner before removing his coat and lying on the bed.

    Jason hadn''t realized how tired his body was after the events of the day. The moment his head touched the pillow, his eyes closed up and he was asleep.

    In his dream world, Jason was once again staring at a nk sky but this time, he was sitting in an open grass field.

    He overlooked the entire ce curiously before settling down and letting the wind ruffle his hair.

    "Enjoying the night weather?" Erebus suddenly appeared right beside Jason yet thetter looked extremely calm.

    "How are you, Ere?" Jason asked curiously as his patron god settled beside him too.

    "I''m doing quite all right though I have to keep an eye on you most of the time or the jade emperor will scream at me. It''s quite annoying actually." Erebus sighed.

    "Why would he get mad at you for doing that?" Jason asked in confusion as Erebus faked a cough.

    "Its nothing important. Don''t mind what I said."

    The two of them then went silent as the let the wind brush against their skin. They were calmly enjoying the weather.

    "Jason, I know you have many questions but can you hold the back until I am done exining everything?" Erebus finally asked as Jason nodded.

    "We can do that but first," Jason suddenly looked at the sky as he sensed the presence of his guardian nearing him. "There is a certain goddess that you should meet."

 Chapter 86 Why Me?

    "A certain goddess?" Erebus questioned. "Which goddess are you talking about?"

    "Weren''t you keeping an eye on me?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

    Before Erebus could reply and make an excuse, he felt someone entering the ce forcefully.

    It was none other than Hestia who hade to talk to Jason as well as see who his patron god was.

    The empty ck sky suddenly had an array of stars popping all around. They looked like the light of a candle illuminating a dark room.

    "Hello, Jason." A feminine voice entered both Jason and Erebus''s ears as a beautiful woman appeared in front of them.

    The woman had long curly brown hair that fell down to her waist alongside blood red eyes that reminded Jason a lot about Aiden.

    In addition to this, the woman had two long horns protruding from the front of her head, each of them obsidian ck.

    Hestia was wearing a in blue dress that went down to her knees and showed her curves in modesty. Jason had to admit that older woman had a charm that younger ones couldn''t posses, even if they were centuries old.

    Erebus, however, had recognized who the woman was and was looking at her in shock. His mouth was slightly open, which for a god of his caliber, must have been a truly shocking event.

    "Hestiaбн" He muttered her name as the goddess looked at him with surprise.

    She took in his appearance and tried to figure out who he was. Hestia racked her brain to search for his name yet no matter how hard she tried, she realized that she didn''t know his name.

    "Who are you?" Hestia asked slowly as she had been expecting herself to know the man''s name.

    "Of course you don''t know me." Erebus mumbled before replying, "I''m Erebus."

    Erebus extended his hand forward for Hestia to shake yet she didn''t lift hers. Hestia''s entire body was frozen as she looked at Erebus''s face with a slightly open mouth.

    "You areбн darknessбн" She mumbled as Erebus rolled his eyes.

    "No, I am not. Well not anymore." He sighed. "I''m the god of shadows nowadays as well as a part time bartender guiding the lost souls."

    Hestia didn''t know what to say as she looked at Erebus as though he was some kind of historical legend, which in a way, he was.

    "Jason, maybe you should have told me that your patron was Erebusбн" Hestia murmured as Jason shrugged.

    "It didn''t seem relevant at the time. After all, we were mostly fighting the entire day." Jason replied as Hestia looked from his face to Erebus''s face.

    [ Maybe you both should give her a few minutes to digest this. ] The system said inside both of their minds.

    ''I guess you are right.'' Erebus replied as both Jason and the system was able to hear him.

    ''Ere, why is she behaving that way though?'' Jason inquired as Erebus sigh exasperatedly.

    ''Well its due to the myths surrounding me. I''m supposedly one of the first five creations thrown out of something called chaos. To her, I''m like the hidden sect ancestor everyone fears and admires.''

    ''But are those myths true?''

    ''No one can tell what myths are real or what are fake. Some are true and some are just a figment of imagination that some living being promoted.

    In the end, the gods themselves can''t tell the truth. Memory loss bes quitemon once you''ve lived for this long and every one likes praise until you have stories going around in which you cheated on your sister-wife a thousand times.''

    ''I thought you guys had some kind of passive ability that helped you remember stuff better.'' Jason mused.

    ''I mean we can remember anything that we want to remember by focusing a bit hard. We just don''t have instant recall or perfect memory or anything like that.'' Erebus shrugged as the two of them then looked back at Hestia.

    She had finally managed to get over the initial shock as she looked at Jason with a surprised look.<sub> </sub>

    "So which one of those divinities is yours?" Hestia asked as Jason suddenly remembered that he had two divinities inside him too.

    ''What the hell happened to those two?'' he asked the system as he remembered that neither of the two divinities had made an appearance and hadn''t given him any powerups either.

    [ They are currently dormant and the only passive ability you gain is protection from very and bad contracts also a slight amount of increase in charm. ] The system replied as Jason sighed audibly.

    "Ere, how am I supposed to use the power of the divinities inside me?" Jason asked aloud.

    Erebus shook his head before replying, "you can only use their true power after experiencing a tearjerker incident. If the incident rtes with either of the two divinities, you will be able to unlock their true power."

    Having exined the means to use their powers, Erebus turned his gaze towards Hestia.

    "Neither of those divinities are mine. One of them belongs to Sancus while the other oneбн" Erebus''s voice trailed off as he knew who the golden ring belonged to.

    Yet even he didn''t want to take the person''s name due to certain reasons. There was a chance that things could go terribly wrong if the owner of the divinity herself appeared on Clover.

    "Then what have you given him as a patron?" Hestia inquired while observing Jason from head to toe.

    "I have given him a system." Erebus shrugged.

    "A systemбн" Hestia suddenly seemed to fell deep in thought as though she was remembering something from the past.

    "Though this discussion is nice and good, can anyone please exin me the concept of guardians and what worlds theye from?" Jason asked as his words pulled Hestia back to the present.

    "Ahh rightбн" she pulled her thoughts together. "Guardians basically refer to the strongest people on a realm. There could be around ten to twenty guardians on a single realm."

    "Clover is interconnected with nine such realms, all of which can only be essed from Clover," Erebus continued. "All these realms have numerous guardians who cane to Clover by choosing people below the age of eighteen. These people are called vessels."

    "You are my vessel, Jason," Hestia added. "Before I chose you as my vessel, I was surviving inside the body of that goat but that restricted my powers by ny five percent. That was why I couldn''tmunicate with you or anything like that."

    "I remember that you eradicated Otis and his group in the past using your powers." Jasonmented as Hestia nodded in acknowledgment.

    "Now Clover has numerous vessels due to the guardians wanting toe here. The reason is because Clover has much more powerful natural manner and we can benefit from that."

    "You don''t have to lie to him," Erebus snorted. "Jason is smarter than you give him credit for."

    Hestia seemed to pause for a second before continuing, "well the real reason most guardianse here is so that they could ascend to godhood. Most of us have already reached your maximum potential back in our home worlds."

    "Wait, aren''t you already a goddess?" Jason interrupted in confusion. "And as far as I remember, Hecate is a goddess too."

    "Wellбн we''re both goddesses and not goddesses at the same time." Hestia replied as Jason raised his eyebrows in response.

    "In simpler terms, they were once goddesses but due to some reasons, they ended up as demi-gods from other realms." Erebus exined.

    "Those aren''t really simpler terms. Its more like you are leaving things to my imagination." Jason muttered loud enough for both of them to hear his words.

    "You wanted to learn about guardians and we will exin that to you. Anything other than that isn''t really important at the moment." Erebus replied calmly.

    Jason looked from his face to Hestia''s before sighing.

    "Then can I ask onest question?" Jason asked while looking Hestia right into the eyes.

    "As long as its something we can answer, sure." Hestia replied, feeling slightly confused.

    "Then all I want to know isбн why me?"

 Chapter 87 Someone Is Always Watching You

    "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 particr reason?"

    "You have two divinities, thunder element and a bloodline with an extremely highpatibility 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 tough or cry.

    Erebus had a much better reaction as he smiled and tried to hide hisughter. 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 thepatibility 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 apatibility percentage below ny, 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 be 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 orter so I told you about it before."

    "Fair point."

    The duo exchanged a nod before all of them settled down together.

    [ Soбн 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 peopleing 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 be 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 systemined 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 nning 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.<sub> </sub>

    Or was it the past year?

    ''Its so hard to keep track of time.'' Erebus sighed as Jason finally asked onest 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 usingly.

    "You could''ve let me get infinite system points by giving me such quests from the beginning!" Jason eximed.

    "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 atst 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 ce." 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 ce to figure out what part of the ce was based on his thoughts.

    ''The flowersбн'' 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 ce he was sitting in.

    ''I realize why I loved these flowers so muchбн'' 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 exined 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 be 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 nonchntly 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 onest look at his surroundings.

    [ This ce is called dream world. Its simr 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 simr 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.''

 Chapter 88 Tiers And Ranks

    Once Jason had appeared in the normal world, he checked his system points before buying the book from the system shop.

    < Do you want to purchase this item for 500 system points? >

    ''Yes.''

    < Guidebook has been bought. To read the details of the book, please ess it through your status page. >

    Once Jason had read the words written on the system window, he opened his status page and saw a new option being present there.

    Upon clicking the option, a contents list opened in front of Jason.

    ---

    Basic world information(Ranks included)

    World Formation(locked)

    Mortals ascended to godhood(locked)

    ---

    ''ssic move to have most of the things locked.'' Jason mused before choosing the only option avable to him.

    A holographic book suddenly popped up in front of Jason''s face as it automatically flipped open to the first page.

    "Clover is ssified as a ck ranked world meaning that it''s extremely dangerous and also has other realms interconnected with it. The main feature of Clover is its guardian systems.

    It could also be referred to as power borrowing system." Jason read aloud before scanning the rest of the details visible on the page.

    He soon realized that he knew most of the information written on the pages and didn''t need to read them again.

    After skimming through a few pages, Jason finally reached the part he was most interested in.

    "The spells in Clover are ssified into six tiers." He read aloud before staring at the rest of the details present on the tiers.

    ---

    Tier 0 magic: Basic magic that almost anyone with mana can use.

    - Those who can use these spells are called practitioners [F rank for monsters]

    - Requires at least an E grade magical affinity with any element.

    Tier 1 magic or spells/skills: slightlyplicated magic like fireball or water gun for example.

    - Requires verbal or non-verbal chanting with mana input varying with size, hotness/coldness, etc.

    - Requires an E-D grade magical affinity with any element.

    - Those who can use this are called mages(for all elements except supreme ones)

    - Power grade: Bronze [D rank for monsters]

    - Rank: Tier 1 Mage or simply a mage

    Tier 2 magic or spells/skills: Moreplicated magic like fire tornado or water cyclone for example.

    - Requires verbal/non-verbal chanting and if you are a new learner of this, hands signs with a fixed mana input, no matter what the external output is.

    - Requires a C grade affinity at least

    - Power grade: Between Silver < Gold [C < B]

    - Rank: Tier 2 mage or true mage

    ---

    Jason read the details excitedly before looking at the power grade. He decided to first find the power rankings before reading the details on the rest of the tiers.

    ---

    Power ranks for both humans/humanoids on Clover as well as the beasts on Clover:

    Practitioners = F rank

    Bronze = D rank

    Silver = C rank

    Gold = B rank

    Ruby = A rank

    Sapphire = S rank

    Emerald = SS rank

    Diamond = SSS rank

    ck = Myriad

    ---

    ''After waiting for so long, I finally have all the details I needed to know!'' Jason thought happily.

    He realized that the ranks were decided by the tier of spell or skill a person or beast could use, at least that was true for the magical rankings.

    [ Host, the system has now assigned all of your skills and spells. You can check themter on while also being able to see your rank on the status screen. ]

    ''Thank you for informing about that system.'' Jason replied before reading the details on the remaining three tiers.

    Though it induced a slight headache, Jason had to read all of this information as it was very important for the future.

    ---

    Tier 3 magic or spells: Moreplex magic like using life element for bone regeneration or using fire to form an armor or cover a certain area.

    - The same as tier 2 plus supreme mana control

    - Requires a B grade affinity at least

    - Power grade: Ruby [A]<sub> </sub>

    - Rank: Tier 3 mage or grand mage

    Tier 4 magic or spells/skills: Includes things like regrowing internal body parts, controlling dragons of fire or water, summoning lightning storms etc.

    - The same as tier 3 plus magic circle if required

    - Requires an A grade affinity

    - Power grade: Sapphire [S]

    - Tier 4 mage or Archmage

    Tier 5 magic or spells/skills: Things like multiple lightning storms or creating a nuclear explosion.

    - The same as tier 4

    - Requires an S grade talent

    - Power grade: Emerald < Diamond [SS < SSS]

    - Tier five mage or Ascension mage

    Tier 6 magic: The strongest magic out there

    - Unknown

    - Requires a Z grade affinity

    - Power: ck[Myriad for beasts(demi-god stage)]

    - Demigod

    ---

    After the huge info dump had been read, Jason felt sleep inching closer. He was tired by the amounts of detail he had gotten but also excited to use this informationter on.

    ''This should unlock the ranking column when using inspect, right?'' Jason inquired as he remembered seeing three question marks instead of the creature''s ranks.

    [ Yes, its unlocked now. Also, you look a bit sleepyбн ] The systemmented.

    Jason indeed looked sleep since he was tired by the events of the day.

    ''I will read the rest of the things tomorrow.'' He thought silently before making the holograph vanish with a single thought.

    The next thing he did was to open his status and ess his skills to see their ranks.

    Surprisingly, none of the skills belonging to his Child of Darkness job ss had any rankings in front of them.

    [ Its because those skills are directly handed to you by Erebus and couldn''t be ranked in this world due to them not being present here. ] The system informed as Jason moved on.

    The next in line was his thunder mage job ss.

    ''Lightning bolt is only tier one skill?'' Jason asked with a surprised expression as he had thought that lightning bolt would at least fall under tier two due to its destructive power.

    [ The tiers are divided on the basis ofplication first and power second. Lightning bolt is the first skills lightning mages learn simrly to how fire mages learn fireball as their first skill. ] The system exined.

    Jason, feeling too sleepy to argue, looked at his lightning steps skills.

    Despite the amount of mana it took him to use the skill, it was only ssified as tier 2 skill.

    ''System, what about that thunder release I had done during my match with Amber?''

    [ That isn''t ssified as a skill as is more of an ability. You can use it freely and in any form your want with varying mana input. But if it was a skill, it would''ve likely been tier 3 or higher. ]

    ''I guess the same applies to the different types of lightning.'' Jason observed as he saw that Hestia''s gift didn''t appear under the thunder mage job ss.

    It was instead present under the guardian section. Jason then looked at his passive ''lightning reflexes'' skill to find out that it was a tier 1 skill as well.

    Disappointed by that, he shifted to thest job ss he had. Both of the skills he had as a dark mage were tier 2 skills.

    Jason''s overall rating was Gold(B rank) due to how lethal his skills could be. Jason didn''t know whether that was considered good or bad but the only way of knowing it was to ask someone else.

    ''Maybe tomorrow.'' Jason stifled a yawn before snuggling inside the sheets again. He was asleep in under a minute as the system sighed.

    [ Good night host. ] It said regardless.

    Jason had a dreamless sleep that night and was awoken by Alfred the next morning, at least Jason thought it was morning.

    [It''s one in the afternoon. ] The system informed as Jason groggily sat up.

    He was about to tell Alfred that he was going to sleep for a few more hours yet realizing that it was already afternoon, Jason decided to get ready for the day.

    Once he was done with his daily things, Alfred once again appeared in his room and informed him that Risa and Issac were waiting for him in the former''s room.

    Jason exited the room with a smile as he was ready to tell the story to Issac and Risa.

    ''Maybe spending an hour inside the bathroom to think of a believable story was the right idea.''

    [ Why don''t you tell them the truth? ]

    ''Remember what Erebus told mest night?'' Jason suddenly asked.

    [ That someone is always watching you. ] The system quoted.

    ''Yes, that''s what he said. I thought about it for a while and realized that there are many ways for someone to listen to what was happening. I don''t want anyone knowing that I have a literal goddess inside me.''

    [ More like an ex-goddess. ] The system corrected.

    ''Ex-goddess or not, we both saw how she was able to use that divine attack on Hecate. If someone realizes that I can do such things, they will hundred percent try to make me side with them.''

    [ Once again, you are ten years old and should be more worried about socializing. ] The system sighed. [ But I guess you are just not like others. Let''s see where we end up in a few years. ]

    ''At least I won''t be lonely.'' Jason pointed out with a grin before opening Risa''s door and stepping inside.

    "You feeling all right Jason?" Risa immediately asked as Jason closed the door behind him.

    "I am fine after a long rest." He replied with a smile as Risa sighed in relief.

    "Then are you ready to tell us about what happened yesterday?" Issac inquired as Jason took a deep breath.

    "Yes, I am ready."

 Chapter 89 The Curses

    "So, what happened in the forest?" Issac asked slowly.

    "Once I was teleported there, I found myself surrounded by hundreds of unconscious children. If not for my guardian, I would''ve surely panicked right there," Jason replied in a fake worried tone.

    [ If you don''t die in the following years, maybe you should consider taking the job of an actor. You will surely be one of the most famous actors out there. ] The system praised as it had seen Jason''s acting numerous times.

    ''I know.'' Jason replied with an internal grin before continuing his story.

    "Once I had calmed down, I tried to find a way to contact you but that''s when Hecate decided to attack me. She was going to make me her ve but I then I felt an enormous amount of energying from the surroundings.

    The next thing I knew was waking up to see that woman in that condition. I immediately secured her to the tree just in case she attacked me again."

    "A smart move," Issac praised.

    "I then tried to contact you but never got a response." Jason added as Risa exchanged a look with Issac.

    "So you were the one who sent that signal from the forest. Thanks to that, we were able to pin your location ande to your rescue." Risa exined.

    "What kind of signal did I send? No rather, how did I even send it?" Jason asked while tilting his face in confusion.

    "I think you tried to contact me the way others do yet instead of sending a verbal message, you sent a signal. There must have been something around the forest that was blockingmunication because I did reply to you." Risa added.

    ''I guess that''s why Hecate was sure that no one woulde to help me.'' Jason thought silently before remembering that the Crystal ceremony was still going on.

    "When will the alliance choosing part be held?" Jason inquired as Risa and Issac once again exchanged a look.

    ''I wish I could understand what they were talking about by understanding their looks.'' Jason wished silently as Risa looked at him with an emotionless face.

    "You don''t have to chose an alliance anymore. You will be entering the Vancouver academy after two months when the new session starts there." Risa slowly exined.

    "So I will be going there on first of March?"

    "Yes,"

    The months were named Janary, Feruary, Mach, Aril, Mya, Jun, Juli, Agust, Setember, Octob, Nomember and Decamer,

    Someone had clearly taken this naming thing way too casually due to how the names were. But what had shocked Jason the most was the fact that the names sounded way too simr to those from Earth.

    It was as though someone had taken the names of the months from Earth, modified them a bit and ended up with twelve simr names.

    One might call itzy or genius depending on who the person. Jason of course found this genius as it had required little to no effort.

    "Why do I have to specifically go there though?" Jason asked curiously as both Issac and Risa sighed.

    "Its the only ce in the entire kingdom which will teach you how to use your guardian powers more efficiently alongside a whole lot of other things. You will also be taught in the best sses." Risa exined.

    "We could''ve taught you that ourselves butбн" Issac sighed in disappointment.

    "The curse, I know." Jason reassured him before questioning, "why were you cursed in the first ce?"<sub> </sub>

    "Well, we weren''t the only ones who were cursed. All four families received a different curse as a punishment for trying to overthrow the monarchy." Issac sighed again.

    Jason on the other hand looked at both of his grandparents in shock. "You all tried to overthrow the monarchy?!"

    "You don''t know how bad the conditions were during the previous king''s reign. We had to do it and it was only due to our effort that the the kingdom has improved a lot."

    "We thought that baring a curse was a small price for that but we were half wrong," Risa clenched her fist. "Each of your families were handed with a curse that would make sure that our future generation wouldn''t be as strong as we are."

    "The Bloodthorn family has a curse that all of their rtionships will fall apart eventually. The Anvilone family has a curse that prevents them from ever being able to learn how to wield a sword.

    The Feuer family has curse that makes all members of their family have a fear of water. The Syrward family has a curse that we can''t teach anything to our future generation." Issac exined.

    "All of these curses oppose things that would''ve normally made all of our children stronger," Risa added. "The Feuer family mainly consists of strong fire users and a few of water is extremely dangerous for them."

    "The Anvilone family has an extremely powerful sword art yet they can''t use it due to the curse. The Bloodthorn family has a special attack that requires coordination between several of their family membersбк

    "But they can''t have that due to the broken rtionships." Jason interrupted as he saw Issac nod his head in acknowledgment.

    "That''s why all of us stick closer," Risa exined with a sad smile on her face. "That is why Brian hates Issac as he was the one of the three prominent people who had led the attack against the monarchy."

    "I seeбн" Jason mumbled before remembering that Risa also belonged to the Bloodthorn family. "Then how did your rtionship stillst that long?"

    "Curses don''t affect me the same way as others. That was why I was able to teach you a few things," Risa''s face suddenly turned sadder. "Yet some of its effects continued ahead."

    "That was why Uncle Ray and Aunt Zara left and my parentsбн" Jason muttered as though he had received enlightenment.

    "Yes, the curse is the reason for that alongside our negligence. Anyways, neither you nor Noah are affected by that curse so don''t worry. You both also negate the original curse ced on our family." Risa exined.

    "Why doesn''t it work on us though?" Jason wondered aloud as he knew that he was effected by curses.

    "Its due to the fact that both of your mothers belong to other races. That nulls the effects of the curse which allows both of you do anything you want." Issac smiled.

    Jason looked at both of them with an admiring look before nodding.

    ''Not only us but the other three families are cursed as well.'' He silently thought.

    [ This means that you were just born in one of the most chaos causing families because in the end, there are other cursed families out there too. ] The system reminded him.

    ''I guess you are right.''

    "Jason, go eat some food in the hall below. The alliance choosing ceremony will be held shortly and Nora still has to take part in it." Risa reminded him as Jason''s stomach growled on cue.

    "You are right I guess." He muttered before making his way down towards the hall as single thought repeated inside his mind.

    ''The academy arc is soon about to begin.''

 Chapter 90 Academy Selection

    Once Jason entered the hall, he quickly found some food to eat and made his way out of the house.

    All families were already gathered outside the mansion and were ready to set out for the event. Jason made his way to his grandparents before all of the set out together.

    "Big bro, do you know where you are going?" Nora, who was walking right beside Jason, suddenly asked.

    "I am going to the Vancouver academy. Well, not like I have any other choice." Jason replied with a shrug.

    Nora looked extremely nervous for reason which made Jason smile. This was how he would''ve felt if he had to chose an university in his previous life.

    "You will definitely get a good academy due to that storm you had created. I am sure that one of the top three academies will try to recruit you as well." Jason reassured.

    Nora looked a bit relieved as he smiled and nodded his head.

    [ Don''tment about your skills or something. ] The system said immediately after as Jason shook his head mentally.

    ''As you say.'' He replied as all of the families soon reached the Phoenix statue.

    From there on, all of them made there way to the arena. Jason wondered how someone would feel if they saw so many people marching towards them.

    If he was in their ce, he would definitely make a wise decision and run away just in case he did something that wasn''t liked by someone.

    ''Maybe I should stop thinking about the scenarios generating inside my head.'' Jason wondered silently before entering the arena from the same entrance as yesterday''s.

    However, he and all the other children belonging from the four families were directly lead to the arena floor to chose their alliances.

    Except the family heads and a few other individuals, no other adult was allowed to enter the arena floor.

    ''So many childrenбн'' Jason''s jaw dropped as he saw thousands of children gathered at on the arena floor.

    All of them hade there from various parts of the kingdom and were all hurdled together to make their next choice for their future.

    "After the chaotic events we experienced yesterday, I think its best for all of us to try and move forward. So without further ado, let''s start the selection ceremony!" Zn''s voice echoed throughout the arena as Jason heard multiple popping sounds going all around him.

    Jason then saw an orange window opening in front of him, probably meant to be used in the selection.

    ''I guess I really am entering the Royal Vancouver academy.'' Jason thought while sighing.

    The screen in front of him read,

    ---

    You have chosen the Royal Vancouver academy.

    ---

    Jason had nothing else to do except look around at those who were trying to decide their future. Many parents or adults were offering advices and suggestions to the kids while some were outright exerting pressure on their children.

    [ I wonder how people would react if they could see the others selection and options. ] The system wondered aloud.<sub> </sub>

    ''We will never know.''

    Jason observed that Risa and Ray had also whispered a few words inside Nora''s ears. The demi-human looked nervous as he lifted his right hand and selected an option on the screen present in front of him.

    Ten minutes went by in such manner before majority of the children had chosen an alliance. There were many who hadn''t been offered an alliance and had to leave the ce behind with hopes of returning the following year.

    As for those who were attending theirst ceremony for selection, they would have to join the public academy or join the army.

    "Grandma, how do they know the information on the children who didn''t show their abilities in the tournament?" Jason asked curiously as Risa smiled.

    "There are multiple examinations that are held at district level before all the children appear here. Their results are forwarded to all the sects, academies, etc. Based on those reports, they show interest in which children to pick."

    "I see." Jason nodded in understanding as Zn decided to end the selection ceremony.

    "For those of you have selected an alliance, you would be handed your schedulester on. For those deciding to join the army, trials are held every month to decide your position in the army.

    Andstly for those thinking of joining the public institution, entrance exams are held every six months. I wish you all luck for whatever that wille in the future." Zn smiled as the children started dispersing.

    "Jason, you were right! I did get the invitation to join one of the top three academies!" Noah eximed as he happily walked beside Jason.

    "Which one did you join?" Jason asked curiously.

    "The Wisteria Academy!" Nora replied before frowning slightly. "I wanted to join the same academy as yours yet they didn''t invite me."

    "Don''t feel too bad about it. We will be starting our academic years soon so enjoy the short amount of free time we have right now." Jason pointed out as Nora nodded.

    The two of them walked close to their family and some timeter, they were back at the mansion.

    Only a single day of the Crystal ceremony remained before all of them would be returning to Duphia and Jason would start focusing on his passive healing skill.

    "So, what happened to Kerwin?" Jason asked Risa as the two of them were about to enter their rooms.

    "We interrogated him a bit before shipping him off to Duphia with Karna. Karna and Amon will take care of him there until we get back." Risa exined before entering her room.

    Jason watched her go before doing the same. It was still early afternoon yet he was feeling tired for some reason and decided to nap.

    ''System, wake me up in a few hours.'' Jason told the system before passing out.

    ***

    [ Host, wake up. ] The system called out a few hourster yet Jason didn''t respond.

    It tried the same ten minutester yet didn''t get any response. At first, the system thought that Jason was ignoring it yet after repeated tries, it realized something was wrong.

    Jason''s body wasn''t responding to its voice.

 Chapter 91 Reshaping The Dream World

    Once Jason had fallen asleep, he had felt his body being extremely light as though he was flying. However, the strange thing was that Jason wasn''t inside any sort of dream.

    He was floating around in nothing or at least that''s what Jason guessed.

    His mind wasn''t even aware of what was happening until he had been pulled into the open meadow a few minutester.

    "I need to learn how to control this ce." Jason muttered as he looked around the meadow with curiosity.

    He remembered how both Erebus and Hestia''s present had changed the appearance of the meadow. Nothing in his dream world looked different now.

    Someone had taken an environment from Earth or Clover and had copy pasted it into his dream world.

    Since it was his own dream world, Jason wanted to change the appearance of the world too. Gods weren''t going to pay him frequent visit just to change the look of his dream world.

    The first thing he tried was to make a tree appear inside his dream world.

    ''Summon tree.''

    ''ce tree.''

    ''Purchase tree.''

    ''Make a tree grow.''

    ''How does this sht work?''

    Jason tried using a few known methods of summoning trees yet of course, none of them worked. He clicked his tongue in disappointment before sitting down on the ground.

    Jason crossed his legs and tried to think of a way he could change th appearance of his dream world. He dove into his knowledge of games and cultivation as well as personal experience beforeing at a conclusion.

    ''What if I think of it simr to what I did while creating objects from dark element.'' Jason wondered before raising his hand forward.

    He thought of some mana leaving his body and taking the form of a tree in the distance.

    Suddenly, an oak tree appeared in the spot as Jason grinned. He tried using the same process a few times until the meadow had been converted into a spot of greenery.

    "Now, I wonder what power did those divinities hold." Jason wondered aloud as he thought about the purple pen and ring he had been handed at the bar of gods.

    Both divinities had had a divine aura around them when Jason had seen them but after being born in Duphia, he hadn''t seen them or felt their power.

    ''I had forgotten about themбн'' he admitted mentally before looking at the sky.

    "Maybe I should try thinking of them and summon them here." Jason muttered before raising his hand forward.

    He thought of the purple pen Sancus had handed him and imagined it appearing right in front of him.

    Jason was left disappointed as nothing happened for a few minutes but he had been too quick to judge.

    Suddenly, a wave of power went throughout Jason''s dream realm which pushed him down on the ground.

    An enormous amount of pressure was exerted on the area in front of him as the ground started cracking.

    The purple pen appeared right above that spot as it was covered with a golden aura.

    [ I might have forgotten to mention that a dream world is also directly connected to your soul. You can think of it as a Soul world or Soul realm from the Chinese cultivation novels. ] Erebus''s voice suddenly echoed inside Jason''s head.

    Thetter''s jaw twitched when he heard that but his attention was soon shifted towards Sancus''s divinity.

    Jason stood up and stared at the pen with caution. He decided to go see it up close but no sooner had he taken a step that he felt an enormous pressure weighing down on him.

    "Ughбн" Jason fell to his knees as he started feeling nauseous.

    How was it even possible to feel nauseous in a dream in the first ce?! Such things didn''t make sense.

    ''Ere, would something happen if I reach that divinity?'' Jason couldn''t help but ask as he took a step back and heaved himself up.

    [ If you reach that divinity and touch it, something will happen. ] Erebus replied as Jason''s jaw twitched again.

    ''What will happen?!''

    [ I don''t know! My divinity never worked that way and I''m not familiar with this new system of divinities. It isn''t as simple as eating a fruit and bing super powerful. ]

    ''I would''ve loved it if things were simple.'' Jason grumbled before trying to reach the divinity again.

    Surprisingly, he managed to take one step forward without facing any problem. Jason took another step forward before lifting his left foot forward.

    ''I can''t go ahead.'' Jason sighed while putting his foot back down.

    His foot had been trying to push against a great amount of pressure dead set on sending him backwards.

    The reason for this was unknown and Jason didn''t expect Erebus to know the answer to it.

    [ Oi! I at least know that it has something to do with your life. ] Erebus protested.

    ''As if I couldn''t have figured that out myself.'' Jason sneered before stepping back and looking at his dream world onest time.

    ''I should go back. Who knows how much time has passed since I stepped into my dream world.'' Jason admitted before thinking of exiting the dream world and waking up in the real world.

    His thoughts seemed to work as Jason was suddenly pulled out of his dream world. His eyes opened in the real world just to hear the system''s panicked voice echoing inside his mind.

    [ WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU?! ] The system shouted immediately as Jason immediately sat up.

    ''Woah, calm down. I just woke up and there is no need for you to scream at me.'' Jason replied only to hear the system shout again.<sub> </sub>

    [ You didn''t respond to me for two hours! ]

    ''бн'' Jason blinked in confusion after hearing the system''s words. He hadn''t been responding to the system for two hours? That seemed impossible.

    ''Did my mind automatically skip your voice and rms due to being too tired?'' Jason suggested.

    [ No, that''s not possible. You can do that with an rm but my voice is literally connected to your mind so its impossible for you to not hear me, especially when I am shouting. ]

    ''Then maybe I can''t talk to you while being in the dream world. That''s the only reasonable exnation I have got.'' Jason shrugged.

    [ We talked easily before. What''s an unreasonable exnation you have? ]

    ''A glitch happened in your coding and someone invaded through that connection, thus potentially cutting you from me while I am sleeping.'' Jason grinned as he heard the system sigh exasperatedly.

    [ Maybe I shouldn''t have asked for such a theoryбн ]

    ''Good.''

    Jason was then about to stand up when the door to his room suddenly opened.

    "Here I thought that you were going to sleep for a few more hours." Issac''s voice entered the room as he himself walked inside a few minutester.

    "I was nning on doing that but instead decided to wake up." Jason replied truthfully as Issac nodded proudly.

    "Thats good. However, you have to get ready to attend thest day of the ceremony now." Issac informed as Jason stood up from the bed.

    "What will happen today though? The tournament and selections have already beenpleted."

    "At the end of the Crystal ceremony, a special event is held to honor the Ash Phoenix. The Phoenix is the guardian of the Vancouver kingdom and the citizens honor it to hope for a good for their young ones." Issac exined before sighing.

    "If we miss this, we are going to hear a lot of criticism. Its better to just go and return to Duphia tomorrow."

    "We will be going back using the carriage?" Jason inquired grimly as he remembered how hisst carriage experience had went.

    "No, we will be using a teleportation magic circle. I am ready to pay some money to make a professional create one for us but I am not risking the use of a carriage." Issac replied firmly.

    "That''s good."

    "It is," Issac agreed before turning around to leave the room. "Anyways, get ready for the day. I will see you in fifteen minutes.

    "Okay." Jason replied as he dashed to the bathroom while Issac walked away.

    Jason quickly got ready for the day before moving out of his room to see Risa and Issac standing in the hallway.

    "Good morning," Jason greeted Risa.

    "Good morning to you, too." She greeted him back before the three of them made their way to the dining hall.

    Jason found out that all those residing in the mansion currently were present in the dining hall in different groups, everyone discussing something and eating breakfast.

    Jason noticed Amber and Andrew walking behind a man around Ray''s age. He decided to go meet up with them to pass the morning.

    "Hey, Amber and Andrew." Jason said as he picked up some food and stood near the twins to eat.

    ""Hey."" The twins greeted in unison as the man looked at Jason.

    "Its nice to meet you in person, Jason Nightshade." The man muttered as Jason looked up with surprised eyes.

    It was quite obvious that most people now knew his name yet it was still weird to hear it from strangers.

    "He is our dad," Amber whispered.

    "He told us about what happened in the forest yesterday. Thank you for saving me." Andrew thanked him while bowing slightly.

    "Uh, your wee." Jason replied.

    "Thank you for saving my son. I owe you one for that." The twins father suddenly said as Jason nodded.

    ''I didn''t do anything to save him though. I was the reason his life was put in danger in the first ce.'' Jason thought mentally as the twins father was suddenly called by Ray.

    Both of them scurried away and left the three children alone.

    "So, what academies did you chose?" Jason inquired once the three of them had found a few seats to sit and calmly eat their food.

    "I wasn''t allowed to chose. I am going to the royal academy." Amber sighed as Jason nodded his head in acknowledgment.

    "I am going there too. What about you, Andrew?"

    "I am going to Wisteria academy." Thetter replied with a sad expression. "The two of us will be going separate ways now."

    "Don''t worry, Andrew. I wille meet you on a monthly basis." Amber reassured her twin yet Jason could tell that both of them were equally sad about this.

    After all, both of them had been extremely close since the moment they had been born.

    "Well, all of us should be seeing each other in the future." Jason pointed out as the twins nodded.

    "Well then, let''s just enjoy the time we have before going to the academy." Amber cheered as the three of them started eating without any care.

    After all, they were still innocent children who hadn''t truly experienced what would be awaiting them in the future.

 Chapter 92 Cry About The Future

    "That''s quite good looking." Jasonmented as he was back at the arena with his family.

    Since it was thest day, the arena was fully packed and seemed even more crowded than it was one the fighting days.

    The crowd was strangely quiet as well, the reason for which was not known by Jason.

    He was instead looking at an sacrificial altar with the rest of his family and the people present in the ss box.

    The sacrificial altar had been made in the middle of the arena floor or was probably dragged from some ce.

    [ Its more of a worshiping altar than a sacrificial one considering that the structure is just another statue of the Ash Phoenix. ] The system pointed out.

    ''Yeah, just another statue with an miniature altar present at the bottom. Got it.'' Jason replied sarcastically as Zn suddenly walked out on to the arena floor.

    Jason watched the prime minister from the ss box with an interested expression as he remembered how the Zn had helped the Kerwin as well a demonmander in kidnapping Jason and Nora.

    ''It turned out to be a fluke in the end but if Zn had really wanted to help them, they might have been sessful in their n.'' Jason thought silently as he noticed that the prime minister was wearing bright orange robes.

    ''They are definitely ceremonial or sacred robes.'' Jason thought silently and soon enough, he was proved correct.

    "Those are sacred robes that are worn by the one leading the worship." Risa exined from the side as she saw Jason curiously staring at Zn.

    ''Is he going yo make a blood sacrifice?'' Jason wondered silently as he saw Zn approaching the small altar.

    "The embrace of the Phoenix''s mes have protected us since the beginning of our kingdom and its cries have protected us from great peril. Today, we offer the Phoenix a small portion of our mana while hoping that the future remains safe." Zn chanted.

    The prime minister had a neutral expression on his face as he lifted his right hand high in the air and closed his eyes.

    An orange window opened in front of Jason as well as everyone else present in the arena.

    ---

    Would you like to offer 100 mana to worship the Phoenix?

    Yes

    ---

    ''What happened to the ''no'' optionбн'' Jason thought with a judging look as he pressed the yes option.

    Though he wasn''t a fan of donating things randomly, there hadn''t been much of an choice for him.

    A small marble sized sphere of white light exited Jason''s body alongside countless others present inside the arena.

    Even those on duty around the city had a bit of their mana deserting them as the white spheres of light gathered right above the Phoenix statue.

    All of the energy started gathering together which reminded Jason of a certain spirit move he had seen on Earth.

    ''That''s a huge amount of mana now that I look at it.'' Jason thought in awe as he saw a gigantic sphere forming at the top of the Phoenix statue.

    A hundred mana from nearly a million people was an absurdly huge amount of mana for anyone.

    [ A normal human wouldn''t be able to hold this much mana. ] The systemmented.

    Zn ced his hands on the small altar and started chanting under his breath. The mana gathered above the Phoenix slowly started descending towards the altar.

    Zn continued to chant words under his breath while asionally ncing at the sphere from time to time.

    "Whatбн" Jason''s jaw dropped down when he saw the mana vanishing right into the altar.

    He even used his vision control to make sure that he wasn''t imagining things yet the result was the same.

    The mana simply vanished inside the altar and was never seen again. Jason looked around the ss box to notice that none of the adults looked surprised by this.

    ''Does the Ash Phoenix actually exist?'' Jason couldn''t help but wonder.

    "Aeterna mma!" Zn suddenly shouted as the altar lit up with bright orange mes.

    The mes lunged towards the sky and started growing. They kept on rising until they had reached the top of the arena.

    Jason could see the mes directly in front of the ss box. They took the shape of a bird, a Phoenix to be specific.

    "Watch carefully. You might not get another chance to see this." Risa whispered from the side as Jason closely stared at the mes.

    The Phoenix formed by the mes gracefully shot towards the sky and did a twirl there. It then plunged towards the ground and settled on top of the Phoenix statue.

    Jason noticed that most people in the arena had either joined their hands together or had their eyes shut close. They seemed to be praying to the Phoenix.<sub> </sub>

    "That creature of mes was created by all of our mana. It represents unity in a way." Issacmented.

    Jason continued to look at the me Phoenix in fascination while wondering whether he could create such a bird with the help of his elements.

    ''That''s another task added to the ''to do'' list.'' He thought silently.

    The me Phoenix slowly started submerging into the statue as Jason''s eyes kept track of it. In another five minutes, only a tiny wisp of mes was visible on top of the Phoenix''s head.

    Jason saw that at this point, most of the people had started leaving the arena, including those present in the arena below as well as the ss box.

    "Reeeee!"

    ''Huh?'' Jason looked around with a confused expression as a strange screech had echoed inside his ears.

    "Is something wrong?" Risa inquired while looking around with a wary expression.

    "I think I justбн" Jason had just began saying the words when the screech echoed inside his head again.

    "Reeeee!"

    Jason whirled around in a confused manner as his somehow found Amber. Her eyes found his too and at the same time, both of them clutched their heads.

    "REEEE!"

    The cry echoed inside the head twice as loudly, making both children feel disoriented.

    All those present in the ss box noticed the two children kneeling on the floor and looked at them closely.

    Suddenly, mey appeared right in front of Amber. The smander immediately climbed her body and wrapped around her neck tightly.

    A bright red barrier appeared around Amber.

    [ Jasonбн ] Hestia''s voice echoed inside Jason''s head as a wolf cub suddenly appeared in front of his feet.

    The cub didn''t look too old as it moved and sat down near Jason''s feet. A gray barrier appeared around Jason as Feta rested her head on Jason''s body.

    ''It was the cry of a birdбн'' Jason suddenly realized as he felt something warm surrounding him.

    He slowly opened his eyes to see mes surrounding his bodypletely yet he didn''t feel his skin being burnt off.

    It was as though the mes had wrapped around him like an armor and were protecting him from the outside world.

    "Remember, in the future only trust those you are close to and never trust the anomaly. The moment you trust the anomaly, everything is over." A voice echoed inside Jason''s head.

    He felt the presence of another being nearby but it went away at the same speed it hade near him.

    In front of everyone, the mes surrounding Jason''s body receded, the same thing happened with Amber.

    mey and Hestia removed the barriers at the same time, having realized that the strange presence they had felt had vanished.

    The two children shakily stood up on their feet and exchanged a look. Jason and Amber could tell that the other had went through something simr that they had experienced.

    "Jason, what happened?" Risa slowly asked while carefully approaching Jason.

    ''Should I reveal the truth or notбн'' Jason wondered silently as he realized that everyone present inside the ss box was staring at him.

    He could tell them all about what he had heard or just tell his family about it.

    But before he could make his decision, Jason felt his consciousness slip away. He had experienced this so many times that he could even tell that he was going to fall unconscious.

    ''I definitely gotta do something about this.'' He thought at thest moment before he hit the ground, his body lying against Hecate''s animal form.

    Amber soon followed his example as mey manipted the floor to give her a softnding. The two unconscious children had no idea that all eyes in the room were staring at them with different emotions hidden behind their pupils.

    Some looked curious, some worried while some looked wary. There were a chosen few who looked afraid as well.

    Many of them would remember the events of that day in the future and would sigh at their past selves for not trying to find more information on it.

    After all, none of them currently knew what had happened to the two children or what changes they would make in the future.

    ***

    End of Volume 1

 Chapter 93 The Dream World System

    "So I am back here."

    Jason found himself standing inside his dream world again. He clearly remembered how he had fallen unconscious.

    "Hey, system, can you hear me?" Jason asked aloud. He wanted to try and see whether the system couldmunicate with him while he was present inside his dream world.

    Jason waited for about five minutes beforeing to the conclusion that his connection with the system didn''t work during the time he was present inside his dream world.

    "The pen is still floating at the same spotбн" The next thing Jason noticed was the purple pen that was still floating in the same spot.

    Much to Jason''s surprise, he had found out that he knew every single detail about his dream world, except for the number of grass present there.

    "I wonder when I will wake up in the real world." Jason murmured while settling down on the ground.

    If he had entered the dream world while being asleep, Jason was sure that he would''ve been able to wake up onmand.

    But since he had entered the ce by falling unconscious, he had no control over his body in the real world.

    Jason had of course tried to exit the dream world seconds after appearing inside it yet his attempt had failed.

    Jason was feeling quite bored while being inside his dream world and he wasn''t in the mood to renovate it either.

    ''Can I use my mana in here?'' As soon as the thought entered his mind, Jason sprang to his feet.

    He lifted his right hand forward and tried summoning a lightning bolt. Jason felt the flow of mana moving through hisбн dream world body.

    ''Its weird to think how I have one body here and one in the real world.'' Jason silently thought as he waited for the lightning bolt to appear.

    However, nothing like that happened.

    Instead, a window opened in front of Jason and it didn''t belong to the system as Jason didn''t hear any voice echo inside his head.

    < Would you like to take the tutorial of the dream world? >

    Jason looked at the screen in interest while trying to wonder what kind of tutorial would he receive.

    ''Oh well, there isn''t anything else that I can do here.'' He thought before thinking yes and starting the tutorial.

    The screen vanished and was instead reced by one that Jason had seen before. It was a status screen yet it didn''t show the things Jason''s system did.

    ---

    Current number of active divinities: one(Erebus)

    Current number of dormant divinities: two(Sancus, unknown)

    Amount of creatures avable for fighting: 3

    Dream world management

    ---

    Jason looked at the options with interest and was about to press one of them when all of a sudden, a rusty mechanical voice appeared inside his head.

    "Wee to your dream world. Every person has a dream world that they can ess but only those with a guardian can ess their dream world and make changes to it. To proceed, please chose one of the following options."

    ''That sounds exactly like a system from one of the generic system novels.'' Jason observed before choosing the first option.

    "This divinity has been handed down to you by your patron god Erebus in the form of a system." The voice went silent.

    Jason then pressed the second option.

    "Your first secondary divinity is a purple ball pen handed to you by the god of contracts and oaths, Sancus. This divinity is yet to be activated and only offers a passive ability which protects you from very.

    The second divinity can''t be identified. It gives you a slight increase in the charm stat. To unlock both divinities abilities, summon them in the dream world and touch them to activate a trial."

    Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise as he received useful information. Now he knew how to activate his divinities at least.

    ''The third option is self exnatory but I guess it doesn''t hurt to try it.'' Jason thought with a shrug before pressing the third option.

    "By making use of your mana, you can summon certain creatures here which you have fought before. This does not work on creatures at or above S rank."<sub> </sub>

    The window suddenly expanded to show the name of three creatures, all of whom Jason had fought before.

    < Goat

    Eelfish

    Sharkdono >

    All three of the creatures had been fought by Jason before.

    "What are you though?" Jason asked curiously.

    "You can refer to me as the dream world system. I am simr to the system you have inside the real world. In simpler terms, think of me as a RPG mechanism."

    Jason nodded as he understood that the voice was simr to a gaming system.

    He then chose the goat option to see how it worked.

    The window immediately vanished and in the next second, an adult goat appeared in front of Jason.

    Its horns were enormously huge and just by looking at it, Jason knew that it was stronger than any other goat he had fought before.

    < Start battle >

    A screen appeared in front of him as the goat suddenly lunged at him with an inhumane speed.

    "At least give me time to prepare!" Jason eximed as he turned around and started running.

    He tried to activate his lightning steps yet all he saw was an error.

    < Skills from the outer world don''t work here. You can create new skills here and export them to the real world. >

    ''I would''ve liked to know this before I started fighting.'' Jason thought silently as he tried summoning lightning around his feet.

    Since he used lightning steps simrly, Jason could replicate the same effect and increase his speed multi-fold.

    < Lightning run has been created. This skill can''t be imported as a simr skill exists in the real world. >

    Jason shook his head as he suddenly jumped in the air and hung to the branch of a tree. He looked down and saw the goat hitting the tree with full force.

    Its attack shook the tree badly as Jason realized that he only had a few minutes toe up with a n.

    ''This should work the best.'' Jason thought as he suddenly jumped in the air and pointed his hand downwards.

    A web made from dark element shot out from his hand and directly hit the goat. It entangled around the goat andpletely restricted her moment.

    Jason then pushed lightning through the the same way he had done during his fight with the shark and Eelfishes.

    However, the effect was on the goat was different than what had happened with the shark.

    The goat received minor injuries all across its body as it bleated loudly. Its horns suddenly started glowing brightly. Wind wrapped all around the goat''s horns and sharpened them greatly, allowing the goat to easily tear the web.

    After freeing itself, the goat once again bleated loudly. Two spinning disks suddenly shot out from the goat''s horns as they targeted Jason.

    Thetter had recovered from his slight shock and realized that he was at a disadvantage.

    Jason hurriedly shot a harpoon of darkness towards one of the trees and pulled himself towards it.

    It was as though the goat had anticipated his moves since the disks hit the same tree a few secondster.

    The goat had already charged forward and this time, Jason couldn''t escape. A column of wind was weighing him down from all directions and he couldn''t move despite the his lightning steps being active.

    The goat soon appeared closer to Jason as its horns glowed powerfully. It aimed directly towards Jason''s chest and with a swift movement, pierced his chest.

    The goat vanished the next second as Jason''s body hit the ground.

    < Battle over. You have lost. >

 Chapter 94 The God Of Games

    "HAAAA!" Jason suddenly gasped as he looked around at his surroundings. Thest thing he remembered was getting hit by the goat''s horns and everything had went ck after that.

    Jason then saw the window hanging in front of him which told that he had lost the battle. The fight made Jason realize that until and unless he had developed some strong moves, he wasn''t going to fight the goat.

    Jason hauled himself to his feet before choosing thest option from the screen. It expanded to show him the details of his dream world and what changes he had made to it.

    Jason closed the window soon enough as he had no interest in making any changes for the time being.

    "I have two systems nowбн my normal system is definitely going to be jealous when I reveal the existence of the one inside my dream world." Jason muttered.

    "I exist in every vessel''s dream world though. I also exist in the dream worlds of those who are blessed with divinities and I am the same everywhere so I am not a personal system. In fact, don''t call me the system." The voice suddenly interrupted.

    "Then what am I supposed to call you?" Jason inquired.

    "You can call me the god of games." The voice replied in a human tone. "My name''s Tet and I will appreciate it if you call me by either my title or my name."

    ? Jason''s jaw fell down when he heard the name Tet. As an anime lover, how could he not know about Tet.

    "Also, don''t think to much of my origin on Earth. I am sure that the copyright god would be on both of our throats if we continue the conversation this way." Tet interrupted as Jason''s next words died in his throat.

    "You are right, Tet. Anyways, can you tell me what exactly are you trying to do while acting as a system?" Jason couldn''t help but ask.

    "Well, I am in-charge of all the gaming or RPG style systems. The others are taken care by their creators. As for why am I doing this, its just how things are here in Clover. In fact, I am doing a lot of things in other worlds as well."

    Hearing Tet''s reply, Jason decided to not wonder what other things gods did in other worlds. The entire thing was tooplicated for him to understand alone.

    ''After all, there are many worlds out there which contained even more worlds in the form of realms. Then there''s a chance that one of those worlds have parallel worldsбн Bah! I am not thinking about this.'' Jason sighed.

    He know understood why gods decided to live in the Bar of the gods and the ce beyond it. It was too confusing for all of them to move through so many worlds.

    Furthermore, there would be gods out there from other worlds andбн

    "Jason, let me simplify things for you. Imagine there was something called one that created everything inside it. The one became two and two became four until things kept multiplying.

    Let''s call these things as universes and inside them exists worlds. Our world, including everything from Earth to other worlds to the Bar of Gods etc. exists in one search universe." Tet exined as he knew that Jason would dig himself into a hole.

    Such things were hard for a god to understand and even more difficult for a human to understand.

    Fortunately, the one multiplying theory hade in effect than and it had exined everything in detail.

    "Then can one travel between theseбн universes?" Jason asked with glowing eyes as Tet went silent.<sub> </sub>

    "First of all, this isn''t some science fiction novel so let''s drop the topic. Second, the answer is no so drop the topic."

    "As you say." Jason nodded as the game of gods sighed in relief.

    "Then I will take my leave and turn on autopilot. If you want to talk to me, chant Tet three times." Tet informed but before he could leave, Jason stopped him.

    "Can you tell me how time passes in here aspared to the outside world?"

    "It passesбн" Tet began saying before he realized that he had no idea how to describe the flow of time in words.

    He didn''t care about time as a god which was the reason he was stumped by Jason''s question.

    "You will find out how much time passed by when you leave this ce. Don''t bother me with questions now." Tet replied in an annoyed tone before he left for real.

    ''Good job, Jason. You managed to annoy a god by simply asking him stuff.'' Jason sighed as he stretched his body.

    Though he didn''t know how much time would pass inside the dream world, it was a good ce for him to practice in secret.

    He could basically learn even the most dangerous of moves and use them without any worry.

    "Let''s try something new." Jason muttered as he remembered the white lightning he had been gifted by Hestia.

    He decided to use it in the dream world to learn how to control it before using it in the real world.

    Jason lifted both of his hands and tried summoning his white lightning. At first, only sparks of white lightning flickered around his arms.

    But in the next few minutes, the white lightning suddenly rampaged around his arms. Jason realized that he wasn''t able to control it but before he could dispel the lightning, his arms were torn off by the lightning.

    "That felt as though someone had pinched my cheeks tightly." Jason muttered as his cut off arms vanished.

    They were soon reced by new arms as Jason flexed his shoulders a bit to see whether his newly grown arms felt the same or not.

    ''Good thing I used my white lightning in here and not in the real world. It would have hurt like hell and it might not have bee possible for me to get my arms back. That is unless grandma has some handy skill to do it.''

    Jason raised his new arms once again and was ready to use his white lightning again. But before he could do that, he saw his body starting to fade out of the dream world.

    ''I guess I am waking up in the real world.'' Jason thought as his bodypletely vanished from the dream world.

 Chapter 95 Healing With Dark Element

    As soon as Jason opened his eyes, he was met with Risa''s eyes looking at him with concern.

    "You took your sweet time to wake up!" Risa eximed the moment she saw that Jason was awake.

    Her voice caused movement inside the room Jason was present in. Momentster, Issac and Zn were staring at him.

    Issac had a relieved look on his face while Zn was looking at him with curiosity. The prime minister couldn''t be med since he had been trying to figure out what had happened when Jason and Amber had copsed.

    "I wille talk to him soon. Let me go check up on the girl''s condition as well to see whether she is awake or not." Zn silently left the room.

    Jason was now left alone with his grandparents, both of whom were looking at him with wary expressions.

    "I know we have asked this multiple times before but tell us, what happened?" Risa inquired as Jason sighed and sat up.

    "Get me some water first." He requested as Issac quickly brought him a ss of water.

    Jason drank it slowly before looking at both of his grandparents. He then told them about the screeching sound he had heard and the words that someone had told him.

    Jason didn''t tell them anything about his dream world because for the time being, he wanted to be the only one to know this information.

    ''Well, excluding you of course.'' Jason thought. He knew that the system was also listening to his words carefully.

    [ Tell me the things you didn''t tell themter on. ] It reminded.

    ''No need to tell me that. I will do it regardless.'' Jason replied and soon after, he finished telling the details to Risa and Issac.

    Both of them exchanged a nce and a silent understanding passed between them.

    "Looks like you might have been contacted by the Ash Phoenix for real." Risamented as Jason shrugged.

    "I mean if that was a Phoenix''s cry, sure. This just means that something dangerous is going to happen in the future." Issac muttered. "Maybe I should go pay the king a visit about this."

    "As if he is going to meet up with you," Risa countered. "The least we can do is to tell Zn and leave things in his hands. If things go bad, we can always protect ourselves and let the world burn."

    "Good thing I didn''t fell in love with a bruteбн" Issac muttered as Risa gave him a perky smile.

    "If you did, I probably would have to steal you from her."

    "Its hard to sway me but who knows, maybe you would''ve seeded."

    "Does that mean that you can still be swayed?" Risa asked in a dangerous voice.

    Issac grinned before replying, "Only if that woman is you."

    "Ahemбн" Jason faked a cough to let his grandparents know that he was still present in the room. Both of them could flirt somewhere else for the time being.

    "Right, you are still here. Go ahead and rest for some more time. We will be back to check up on youter." Issac replied and moved towards the door with Risa.

    "Wait, at least tell me how long I was out for!" Jason shouted

    "You were out for a week. Your body ispletely in sync with your guardian and I suggest you to not move for theing few hours. Your body is in a delicate condition due to your bond with your guardian beingpleted." Risa answered.

    The two of them then left the room. Jason watched the door close before sighing.<sub> </sub>

    ''System, there are a lot of things that you are going to surprise you. Be prepared.'' Jason thought before heunched into an exnation about the things he had witnessed inside his dream world.

    The system listened attentively and was shocked to find out that anther system existed inside Jason''s dream world. It was even more shocked when Jason told it about Tet.

    [ You have some insane luck. ] The systemmented.

    ''Luck swings both good and bad way.'' Jason reminded before heid on the bed. He stared at the ceiling with a bored expression.

    Jason wanted to get moving but he took Risa''s words seriously. Furthermore, the system had taken a scan of his body and it had turned out to be true.

    ''I don''t want to sleep thoughбн'' Jason''s slowly turned in his bed. ''I wish I could practice my healing abilityбн''

    As soon as the thought had entered Jason''s mind, he stood up and looked at his right hand. The ring of Vancouver he had received as the winning prize was glistening on his finger.

    Jason slid the ring of his finger and changed it into a dagger. Jason looked at his hand and at the dagger before gulping.

    [ You are not going to do what I think you are going to doбн ] the system warned.

    ''I''m exactly going to do what you think I am going to do. I might be able to discover more about my healing ability as well as increase my pain tolerance.'' Jason pointed out while bringing the dagger closer to his hand.

    Jason was no M or S so it wasn''t exactly easy for him to wound his own arm. But for the sake of research, Jason mustered some courage and cut a long gash alongside his arm.

    He didn''t flinch once and simply kept his teeth clenched. Once he was done creating the wound, Jason tried searching for his healing ability.

    He reached deep inside him and summoned his mana. However, the result wasn''t what he had been expecting.

    ''I definitely did something wrongбн'' Jason thought as the wound on his arm was suddenly covered with a gooey ck stuff.

    Jason felt as though he had dipped his hand in ice cold water. The feeling was both rxing and numbing.

    The goo slowly started seeping into his skin and in a matter of minutes, it vanished. Jason''s wound had also closed but the process had been a bit weird.

    [ You summoned both the wrong and the correct element at the same time. ] The system exined after finishing its analysis. [ The gooey stuff was created from dark element yet it had light element mixed inside it. ]

    ''That means that I healed myself with the help of dark element?''

    [ Basically yet since the light element was present in too small particles. We can experiment more and see the results. ]

    ''Yeah, we will surely do more experiments.'' Jason replied as the dagger suddenly contracted into a ring. ''But we will do that some other day.''

    Summoning the small amount of mana had drained Jason much more than expected. He had a feeling that if he tried the same thing a few more times, he would be knocked out once again.

    ''Ugh, I hate having such a delicate child-like bodyбн'' Jasonined.

    [ Ahem, need I remind you that you are still ten and the only way to strengthen your body is a healthy diet and perhaps some exercise. Or if you want a quick way, you can find some artifact to give you a boost. ]

    ''Artifact hunting. Add that to my to do listбн'' Jason replied before closing his eyes.

    [ This list is only going to keep getting bigger if you don''t do something about it soon. ] The system sighed knowing well enough that its host was out cold.

 Chapter 96 A War That Will Happen In The Future

    The next time Jason woke up, only Risa was present in the room. She was reading a thick book while sitting on a chair beside Jason''s bed.

    Jason was about to call out to her when his stomach suddenly started growling. Risa put the book down and raised an eyebrow at Jason.

    "Quite expected since you haven''t eaten anything for a long time." Risamented. She stood up and walked to the door before opening it.

    She looked outside and to Jason, it seemed as though she was asking someone to bring food for him.

    Risa was done quickly and came back to sit on the chair.

    "Try to lie still." She ordered before cing her hand on Jason''s forehead.

    Risa''s mana passed inside Jason''s bod, passing through every inch of his body. Risa did a thorough check-up of his body before lifting her hand.

    "Your body is back to normal. You can do whatever you want now." She announced with a smile.

    Jason slowly sat up and started doing some stretching exercises. His body felt stiff after not moving for an entire week.

    "How did you feed me?" Jason asked curiously because as far as he knew, glucose drips didn''t exist in Clover.

    "I just kept on replenishing your body with the help of my light element. It doesn''t provide you with the right amount of nutrients but makes sure that your body remains in a healthy condition." Risa informed.

    "I seeбн" Jason muttered before continuing his stretching.

    A knock was soon heard on the door. Risa allowed the person toe inside before diving into her book again.

    The door opened to revel Alfred walking inside with different types of food being carried in arge tray.

    ''So we are at the Bloodthorn mansion.'' Jason observed as the enormous tray was ced on the bed beside him.

    [ You could''ve asked me this too, ] The system pointed out.

    ''I didn''t really have the time to think and ask you such things.'' Jason replied with a shrug before he started eating the food.

    ording to Risa, all the items present in the tray would help his body make up for the lost nutrients.

    Jason also wanted to use the bathroom, something he did after finishing his food. Jason spent a good amount of time in the bathroom before he came out feeling refreshed.

    "So, when will we be returning to Duphia?" Jason asked curiously while reentering the room.

    But before Risa could reply, someone else said it for her.

    "You can leave after you have told me the details about what you saw in the ''warning'' you received." Zn replied.

    The prime minister walked in front of Jason. He had been standing in the corner of the room that he had managed to avoid Jason''s gaze.

    ''I usually leave such things to you.'' Jason said to the system.

    [ Excuse me but I haven''t been functioning for a week as well. While you were enjoying your dream world, I was left here in sleep mode. ]

    ''Fair enough.'' Jason agreed before looking at Zn.

    The prime minister was dressed much more casually. One might even mistake him for a handsome single father just by the way he was dressed.

    "You look better in this clothing," Jasonmented in an impressed tone.

    "Its just normal trousers, a good shirt and jacket. Anyone trying a bit can look good in these clothes." Zn shrugged before realizing that Jason was trying to drag him off topic.

    Zn red at the ten year old in front of him with hopes of intimidating him.

    It backfired on him when a wolf cub appeared right beside Jason and red back at him.

    Zn knew that the wolf cub was none other than Jason''s guardian and decided to avert his gaze. Even he didn''t want to offend a guardian.

    Jason looked at this with an amused expression. From a stranger''s point of view, the prime minister of Vancouver kingdom was scared by a mere wolf cub.

    That thought made Jason smile which made Zn''s jaw twitch a little.

    "Jason, let''s do this quickly so we can all go our own ways." However, Zn spoke in a calm voice.

    He knew that trying to intimidate Jason wasn''t going to work any longer. He just mentally sighed and patiently waited for Jason to reveal things himself.

    Jason felt bad for Zn and decided to tell him about the warnings he had heard.

    "A war will happen in the future."

    It wasn''t much yet the prime minister had a grim expression on his face.<sub> </sub>

    "That girl said the same thing. I am afraid that something big is about to happen soon." Zn muttered. "Thank you for your help, Jason. I have a feeling that we will meet more in the future."

    After saying that, the prime minister walked out of the room and made his way back to his house.

    There were a few things he was going to discuss with his brother, some of them including the demon they had trapped.

    Jason watched him go before sighing. He had lied to the prime minister because he felt that it was the right decision.

    Hearing that Amber had said something simr, he felt better about the decision he made. Maybe both of them were feeling the same thing.

    Something was definitely about to happen in the future.

    ''Risa didn''t say anything as well.'' Jason observed. He had told Risa and Issac the truth about what he had heard but his grandma hadn''t said anything when he lied.

    [ You made the decision on your own. Also if you remember, no member of your family falls under the category of saints. ]

    ''True.''

    "So I am free to go and do whatever I want now?" Jason asked aloud. Risa simply nodded in response.

    Jason happily left the room then and started making his way over to Amber''s room. He was quite curious to know what she had heard from the Phoenix.

    [ Or you can just go meet her and ask how she is doing. ]

    ''I''ll do that as well.'' Jason agreed before using the system to navigate himself.

    After four minutes of walking, Jason turned a corner and ran straight into Amber.

    "Damn, I was just about to turn you to ashes Jason." Amber muttered as she stepped back a bit.

    "I don''t think that''s how we are supposed to greet others."

    "Figures."

    Jason and Amber then smiled before asking how the other was doing.

    "What did the Phoenix tell you?" Jason inquired as the two of them found a secluded room to talk in.

    "It warned me about a war." Amber replied with an emotionless face. She stared directly into Jason''s eyes and didn''t say anything else.

    Jason came to a silent understanding that Amber had chosen to lie as well. After all, he had told Zn something simr.

    ''System, identify where we are being spied from.'' Jason suddenly ordered.

    He could tell that someone was keeping an eye on them. Amber shared the same feeling and that was why she had used mey''s help tomunicate with Jason.

    [ Someone is spying on us. I can tell itбн ] Amber had said inside Jason''s head.

    p [ I feel the same. Let''s act normally for the time being. ] Jason had replied.</anda>

    It had turned out that both of them couldmunicate with each other through their guardians. They could directly deliver messages inside each other''s heads this way.

    "So, I was wondering how you take care of mey. I have a guardian too so I want to know some tips." Jason casually asked.

    Hestia had appeared around his legs and was circling around them. Jason bent down and picked the wolf-cub up in his arms.

    Jason ced Hestia in hisp and started rubbing her belly, something that was a bit awkward.

    ''I am rubbing her bellyбн''

    "I mean mey like heat a lot. Your guardian must like something as well." Amber replied after some thought.

    On cue, mey appeared on her arm and settled down in her palm. Amber smiled and started providing him some heat using her magma element.

    "I seeбн" Jason turned his gaze on the wolf cub while trying to determine what she liked.

    [ I like Lightning and Thunder and I am definitely liking you rubbing my wolf body. ] Hestia replied while turning in Jason''sp.

    ''How convenient.'' Jason''s jaw twitched a bit after hearing her words.

    He was about to provide her with what she asked but the system suddenly interrupted him.

    [ Someone is hearing your conversation from the upper floor as well as from under the ground. The one below had almost slipped from my radder. ]

 Chapter 97 Mist Covered Pupils

    [ Someone is listening to us from below the ground. ] Amber informed.

    [ Someone is listening to us from above. ] Jason muttered.

    Both of them exchanged a surprising look as they hadn''t expected the other to reveal the location of someone else.

    ''I guess its kinda expected since her main element is magma.''

    Jason stood up from his ce and gestured for Amber to follow him. mey and Hestia vanished from their spots to who knows where.

    Amber and Jason then left the room while keeping an eye on the person below the ground. The person slowly started following them from under the ground.

    The one moving above them couldn''t follow them, meaning that he or she probably belonged to one of the four families.

    [ I think that the person following us from below is a spy. ] Amber said with a grim expression.

    After what had happened in the ss box, Amber had been expecting someone to follow and spy on her.

    It was safe to assume that the spy was in cahoots with someone who had watched the event inside the ss box.

    [ Let me lead him to a ce it where he would be trapped. Talk casually and don''t act as though we are hurrying towards a location. ] Jason informed.

    [ I know. ] Amber replied. Perhaps it was Jason''s imagination but he was sure that he saw her pout slightly.

    [ Ahem, you don''t tell ten year olds what to do, especially when they already know it. ]

    ''Its good to remind someone just in case they make a mistake.'' Jason countered.

    While having idle talk, Jason and Amber led the guy to the room where Risa had been sitting.

    Risa was about to leave the room soon since she had cleaned it. However, when Jason and Amber walked inside the room with alert expression, Risa understood something was wrong.

    She didn''t ask the two children anything and spread her mana all around the room. Her mana spread in a spherical manner and Risa instantly caught the person lurking below the ground.

    Before he or she could make a move, Risa went ahead and paralyzed the person.

    "Amber, can you ask your guardian to manipte the ground a bit and pull this person up?" Risa inquired while holding the person in ce.

    "I can do that." Amber nodded and asked mey to help.

    She could''ve taken the person out on her own but that would''ve been risky. She wasn''tpletely sure in her powers and would''ve to rely on mey.

    Furthermore, there was a chance that the person could''ve something dangerous. It turned out that she had taken the right decision.

    "mey said that he could pull the person up but its best if we all stand back. He says that there is an explosive scroll inside the mouth that he will detonate the moment we pull him up." Amber exined as the three of them retreated to a corner of the room.

    ''If the man dies, we will only have his body left for identification which would be meaningless considering his face would be blown up.'' Jason thought silently.

    The ground suddenly copsed a few meters away from them. The head of a person was made visible and soon enough, the figure came out in front of them.

    "Grandma!?" Amber suddenly eximed when she saw the face of the figure.

    ? It was none other than her grandma, Ariana.

    "Now that''s unexpected. I was thinking some spy would be captured but it turned out to be an old hag." Risa clicked her tongue in disappointment.

    mey gently set Ariana''s body on the ground. Jason noticed the scroll Ariana was tightly clutching inside her mouth.

    Risa frowned slightly when she saw that Ariana''s pupils were covered with some sort of mist. Something clicked inside her brain, making her jump forward in hurry.

    Risa ced her hand on top of Ariana''s forehead and let her mana wash inside thetter. Risa had a bad feeling about the mists clouding Ariana''s eyes.<sub> </sub>

    Jason soon shared the same feeling when his eyes fell on the mists covering Ariana''s pupils.

    Due to the recent events that had happened with Hecate, Jason was fearful of mists. Seeing Ariana in that condition triggered that fear too.

    ''Hestia, didn''t you say that Hecate can''t enter this world for at least ten years?'' Jason asked calmly. He took a few deep breaths while keeping his eyes fixed on Risa.

    [ What I said was the truth. We don''t know that those mists belong to Hecate. ] Hestia assured.

    Jason then saw Risa removing the scroll from Ariana''s mouth before ncing at Amber. Her eyes soon met with Jason''s and both of them came to a silent agreement.

    "Amber, let''s go outside." Jason softly said and ced his hands of Amber''s shoulders.

    Her body was shuddering when Jason guided her out of the room and closed the door behind him.

    The hallway was currently empty since most people had eaten what they wanted. They had set out to explore the capital onest time before they had to go back to their domains.

    Jason kept his hands on Amber''s shoulders while speaking, "You need to calm down or your grandmother will feel extremely guilty afterwards. I know you are feeling helpless but trust me, the best you can do is calm down."

    Jason''s voice was soft and calming which allowed Amber to get a hold of her mind. She forced herself to stop shaking before she looked into Jason''s eyes.

    "Thank youбн" she murmured and took a deep breath.

    Jason lifted his hands off her shoulders and nodded. He had went through something simr and knew how hard it was for Amber to watch her grandma in such a condition while knowing that she couldn''t do anything about it.

    [ You''ve made a breakthrough in controlling your emotions, host. ] The system praised, making Jason smile.

    ''It was necessary for me to do that. I am still super young and have all the time in the world.'' Jason replied before taking a look at Amber.

    He was concerned how she would handle something like this while being ten. It was clear that she had never seen anyone rted to her in such a state.

    "Don''t worry, my grandma is the best healer in the entire kingdom. She will try her best to heal your grandmother." Jason reassured her.

    "I seeбн" Amber''s mood seemed to lift up a bit after hearing his words.

    The funny thing was that Jason hadn''t confirmed that Risa would be able to help Ariana. He had just twisted his words to reassure Amber.

    [ It''s kinda devious considering that she is ten. ]

    ''Bah, I just did it so that she doesn''t feel bad and calms down.'' Jason shrugged.

    The two of them continued to wait for the next ten minutes before the door opened from the inside. Risa walked out of the room and looked at Amber with a grim expression.

    "Good or bad news. What do you want first?" she asked.

    Amber swallowed hard before replying, "the bad news."

    "Your grandmother isn''t waking up," Risa replied. "The good news is that she ispletely safe yet the reason for her not waking up or responding is unknown."

    Amber''s shoulder sagged as she took a deep breath.

    Jason had already predicted what would happen next when he saw Amber dashing away. He asked the system to keep an eye on her before looking at Risa.

    "So do you think its her?" Jason asked slowly.

    Risa''s expression somehow turned even grimmer before she replied.

    "I don''t know for sure but their was a strange aura surrounding her body. I''m fifty percent sure that it belonged to Alexaбн"

 Chapter 98 I Am Willing To Listen

    Jason and Risa remained silent for a few moments. The silence was only broken when Hestia appeared beside Jason and walked inside the room.

    "She doesn''t trust your words." Jason muttered before he too followed Hestia inside the room.

    Risa stayed back and looked at the body of her friend with emotionless eyes. She had seen many people dying in front of her.

    Risa only stayed calm and emotionless due to a single thought that she had epted long ago.

    One day, everyone would die. Not even the gods could escape from this, no matter how old or powerful they were.

    History had shown countless kings, emperors and even gods dying. One day, she would face the same thing.

    ''I should tell the rest of her family about this.'' Risa thought silently. She turned her face away from the room and made her way to the upper floors.

    Inside the room, Hestia and Jason looked at Ariana''s body from a safe distance.

    [ It''s really her auraбн ] Hestia''s wolf-cub jaw slightly opened. She could feel Hecate''s auraing from Ariana''s body, something that the ex-goddess considered impossible.

    "Looks like your divine attack wasn''t divine enough to prevent her froming here." Jasonmented while asking the system to run a thorough scan of Ariana''s body.

    [ No, I am sure that I sent her away. She shouldn''t have been able to send even a bit of her power here. ] Hestia protested.

    "Yet here we are." Jason finished. His purple eyes stared directly into Ariana''s wide-open, mist covered eyes.

    His body shuddered once as he remembered the incident in the forest. Looking back on it, Jason couldn''t help but wonder where he had pulled that insane amount of courage.

    But then, the same thing had happened with him on Earth. When a person knew that they were close to dying, they could do things they couldn''t have done normally.

    [ I am sure you can still do things not considered normal for ten years old. ] The system reminded.

    ''Did you find anything wrong with her body?'' Jason inquired. He didn''t bother to think about the system''sment since he knew that the system only talked once it had done its job.

    [ Just like Risa said, there is nothing wrong with Ariana''s body. However, she missed one thing. ]

    ''That is?''

    [ Ariana''s mana core, the ce from where every living being receives their mana, is surrounding by a mist covering. The mist is supplied throughout her body.] The system informed.

    ''I guess that''s the reason she is in this state.'' Jasonmented before relying the information to Hestia.

    [ Damn itбн Something strange is definitely going on. ] Hestia sounded angry. She had thought that having banished Hecate, she had reduced one problem for both her and Jason.

    Turned out that she waspletely wrong.

    "Let''s go. There''s is no point in staying here." Jason said and walked out of the room.

    Hestia spared Ariana''s body onest nce before she too followed Jason out. Both of them encountered Risa as well as two other figures outside the room.

    One of them was Matt, who was Andrew and Amber''s father. The other figure was a woman who had the same fierce burning eyes like the twins.

    Her skin was much whiterpared to the Feuer family and her hair were jet ck.

    Neither of them paid any attention to Jason and stormed inside the room. Risa spared him a momentarily look before she followed the husband-wife pair inside the room.

    ''System, is Amber still inside the mansion?'' Jason inquired silently.

    Hestia merged with him once again as he walked away from the room. Jason had a feeling that if no one met Amber soon enough, something bad would happen.

    [ What a wonderful feeling. ] The system mused. [ No, Amber left the mansion a minute before. Fortunately, she''s present in one of the nearby allies. ]

    ''Guide me to her location.'' Jason ordered. He walked through the hall ways of the mansion and appeared at the entrance.

    Jason stepped out and directly headed to the alley where Amber was present.

    ''There she is.'' Jason''s eyes fixed on Amber who was curled up beside what looked like an ex-dumpster.

    It had been closed off by concrete and no longer served any purpose.

    "Amber?" Jason slowly called out since he didn''t want to surprise the girl.<sub> </sub>

    Amber slowly lifted her head up and her bright red eyes met Jason''s eyes. Much to his surprise, the girl wasn''t crying.

    Instead she looked angry. Jason had a feeling that she was keeping herself in check or else the alley would''ve been turned into molten waste.

    "How did you find me?" Amber asked in a surprise tone. She hadn''t been expecting anyone to find her before a few hours and by then, Amber would''ve pulled herself together.

    "I have my own ways to find girls in distress." Jason replied with a smile. He sat beside Amber and stared at the sky.

    A silence built up between them until Amber broke it.

    "You aren''t going to say something?" she asked in a confused tone.

    "Mhm, no. If you want to say something, I''m willing to listen." Jason shrugged.

    Amber felt even more confused. She had ran off a few times in the past and had been found half of the time.

    Normally, her parents or grandmother would be the one finding her and they would try to lift her mood by talking to her.

    They had always talked to her yet now, someone was willing to listen to what she had to say.

    "Its just that I have never seen grandmother in such a situation. She is the one I''m closest tooбн" Amber''s voice slowly trailed off.

    Jason turned his body such that he faced Amber. He lookedpletely serious and active which made Amber continue.

    "She is also the strongest in our family and usually keeps all of us together by her cheery mood. But seeing her lie there and not respond to anything, I suddenly felt panicked. During such situations, I usually like to escape thepany of people."

    Jason slowly nodded but didn''t say anything. He instead remembered the times he had felt helpless both on Earth and in Duphia.

    It had happened way to many times yet Jason realized that the things that came after that hadn''t been that bad.

    It was a cycle of bnce where both things went hand by hand.

    "Amber, do you know something about my parents?" Jason asked curiously.

    "Your mother is a very important figure from the demon race while your father was some kind of prophesied person. That''s all I know." Amber answered.

    "Something like that. I have only seen my mother for a few minutes whereas I never met my father. I had been raised by my grandparents, aunt and uncle alongside my cousin. I don''t want anything bad to happen to them but I know that I can''t control things.

    In the end, you can''t really tell what would happen in the future and the only thing you can do is keep living without worrying about the future." Jason smiled again.

    "But how can you not worry about the future?" Amber asked while tilting her head.

    ? "Its simple. You enjoy and live in the present, no matter how good or bad it is. Its just how life is." Jason finished.

    Amber slowly nodded as her ten-year-old brain processed everything.

    "You sound mature for your ageбн" she muttered.

    "I know." Jason agreed. It was expected since mentally, he was much older.

    "We should go back now. No one could''ve noticed that we were missing." Amber stood up and dusted her clothes.

    Jason did the same and the two of them started making their way back to the mansion.

    "Its a good thing no one noticed that you both are missing. It would''ve made my job harder." A voice suddenly arose from further down the alley.

    Both Jason and Amber immediately turned around and summoned their guardians. mey and Hestia appeared around their respective vessels.

    The two guardians expanded their senses all around the alley as a figure emerged from the shadows.

    "Little Syrward, did you really think it was that easy to get rid of me? But I have to say that Hestia is the one who overestimated herself." A familiar voice cackled.

    When Jason''s eyes finally saw the figure, he froze for a minute.

    The figure was a woman that Jason knew well. It was none other than Zara.

 Chapter 99 Leaving The Capital

    "Jason, we have to run right now." Amber said from the side. She knew who the woman was and could tell by Jason had frozen up.

    "Right." Jason shook his head and was ready to run away.

    However, the mind-controlled Zara wasn''t going to let him run away that easily.

    "Oh you''re not getting away this time. Come here you, little bastard." Hecate spoke through Zara''s mouth before dashing towards Jason.

    Thetter looked once at Amber and they came to a silent understanding. Together, both of them started running in the opposite direction.

    Jason and Amber new that they were leaving their backs wide open by running this way. However, their guardians were there to prevent this from happening.

    ''If I can''t send her away, the least I can do is keep Jason safe.'' Hestia silently thought as she red at Hecate alongside mey.

    ck lightning suddenly started dancing around Hestia''s body. The ground inside the alley started trembling and mes appeared around mey.

    The two guardians were ready to protect their vessels at any cost but they had forgotten one key thing.

    Hecate was inside her vessel, one which was stronger than both Jason and Amberbined.

    "A wolf and a lizard. You both make a funny pair." Hecatemented with a smile. Zara''s hair suddenly stood up following by a decrease in temperature.

    Mists appeared all around the alley and Zara''s body vanished within them. mey and Hestia didn''t care about that.

    Both of them released their attacks simultaneously. ck lightning bolts crackling with power shot in every direction.

    mey erupted magma walls all around the alley in hopes of preventing Hecate from going after the children.

    "Tch." Hecate clicked her tongue in disappointment. She focused on removing the two guardians out ofmission. That ws the only way for her to go after Jason without any interruptions.

    Hecate instantly appeared behind the two guardians and kicked them away in the old fashion way.

    Neither Hestia nor mey could match her speed since they weren''t connected to their vessels. However, both of them grinned in their animal forms.

    [ Good luck getting to Jason now bish! ] Hestia shouted before she vanished from her spot. mey vanished too as the two guardians directly appeared inside their vessels.

    Hecate soon realized that Jason and Amber had long since entered the mansion. They must have told someone about her and people would being to capture her soon.

    "Tch! I''ll definitely get you in the future!" She hissed.

    Zara''s body suddenly started glowing in the middle of the alley. An invisible mist came out of her mouth and eyes slowly.

    The mist took the shape of a cloud and vanished somewhere in the alley. Zara''s body hit the ground a few secondster.

    A few minutester, the entire Syrward family came running towards her body.

    "Same eyes like Ariana''sбн" Risa murmured the moment she saw Zara''s eyes. They were covered by the same mist Ariana''s eyes had been covered with.

    Ray picked up his wife in an embrace before bringing his ear closer to her breast. His ear touched her body as he closed his eyes in concentration.

    "When demi-humans fell in love with someone from another race, their hearts are connected to that person," Issac said in a grim voice. "He can check on her condition better than Risa can."

    Jason understood that Issac had been exining the things for his and Nora''s sake.

    Jason ced a hand on Nora''s right shoulder to calm down his anxious little brother.<sub> </sub>

    "Is she going to be all right?" Nora asked Issac in a low tone.

    "I don''t know." Issac replied with the truth.

    Ray finally lifted his head off Zara''s chest. His expression was grim and he looked like he was about to burn an entire city.

    "Mist is surrounding her mana core and it had spread to her entire body," he said in a clear voice. "We are leaving this city now. I don''t want anything else to happen here."

    Issac nodded in understanding before he looked at Risa. She understood what he meant and bent on her knees with a resigned expression.

    Risa started creating a teleportation circle on the ground. Jason immediately looked at Issac with a nervous expression.

    "I know what you are thinking," Issac sighed. "But there is no other choice. I have a feeling that someone else is soon going toe after you. Its best for us to return to Duphia for the time being."

    "бн" Jason was silent as he hadn''t expected his grandpa to say that. Issac was usually someone who took revenge for anything bad that happened to his family.

    But this time, even Issac had given up or so Jason thought.

    "Don''t worry. I will make that woman pay soon but I''m going to do that alone." Issac said with a humorless smile.

    Then only did Jason understand that Issac wasn''t retreating. He was just going to Duphia to make sure that they were all right and once he had done that, he would set on his journey to find Hecate.

    "Itspleted." Risa dered a few minutester as the magic circle on her feet waspleted.

    Jason didn''t trust her abilities to create a magic circle but there wasn''t any other choice for him.

    [ Host, look at the entrance of the alley. ] The system suddenly suggested.

    Jason turned his gaze towards the entrance of the alley. Amber was standing there with her family.

    By the looks of it, they were leaving too since they were caring all of their belongings and fitting them inside a space ring.

    [ Jason, let''s meet at the academy. It will be good to have a friend with me. ] Amber''s voice echoed inside his head.

    [ Definitely. We will see each other soon. ] Jason agreed.

    [ Promise? ]

    [ Promise. ]

    Amber waved at him from the distance and he waved back. Simultaneously, Jason remembered something that Sancus had told him at the Bar of Gods.

    "Make sure you upheld the promises you make Jason."

    Those were the words Sancus had said to him back at the Bar of Gods. Now that Jason had made a promise, he knew he was going to have to uphold it.

    "Its time for us to leave now." Issac informed before all of Syrward family members walked inside the magic circle.

    Jason had no idea when he would return to the capital but he was sure that he wasn''t going to miss the ce.

    ''Soon, I am going to enter the academy.'' Jason silently thought with onest nce towards the arena which was still visible from his position.

    With that, the Syrward family left the capital.

 Chapter 100 Julian Caesar Vancouver

    While these incidents had been taking ce inside the Bloodthorn mansion, Zn had already appeared in the royal capital of Vancouver kingdom, Troy.

    Zn was currently standing in front of the royal pce. He felt nervous about talking to his brother, Julian Caesar Vancouver, the king of the Vancouver kingdom.

    ''Now that I am here, I''ve no idea what I am going to say to him.'' Zn sighed internally.

    He was currently making his way to the royal pce since he had directly appeared in the mansion he owned in the city.

    The surprising thing was that none of the royal family was allowed to live in the royal pce. The only time they met was if Julian called them to discuss something important.

    If they wanted to meet him separately, they had to take an appointment just like every other noble. The entirety of the royal family followed this rule except Zn.

    Zn and Julian were biological brothers, thetter being two years old. Both of them had grown side by side inside the royal pce and had a very good childhood.

    ''Except he changed after getting the crownбн'' Zn sighed again. He had made it to the pce entrance.

    The pce was simply surrounded by a in four feet wall and wasn''t anything grand. The only thing which made the building look attractive were the red gemstones used to build the upper half of the pce.

    Zn walked right inside the pce while casually greeting the guards along the way. All of them had their head bowed in respect and responded to Zn''s greeting in this way.

    The prime minister directly made his way to the king''s brother since Julian had requested to see him there.

    ''I wonder what goes through brother''s head these days.'' Zn silently wondered. ''Once he hears about what I witnessed during the Crystal ceremony, he will have no choice but to agree with me.''

    Zn''s n was to get his brother to send Nero back to the demon continent willingly. The n sounded a bit stupid and cowardly but Zn knew that it was the most effective n he had.

    If the demon king got one of hismanders back without facing any problems, Zn would be able to avert a war.

    ''I wish I was sitting on that throne and brother was dealing with my job. Its hard to do your job of keeping the people safe and healthy when your big brother is about to instigate a war.''

    Zn finally reached his brother''s chambers. He didn''t bother to knock or talk to the maids standing outside the chambers and strolled inside.

    Zn stepped into avish bedroom lingering with the fragrance of roses. Sitting on an extremely huge bed capable of withholding two grown giants was Zn''s brother, Julian.

    The king of the Vancouver kingdom was calmly lying on the bed with a drowsy expression.

    His hair, the same curly blond as Zn, stood up in curls and gave him a bedhead look. His clothes didn''t looked ironed either.

    No one could''ve guessed that thiszy human lying on the bed was actually the king of a major kingdom.

    "Greetings, big brother," Zn smiled. He walked towards the bed and took a seat in front of the king.

    The two of them looked at each other for a split second as Julian''s lips curled up into a smile. Chills ran down Zn''s back when he saw that smile.<sub> </sub>

    ''Its that same aura againбн'' he clenched his teeth. ''He has activated the divinity.''

    <o>,m Zn could feel an invisible pressure dropping on his shoulders. Julian''s divinity subconsciously made everyone at a lower rank feel inferior to him.</o>

    ''If only he had gotten another patron on his twentieth birthday.'' Zn clenched his teeth before taking a deep breath.

    "So, why did only the demonmandere here?" Julian asked innocently.

    "Its because Kerwin was taken away by the Syrward family." Zn replied with what Issac had told him.

    "Oh? Is that so?" Julian looked surprised which gave Zn a bit of hope. However, his brother soon smiled maliciously. "I guess that would mean that the n you all formed in the room behind the pavilion was fake."

    Zn didn''t react at first since he knew that Julian could be lying. His brother had an amazing ability to predict things that others deemed as unpredictable.

    "Who lied to you this time?" Zn asked with a surprised look. "You should really get better spies."

    The pressure on Zn''s shoulders lessened a bit. He didn''t dare sigh in relief because he knew that his brother was still far from convinced.

    "Someone did lie to me," Julian mused. "The question isбн Was it you or was it my patron?"

    Julian stood up from the bed, his eyes fixed on[ his little brother''s face. The humorless smile on his face would''ve definitelynded him a ticket in a mental hospital had he been present on Earth.

    Zn too stood up and looked directly into his brother''s eyes. His n had crumbled away and had instead been reced by an emergency n.

    ''I need to get out of hereбн'' Zn silently thought.

    "Zn, what do you know about my patron?" Julian asked curiously. He sat down on afortable chair so that he could look directly into Zn''s eyes.

    "I know he used to be the emperor of a famous dynasty and ruled for quite a long period of time. His divinity allowed you to make others below your rank feel inferior."

    "That''s a pretty good answer. But there''s one thing I kept hidden all these years," Julian replied. "I can tell when someone is telling the truth or whether they are lying."

    ''Forget about leaving. I would be lucky to leave this room.'' Zn sighed exasperatedly. If what Zn said was the truth, everything was going to be fine.

    Julian could tell the shift of mood in Zn''s behavior. The smile finally slipped down his face and was reced with a cold look.

    The divinity inside him became even more active as Zn slowly knelt on the floor.

    "So tell me, Zn, who do you think was lying?"

 Chapter 101 Connecting Hestia To The Dream World

    "HAAA!" Jason gasped the moment he appeared at the new location. He had never experienced such a long distance teleportation and was shocked to find out that he had almost died because of suffocation.

    That would''ve been a rather abrupt ending to his story.

    Upon looking around, Jason found himself standing at the entrance of Duphia alongside the rest of his family. All of them were standing in a semi-circle and no one had been sent away.

    "Nothing happened this timeбн" Risa sighed before all of them began walking towards the manor.

    Risa had been directly aiming for their home but had instead dragged them to the town entrance.

    Ray shot out with the help of his wind element. Issac and Risa could only sigh and watch him go.

    Risa wanted to help Zara yet she had realized that the problem was out of her league. She had no cure for something she couldn''t identify.

    ''Hestia, did you figure out how Hecate came back?'' Jason questioned. He felt good abouting back to his hometown and wanted to enjoy the moment.

    However, the current events didn''t allow him to do that.

    [ No, I am still severely confused about that. She even entered Zara and Ariana''s bodies, both of whom are well over twenty. This means that she overcame the limit as well. ]

    ''That doesn''t sound greatбн''

    [ That''s because it isn''t great from any possible angle. ]

    Jason fell silent. He started thinking about Hecate and her wicked mists. It was very easy for her to create illusions due to her control over the mists.

    Jason knew that it was hard to tell reality apart from illusion unless one looked at the details closely.

    [ Its quite easy if you have a sixth sense as well as a nice system. ] The system said without any emotion.

    ''That''s true.'' Jason couldn''t find any argument in that. It was only due to theirbination that they had avoided dangerous situations many times.

    They soon reached the house and found out that ray had already deactivated the defense system.

    ''For once, I understand why people say there is no other ce like homeбн'' Jason thought silently while stepping foot inside the mansion.

    "Ray, take her to your room and put her on the bed. I will be back after changing into somethingfortable." Risa ordered Ray.

    He nodded in acknowledgment and went up the stairs.

    "Grandma, I will be in my room." Jason informed. "If I don''te down in a few hours, I will probably note out of my room for the next few days."

    "All rбк" Risa suddenly blinked in confusion. The bomb dropped by Jason had been so casually spoken that she had almost let him go away.

    "Can you repeat that again?" Issac asked from the side.

    Jason repeated his words again. Both his grandparents exchanged a nce to make sure that they had both heard the same thing.

    "What are you going to do for that longбн" Risa muttered.

    "I will be training. Do check up on me after two days but if I am fine, please leave me alone." Jason replied and walked away.

    He didn''t want to exin too many things at that moment.

    Jason was going to train inside his dream world since the events in the capital had made him realize how weak he was.

    Kid or not, he would definitely need to go stronger to avoid dangerous situations from taking ce in the future.

    "Issac, what do you think he is nning to do?" Risa asked curiously.<sub> </sub>

    "The same thing that Michael had started doing. He never told us what he exactly did though." Issac replied.

    Both of them fell deep in thought while remembering the activities their son had indulged in.

    Michael had only told them that he was going to be training in his sleep. It had been enough for both of them to connect the dots and figure out that he was doing something inside his dream world.

    Risa and Issac had dream worlds too but even they couldn''t do much inside their dream worlds.

    "I have a feeling that whatever he is going to do is going to change him somehow." Issac muttered.

    After all, he had seen enough people to know when a turning moment came.

    ''I have to make sure that the incidents inside the forest don''t repeat itself.'' Jason silently thought.

    ''Hestia, I will also try to summon you there to train me. I will try linking you to the dream world too, system.'' Jason added before locking himself in the bedroom.

    He took a deep breath and entered the bathroom. Jason stared at his reflection and for the first time, he got to see the slight changes in his appearance.

    His white hair had grown silkier and had grown thicker. He looked like an elven prince from a fantasy novel.

    His purple eyes had a strange glint in them.

    Overall, Jason looked more mature after the events of the past week. His power had also increased steadily and all he had to do was to learn to control it efficiently.

    Jason thenid on the bed and closed his eyes. His body automatically went to rest mode and he drifted off in a few hours.

    The next moment, he found himself standing in the dream world.

    He took one nce at Sancus''s divinity before closing his eyes and focusing on his connection with Hestia.

    ''Trying here like you did back then.'' Jason said through the mental connection he shared with Hestia.

    The ex-goddess must''ve heard his voice because momentster, she arrived inside his dream world.

    < The Dream World system is temporarily disabled due to invasion of unknown soul inside the Dream World. >

    Jason sighed upon seeing the notification.

    ''Hestia can enter my dream world but it makes the dream world uselessбн'' he thought before turning to his second n.

    His dream world considered Hestia as an outsider. But what if he removed that and allowed her to enter the dream world as a registered person.

    "How can I register someone an an official person who can enter my dream world with me?" Jason asked aloud.

    Much to his surprise, he got a response from the DW system.

    < To register someone as an official, just ask them to offer you a piece of their soul. >

    Jason read the words twice before forwarding them to Hestia. Thetter frowned and red at the sky.

    "I already have given him a piece of my soul! I had done that the moment I became his guardian!" Hestia shouted.

    The system''s reply that followed her words made Jason chuckle.

    < Erбн The Dream World system is back online. Sorry for the inconvenience. >

 Chapter 102 Famous Across All The Realms

    "So now that you''re connected to this ceбн train me." Jason said with eager eyes.

    "You want me to train you?" Hestia repeated. Jason simply nodded in reply which made the ex-goddess shrug. "Well then, what do you want training in?"

    "Controlling a passive ability." Jason replied simply. He could feel his heart beating faster as he was about to reveal one of his biggest secret abilities.

    Truth be told, Jason wanted to keep it a secret but there was a chance that he could be missing out on valuable lessons.

    He couldn''t get any help from his family either. Hestia was his best bet at being taught anything rted to his passive healing ability.

    "Show me your ability." Hestia replied with curious. She would be lying if she said that she wasn''t interested in seeing Jason'' passive ability.

    Jason took a deep breath. He passed some mana into the ring of Vancouver, which had conveniently followed him inside the Dream world.

    Once he had turned his ring into a dagger, Jason cut another wound in his arm

    ''Though I can deal damage to myself inside the dream world, it doesn''t hurt meбн'' Jason silently observed.

    The wound in his arm glistened with blood. Hestia watched this in suspense while trying to predict what would happen.

    "Waitбн" her lips suddenly parted.

    Jason''s arm had already started healing. The blooding out of the wound soon started vanishing while the skin perfectly knit itself back into shape.

    Jason was surprised to find out that this happened much slowly in the dream world aspared to the real one.

    He was able to see the tiniest of details in slow motion. However, his attention was soon shifted to Hestia''s shocked and awestruck face.

    "You are exactly like himбн" Hestia mumbled.

    "Exactly like who?" Jason frowned.

    Whoever Hestia was referring to remained a mystery for the next five minutes. She kept on mumbling things to herself before looking at Jason in the end.

    "Jason, do you know who Aiden Shadowstone is?" Hestia slowly asked.

    "Aiden as in a guy with ck hair, red eyes and huge horns?" Jason guessed. The excitement that appeared on Hestia''s face told him that he was right.

    "If you know him, you must know that he is called by many names. One such name is ''infinite regenerator''. He can heal himself countless time, no matter what type of attack is used against him.

    Even many gods can''t fight and defeat him without using their full powers which in turn burns their power to an unrecoverable degree." Hestia exined.

    "So he can regenerate any damage he has received as long as its not from a god at full power." Jason summarized.

    "Yes and the only reason he can do this is due to his control over the dark and light element. Even though neither of them can singlehandedlypare to the healing provided by the life element, theirbination is terrifying.

    With the dark element, one can severe any damaged body cell and instantly rece it with the help of the light element." Hestia finished.

    Jason finally understood the excitement she had felt. She had basically described his powers being used at the peak.

    "If you can control your powers simrly, we can reduce your the damage taken and even fight much older and powerful guardians head on."<sub> </sub>

    "Uh, why would we need to fight guardians?" Jason questioned. He would''ve understood if Hestia had only specified Hecate but multiple guardians?

    Jason would rather open aundry service or hospital rather than doing that.

    "Ahem, you are soon going to be hotstuff in the different guardian realms. That little stunt where I used divine energy might have attracted a lot more attraction than what I intendedбн" Hestia mumbled and averted her gaze.

    She knew that there were many people who were present on Clover that originally belonged to other realms.

    Such people were descendants of a few guardians who could also travel between both the realms since one of their ancestors had a baby while they were a vessel.

    This made them the perfect spies. They traded information and important news from one realm to another and had the power to sense when some guardian used a major attack.

    "So that means that I am soon going to be famous across nine realms. At least the people in Clover don''t know about thisбн" Jason tried to look for the positive thing.

    "Well, that''s true up to some extent but don''t worry about it. As long as I am with you, I will make sure that no real harmes to you." Hestia reassured him.

    Jason felt a bit conflicted yet there wasn''t any other option for him to choose.

    "Tell me how you know Aiden? Is it because he was famous?" Jason curiously asked.

    "He was famous across all ten realms as well as the Bar of Gods. He might even have be a god from this realm which hadn''t happened for a long time," Hestia''s eyes darkened.

    "But things went bad and a war happenedбн I was Aiden''s partner and was banished to one of the realm without my memories. It took me a long time to regain them and once I did, I came here in search of things rted to the past.

    That''s when I found out about the guardian system and how Aiden was portrayedбн"

    Once her voice trailed off, Jason started imagining what the ck-haired man he had seen could''ve done.

    Furthermore, Hestia had helped Aiden too which thickened the plot.

    "Well, let''s just say that I acted as Aiden''s guardian back then," Hestia suddenly paused as though she was remembering something from the past. "Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure that I did meet a god of shadows at that time tooбн"

    ''Erebus?'' Jason immediately reached out to his patron.

    The god of shadows chose this moment to remain silent.

    Erebus was sitting in the Bar of Gods at his counter even though he had temporarily closed the bar.

    ? ''Why now?'' Erebus questioned himself while staring at the scene in front of him.

    Hestia hade back with her memories intact and then there was the scene where Jason and met Aiden.

    Not only that but Jason being born into Syrward family made things even weirder. It was as though someone was slowly collecting the pieces of a puzzle to finish it.

    ''I am going to pay him a visit.'' Erebus suddenly thought and vanished from his ce.

    It was time he paid the Divine emperor a visit and asked him about the things that were taking ce on Clover.

 Chapter 103 What Is A Myth?

    Erebus directly appeared outside a crimson pce situated in the middle of the temple of gods situated on the other side of the bar.

    This was the residence of the heavenly emperor. Erebus directly walked inside the pce without paying any attention to the guards.

    None of them paid him any attention as well. It was as though he was invisible for them.

    Erebus directly walked inside the throne room. He had visited it many times yet he still felt surprised that it was so in.

    Nothing decorative was present inside the throne room. It didn''t look like the throne of one of the strongest people in the universe.

    "What business do you have, Erebus?" The divine emperor asked curiously.

    ? He was perched on the throne with a bored expression.

    The jade emperor outshone the throne room with his appearance. With shining golden hair and red eyes, the Jade emperor was one of the most handsome men in the universe.

    Erebus of course considered himself much more handsome but that was another topic.

    "Tell me, why did you send Jason to Clover?" Erebus questioned. He rose in the air and sat there so that he could be on eye level with the jade emperor.

    "Looks like something interesting happened in Clover," The jade emperor smiled. "Tell me, was it Hestia''s remembering things from the past or was it Aiden paying Jason another visit?"

    "The former," Erebus replied calmly. "What exactly are you nning, Castus?"

    "What did I say about calling me by that name?" Castus frowned.

    "I''m not calling you by your real name or the other names you have umted in the numerous other realms." Erebus replied. "I''m gonna call you by the name that you are known by in Clover."

    "People know me there?" Castus raised his eyebrows.

    "I mean I created the name and spread your myths there so yeah. You even have a festival in your name if I remember correctly." Erebus shrugged.

    Castus could only sigh. He could''ve easily abused his powers and forced Erebus to call him by his title but that was too troublesome.

    Furthermore, both of them had known each other for an extremely long amount of time. After spending that many years together, both of them didn''t truly care what the other called them.

    "Tell me why did you send Jason to that realm especially during this time? The guardian system there is not functioning properly and Hestia is also back. Aiden also made an appearance.

    Those are no mere coincidences and we both know that it isn''t some destiny crap." Erebus asked again.

    "Well, let''s just say that I anticipated this. I predict when things are going to go ballistic in a particr realm and then reincarnate people there." Castus sighed.

    "Wait, you have been throwing people into other realms for that long?" Erebus looked surprised. "I never knew that you were saving realms in that way."

    "Erebus, what do you think a myth is and how does it build a god?" Castus suddenly asked.

    "Myths are just out of the ordinary tales about things someone did. If enough people talk about them, they convert into a divine piece of energy which give power to the said person." Erebus replied.<sub> </sub>

    "Then tell me, how many myths are fake? How much are we affected by the active myths? What happens if no one talks about a myth?" Castus asked one question after the other.

    "Dude, you have asked me this tens of times. I am tired of trying to think of more creative answers." The god of shadows pointed out.

    "But I never get a concrete answer. Sometimes gods disappear while sometimes they remain behind even after their myths have died down.

    Also, many of us are known in certain realms while many are not known in the same realms. We are represented differently all over the universe yet both of us retain these forms that we like." Castus continued on.

    If someone heard him, they might say that he was a schr rather than an emperor.

    Erebus knew that after thousands and thousands of years of existence, even gods began questioning themselves.

    Castus had been curious about such things in his mortal life too. Erebus wondered what would''ve happen if that boy had never done a heroic thing and his legend hadn''t spread around.

    Maybe then, they wouldn''t have gotten a divine emperor.

    "I guess I should answer your question," Castus sighed. "I sent Jason there because he seemed the perfect person for the job. He got you as a patron which is the most shocking thing especially since you are still bound by that curse."

    "As expected, he is an anomaly like me." Erebus muttered.

    "But I have had no hands in what happened with him afterwards. I did manipte the rebirth cycle a bit to give some advantage yet no direct action was taken. Everything he received was totally based on luck."

    "That sound fake."

    "There is nothing I can do to convince you. Its probably because his family is full of such people. I checked the files and it turns out both Issac and Risa had primordial gods as their patrons." Castus informed.

    "Primordial gods?!" Erebus''s mouth opened slightly when he learned that both Issac and Risa had primordial gods as their patrons.

    They rarely showed themselves and usually only took someone under their wing for five to ten years.

    Only one in fifty million living beings had the chances of having a primordial patron. If two such people met and had children, it would result in the form of Syrward family.

    "Not only that but his father actually had that guardian as his guardian. His mother on the other hand has one of the sins as a patron." Castus chuckled.

    Erebus couldn''t believe what was running in the family. If he wasn''t a god, he would''ve thought that the Syrward family was running some kind of cult to make this work.

    "And now you, a fallen primordial god, became the patron of their oldest grandchild." Castus smiled. "This child has a strange luck. Maybe you should paydy luck a visit and ask about this child."

    "I think visiting Karma would be more effectiveбн" Erebus muttered.

    "Whatever suits you," The jade emperor shrugged. "Anything else you want to ask?"

    "There''s one thingбн" Erebus muttered. "Who were Issac and Risa''s patrons and what powers did they give to the couple?"

 Chapter 104 Active And Passive Magic [Part 1]

    After not receiving any response from his patron, Jason decided to leave the topic forter on.

    "Now that I know what you need help with, its going to be much easier. First show me what are the things that you can do." Hestia said curiously.

    "I kinda already showed you what I can do though." Jason replied while pointing at his healed arm.

    "So that means you haven''t tested the limits of what the light element can heal huh." Hestia muttered. "Let''s try inflicting a wound that will cut deep into your arm."

    Jason was about to protest when he remembered that he hadn''t felt any pain earlier. This made it easier for him to experiment with his skill without being afraid of receiving huge pain.

    ''I do need to practice this in real life as well or my pain tolerance will hit bottom levelбн'' Jason sighed mentally.

    Since the ability didn''t reduce the amount of pain Jason felt, he would''ve to build up his pain tolerance. Otherwise, there was a good chance that he might end up gasping for air in the middle of a battle due to extreme pain while his ability fixed his body.

    "Well, here goes whatever that goes." Jason muttered and plunged the dagger into his arm with full force.

    The sharp part of the knife smoothly cut through his arm and the tip soon passed from the other side. Jason let it stay there for a few minutes while ck blood dripped from the wound.

    Only after an entire minute did he take the dagger out of his arm. It was glistening with his blood yet Jason was much more interested in the wound on his arm.

    ''System, give me a detailed report of everything that is happening.'' Jason ordered.

    [ The light and dark mana running through your body is roaming around the wound without doing anything. It seems like something is preventing them from moving forward. ] The system reported.

    Jason looked at this in fascination before raising his head to meet Hestia''s eyes.

    "Can you tell me why my arm is not healing automatically?" Jason asked.

    "I will exin that if you can answer a question that I ask. You agree?" Hestia asked back as Jason nodded in reply. "Then tell me, if mana is always running around our body or it is present in our mana cores at all times, why doesn''t a body get destroyed from it?"

    "It''s becauseбн becauseбн" Jason tried answering yet he was stumped.

    Mana, both normal and elemental, ran through a person''s body at all times. Or sometimes, the elemental mana simply stayed in the person''s mana core/cores unless it was called upon by the person.

    Jason''s dark mana was an example of the former while his thunder mana was an example of thetter.

    He had been using magic for quite some time yet he had no idea why his body didn''t corrode from the inside despite the dark mana present inside him.

    Furthermore, using lightning or thunder magic should have left his bodypletely electrocuted.

    "I don''t know." Jason dered atst.

    "The answer is quite simple. The only reason our body doesn''t explode is because of the thing known as affinities. Affinities actually refer to the amount of mana a person can contain or use without their body feeling any side effects." Hestia exined.

    "But if that''s the case, why does a mage''s body get hurt when he or she tries to learn magic and fails while attempting it?" Jason asked in confusion.

    "Let me show it to you instead of telling you." Hestia smiled and raised her right hand.

    Suddenly, a sphere of light appeared in her hand. The sphere of light bounced up and down in her hand before it suddenly expanded and blinded Jason.

    Once his vision recovered, Hestia had cut a long diagonal sh on her hand.<sub> </sub>

    "In the first case, I summoned the mana and willed it to do what I want. Currently, I''m not using the mana so the wound is still present in my hand," Hestia exined.

    The wound on her hand dripped a drop of golden blood, better known as Ichor, to prove her point.

    "Even I, one of the nine strongest guardians and an ex-goddess, can''t heal myselfpletely passively." Hestia exined before her wound instantly closed.

    "Though I healed it passively, my body was aware of the wound." Hestia continued on. "You on the other hand can heal it passively even if your body doesn''t register the pain or infliction of a wound."

    "I am confusedбн" Jason admitted.

    "Come back to the real world." Hestia smiled as though she had expected this.

    Both of them exited Jason''s dream world and woke up back on Duphia.

    Hestia appeared in front of Jason''s in her wolf form.

    [ I am going to inflict a wound on your body but you are not going to feel any pain from it. ] Hestia exined.

    ''And how you are going to do that?''

    [ By disabling your nerves and making that area numb of course. ]

    ''Ayo.''

    Seeing his expression, Hestia couldn''t help but chuckle. The guardian then followed her words and disabled every single nerve passing through Jason''s arm.

    < Warning! Your right arm can no longer be responsive to anything. You can still use magic but if you go overboard, no limiters will be present there. >

    Seeing the system window, Jason waited for the wound to be inflicted. He didn''t look at his arm though and waited for five minutes.

    [ Jason, open your eyes. ] Hestia''s voice suddenly entered his ears.

    Jason opened his eyes and looked at his arm. He suddenly jumped three feet in the air when he saaw that Hestia had almost cut half his arm off.

    "HOLY ASDFGH!" Jason forgot to speak when he saw his arm barely being connected together.

    However, right in front of his eyes, he noticed that the skin was slowly closing together.

    [ The internal part of your arm hasn''t started to heal though. Its just the skin and the cells a few centimeters below it that have been healed. ] The system informed him.

    Once his skin hadpletely closed, Hestia focused on his arm. Jason was soon told that his entire arm had been healed by Hestia.

    ''I thought I was going to lose a limb today.'' Jason sighed in relief.

    [ Come back to the dream world. I will exin what I just did. ] Hestia said in a reassuring voice.

    Jason stared at her for a few minutes before lying on the bed. He calmed his body down and on will, entered his dream world again.

 Chapter 105 Active And Passive Magic [Part 2]

    "Normally, passive healing only works when the respective mage feels some kind of pain. Its that pain that allows the mana to locate the source of the injury and heal the body.

    But in your case, thebination of light and dark mana can automatically locate where the injury is located in your body and bring it back to a healthier state." Hestia exined.

    Jason, still feeling a bit shocked by the disy of what happened earlier, nodded.

    "However, your body might have nullified this if you weren''t a half blood or if you weren''t Erebus''s follower." Hestia exined.

    Jason felt multiple questions popping all over his brain but he held himself from asking them. He was more interested in what Hestia still hadn''t exined.

    "Half bloods have a different structure than their parents respective races. They can do many things that the two races involved can''t and vice versa. This makes them quite unique.

    But even after that, the healing a person can receive in this manner stops near tissue regeneration if I remember correctly." Hestia continued on.

    "Is this where Erebus being my patron ys a key role?" Jason asked.

    "Indeed. Erebus is the God of Shadows as per his introduction which means that he was one of the first to use this passive ability. After all, to control shadows, you must learn to control both light and dark elements." Hestia finished.

    Jason felt enlightened and contacted the system.

    ''Does this mean that I can use shadows in the future too?''

    [ That''s what her words state. This also means that you are going to be one of the handful people who can use the shadow element in Clover. ]

    Jason found this both exciting and grim. He was already a powerful person to have as an ally and being a shadow mage would only add more power to that scale.

    ''Oh well, let''s see what happens in the future.'' Jason sighed.

    "Active magic refers to the magic where you have to control the mana yourself to do something. Passive magic means magic where the mana is used automatically to do certain things." Hestia reminded him.

    "What about those skills that add permanent status buffs?" Jason immediately questioned.

    "Such skills still use mana but they have already taken a fixed amount and your body will always have those buffs. They won''t require any more mana," Hestia paused for a bit. "But I guess there are skills that are not rted to mana at all."

    Jason nodded. He could name a few skills that gave buff to one''s attack and such yet they didn''t use mana at all.

    Or at least that''s what he thought.

    "However, those too use mana in one way or the other. Take speed for example. Suppose that your speed doubles when you are wounded badly. At that moment, your body would force itself to produce more mana.

    That excessive mana will be used by your body to increase your speed by whatever means. That is why when you use such things in the beginning, you feel tired or drained out by it."

    "I seeбн" Jason muttered in reply.

    Both these kinds of magic were extremely important for Jason who wasn''t restricted by anything. With the help of his system and overpowered abilities, he could create pretty terrifying skills.

    ''I just need to grow a built older and let my body get used to this much power.'' Jason thought silently.<sub> </sub>

    "I guess you should be able to use magic a bit better after all the exnations I provided you with." Hestia said with a smile.

    "I definitely received an enlightenment after listening to you. It keeps reminding me how much I need to know about magic and how perspectives are present there." Jason admitted.

    "Since that''s clear, we should start focusing on improving your healing abilities. To do this, you need to get a control over your light mana so that you can squeeze more of it out of your mana core." Hestia suggested.

    "Ahem, there''s something you should know first." Jason faked a cough before exining something to Hestia.

    "Wait, you are telling me that you only have a single mana core that lets you use both light and dark mana!" Hestia eximed as she looked at Jason with a baffled expression.

    That was one thing that the guardian had definitely not expected.

    "Believe me when I say that I was just as confused." Jasonmented.

    "I don''t know what to do then. Your dark element is perfect for your body but the light element definitely needs an upgrade." Hestia muttered as she tried to think of a solution.

    "If it was that easy, I would''ve gotten the life mage job ss by now as well." Jason reminded Hestia.

    His guardian could only sigh. She decided to focus on helping Jason get a better arsenal of skills and get control over his new type of lightning too.

    "Let''s start with offensive, then go to lightning control before doing defense atst." Hestia exined.

    Jason was ready to learn some skills and took a battle stance. For some reason, he looked odd while doing it in a shirt and trousers.

    "Now try to use your imagination and tell me a super move that you can use to deal heavy damage to the opponent." Hestia asked.

    Jason brainstormed for a few minutes before he finalized on two moves, one for each element.

    "A charged lightning bolt and a curse inflicting attack." Jason said aloud.

    Hestia nodded her head in approval. Both attacks were quite suitable for someone in Jason''s age group. The better thing that was that Jason hadn''t gone for ''cursed arrow'' which had some limitations.

    "Let''s work on the first one." Hestia suggested before sitting down near a tree. "How can you create a charged lightning bolt?"

    "Its quite simple. Its just a normal lightning bolt except once its created, I keep putting more mana in it and make it a charged lightning bolt. So when it hits anything, it will cause a huge explosion since it wouldn''t be expected by the enemy."

    Jason had already formed the basics of his news skill. If he learned it correctly, it would be a lot easier for him to do certain things.

    The more focused one''s lightning was, the more purer it would be. Being someone with the thunder element, Jason could use this to his advantage and try to use thunder magic is small bits too.

    Hestia liked the idea as well but she first wanted to see Jason perform it himself. Only then would she suggest him anything.

    "Let''s get this thing started."

 Chapter 106 Prototype Version

    Jason already knew the initial n in his mind when he raised his right hand. He immediately summoned a lightning bolt, something he had already done countless times.

    The lightning energy ran wildly in the palm of his hand. Jason focused more lightning mana throughout the lightning bolt to fully charge.

    Crackling sounds slowly emerged as the lightning bolt started getting more purple in Jason''s hand. He held it this way for an entire minute before throwing it at one of the trees.

    Jason was pleased to find out that the lightning bolt had also gotten faster. It impaled itself in the tree''s truck.

    The stored energy suddenly exploded throughout the tree. A two feet high explosion took ce, making smoke cover the tree.

    Once the sight clear up, Jason saw that his attack had separated the upper part of the tree from the trunk.

    The upper portion was lying right beside the remaining trunk. Though it hadn''t been a grand and shy attack, Jason felt satisfied by this.

    But when he looked down at his hand, he frowned. His palm had been burned off by the lightning bolt.

    His hand looked messed up but due to being inside the dream world, Jason was able to revert it to its original condition.

    ''This means that I can''t heal severe burns right now.'' Jason observed. He had required the Dream world system''s help to fix his hand, after all.

    "That was expected," Hestia finally spoke up. "Since this was the first time you were trying that, I was expecting something to go wrong. However, you seeded."

    Hestia felt surprised to see that Jason had managed to execute his attack on the first attempt.

    Though it couldn''t be called sessful since it had damaged his hand.

    "Your charged attack its powerful but it has two major ws. It takes too time to charge up and it wounds your hand as well. Just by looking at your hand, I can tell that its going to hurt you a lot when you use it in real life." Hestia exined.

    Jason himself had observed these things and was trying to find a way to fix them. What he didn''t know was that Hestia had already figured out the way to do this.

    "Instead of charging a normal lightning bolt, why don''t you try summoning a charged up lightning bolt?" Hestia asked curiously.

    Jason opened his mouth and closed it. It was such a simple solution that skipped his mind.

    "As for how to do that, try collecting the maximum number of lightning mana you can in your palm. Shape it into a lightning bolt and repeat the same process." Hestia informed.

    The guardian stretched her body and turned into her wolf form. Hestia found her wolf form much morefortable to sleep in rather than her normal one.

    mey had also felt the same and both guardians had tried to exin this thing but that was a discussion for another day.

    Jason simply followed what Hestia had said and tried to collect his lightning mana in one spot.

    ''Wait, doesn''t this mean that my hand would still get burned since I am gathering lightning in my palm again?'' Jason suddenly paused.

    Jason needed a second opinion on this which meant that this was the perfect time to connect the system with the dream world system.

    ''Oi Tet, can you hear me?'' Jason asked mentally.

    He decided that asking the god of games to connect the two systems directly would be much quicker and efficient.

    ''Ugh, what do you want now?'' Tet replied in an annoyed tone.

    ''Can you link both of my systems together so that I can talk to my normal system inside the dream world?''

    ''Done. Don''t ask me anything for the next decade.''

    ''Thank you.'' Jason felt his connection with the system being restored.

    [ So this what your dream world looks like now. ] The system said in an amazed voice.

    It could see the entire dream world in a simr way to Jason. Having being linked with the dream world system, it could also look over the new features present in the realm.

    Jason let the system explore the new surroundings before exining the current problem to it.

    [ So you have to prevent your hand from burning huh. ]

    ''Exactly.''

    [ Use the move again. I want to see it how you do it. ]

    Jason raised his right arm and tried using the alternative method for creating a charged lightning bolt.

    He gathered the lightning mana directly in his palm. He held this mana for a small amount of time before letting it take the shape of a lightning bolt.

    Crackling sounds followed the appearance of a charged lightning bolt. Jason aimed the lightning bolt at another tree and threw it with full force.<sub> </sub>

    The system observed this in suspense. It had already expected an explosion but when the tree was split in half, the system couldn''t help but feel amazed.

    [ You are definitely a natural at this. ] Itmented. [ But I am sorry to tell you that the only way to prevent your hand from taking any damage is to keep using the skill and mastering the tiny things. ]

    Jason felt disappointed after hearing the system''s reply. His hopes for getting a shortcut were cut short.

    ''Everything doesn''t have a shortcut.'' He reminded himself.

    Jason fixed his burnt hand once again. He took a deep breath, his eyes aiming carefully at the tree.

    ''After trying it a few more times, I will surely learn something.''

    Jason summoned another charged lightning bolt and threw it. His hand was still burnt but he didn''t care.

    He continued to heal himself and raised his hand again. Numerous trees were destroyed by his training.

    Jason kept on shifting targets as well to improve his aiming skills.

    After countless tries, Jason finally realized something. If he spread the gather energy the moment he started collecting it, the damage dealt to his hand could be removed slightly.

    [ Keep goingбн ] The system thought to itself. It wanted to help Jason too. However, the determination Jason was feeling prevented the system from doing so.

    It had realized that Jason was trying to figure things himself. Who was it to ruin his determination?

    ''He surely knows how to work hard.'' Hestia, who was seemingly asleep, smiled.

    She had secretly been seeing how Jason was trying to perfect his new skill. He had already used the charged lightning bolt a hundred times.

    His mana was soon about to reach below twenty percent but there was no worry. His mana recovery rate was working hand in hand with Hestia''s mana.

    Jason could produce an infinite amount of charged lightning bolts inside the dream world and he would feel nothing.

    Hestia smiled at this and continued to watch Jason train.

    ''This is working.'' Jason silently observed while summoning another charged lightning bolt.

    If he summoned the lightning bolt perfectly and threw it in the next five seconds, his light element was able to heal the wound.

    Jason called this the prototype version of the charged lightning bolt.

    ''Well, it did take quite some amount of lightning bolts.'' Jason sighed.

    [ It took exactly six hundred and nine lightning bolts for your body to slowly develop a resistance against the bacsh. That and the spreading of lightning mana helped you achieve this. ] The system provided the detailed analysis.

    ''I seeбн'' Jason stretched his body.

    Even though he hadn''t been feeling tired both physically and mentally, there was a sudden restless energy inside him.

    [ This is happening because you aren''t really sleeping. The part of your brain responsible for keeping your vital organs working is focused here too. ]

    ''What does that have to do with anything if I am doing things inside a dream?'' Jason frowned.

    [ Well, I checked some files of the other system and it turns out that a small part of your brain is still required for you to do anything inside the dream world and your mana core is active as well. ]

    ''I guess Tet thought that there was no need to exin that to me.'' Jasonmented before looking at the sky in the dream world.

    Since he could control it at will, the sun was currently shining brightly.

    ''What will happen if I sleep inside here?'' Jason curiously asked.

    [ Then you will exit the dream world and enter real sleep. That restless feeling will vanish as well. However, you will wake up in the real world. ] The system exined.

    ''I seeбн'' Jason stretched his body before changing the dream world''s appearance to night time.

    He created a bed too andid on top of it. Jason felt weird sleeping inside a dream but five minutes of lying on the bed, he had fallen asleep.

    ''Rest well, Jason.'' Hestia silently thought, her eyes fixed on Jason''s body. ''Things in the real world are going to get more difficult for you.''

    ***

    AN: Guys, I am going to mass release 7 chapters on 1st August! Another tier will be added to privilege. Thank you for your support!

 Chapter 107 Magic Can Easily Be Bent To Your Will

    Jason didn''t know how long he slept for but when his eyes opened up, light was pouring inside his room in the Syrward family mansion.

    ''System, how much time has passed?'' Jason asked while sitting up.

    His body feltpletely refreshed yet his essential requirements had kicked in. His throat was extremely dry and his stomach was growling.

    Jason also had the urge to use the bathroom.

    [ Four weeks and a day have passed after you went to train in your dream world. ] The system replied a minuteter.

    Jason slowly stood up before walking up to the bathroom. An hourter, he stepped back into his room and make his way down the stairs.

    ''Why does the house feel so empty?'' Jason thought to himself since he didn''t sense anyone''s presence inside the mansion.

    "Jason, is that you?" Risa''s voice suddenly rang out from the kitchen.

    Jason didn''t respond and instead walked near the kitchen. He narrowed his eyes and peered inside.

    "No, this is not an illusion." Risa smiled when she saw Jason staring at her in such a manner.

    "I was just confirming it." Jason shrugged and sat on the dining table. "Please give me a few bottles of water and something to eat."

    Risa nodded and gave Jason a bucket of water. She started cooking some food for him while he gulped down the water directly from the bucket.

    Risa soon presented him the food which was soon eaten by Jason. Once his body was satisfied, Jason decided to ask Risa why the mansion felt so empty.

    "It''s because Nora''s academy already started today. Ray and Issac went there with him. As for Zaraбн" Risa''s expression darkened.

    "She''s still not healed?" Jason asked in a surprised tone. He had thought that an expert healer like Risa would''ve figured something out by now.

    "I have not figured out the way to remove the mist surrounding her mana core. I contacted Ariana''s family and they haven''t had any luck either." Risa told the truth.

    Jason fell deep into thought. He was the only one who had had a more personal experience with Hecate.

    He also knew someone who knew Hecate much better than he did.

    ''Hestia, what do you think will be helpful in removing that mist?'' Jason questioned his guardian.

    [ Truth be told, I don''t know. Even when both me and Hecate were goddesses, I hadn''t known much about her powers. She was the goddess of mist and magic though. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    Jason already knew this information but there was nothing else Hestia wanted to tell him. He could only sigh and shake his head.

    "When does my academy start? There''s a chance that I might found something at the academy which will help in curing both aunt Zara and Amber''s grandmother." Jason suggested.

    "Nora thought the same thing," Risa smiled slightly. "Your academy will be starting in five days. Someone wille directly to the mansion to pick you up."

    Jason nodded in understanding. Since he only had five days left till then, he decided to use his charged lightning bolt in his real life too.

    "Grandma, can you oversee something that I am about to do?" Jason asked his grandma. "There''s a chance that I might end up burning my hand to shreds."

    Risa raised her eyebrows in surprise but didn''t say anything. Instead, she nodded in agreement.

    The two of them walked out of the mansion together and Jason was surprised to see that cold wind was blowing outside.

    He started feeling a bit cold but didn''t let it show on his face, or so he thought.

    "You don''t need to act as though you are fine." Risamented from behind.

    She had somehow managed to bring a jacket for him without Jason noticing it. He thanked her and wore the jacket to warm himself up.

    "So, give me an idea about what you are going to do?" Risa finally asked him once they had stepped into the garden.

    "Its an upgraded version of lightning bolt." Jason exined. He raised his hand in the next second and started gathering the lightning mana.

    ''Don''t worry about being hurt. Risa is standing right here so even something goes wrong, she can fix it.'' Jason told himself and spread the lightning.

    The purple mana spread in his hand as sparks flickered around his palm. Jason clenched his teeth when he felt his skin starting to burn.

    Risa also noticed this yet she didn''t do anything. Her eyes were examining the mana while waiting for Jason to finish.

    The mana soon took the shape of a lightning bolt and buzzed with the energy inside it.

    "Ughбн" Jason felt a searing pain spreading through his entire hand. He immediately threw the charged lightning bolt and stared at his hand.

    His skin had been burned badly and ck blood oozed out from his palm. The pain was much worse than what he had expected.

    Jason wanted to cut his own hand just to make the pain go away.

    [ Except that will give you an even greater pain. ] The system reminded him.

    ''I knowбн''<sub> </sub>

    Jason finally sighed in relief when Risa had started healing his hand. His eyes then looked forward to see that his lightning bolt had skidded to the ground.

    A small crater had been created in the ground at the ce where the lightning bolt had finally hit.

    Jason was satisfied to see that the amount of damage caused by the charged lightning bolt didn''t decrease even in the real world.

    "That was quite good except for the hand burning part." Risamented, her eyes looking at the hole in the ground.

    She had been expecting something much smaller yet Jason had surprised. But then, this might have been the reason for him burning his hand.

    "What you just used is an upgraded version of the charged attack," Risa exined. "In order to reduce the amount of burn you are feeling, you should have started a bit small."

    Jason opened his mouth to speak before closing it.

    ''Didn''t you tell me to focus of mastering the tiny things?'' Jason questioned the system.

    [ Even though I wasn''t referring to this, I did tell you that. I guess I am too much of a genius to predict this. ] The system replied in a narcissistic tone.

    ''Yeah, yeah, whatever.'' Jason replied before turning his gaze towards his hand.

    "Grandma, what is the less powerful version of this attack?" he inquired.

    "Well, it causes an even smaller explosion and is mainly focused on improving the time taken by the lightning bolt to hit its target." Risa exined.

    She wasn''t an expert in these things but due to Issac''s absence, she was the only one Jason could turn to for help.

    The good thing was that Risa had studied a lot on mana and had experimented a lot as well. She knew the theory and processes behind lightning magic and onlycked the practical experience.

    "Try creating a lightning bolt with half the amount of mana you are currently using." Risa suggested.

    Jason nodded and started gathering the mana. However, he formed a lightning bolt in just thirty seconds and threw it.

    The lightning bolt zoomed through the air at the same speed as the previous one. However, it barely created a hole in the ground.

    "You were correct!" Jason cheered when he saw a system window appearing in front of his eyes.

    ---

    < Lightning Bolt (Tier 2) >

    - Summon a bolt of lightning.

    ---

    The details remained the same yet Jason had managed to make the lightning bolt skill advance to tier 2.

    His hand hadn''t been burned either which had led to the lightning bolt skill advancing to the next level.

    "Lightning bolt!" Jason summoned another lightning bolt just to check it.

    He could hold the crackling piece of energy for as long as he wanted and his hand didn''t burn. Upon throwing the lightning bolt, Jason was pleased to find that it still worked the same.

    "Magic can easily be bent to your will if you know what you need your ws and your strengths." Risa quoted the words of herte teacher. "If you understand the basics and know what you have and what youck, nothing can prevent you from bing stronger."

    Jason nodded in agreement. Magic wasn''t as fixed as he had originally thought of it to be.

    "Let''s go back inside. I will keep practicing things throughout." Jason admitted.

    Risa agreed with him and the duo went back inside. Jason had been thinking of borrowing a book but instead decided to check up on Zara''s condition.

    "Grandma, I want to see how Aunt Zara is."

    "Well, she is the same as you remember. But if you wish to see her, we can go to her room." Risa replied.

    Jason nodded in response. The two of them began climbing the stairs to reach Jason''s aunt and uncle''s room.

    The door to their room was locked. However, Risa simply turned the doorknob and opened it for Jason to look inside.

    ''She looks as though she is in aaбн'' That was the first thought that entered his mind when he looked at Zara.

    She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Her clothes had been changed, either by Risa or Ray.

    When Jason touched her body, she felt cold almost as though she was dead. However, he could soon feel her pulse which meant that she was alive.

    Jason looked at her face for a few more seconds before walking out of the room. He had seen what he needed to see.

    "You done?" Risa asked. She closed the door when Jason nodded.

    While walking down the stairs, he asked, "Can you give me a book rted to magic to read?"

 Chapter 108 One From Each Family

    While Jason was spending his remaining free time with Risa, a heated discussion was taking ce in the royal pce situated in Troy.

    "Tell me why do I have to open the chamber again?" Albus Jokovic, the principal of the Royal Vancouver academy, questioned.

    "Its because his majesty willed it. If you have any problems, you can schedule an appointment and talk with the king." Zn replied calmly.

    The prime minister was dressed in simple royal family clothes, which included clothes made using magic. The symbol of the royal family was etched on the breast pocket of his shirt as well as the back of his coat.

    "But you know that once someone enters the chamberбк" Albus began to argue but was cut short by a amused chuckle.

    "Maybe I shouldn''t have asked Zn to talk to you. I never expected you to start questioning orders, Albus." Julian walked inside the room where Zn and Albus had been sitting.

    The principal froze up on his spot. He stared at Zn once before turning his gaze towards Julian.

    "Your majesty, I was just curious about the reopening of the chamber since you were the one who asked me to shut it up," Albus said softly. "But if you want the chamber to be opened again, I will definitely do it."

    "Good," Julian smiled. "And the next time you ask about such things, make sure to not act disrespectful."

    "Your words are mymand, your majesty." Albus curtsied.

    Zn, too, bowed his head in respect. Julian looked at the two of them with a satisfied reaction before leaving the room.

    Albus slumped down his chair before he wiped the sweat of his forehead.

    "You should have told me that your brother was lurking right outside the door!" Albus hissed.

    "He is still there." Zn replied with a serious expression.

    Albus immediately snapped to attention but when no one entered the room, he realized that Zn had tricked him.

    "Youбн" Albus tried to think of the right words to speak but his mind was preupied with the opening of the chamber.

    "Don''t bother. Just hurry back and open the chamber. Make only the first years face the trials. The ones who remain till thest will have to be forced inside the chamber." Zn quoted the exact same words his brother had told him.

    "What about you?" Albus asked curiously. "What''re you going to do?"

    "I am going to interrogate a very special prisoner. Also, I am going to send a very good clone magic user to the demon kingdom." Zn replied and stood up.

    "Clone magic?" Albus frowned. "I thought that only allowed life mages to mimic body parts to make changes to their own body. Also, I thought only Emerald(SS) ranked life mages could do it."

    "You know the truth." Zn walked near the door before adding, "I''m sending one such person right into the heart of the demon kingdom. The pce of the demon king to be specific."

    Albus''s eyes widened when he heard Zn''s n. The principal, however, couldn''t ask for more details since Zn gad already walked out of the room.

    "I should get goingбн" Albus muttered to himself. "Opening the chamber and setting the trials again is going to take at least three days. Thankfully, the first years arrive in four days."

    While muttering things under his breath, Albus left the room too.

    ***

    "Are you sure today is the day the academy starts?" Jason questioned Risa.

    "I''m more sure about this date then I am of Issac and Ray not entering a gambling den on the way home." Risa chuckled at her ownparison. "Also, are you sure that''s all you want to take?"

    Jason nodded his head in response. A ck backpack hung over his shoulder, containing all of his belongings that he was taking with him.

    It turned out that the academy actually had a uniform code so Jason had only packed his noble clothes in the backpack.

    Other than that, he had some essential items inside the pack. The rest of it was empty.

    "What else can I take?" Jason asked with the raise of an eyebrow.

    "That''s a good point." Risa agreed. "Which is why I am going to give you something useful to carry."

    Jason''s eyebrows shot up yet he didn''t say anything. Knowing his family, he definitely wasn''t about to get a secret family weapon handed down to him.

    "I know you are going to keep practicing that new skill of yours and even though I trust the healers in the academy, you should carry this." Risa produced a ck leather-bound scroll from one of her pockets.

    She handed it to Jason who took it with a curious look. On the surface, the scroll looked pretty normal.

    ''Inspect.''

    ---

    < Tier 3 Elemental Scroll (1/1) >

    - 0//10 uses<sub> </sub>

    - Can be used to store a skill or spell for future use. Can be used by anyone by simply inserting some mana inside the scroll.

    ---

    "In case you ever break your bones or cut one of your limbs, insert some mana inside this and you will be healed." Risa exined.

    "That''s quite helpful." Jason looked at the scroll for a few minutes before he slid the bag of his shoulders.

    [ Ahem, host, aren''t you forgetting something? ] The system, which had stayed silent until that point, inquired.

    ''I am quite sure I didn''t forget to pack my herbal shampoo.'' Jason replied.

    [ No, idiot. I''m talking about the storage feature that your ring has. ] If the system had a body, it would definitely facepalm.

    Jason formed an ''oh'' with his mouth before checking the ring on his finger. He brought the ring closer to the backpack and touched it with one of the straps.

    The bag vanished in the next instance, making Jason blink in surprise.

    ''I can''t believe I forgot about thisбн''

    [ I know you were busy. I''m here to remind you about such things so no need to worry. ] The system reassured him.

    ''You just rechecked the details of the ring after I used inspect on the scroll, didn''t you?'' Jason questioned.

    [ At least I remembered that you were missing something. ] The system countered.

    The two of them would''ve probably argued for some more time if not for the shy interruption.

    A magic circle appeared a few meters away from Jason and Risa''s current location. Since they were standing in the garden, they could see the circle expanding across the ground to cover at least fifty feet of ground.

    A few minutester, three figures appeared in the center of the circle and surprisingly, Jason recognized all three of them.

    "Brian and Orion," Jason muttered when he looked at the father-son pair standing together. "And Amber."

    Jason''s eyes lit up when he saw Amber standing on Brian''s left. The red-head girl also noticed him and waved at him.

    "Can we please hurry this up?" Brian said in an annoyed tone. "We are already runningte and I have one more child to pick up."

    "So you are the one in charge of taking the children of the four families to Royal Vancouver academy." Risa smiled.

    Seeing her brother being stuck as a teleporter for children, Risa couldn''t help but feel amused.

    "Hello to you, too, Risa." Brian sighed before gesturing for Jason toe and stand near him. "We have to leave now."

    "Goodbye, grandma. I will see you soon!" Jason said hisst goodbye to Risa before walking up to the trio.

    He stood beside Amber as Brian activated the magic circle. Jason saw Duphia fade out from his view before his vision ckened.

    Having experienced teleportation numerous times, Jason was getting used to this sensation.

    He only felt dizzy when his feetnded on solid ground again. Jason found himself standing in the middle of what looked like a cathedral from one of his previous life''s history books.

    Chandeliers lit up the massive hall whereas a high throne was raised at the other end of the hall. However, judging from the dust umted on the throne, no one had sat on it for quite a long time.

    "Here I thought that grandpa had messed up the dates." A familiar voice sighed.

    Zeke Anvilone walked in front of the group with a drowsy expression. This was expected since the time was currently seven in the morning.

    "Let''s get going." Brina urged.

    Zeke stepped into the magic circle too as Brian powered it up for theirst destination of the day, the Royal Vancouver academy.

    The group of five appeared in a clearing after a few minutes, which was one of the longest teleportations Jason had experienced.

    Brian looked slightly tired from his recent teleportations yet he still kept himself attentive.

    Jason looked around in the meantime to see that they were in the middle of nowhere. No houses or anything was visible near them.

    [ Host, look towards the eastбн ] The system said in a dazed tone.

    ''What''s in the east?'' Jason questioned before he turned to stare at the sky in the east. ''Ohбн''

    His mouth hung open as Brian cleared his throat.

    "Wee to the Royal Vancouver academy. We will have to walk the rest of the way."

 Chapter 109 Magical Toll Tax

    It turned out that they had to walk thirty minutes to actually reach the academy.

    ''I still don''t understand why this world is obsessed with walls. Can''t they just create a magical barrier around the city?'' Jason silently asked.

    What he and the system had seen was a 100 feet(30 meters) tall wall spreading around in a wide circle.

    "A city as well as the academy is situated inside those walls," Brian exined. "You will be spending most of your time inside those walls."

    "That doesn''t sound good." Orion muttered.

    "We might enjoy the time spent inside. Who knows?" Jason replied with a smile.

    He was sure that the academy arc was going to be quite eventful for him. It was certainly going to let him acquire more knowledge about the kingdom, his powers and powerful spells.

    ''System, we have to be extra careful from now on. Academy arcs are also the ce where politics run at its finest.'' Jason mentally added.

    [ I can help you there too. Perhaps we will enjoy our time here. ] the system replied cheerfully.

    For once, Jason shared the same enthusiasm.

    "Amber, can I ask you a question?" Jason curiously looked at the girl walking beside him.

    Both of them were walking in the middle of the group. Zeke trailed behind them while Brian and Orion were walking several meters ahead of them.

    "Sure, go ahead." Amber shrugged.

    "Have you visited something known as a dream world?" Jason asked in a low voice. He didn''t want anyone to hear their conversation.

    "I sure did! In fact, I came out of it at four am today." Amber replied with a cheerful expression.

    She had visited the dream world for the first time simultaneously with Jason. Like him, she had decided to hide the information for the time being.

    "mey helped me understand what a dream world was before something called a dream world system appeared in my dream world." Amber exined further.

    "I see." Jason nodded. This confirmed that the dream world system existed in other dream worlds as well.

    "I also talked briefly with someone named Tet. He referred to himself as the game of gods but I''ve never heard of him before," Amber frowned. "I wonder which world he belongs to."

    "You know of other worlds?" Jason was taken back. From his experience, not many people belonging to fantasy world knew about the existence of other worlds.

    "Of course I know about that. Many gods are born on different realms and its their myths that allows them toe to a certain world. Also, there are multiple gods for the same thing so their home worlds make it easier to know them.

    For example, Zeus and Thor are both associated with lightning but both were born in different ces. Furthermore, neither of them belong to Clover or any of the other nines connected with this world." Amber finished her exnation.

    Jason looked at the red-head with an awestruck expression. She knew more about these things than he did.

    [ That exins how gods have many followers. They have followers from all over the worlds who know them one way or the other due to the spreading of their myths there. ]<sub> </sub>

    ''I guess humans from Earth aren''t the only ones experiencing this.'' Jason sighed.

    The concept of multiple worlds, universes, timelines and such was quite confusing in itself. Adding more things to it made his brain hurt.

    "Anyways, did you learn anything new in the week that went by?" Jason asked again.

    "I tried to keep mey''s heat loving habits under control and let me tell you that its extremely hard." Amber scowled. "Other than that, I tried breaking the ground by stomping on it."

    "I seeбн" Jason suddenly felt that his quick lightning bolt wasn''t as impressive as he had thought.

    Shaking the ground with a mere stomp was much cooler and powerful.

    The two children stuck idle talk the rest of the way to the wall.

    They arrived at the wall ten minutester to find out that the wall had a permanent opening in it.

    No huge gates were present in the wall and only a single person was present near the huge opening which was big enough to let multiple elephants enter the city.

    "The city entrance is made using runes and formations." Brian exined when he saw the curious look on Jason''s face. "If anyone tries to enter the gate without permission, a barrier will prevent them from walking inside."

    Brian rummaged inside the pocket of his coat. He produced a blue marble ball which he tossed at the entrance.

    The huge opening in the wall lit up with a blue light. Brian gestured for the children to follow him through the blue light.

    When Jason stepped inside the blue light, a strange glow appeared around his body. The light felt like a liquid hitting his body yet Jason''s appearance remained the same.

    "Once you are registered in the city''s database, you cane and go as you please. Otherwise, you would need a marble like the one I had or would''ve to pay entrance fees to the guard to enter the city." Brian informed the children.

    ''So its basically magical toll tax.'' Jason mused.

    While looking around the city, Jason noticed many useful shops like armor shops, forging shops, alchemy shops, etc.

    "All the shops in the town belong to the academy. Students cane here and buy things without using money. Of course they still have to pay but the currency is different.

    Some of those working here are graduates from the academy too. If you are looking for a rxing life, this job isn''t half bad." Brian continued to be the tour guide.

    He lead them through the streets of the city while continuing to provide information. The children, however, were not paying attention to him.

    Their eyes were fixed on a building almost the same size as the walls standing in the distance. Jason could see that the tip of the building had the statue of the Ash Phoenix created ced on the top.

    It took them another ten minutes to reach the academy but once they stood in front of it, all four children stared at it marvel.

    "Wee to the Royal Vancouver academy," Brian sighed. "Now lets hurry up or we are going to miss the initiation ceremony."

 Chapter 110 Homeroom Teacher

    The academy felt like a real-life Hogwash castle except with a touch of modernness. Jason couldn''t count the number of sses he was seeing.

    Jason didn''t have the luxury to stand and stare at the academy. Brian hurried them in through the entrance and brought them to a reception area.

    "Four students from THE four families." Brian said to the man sitting at the reception.

    The man immediately froze before hurrying to grab four forms from under his desk. He handed the forms to Brian and saluted.

    "T-the initiation ceremony is taking ce in the arena." The man added.

    Brian pushed the children forward before guiding them throughout the academy. The inside didn''t look as big as Jason had thought of it to be.

    The entire ce was quite simple too since every door had a magically carved name written on it.

    Jason had passed the third year forging ss, the second year biology ss and the second yearbat ss on the way.

    Most people would require a map to navigate through the ce but the system was enough for him.

    It had already managed to obtain the entireyout of the academy.

    [ I can''t copy the names on the doors so you will have to manually input them in my database once you receive a map. ] The system informed.

    Brian finally got the children outside where five giant square shaped arenas stood. Each of them was situated 200 meters away from the other arena and had a different color.

    "The academysts for five years plus optional courses that you can take until you tunr eighteent." Brian exined and dragged the children over to the arena situated in the middle. "This is the arena used by the fifth and the option courses students."

    The arena was painted in a shade of red and white. Inside, about fifty students around Jason''s age were gathered on the arena floor.

    Flying above them were half a dozen adults.

    "Go stand there while I fill and submit your forms." Brian exined before he dashed back to the reception.

    The quartet watched him go with different expressions. They then joined the crowd of children and looked at the people flying above their heads.

    Jason recognized one of them as the principal of the Royal Vancouver academy, Albus Jokovic.

    "Now that we have almost all of the new children gathered here, I wee you all to the academy!" Albus smiled. "I know that this is going to be a new experience for all of you but I promise its going to be fun."

    ''Why do I have the feeling that something is wrong with this academy?'' Jason thought with narrowed eyes.

    He felt chills running through his back, the reason for which was unknown.

    "Anyways, flying beside me are the homeroom teachers with whom you will spend the next five years of your lives. Your sses have already been selected for you. Your name will be called by your teacher and you have to go and stand below them then." Albus exined.

    The principal flew away after saying the words. His job there was done and he still had to get the first trial set up

    ''I will let them take the first trial a monthterбн'' Albus thought slowly and flew away.

    The teacher than exchanged a nce before they started gathering their students.

    The sses in the Royal academy were separated on the basis of a lot of factors. The worst ss was called E ss while the best one was called Z ss, just for simplicity''s sake.

    "I am the teacher of the first year E ss. Pleasee and stand near me when I call your name." The teacher of the E ss was a polite looking middle aged man.

    He was wearing standard academy uniform just like his fellow male teachers. ck high quality pants, a red shirt with an academy issued coat.<sub> </sub>

    There were two female teachers present there as well. The only difference in their outfit was that the pants were reced by skirts.

    ''The reactions here would''ve been a lot different if these children had been about two to three years older.'' Jason silently thought.

    His eyes observed the children around him, most of whom were doing their own things.

    [ Host, are you trying to find a pervert in the crowd of ten-eleven year olds? ] The system asked in a confused tone.

    ''None of them would be perverts at this young age,'' Jason replied before he paused. ''Maybe I had said things to early.''

    Orion and Zeke both were looking at one of the female teachers with wide attentive eyes. One might even believe that they were seeing a woman for the first time.

    [ Hostбн ]

    ''Nothing.'' Jason turned his gaze towards the E ss teacher and saw him calling the students.

    This continued on for some time as the children were separated till the B ss.

    One male and one female teacher remained. The male teacher went first which made him the A ss teacher.

    "Orion Bloodthorn, Rukilia Jokovic, Hedran Roman and Jumn Sumon." The A ss teacher called out.

    The four children stood below him which only left the female teacher alone.

    Jason gave the academy a thumbs up in his heart since his past experience with teachers had been bad.

    The system could only sigh at its host''s thoughts. There was nothing else for it to do except look at the remaining teacher and try to judge her power level.

    [ Huh? ] The system suddenly paused when it tried to sense the woman''s power.

    ''What happened?''

    [ Iбн Nothing. I will tell youter. ] The system replied since it was still unsure whether it had sensed the right thing.

    "Lets see, Jason Nightshade, Amber Feuer, Zeke Anvilone, M Vancouver and Wade." The female teacher called out and settled on the ground.

    Jason trudged forward with the rest of his ssmates.

    ''She is quite young.'' That was the first thing that Jason noticed once he got a closer look of his homeroom teacher.

    She looked no older than twenty five.

    "My name is Isabe, which is kinda long so just call me Miss Izzy," Isabe introduced herself. "I am going to be your homeroom teacher for the rest of your time here. Nice to meet you."

    Izzy smiled at her new bunch of students. Jason gulped a bit when he saw the smile on her face.

    She had silky blond hair that fell down to her waist. Her eyes were the same color as a starless night, scenery that Jason had seen multiple times.

    [ Host, I think there is something you should know about your teacherбн ] The system suddenly interrupted.

    ''What is it?'' Jason questioned.

    [ I think she might be the vessel of a guardianбн ]

 Chapter 111 Welcome To The Student Life

    ''Great, next thing I know, the principal of the academy turns out to be adyboy.'' Jason sighed.

    However, he didn''t feel shocked by the revtion. Jason had gotten used to being shocked by a lot of things so tiny things as finding another vessel didn''t shock him.

    "Oh also, I am the vessel to the Guardian of Dardono." Izzy added while looking at Amber and Jason.

    ''Now thats surprisingбн'' Jason hadn''t expected Izzy to casually reveal that she was a vessel.

    [ Not just any vessel. When someone refers to a guardian by the name of their realm, it means that he or she is the strongest guardian present on that realm. Otherwise, this woman would''ve used the name of her guardian directly. ] Hestia reminded him.

    [ Also, she feels kinda weird to meбн ]

    ''Noted.'' Jason sighed. It was sometimes annoying and tiring to have two voices inside your head.

    "Today, you are going to spend your time roaming around the academy and getting to know what thing is where." Izzy exined before she pointed towards the exit. "Let''s go the reception first."

    While the other groups still remained inside the arena, Izzy led the children back to the reception.

    As soon as the receptionist saw her and the children with her, he hurriedly pulled out five forms and handed it to her.

    "Have a good dayбн" he said in a shaky voice.

    "Same to you." Izzy didn''t seem to notice the way his body was shaking or if she did notice it, she didn''t show it.

    The man nodded before he stood up from his chair and entered a room situated at the back of the reception. He came back with five sets of keys and handed them to Izzy.

    "Thank you for your time." Izzy thanked the man before gesturing the children to follow her again.

    She guided them towards the Eastern section of the academy where the first year dormitories were situated.

    "The dormitories are divided on the basis of sses instead of years. You will find students from higher grades also living near you as well." Izzy exined.

    They arrived at the entrance of the Z ss dormitories soon which were guarded with a magical barrier.

    A gray mist was present outside the entrance to he dormitories which made Jason anxious. He was definitely going to develop a fear of mist.

    Izzy finally handed the keys to the children.

    "Smear some of your blood on the key." She ordered.

    The children nodded and used different ways to do this. None of them flinched since they had experienced worse things than a small cut.

    Jason''s blood stood out the most since he was the only one having ck blood. The keys started to glow once they had been smeared with the blood.

    "This key is now bound to you. Its also the only thing that will allow you to enter the dormitories. If you lose it, simply try to think of it and it will reappear in your hand." Izzy informed before pointing towards the entrance.

    "I will give you a tour oft he dormitories before allowing taking you around the academy."

    The group walked right through the barrier. The area on the other side wasn''t exactly what Jason had been expecting.

    Six doors were present on the other side of the barrier with the hallway ending about hundred meters away.

    ''Unless they used magic in building these rooms, I find it hard to believe that they managed to make dormitories in such little space.''

    [ Its obvious that they used magic to make this. ]<sub> </sub>

    Jason noticed that each door had a number etched on it, except for the one situated closest to the entrance.

    The one situated on the far end of the hallway had the number ''1'' etched on it. It didn''t take a genius to figure out that this as the dormitory for first years.

    The only problem was that the door didn''t have a keyhole or a doorknob.

    "Just touch the door with your key." Izzy said from behind.

    Jason being the most curious one, went first. He touched the tip of the key to the door.

    ''Oh noбн'' the sensation that took over his body was a familiar one.

    His body faded away in an instant as Jason teleported away. The sudden teleportation was more violent than any of the ones Jason had experienced before.

    It felt as though someone had entirely reworked his body from the core.

    [ Host, just don''t feel dizzy because once you get dizzy, nothing good happens. ]

    ''As if I don''t know thatбн'' Jason replied.

    He managed to steady himself before looking around the ce where he was standing.

    ''This seems like a mess hall,'' Jason observed. His gaze traveled around the ce before locating five doors situated all around the ce.

    Two doors were situated on the far left while the other three doors were situated in the far right.

    All the doors had the names of the students etched on them. Jason had bee expecting a male and female division yet the rooms on the left had his and Amber''s name etched there.

    Jason frowned slightly but he didn''t have time to check the rooms personally. The others arrived one after the other.

    "This is your mess or dining hall," Izzy informed. "Also, your keys are the only thing that allows you to enter your rooms."

    Jason eyed the piece of metal in his hand with a frown. A lot of thing depended on this key.

    "Anyways, wee to the student life. Let''s continue the tour."

    Jason suddenly had mixed feelings about being in he academy. He had temporarily forgotten that being in an academy meant that he was a student again.

    For someone who was a student in his past life, this wasn''t a very likable scenario.

    ''Hopefully, the goods thing present in the academy make it up for this.'' Jason sighed as the tour continued.

    They roamed around the rest of the academy while Jason put in the details in the system''s map.

    The new first years returned to their dormitoryter on. Cooked food had been set on the dining table in the mess hall.

    All of them were tired by the events of the day that they ate their food and immediately retreated to their own rooms despite the time being 3 pm.

    ''System, keep a check on my surroundings.'' Jason ordered before he crashed down on the bed.

    He slept like the dead for some reason and when he woke up, it was already morning.

    Jason''s student life was about to start again.

 Chapter 112 Introductions

    "I don''t know why but I am boredбн" Jason muttered the next morning.

    He had woken up the earliest and had went out to find cooked food sitting on the dining table. The food had only been made for him as though someone had realized that he was the only one awake.

    ? ''Is someone spying on us?'' Jason asked the system while eating his breakfast.

    [ I am not sure about that. I don''t have that high level of abilities at the moment. ] The system reminded him.

    ''Ughбн'' Jason silently ate the rest of his food.

    After that, he walked out of the dormitory and decided to take a stroll around the academy.

    Since it was their first day, they were only going to be spending time with Izzy in their homeroom.

    The ss was supposed to start two hourster yet Jason was already awoke.

    ''Maybe I should go to the arena.'' He silently thought before making his way to the first year arena.

    It was situated on the far left corner and was half the size of the fifth year arena. But since none of the first years were going to be visit the arena this early in the morning, Jason had the entire ce to himself.

    He was a bit reluctant to use any of his shy moves since anyone could see there. The only thing he could do was warm up and use more of hismon moves.

    ''System, I have been wondering about this for a while but I still haven''t figured it out. How am I supposed to create a skill for the Child of Darkness job ss? What exactly counts as a skill for that job ss?''

    [ Thatбн ] The system was stumped as well. It didn''t know the answer to this question and could only keep silent.

    Jason sighed and decided to head back to the mess hall. Others would definitely be awake by then so he could start some idle chat.

    ''If I am not wrong, there is a princess living amongst us.''

    [ Indeed. Her name is M Vancouver though I don''t know what rank she holds. She might not be a princess at all. ]

    ''Oh well, its the closest we have got. What I am more interested is in the fact whether she is a brat or not.''

    [ are you like raising gs yourself? ]

    ''I mean, everybody likes a bratty princess because they usually turn out to be the best girls. Well in most cases that is.''

    [ I am not going to have an argument with you on this topic. ] The system sighed and went silent.

    Jason on the other hand went back to the dormitory. As he ha expected, someone had woken up and was having breakfast in the mess hall.

    "I thought I was the only one who crashed for such a long time." Jason smiled as he sat beside Amber.

    "I don''t know why but I felt too tired." Amber sighed.

    "Perhaps it was due to the rapid teleportations that we experienced today." Jason suggested andid back on the chair.

    Their ssmates soon woke up and entered the mess hall as well.

    "You both woke up early." Zekemented as he sat opposite to Jason. He still looked sleepy and one side of his hair looked as though they had been licked by a cow.

    Zeke didn''t seem to mind that and started eating food.

    ''Wait, when did that food appear?'' Jason wondered in surprise. He hadn''t seen anyone brining the food there yet it had magically appeared on the table.

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder what kind of magic was used in this.

    [ Well, you are at a ce where you will be taught about that. ] The system pointed out.

    Jason nced at his two remaining ssmates. The guy named Wade looked like one of the side characters in a movie whose only job was to act kind and brainy, make the lead actor look like a hero and die in the end.<sub> </sub>

    His brown hair were ruffled yet like Zeke, Wade didn''t seem to care about his appearance.

    "Let''s get this thing started," M Vancouver suddenly said. "I am M Vancouver and I am the fifth princess of the kingdom. Nice to meet you all."

    M curtsied a bit before settling herself on one of the chairs. Jason watched her with a curious look as she was the first royal in his age group that he would be interacting with.

    "If we are doing introductions, I might as well go next," Zeke said before stifling a yawn. "I am Zeke Anvilone and I''m an ice mage. I also love to sleep."

    Jason smiled at Zeke''s introduction.

    "Well, my name''s Wade and I an orphan. They still haven''t tracked my parents but its nice to meet y''all." Wade introduced himself in a much casual tone.

    "I am Amber, a magma mage," Amber paused as a slithery creature appeared on her arm. "And this is mey. He is a guardian."

    The other children looked at mey with excited eyes. None of them had seen a guardian up close before so it was a new experience for them.

    "I am Jason and this here is my guardian." Jason pointed at hisp. Hestia had appeared there and was now peacefully lying on hisp.

    M''s eyes started shining when she saw the wolf-cub on Jason''sp.

    "Can I pet her?" She asked in a slightly pleading voice.

    "Sure. She likes it when someone pats her head." Jason replied with a smile.

    The princess stood up from her seat and stood beside him. She moved her hand over the Hestia''s body and felt a warm feeling spreading through her insides.

    "So softбн" Mmented while patting Hestia''s head.

    [ She certainly knows how to treat an animal. ] Hestia said with satisfaction.

    ''Next time, don''t bother asking for pats.''

    [ I was justmenting her skills! ] Hestia pouted but since she was doing it in her wolf form, she looked extremely cute and adorable.

    "You guys look like you are enjoying your morning," Izzy''s voice rang inside their ears.

    Their teacher walked up to the dining table with a smile. She picked up an apple from the table and bit into it.

    "Today''s ss is going to be a practical ss so we will be going outside again. We might meet some students from other sses as well." Izzy informed them before gesturing towards a huge door which was the only exit present in the dormitory.

    "I hope you guys are ready to go out."

    Jason and the rest of the children nodded. All of them were indeed interested in going out and preferably show their magic.

    ''System, do you remember about the time when I talked to you about having no friends?''

    [ Uhбн Was it one of those days when you were training like crazy and would be dead tired at night? ]

    ''Yes, it is.''

    [ I do remember that conversation. ]

    ''Currently, I feel as though I was wrong," Jason replied and stood up.

    For some reason, he felt a strange excitement buzzing through his body.

    ''I don''t know why but I have a feeling that I am going to experience a lot of things with these people.''

    Jason walked with the rest of his ssmates while being unknown about the future.

 Chapter 113 One Minute Victories

    It turns out there was an official gathering happening at the first year arena because all sses were present there with their teachers.

    The principal had once again made his appearance. Jason wondered whether this principal even did any work considering that he had time to attend such things.

    "All right, that should be thest ss. Now that most of you have experienced your first day at the academy, I am going to exin some things that will be happening in the future.

    Exactly one month from now on, all of you children will be taking part in something called the trial of fears." Albus announced.

    ''Is it me or do the teachers look grim?'' Jason questioned with a frown.

    [ They do look grim. ]

    [ You are right, they do look grim. ]

    All of the teachers had grim expressions on their faces. Izzy looked like she wanted to argue but remained quiet.

    p "This trial will be taken by all of you and those who clear the trial sessfully will have to take two more trials, excluding those from the Z ss," Albus''s eyes fixed on the students from the Z ss. "You only have to take the first trial."</anda>

    "Those who clear these trials will be allowed to enter a special chamber that will strengthen their bodies beyond imagination. I wish you good luck and hope that you can train yourselves in this one month''s time."

    Just like yesterday, Albus flew out of the arena and left the students standing there. The teachers silently met the eyes of their colleagues before nodding.

    "As you heard, you will have to be prepared for the trial. You will need to upgrade yourbat skills and learn how to survive on your own," Izzy pointed towards the other sses. "Today, you are going to fight the students from other sses."

    "We are going to fight to win the chance to see who will use the arena today?" M interrupted.

    "Yes, that''s what we are going to do," Izzy agreed before flying in the air. "Give your best our first battle is going to be with the B ss."

    The B ss had twenty students in it. Though all of them were less skilled and gifted than the Z ss students, they outnumbered them.

    "To make thispetition fair, three students from ss B would be fighting against one student from ss Z." The teacher of ss B announced.

    ''Either they are highly overestimating us or those children are too low leveled.'' Jason wondered silently as three children from ss B stepped forward.

    "Which one of you are interested in going to fight first?" Izzy inquired.

    Jason raised his hand since he was getting bored while standing still and doing nothing.

    "Jason, right?" The blond-haired teacher confirmed. Jason simply nodded in reply. "Good luck and make sure to not hit any of their vitals."

    Jason nodded again and stepped forward. His gaze scanned the three children from ss B as he got into a fighting stance.

    None of them gave him the aura of experienced fighters which meant that the battle probably wasn''t going tost that long.

    "The rules of the battle are simple. You just have to hit your opponent once and the match will be over," ss B teacher exined. "You can begin now!"

    Jason didn''t even give the other party enough time to n their move. He summoned one lightning bolt in each hand and threw them.<sub> </sub>

    The lightning bolts rushed through the air and hit the two children standing on the sides. The teacher had already noticed his attack and put a shield around the two children.

    Jason''s lightning bolts vanished when they hit a light blue cover. The remaining child raised his arms in defense but it was toote for him.

    Jason had already thrown another lightning bolt. It hit the child in the next second and eliminated his team in less than a minute.

    Not only the students but even the teachers were left blinking in surprise.

    "What''s your age?" the ss B teacher questioned.

    "Ten," Jason replied with a shrug and went back to stand with his group.

    It was the first time he had used his new lightning bolt in a battle and the results had been satisfactory. If he managed to add some more power to it, getting hit by even one such lightning bolt would be deadly.

    "You didn''t use that during out fight," Amber whispered as Jason came to stand beside her.

    "I learned it recently. I will be more than happy to use it against you." Jason replied with a smile.

    "Definitely." Amber grinned. It was hard for her to find people her change who could give her a challenge.

    Fighting with Jason had been an exhrating experience for her. She definitely wanted to experience it again but for that to happen, their ss would have to win the rest of the battles.

    "Soбн who would like to go next?" Izzy asked slowly. Just by seeing Jason''s performance, her evaluation of him reached a whole new level.

    "I would like to go next," Amber replied and without waiting for a reply, she moved forward.

    Seeing Jason''s quick battle had fired up Amber. She was curious to see whether she could beat her opponents in less than a minute too.

    When her three opponents stepped forward and the match began, Amber immediately raised her right foot and brought it hard on the ground.

    The result shook the entire arena floor as cracks ran below the three children. They were about to fall into a deep hole but one of the teachers was quick at repairing the ground.

    "Since you three would have fallen into a hole, you loseбн" ss B teacher announced again.

    He was left shocked by how quickly his students had been demolished by two of ss Z students.

    Both of them had made quick work of the other students and had obtained their victories.

    "So that was what you were practicing." Jasonmented in an impressed tone.

    "Pretty cool, right?" Amber grinned and high-fived Jason.

    The others however were wondering one single thing.

    What kind of monsters had appeared in this year ss Z?

 Chapter 114 A Class Of Prodigies [Part 1]

    "Seems like I am going next." Zeke muttered and stepped forward.

    He waszy most of the times but seeing Amber and Jason, Zeke couldn''t help but feel fired up.

    The young ice mage wanted to show of his powers too.

    Zeke cracked his knuckle and casually waited for the B ss students to step forward. The other party was reluctant to fight him after seeing the result but they didn''t want others to think of them as a coward.

    The students slowly stepped forward and the battle began. Zeke''s eyes flickered from one child to another.

    The children gulped nervously. They were afraid that Zeke would use a shy move like the duo before him.

    "Zeke wins." The B grade teacher announced the results.

    The trio was left surprised when they heard the results. They hadn''t felt anything and they hadn''t seen Zeke move on bit.

    "Attacks don''t need to be shy." Zeke said with a wink. He went back to stand with his group before yawning.

    Just like Amber, he hadn''t experienced any powerful fights. This was the reason that it was hard for him to get fired up for a fight or basically anything that required him to focus and use his energy.

    ''Though I have a feeling that these guys are about to give me a good challenge.'' Zeke smiled inwardly.

    He knew that the other four students in ss Z were also like him. Even though he hadn''t seen M and Wade''s powers yet, the ck-haired boy could tell that they were powerful.

    "Teacher, can we give up?" one of the students from ss B asked the teacher.

    "If you feel like you can''t win, sure," the teacher smiled. "Its important to know when you have to back down. Some people died simply because they didn''t know how to back down."

    The students talked amongst themselves before deciding to quit as a whole ss. The teacher respected their decision and announced the withdrawal of ss B.

    "Good job guys," Izzy praised her children. "You guys sure know how to end fights quickly."

    Jason had to agree with her statement as well. All of them were extremely strong whenpared to other ten years old.

    [ You are prodigies. ] The system simplified.

    ''I guess that''s true.'' Jason sighed.

    Since they had won the first round, all of ss Z students settled down on the arena floor and waited for the other fights to be over.

    ss E went against ss D next. Jason was left bored half the time since the students of both the sses were at an extremely lower level.

    Most of their attacks shed against each other and ended up creating tiny explosions. But it was clear that the E ss had an unfair advantage due to which they won in the end.

    Something unexpected happened in the next pair of matches between ss C and ss A. Just after losing the first match, ss C students decided to call quits.

    They had understood that it wouldn''t be easy for them to defeat someone much higher than their level.

    This narrowed things down to only two sses.

    "We are going to have a best of three match to quicken things up." Izzy announced as she was the referee for thest round.

    "Do any of you mind if I go next?" Wade curiously asked.

    "No," Jason replied.

    "Nah," Amber shrugged.<sub> </sub>

    "Haaaaaбн" Zeke yawned which everyone considered as a yawn.

    "Sure," M replied which settled that Wade would be going next.

    "Would you like to participate in the round after that?" Jason questioned. He was getting curious about what powers the princess had and decided to ask her to participate.

    "All rightбн" M mumbled and looked ahead. She seemed nervous for some reason yet Jason didn''t seem to mind it.

    As long as he got to see her powers, everything was fine.

    [ Why do you sound like some sort of scientist or researcher? ]

    ''I am just trying to know my ssmates better.''

    [ Haaбн I believe you. ] The system sighed. It decided to watch the battle instead of arguing with Jason.

    Wade was casually standing in front of the other students. ss A had an advantage that allowed them to send two students at a time.

    Perhaps it was Wade''s lousy stance or their recent victory but the students of ss A were grinning.

    They thought that they had the entire game in the bag.

    When the match began, the duo from ss A were ready to unleash their strongest attacks and win the match.

    However what happened was the opposite.

    Wade''s body suddenly erupted with a horrible aura which shed with his casual personality. Most of the children flinched yet Jason stood still.

    His eyes were narrowed as he sensed the energying out of Wade''s body. The silver-haired boy wasn''t sure whether he was sensing it correctly or not because if he was, another over the top prodigy was standing right in front of him.

    [ Host, you are thinking right. Dark element is pouring out of his body and by the looks of it, he definitely has a S grade affinity with the dark element. This means that he has an even higher affinity with the dark element than you have. ]

    Instead of being envious, Jason fell deep in thought.

    ''Hestia, there are nine strong guardians referred to as the Nine guardians of Clover, right?''

    [ Yes, ]

    ''System, the chances of someone getting a S grade affinity are also quite less?''

    [ Yes, but why are you asking that? ]

    ''I''m trying to wonder if there is something wrong with the Vancouver kingdom. Three out of the strongest nine guardians are here plus someone with a S Grade affinity is also present here.

    Even crazier thing is that all of us belong to the same academy. Is this simply a coincidence or is the Vancouver kingdom too powerful?''

    [ That question can only be answered by gathering enough knowledge. Maybe we should make a trip to the library in the uing month. ]

    ''Maybe we can do that today only after getting finished.'' Jason replied.

    His eyes stared at Wade who was casually walking back to stand with the rest of his ss. A funny smell suddenly made Jason frown.

    His eyes soon located the source of the smell.

    The students from ss A had wet their pants after experiencing the horrible aura!

 Chapter 115 Class Of Prodigies [Part 2]

    "Its my turn now." M murmured before stepping forward.

    She had a straight posture and held herself high. The blond-haired girl looked determined to win the battle with her full power.

    "Well, this is going to be thest battle of this mini-tournament," Izzy announced before ring at the others. "Any of you think otherwise?"

    The other teachers wanted to refute Izzy yet they knew that she was telling the truth. In the end, they could only twitch their lips and prevent themselves from arguing with the blond-haired expert.

    M gulped nervously as she stared at her opponent. She silently told herself to calm down and took a fighting stance.

    ''You can do this, M. Its the first time everyone is seeing you so you have to create an impression for yourself.'' M chided herself.

    The fight began in the next moment. M exhaled and let her body rx. A cold st of wind shot out from her body.

    The two students on the other side fell down on their butts due to the effects of the wind. M looked at them for a split second before turning her back on them.

    She walked back to the group and patted herself on the back for being able to pull that feat.

    ''No one here knows much about me so I am safe. I just have to make sure that I don''t create any blunder.'' M silently hoped that she won''t do anything wrong in the future.

    After all, she couldn''t ept any mistake that could potentially ruin her life for the second timeбн

    "We will be using this arena twice a week. Y''all can go out now." Izzy said with a humorless smile.

    ss A teacher''s lips twitched yet ording to the rules, he had to get out of the arena. Every ss could only use the arena on the day assigned to them.

    Izzy had basically ensured that her ss would get arena for twice a week which would allow them to be trained more than the others.

    "This happens every yearбн" ss b teacher muttered while escorting his students out.

    Every ss left the arena except for Z ss.

    "Now that I got a general idea what you guys can do against children your age, its my job to teach you a bit more of trickery and wicked things." Izzy announced.

    Her feet touched the ground as her eyes darted from one child to another. Izzy was trying to think of a way to train the group of five in just under a month.

    "Any of you know how to y a magicball?" Izzy questioned. The blond-woman looked at all of their expressions and it was pretty clear that none of them were aware about it.

    ''Why does this country not know about magicball? I wish I was back at the Western continent just to watch or y a magicball game.'' Izzy sighed inwardly.

    "Just fight some of these guys." Izzy pointed her fingers towards the ground.

    Two creatures made from the dark element suddenly appeared beside her. Both of them were over 2 meters tall and judging from their shape, they were golems.

    Jason''s eyes immediately flickered towards Wade to see his reaction. The brown-haired boy, however, looked indifferent.

    ''Is he not able to sense that energy or was I wrong about him being a dark mag?'' Jason frowned slightly.

    He could feel the dark energy epassed inside the two golems. As a dark mage, Jason could sense all forms of active dark mana in his surroundings.

    He had felt something simr when Wade had released the aura from his body.<sub> </sub>

    ''System, why do I have the feeling that either my teacher isn''t using dark magic or that Wade has some different element?''

    [ I mean, any of them could be true. I can''t tell what element a person has since my level is still quite weaker. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    [ But there is one thing we can do. There was a skill in the thunder mage job ss that you had decided to learnter on. Maybe if you learn that skill now, you can replicate it for your dark mage job ss as well. ]

    Jason immediately opened the skills section and saw that he had indeed not unlocked one skill.

    ''Oh well, I will just do it now.'' Jason shrugged and unlocked the skill. It was thest skill he had unlocked with the help of system points ever since the system had been reworked.

    ---

    < Lightning Sense (Can be turned on and off) >

    - Allows you to sense lightning inside a 500 meters radius.

    ---

    Jason tried sensing whether anyone around him was a lightning mage but nothing happened. This meant that he was the only lightning mage present around.

    Jason didn''t know what to do after that. He simply inserted his dark mana and tried to sense more of it near him.

    < New skill has been created! >

    ---

    < Dark Sense(Can be turned on and off)

    - Allows you to sense dark mana inside a 500 meter radius.

    ---

    The moment Jason got that notification, he turned the skill on. The two golems as well as Izzy suddenly appeared inside his mind.

    He could feel some sort of connection connecting the three things to him. However, he couldn''t sense any dark manaing out of Wade.

    This made the brown-haired boy even more mysterious. Jason wanted to ask him about his powers then and there but Izzy spoke up before he did.

    "These two golems here are almost on the same level as you guys. I want to see how well you can work as a team to defeat these golems," She exined. "Remember, neither of these golems can be one shotted."

    Just to demonstrate her point, Izzy made one of the golems hit the ground with its feet.

    Simr to what Amber had done, the golem''s foot shook up the entire ground. Izzy made sure no cracks appeared anywhere.

    Jason decided to question Wadeter since he currently had to fight against the two golems.

    "Now, ss of prodigies," Izzy smiled. "Show me what you got!"

 Chapter 116 Good Luck Surviving In The Wild!

    Jason had been expecting a smooth victory. But their teamwork turned out to be a blunder.

    The moment Izzy had started the match, both the golems andunched themselves into the air.

    They started shooting arrows made of darkness at those standing below to utilize the advantage of high ground.

    Amber erected a wall of mes, simr to what Andrew had done during the tournament. The arrows of darkness were melted by the mes.

    But instead of feeling relieved, the red-haired girl could only grit her teeth. She could tell that the arrows would strike a curse on them the moment they were touch by it.

    "I can protect us but I don''t think I can push the fire towards the golems," Amber exined while widening the wall of fire. "Those arrows are packing some serious curses which are requiring me to focus or else they will pass through the fire."

    With Amber covering them up, the quartet decided tounch their own attacks.

    "Any of you have dark element or light element?" Jason had a good amount of knowledge about the dark element.

    He knew that to rival it, they needed someone with the light, dark or fire element. The former two could counter the dark golems effectively since they were made from the same thing.

    It was simr to how the fight between two fires would go. The greater fire would ovee the smaller one.

    The other three shook their heads, making Jason sigh. He was the only one amongst the group with the dark element, unless Wade''s aura could be counted as a part of the dark element.

    "Let''s just try to defeat the golems," Jason sighed and summoned two lightning bolts.

    He threw them at the golems one after the other until a chain of lightning bolts had been created.

    The others used his volley of lightning bolts as a cover and shot their own attacks behind them.

    Jason expected one of their attacks to hit the golems. Both of them were still shooting arrows towards the group, leaving Amber preupied.

    "Don''t think that your opponents will let you do whatever you want," Izzy reminded them. Their teacher had been hovering beside the golems and observing her students.

    With a flick of her wrist, the golems immediately started dodging the attacks. They also concentrated dark mana in their hands, something only sensed by Jason, and released them after a few seconds.

    Twoplete ck spheres shot out from the golems palms. The spheres shot towards Amber whose me wall had weakened slightly.

    "Attack those balls!" Jason shouted. He could feel condensed dark mana inside the two spheres which was enough to corrode an entire house.

    The silver-haired boy couldn''t help but wonder whether Izzy was trying to kill them or not.

    The others heard his warning and concentrated their attacks on the spheres of darkness. Amber focused on her mes a bit and created a fire Phoenix from it.

    Jason watched in awe as the Phoenix charged towards the spheres. He too used his lightning to attack the spheres though he didn''t create anything fancy.

    The Phoenix and the lightning attacked one of the spheres while the remaining three attack the other sphere.

    Zeke had shot ice spikes while M had released wind shes. Wade seemed to hesitate a bit before he shot three fireballs.

    The three attacks hit the other sphere one after the other. Simultaneously, the fire Phoenix and Jason''s lightning destroyed one of the spheres while thebined attacks did the same to the other sphere.

    Smoke was produced from the sh of the attacks. Jason''s eyes tracked the dark mana spreading in the atmosphere as it corroded everything near it.

    ''Waitбн'' Jason''s eyes whipped upwards. He tried searching for the golems yet he couldn''t track them with his eyes.

    He tried using the dark sense but that didn''t allow him to pinpoint their exact location.

    "In the midst of battle, never lose the location of your enemy." Izzy''s voice resounded in his ears.

    What he had feared turned out to be right. The golems suddenly appeared behind the group and raised their hands towards the group.

    Had it been a real match, three of them would''ve been obliterated for sure. Jason and Amber would have been protected by their guardians.

    Both the guardians had decided that participating in the training match wasn''t worth it. They had agreed to intervene only if something extreme happened.

    "At least now I know what to train you guys for." Izzynded down on the ground and dispelled the golems.

    The blond-woman had gotten a good idea about what she had to help her students get better at. A month was a short time to make extremely high amounts of improvement but Izzy would still try her best.

    "The first thing we are going to work on isбн teamwork," Her ck eyes moved from one child to another. "Now I know that the chances of you all getting into a fight together are less but I still want to teach you. You all agree to this?"<sub> </sub>

    "You are asking our choice on this?" M slowly asked.

    "Yes, why wouldn''t I?" Izzy tilted her head in confusion. "If you are not willing to learn something, I wouldn''t force it on you. It won''t wield the necessary results."

    After hearing her reply, the group of children exchanged nces. All of them, except for Jason, were getting this opportunity for the first time.

    They had learned what their family had taught them with no questions asked. This was a new thing for them.

    "Well, I don''t see any problem in this," Zeke stated out his opinions. "All I want to do is something exciting that will make me feel lesszy."

    "I don''t see anything wrong as well," Amber agreed.

    "Let''s try this thing."

    "Yes, let''s do it. We will also get to know each other better," M nodded.

    "I agree." Jason replied atst.

    Once all five of them had agreed, Izzy rounded them up and started drawing a magic circle below their feet.

    "We are going to go to the nearby forest in search of beasts," She exined while continuing to draw the circle. "The ruler of the forest allows the academy to train their children alongside the younger beasts in exchange for some resources."

    Jason remembered Risa telling him about this. Most of the bigger academies, including the top three academies, had forests or other beast habitats situated near them.

    The headmasters formed contracts with the ruling beasts of the region. This benefited both sides since the academies would get to train their children while the beast ruler would get to see the younger beasts bing stronger.

    This also decreased the mortality rate amongst the students. Though this made them feel a bit safer, it was the best way to train them.

    "You will fight in the forest until your third year. After that, you will be allowed to enter and explore dungeons but that will still take some time." Izzy finished the magic circle. "I hope all of you are ustomed to teleportation magic."

    The children could only nod before they were teleported away. Izzy took them to a part of the forest specially reserved for first years.

    "Ok so the first thing I am going to ask you to do is spend seven days inside this forest," Izzy exined the task they had to perform.

    "Wait, we have to spend a week here?" Jason repeated her words.

    "Yes, and you are going to do that alone. I will give you enough food tost for a week and water tost you for ten days. You will have to make one person incharge of one specific thing." Izzy continued.

    Her hand then closed around the golden ring on her right middle finger. She took out a small leather bag and put it on the ground.

    "These contain exactly a hundred and forty seven pills inside it. They also contained forty nine water pills. The former has to be taken thrice a day and you will stay nutritious but its the bare minimum.

    The water pills have to be taken once a day and you will remain hydrated for the rest of the day. Anything you want to ask?"

    "What are we supposed to if a beast attacks us?" Wade immediately asked.

    "You are going to fight it obviously. What else do you think you can do?" Izzy replied calmly.

    "What are we supposed to do about sleeping? I am sure we can''t sleep on the ground hereбн" M stared below at the ground to see a few ants crawling by.

    If more of such ants showed up and they were sleeping on the ground, they were fcked.

    "You have to build a shelter, which I don''t expect any of you to know about. Instead, you can try sleeping on trees or perhaps using your magic to do something creative."

    "What if we can''t control our magic to be that efficient?" Jason asked with narrowed eyes. He could tell that none of them could use their magic that perfectly.

    It was impossible for ten year olds to have that high precision with magic. Jason had to admit that they were more mature than ten year olds from Earth, probably around fifteen to sixteen years of Earth children age.

    But despite that, he was pretty sure that they wouldn''t be able to create a good shelter.

    "I am sure you guys will figure something out," Izzy replied cheerfully. "Any other question before I leave?"

    "What if we are in a near death situation?" Amber asked atst.

    "Then you either defeat the beast or pray for someone to save you. I mighte to your rescue but no guarantees," seeing that no one was asking any other questions, Izzy waved. "I am leaving now. Good luck surviving in the wild!"

 Chapter 117 Monkey Rampage!

    ''Never thought I would be surviving in a forest at the mere age of ten.'' Jason wondered silently while looking at the bag below.

    All five children exchanged looks beforeing to a silent agreement. If they started fighting over the right to keep the bag, things would turn bad for them.

    "How about me, Jason and Amber split up some stuff? All of us have the storage thing with us," Zeke suggested while pointing towards the rings glistening in the duo''s hands.

    "If you remember correctly, anything inside your ring will start rotting so unless those pills don''t have an expiry date, we can''t hand them to you." Jason suddenly interrupted.

    ''No waitбн'' One secondter, he realized that he had made a mistake.

    The rotting thing had never been announced by Zn. There was no way for Jason to know the details of the ring unless he had personally tested it himself.

    [ And that''s why you think before saying things, host. ]

    ''Maybe you should have tried to stop me when I had said the first few words.'' Jason pointed out.

    [ Great, now I am at fault. Go handle the situation first and then we will talk. ]

    Surprisingly, there was no situation to handle. Zeke just sighed and nodded.

    "Yeah, there''s that. I guess you both can handle the food and water stuff." He stated and picked up the bag from the ground/.

    The ck-haired boy handed the bag to Jason and stepped back. Thetter stared at it with a serious gaze before opening it.

    Jason took out the pills and studied them.

    ---

    <Food pill >

    - Provides basic nutrition for eight hours.

    ---

    < Water Pill >

    - Provides basic hydration for the next 24 hours.

    ---

    Both pills looked ordinary. The food pills were orange while the water pills were light blue.

    ''System, count the pills and make sure that they are sufficient for all of us.'' Jason ordered.

    He had a feeling that Izzy might have lied to them about the amount of pills. Their teacher could create conflict between them in this manner.

    [ Izzy had told you the correct number. All of you can survive with the help of the pills. ] The system replied confidently.

    It had counted the number of pills twice to make sure that no mistake was made.

    [ Also, you might receive a quest for this asion. ] The system added.

    Certain situations were the triggering events for quests. The system knew that Jason rarely got quests despite the amount of excitement in his life.

    This was because the system was designed while keeping a goal in mind. Erebus wanted to make sure that its original purpose would be that of a guide and not of the ultimate spoonfeeder.

    Erebus knew how pathetic it felt to have a restriction on your powers. He had feared that if anything ever happened to the system, Jason would have suffered the same fate as him.

    That was why Erebus had went out of his way to design something different than the everyday systems seen in fantasy novels.

    ''Any quest right now would be helpful. Well, not like I have anything that I want to buy," Jason sighed.

    He had refreshed the system shop multiple times yet nothing new had appeared there. Jason had been excited about the shop at first but seeing that nothing new was appearing there, he felt disappointed.

    "I will take the water pills. Amber, you can take the food pills." Jason suggested.

    Amber nodded in agreement. Jason transfered the water pills to his ring before handing the food pills to Amber.

    Thetter put them inside her dagger as well and tossed the bag to Zeke. The ck-haired boy stared at the bag before putting it inside his own dagger.

    "Now that we have food and water pill incharges, its time to decide who will take care of shelter." Zeke announced.

    "I can help a lot by using my Earth element. M can help me do some things too since her wind element can be used to shape things," Amber suggested.

    Everyone agreed and the two girls went to the side to talk things through. Though night was still a few hours away, they decided it was better for them to create shelter as soon as possible.

    "I will go secure the perimeter," Wade announced and started walking away.

    "Even if this is a beginner''s area, are you sure you want to go alone?" Jason asked curiously.

    "I''m going alone because this is the beginner''s area," Wade grinned before walking away.

    The brown-haired boy didn''t bother to look behind and walked away.

    ''We have to watch out for him. He seemed pretty confident in his abilities too so he might be quite strong.'' Jason silently thought.<sub> </sub>

    He was sure tha Wade was at least silver(C) ranked. He might also be a B rank mage which was quite high level for someone his age.

    Jason himself was B ranked so there was that as well.

    "So, this leaves me as the only person without a task," Zeke yawned. "Do you mind if I sleep here?"

    "Uh, sure?" Jason replied with a confused expression. He found it hard to believe that Zeke could sleep in the middle of such a ce.

    "Goodnight," Zeke suddenly erected an ice sculpture in the middle of the ground.

    The sculpture resembled a bed as the ck-haired boy floated on top of it. Zeke wasn''t good at controlling his wind element so he set himself on the ice-bed.

    Zeke had a B grade affinity with wind element which was quite low. However, his A grade water affinity and S grade Ice affinity made up for his smaller affinity.

    Zeke''s body was also resistant against cold which allowed him to lie on the ice-bedfortably. He could easily sleep on the bed without facing a problem.

    ''He wasn''t kidding,'' Jason observed.

    Zeke had managed to fall asleep in a matter of minutes and was snoring peacefully on the bed of ice. He really did like sleeping.

    Jason sighed once before he decided to take a look at his surroundings. His eyes settled on one of the tree''s before he shot the Dark Harpoon at the top of the tree or at least as far as his vision would allow.

    Jason pulled on the harpoon and lifted himself to the top of tree. It was barely tall enough for him to look around the area but Jason managed to identify some of his surroundings.

    The walls surrounding the academy and the city built around it was like a tiny sculpture in the distance. This meant that trying to go back towards the academy was quite foolish.

    None of them had any idea about the area near the academy and they might end up in some beast''s clutches unintentionally.

    ''I should go back.'' Jason thought with a sigh. He had already seen what he needed to and decided to climb down.

    But before he could do so, he heard screeching noisesing from the nearby trees.

    Jason focused a bit on his eyes and activated his special ability. His eyes were soon able to see some figures moving in the trees.

    They were barely a feet tall and were swinging from one branch to another. Jason identified them as monkeys while trying to locate one of them.

    He caught a tiny glimpse of brown fur and immediately used his inspect skill.

    ---

    < Red-Butt Monkeys >

    Threat level: D rank

    - These monkeys are weak when found alone. That is why they usually move in groups of hundreds and can be quit deadly while fighting.

    - They obtain their name due to their red-butts which everyone can look at.

    ---

    Jason decided to notment on the name or the description of the monkeys. They were fearsome creatures who could pack some damage if he wasn''t careful.

    [ That''s what happens in most ces. The weak group together to fight the strong and protect themselves. I am ny five percent sure that you can''t beat them without using both your lightning and dark magic to the fullest. ]

    ''At least I can beat them.'' Jason reminded the system.

    The silver-haired boy, however, was not interested in fighting the monkeys. In his opinion, it was better to let them pass by to not ensue any chaos.

    Jason came down the tree with the help of his dark harpoon. He could hear the monkeys screeching while they ran away.

    ''How many of them are there?'' he couldn''t help but wonder.

    Despite what the description about the monkeys had said, Jason was sure that he counted more than a hundred monkeys swinging from the branches nearby.

    [ There are more than three hundred monkeys near youбн ] The system informed in a dazed voice.

    Both Jason and the system doubted whether he would be able to defeat so many monkeys alone, at least without damaging any of his body parts.

    ''Wait, what''s that?'' Jason suddenly frowned as his eyes lingered on two feet tall beast overflowing with Earth mana.

    [ I think that''s a bigger monkey. ]

    ''As if that wasn''t obvious. I am more interested in seeing what it is.'' Jason replied while trying to find a way to read the big monkey''s details.

    His attempt was futile since the big monkey continued to roam around the trees but didn''t reveal itself.

    [ Host, another hundred monkeys showed upбн ] The system informed.

    It was as though a huge scale rampage was taking ce, a monkey rampage. Jason had barely seen ten monkeys together in life yet here, three hundred monkeys were gathering together.

    "I have bad news!" Wade suddenly came runnning.

    [ Host, the monkeys are moving together towards amon ce, ] The system said at the same time. [ They are heading towards you. ]

 Chapter 118 Meeting The Red-Butt Monkey King

    ''This big of a forest and they target us!'' Jason clicked in tongue. Even though the beasts were only at the D rank, they outnumbered the group of five by an enormous number.

    The monkey king was also present there which made things unpredictable.

    "What happened?'' Zeke asked with a frown. He slid of the bed of ice, his eyes wide open.

    Amber and M also gathered around the three boys when they hard Wade''s voice. Thetter had a grim expression on his face.

    "Hundreds of monkeys are heading this way and judging by the looks of it, they areing here to pick on us." Wade exined.

    When he had been securing the perimeter, Wade had encountered a dozen or so monkeys. All of them had screeched when they had seen him and had tried to hold him captive.

    Wade had barely managed to escape by releasing his powers and getting away from the monkeys. He hadn''t killed them since he didn''t want to invite the entire horde towards himself.

    But it had clearly not worked since the monkeys were heading towards his location with their king in tow.

    ---

    "Thisбн" Izzy, who was silently observing the entire scenario from a nearby location, frowned.

    She was well aware about the red-butt monkeys. They hung around the beginner''s area of the forest and often attacked the students in groups of ten or so.

    They only had small fights with the first years before they would go away. They never invited other monkeys to fight alongside them, much less their king.

    ''I might have to step in if things go south.'' Izzy stood up from her sitting ce.

    She knew that the monkey king was no joke. He was one of the strongest beasts living in the beginner''s area and might even be considered the ruler of the area.

    Unless someone killed his subordinates, which didn''t happen, he simply sat in his home turf and enjoyed being fed by beautiful females monkeys, who were personally picked by him ording to his taste.

    Izzy knew this because she had made a few trips to his home turfs. The monkeys had sometimes captured a few of her students and she had to personally go and get them from the monkeys base.

    Izzy wondered whether the same thing was happening here as well. The blond-woman, however, was smart enough to know that something else was happening near her new students.

    ''I will let them handle things for now and only interfere if something wrong happens.'' Izzy thought and continued to observe her students silently.

    ---

    ''So thats the king of these red-butt monkeys,'' Jason observed. ''I have to say that all of them do live up to their name.''

    The red-butt monkeys looked like regr brown monkeys from Earth. The only difference in their appearance was that their butts were huge and were shining brightly as though someone had spanked them.

    The king of the monkeys had an evenrger butt which made Jason wonder about how he became the king. Did the monkey with the biggest butt automatically be the king?

    ''Inspect.''

    ---

    < Red-Butt Monkey King>

    Threat level: B rank

    - An evolved form of the red-butt monkeys. These monkeys are twice asrge as their previous forms and gain a good control over one of their elements.

    - When triggered, this monkey releases a sharp scream which will make every living being not belonging to his species temporarily paralyzed.<sub> </sub>

    ---

    Jason read the details on the monkey king with a serious expression. Not only the monkey was at the same level as him, it also had a terrifying attack.

    "Guys, I think we should be ready to fight," Jason suggested while taking a battle stance.

    The others followed his example and got into fighting positions. They were ready to wrestle with the monkeys if they tried to make a move against them.

    [ Rx humans, I am not hear to attack you. ] The monkey king spoke with the help of telepathy.

    (AN: Just to make things a bit clear, Verbally spoken words are put inside "this". Thoughts are put inside ''this''. The system''s words are put inside [this]. Mental conversations, and words spoken by a guardian sometimes, are put inside [this].)

    Jason didn''t lower his guard and looked directly into the red-butt monkey king''s ck eyes.

    "Why are you here then?" Jason asked aloud.

    [ I am here to talk. ] The monkey king responded before looking at the rest the monkeys around him. [ These guys insisted oning here since all of us were attracted by a particr thing. ]

    "What is that?" Jason asked curiously. Just by looking at the monkey king, he could conclude that the other party wasn''t interested in fighting for the time being.

    [ I am here to talk to you. ] The monkey king replied with a grin, at least that''s what Jason assumed. The beast had simply parted his lips and revealed his shiny pointy teeth.

    "Uhбн" the silver-haired boy tried to think of a response but failed miserably. In the end, he asked, "why do you want to talk to me?"

    [ That can''t be said here in the open. I want to invite you to our domain and have a talk with you there. ]

    Once again, Jason was stumped. He looked at his new ssmates with an uneasy expression before looking back at the monkey king.

    [ Don''t reply with "What if I refuse?" or "Let''s go to your domain. ]

    ''You basically took the yes and no response out of the equation.'' Jason replied with a sigh.

    [ I am sure that you will figure something out. ]

    The system was right about that. It only took Jason a few seconds beforeing up with the right response.

    "Where is your domain located?" Jason asked, neither expression agreement nor refusal.

    [ Its located about fifteen minutes away from here but that''s if we go by swinging. You humans aren''t efficient at that so it will take you around thirty minutes of walking to get there. ]

    Jason''s lips curled up into a smile.

    "I am quite fast," he replied before ncing at his ssmates. "You guys stay here while I visit their domain. Miss Izzy will find us if anything wrong happens so don''t worry about me."

    After saying that, Jason handed away the food pills to Amber. The others felt reluctant about Jason leaving but none of them tried to stop him.

    They had only met recently, excluding Amber, so there was no need for them to voice out their opinion regarding something Jason was about to experience.

    Seeing that no one wanted to argue, the silver-haired boy directly looked at the monkey king again.

    "Lead me to your domain and we will talk."

 Chapter 119 I Can Speak Monkeynese

    [ Keep up with us if you can. ] The monkey king exined andunched himself towards one of the trees.

    The other monkeys followed his example and started retreating to their home. Jason watched them go before taking a deep breath.

    He activated his lightning steps and directly jumped on top of one of the branches. The sudden change in weight almost made the branch snap yet Jason had already jumped on another branch.

    He continued to jump from branch to branch and in no time, Jason had caught up with the monkey king.

    [ You are quite good. ] The monkey king said with a surprised expression. He had been expecting Jason to slowly jog and follow them.

    He had been nning to leave behind some of his members to guide Jason but there was no need to do it.

    "So we can reach there in fifteen minutes now?" Jason casually questioned while traveling beside the king.

    [ If you can go even faster, we can reach the ce in less than ten minutes. ]

    "Sure."

    [ Then let''s go. ] The monkey king opened his mouth and released a low shrill shriek. For some reason, the shriek didn''t hurt Jason as much as he had expected.

    On the other hand, the monkeys started swinging faster. It was almost like they had been holding back from going to fast.

    The monkey king increased his speed too. Jason struggled to catch up for a few seconds but managed to stabilize his position after a minute.

    His eyes observed his surroundings carefully.

    The canopy had grown thicker which made Jason wonder what kind of habitat the monkeys lived in.

    He could only conjure up the image of what he had seen in ''The Forest Book'' movie. Perhaps the red-butt monkeys lived in a simr ce.

    [ Uh, probably noбн ]

    ''Let''s just wait and see how things progress.'' Jason replied.

    Five minutester, he was standing in front of a huge overgrown canopy with houses built around itбн

    Jason had to rub his eyes multiple times to make sure that he wasn''t seeing things. Since when did monkeys live in houses?

    [ The principal of your academy did teach us some things. This ce makes it easier for us to bring human children here who got injured or some monkeys brought to have some fun.

    Its also a good and peaceful way to live life here. Don''t worry, you are not the only one who was surprised by seeing this for the first time. ] The monkey king exined with an amused expression.

    Jason closed his mouth, which he hadn''t known was open ever since he saw the entire ce.

    "Does this ce work simrly to human things?"

    [ Of course not. We still have most of our monkey things here. Anyways, lets head to my pce. ]

    Still in a daze, Jason silently followed the monkey king. He walked through the monkey vige situated on the overgrown canopy and headed towards the biggest house present there.

    It was clearly seen in the distance. Most monkeys had already dispersed and had went to live in their houses.

    [ I thought that your imagination would be wrong but now I wish that it was true. This is a whole new thing. ] The system admitted.

    ''I mean there are intelligent creatures out there.'' Jason shrugged.<sub> </sub>

    He arrived at the monkey king''s residence soon and went inside to find the ce infested with female monkeys.

    The only reason he was able to tell their gender was due to the system. Otherwise, he had zero clue which monkey was a female or a maleбн

    "KUKUKUKU!" the monkey king said to one of the female monkeys, most probably a maid, in monkeynese.

    [ I don''t think that''s a word. ]

    Jason was about to reply before he realized something. He had understood that the monkey king had ordered the female monkey to bring some fruits to the guest room.

    "Um, can you speak something in monkeynese?" Jason asked with a confused expression.

    [ Once again, that''s not an actual word. ]

    ''If it isn''t an actual word, I just invented it. Go ask the copyright god to make a copyright of this. I don''t want others using this word for free.''

    [ I am not some portable god phone which you can use to contact gods whenever you want. ] The system sighed. It decided that instead of trying to argue with Jason, it should utilize the time to simply observe the surroundings.

    "KUKUKUKU!" The monkey king obliged.

    "So you can tell that I am calling you stupid?" Jason repeated with a frown. "Who you calling stupid, red-butt."

    [ So you can understand what I am saying, ] The monkey king replied with a pleased expression. [ I thought correctly. ]

    Suddenly, the monkey king lowered his legs and knelt on the floor of the house. All the female monkeys present their hurriedly followed his example.

    Their king didn''t kneel to just any person so the silver-haired human kid must be someone pretty important.

    ''Any of you wanna exin what is going on?'' Jason questioned both the system and Hestia.

    [ Uh, I think its because of me. ] Hestia admitted a secondter.

    The guardian was still in the middle of figuring things out so she wasn''t sure about what she should tell Jason.

    It was the first time she had be a guardian so she didn''t know all the details of the bond between her and Jason.

    Since both of them were new to this, they would have to figure things out along the way.

    [ Animolis is known as thend of animals or beasts. Most of its inhabitants are half beast or animal, which are referred to as demi-human in Clover. All living beings there can understand each other so maybe that ability was transfered to you as well? ]

    ''That does sound reasonable.''

    [ Also, animals like you a lot. That might have helped you out in a way and would have upped your chances of receiving this ability. I don''t have a lot of information on this so I can''t say anything without concise research. ]

    ''Well, I can speak Monkeynese for the time being.''

    Jason''s eyes focused on the monkey king who still kneeling on the ground. Since the talk between Hestia and Jason was done telepathically, it had onlysted for a few seconds.

    Suddenly, the monkey king stared directly into Jason''s eyes.

    "This lowly being greets the guardian of Animolis and her vessel."

 Chapter 120 What I Want Is A Favor From Your Guardian

    ''Now how did he know that?'' Jason questioned Hestia.

    [ I have no idea. Why don''t you try asking him? ] Hestia suggested.

    "How do you know that?" Jason did as told. He directly questioned the monkey king while upping his guard.

    "The aura of your guardian was what summoned me and the monkeys to your location. I wouldn''t have bothered to find you otherwise." The monkey king said in Monkeynese. "You didn''t realize how we monkeys could understand what you were saying?"

    Jason opened his mouth before closing it. He had been the only one who had talked with the monkey king. For some reason, he had assumed that the monkeys knew the humannguage.

    "I know a bit of yournguage but I am not proficient at it. But I noticed that not only me but the other monkeys were able to understand your words as well.

    Due to your abilities, you can talk to any beast and the same is true for them. No matter what method ofmunication you use, you canmunicate with any beast." The monkey king exined.

    It was only then that Jason realized how powerful this ability could be. Communication with beasts could help him in many spots and might even lead to him having his own beast army.

    "So we can talk normally now." Jason said uneasily.

    "Yes, and please follow me." The monkey king slowly stood up before he started walking away.

    Jason noticed the hints of respect persent in the monkey''s tone and followed him. He started discussing things with Hestia as well.

    ''Will I receive respect from every beast that I meet?''

    [ As I said, I am new to this. Its very possible for you to have a slight advantage over beasts since you would be able to use the aura around you to suppress them. ]

    ''What?''

    [ Its like thisбн ]

    Hestia hadn''t realized that Jason had her aura active around him. If not for the monkey king, she probably wouldn''t have figured it out for some time.

    The aura that had surrounded Jason had slowly turned into his own aura. This meant that the connection between the two of them had increased by a notch.

    Due to this, the silver-haired boy could wield her aura and create an effect on beasts at his level or below his level.

    ''Coming here was the right choice.'' Jason silently observed.

    He entered the living room in the house which, to his surprise, had a carpetid in the center of the room.

    "Please sit down." The monkey king pointed towards the carpet before settling down himself.

    Jason followed his example and sat on the floor. The maid monkey soon arrived with two earthen bowls full of berries.

    She ced one of them in front of the king and the other in front of him before moving out of the room.

    "These berries are quite special. I think they will help you." The monkey king informed before popping multiple berries in his mouth.

    Jason carefully observed the berries. They were the size of strawberries and werepletely ck.

    ''Inspect.''<sub> </sub>

    ---

    < Sour Dark Berries >

    - The essence of the forest made a group of trees absorb dark mana. In turn, the fruits growing on these trees received the dark mana as well.

    - Eating one berry will increase your dark mana affinity by 0.01%

    ---

    Jason''s jaw dropped slightly when he read thest line on the berry. They could increase his affinity!

    This potentially meant that if he ate hundred such berries, his affinity would increase by one percent.

    Jason counted the berries in the bowl, and much to his disappointment, only ten berries were the Sour Dark Berries.

    The silver-haired boy eyed the monkey king''s bowl. He found out that none of the berries in the king''s bowl were the sour dark berries.

    "Those berries grow once every two years," The king exined as he had sensed Jason''s gaze. "A single such tree can give twenty such berries and there are only five such trees present in the forest.

    Jason, who was eating a berry, almost choked. If there were only five such trees present in the forest, it meant that only hundred such berries grew every year.

    "It is quite hard to obtain these by I somehow managed to get my hand on ten such berries which you are eating right now," The monkey king added.

    Jason didn''t reply and instead chewed on the berry in his mouth. It lived up to its name due to its sour taste which ha hints of sweetness as well.

    < Progression of affinity upgrade: 0.01/100 >

    A system window suddenly opened up in front of Jason in response to him eating the berry. He closed the window before looking directly into the monkey king''s eyes.

    p "These berries must be expensive then." He said in a low tone.</anda>

    "Indeed. They sell for a high price and many peoplee to the forest every two years to get their hands on these berries. Since they can permanently increase one''s affinity with the dark element, the amount of peoplepeting for it are high."

    "Then why did you give it to me so casually?" Jason inquired atst.

    He didn''t make any advances towards the rest of the berries lest it got him in trouble. Such an expensive thing wouldn''t have been offered to him without a condition attached to it.

    "Think of it as a tribute to your guardian. Don''t worry, I won''t ask you to pay the exact price for the berries since that would leave you and your family bankrupt." The monkey king reassured him.

    Jason decided to take his words seriously since the Syrward family wasn''t exactly rich. Not to mention that his family was also in debts at some locations.

    If not for how strong his family was, Jason was sure that the various debt collectors would have arrived at their house and demanded them to pay the entire debt with a huge interest.

    "Then what do you want in return?" Jason questioned atst.

    "What I want is," The monkey king smiled humorlessly. "A favor from your guardian."

 Chapter 121 The Favor

    "What kind of favor?" Jason immediately questioned. He had read enough novels to know where this would go.

    "Rx, its something that can be done right now. Me and the rest of my subordinates will owe you a lot if your guardian agrees to help us." The monkey king reassured him. "Do you want to hear what it is?"

    ''What do you think about this, Hestia?'' Jason asked his guardian. Since he wasn''t the one doing the favor, he decided to leave the choice to Hestia.

    [ If we can get one of the rulers of the beginner''s area to befriend us, we will have a high advantage over the others until we can explore another area. ] Hestia replied. [ I will talk to him myself. ]

    After telling her thoughts to Jason, Hestia materialized beside him in her wolf form.

    ''Is it me or is your fur glowing a bit?'' Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise.

    Hestia'' gray wolf fur seemed to be glowing with a new shine. It was clear that the guardian was confused as well since she shook her head.

    "I greet you, the strongest guardian in the realm of Animolis!" The monkey king suddenly knelt on the ground. "Its an honor to meet you!"

    [ Likewise, ] Hestia replied through telepathy. Though her powers allowed her to converse with the monkey king, she still preferred telepathy over verbal talk.

    In this manner, no third party would be able to listen to their conversation.

    [ As your vessel might have told you, I need your help in something. ] Not wanting to offend the guardian, the monkey king shifted to telepathy as well.

    [ Don''t call him my vessel. Refer to him by his name, Jason. ] Hestia replied with a frown.

    The monkey king immediately panicked and bowed his head. He asked for forgiveness before continuing ahead.

    [ I am sorry for that. I want to tell you that we, the red-butt monkey race, originally belonged to Animolis. Some of our ancestors forcefully appeared here during thebining of Clover. ] The monkey king informed.

    [ I see. So you technically belong to my realm. ] Hestia replied with an emotionless face.

    Jason on the other hand was confused.

    ''What does he mean by ''Combining of Clover''?''

    [ I have no idea what he means by that. I just went with the flow. ] Hestia replied with a shrug.

    The guardian had no idea what event the monkey king had talked about. But since she didn''t want to ruin her image, she had agreed with his words.

    [ Our race has always worshiped the Guardians belonging to Animolis so I request you to assist me in something rted to my heir. ] The monkey king finally stated what he wanted and bowed.

    [ Jason, what do you think we should do? ] Hestia asked in a conflicted tone.

    Even though she was a guardian from Animolis, she didn''t know much about her abilities, powers and restrictions as a guardian.

    She had only nced over the basics before rushing off to Clover to learn what happened in the past.

    Hestia had heard about thebining event before but hadn''t been able to learn more about it.

    ''I think you should agree to his request. If you can''t fix it, just say that your powers are still at a very low level due to how recently youbined with me.'' Jason suggested.

    [ But that''s the truthбн More than ny percent of powers are restricted due to how weak you currently are. The only things I can provide are my mana, my aura, and that special lightning. ] Hestia pointed out.<sub> </sub>

    ''You are giving me a lot more things. So trust me on this and agree to his request.''

    [ All right. ] Hestia nodded before looking back at the monkey king. [ Tell me what is wrong with your heir? ]

    [ Thank you, great guardian. I think its better that youe and see my heir yourself since it would be much better than my exnation. ] The monkey king replied.

    While keeping his head low, he stood up and walked out of the door. Hestia and Jason followed him silently as he guided them towards another room, one that had a door.

    [ Inside this door is my heir. She is the same age as yourбн errбн Jason but she is very weak and barely looks like a five year old monkey. I hope you can see what is wrong with her and help her. ]

    Hestia simply and gestured for the monkey king to open the door. He happily obliged and opened the door for them to look inside.

    Jason was surprised to see that the interior of the room was the most human-like thing he had seen in the entire monkey civilization.

    There was a small cot like thing lying in one corner of the room. Jason could see that a baby was ced in the cot.

    Jason and Hestia slowly approached the cot and looked at the baby.

    The baby was barely the size of Jason''s arm and looked extremely malnutritioned. Her hair were a light shade of blond but unlike the other monkeys, she didn''t have fur covering her body.

    [ Can you tell us a bit about your wife? ] Hestia asked with a frown.

    [ Ahh, she isn''t my child. She was dropped here in the forest by a demi-human female. The mother of this child was badly injured at the time but this incident happened ten years ago. The child is still alive but something is wrong with her. ]

    After hearing the exnation, Hestia''s frown deepened. She looked at Jason and asked him to ce her beside the baby.

    Jason obliged and lifted the wolf. He ced Hestia near the baby''s head and stood back.

    The monkey king and Jason looked at Hestia with an anxious expression as she touched her paw to the child''s forehead.

    The guardian closed her eyes and sent her mana inside the child''s body. Minutes passed by in this manner.

    Hestia''s eyes suddenly flew open as she hopped off the cot. She came to stand beside Jason before taking a deep breath.

    [ What I am going to tell you should never reach the ears of any other soul. Do I make myself clear? ] Hestia questioned the monkey king.

    [ I swear upon the realm of Animolis and the Goddess Styx that whatever happens inside this room will never be known by any other person. ] The monkey king undertook one of the strongest oaths known to living beings.

    [ That''s enough. ] Hestia agreed before staring at the cot, her eyes glowing blood red.

    [ That child is a demi-god. ]

    ***

    AN: I am starting to forget the hair and eye color of my characters. If you find any mistake, do point it out to me. Also, I am quite excited to write the next few chapters since I know how thing will be proceeding.

    Hope you guys enjoy the chapters too!

 Chapter 122 Child Of A God

    [ A demi-god?! ] The monkey king''s jaw dropped down. He couldn''t believe his ears.

    If the words had been told to him by some other person, he would have used them of lying. But since the said person was a guardian, the monkey king didn''t say her words to be false.

    [ I triple-checked to make sure that I wasn''t wrong. This child is a demi-god. ]

    [ Then what should I do? ] The monkey asked in a slightly terrified tone. Even he knew what a demi-god was and what dangers he or she could bring.

    [ I suggest you keep her with you until she turns fifteen. If her mother was a demi-human, she would''ve awakened her demi-human power by now.

    But the reason for that and her stopped growth is something that you can''t understand. Keep her healthy till the time she turns fifteen and we wille get he. Don''t disclose this information or elseбн ] Hestia''s voice trailed off.

    The monkey king gulped nervously. He knew what the guardian had indicated and definitely didn''t want to experience it.

    [ I will obey yourmand. Until youe to get her, I won''t let anything happen to her. ]

    [ Since her powers are sealed, there is no danger to you or yourmunity. Though why did you call her your heir if she isn''t rted to you? ] Hestia asked curiously.

    [ its just that I am infertileбн ] The monkey king lowered his head. It was hard for him to open up about his condition to others.

    [ is that so? I am pretty sure that I can heal that as long as you are not cursed or have a seal ced upon your private organs. ] Hestia offered.

    The guardian figured out that if she provided the monkey king some help, he will surely do the task faithfully.

    [ You can do that? ] The monkey king''s expression brightened.

    [ Yes, I can. Now keep your mother shut and let me do my work. ] Hestia replied and closed her eyes.

    She released mana from her body and let it circle around the monkey king. She made her mana enter the monkey''s body through his nose.

    Hestia circted her mana throughout his body before locating the source of the problem.

    Something was wrong with the monkey''s mana core which didn''t allow the heart to provide sufficient blood to his private regions.

    ''If I had to venture down there, I would have quit.'' Hestia silently thought while using her mana to fix his mana core.

    Even as am ex-goddess and guardian, she had her limits. Hestia was sure that she would never check theher regions of monkeys or a lot of beasts for that matter.

    The monkey king didn''t know what was happening but he could feel a weird presence inside his body.

    He realized that the presence was none other than Hestia''s who was helping him with the help of her mana.

    The monkey king closed his eyes and silently prayed to Hestia, who he regarded as the goddess of the entire monkey race.

    A few minutes passed by in silence before Hestia sighed. The mana present inside the monkey''s body vanished the next second.

    [ I have healed you. Remember your promise. ] Hestia informed before vanishing.

    The monkey king''s eyes grew big before he fell to his knees. He thanked himself for going to get Jason early on.

    [ I will never be able to repay you. I swear that I will protect this child with my life. ] The monkey king said to Jason.

    "Good. Now can you make sure that no beast tries to attack or harass me and my ssmates staying in the beginner''s forest area. I would be happy if you do that." Jason stated.<sub> </sub>

    [ I will make sure that every beast in the region knows that. There are only two beasts stronger than me in this region but once they know that the guardian of Animolis is your guardian, they will not attack you as well. ]

    p "Good," Jason nodded and walked towards the door.</anda>

    [ Thank you for all the things you did.] The monkey king said onest time before Jason moved out of the room.

    The silver-haired boy first arrived at the previous room and stored the berries in his dagger.

    After that, he went out of the house and started making his way back to the group. He had to use the system''s help in order to do that.

    ''Hestia, tell me more about demi-gods. If I remember correctly, those at ck(Myriad) rank are also referred to as Demi-gods?'' Jason inquired.

    [ Those are also called demi-gods which basically means half god and half something else, simr to how demi-human means half human and half beast.

    Demi-gods are halfway up the step to be a god however, the word is also used to refer to a being who is born from the sexual activities of a god and a mortal. ] Hestia paused.

    ''That girl is half god?!'' Jason''s jaw dropped and he had to slow down to steady himself. "Doesn''t that make her overpowered since she is already a demi-god?!''

    [ Not necessarily. Since they are still half mortal, they have to level up simrly to other living beings. However, their progress is a hundred times faster and they are almost guaranteed to reach the demi-god stage.

    Also, they contained the divinity of their godly parent. This makes them have the same level of power you have. ] Hestia exined further.

    [ Don''t forget that two of your divinities are still not active since you already had a major divinity. ] The system reminded.

    [ Anyways, demi-gods have to face one serious problem. Once they turn five, they have to visit any temple and pray to the gods. Otherwise, thews of the world will revert them to their infant form. ]

    ''Is it because they directly contain the blood of the gods?'' Jason guessed.

    [ Exactly. To be epted by the world, they have to pray to their godly parent twice. This can be done only when they turn five, fifteen and twenty five.

    If they don''t pray at two of these asions, the world will absorb their soul. The mortal parent is responsible for getting the child to pray at five years butбн ]

    ''Her mother was in a bad condition.'' Jason finished.

    [ We gotta help that child. ] Hestia said atst. [ If I can''t save a demi-god, I am not qualified to be a goddess again. ]

    It was then that Jason realized something. Since Hestia had been a goddess, the demi-gods would be like cousins to her.

    [ Gods don''t have DNA but to reach that point in life, they have lost a lot of people and hardly form attractions. However, demi-gods are our spawns and we love them as the few people who are alive.

    If I ever be a goddess and that child turned out to be the spawn of a god or goddess that I was close with, I won''t be able to forgive myself. ] Hestia exined.

    ''I seeбн'' Jason didn''t know how to respond to that.

    [ We will just make her know about the world, train her to control her powers and then let her go wherever she wants. But until she knows the dangers about the world, we will keep her with us. Is that fine with you? ]

    ''You have saved my life Hestia and we have been together since quite a long time. Of course I will help you.'' Jason replied.

    He increased his speed after that since the sun had started to sink. Hestia felt her heart expand in her chest due to Jason''s willingness to help her.

    [ Thank you, Jasonбн ]

 Chapter 123 You Upheld Your Promise

    "You guys are quickбн" Jason said with a surprised expression.

    He was back with his friends again and looking at the ce, he couldn''t believe how quickly they had transformed everything.

    Amber had created four beds of Earth and with help from M, the two girls had created a bit soft beds.

    Zeke had also used his ice to create a boundary of sorts. Only Wade looked like the person who hadn''t done anything.

    "I thought you were going to stay with the monkeys." Ambermented while ncing at Jason''s appearance. Seeing that nothing was wrong, she focused her attention back on the beds.

    "I thought that too. Fortunately, stuff got over quickly and now, we won''t have to worry about any beasts attacking us," Jason replied.

    He exined how he had helped the monkey key with one of his problems and earned his protection in return.

    Jason omitted the rest of the details since he didn''t want anyone else to know about the things that had happened inside the monkey king''s house.

    "So your guardian allows you to talk to animals," Amber said with a surprised expression. "I wonder what mine can give meбн"

    "Heat resistance?" Jason guessed only to realize that Amber already had heat resistance covered due to her magma element.

    "Nah, my A grade fire affinity allows me to survive the heat," Amber casually replied "I have to ask mey to confirm things."

    "Who''s mey?" M asked curiously.

    "Its the nickname I gave to my guardian. His full name is a mouthful." Amber sighed.

    ''So mey didn''t tell her his real name.'' Jason silently guessed. If the guardian of Magmnd also had a real true name, he clearly hadn''t told it to Amber.

    But even if he had told her his real name, the red-head wouldn''t tell it to a bunch of people she had met recently.

    "Then does your guardian have a nickname as well?" M''s eyes settled on Jason.

    ''Uh, should I call you Feta only?'' Jason asked Hestia. Since that was the name he had been using for a long time, he didn''t see the harm in calling Hestia Feta.

    [ I see no problem in doing that. ] Hestia calmly replied.

    "Yeah, her name is Feta." Jason responded in the real world.

    M nodded in acknowledgment. Jason could tell that the blond-haired girl wanted to ask more questions but held back.

    After all, they had known each other only for a short time and asking Jason so many questions didn''t feel right to M.

    ''Maybe if we be good friends, we will share some things,'' M thought silently.

    She had never really befriended anyone in her home. Anyone who had seen her had either made fun of her or had steered out of the way.

    If possible, M didn''t want a repeat telecast of thatбн

    "Wade, can I ask you a question?" Jason suddenly asked and looked at the brown-haired boy.

    "Sure, go ahead and ask whatever you want to ask."

    "Tell me what affinities you have." Jason stated.

    "I have a B grade fire affinity and an A grade life affinity," Wade replied calmly. "Anything else you wanna ask?"

    "No, just that. I was curious about your powers." Jason shook his head.

    However, he was confused internally. He and the system had assumed that Wade had a S grade affinity with the dark element yet they turned out to be wrong.

    His affinities instead lied with the life element. Even if he had the knowledge about true light and dark magic, he wouldn''t have been able to use dark magic with the life element.

    ''We gotta investigate further to figure out how he released that aura.''

    [ Agreed. ] The system was curious about Wade''s powers as well.

    It wanted to know how the brown-haired boy had created that aura which had defeated the students during the arena battles.

    ''His affinities are too low to be in the special ss anyways. There must be something special about him thatnded him in the Z ss.'' Jason pointed out.

    Though Wade certainly had above average talent, it would''ve onlynded him in the A ss. To enter the Z ss, he must have showcased something unique and powerful.

    [ Well, you guys are going to spend quite some time together. Maybe you can figure things out that way. ]

    ''Maybe, maybe not.''

    The group of five decided to light a campfire. Since they had nothing else to do, it served as a good distraction for them and also kept them warm.<sub> </sub>

    Wade had found some firewood and Amber had simply ignited it by pointing her index finger at the wood and shooting a spark of me.

    "Its quite handy to have a fire mage during such survival things." Zekemented even though he was sitting the farthest away.

    Fire and ice didn''t go well and for Zeke, the mes were his biggest weakness.

    "I mean any of us can do that if we tried a bit," Jason pointed out. "All of us can use the basic elements for tier zero spells."

    "Well, I can''t use fire element due to my ice affinity." Zeke stated.

    "And I can''t use water element." Amber murmured so that only Jason could hear her. After all, he was the one sitting closest to her.

    "Hmm, have you guys ever thought about the limitations of magic? Like what is the point after which we won''t be able to create or experiment with magic?" Wade suddenly asked.

    "Honestly, I have no idea," Jason sighed. "The only limit for me is imagination, physical restraint and mental restraint."

    Since Jason had thought of the same thing himself, he already had the answer imprinted inside his mind.

    The others fell deep in thought but none of them were able toe up with a precise answer. They all agreed that Jason''s answer was the most suitable answer.

    "Maybe we should eat food pills now." Zeke suggested.

    All eyes turned towards Amber who took out five pills had passed them around. She also took shifted the remaining food pills to Jason.

    Once that was done, the children swallowed the pill.

    ''Huh?'' Jason suddenly felt the taste of his grandma''s homecooked food entering his mouth.

    He chewed on the pill and the taste exploded inside his mouth. Looking at the others, Jason realized that they were experiencing the same confusion.

    "I never knew food pills tasted like the thing you love eating the most," Wade muttered with a surprised expression.

    The others shared the same expression as they swallowed the food. Suddenly, they felt as though their stomachs were full and a wave of drowsiness hit their body.

    The food pill had an unknown side effect which made its eater''s body rx. Due to this, all the stuff that the children had done took over their body.

    "I think I am going to sleepбн" Zeke was the first to yawn.

    He summoned a bed made from ice and soon retired for the day. M soon followed him and settled on one of the bed. Wade followed her a few secondster before leaving behind only Amber and Jason.

    The two felt tired as well but due to their guardians, they could endure more things than the others.

    "Jason, what do you want to do once you grow up?" Amber randomly asked. "Will you be an adventurer and roam the world?"

    "I don''t know. Adventurer seems fun until you realize how messed up their lives can be." Jason replied with a sigh.

    "That''s true as well. My grandpa died protecting a city from a high level dungeon outbreakбн" Amber muttered.

    A silence settled over the two of them. The only sound present was the flickering of mes and the low sound of the wind blowing.

    "Jason, you upheld our promise." Amber suddenly said, her lips curling up into a smile.

    Jason blinked in surprised before remembering the promise they had made while leaving the capital. The silver-haired boy smiled back before rubbing his eyes.

    "Maybe we should sleep now," he suggested.

    "Good idea. Though I don''t get to see this starry sky from home so its fun to sleep here," Amber said while looking up at the sky.

    The stars indeed looked beautiful from their area in the forest. However, Jason could get an even clearer view from Duphia.

    "But I guess its better to sleep now." Amber replied before dimming the mes such that they provided the same warmth yet decreased the amount of light.

    She went to sleep on the bed and moments after lying down, she was fast asleep.

    Jason followed her example and sat on his head. He slowly lowered his body on the earthen bed, his eyes wide awake.

    ''System, can you make sure that no beast or anything elsees close to us?''

    [ Sure, its my job. ]

    ''I see.'' Jason replied and closed his eyes to rest.

    Unknown to him, the purple pen present inside his dream world was faintly glowing. For the first time, its holder had upheld a promiseбн

 Chapter 124 Setting Out To Hunt

    Jason and the group didn''t face any problems for the rest of their stay. The monkey king had fulfilled his end of the deal and made sure that they remained safe.

    Though on the third day, the children had started getting bored. They started experimenting with their magic to keep themselves upied and not feel bored.

    Jason tried increasing his aim by shooting lightning bolts at one of the branches but his attention was diverted.

    ''I never paid much attention to what I could do with dark elementбн'' Jason thought silently.

    He only had two skills in his dark mage job ss. After seeing how the golems had made use of the dark element, Jason had realized that there were still many things he hadn''t tested.

    His dark element could do many fantastic things which he had overlooked. Jason had diverted all his attention towards the passive healing and his thunder element.

    ''Dark element deals in curses which are definitely going to be useful for me.'' Jason silently thought.

    He wanted to enter his dream world and practice with dark magic. But due to how time passed inside the dream world, Jason knew that he would stay there for much longer than he intended.

    [ Even I find it difficult to keep track of time while being inside the dream world. ] The system admitted.

    Jason could only sigh and wait until he was alone. He didn''t want others to figure out how he was using his dark magic.

    ''Speaking of dark magic, I wonder if miss Izzy would help me with this. She is a dark mage as well and judging from those two golems she casually created, she must be pretty strong.''

    [ She also said that she is the vessel to the guardian of Dardono. ]

    ''Hestia, what type of guardian is that?''

    [ I don''t know the guardian but I know the realm. Dardono is known as the realm of darkness. It is the home to the dark elves if I remember correctly. That guardian must be an expert in dark magic. ] Hestia informed.

    ''Then its settled. I will ask Izzy to teach me more about dark magic and since she isn''t restricted like my family, I might be able to make her my master.'' Jason thought atst.

    Three more days passed by in this manner. However, on the morning of thest day, the group encountered a hurdle.

    "Guys, we ran out of food pills," Jason informed.

    All of them had woken up hungry and had been waiting for Jason to provide them with food pills.

    An uneasy silence hung over the ce. Since they had counted the number of pills, it was impossible enough for them to run out of food pills.

    "Uhбн that''s strange considering that the water pills have run out as well," Amber broke the silence only for it toe again.

    All of them stared at each other while silently trying to figure out what had happened.

    ***

    Izzy, who was watching them from her spot in the forest, smiled. Thest ss she had be the teacher of hadn''t been able toplete this part of the trial.

    They had started ming each other for stealing the pills and had ultimately inflicted minor wounds on each other.

    Izzy had of course failed them and given this report to the principal. Such students might be powerful and intelligent but if they couldn''t do well with others, they might as well be useless.

    The Vancouver academy knew that if children grew up without trusting anyone, they might be arrogant or remove themselves from the society.

    They might also be an enemy of the kingdom so Albus had instructed the teachers in the academy to pay special attention towards trust building and teamwork.

    ''How are you going to resolve this?'' Izzy thought silently. After all, she had been the one who had made the remaining pills vanished.

    ***

    Back in the forest, Jason suddenly thought up of a weird theory.

    ''System, what if this was a n formed by Izzy?'' Jason questioned.

    [ I feel the same. Perhaps she wants to see whether we me each other or try to find some solution for this problem. ]

    ''It might have worked.''

    "Guys, do you think miss Izzy is using some sort of trick on us?" What if this is a trial of sorts which we have to pass?" Jason questioned.

    The others slowly nodded. Since all of them had experienced many strange things in their lives, they were used to being tested at all times.

    "Now the problem is that we have to find food. Hunting or fruits?" Zeke asked.

    "We have to get some sort of meat to eat. Our bodies have been running on the bare minimum nutrition if I am not wrong," Wade added. "Fruits should be helpful too."

    "I can get the fruits easily. Wait here for a few minutes." Jason suddenly jumped towards a branch.

    Using his lightning steps to its limit, he dashed through the branches and made his way to the red-butt monkeys settlement.

    Once he had arrived at the ce, Jason directly went to the king''s house. A maid was standing at the door to help other monkeys get their work done quickly.

    But when she saw Jason, she immediately knelt. The maid monkey knew who Jason was and immediately asked what he needed.

    "Can you provide me with some fruits for me and my friends?"

    "Sure, my lord." The maid dashed inside the house.

    She personally went to the monkey king''s food vault with her fellow maids and put fruits into two sacks.<sub> </sub>

    The maid came back and handed the sacks to Jason, who put them in his dagger.

    "Can you tell me about some beast that is edible and doesn''t taste too bad?" Jason questioned the monkey maid.

    "You can try hunting the Mad-Peck Chickens. They roam around the beginner''s area in groups and are usually hunted by other groups. Sometimes, we also hunt them." The maid answered.

    "I seeбн Thank you for your help." Jason thanked the maid and turned around.

    He left the settlement and started making his way back to the camp. It took Jason a few minutes to arrive at the camp but once he did, he took out the two sacks containing the fruits.

    Jason ced them on the ground and looked at his group with a smile

    "That was quick." Amber whistled. If they had tried to manually hunt for fruits, it would''ve taken a long time to gather this many of them.

    Furthermore, their bodies were hungry and required food. Amber was sure that they could have onlysted a few more hours without food.

    "Let''s eat these for now and go hunt for some meat," Jason suggested while taking fruits out of the sack.

    He distributed them to his ssmates and all of them happily ate their breakfast.

    "What do you think we should hunt for?" M asked curiously while eating a banana.

    "I asked the monkeys for some help. ording to them, we should hunt some chickens that roam around in huge groups. Hunting a few of them wouldn''t be that difficult." Jason answered while eating a peach.

    He didn''t know how but some fruits from Earth also existed on Duphia.

    ''I am itching to test something new and multiple targets are the best test dummies for this.'' Jason thought with excitement.

    He wanted to experiment a bit with his dark element and if he got food for doing so, why not?

    "So we go around looking for the chickens and hope to bump into a group?" Wade asked curiously.

    "That''s the only way to find them in this huge forest. Maybe we will find them soon enough." Jason suggested.

    [ I think I might be able to help you there. Being a guardian of Animolis, I could sense all the beasts that lived there. Maybe I would be able to do the same here as well. ]

    ''Maybe you should have told me that before. I already told them that we will have to roam around while trying to search randomly.''

    [ Divide them into two groups and let one of them stay behind. If anyone gets in trouble, they can run back to the camp and use the help of the person to fight. ]

    Jason agreed with the system. Doing this would be the most optimal course of action for them.

    Jason ced his n before the group and everyone agreed. Wade was the one staying behind. M and Zeke formed one group while Amber and Jason formed the other.

    The silver-haired boy was about to ask Amber to join the other group so that both teams would''ve one guardian. But Amber''s words shut him up.

    "There''s is something I need to discuss with you in private." She whispered in his ear.

    "Let''s head out." Jason said to the others before setting out.

    Hestia silently extended her aura around Jason and tried to sense the ce where the chickens were.

    In the meantime, Amber stated the matter she wanted to talk about.

    "mey said that one of the special ability he provides me is the power to control body temperature of beings by manipting the heat produced by them." Amber said in a low voice.

    Jason eyes widened in shock when he heard the ability Amber had received. ''What the hell?! Howe she has an overpowered killing ability while I am stuck speaking Monkeynese?!''

    [ Well, that''s one of the abilities she has. Hestia might have some killer abilities like this too. ] Since Hestia was busy searching for chickens, the system replied in her stead.

    "What can I do about that?" Jason questioned while trying to prevent envy from leaking into his voice.

    "I wanted to see if your beast powers could help me analyze this ability. I can''t sense the body heat a person has so I have no idea how to use this effectively." Amber stated. "I need your help in learning how to use this ability."

    "Iбн" Jason was about to reply when he suddenly felt something popping a few hundred meters in the west.

    A connection of sorts formed between him and the ce. Jason could sense multiple creatures moving directly towards him and he could tell that they weren''t monkeys.

    [ I located the chickens! ] Hestia eximed at the same time.

    ''I know. I can sense themбн'' Jason replied.

    [ Huh? You can sense them even though I was the one extending my aura? ] Hestia asked in a confused tone.

    ''Your aura is my aura. I never knew that this bond could be exploited in this way. What''s the size of your aura on Clover?

    [ I am not sure but its definitely bigger than seven hundred meters. ]

    ''Good.''

    "Amber, we will talk about thister on," Jason slowly replied. "We have some chickens to catch right now."

    ***

    AN: This is turning out to be quite the slow burn... Oh well, I have some exciting things nned once we get through these initial training phases. I hope I get through these xD

 Chapter 125 Ariadnes Thread

    Jason debated whether to check the information on the chickens. They didn''t look any different from the chickens on Earth.

    Perhaps the only difference between the two was the presence of mana inside the chickens. Jason eyed the chickens for some time before raising his hands forward.

    There were at least fifty of them walking together through the forest, probably in search of food or shelter.

    ''Hopefully, this works.'' Jason silently prayed.

    Dark mana gathered in the palm of his hand beforeunching outwards in the next second. The mana took the shape of a thin string which fell in the middle of the group of chicken.

    Jason pulled on the string of dark mana. The edges sharpened out and directly passed through the body of multiple chickens, giving them a swift death.

    The silver-haired boy simply moved his index and middle fingers, willing for the string of dark mana to cut through the chickens.

    He felt a stinging sensation from time to time. The string cut his fingers too which was quite painful but due to his passive healing, Jason could simply focus on using the string''s full potential without worrying about permanent damage.

    Amber watched him with an awestruck expression. With simple movements, Jason was executing something deadly.

    ''Waitбн maybe I can replicate this too!'' Amber suddenly realized as she looked at the remaining chickens.

    Barely half a dozen chicken remained and even they were terrified. They had almost given up but they were enough for Amber to test the same thing Jason was using.

    "Jason, leave those six chickens to me." Amber announced.

    She raised her hand forward and willed for her fire mana to appear in the form of a string. Though her control hadn''t been sharpened like Jason''s, Amber could still create a thread from her fire mana.

    She willed the magical string forward and though she couldn''t control it effortlessly, Amber found it quite effective.

    Her fire string was that hard or strong like Jason''s but it packed twice the amount of damage. She killed the remaining chickens in under two minutes.

    "I don''t think those things are edible anymoreбн" Jason muttered while trying hard not to gag.

    The chickens had been burnt badly by the fire and looked something straight out of a gore horror film.

    [ Try wrapping your fingers around your thumb and forming a tight fist. You won''t gag or throw up. ] the system suggested.

    Jason was skeptical at first but tried it regardless. His eyes immediatelynded on a mutted chicken corpse which was the worst out of the bunch

    Even Amber had to wrap sp her hand around her mouth to prevent herself from throwing up.

    Jason found that the system''s suggestion helped him and he didn''t even gag. He suggested the same thing to Amber and much to her surprise, it worked.

    "How did you know that?" She inquired.

    ''Exactly what I would''ve like to know.'' Jason questioned silently.

    [ It was in one of those body hack shorts you once watched on MeTube. ] The system casually replied.

    "My grandma is a life mage and she told me some fun body hacks. They don''t always work and many people might not be affected by them." Jason replied out loud.

    He had never expected that something he had seen that long ago would help him in his second life.

    "That''s quite good." Amber sighed, her eyes staring at the ground.

    Jason remembered that just like his aunt Zara, Amber''s grandmother was in aatose state as well.

    "Ahem, maybe you should just burn the chickens you used the string on." Jason suggested.

    "Definitely," Amber shuddered while looking at the chickens. The red-haired girl threw fireballs at the chickens, thus turning them to ash.

    "Let''s put them in our daggers and take them back." Amber said and walked towards some of the chickens.

    She started putting the chickens inside her dagger. Jason did the same and in no time, both of them had twenty chickens ced in both of their daggers.

    Forty chicken were probably more than what they needed. Jason, however, knew that they would have to separate the eatable part of the chickens first.

    Upon questioning Amber, the silver-haired boy realized that neither of them had any idea on how to do that.

    They hoped that one of the other three knew how to do it or they might just have to experience a bloody scene right before eating.

    [ What do you want to name this skill though? ] The system questioned.

    ''Hmmбн Let''s go with Ariadne''s thread.'' Jason decided on aplex name.

    ---

    < Ariadne''s Thread (Tier 3) >

    - Creates a thread of dark mana embedded with the curse of sharpness. Almost anything can be cut by this but the user will experience the same cut on their dominant hand.

    ---

    Jason blinked in confusion. He rubbed his eyes once to make sure that he read everything correctly.

    The skill was at tier 3, making it the first tier 3 skill he had created. Not only that but it could potentially cut anything at the price of inflicting the same wound on the user.

    ''I am pretty sure I didn''t design this skill in that wayбн'' Jason frowned mentally.

    [ And I am pretty sure that it wasn''t supposed to be that way. Its impossible for you to create something like this. ]<sub> </sub>

    ''I will act as if you didn''t say the second statement. After all, anything is possible if I put my mind into it.'' Jason argued.

    [ Did you put your mind, body and soul into creating that skill right now? ]

    ''Noбн''

    [ Then its better to just ept the skill. ]

    ***

    Erebus, who was watching this while picking up lost godly items, frowned. The skill sounded eerily familiar to him.

    ? The detailed description made it hard for him to believe that Jason had created the skill. He was with his system this time.

    ''I need to ask Ariadne about thisбн'' Erebus silently thought before picking up a snowshoe.

    It was dropped by the god of snowshoes. Yes, a god like that did exist alongside numerous others who will make you feel that you can be a god.

    Erebus ced the snowshoe in the lost and found box, something which was full of different godly items he had collected over the centuries.

    The god of shadows made his way to the real Bar of Gods and tried searching for Ariadne.

    Being a bartender gave him the ability to locate almost every single god present inside the huge bar, except for a chosen few.

    Erebus left a version of himself to man the counter and made his way to the other side of the bar.

    Gods could do this and be present in many ces at many times. However, they didn''t do this because upon dispelling their conjured version, all of its living time would be transfered to them ten fold.

    Though many considered gods to be immortal, it wasn''t the case. Once a myth died from every single world, that god would be as good as dead.

    All the time spent on worshiping them would bebined together and their current life would be subtracted from it.

    If your current life was bigger than your worshiped one, you would cease to exist. This was what happened with many gods.

    But if that didn''t happen, you were truly immortal. Such gods faced minor inconveniences from time to time but they were still immortal.

    ''I am extremely close to bing a part of this category.'' Erebus sighed, his eyes darting around the temple of gods.

    In all of the worlds that existed in their universe, Erebus only had two temples in his name. Both of those temples were currently the only sources of worship that were still present and secured his immortality.

    ''Maybe I don''t need to worry that much. The jade emperor is responsible for doing this so I should be fine as long as I bring him his favorite alcohols.'' Erebus grinned silently.

    He finally managed to locate Ariadne who was present in the greek section of the temple.

    The temple had been divided on the basis of different mythologies. The major ones were situated closer to Castus''s pce(Jade emperor''s name) while the others stretched out to the edges of the ce referred to humans as heaven.

    "Ariadne, did you give out your divinity to anyone recently?" Erebus questioned while appearing near a waterfall.

    A beautiful scenery was spread around the entire waterfall. A beautiful woman in her mid twenties was sitting at the edge of thend, her eyes staring at the waterfall.

    "No, Erebus, I haven''t handed out my divinity to anyone for the past decade. Thest one I handed out was about twelve years ago." The beautiful woman replied calmly, her right hand tucking her glossy ck hair behind her ear.

    The woman was none other than Ariadne who had given a guiding thread to Theseus so that he could escape the Minotaur caught in the Labyrinth.

    She was, however, abandoned by the so called hero on the ind of Naxos. Many thought that she had be the wife of Dionysus, the god of wine.

    But in reality, Ariadne had be the sworn sister of Dionysus. Erebus knew that gods were too messed up so he didn''t bother with the myths too much.

    The god of shadows was only up to date with Greek myths because he was considered a part of it too.

    "Are you sure that you haven''t given any mortal your divinity or a small amount of your divine energy recently, especially to mortals belonging to Clover?" Erebus questioned, his eyes glowing faintly.

    As one of the ex-strongest gods to exist, Erebus still had the ability to tell when anyone was lying.

    Due to the restrictions ced on his powers, this didn''t work every time and many gods could evade it.

    "No, I didn''t do it." Ariadne replied with a sigh.

    The goddess turned around and stared directly into Erebus''s eyes. Her face was enough to make the hearts of most mortals tremble, both men and women.

    And no, she wasn''t a Chinese jade beauty. Gods and Goddesses were extremely handsome and beautiful in their realm forms.

    Since they could look like anything they wanted, it was hard for mortals to exactly define them even the entirety of vocabry sprawled out in front of them.

    "Then I will take my leave," Erebus sighed. His ability confirmed that Ariadne was telling the truth but his senses didn''t believe her.

    The god of shadows left the beautiful scenery and went back to his counter. Ariadne finally stood up from her ce and stared up at the sky.

    ''Mydy, I hope you aren''t doing anything risky. I did give the boy that skill using a tiny amount of divine energy so that no one could trace it but I know some gods who can do it. Hopefully, you can handle that part.'' Ariadne thought and sighed again.

    Gods sighed a lot, a habit they had developed after countless years of being alive.

    Ariadne looked at the sky onest time before leaving the ce. There was nothing left for her to do now.

    Only ''herdy'' could do anything now since she was the one who had ordered Ariadne to provide a bit of her divine energy to a mortal from the world of Cloverбн

 Chapter 126 Congratulations On Surviving

    It turned out that Wade indeed knew how to skin a chicken. He didn''t tell them how he had obtained this skill but it turned out to be helpful for all them.

    "Its best for all of us if I do this in seclusion." Wade had said before moving away from the group.

    Jason had once seen the worse done in a butcher house. The experience was enough to almost turn him into a vegan.

    ''In the mean time, I think its a good idea to test this new string skill.'' Jason silently thought. He went near a thick tree and aimed his hand at the branch.

    [ Host, I think you should start smallбн ] the system worried.

    ''I know that I can potentially cut myself but this can help me improve both my healing ability and pain tolerance.'' Jason replied.

    He created another string and threw it at the tree. Jason only used his index and middle finger to control the strings but they worked perfectly.

    [ Ahem, maybe you should see your hand. ] The system pointed out.

    Jason''s eyes instantly turned to his fingers. He had felt a slightly painful sensation spreading across his fingers.

    Though the sensation hadn''t been painful, the real damage was much worse. His fingers had been cut deeply by the thread whereas the thread had barely dug into the trunk.

    At most, the thread had gone 2 cm deeper.

    ''This is going to be hard.'' Jason thought while dispelling the thread. He flexed his fingers a bit and let his passive healing do his job.

    Simultaneously, Wade returned with the edible portions of the chickens. None of them knew how to cook food but the brown-haired boy looked like he had survived many years out in the wild.

    "Light up a small campfire. I will do the rest of the things." Wade instructed.

    Though he had the fire element as well, Wade wanted to set up a few things to make sure that the cooking would go smoothly.

    Amber took it upon herself to create a stable campfire. She gathered the firewood they had collected and set them up in a way that will allow them to cook the meat.

    Wade came back with what looked like a handmade thing to grab and turn the meet. It was basically an extra long stick carved perfectly to hold the chicken.

    "You guys can sit back and rx if you want," Wade offered. "Its going to take about fifteen minutes for these to be cooked perfectly."

    After hearing his words, Jason and the others decided to do some time pass. All of them tried shooting with their elements, the target being a branch high in the sky.

    Jason had huge amounts of practice in this and was easily able to aim at the branch using his lightning element. Amber was able to guide a tiny amount of her fir towards the branch as well.

    [ Imagine she looses control and the entire ce goes up in fire. ]

    ''That''s not a good thing to imagine though I am sure that Izzy would get us out.'' Jason shrugged.

    A wonderful smell soon entered his nostrils. Wade had cooked the chickens perfectly and gestured for them toe and eat the chickens.

    "How did you learn all these things?" M asked curiously, her teeth biting the chicken.

    "I am an orphan and used to go from one orphanage to another. I picked some skills on the way." Wade replied.

    The others fell silent. Jason knew that Amber, Zeke and M had parents. He and Wade were the only ones who had grown up without any parents.

    "I am an orphan too," Jason sighed. "I know how it feels to be alone."

    The silver-haired boy couldn''t help but remember moments from his past life. He hadn''t specifically said that he was talking about his current life.

    Jason had been an orphan on Earth as well. He had still remained an orphan in Clover but he had a family in his second life.

    "I just busied myself by learning things that will help me survive in the world. Then all of a sudden, Miss Izzy visited me and asked me whether I wanted toe to this academy." Wade smiled. "And here I am, telling something about myself to others kids."

    "Its good to share things with others," Zeke replied. "It makes you feel relieved. I always tell things to my grandpa whenever no one else wants to hear it. He keeps those things secret and even lets me ck off during training time."

    "You sure love to ck off and sleep." Amber observed.

    "Its just in my nature." Zeke shrugged.

    "I would love to ck off and be a cloud," Jason admitted. "Imagine the fun one could have by simply staring at the sky and rxing."

    "Except it would get boring real quick unless you could talk to other clouds." Amber pointed out.<sub> </sub>

    "Then does that mean that male and female clouds exist?" M questioned curiously. "If yes, baby clouds must exist as well."

    "Baby cloudsбн" Wade chuckled when he heard the term.

    The brown-haired boy had to admit that it was fun to be around other children his age. He had never felt like he had belonged anywhere until that moment.

    Perhaps the academy was truly the ce for himбн

    Time continued to pass by in this manner and night soon arrived. All of them went to sleep onest time.

    "Wake up, sleepyheads."

    The next morning, a sweet voice echoed inside their ears. The children slowly rubbed their eyes and looked around.

    Isabe was standing in the middle of their small protection. Her eyes looked proud yet she kept her facial expressions under control.

    "Its time for all of you to return. I will give you a detailed analysis on your first test." Izzy exined before snapping her fingers.

    A magic circle suddenly appeared on the ground. The runes ignited together and activated the magic circle in a matter of seconds.

    Izzy teleported her children back to the first year arena. Since they had been living out in the wild for an entire week, it was Monday again and it was their turn to use the arena.

    All of them woke up soon enough and looked at Izzy with a serious expression. They had done their best to survive in the best and considering their age, they had done a pretty good job.

    "First of all, I was the one who had removed the food and water pills to provide you an extra challenge. I have done the same thing previously and those students had ended up fighting amongst themselves." Izzy informed.

    ''We were right.'' Jason thought with an inward smile. He and the system hade up with the correct theory.

    [ Told you. It was the only reasonable exnation considering that we had counted the pills and no one except you could touch the dagger and ess its storage. ]

    ''But how did she did it? I thought she wouldn''t be able to do anything as long as the pills were inside the daggers.''

    [ I have no exnation for that. Ask your teacher about that. ]

    "Furthermore, you guys got the food and the fruits which took care of both your nutrition and hydration needs. Jason and Amber, you both fought well. Wade, you were amazing as well." Izzy praised.

    The three children felt a sense of pride in this yet M and Zeke hadn''t received any praise.

    "As for Zeke and M, you both contributed indirectly. You might not realize but the two of you allowed all five of you tomunicate with each other." Izzy smiled.

    Zeke and M exchanged a confused look. Neither of them understood how they had done that but their mood improved.

    "Nowing to the main goal of the survival testбн teamwork. All of you did the most splendid things possible. Your teamwork was much more than just fighting together and though the time was short, you all bonded a bit."

    Izzy let her words sink in while she looked at her children''s expressions. What all of them had went through would soon be experienced by the remaining sses.

    However, all those sses will have the teacher teaching them everything. They will also have an adult living with twenty four seven during their stay in the forest.

    Izzy was supposed to do the same thing yet she had convinced Albus to let her ss take the test alone.

    ''All of you are going to be different than the others, either in a good or bad way. I can''t don''t know what the future holds but I can train you to survive this society who''ll silently mark you all as prodigies aka monsters.''

    Izzy had experienced many kinds of treatment by people in the past. Though she was only twenty two years old, Izzy had experienced more dangerous things than majority of people thrice as old as her.

    "Can I ask what we will do next?" Jason curiously asked.

    "We will be working on your reflexes and fighting abilities. Those are the only things I am going to teach you in the next twenty days before you have to go for the trial. I hope all of you are ready."

    "I don''t feel like I am ready." M admitted the truth.

    "Neither do Iбн" Zeke followed.

    The others nodded their heads one after the other.

    "That''s why I am here." Izzy smiled. "Its my job top make sure that you can live through the trial and learn something more than just fighting."

    "That being said, congrattions on surviving. I would''ve given you a break but we are short on time. Go back to your rooms and freshen up. We will meet here in an hour for your reflexes training."

 Chapter 127 Reflex Training [Part 1]

    ''The feeling of hot water touching your body after multiple days is heavenlyбн'' Jason thought with a pleased expression.

    Jason was currently sitting inside his bathtub present in his bathroom. A soft aroma was also present inside the ce which made him sleepy.

    [ You can''t sleep though. ] The system reminded him.

    ''I know, I know'' Jason forced himself to stay awake by humming a song he had listened on Earth.

    It was a luby that was soft to the ears, probably not the best choice for someone trying to stay awake.

    However, it worked for him. He managed to stay awake in the bath for twenty minutes before he got out.

    Jason dried himself and wore a new pair of clothes. He hadn''t brought many clothes in the backpack since he had been thinking that there was a uniform for students to wear.

    The uniform was present in the school but only third years and above had to wear it. Jason wished he had known that before because then, he would''ve brought more clothes.

    ''Good thing that I had a few backup clothes stored in the dagger in advance.'' Jason patted himself on the back for adding these clothes early on.

    Once he had wore his clothes, made his way to the mess hall. Food had automatically appeared on the table.

    Amber and M had even started eating and were in the middle of cutting pieces of steak to it.

    Jason sat on one of the chairs and started eating as well. Even though the food they had eaten for the previous week was good, some of it couldn''tpare to the food they were eating right now.

    Jason was currently in a trance as he ate the food. He didn''t even notice that Wade and Zeke had sat on the chairs and started eating as well.

    "That was deliciousбн" Jasonmented after finishing his food.

    The others had simr reactions before they collectively stood up and made their way to the arena.

    Though they had some problems navigating through the halls, they asked some older students to guide them.

    ''I expected the students present here to be more rudeбн They are quite the opposite.'' Jason observed.

    [ There might be some kind of thing preventing them from acting like that. There is always one spoiled apple in a bunch of apples. ]

    ''Kinda debatable but I am not interested in that topic.''

    Once they had arrived at the arena, they found Izzy sitting in the stands with a bored expressions.

    "Finally," she sighed. "I have been waiting for quite some time. Anyways, you guys notice those?"

    The children stared at the point where Izzy was pointing her finger at. Five bows made from dark mana were floating there.

    Even ten year olds like them could figure out that the bows were going to shoot arrows at them. This was going to be an effective reflex training for them.

    "Stand in a straight line with a ten meter distance between you and those beside you," Izzy instructed. "I will bind you to your location and your only goal is to not flinch when the arrow approaches you."

    Jason gulped nervously and got in line. All of them stood far apart from each other, their eyes focused on the bows.

    Arrows had appeared in all five of the bows and they looked ready to fire at a minute''s notice.

    "They will fire arrows once every ten seconds. They won''t hurt you but they wille extremely close to your body. You just have to stop yourself from flinching from the arrows and you will pass this round." Izzy exined.

    Once she had confirmed that all five of her students were ready, she used her dark magic to bind them in their ces.

    ''System, make sure you take notes on this. I want to learn this binding magic as well.'' Jason thought silently.

    His entire body had gone numb on the spot and he couldn''t move any of his body parts, except for his face and neck.

    Jason knew Izzy had dine this deliberately so that they couldn''t move away and have no choice except trying toplete the test.

    ''Well, how hard can it be?'' Jason thought silently.

    Little did he know that the test was going to be hard in a whole different way.

    "Be prepared." Izzy warned onest timing before activating the bows.

    Five arrows shot at the same time, all of them moving at the same speed. The surprising thing was that all of them were too fast for any of the children to see.

    Their speed was simr to Jason''s speed once he used his white lightning or thunder element. It was so quick that all of them instinctively flinched.

    They didn''t have the time to recover as another arrow followed the previous one at the same speed.

    Jason tried to keep his eyes open and his head straight but neither of those things happened. He would close his eyes at thest moment and his head would be bent down in a protective manner.

    ''Damn itбн'' Jason mentally cursed as another arrow shot towards him.

    None of his ssmates were faring any better. After they had experienced ten such arrows in rapid session, Izzy stopped the bows.

    "Now that you''ve got a taste of this, I will make the bows shoot arrows randomly." Izzy smiled before starting the arrow shooting again.

    This time, the arrows would shoot at irregr intervals. Jason couldn''t figure out the pattern yet he managed to make some advancements.

    Due to being in many dangerous situations before, he was slowly able to prevent his head from bowing down.

    His eyes were still closing yet Jason was getting better at controlling them.

    ''His body is getting used to the arrows. Jason knows how to adapt quickly.'' Izzy observed silently. ''Zeke and M are also able to resist bowing their heads while Amber is gaining control over her eyes. As for Wadeбн"

    Izzy''s eyes fixed over the brown-haired boy who was standing at the leftmost position. No matter when the arrow came, he would immediately close his eyes and try to shrink to the ground.

    Izzy could feel all the struggling the students were doing so she knew that Wade was trying to cower on the ground and put his arms around his head.

    ''I can''t me him. After what he went through at his age, its a wonder he is present here.'' Izzy thought with a resigned expression.<sub> </sub>

    She wanted to motivate the young boy to do better but didn''t know how to do it. The thing he had experienced in the past weren''t easy to ovee.

    Izzy wondered whether he would ever be able to get over his fears. All she knew was the fact that if Wade wanted to improve his condition, he would''ve to keepmunicating with his ssmates.

    A few hours passed by in this manner. Everyone except wade had managed to prevent themselves from flinching.

    "Good job. You guys can take a two hours long rest beforeing back." Izzy dered before releasing the children.

    Jason was the first one to leave the arena and head back towards the ss. For some reason, his stomach seemed upset.

    ''I thought that mages at Gold(B) rank and above didn''t have to worry about natural body processes anymore!'' Jasonined.

    [ While that is true, there is a limit to how much one can prevent such things from happening. Also, it turns out that every level is divided into three sub ranks. ]

    ''Let me guess, low, middle and high?''

    [ Yes, and you are currently at the high Gold rank. ] The system exined. [ To advance to the next rank, you will need to learn two more tier 3 skills. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    Jason reached the dormitories and entered his room. He spent half an hour inside his room before getting bored.

    He had taken care of all of his needs which left him with nothing else to do. Jason decided to head back to the arena and ask Izzy to help him with controlling his dark element.

    ''System, is everyone staying inside their dorm rooms?'' Jason asked curiously.

    [ Except Wade, everyone is staying inside their dorm rooms. ]

    Jason didn''t think much about that and made his way to the arena again. He wanted to create two more tier 3 skills and advance to the next level as soon as possible.

    Once Jason arrived at the arena, he paused near the entrance.

    Wade was still standing in the same spot he had been standing in before. The dark bow was still shooting at him.

    The silver-haired boy silently watched Wade trying his best to not flinch. He had learned to no bow his head but he was still closing his eyes.

    ''System, what do you think happened to him in the past?''

    [ No idea. All I can say is that the children in ss Z are in no way normal. All of you have something strange about it. ]

    ''Perhaps that is the reason they gathered all of us together.''

    Jason continued to watch Wade fight against the arrows. Another twenty minutes passed in this manner before Jason revealed his presence.

    "Wade, rx your body. Think the arrow as a delicious treat that is making its way towards your mouth."

    Wade paused when he heard the familiar voice appearing inside his ears. He was so confused that he didn''t even notice the next arrow that came towards him.

    "What are you doing here?" Wade asked slowly.

    "Nothing, just watching you flinch for the past twenty minutes. Can''t you hurry up and get this done? I want to use this ce to train." Jason replied with a grin.

    The corners of Wade''s lips twitched. The entire arena was left and this silver-haired kid wanted him to move just so he could practice.

    "Use the rest of the space to practice." Wade stated and prepared himself to face the arrows again.

    "As I said, try thinking of the arrow as a delicacy. You will be able toplete the test that way and I can train again." Jason stated.

    He sat down on the ground and waited for Wade to proceed.

    ''Well, there is no harm in trying this method,'' Wade thought with a sigh.

    He had been trying hard toplete the test for a long time. Though he had gotten some good results, they weren''t satisfactory.

    Wade''s eyes hardened when he saw the bow''s string move. He immediately thought that the arrow was a warm fire that would protect him from the cold.

    He weed it with open arms, not literally since Izzy had frozen him to his spot.

    Wade hadn''t been expecting the trick to work but somehow, he was able to keep his eyes open the entire duration.

    His body unfroze and the dark bow disappeared. Wade had made this deal with Izzy to keep the bow active unless and until he managed to keep his eyes open once.

    "Thank you for helping me." Wade smiled while looking at the Jason.

    The brown-haired boy knew that he had only managed to do this once. He might not be able to pull the same thing during a battle but at least he had managed to get over his fear once.

    "No need to thank me. I just needed to use this arena." Jason shrugged and stood up "Now go back to your room and enjoy the one hour long break."

    Wade nodded and left the arena with a smile on his face.

    ''Maybe I should have just practiced instead of helping him.'' Jason sighed. He had wasted precious time by watching and helping Wade.

    [ Izzy wasn''t here to begin with. Its not like you wasted your time for a useless cause. Wade will definitely help you in the future so think of it as an investment. ]

    ''That is true as well.'' Jason agreed.

    He wasn''t exactly nice whenpared to his previous life. The only reason he had decided to help Wade was because he wanted to make the boy owe him.

    There was no other reason behind his actions.

    Jason looked around the arena and realized that there weren''t many structures for him to use. This meant that he couldn''t exactly use his string and get better at controlling it.

    "Well, I guess I can try improving my control over the dark elementбн"

 Chapter 128 Reflex Training [Part 2]

    Days passed by in this manner. Izzy continued to train the children using various kinds of weapons.

    Reflexes were something that couldn''t be developed easily once someone reached adulthood and above.

    The sooner you developed them, the better it would be.

    Due to Jason''s help, Wade had also started improving. He no longer flinched when an object was thrown across him. His eyes, however, still closed when something sharp was about to his him.

    "Now that all of you have stopped flinching in front of weapons, we will move towards a harder level of reflex training." Izzy announced after eight days of constant training.

    "Will this training be difficult and taxing?" Zeke questioned.

    He looked sleep deprived even after getting eight hours of sleep. As someone who preferred to sleep ten or more hours a day, the training schedule hadn''t been suiting him well.

    "If it isn''t hard, why will I call it harder?" Izzy questioned back. "Anyways, all of you will no longer be restrained by me so you will have to control your body ordingly."

    Her eyes turned away from the group and settled around hundred meters away from their location.

    "You are going to train with life like creatures that are personally designed by me. I have observed you all for the past fifteen days and have considered everything that will help you improve yourself."

    Izzy summoned five creatures made from darkness, each of them lookingpletely different from the other.

    It was pretty clear which creature had been created for which one of them. The first letter of their names had been etched on their creature''s forehead.

    "You have to prevent yourself from being hit by their attacks for the next four hours. I know it can be tiring but you have to give your best," Izzy exined. "Also, three hits and you are out."

    Without any warning, the creatures lunged towards the children.

    Jason immediately activated his lightning and jumped away. His eyes glowed a bit as he deciphered the structure of the creature.

    The beast formed from dark mana stood meters away from Jason in the form of a cat. It was three times his size and had ws that would put goth girls to shame.

    Like a cat locking her gaze on a mouse, dark cat had her eyes fixed on Jason.

    ''This cat feels way to real for some reason.'' He shuddered. ''Izzy knows what she is doing.''

    The cat was perfect to fight with Jason due to its speed and ability to jump. For someone as quick as Jason, his opponent needed to match his speed.

    ''Let''s see if you can make me push past my limits.'' Jason grinned internally.

    Heunched himself away towards the cat. There wasn''t that much free space avable in the arena since all of them were facing their creatures.

    Jason wanted to gain some experience in close range fighting. He was still bad at it and relied on his speed the most.

    Dark-cat stood still on its spot. Something told it that if it took another step in Jason''s direction, it would suffer a major blow.

    Dark-cat decided to go with this feeling and used one of her skills. Strings of darkness shot from her body in the form of yarn thread and aimed towards Jason''s limbs.

    ''Just as I thought, the cat can interpret my movements and think ordingly.'' Jason smiled.

    He changed course mid-air and threw a lightning web towards the yarn threads. Both attacks stuck together, bing tangled.

    Jason pushed more lightning towards his hands. His heartbeat echoed inside his ears wildly.

    The silver-haired boy wasn''t used to having this much lightning running inside his body. In his current state, Jason could light up a society on his own.

    If this much power was forced towards any person at his rank or below his rank, they would experience an electrifying death.

    ''Let''s see if you can handle it.'' Jason raised his hands forward, the lightning crackling across his body.

    The cat immediately lunged forward, its senses warning it to either stop Jason or run out of the arena.

    The second option couldn''t be chosen since the cat was too far from the entrance. Its only hope was attacking Jason first.

    Jason released the concentrated lightning in the form of a tiger. By doing so, he made the cat feel inferior to its higher self.

    His lightning cat and the dark cat shed mid air. Jason made the lightning travel around the dark cat''s body, thus paralyzing it.

    Knowing that its end was near, the dark cat used itsst bit of strength tounch a counter attack. It threw a yarn of dark mana in front of Jason to distract him.

    The cat then threw another yarn secretly before sumbing to the lightning tiger. But before vanishing, it had a grin on its face.

    ''Something''s wrong,'' Jason''s senses tingled when he saw that grin on the cat''s face.

    He had already dealt with the yarn in front of him yet he felt uneasy.

    Jason''s eyes scanned the area quickly but it was toote. The secret yarn had already made contact with his back and had expanded itself to wrap around his chest.

    ''Too tightбн'' Jason struggled to break free from the yarn. His struggles were useless.

    "You can''t break free from it. Perhaps if you had sensed it in time and ha dodged the attack, something might have been possible," Izzymented.

    She arrived in front of the yarn wrapped Jason and pressed her right index finger on the yarn. It slowly came undone and vanished, leaving him free.<sub> </sub>

    "Haaaaбн" Jason took a deep breath. His lungs had been squeezed tight by the yarn, leaving him with little to no room for breathing.

    Jason now understood how important it was to train his reflexes and senses. Had it been a real battle, he would have been killed.

    [ No, you are wrong. I could sense that yarn and had it been a real battle, Hestia would''ve tried to save you. ]

    ''Then why did neither of you do anything right now?'' Jason questioned even though he had a feeling that he already knew the answer to his question.

    [ Because a time mighte where you won''t have either of us. Its better to train yourself to be in peak condition even if you don''t have both me and Hestia. ]

    Jason didn''t say anything. His eyes were watching his ssmates fight the beasts despite now having any system or other entity to help them, except Amber.

    Jason could tell that the magma smander wasn''t helping his vessel either. Both of them were on their own and had to train themselves ordingly.

    "Miss Izzy, can I battle another cat?" Jason questioned his teacher.

    "You can fight as many cats as you want." She replied with a smile.

    Using her powers, Izzy created another cat for Jason. Her eyes were constantly roaming around the arena.

    She monitored the position of all five of her children, constantly checking whether they needed her help or not. If she didn''t do this, she would be an irresponsible teacher.

    ''We only have fifteen days left till the end of the month. Hopefully, I can prepare you for the trial of fearsбн''

    ***

    Time continued to pass in this manner. In the span of ten days, the five children not only managed to hone their reflexes but also got somebat experience.

    Izzy was immensely proud of them but there was still one thing that she needed to do.

    "Are all of you familiar with the difference between a spell and skill?" she questioned during one of their training sessions.

    All five of them nodded.

    "Here, take this." Izzy suddenly produced five scrolls from thin air. Out of the five scrolls, one was red, one was orange, one was light blue, one was silver and thest one was deep purple.

    She passed out the scrolls to the children. Jason understood the color scheme after that as all of them had received the scroll disying their major element.

    Though Jason wanted a dark element rted thing, he was more than happy to receive something rted to his thunder element.

    "These scrolls contains the chants of different spells. You can consider them to be peak tier three spells which can deal quite the damage. However, all of them have an absurdly high mana usage.

    Remember that you can only use these during emergencies and only if you have more than fifty percent of your mana. If you it below that percentage, you will be knocked out cold." Izzy warned them.

    Jason''s interest in the scrolls grew to a higher extent. He slowly opened the scroll and nced at the words written on the inside.

    ''Under the dark clouds of misery, may the thunder dragon pave a path towards victory. Thunder Dragon''s Wrath.'' Jason felt a weird synchronization with the words.

    It was as though they were calling him to use them. At the same time, a ringing sound echoed inside his mind, indicating a system notification.

    A system window opened in the next second and disyed the notification to him.

    ---

    < Thunder Dragon''s Wrath [Pseudo Tier 4) >

    Chant: Under the dark clouds of misery, may the thunder dragon pave a path towards victory.

    Side Effects:

    1. After the effects of the skill are over, you won''t be able to use your limbs for the next twenty four hours.

    2. Using this skill puts you at a fifty percent risk of destroying neurons connecting your limbs to the brain.

    3. After the effects of the skill are over, you will able to control any natural source of lightning perfectly for the next twenty four hours.

    ---

    Jason gulped nervously once he saw the details of the spell. The others had simr reactions but they didn''t know of the side effects.

    For them, the truth about the spell would only be revealed upon usage.

    ''System, do you think Izzy knew about these side effects?''

    [ If she did, she would''ve told us about them. ]

    ''I feel the same.''

    Jason nced at the face of his teacher before sighing mentally. The trial was definitely going to be exciting and deadly.

 Chapter 129 The Trial Of Fear Begins!

    "Today, the first years will face the trial of fear. I request all students to extend their well wishes towards their younger ones who will be fighting death in order to clear the trial!" Albus Jokovic''s voice boomed across the fifth year and above arena.

    Every single person present in the sect, excluding those on guard duty, had been summoned in the arena by Albus.

    The Trial Of Fear would be held on this date and the first years would enter it with high spirits.

    Most students had no idea about the trial of Fear. Even fifth years and above barely had any clue about this trial.

    Only those belonging to the royal family and highly influential families knew about the trial. Amongst them was the second prince of the kingdom, Hiro Vancouver.

    He had been offered the same seat as the teachers and had politely epted the offer. Hiro was no full and despite being fifteen, he was smarter than an above average adult.

    "Hiro, what do you know about the trial of fear?" A feminine voice sitting beside Hiro, questioned.

    The voice belonged to Aysel Vancouver, Zn''s daughter. She had been offered the same thing and had epted it.

    "Father told me that the Trial of Fear was closed by him the moment he came to power. It''s one of the three trials that students of Vancouver academy could undergo in order to gain ess to some special chamber." Hiro replied, not bothering to quieten his voice.

    All those present in the teachers area already knew what the Trial of Fear was. All of them had been present during the time the trial had taken ce.

    "My father told me the same thing," Aysel replied. "Would you want to take part in t his trial?"

    "Depends on a lot of things. I don''t know what the chamber contains so its not exactly motivating. Also, there are a lot of other things that I would like to do in the meantime." Hiro replied.

    His mind immediately went to the Spear of Ataraxia that was safely stored in his storage ring. Since he got the storage ring directly from his father, he could store more things inside it, meaning that the size limit had also increased.

    "Now allow me to introduce the first years who will be undergoing this trial!" Albus announced.

    Hiro, Aysel, and countless other teachers sighed. They knew that the principal deliberately did these introductions to introduce the potential prodigies and his personal favorites.

    Hiro and Aysel both didn''t pay attention to the names until ss A students were introduced.

    When Orion''s name was announced, their eyes shimmered with curiosity. He was one of the two heirs of Brian Bloodthorn, the heir of the Bloodthorn family.

    They eyed him with curiosity before their attention shifted towards the ss Z students.

    "What do you think about that silver-haired boy and that red-haired girl?" This time, Hiro asked Aysel a question.

    "Hmmбн both of them host the strongest guardians of two different realms and belong to the four families. The boy is the grandson of Sir Issac and Lady Risa while the girl is the granddaughter of Lady Ariana." Aysel replied.

    Both of them had been taught about the four families in detail. Though they didn''t know much about the duo''s parents, they knew many things about their grandparents.

    Despite the harmful and scandalous deeds done by their grandparents, Hiro and Aysel admired the old people.

    "Once they grow up, they might surpass their previous generations who didn''t have the support of two apex guardians backing their progress," Hiro muttered thoughtfully. "They might surpass us too."

    "I''m not worried about that," Aysel replied with a cold smile. "I''m least bothered by what is going to happen. My only goal is to make you the king so that father and me can be released from the curse that binds us."

    "That, my cousin," Hiro grinned humorlessly. "Is guaranteed."

    ***

    ''I just had a bad feelingбн''

    Standing on the arena floor, Jason felt chills passing through his body. His eyes scanned the crowd yet he couldn''t locate the source of the bad feeling he had just gotten.

    [ Don''t worry, host. The worst thing that can happen is death. You might get lucky and take another trip to the bar of gods. ]

    ''That''s reassuring.'' Despite being sarcastic, Jason felt his body rx a bit.

    Once the introductions had been done, Albus addressed the first years about the uing battle.

    "All of you will be entering the trial of fear together. You might get banded up with someone else or you might have to take the trial on your own. The ce where the trial will take ce is going to be random.

    Thirty portals will be located all over the ce. Only a single person can enter this portal and take on the final phase of the trial. Once you have done that, you will be teleported back to this ce."

    "Um, is there a chance that we will encounter beasts inside?" A nervous boy from ss C questioned.

    Albus''s expression didn''t change as he replied to the boy in a firm voice. "You can encounter anything inside and there is a chance that you die during the trial. If you died, you will restart with a temporary disability inside the trial."<sub> </sub>

    "This means that we can''t escape until all of the portals have been used up." Jason sighed.

    Albus confirmed his theory to be true. "You can only leave the trial once all the portals have been upied. Beware, the more you die, the more disabilities you will have. You will also need to take care of your food and water."

    "So its basically like taking the trial with our bodies with an restart option?" orion questioned.

    "Yes and no. You will be taking the trial with the help of your soul. It will be like a dream. Your real bodies will be taken care of." Albus replied.

    The children continued to ask a few basic questions. He answered them patiently before staring at the sky.

    "All right, noon is slowly approaching and the trial is about to begin. I request you all to stand still in your spot and not utter a single word." Albusmanded.

    Not only the first years but the rest of the arena went silent too. The principal of Vancouver academy nodded his head in approval.

    Albus rummaged inside his storage ring, his hand finally grabbing onto the object he needed.

    He summoned a ck cube the size of a standard rubrics cube. Albus bit his right thumb and smeared some of his blood on the ck cube.

    It started humming with power as Albus tossed it towards the students. The ck cube slowly grew in size until it covered the entire arena floor.

    "Good luck." Izzy whispered to her students and stepped back.

    The giant ck cube slowly descended downwards before changing into a dome-shaped structure. All adults standing on the arena floor slowly backed away.

    The trials could only be taken by those under twenty years of age. Only people below twenty could ess the special chamber, hence the age limit.

    Jason''s eyes were fixed to the dome-shaped structure which was slowly falling down towards the arena ground. He could tell that the dome-shaped structured held a lot of mana inside it.

    He had briefly used his special eyes to verify this. The mana contained inside the dome-shaped structure rivaled the mana provided to Jason by Hestia.

    ''System, can you do something that will allow me to keep an eye on the others?'' Jason questioned

    [ I can do it but it will cost you eighty system points altogether. This tracker will alsost till the time they be eighteen. ]

    ''Do it.''

    < Eighty system points have been deducted. Trackers have been ced on four people. >

    Jason suddenly felt four mana sources popping up in his aura. Upon questioning the system, he learned that he could turn this constant location finder on and off.

    This tracker would also work as long as his friends and him had mana inside them. Jason realized that since he and the others would barely run of out of mana, the tracker would work infinitely, until they turned eighteen.

    In the next five minutes, the dome hadpletely surrounded the arena floor, leaving only a tine amount of space to prevent the audience from touching it.

    "This dome will ensure that your bodies remain healthy in real life. Furthermore, this dome can''t be tampered with since I have used my own mana to make sure that it remains top notch." Albus red at the audience.

    He could tell that there were a few troublemakers who wanted to test things with the dome. Infusing his own mana inside the dome was the only thing he could do.

    ''This trial would''ve been held two days after the initiation ceremony if the cube had contained mana inside it. I had to keep it with myself and fill it with my mana for the past few weeks.''

    Truth be told, Albus wasn''t a fan of trials or the chamber that was given as a gift. Ever since he had been a student, he had wanted to close the trials.

    When Julian had issued the order to close the trials and the chamber, Albus had felt victorious. He didn''t know what to anymore.

    "I wish you all luck and I hope that you all are able to find the portals as soon as possible. I don''t want this trial tost for an absurdly long time." Albus said atst.

    The dome touched the ground and the mana inside was released with full power. All students, except Jason and Amber, were overwhelmed by the huge amount of mana swirling around them.

    The duo weren''t overwhelmed because they could potentially wield the same amount of mana, albeit with a huge price.

    Suddenly, the mana entered their bodies. It invaded their bodies through their nostrils. The students started feeling sleepy and were knocked out one after the other.

    ss A and ss Z students seemed a bit resistant against the mana but they felt drowsy as well.

    "The trial of fear begins!" Albus boomed.

    Those were thest words Jason heard before he felt his body dozing of to sleep. His body hit the ground with a thud, his soul entering the first trial.

 Chapter 130 Expert Zone And Portals

    ''Why is it so dark hereбн I remember gathering for the trial of fear but what is this ce?''

    ''I can''t sense anything. Heck, I can''t even sense whether I have a body or not. Something is definitely wrong. System, can you hear me?''

    No response came. Jason couldn''t tell what was happening but he tried to remain calm. Surprisingly, it was much easier than he thought.

    ''Without a body, its much easier to control my mind.'' He thought.

    Jason waited patiently for something to happen. His patience won and he heard a voice echo inside his mind soon.

    "The trial of fear has started. You are the bearer of one active divinity, two dormant divinities, and one apex guardian. You will ced inside the expert zone." The voice said clearly.

    For some reason, the expert zone didn''t sound nice to Jason. He wanted to negotiate with the voice but it was useless.

    "Looks like I am back in my body againбн" Jason muttered. He could feel his body again and his senses were working fine.

    He slowly opened his eyes and stared straight above. A clear sky was visible above him and it was around evening time.

    [ Are you all right, host? ] The system questioned in a worried tone. It had been disconnected from Jason for the past few minutes.

    ''I''m fine for the time being. Apparently, we are in the expert zone which means that our lives will be in immense danger. Can you sense any beasts around us?''

    [ About thatбн I can''t sense anything around us. My senses have been restricted to about 1 meter cube area. ]

    "Haaaбн must be some kind of restriction imposed on us." Jason sighed.

    He slowly stood up and nced around at his surroundings. He was present in an open grass field and no living thing was visible for kilometers, excluding nts.

    Jason observed that the field had tons of different kinds ofs which made him wonder whether he had appeared in an evolved grasnds.

    [ Most of those nts are hostile towards living beings and some might think of you as food. ] The system informed.

    A frown appeared on Jason''s face. He tried using inspect to confirm the details but nothing appeared in front of his face.

    ''Damnбн'' Jason sighed again.

    He remembered that he had to find a portal to exit the trial. What he liked was the fact that he could still sense two out of the four children he had put a tracker on.

    Both of them, however, were extremely far away from him. Jason couldn''t risk going after them without any preparations.

    ''At least I don''t have to worry about foodбн'' Jason silently thought. His eyes moved towards the ring on his finger.

    The chickens he had captured during his survival test were still present in his ring. Though he would need to remove the useless parts, the silver-haired boy was happy to have something to eat.

    [ As for water, I could provide you with liquid to drink. ] Hestia added.

    ''Is it milk?'' Jason immediately asked back.

    [ No, its not milk. As a guardian of beasts, I can locate things easily in the wildlife. I might be able to guide you towards a spring and you can purify the water with the help of your dark element. ]

    ''I seeбн'' Jason thought with a slightly disappointed expression.

    His eyes took another look at the surroundings before he decided to move. As a precaution, Jason covered his body in lightning to make sure that he would be ready for anything.

    [ Here, you can now sense the spring that I marked for you. ] Hestia informed.

    Jason felt another thing popping up in his senses. For the time being, he turned off the trackers he had put on his friends and decided to approach the spring.

    ''I don''t want to touch any of these ntsбн'' Jason thought with a grim expression.

    He carefully moved around the ce, his eyes following the movements of certain nts. Though it was hard, he managed to leave the field after a few hours and entered a thick forest.

    Night had approached and Jason wasn''t thrilled to stay out in the open.

    He decided to take shelter atop one of the trees and not eat anything for the day. Since he had replenished his body with nutrients before entering the trial, his soul state was still in peak condition.

    Jason could go three days without eating anything. After that, his body would start tog behind, creating new problems for him to face.

    [ Jason, you should sleep right now. Since no beast is currently present here, its best if you rest up as much as possible. You might enter dangerous areas in the following days. ] Hestia exined.

    ''I guess you are correct. Guard me in the meantimeбн'' Jason agreed with her and asked his guardian to guard him while he slept.

    Hestia appeared in her wolf form and stood beside her partner. Both of them stared up at the enormous trees.

    They silently agreed that sleeping on trees was the best thing for them to do until they had solidified a position for themselves.<sub> </sub>

    Jason used his dark harpoon to easily climb the tree. After searching around for some time, he found the perfect branch to sleep on.

    He crashed down on it without any worries. Hestia would protect him.

    ''Something doesn''t feel right about this ce.'' Hestia thought silently. ''Its as though I havee here before.''

    Her eyes were focused on the young boy''s face. She couldn''t help but wonder what would happen if Jason would''ve been present in the past.

    ''Maybe Aiden would still be here due to that.'' Hestia sighed. The ex-goddess turned her eyes towards the moon and decided to keep guarding Jason.

    It was going to be a short night for someone like her who had experienced countless years inplete darkness.

    ***

    Meanwhile in Vancouver academy.

    Albus looked at the unconscious children with a grim expression. As the person responsible for supplying the trial with mana, he knew about the things happening inside.

    The principal could tell that no beasts were currently moving inside the trial and none of the portals had appeared yet.

    ''Only a few hours have passed for all of them yet two days have passed in the outside world. I have no idea how much time it would take for all of them toe back.'' Albus sighed.

    He looked up at the sky and wondered what responses he would give to the parents of the children.

    Albus thought of some excuses before realizing that there wasn''t any need to do that. He could just take Julian''s and everyone would shut up.

    Except for the families of the top nobility. Albus had felt an iing headache just by thinking about some of the stronger noble families questioning him about their children.

    ''I''m worried about the Syrward familyбн I don''t want Risa anywhere near this academy. Hopefully, Issac wille here himself to solve this. He would only destroy property which can be restored.'' Albus shuddered a bit.

    He wanted to stay a hundred thousand kilometers away from Risa but that wasn''t possible. Albus would wee Issac''s destruction causing nature with open arms instead ofing near his wife.

    ''Both of them are a match made in heavenбн One destroys you physically while the other destroys you mentallyбн''

    Albus stopped worrying about the future and instead looked at the children. He could tell that the portals were soon about to be revealed and the beasts would finally appear.

    The newbie protection would soon disappear and the children would face the wrath of the trial.

    ***

    [ Jason, I think you should wake up. Something is about to happen. ] Hestia suddenly warned Jason and asked him to wake up.

    The silver-haired boy woke up with a jolt. He hadn''t put his guard down and his reaction was expected.

    "What is happening?" he questioned, his eyes moving around the area.

    It was early morning in the forest. Fog covered the entire area, making Jason a bit nervous. He had gotten over his fear of mists and fogs yet it still made him nervous.

    [ I sensed a shift in the natural mana of this ce. Some spots suddenly have concentrated mana in them as though the mana is being gathered for something grand. ] Hestia informed.

    Both of them stared at the sky in silence. All of a sudden, an enormous amount of mana washed over the entire area.

    Five blue pirs of light suddenly shot towards the sky. All of them were enormous and released a huge amount of mana.

    Jason''s eyes looked at all of their locations before stopping on the one closest to him. The pir of light closest to him actually had a second pir shooting towards the sky about two kilometers away.

    For anyone teaming up, this was the perfect ce for them to aim for.

    Jason wanted to go towards another pir of light but that was going to be hard considering how the other pirs were far away.

    ''If these are the portals, everyone present in the area would soon start moving towards them.'' Jason thought with narrowed eyes.

    Seeing no other option, Jason decided to go towards one of the twin portals. He slowly made his move and sprang from one branch to other.

    ''Hestia, can I obtain the powers of other beasts once I grow up and learn to control your powers even better?'' Jason asked curiously.

    [ Maybe, maybe not. We will see in the future. ]

    Jason was about to reply when he suddenly felt multiple auras popping around him. Even with his restricted senses, he could tell that the auras belonged to vicious beasts.

    From the looks of it, they were hungry as well.

 Chapter 131 I Will Be Waiting

    ''After not encountering any beast for the entire day, I thought things were going to proceed smoothlyбн'' Jason sighed.

    He turned around and immediately took off. He couldn''t risk fighting so many beasts at his current level.

    It was better to run away instead of bing beast food.

    [ Uh, host, I don''t think these beasts share the same sentiment as you. They''re chasing you at full speed. ]

    Jason sneaked a look at the beasts and it was enough to make his heart skip a beat. More than dozen beasts were chasing after him and all of them were of different variety!

    ''Inspect!''

    ---

    Threat Level: B(high) rank

    ---

    Threat Level: B(high) rank

    ---

    Threat Level: B(high) rank

    ---

    Jason''s eyes widened when he saw the ranks of the beasts chasing him. Most of them were high B ranked beasts.

    Hiding amongst them was a low A ranked beast as well. This beast was considered as a leader by the other beasts and all of them were cooperating under itsmands.

    ''Shtбн''

    Jason suddenly increased his movement speed as he dashed towards the deeper part of the forest. His n was to shake of his pursuers by hiding inside the thick canopy of the forest.

    ''That''s if I don''t encounter in such a situation?! ]

    ''I don''t know! Hestia, can your aura subdue these creatures?'' Jason questioned his guardian.

    [ It only works on beasts who are at the same or lower level as you. Overpowered skills alwayse with a price attached to them. ]

    ''In this case, its a restriction rather than a price.'' Jason corrected.

    He had managed to shake off a few of the beasts but the A ranked beast was still following him. The A ranked beast was a ck cheetah who had managed to catch his smell.

    It was trying its best to pursue the young child which would serve as its dinner.

    ''Oh give up, you overgrown cat,'' Jason clenched his teeth while jumping from one branch to other.

    By now, most oft he beasts chasing after him had gotten tired. The ck cheetah was the only one chasing after him.

    It had realized what Jason was trying to do. The ck cheetah had then started pursuing Jason by climbing a tree and following him in the same way.

    ''Beasts get smarter the higher their rank gets. I need to deal with this cheetah or things are going to get hard for me.''

    Jason suddenly dived down andnded on the ground. His eyes were focused on the cheetah''s movements.

    Two lightning bolts appeared in his hands which he threw at the cheetah simultaneously.

    Both of the lightning bolts were avoided by the ck cheetah, proving Jason''s experiment to be sessful.

    ''I can win a fight by using the same old moves. I have to try something new.''

    The silver-haired boy suddenly jumped forward with a determined look. A thread made from dark mana appeared in his right hand.

    Jason summoned another lightning bolt and tied the thread to it. Surprisingly, the thread didn''t break.

    It didn''t cut the lightning bolt either which worked in Jason''s favor. He aimed the lightning bolt and threw it again.

    The cheetah was about to dodge it when he sensed that something was wrong. It stared at the thread which was tied around the lightning bolt.

    "Raaghбн" It growled andunched a attack of his own.

    Two ferocious lightning bolts were suddenly released from its paws. Jason was surprised to see that the cheetah was a lighting beast.

    ''Its a pity that I have to kill you. You would''ve be a nice beastpanion.''

    Jason pulled on the thread and detached it from the lightning bolt. Once it had settled on the ground, he jumped back.

    The ck cheetah red at Jason with a guarded expression. It nced at the surroundings for a seconds, forming an escape n in its mind.

    Despite being at a higher rank than the child standing in front of it, the ck cheetah felt uneasy. It decided that running away was better for it instead of staying back to fight.

    Jason, however, had other ns. Since the beast had already decided to challenge him, he wasn''t going to let it go away so easily.

    "You should have chosen your opponent carefully."

    Jason suddenly vanished from his spot. The ck cheetah anticipated an attack in its direction but the attack never came.

    The silver-haired boy had simply vanished from the surroundings, leaving the ck cheetah confused. It could still smell the boy yet its nose was ying a trick on it.<sub> </sub>

    It could smell Jason in every direction yet couldn''t see him.

    ''I hope this worksбн'' Jason, who standing high above the ground, prayed silently.

    He had lined the thread made from dark mana with his sense so that he could distract the wolf.

    The bold words he had spoken were also just distractions as he hoped that the cheetah would fall for his bluff.

    As soon as the beast would move away, Jason would directly make his way to the stream Hestia had found for him.

    Once he was there, he would wash his body thoroughly to clear his scent. Jason would also eat there before figuring out a way to reach the portals.

    ''I need to go their using stealth. Charging head on towards the portals will attract numerous beasts.''

    Jason knew that if he tried hard, he would be able to kill the cheetah. However, killing the cheetah would spread at least a few drops of its blood around the ce.

    It could also attract the other beasts in the area with a howl which would be dangerous for Jason.

    He wasn''t interested in taking a risk and decided to get rid of the cheetah in a more secure manner.

    ''It worked atst.'' Jason sighed in relief when he saw the cheetah moving away.

    He stayed in his spot for the next five minutes to confirm whether the cheetah had really went away or not.

    Once he had confirmed that it was true, Jason leaped from his branch to another one. He maximized his lightning mana input to his current peak and dashed towards the stream.

    ''With this speed, I should arrive at the stream in a few hours.'' Jason observed.

    He wanted to use his white lightning to quicken his speed but it was too shy for his liking. It also attracted a lot of attention, something Jason definitely didn''t want for the time being.

    He continued to travel from one tree to another for the next few hours. Jason could feel himself tiring after the initial two hours.

    He had only managed to cover half of the distance, which meant that it would take him another two hours to reach the stream.

    ''I have to take a break nowбн'' Jason halted after a few more minutes of traveling.

    His body wasn''t used to traveling at such a speed for a long period of time. He couldfortably travel at high speed for an hour without tiring himself.

    ''System, Hestia, please keep an eye on the surroundings.'' Jason requested while putting his back against the trunk of a tree.

    He closed his eyes and let his body rx for a few minutes.

    [ Host, I am useless with my powers sealed. ]

    [ I can only keep an eye on beasts that are either at the same rank as you or are weaker than you. ]

    ''Just try your best.'' Jason sighed.

    His muscles felt sore and his body was screaming at him to rest. Jason, however, couldn''t stay put for long.

    ''Just twenty minutes of rest and I will be fine.'' He thought and kept his eyes closed.

    Ten minutes passed by in silence. Jason wondered whether his luck had improved for once.

    ''Wait, I shouldn''t have thought that!'' Jason''s eyes immediately flew open. He felt a tingling sensation spreading through his body, telling him that something bad was about to happen.

    "It would''ve been less messy if you had kept on sleeping." A rough voice echoed inside Jason''s ears.

    The silver-haired boy immediately stood up. Lightning flickered around his body as he prepared himself to run away.

    He could tell that the words spoken belonged to a beast. Furthermore, they hadn''t been tranted by his passive beast talking ability.

    The words spoken by the beast had been in the humannguage.

    "Oh, you look alert? Don''t worry, little half-demon. I am not even present here." The beast chuckled. "I will be waiting for you in the chamber of Rebirth. We will meet again."

    Jason could feel his heartbeat increasing by the passing second. He could sense the beast''s presence around him but no matter how thoroughly he looked around, he couldn''t see the beast''s body.

    "I just want to tell you that two A ranked beasts are approaching your location. I can''t have you dying so soon without managing to reach the chamber. Also, bring that red-head and that overly smart kid with you. Both of them are interesting like you.

    I will be waiting for the three of you."

    Jason felt the presence of the voice vanishing. He looked around for a few seconds before taking off again.

    Jason decided to believe in the beast and continued his journey towards the stream.

    ''The red-head is definitely Amber. As for the overly smart oneбн who could it be?''

    [ Host, you are fine with what happened right now? ]

    ''Hmm? This is the usual that I experience from time to time. This is nothing new.'' Jason replied sarcastically.

    Though he felt weirded out, he was no longer shocked by such events happening to him. Jason had epted that he had the protagonist luck.

    ''Anyways, I am heading towards the stream. Once I get there, I am going to take an hour long bath.''

    With that, Jason continued his travel.

 Chapter 132 So Young But Already So Petty

    "Finallyбн" Jason muttered upon finally reaching the stream.

    It had taken him an hour and half worth of travel to finally reach the stream. ncing at it, he couldn''t help but wonder whether some creature was waiting to eat him.

    ''Better be safe than sorry.'' Jason thought while cing his hands in the water.

    Lightning ran across his arms, passing straight into the water. Any creature present inside the stream died after experiencing continuous lightning shots.

    Jason removed his shoes and dipped his feet in the water with a satisfied expression. He jumped in the stream a secondter.

    Since he didn''t have any soap, Jason had to clean his body using in water. He thoroughly put the water all around his body in hopes of eliminating all types of smell produced by his body.

    Once he was done, Jason walked out of the water and changed his clothes.

    ''Now I have to get some drinking water.''

    Jason bent down and started drinking the water fresh from the stream. To prevent himself from getting sick, he had already summoned dark mana inside his mouth.

    Though it left a bitter aftertaste, it was better than falling sick in the middle of such an environment.

    ''I can take some water with me by using a container of sorts. But to get out, I have to head towards the portals. The light above the portals will not only attract beasts but the others as well. There''s no knowing who is your enemy or friend.''

    After careful consideration, Jason started heading towards the portals beside the stream.

    He could use it as a cover and if anyone stepped inside the water, he could easily electrocute them.

    Two days passed by in this manner. Jason had managed to travel a good distance while walking alongside the stream.

    He encountered very few beasts in the area. Once he had revealed that he could use lightning, the beasts had fled as well.

    No one wanted to fight a lightning mage near a water source.

    ''The problem is that after a few more kilometers, the stream starts going in the opposite direction. I will have to abandon it to reach the portals.''

    Jason decided that the best course of action for him was to rest for one day and run towards the portal after that.

    He could recover his energy and would be in a good condition to run.

    ''Perhaps I should put the white lightning to use here.'' He wondered for a few minutes before finalizing the n.

    That night, Jason fell asleep near the edge of the stream and asked Zara to guard him. Though he was forced to wake up three times throughout the night, Jason was able to get the rest he wanted.

    Once he had left the stream behind, he activated his white lightning and dashed towards the portals.

    It would take him at least fifteen to sixteen hours of continuous travel to reach the portals. Calcting the time taken to rest, he would take another day and half to reach the portals.

    Jason also observed that one of the five pirs of light had recently vanished.

    Some student had managed to enter the pir of light and was either fighting his or her fear or had already made it out to the real world.

    ''Someone is following meбн'' Jason observed.

    He had stopped to take his first rest. Using his white lightning for an hour was his physical limit.

    It was necessary to take a rest after that or his muscles would start contracting. His mana flow would also be irregr, giving him a dizzy feeling.

    Jason summoned a bit of his dark mana and formed a harpoon in his hand. He waited for an attack toe but nothing happened for the next five minutes.

    ''Is it a beast or a human?'' he frowned.

    Since the number of students present in the expert zone wasn''t clear, one could only estimate it based on the talent.

    ''Zeke and M didn''t make it to the expert zone. I am sure that some guys from the A ss did make it here. Are they perhaps looking to obtain some revenge on me?'' Jason wondered silently. ''So young but already so petty.''

    Jason stood up from his spot and continued to advance towards the portals. His speed remained constant for the next hour.

    All of a sudden, his feet slipped from a branch and he fell face first on the ground. Jason managed to minimize the damage by rolling to his back mid air.

    Once hended on the ground, Jason rubbed his feet with a pained expression. Simultaneously, a bolt of lightning appeared in his vision.

    The bolt hit him in the right shoulder, drawing ck blood. Jason''s eyes turned towards the branches above to see a young child standing their with a smug expression.<sub> </sub>

    "You can stay here and be food for the beasts." The child scoffed before summoning another lightning bolt.

    "Are you working alone or did someone else ask you to do this?" Jason calmly questioned.

    "Huh? Why would I waste my time carefully chasing you on someone else''smands? I am just doing this so that everyone can know that those in the Z ss are just a bunch of overprivileged nobles." The child replied.

    "Oh, is that what you think we are?" a grin appeared on Jason''s face. "For once, I wish I had that life. Your reason for attacking me would''ve made more sense."

    The child suddenly had a bad feeling. He threw two more lightning bolts at Jason, both aimed at his legs.

    "You know when two lightning mages fight, the one with the higher affinity andrger mana pool wins." Jason stood up. "But when a lightning and a thunder mage fight, the former gets obliterated."

    Jason raised his right hand forward and called upon the lightning bolts thrown by his opponent. This was the first time he was trying this.

    There was a chance that something could go wrong but overall, Jason wouldn''t be harmed.

    "My thunder is superior than your lightning in every way possible."

    The pair of lightning bolts came in contact with Jason''s hands. He simply focused on them for a few seconds, a smile appearing on his face.

    "Whatбн" the child''s jaw dropped when he saw his lightning bolts vanishing inside Jason''s palm.

    The silver-haired boy had just converted them into his own lightning mana by simply focusing a bit. This was an ability of the thunder mage job ss he had never gotten to use before.

    He did the same thing with the lightning bolt stuck in his shoulder.

    ''Good thing I faked falling. He could have managed to catch me off guard.'' Jason sighed mentally.

    His grip on the trees had been quite firm. His lightning also allowed him to jump off branches in the nick of time even if he slipped a bit.

    Furthermore, Jason could''ve easily broken his fall bynding on his feet. He hadn''t done any of those things since he had wanted to draw out his pursuer.

    "Now, let me show you what a real lightning bolt is."

    Dark purple lightning flickered around Jason''s right arm. He summoned a lightning bolt buzzing with energy and immediately threw at the child.

    In a matter of seconds, the lightning bolt had embedded itself in the child''s right shoulder. He could only blink in surprise as another lightning bolt embedded in his other shoulder.

    "AHH!" a cry of pain escaped his lips. The damage caused by the lightning bolts was far too severe than what he could deal with.

    "You thought that it was a good thing to catch me off guard. Though it was a smart move, you should have paid more attention to my movement. Also, you didn''t paralyze me." Jason pointed out.

    He waved his hand once, making the lightning traverse through the child''s body. He shot another lightning bolt in the next ten seconds and paralyzed his lower body as well.

    ''How can he be so quickбн his mana is also at a higher level than my own and he can control it at such a distance.'' The paralyzed child wondered.

    It was true that he hadn''t paralyzed Jason. The major reason for that was the overconfidence he had in his abilities.

    But that was not all.

    Unlike Jason, the ss A student couldn''t control lightning from that far of a distance. His limit was one meter.

    The delusion thought up by the ss A student shattered at that moment. Unfortunately, it was toote.

    "So young but already so petty." Jason sighed. He knew that a beast would definitelye and kill the boyter on so it was better for him to do it instead.

    Also, it would end up in handicapping the boy sooner.

    "Perhaps when we meet outside, you will have some sense in that head of yours." Jason said atst before summoning another lightning bolt.

    The ss A student med himself from his foolishness. He swore that once both of them had managed to appear in the outside world, he would worship the silver-haired boy as an idol.

    "My name is Rodrick. Please remember my name, Master Jason!" The child suddenly shouted.

    Jason almost spat blood like a Chinese young master. Here he was about to kill the student and he was calling him a master.

    "Don''t spout such nonsense to save yourself." Jason replied with a re and threw the lightning bolt.

    The ss A student didn''t have the time to protest. The lightning bolt simply pierced his head, turning his body into particles of light.

 Chapter 133 Domain Beast, Iktomi

    ''I think that was the first ever human I killedбн'' Jason silently thought.

    He had started heading towards his destination again after killing the child.

    [ Technically, it can''t be called a kill since he will be revived again. Think of it as a handicap that you inflicted on him. ] The system pointed out.

    ''Indeed. Its kinda funny how I am not feeling anything right now, except satisfaction. That look on his face was good.''

    [ What do you think you were supposed to feel? ]

    ''Hmmбн I don''t think I''m supposed to feel anything. Anyways, let me head towards the portals.''

    Jason knew that the closer he got to the portal, the more conflicts he would experience. The number of beasts active in the region had also increased.

    "I can fight that beast. I can fight that beast too. I should stay away from that beast. Is that a spider the size of an elephantбн"

    Jason encountered many beasts on his way. Not wanting to indulge in battle, he continued to move ahead.

    Jason had figured out that the moment he would let a beast attack him, the others would jump on him.

    In a fight between two sides, the neutral side always reaps the benefits. The only two options present were to either fight all the beasts in the region or not fight anyone at all.

    The beasts, of course, didn''t share the same sentiment. At times, Jason would have to use some of his skills to attack the beast before running.

    ''Only six more hours of travel and I will reach that structure.'' He observed.

    Jason stopped for his secondst rest. His body had slowly adapted to his continuous usage of lightning, allowing him to travel just a tiny bit longer.

    While being on break, Jason casually activated his special vision and peered at the surroundings. He could see numerous mana sources around him yet none of them seemed bothered by his presence.

    ''Hestia, can you go ahead and scout the area for me. Also, make sure that you keep your aura released fully.'' Jason informed his guardian.

    [ So you want me to be the bait huh. I guess I will be able to draw attention away from you before vanishing. ] Hestia chuckled.

    ''Indeed.''

    Hestia appeared beside Jason in her wolf form. She moved back in the direction Jason had just traveled.

    After traveling for hundred meters, Hestia released her aura, drawing all beasts towards her.

    Jason took this opportunity to run towards the portal. His only goal was to enter the portal andbat only if he was in a life threatening situation.

    Unfortunately for him, the life threatening situation came earlier than anticipated.

    ***

    "Its already been twenty days since they have entered the trial. Only five out of the thirty spots have been filled," Albus murmured. "Its almost time for the appearance of the domain beasts as well."

    Currently, Albus was hovering over the arena with a worried expression. Since it had only been twenty days, he had been able to reassure the parents that everything was fine.

    However, their patience would soon run out.

    ''Damn itбн Once the domain beasts expand their domains, everything is going to get slowed.'' Albus sighed.

    He had expected at least ten children toe out before the twenty days mark.

    ''It was just wistful thinking. With less than a month''s training and fighting experience, its a miracle that even five students managed to get out so early. They have quite insane luck.''

    Suddenly, Albus felt a huge wave of mana expanding inside the dome structure. He could only sigh in frustration while praying for the children currently present inside the trial.

    "Hopefully, this doesn''tst for another few monthsбн"

    ***

    Inside the trial, four simultaneous waves of mana washed over the four zones.

    The mana was so dense that most students were thrown backwards. Until then, the trial had been in its tutorial stages.

    Those who had managed to reach near a portal and enter it were definitely lucky. The real nightmare hadn''t arrived for them.

    "Something is wrongбн" Jason mumbled.

    [ Jeez, you think something is wrong? ] The system replied sarcastically.

    "I am serious right now. That wave of mana right now was like the opening of a secret realm in Chinese cultivation novels. But along with those secret realms, a beast also shows up with someckeys." Jason said mly.

    He immediately climbed to the top of the tree he had jumped to before the wave of mana had washed over the entire region.

    ''If a secret realm did open up, finding it isn''t going to be easy.'' Jason thought while looking across the entire region.<sub> </sub>

    Four portals were still present there yet something had changed. A sinister aura of sorts had taken over the entire ce.

    ''Should I continue heading towards the portals or try looking for some kind of secret realm based on my instincts.''

    Jason was about to make a decision when his eyes suddenly widened. In the distance, hundreds of mana sources were moving in his direction.

    All of them were hurrying to get away from the portals which had developed some kind of weird dark energy.

    "The domain beast of the twin portals is, Iktomi, the spider spirit." A clear voice rang over the area, sending chills down Jason''s spine.

    Three more messages rang after the first one yet they weren''t heard by him. He could only hear a muffle voice which didn''t make much sense to him.

    ''Perhaps the voice just told about the domain beasts of the other regions where the portals are located. First of all, what are domain beasts?'' Jason wondered.

    He continued to stand at the top of the tree and monitor the behavior of the beasts fleeing from the center of the portals.

    It looked as though Iktomi, who was most likely the source of dark mana near the portals, was responsible for terrifying all these beasts.

    A frown appeared on Jason''s face as he calcted his next move. It was pretty clear that he could no longer approach the portals with his simple n.

    Perhaps he couldбн

    "Jason, what are you doing here?"

    "Amber?"

    Jason had been so lost in observing the beasts that he hadn''t recognized the familiar mana moving between them.

    "Are your eyes glowing?" Amber suddenly paused when she saw Jason''s glowing eyes.

    Thetter quickly turned off his abilities and blinked his eyes a few times.

    "Must be a trick of the light," Jason shrugged. "Anyways, do you have any idea as to why all of the beasts are running away from the center of the ce?"

    "Well, I ran away with them as well. That beast at the center is no joke. I don''t think I can fight it even when I ambined with mey."

    Jason''s expression darkened after learning that despite beingbined with hee guardian, Amber still couldn''t take on the beast.

    "But what if webine our powers?" Jason suddenly questioned.

    If two vessels joined hands to fight someone, their powers might be enough to wipe out a low level vige or perhaps a town.

    Jason wondered what destruction he would be able to cause at his peak.

    "I mean there are two portals there and if webine our powers, we can certainly do something." Amber agreed.

    The two of them stared in the directions of the twin portals with a determined expression.

    Jason and Amber then summoned their respective guardians and slowly approached the portals.

    They wanted to observe the beast first before making any kind of decision. For all they knew, the beast might be able to one shot both of them.

    ''Damn... I''ve been raising so many red gs. This is certainly not good.'' Jason scolded himself.

    While slowly walking around the forest floor, Jason and Amber were on the lookout for any kind of trouble.

    Surprisingly, Iktomi seemed to stick around the portals only.

    "Ok, so do we have any type of battle strategy?" Amber asked when they were barely fifteen minutes away from reaching the clearing where the portals were situated.

    "Strategy? No strategy works against a creature whom who have never battled before. The best I can think of is kill or retreat. If you feel like we can''t defeat him, we will run away." Jason replied.

    "That''s not a strategy. That''smon sense that people at times consider as cowardness."

    "Hmm, I don''t really care about people. I only care about a few people."

    "I don''t think we are supposed to talk about such things. Aren''t ten year olds more interested in talking about imaginary things?" Amber asked.

    "Hmm, I imagined that you are my wife in the future and we have three kids."

    "That''s not the kind of imagination I was talking about..." despite her repl6, Amber chuckled at his words

    ''So she didn''t blush. Not innocent either.'' Jason silently noted before turning his head forward.

    "We''ll discuss our imaginationster on. For now, let''s go and see this spider, Iktomi."

 Chapter 134 A Glimpse Of True Devastation [Part 1]

    Iktomi was the definition of a nightmare for anyone with arachnophobia. Even if one didn''t fear spiders, Iktomi''s figure will make you think twice.

    The domain beast was twice the size of an average garbage truck. Its upper body was shaped like a human.

    No clothes adorned his upper body and his eyes, which were hollow and empty, were fixed towards the sky.

    His lower body divulged into six legs like a spider, each of them weaving a web in mere seconds. Dark crystals were present all around his lower body.

    ''Inspect.''

    ---

    Threat level: S rank(low)

    ---

    "Amber, I don''t think we can fight that creature. We will have to take our chances and run towards the portal." Jasonmented with a grim expression.

    Iktomi''s was two ranks stronger than Jason. Even if hebined with Hestia and used his powers alongside Amber.

    "On count of three, we both dash towards the portals from opposite sides. If he attacks one of us, we will help each other. If he attacks both of us, just try to get to the portal and touch it." Jason exined the strategy.

    "That seems too simpleбн"

    "Its better than fighting him head on. Also, can you please swear a tiny oath that you won''t betray me and leave me as food for the spider?"

    "I swear that I won''t leave you behind," Amber swore without hesitation. "Now that we are all set, should we create a distraction?"

    "That will work well. Let''s first try to see what his attack range is."

    Jason suddenly stepped out from the bushes and took his first step into the clearing. Iktomi didn''t look at his direction, giving Jason the courage to keep moving forward.

    He took a dozen steps forward before stopping. Iktomi''s face had suddenly turned in his direction.

    The spider beast didn''t look like he was about to invite Jason to a party. It looked as though he was about to kill Jason and use his head as a souvenir.

    Jason hurriedly stepped back, his body buzzing with lightning. However, Iktomi didn''t look interested in doing anything to him once he had taken a step back.

    "That''s his range. If anything goes wrong, we will have to just get out of this ce and we will be fine." Jason informed.

    His eyes stared at the two portals that were present a few hundred meters behind Iktomi. Both of those portals were made from a white crystal clear energy.

    Their power radiated over the entire area and made the entire ce feel like boss fight. In a way, it was a boss fight.

    Amber took a deep breath beforebining together with mey. The magma smander settled on her neck and closed his eyes.

    A dangerous aura was suddenly emitted from Amber''s body. A few trees caught on fire, all of which was soon extinguished by her.

    ''Hestia, are you ready for this?''

    [ I am. Just remember that once youbine with mepletely, I won''t be able to do anything for you. ] Hestia reminded.

    She stood beside him in her wolf form, her eyes assessing Iktomi.

    < Would you like to connect with your guardian? >

    "Yes," Jason replied.

    Hestia suddenly jumped forward andnded on Jason''s shoulders. Her body glowed brightly as power leaked out from her body.

    The power directly entered Jason''s body, lending him hundred percent of the power that Hestia could offer.

    In turn, her animal form started shrinking. Somehow, she turned into a gray woolen scarf that hung from Jason''s shoulders.

    ''Waitбн''

    Jason turned to look at Amber and saw a bright red scarf wrapped around her neck. If he activated his special vision, Jason could tell that the scarf was mey and could even see the guardian''s real form.

    The silver-haired boy tested this on his own scarf and was surprised to see that he could see Hestia''s wolf form hugging his shoulders.

    ''Back when we had fought in the tournament, I had seen mey around Amber''s neck but I had my vision on then. To normal people, it would look like a normal harmless scarf.'' Jason observed.

    "Jasonбн" Amber''s surprised voice brought him back to reality.

    "What?"

    "Look at yourselfбн"

    Upon hearing the red-head''s reply, Jason nced at his body with his normal eyes. His heart skipped a beat when he saw how he looked.

    White lightning flickered all around his body. Wherever the lightning struck, a small hole would be created alongside the smell of something burning.<sub> </sub>

    ''Dope.'' Jason thought while moving his hands a bit.

    The white lightning worked like his own limbs. With the slightestmand, he could send it scurrying away.

    ''This mode will definitely have a side effectter on. There is no way that guardians can use such a power unrestricted.''

    Jason''s confidence had soared through the sky afterbining with Hestia. He knew that he still couldn''t defeat Iktomi, but the chances of outrunning the domain beast were much higher aspared to before.

    "Threeбн twoбн" Jason started the counting as both of them got into position. "Oneбн let''s go!"

    Both Jason and Amber released their auras, using all of their power at once. The white lightning danced around Jason''s body, allowing him to ovee his limits for a short period of time.

    As soon as they stepped into Iktomi''s zone, both of them upped their guard. The domain beast was already staring at them with a cold expression but hadn''t attacked them yet.

    It was only after they had crossed him that the domain beast start moving.

    Jason and Amber felt chills running across their backs. Both of them turned back at the simultaneously, their eyes locking on Iktomi.

    "You shall not pass me. I will guard the portals until only one of us remains standing." The spider beast released his killing aura.

    Since he was at the S rank, the power emitted by his aura made Jason and Amber cough a few drops of blood.

    [ Let''s run! ] Jason shouted, using the connection of their guardians as a medium to talk with Amber.

    Both of them turned into the other direction and took off again. Iktomi, whose body was emitting a killing aura, finally released his attack.

    "Come forth, beasts of this region. Come and serve me, the king of this domain!" Iktomi''s voice rang clearly in the forest.

    All the beasts who had ran away felt a strange pull in their bodies. Despite the distance between them and Iktomi, they felt the need to respond to his call.

    As soon as the thought entered their minds, webs appeared below their bodies and teleported them to Iktomi''s location.

    "Go ahead and attack those two!" Iktomimanded while shooting multiple webs towards the duo.

    It was at this moment that Jason realized two things. One, Iktomi wasn''t a good fighter or else he wouldn''t have called upon the horde of beasts.

    Second, their chances of reaching the portal had temporarily descended into negative value.

    The webs shot by Iktomi had been urate and despite the duo''s amazing speed, they had managed to stick to their legs.

    ''Not only that butt he beasts are obeying hismands so easily. He also managed to teleport all of them without a sweatбн''

    Jason remembered that when the children had been kidnapped by Hecate, the adults who hade to rescue him needed to band together to create a teleportation spell giant enough to teleport all of them at once.

    It had required over a dozen people to do so yet Iktomi had done the same thing without breaking a sweat.

    "Go ahead and burn the forest, my beasts! Defeat those two!'' Iktomi chanted again and again.

    The fire type beasts released all of their powers at once. The trees turned to ashes and the ground was charred ck.

    It was only Amber''s magma shield that managed to save the two of them from bing roasted human meat for Iktomi to enjoy.

    [ Jason, we will likely be able to maintain this form for the next ten minutes. The only thing we can do is kill the nearest low leveled beasts and dash towards the portals. Iktomi might not be much a of a fighter considering how he has to rely on these beasts. ]

    Amber had managed to reach the same conclusion as him, just a bitte. Betterte than never.

    [ Let''s do it. ] Jason agreed.

    Ever since he had unlocked his powers of lightning, Jason had never let them outpletely. He had carefully learned to control the destruction that could be caused by his lightning.

    And if he was using thunder, things would turn even worse.

    [ Amber, create a protective shield around yourself. ] Jason suggested before taking a deep breath.

    Amber was about to ask for her details but something stopped her from doing it. She saw the lightning around Jason''s body vanish.

    The silver-haired boy called all of his lightning back. Amber immediately summoned her magma element and surrounded her body with it.

    Once Jason had confirmed her position, he rushed forward towards the nearest beast, which was barely ten meters away from him.

    As soon as he was one meter away from the beast, Jason''s eyes started glowing. His body started burning with powers as tendrils of lightning shot out all around him.

    ''Amber, remember one important thing. If someone stands in front of you and uses his or her powers to fight, make sure that you protect their back. Many great warriors fell because no one covered them from behind.''

    Amber summoned up as much magma as she could. Her eyes glowed a bright shade of orange as she stared at Jason.

    Together, both of them would finally get a glimpse of true devastation. A devastation that they would create using their own powers

 Chapter 135 A Glimpse Of True Devastation [Part 2]

    White lightning rushed out of Jason''s body wildly. Everything present near him was burned to ashes, alongside the few beasts who had managed toe near him.

    ''So this is what unrestricted power feels likeбн'' Jason thought with an inward smile. His entire body shuddered before a wave of lightning shot outwards.

    Jason could feel his muscles humming with power. He felt as if he supply electricity to an entire country at once.

    No beast survived in front of his attacks. Only those above the low level of a rank were able to survive his attacks. They, too, suffered major injuries.

    Iktomi''s expression darkened when he saw this. The domain beast could tell that it was going to fail at its job miserably.

    Though Iktomi was only created by the help of Albus''s mana, he was very much like a real beast as well as a human.

    His consciousness told him that if the silver-haired boy wasn''t stopped then and there, Iktomi would lose his form.

    [ Attack from under the ground! ] he shouted using telepathy.

    Since all of the beasts int he forest were under hismand, iktomi could easily order them to do as he pleased.

    The beast with the highest level of Earth affinity managed to create an entrance for other beasts to enter.

    They went underground at the same time and decided to attack Jason from below.

    Jason, who was busy killing and fending off beasts on the ground, didn''t notice that a few beasts from the back had vanished.

    His sole goal was to kill as many beasts as he could and make a dash towards the portals using thest bit of his strength.

    The system''s sensing abilities were also nerfed while Hestia waspletelybined with Jason and couldn''t do anything.

    [ Huhбн ] The system suddenly sensed some movement directly below Jason. As soon as it realized who the figures below were, it shouted inside Jason''s mind. [ Host, there are beasts right below you! ]

    By then, it was toote. No matter how quick or deadly his lightning was, Jason couldn''t deal with an attacking from below.

    "Hmmбн I guess you forgot about me," Amber pouted slightly. "I don''t fight that many people but when I am fighting someone, I will like it if I don''t get ignored."

    Amber had already sensed the beasts when they had entered the ground. Her control over the magma element granted her the ability to sense underground as well.

    Due to her being connected with mey, Amber''s powers had increased by multiple folds.

    Iktomi suddenly felt his connection with multiple beasts severing at once. ''

    Jason hadunched a dragon made from lightning on the ground while Amber had closed all exists below ground.

    The red-head had then released her burning mes underground, demolishing everything that came in front of them.

    This was the power held by two vessels at the mere age of ten. If they could develop their powers further and be stronger, they would might be able to blow the entire forest with one attackбн

    At least that''s what the system believed. It had been analyzing the entire fight silently without giving any hints to Jason.

    After all, it was useless to say anything. Jason was doing fine on his own.

    ''Two more minutesбн'' Jason felt the strain being put on his muscles increasing by every passing second.

    He had cleared more than half of the beasts that had gathered together to kill him. The feeling of holding this much power thrilled Jason yet at the same time, it was challenging his physical limits.

    Jason had realized that he was approaching his limit. His body was already begging him to stop.

    [ Amber, its time for us to go towards the portal and run from here. ] Jason said through telepathy.

    [ Indeed. I have managed to stop any attempts of beasts trying to attack you from below, top or behind. I will be reaching my limits soon. ] she replied.

    [ Same here. I will release onest major attack. After that, I will use my powers of lightning to take both of us to the portals. Keep a look on things. ]

    Jasonpressed a great amount of lightning in his palms. He jumped back and released the lightning forward.

    It took the shape of a bird, one that resembled the bird of bncer that Jason had seen on top of the carriage.

    The lightning bird swooped forward and acted as a shield between him and the other side of the army.

    Jason looked back and appeared beside Amber.

    [ Hold tightly. ] he ced his hands on her shoulders and let a bit of his lightning move around Amber''s body.

    A few strands of her hair stood up yet she didn''t seem care about them. Amber felt a strange surge of power invade her body as Jason took off.

    It barely took him a minute to reach the portal which was at least a kilometer away from their previous location.]

    ''I should use this as an alternative for teleportation until I learn it.'' Jason silently wondered before he dropped Amber.

    "Go on and enter the portal." He said and ran away.

    "I didn''t even get to say thank youбн" Amber sighed, her eyes turning towards the portal.

    The pir of light was emerging from the ground and withheld arge amount of mana inside it.

    Amber touched the pir of light with her hand as a window materialized in front of her. Since she had seen a few windows before, she wasn''t surprised by the appearance of another one.

    [ Would you like to undertake the trial of fear? ]

    Amber''s obvious reply would be yes but something irked her. Just before they hadunched away, Iktomi hadn''t even tried to do something against them.

    ''Did he simpty give away knowing that the chances of him being able to win were quite thin?'' Amber found it hard to believe that the domain beast would give up so easily.

    Simultaneously, her powers faded away, the scarf on her neck vanishing alongside her powers. She could feel her body feeling quite weak, one of the after effects of the using the full powers of her guardian.

    ''Jason''s powers should have vanished before mine since he had activated his firstбн'' Amber had a bad feeling as she stared at the other portal situated a few kilometers away from her portal.

    The presence of the pir of light indicated that no one had yet taken the portal to enter the real Trial of Fear.

    ''Oh well, the worst thing that can happen to me is death. Might as well go and make sure he reached his portal.''

    Amber sighed, her feet moving towards the other portal. She had already swore that she would not leave Jason behind so she couldn''t exactly enter a portal while leaving him behind.

    ***

    A few hundred meters away from the portal, Jason was running with gritted teeth. His chest hurt from the short amount of running he had done, which was quite funny considering how he was used to running at a higher speed with his lightning element.

    ''My powers just had to run out the moment I left Amber behind.'' Jason sighed.<sub> </sub>

    His body felt extremely weak after using Hestia''s powers to the fullest. The scarf on his neck had vanished yet Hestia was no where to be seen.

    [ She is definitely resting and would likely not be able to meet you for some time. As for your body, you are experiencing the after effects of abusing your body while fighting. ] The system exined.

    ''Everythinges with a price smh.''

    [ You did not just think of the word ''smh''. No wait, ''smh'' isn''t a word in the first ce. ]

    ''It''s an abbreviation.'' Jason pointed out.

    The temporary discussion had managed to get his mind off his exhaustion. Using small flickers of lightning, Jason had managed to get quite close to the portal.

    Unfortunately, Iktomi chose this moment to catch up to the silver-haired boy.

    The domain beast had appeared out of nowhere or at least that''s what it looked like at first. Iktomi had simply swung from one tree to another like a spider.

    Perhaps he could be called the Half-Spider man.

    "You will not enter that portal. If it disappears, I will disappear too." Iktomi said with a stern expression.

    The domain beast had already noticed that Jason''s speed had been reduced by a lot. The dangerous white lightning wasn''t surrounding him either, making the boy much weaker than before.

    Iktomi shot multiple webs at Jason, one after the other. Since he wasn''t good at fighting, this was the only thing he could do.

    ''Damn itбн'' Jason knew that in his current state, he wouldn''t be able to dodge all of the iing webs.

    He decided to use Ariadne''s threat as ast resort. Jason threw the thread towards the iing webs, cutting them swiftly.

    A stinging sensation spread across his hands but there was nothing he could do.

    Jason could only walk towards the portal with steady steps while hoping that Iktomi wouldn''t call some beast to fight him.

    ''My hands might get cut into half if I try to sever a beast''s head using this thread.''

    Jason continued to tear the webs with his thread. The wounds inflicted on his hands had also started healing.

    ''How? How can he keep destroying my webs with a simple thread like that?!'' Iktomi was frustrated due to how things were proceeding.

    He silently looked around for any beasts that might help him but all that remained were low rank B beasts.

    With no other choice left, Iktomi summoned the beasts and ordered them to ambush Jason from behind.

    Thetter wasn''t aware of this and continued his slow but steady approach towards the portal.

    ''He is looking so desperate to capture me. But from the looks of it, he doesn''t have any power left to do anything else.'' Jason observed.

    He had figured out how to destroy the webs without using much strength. By simply holding out his hands and gripping the thread tightly, he could separate the webs into two pieces.

    ''Just a bit more.'' Iktomi, with a desperate expression, continued tounch more webs from his lower half.

    His powers were never suited towards battle. The only reason Iktomi had reached his level was due to his ability to make beasts weaker than him bow before him.

    ''This is it!'' Suddenly, Iktomiunched himself into the air.

    He used his webs to swing from one branch to another, aiming for Jason''s face.

    Thetter suddenly jumped backwards andnded in a clearing. The portal shone brightly behind him.

    Jason immediately turned around and broke into a sprint. He just had to to touch the portal and enter the Trial of fear.

    Unfortunately, he fell right into Iktomi''s trap.

    The Earth around his feet suddenly turned into quicksand. Since he had initially been sprinting, his body was sucked by the quicksand rather quickly,

    Jason immediately went still, his eyes wide with shock. The quicksand hade up to his waist and if he moved anymore, he would surely get sucked inpletely.

    "Finally I can live in peace. Even if one of the portals vanish, I can still live." Iktomi sighed in relief.

    He had ordered what little beasts he had found to create a trap for Jason. The quicksand was the best thing that could have happened since it didn''t allow Jason to move.

    ''How hard could it be to destroy this quicksand.'' Jason, who was over his initial shock, focused on his body.

    He summoned his lightning and was ready to burst out of the quicksand when all of a sudden, he felt his arms going numb.

    ''Shtбн''

    [ Host, your muscles could no longer hold the lightning and I am afraid that you won''t be able to move them for half an hour or soбн ]

    ''Ughбн I will have to do this entire thing again from the start, that too with a handicap.'' Jason sighed as he dispelled his lightning.

    Trying to forcefully use it will only end up harming his body even more than it already was.

    "Phew, good thing I came to check up on you. My oath would''ve been useless otherwise." Amber sighed.

    The red-headnded right beside Jason, a grin visible on her face. All around them, the forest burst into fire.

    "I killed the beasts surrounding you. Now we can easily go to the portal." Amber used her powers to take Jason out of the quicksand.

    She repaired the ground as well before staring at Iktomi. The domain beast had a shocked expression on his face as he stood on top of a branch.

    "You were supposed to be inside that portal!" Iktomi shrieked.

    "But I am not there now. Let''s go, Jason." Amber turned towards the portal and walked towards it alongside Jason.

    ''That was an unexpected thing.'' Jason thought with a surprised expression.

    [ Children are easy to influence. Your words and actions must have reached out to Amber or otherwise, she wouldn''t have returned too help you in this manner. ] The system pointed out.

    ''I agree.''

    Iktomi could only watch the duo reach the portal with a neutral expression on his face. He decided to conserve his strength since he now knew that the other portal would still remain same.

    As for Jason and Amber, both of them had encountered a problem. There was only one portal and two of them.

 Chapter 136 First Fear

    "Jason, go ahead and enter the portal." Amber said and stepped back.

    "No, the moment I do that, Iktomi will try to kill you. Being alone in front of a beast like him is definitely going to kill you." Jason argued in a voice only audible to Amber.

    Both of their guardians were currently out ofmission so they couldn''t talk to each other using telepathy.

    "The same thing will happen even if I enter the portal. The only way to avoid conflict is if we both manage to enter a portal together." Amber countered.

    "Waitбн" Jason paused, an idea entering his mind. "What if we both touch the portal at the same time?"

    "Huh?"

    "Principal Albus never said that two people couldn''t enter the portal at the same time." Jason pointed out.

    "Uh, he did say that two people couldn''t enter the same portal."

    [ He did say that only a single person can enter a portal. ]

    Both Amber and the system countered him. Jason could only shook his head, his eyes staring at the white pir of light.

    "Well, there is no harm in touching the portal together. Let''s see what happens." Jason sighed.

    Amber didn''t see any harm either. Simultaneously, both of them ced their hands on the pir. A pair of windows appeared in front of them, asking whether they wanted to take the trial.

    The duo exchanged a nce. "Well, let''s say yes and see what happens." Jason shrugged.

    Iktomi, who had been watching the duo from far away, suddenly felt chills running down his spine. His mana flow started behaving weirdly.

    ''Butt he portal is still here. Why is this happening?'' Iktomi frowned.

    He knew that his life was rted to the portals yet out of the two portals he was supposed to guard, only one of them was vanishing.

    The spider looked at the other portal and much to his shock, the second portal''s light was slowly fading away.

    Iktomiunched himself towards the portals, his spider body spinning webs one after the other. He swung from one branch to other, his mana slowly vanishing from his body.

    Iktominded in front of the second portal with the hope of stopping the one undergoing the trial but it was a wasted attempt.

    No one was present near the portal.

    "Howбн" those were thest words spoken by Iktomi before the portal vanishedpletely.

    His mana flow also disappeared, his body vanishing alongside it. The domain beast vanished with both the portals.

    ***

    "Another one of the twin portals has been used." Albus muttered outside.

    He could feel the disappearance of the twin portals present in the expert zone. Since he was linked to all of them, he could tell how and when the portals were essed.

    All four zones present inside the trial had two twin portals. These portals were situated close to each other and could be entered individually.

    However, they could also be entered by only a single portal. It meant that if two people were to race to one portal and ce their hand on it, both of them would be able to take the trial with the help of the other portal.

    These portals had personally been crafted by Albus for those who had teamed up or were fighting alongside one of their friends.<sub> </sub>

    He had done this to make sure that the children got to know the value ofpanionship. Albus was also pleased to see that so far, the portals had done their job well.

    Two pairs of such portals had already been used out of the total four that were present.

    ''So those two entered the portals. Its a relief that it was them who entered the portals.'' Albus sighed in relief. ''Now I can at least tell the Syrward and Feuer family that their children are safe.''

    ***

    ''Well, that worked.'' Jason thought with a smile.

    He was currently standing in a small white room devoid of any objects. The room was quite small sized but since nothing was present inside, it looked quite big.

    [ It was an Easter Egg I guess. It was quite cleverly ced since the two portals weren''t that far from each other. ]

    ''Indeed. I am wondering what the Trial of fear is going to be about. Perhaps it will be about fighting one''s fears.''

    [ Perhapsбн Host, there is something you should know. ]

    ''Hmm, what is it?''

    p [ Sancus''s divinity was active for a few seconds inside your dream. Though it was for a short time, I was able to sense the divinity being activated inside you. ]</anda>

    Jason blinked in surprise. He hadn''t expected the divinity to be active in this manner.

    [ Maybe Amber''s actions triggered something inside the divinity. It released a tiny amount of divine energy inside you before going back to its hovering state. ]

    ''Can I use the energy in any possible way?''

    [ No, the energy is too little to be of use. ]

    ''Sad.'' Jason sighed.

    He waited for something to happen but the longer he sat there in a room, the weirder he felt. Suddenly, a random thought appeared in his mind.

    ''What if istion or loneliness is one of my fears?''

    [ That''s kinda impossible since me and Hestia are there with you most of the times. Even when either of us aren''t there, you know that we are still connected with you. ] The system pointed out.

    ''Then I just have to say that I can never be alone?'' Jason questioned.

    [ There''s no harm in trying. ]

    Jason agreed and said the same words aloud. A ripple of sorts went around the room. The ceiling slowly started cracking, spreading across the entire room.

    Jason could see a bright night sky above his head as the room slowly cracked away. He found himself standing on solid ground in a familiar ce.

    On looking around, the silver-haired boy saw a manor in the distance, a manor he was very familiar with.

    "Is thatбн" the words died in Jason''s throat when he realized that the manor he was seeing was none other than the Syrward family.

    Currently, his home was on fire.

 Chapter 137 Second Fear

    Jason ran towards the manor, his eyes wide in shock. He reached the entrance of the manor and dashed inside, his mind brainstorming the reason for the fire.

    He broke into the kitchen just to see a horrifying scene happening in front of him. His entire family was in front of him, their bodies burning with mes.

    Jason could feel an uproar happening throughout his body. His eyes were wide open, staring at the scene in shock.

    [ Host, it isn''t real! Don''t get fooled by it! ] The system shouted but for some reason, its voice couldn''t reach Jason.

    It was ironic considering what the system had told Jason inside the room. The words seemed meaningless now.

    Jason''s knees became weak as he fell to the ground. His body raged with different emotions, numbing for the time being.

    Suddenly, the entire scene was reced by an even horrifying one.

    The Syrward family was moving through the Kamizel forest again. But this time, Hecate chased after them with various mist creatures.

    One by one, all of them were being soaked in by the mist, vanishing from their spots with terrified frozen expressions.

    [ Fire, mist and losing all those you love. Haahбн I should have known that this would be one of your fears. ] the system sighed sadly.

    It thought that it knew Jason well but was wrong. Its host was still suffering from the same things he had experienced except now, Jason kept them buried deep inside his heart.

    Many minutes passed by in this manner with different scenes ying in front of him. All of them included fire and mist.

    ''Get a hold of yourself, idiot!'' Jason consciousness shouted. ''You think Risa and Issac are that weak that they will be defeated by in fire and mist?''

    That thought seemed to pull him back to his senses. Jason slowly stood up and took a deep breath.

    "Its not real. I am not afraid of this." He said out loud yet unlike what happened with the room, the scenes didn''t stop ying.

    Jason stood still, thinking of the same words over and over again yet they had no effect.

    [ Sometimes, admitting our fears doesn''t mean that we are no longer afraid of them. We have just epted that they are present there and they make us who we are. ] The system said in a soft tone, its voice sounding extremely close to that of a human.

    Its voice somehow reached Jason''s ears, making his eyes wide.

    Jason was silent for a few minutes before asking, ''did youe up with those words or did you took them from somewhere?''

    [ No, I just thought of them on the spot. Why? ] The system asked in a confused tone.

    ''Haaбн I have heard them before.'' Jason replied with a sad smile on his face.

    [ Huh? ] the system wanted to check Jason''s memories but it felt that it wasn''t the correct time to do that.

    Instead, it asked a question. [ Host, do you think you can beat your fears? ]

    ''I don''t know. I have no idea what to do now.'' Jason shrugged. He had done his part by not only admitting that everything was fake.<sub> </sub>

    By admitting that he was afraid of things, he had also released a burden off his shoulders.

    Jason simply sat down and watched the scenes y in front of him, one after the other. The pain he felt decreased the more he watched them.

    He could even locate the wrong details like the wrong eye color of one of his family member''s or how Hecate looked like a charming loli.

    Jason didn''t realize it but the scenes had slowly changed. In a few more minutes, he wasughing while watching Hecate turning into an old hag with a drooping face.

    Slowly but steadily, the sky began to crack.

    ***

    "Good job, Jason." Erebus looked at the scene with a smile on his face.

    The only ones currently able to watch Jason fight his fears were Erebus, the system, Sancus and the goddess who had given Jason the ring.

    Erebus could tell that all of them were watching Jason with curious eyes. Sancus and the goddess would''ve likely not watched the silver-haired boy if not for their divinities activating for a tiny amount of time.

    Usually, a god''s divinity would activate between five years of their follower being reborn. However, that wasn''t possible with Jason due to having multiple divinities inside him.

    Those with multiple divinities and a single patron god had to wait for some sort of triggering event for the divinities to activate.

    ''Sadly, I, a fallen god, am his patron. Not only that but Jason is a half-demon. Halflings are always troublesome. Under normal circumstances, Sancus''s divinity should have activated after a few promises he made andpleted.

    The ring would have activated after he talked with three to four females between his age or ten years of gap. Sadly, th two divinities have barely sparked over the eleven years that have passed since his birth.''

    Erebus could only sigh since there was nothing he could do. Despite being his patron, the god of shadows couldn''t control such things.

    He left things on the various gods and goddesses of fates and hoped that one of them might know a thing or two about Jason''s future.

    But if they didn''t, no one could know what will happen in the future.

    ***

    "I finally defeated my fear." Jason sighed in relief.

    The silver-haired boy was lying in a clearing, his eyes staring at the new sky that had opened up in front of him.

    The sky was deprived of the brightness he had seen in his previous fear. No stars were visible in the sky and the moon seemed to have vanished.

    [ Host, you might still be afraid deep down. But now, you have managed to conquer your fear for a short time. That was what helped you clear that trial. ]

    ''Thank you for the words you spoke then. They helped me get a hold of myself and clear the trial.'' Jason replied with a smile.

    Minutes passed by before he finally stood up, his eyes fixed on the ck sky. It was time to beat another one of his fears

 Chapter 138 When Fear Reigns Supreme [Part 1]

    The surroundings seemed to merge together with Jason''s body, making him seem like a part of the night.

    ''So, what exactly is my fear here?''

    [ how am I supposed to know that? ]

    ''Well, I was just talking to myself. It was you who thought that I was talking with you.'' Jason replied with a smile.

    He slowly started moving onwards the north in hope of getting some clue as to what he should do.

    The further Jason walked, the more confused he got. There was no clear indication about his fear unlike thest time.

    ''Perhaps this is a set up for the real fear that will show up soon.'' Jason wondered silently.

    After walking for an hour, he felt tired. However, his eyes had caught the sight of a hut in the distance.

    He slowly trudged towards the hut with a careful expression. The hut was likely his next fear to ovee.

    Jason finally reached the hut. He out his ear on the door of the structure and heard what was happening inside.

    "If you want your children to remain safe, do as we tell you." A male voice said coldly.

    "B-Butбн" A woman sobbing voice replied.

    Jason felt his heart beat quickening. This had happened during the war on Earth as well.

    Soldiers had taken hold of the innocent, though such incidents had only happened in small scale.

    ''It doesn''t concern me. I don''t have to do anything here.'' Jason thought, forcing himself to walk away.

    He slowly moved away from the hut, a strange pounding sound echoing inside his ears.

    "AHHhh!" A scream suddenly came out of the house followed by the sound of something hitting the ground.

    The sound was so loud that despite being a few meters away from the house, Jason could hear it.

    ''Damn itбн I can''t ignore things if they happen in this manner,'' he thought while gritting his teeth.

    Jason turned around and ran towards the hut. He was no hero but it was hard to ignore the helpless voice of someone trying to prevent a mishap from happening.

    Many people might hate heroes for their over righteousness or sense of justice. Some of those heroes deserved it because most of the time, they were putting up a facade.

    [ What do you consider yourself, host? If you aren''t a hero, what are you? ]

    "A half-demon, of course!" Jason replied without a second thought.

    He kicked on the door, making it fall open. Inside, his eyes fixed on three people who stood over the bodies of two women with an emotionless expression.

    Their faces seemed to be meddling in with the surroundings, giving them a dead eyed look.

    Jason''s eye then turn to look. His eyesnded on the bodies of the two women, jolt of shock passing right through his body.

    Their face had no organs on it. in nd faces stared back at Jason, making him shudder.<sub> </sub>

    "Who are you?" one of the men asked with a cold re.

    "A passerby. I will be on my way again." Jason replied with a charming smile before turning around.

    He felt as though he was living in a nightmare that was haunting him after watching a horror film.

    "You are just going to leave us here because we have no faces?" one of the woman suddenly said.

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder where the voice hade from since she didn''t have any mouth.

    "Even if you don''t save us, what about them?" the woman pointed towards the corner of the room.

    Jason''s gazended on a bunch of children huddled up into a corner. Their faces showed terrified expressions yet what hit Jason in the gut was the feeling that he knew all of them.

    Their faces currently represented the faces of all those children who he had met throughout his two lives.

    If he left them behind at the mercy of the three men, he knew that he won''t be able to sleep peacefully in the realm world.

    Well, entering the dream world was always an option.

    "See, in front of people who you know, you will do your best to save them." One of the women smiled. "Its not because you are righteous or a hero bent on saving the world. Its because if you don''t save them, you will feel a guilt in your heart."

    Jason''s body stiffened. The woman had managed to know his exact thoughts.

    "You are not special there. Most people subconsciously or consciously feel the same. You or them are, by no means, a hero. You are just going to save those who you know so that you can sleep easily at night."

    Jason wanted to say something but his mouth couldn''t form any words. After all, what they had said was correct.

    "Iбн"

    "You are nothing, Jason Syrward. Just like the countless people living in the world, you mostly follow the same things. You just got a bit lucky than the others." Both the women threw back their heads and started cackling.

    ***

    At the divine templeбн

    "So that''s thest one of your three big fears. Its quite a unique fear I supposeбн"

    A goddess smiled while watching the trial unfold in front of her eyes. She could tell that Jason was currently in a state where it was impossible for him to counter the two women.

    "It has been many, many, many years since I saw someone with a fear like that. Daedalus, the genius Greek scientist, shares the same fear as you. Few people, who are not remembered as heroes or justice fighters, share the same fear as you.

    Perhaps if I was a mortal, I would know why you fear such things but I am afraid that I can''t understand all of your feelings," The goddess muttered to herself.

    "However, there is one thing that I can." The goddess snapped her fingers, sending some energy into the golden ring lying inside Jason''s soul.

    ***

    Inside Jason''s body, the divinity of the goddess, slowly began to glowбн

 Chapter 139 When Fear Reigns Supreme [Part 2]

    Jason, who was currently in a frozen state, felt something warm spreading throughout his body.

    Feeling that he could move his body again, the silver-haired boy immediately nced down at his little brother.

    Though the chances of anything happening to it were less, Jason felt that it was necessary for him to check his lower half.

    ''The warmth didn''te from that region.'' Jason mentally sighed in relief.

    [ Why did you even get to that conclusion in the first ce?! ]

    ''Cause it felt like the most natural thing to do.''

    Jason eyes focused on the people present in the hut. He could feel the warmth enveloping him, sending him a wave of newfound confidence.

    "Why do you attack me? Though what you said is true, why do I have to be the one to take this burden? If I do something, I will be the one people will expect things from. If I don''t do something, people will look at me with disgust?" Jason questioned aloud.

    The three men standing beside the faceless women suddenly vanished. Though no expressions were visible on the faces of the women, they felt shocked judging from their bodynguage.

    Either that or they were silentlyughing, sending vibrations throughout their bodies.

    "I will ask againбн why must I be the one to carry this burden. For the sake of Erebus''s bar, I don''t care about some things. Just let me do what I want!" Jason shouted in reply.

    One by one, the children started vanishing. This continued to happen until only the two women remained in the room.

    "You shouldn''t be able to get over this fear so easily!" one of the women hissed.

    Both of them stood up at the same time, their bodies merging together. Jason closed his eyes, not wanting to see the horrifying process that might have taken ce in front of his eyes.

    [ You can look now, host. ] The system, who had seen the entire process, said after a few minutes.

    Jason opened his eyes toe face to face with a red subus like demon.

    The woman was near six feet tall. Her eyes were a mischievous shade of pink while her skin looked as though she it had been sunburnt.

    Despite that, it looked silky smooth. Her hair, the same shade of red, were tied in a braid. A long ck tail,ing out from her behind, flickered from one side to other.

    Two tiny horns were protruding from the top of her head, making her look like a cosyer.

    "Who helped you there?" the beautiful subus like demon hissed.

    Jason''s heart started pounding again, not due to the demon''s beauty, but because of her aura and powers.

    Seven ck orbs rotated around her body, each of them showcasing a disaster or a fear worse than the previous one.

    Her aura was so horrible that Jason felt like puking.

    The silver-haired boy didn''t know that the golden ring was the only thing preventing him from falling on the ground and puking his insides out due to fear.

    Suddenly, a small red window opened in front of Jason''s eyes. It only contained a few words but those words were enough to send chills down his spine.

    ---

    < Phobos >

    - The goddess of fear born to Ares and Aphrodite.

    - Phobos knows every single fear that a person might have. Not even gods can save themselves from Phobos''s powers. If she wishes to destroy someone, Phobos can trap that person inside a loop which will continuously show them their worst fears with no way out.

    - To safeguard the world, Phobos''s soul was bound to a ck cube which could be used to test one''s own fears. Inside this cube, Phobos''s powers are restricted.

    ---

    "бн" Jason felt as though his vocal cords had just went on a vacation after reading the details of the beautiful subus standing in front of him.

    ? "Oh? You know who I am? Interestingбн" Phobos smiled.

    With her powers, she could peer deep into anyone''s soul and extract their fears. If she tried hard enough, she could also obtain their thoughts and other things.<sub> </sub>

    Phobos plunged deep into Jason''s soul, without thetter realizing it. However, the silver-haired boy wasn''t alone.

    [ Host, brace yourself. Your soul is about to be prated. ] The system warned in a grim tone.

    ''Prated by what?'' Jason asked with a frown. Before he could get a reply, an invisible punch was suddenly delivered to his gut.

    Jason coughed while clutching his stomach. It was as though someone had him in the guts with full force.

    Phobos looked at this with a smile on her face. While obtaining things from one''s soul, the goddess of fear would be inflicting some damage to the person.

    ying with souls was no trivial matter, even for gods and goddesses like Phobos.

    "So you have the divinity of Erebusбн" Phobos muttered in a dazed tone. "How did he manage to get followers after the curse ced on him?"

    "I don''t knowбн" Jason replied in a muffled tone. His abdomen was hurting like hell but after the mention of Erebus, the pain had toned done a bit.

    "Oooo, you have Sancus''s divinity as well. It doesn''t seem like he is your patron god. The divinity is still not activated." Phobos pushed deeper inside Jason''s soul while trying to decrease his pain.

    However, all of a sudden, her body froze. There were two presences inside his soul that the goddess of fear knew well.

    One of them was Hestia, Jason''s guardian, who was forced out of her slumber due to Phobos''s activities.

    The second belonged to the goddess who had given Jason the golden ring. Both of their presences shook Phobos greatly.

    Even a goddess of fear like herself didn''t want to mess with two other goddesses of that caliber.

    However, a smile soon appeared on Phobos''s lips.

    "You know well that a goddess of your level can''t interfere in a trial being held by another goddess unless you are this kid''s patron. Doing so is breaking the sacredw." Phobos said aloud while staring at the ceiling.

    In front of Jason''s eyes, the ceiling vanished and was reced by the starless sky.

    [ Host, please close your eyes and ears! ] the system suddenly shouted inside his head.

    Jason didn''t ask any questions and did as told. A bright sh of light went off in front of his face, blinding his vision despite having his eyes closed.

    ''Thank you for the warning.''

    [ It was Erebus who asked me to do that for you. ]

    ''Can you tell what is happening right now?'' Jason asked silently.

    [ Nope, I am in a simr state as you. We only have to wait for a few seconds to see how things are proceeding. ]

    It turned out that the system was wrong. Minutes passed by before Jason could finally see things.

    When he opened his eyes, he saw Phobos grinning. The goddess looked as though someone had just given her a way to terrorize hundreds of kids with a single fear.

    "Looks like I owe you one, kid." Phobos said while maintaining her grin. "Looks like you are the reason I am going to be free."

    "Free?" Jason asked in a confused tone.

    "Yes, I am going to be free. Its about damn time the fear reigned supreme in the world of mortals. By the way, you have sessfully cleared the trial. Congrattions!" the goddess pushed her hand in his direction.

    Before Jason could ask anything, he vanished from the ce.

    The silver-haired boy had no idea what had happened. All he knew was that ording to Phobos, ''Fear will reign supreme'' in the world of mortals.

    ***

    AN: Phobos is originally a god of fear alongside Deimos(dread). I decided to tweak the myth a bit.

    Also, this volume will being to an end in about three to five chapters. I know this is quite a short volume but you can consider it as a set up for the uing events. I foreshadowed a few things in the previous and current chapter.

    Hope you have fun reading ^^

 Chapter 140 Infiltration Plan

    In Troy, the capital city of Vancouver kingdomбн

    "How is the trial of fear progressing?" Julian, the king of the Vancouver kingdom, questioned.

    "Its progressing slowly. Around fifteen children have made it out of the trial after six months." Zn, the prime minister of the Vancouver kingdom, replied.

    The two brothers were talking inside Julian''s private chamber. The king of the kingdom wasn''t interested in letting the information reach the ears of others outside his room.

    "What about the person who we were going to send to the demon kingdom?" Julian questioned.

    "About thatбн" Zn shifted his gaze towards the door.

    The door suddenly opened up to reveal a demon walking inside with a grin on his face. The demon was none other Nero, one of the nine demonmanders.

    "So you are the king of the Vancouver kingdom, Julian Vancouver," Nero grinned. "Looks like I cam at the right ce to assassinate the king of an important kingdom. Glory to the demon king!"

    Despite the words sounding cringe, Nero said that with pride. This was how the ninemanders had to act and behave if they wanted the demon king to spare them.

    "Oh, is that so?" Julian asked with a smile.

    Hezily stood up from his bed, his golden-brown eyes staring directly at Nero. Julian suddenly activated his divinity, creating an atmosphere of suppression around him.

    ? Zn immediately dropped down to his knees. He didn''t want to suffer the same thing he had experienced a few months back.

    Nero on the other hand stood straight with a raised expression. He didn''t look the least bit affected by Julian''s divinity.

    This brought a smile to Julian''s face before he increased the power of his divinity. The pressure weighing on Nero''s shoulders increased by multiple folds.

    "Kid, you are wasting your breath in attempts of making me kneel," Nero sneered as his body started to morph.

    It took the shape of a beautiful woman in her mid twenties. The beautiful woman had gray hair, the kind one might see on an old person''s head.

    Her eyes were pitch ck and seemed empty, marking her as something not humane.

    "Its a pleasure to meet you, Julian Vancouver." The woman smiled.

    "Its my pleasure to meet you, guardian of Mistopia." Julian deactivated his divinity. "I am honored that someone like you is going to help us in such grave times."

    The woman was none other than Hecate, who had used her powers to turn into Nero. The guardian of Mistopia had a smile on her face yet it didn''t reach her face.

    "Is it true that Phobos chains have loosened?" She questioned Zn, who was still kneeling on the floor.

    "Oh? That''s something you didn''t tell me." Julian said calmly.

    "I didn''t get the time to do that. She came inside before I could tell you about it," Zn pointed out. "Yes, the chains on hope loosened about an hour ago. Albus is afraid that if we don''t do something, Phobos will be released in the next few years."

    Julian and Hecate both fell silent. Both of them were carefully nning their next move since Phobos was not someone they could take lightly.

    "How much time do we have before that?" Hecate questioned.<sub> </sub>

    "Six years minimum and ten years maximum. Once we cross the six years mark, Phobos cane out at any given point of time." Zn replied.

    "That''s enough time for us to proceed ahead with the way things are going. The first trial should be over in two more months. Once that happens, we will gather those who passed the trial from A and Z ss and make them enter the chamber.'' Julian stated his n.

    Zn wanted to say something then thought the better of it. The special exception made for ss Z students had now been extended up to ss a students.

    "Are you confident that you can infiltrate the demon kingdom without making the demon king believe that you are the fake Nero?'' Julian asked Hecate.

    ''If I use my powers carefully, I can stay inside the demon realm for the next five years without making the demon king know that it''s me who is staying inside his domain." Hecate answered.

    "That''s enough time. Tell me all details about the demon king and his pce. All of our races are mostly peaceful with the asional scums that pop up. I believe in the demon race as well but their king is another matter."

    "Brother, why do you hate the king so much?" Zn asked slowly, not wanting to offend his brother in any way.

    "First, he killed father but I guess that''s not half bad considering I got the throne. Second, the demon king bears a divinity that shouldn''t be allowed to grow stronger."

    "Which divinity is that?" Zn frowned as this was the first time he was hearing about the demon king being a divinity holder.

    "He is the sin of pride. The more time he spends as a ruler, the stronger he will grow. At his current level, he can easily provide some challenge to all three of usbine. Though we will win in the end, he will be able tost for at least ten minutes." Julian revealed.

    "Waitбн if that''s true, he will grow stronger in the next decade and might even be the strongest in the entire world." Zn mumbled.

    "Indeed. As you know, the demon race has the seven sins. The elven race has the blessings of the nature. The dwarf race has the blessings of every single god rted to forging. Every race has something like this." Julian exined.

    The king of the kingdom knew that the guardian in front of him wasn''t familiar with the different blessings of the races living in Clover.

    "What about humans?" Hecate questioned even though she had a feeling that she already knew the answer to her question.

    "Only those with human blood can hold the apex guardians of nine realms." Julian replied with a smile.

    "Though there is a loophole here. Anyone with either of the those bloods can get the respective race''s specialty." Zn added.

    "I know. I have seen it with my own eyes. However, why hasn''t a sin like that ever gotten stronger before?" Hecate questioned.

    "Its because the demon themselves never allowed anyone with such power to rise to such a high rank. You can consider the current king to be lucky since not only was he born to the royal family, he managed to gain the loyalty of four more sins."

    "That''s one tough enemy." Hecatemented.

    "Indeed. That''s why I want you to go there and gather information on him. I will proceed depending on whether he wants to conquer the world or not." Julian''s eyes settled on Zn. "Have you asked the demons to arrange a meeting to exchange Nero?"

    "I have. They agreed to meet us a few hours from now."

    "Its settled then. We will bemencing with the n once evening arrives. I can''t let the demon king kill another ruler just so he could level himself up." Julian replied with cold eyes.

    "You won''t have to worry too much as long as I am there," Hecate grinned. "Just remember. Once Iplete my end of the deal, I want Jason Syrward."

 Chapter 141 What Are You Both Doing Here?

    In the fifth year arenaбн

    ''When will such incidents stop happening with me?'' Jason questioned himself.

    [ It will happen once you are no longer the protagonist. But to do that, you need multiple children so that they can be at the center of attention. ]

    ''I will ignore thatment.'' Jason replied before looking at his surroundings.

    He was back at the fifth year arena and was standing outside the dome that had been created by Albus. It was evening time and the arena was empty, except for the children present inside the dome.

    <o>,m ''System, how much time do you think has passed?''</o>

    [ No idea. ] The system replied.

    Jason sighed and started searching for familiar faces inside the dome. His eyesnded on Zeke and Wade, both of whom were still undergoing the trial.

    This meant that Amber and M had both cleared the trial before him.

    ''The number is still quite enormous. I would say about ten to twenty students have managed to clear the trial.''

    Jason was about to walk out of the arena when two figures suddenlynded in front of him.

    "Grandma? Grandpa? What are you both doing here?" Jason blinked his eyes in confusion.

    His grandparents were standing in front of him with relieved expressions on their face. Issac and Risa didn''t reply and simply patted his head.

    [ I have a feeling that we were absent for quite some time. ] the systemmented.

    ''Same.''

    "You did a good job, Jason. You are the sixteenth person to clear the Trial of Fear. You are also the fourth person from the expert zone to do this." Risa smiled.

    "Huh?" Jason frowned slightly when he realized that even though he and Amber had entered the portals together, someone had managed to clear the trial earlier than him.

    "The surprising thing is that all of them are people you know. The first to clear the trial from the expert zone is the third princess of the kingdom, M Vancouver. The second one was Amber, the third was Orion and now, you are the fourth one to do it." Risa added.

    ''I wonder how Phobos separated the children into different zones. Or maybe it was done by Albus himself.'' Jason wondered silently.

    "How much time has passed since I entered the trial?" he asked atst.

    Issac and Risa exchanged a nce before the former replied, "Six months have passed since then."

    Jason was left stunned by this. He had been expecting somewhere around a month or two months at max. Six months was a really long time he had spent inside the trial.

    ''This means that I am eleven years old now.'' Jason nced down at his body but noticed no visible changes.

    It would still take a few years for him to change into an adult.

    "Let''s go somewhere more private. We will talk then." Issac said while looking around with narrowed eyes.

    It looked as though he had caught someone who was spying on them.

    "Hold on tightly," Issac added. "I am even worse at teleportation magic than Risa but at least I can take us to the correct ce."

    With a snap of his fingers, a magic circle ignited below them. Jason took Issac''s warnings seriously and closed his eyes.

    He also used a bit of his lightning mana to make sure that if he appeared at the top of a sky, he would be able tond a bit more easily.<sub> </sub>

    [ What if we end up under the ground or perhaps underwater? ] The system questioned.

    ''Youбн''

    Jason couldn''t think of an appropriate response in time. The three of them were teleported out of the fifth year arena.

    ''Ughбн'' Jason felt as though someone had locked him inside a washing machine and had set the washing machine to rotate for eternity.

    When he appeared on solid ground, his eyes immediately looked for the washroom. Once he had located his destination, Jason immediately barged inside and threw up.

    "Ughбн"

    Issac and Risa, who were standing outside the washroom, sighed.

    "Maybe we should have walked to the room." Issac muttered.

    "If we had done that, who knows how many people we would have encountered." Risa countered. "Speaking of good things, we better order some food for Jason since he hasn''t eaten anything for six months."

    Issac nodded in agreement and left to find some food. Jason reentered the room a few minutester with a sick expression on his face.

    "I will never teleport with him againбн" he muttered.

    "Trust me, he doesn''t want to do that either. One time Issac managed to actually swap his left and right index fingers with his little fingers. That was quite a mess to clear upбн" Risa grimaced as the bad memories appeared in her mind.

    "Umбн" Jason on the other hand looked at his body to check whether any of his body parts had shifted.

    [ everything is good, host. ] The system reassured him.

    "How does teleportation magic work?" Jason questioned with a relieved expression.

    "Its tooplicated for you to understand right now. Once you develop some tier three skills, I will teach it to you." Risa replied.

    "Um, I already have a tier three skill."

    "Oh?" Risa seemed surprised with this. "Show it to meter on. There is something important that me and your grandfather have to tell you know."

    Truth be told, Risa wanted to see what skill Jason had created and whether it was really a tier 3 skill or not.

    Since she was someone who loved to experiment and discover things, the creation of new skills was fascinating for her.

    Before either of them could say anything, Issac returned with food for Jason.

    Seeing something delicious being brought towards him, Jason drooled. He hungrily ate the food, making Risa and Issac smile.

    "How did Iбн manage to surviveбн six monthsбн without food?" Jason asked between fights.

    "As Albus might have told you, the interior of the dome replenishes your nutrients with the help of mana. Though not eating leaves a small change in your body. You are just a bit slimmer now." Risa exined.

    She and Issac then waited for Jason to finish his food which didn''t take long. Once he was done, he looked at both of the with a curious expression.

    "What are you both doing here?" he asked the same question again.

    "Well, we knew that you were facing the trial of fear and didn''t really intend toe here. But once we learned that you were directly going to enter the chamber of Rebirth without clearing two more trials, we had toe here." Issac exined.

    "We are here to tell you about," Risa said in a grim voice, "the infinite loop that is present in the Rebirth chamber. If you are not careful, you might get stuck there for infinity."

 Chapter 142 First Phase Of His Plan

    "Infinity?" Jason wasn''t sure whether he had heard the right thing or not.

    "The chamber of rebirth is a special ce where time flows differently. The time flow there is simr to that of a dream world. Inside, the more practice you put, the higher results you will get." Issac exined.

    "In simpler terms, if you a spell inside the chamber for a week. You will get more than a month''s worth of training''s result from it." Risa added.

    Jason was left stunned by this. Though the same thing happened inside his dream world, he would not be able tomunicate with reality.

    "Then what about my age and growth?" Jason questioned.

    "Wellбн" Risa sighed. "As soon as you enter the chamber, you will enter it with only your soul. Your physical body will be left behind and you will continue to grow normally."

    "I seeбн" Jason understood why his grandparents had decided to warn him. "Then what did you both mean by a loop?"

    "You will continue to train and do the same thing over and over again until you manage to breakthrough a certain threshold. This threshold is chosen by the ruler of the chamber." Risa paused and exchanged a look with Issac.

    "I take it this is part where thingsplicated." Jason sighed.

    "Indeed. You have no idea about the limit and in hopes of trying to achieve it, you lose your sense of time. There have been many instances where people have spent multiple decades inside the chamber."

    "That is why the only thing you have to do is question the owner of the ce about your threshold. You can easily get out in that manner," Risa finished.

    Once they were done exining, the trio decided to go out. Jason found out that his grandparents were actually staying in the academy itself.

    There was a specialpartment dedicated to the family members of the students who were studying in the academy.

    ''I guess this was pretty obvious considering how the academy is quite big yet has very few students.''

    The trio wandered through the halls of the academy, which to Jason''s surprise, were known well by both Issac and Risa.

    "Both of us used to study here once," Issac muttered with a nostalgic expression. "In fact, your grandmother was quite popr in our fourth year and above. Her beauty had started to blossom back then and let''s just say that the males wanted her attention."

    "Indeed. Fortunately, I had managed to form a lot of friends beforehand so not many tried to openly approach me," Risa grinned. "I remember that you were quite shy back then."

    "Oi, don''t tell Jason about that. My image will be ruined." Issacined.

    Jason watched the duo with a fascinated expression as Risa teased Issac.

    ''Both of them are so old yet they still feel like a young couple. Perhaps that the level their rtionship has developed to after countless years of facing chaos.'' He smiled.

    The silver-haired boy was curious whether he would get to experience the same things himself.

    Perhaps in the future, when he would be married, Jason might experience the same thing. Only time will tellбн

    ***

    On an ind situated in a random location which couldn''t be describedбн

    "This is quite a funny location we agreed upon," Julian mused.

    The king of the Vancouver kingdom was standing at at the edge of a beach with Zn present right beside him.

    "Are you sure that the three of us are enough to carry out this negotiation?" Hecate questioned with a frown on her face. "What if he brings some of those sins with him?"

    "There''s no need to worry. In his absence, the sins will make sure that nothing happens in the demon kingdom. Due to how the conquest of power of the current king, the residents of the demon continent might rebel or do something like that." Zn exined.

    "That still doesn''t exin how he managed to remain the king despite having that much power on his side. Does the rule ''might makes right'' still apply there?"

    Hecate had to admit that she was a bit surprised to see the procedure of the various realms.

    The humans as well as the others didn''t function in a way she had expected them to do. Many of their customs were still old fashioned and though changes were slowly happening, nothing radical had taken ce.

    "No, there is something else that goes inside that realm. Something even I am not aware of." Julian sighed.

    The three of them then went silent as a magic circle appeared a few meters in front of them.

    Hecate, who was already present in her Nero form, let her body rx. The powers of her mist worked better if she let her body rx.

    "Let''s get on with this." She murmured as the magic circle ignited with power, indicating the arrival of the negotiators from the demon side.

    "Hey, Nero. How does it feel to be captured by the humans?" a teasing voice asked.

    A woman in her early twenties suddenly appeared above the magic circle. Her skin could very wellpete with that of a Chinese jade beauty.<sub> </sub>

    It was white as snow and looked smooth from a distance. Her hair, a shade of dark blue, fell down to her waist.Her face radiated a charm that worked on even Zn, who was sure that he couldn''t be swayed by pretty women after being married for so long.

    "Diana." Hecate smiled. "Looks like the king wanted things to be over quickly."

    Since she was in her Nero form, Hecate had adopted all of the demonmander''s personality. Since she had gotten to this while observing the demon personally for a long time, she had almost perfected everything about him.

    "Looks like the humans couldn''t wipe that arrogance out of you." Diana pouted. "Maybe I should leave you here."

    "Sure. I can only imagine the king treating you with a big piece of chocteter on." Hecate replied while maintaining the same smile on her face.

    As for Julian and Zn, both of them were left speechless. Their bodies were betraying them and their eyes were focused on Diana.

    "You know, they still have me captured," Hecate pointed out.

    Her hands were bound tight with magical cuffs yet she didn''t look the least bit worried. Her powers of cloning really were frightening.

    "You make me work too much." Diana sighed. "Just walk here and neither of them will be able to stop you."

    Diana flicked her right index finger in Julian''s direction before doing the same with Zn. The two brothers froze on their spots, their eyes following Hecate.

    The guardian casually moved towards Diana and held her hands forward.

    ''The sin of lust is frightening.'' She mentally noted. Since she had copied Nero to near perfection, she had managed to copy some of his memories.

    Unfortunately, most of his memories had been sealed by the demon king and the other sins. It was impossible for anyone to undo the seal, forcing them to resort to the current method.

    Diana simply waved her right hand over the cuffs. Her power made the magical restraints vanish, leaving behind nothing.

    "Our job here is done." Diana suddenly grinned. "This should also teach the humans a lesson to not mess with things happening outside their borders."

    Diana flicked her finger in the brother''s direction again. The power of her divinity caused the two brothers to shudder before Diana vanished with Hecate.

    It took ten minutes for them to unfreeze but once they did, Zn immediately red at his brother.

    "What do you really want to do, brother? I don''t believe you if you say that the only thing you want to do is prevent the world domination that the demon race will do." Zn stated.

    "It is the only thing that I want to do." Julian replied with a cold look.

    "Then what about your patron?"

    The moment the words left his mouth, Zn immediately teleported away from the ind. He had prepared a magic circle just for this moment just in case things went out of control.

    A horrible suppressing aura was released from Julian''s body a secondter. Fortunately, Zn had already gotten himself out of the ce or the aura would have crushed him down.

    "Your brother isn''t a desirable. People like him are the ones who will stab you in the back once you continue to be stronger."

    The voice that echoed around the ind made a crack run across it. Julian could feel his body humming with power upon hearing the voice.

    "Your majesty, I will make sure to discipline himter on. There is nothing he can do as long as he and his family are under the oath they undertook," Julian said in a low tone. "He is quite useful or I would have tossed him aside by now.

    "Indeed. He has the brains but not other things. Make sure you take a strict action against him." The voice vanished alongside the humming power Julian had felt.

    The king of the Vancouver kingdom looked at the crack running across the ind, his lips curling up into a small smile.

    ''Zn, if you were a bit smarter, I would have included you in my n. Sadly, you are not at that level yet.'' Julian sighed before creating a teleportation magic circle.

    The king teleported back to the Vancouver kingdom with two tasks in his mind. The first was to take an action against his brother and the second was to establish a connection with Hecate.

    The first phase of his n hade to passбн

    ***

    AN: the second volume ends with that. The plot is finallying together and the next volume is going to be quite long. Though this novel is quite slow paced, I like connecting the dots.

    Any support you guys show is helpful! That being said, can I get a few reviews? I would like to know if there are things that I can improve.

    Hopefully, I will see you all in the next volume. Have fun reading!

    ***

    End of Volume 2: When Fear Reigns Supreme

 Chapter 143 Chamber Of Rebirth

    "So this is the libraryбн"

    Jason stood in a hall the size of two football(Ser) fieldsbined together. The hall was divided into three floors and multiple sections.

    Sitting ces were spread throughout the hall. Countless bookshelves were present around the hall with numerous books kept in them.

    "Grandma, how many books are present here?" Jason questioned Risa who stood right beside him.

    "I don''t know. You can only read the books on the first level. Me and Issac can read the books on the second level as well since we are ex-students." Risa exined before pointing towards a wooden podium located a few meters away.

    "Using that podium, you can ess all the books on the first level. You will have to use filters to narrow down your choices, but once that is done, your desired book will appear on the podium."

    Jason nodded in understanding. He noticed that numerous podiums were spread throughout the library for easy use.

    ''Of course there would be something magical here that would help everyone in easily essing the multiple books,''

    Jason facepalmed at his stupidity. It was obvious that no one would be able to browse through the library without the help of a bit of magic.

    He made his way tot he podium and stood behind it with a curious expression.

    [ ce your hand on the podium and insert some mana into the podium. In return, you will be able to see all the books that are present in the library. ]

    ''You know how to do this?'' Jason thought with surprise.

    [ I have managed to scan it a bit. By cing your hands on the podium, I will be able to scan itpletely and help you to guide through these books. ]

    Jason immediately put his hands on the podium and inserted his mana into it. A screen popped in front of him, showing him various kinds of books and filters using which he could find the particr book he was looking for.

    Risa and Issac watched this with a smile. They had been thinking of teaching Jason how to properly use the podium but he had figured it out on his own.

    "Let''s go look at the books on the second floor." Issac said before both of them walked away.

    It took the system a few minutes to understand the interface of the podium. But once it had understood how the podium worked, the system filtered through the books.

    An hourter, Jason and the system were reading book after book in hopes of finding anything to heal Zara and Ariana''s condition.

    [ I haven''t found anything rted to her condition yet there are a lot of useful things inside these books. Reading them will make you feel enlightenment. ]

    ''Give me a summary tonight.''

    Jason and the system spent the next few hours reading through some more books. Both of them felt as though words were flying right in front of them, making them dizzy.

    [ Let''s go back and sleepбн ]

    ''Can you even sleep?''

    [ I kinda turn myself off a bit. Kind of like a standby mode. ]

    While having this debate, Jason retired from the library. His grandparents remained behind and continued to devour through books.

    The next month went by in this manner. Alongside reading books, Jason started visiting some other sses.

    Two particr sses he had the most interest in were the formations ss and the fighting ss.

    The names of the sses were self exnatory. Both of them taught the things that Jason wanted to learn.

    ''Once I get out of the chamber of rebirth, I will definitely join these two sses.''

    [ That is if we manage to break free from the loop. ]

    ''We don''t talk about that.''

    More and more children had came out of the trial in the past month. The total number of children now stood at twenty eight, meaning that only two more coulde out of the trial.

    Zeke had managed to clear the trial as well which left Wade as the only person who was yet to clear the trial of fear from ss Z.

    [ Host, did you know that with tier 6 spells, one might be able to destroy an entire continent? ]

    ''Hmm?'' Jason was surprised to learn about this random bit of information. However, it made more sense this way since little to no information was provided on tier 6 spells.

    Just as Jason was about to shift to another book, a ringing sound echoed around the entire academy.

    "All first years who havepleted the trial of fear are required to gather in the first year arena. Any family member apanying them are also requested to appear in the arena." Albus''s voice echoed around the entire academy.

    Jason looked at the second floor of the library and saw his grandparentsing down with masked expressions.

    [ I think its time to enter the chamber. ]<sub> </sub>

    ''I am worried about that. Hestia hasn''t talked to me yetбн''

    After pulling off thebined form inside the trial, Jason''s guardian had gone MIA. No matter how hard he tried to contact her, Jason couldn''t form any sort of connection with Hestia.

    Though her powers were still inside him, it was unsettling to not know what his guardian was going through.

    Jason stood up from his spot and alongside his grandparents, made his way to the fifth year arena. Upon entering the arena building, Jason saw that the dome had vanished.

    All the students who hadn''t cleared the trial of fear were forced to get out of the arena. Jason noticed all of his ssmates except Wade.

    ''So he didn''t clear the trial.''

    [ Its not that easy for everyone to get a hold of their fears. Either that or he never managed to reach a portal. ]

    "Congrattions to everyone present here!" Albus said loudly. "All of you sessfully cleared the trial. Now its time to progress to the next level but before doing that, could those from ss Z and ss Ae forward and stand right below where I am flying?"

    Two minutester, ten students were standing below the spot where Albus was hovering.

    "All of you will directly be entering the chamber of Rebirth, which is usually only entered after clearing all three trials. But since this is an order from Julian Vancouver, the king, I am taking you all directly to the chamber.

    The rest of you will wait here patiently. I wille back soon and start the second trial. Mentally prepare yourselves till then." Albus said before activating a teleportation formation.

    Before anyone could do anything, he immediately teleported away from the arena. Albus''s eyes had moved over some of the family members and judging from their expressions, most of them wanted to beat him up.

    ''Curse you, Julian. Why did you force me in such a situation?!'' Albus cursed the king inside his mind.

    The principal soon appeared in a new ce with all the students. He took a minute to look at the surroundings before sighing.

    "Wee to the chamber of Rebirth."

    The moment Jason heard those words, he put his guard up. He looked at the entrance, a pair of metal gates with numerous symbols etched on them.

    The gates stood tall in the middle of a dark ce. Jason would have been able to describe the ce better if he could see anything.

    On all sides, he was surrounded by darkness. Only the ce where Albus and the students were standing was clearly visible and lit, excluding the gates of course.

    "This is the chamber of rebirth''s entrance. Once you are inside, you will experience a huge boost in your training. You will be there for an unknown amount of time and can onlye out after meeting some threshold." Albus exined in a hurry.

    He summoned a red coin in his palm and smeared it with some of his blood. The coin started glowing a bright shade of red.

    Albus put the glowing coin against the gates before looking at the children,.

    "Good luck." He suddenly vanished from his spot, leaving behind the ten children alone.

    Before any of them could react, the gates opened up automatically. A wave of darkness erupted shot out of the gates and wrapped around the children.

    ''Well, that''s how bad things start.'' Jason thought with a mental sigh.

    The other students were slightly panicking but he didn''t look worried. After all, Jason was not only a dark mage and a light mage, he was also the sole bearer of the ''Child of Darkness'' ss.

    He carefully watched the darkness wrap around his body, slowly pulling him towards the gate. The interior was blocked by the same darkness, making Jason wonder whether a beast was just going to pull them into eternal slumber.

    ''Why did the king ban this in the first ce?'' Jason wondered silently.

    [ Perhaps someone really got stuck inside for eternity. Who knows what would have happened to us if we didn''t know the secret to break the loop? ]

    ''I just have to ask someone what is my threshold and the way to break it.''

    "Why are standing there so casually?!" Amber asked with wide eyes. The red-head was trying to break free from the darkness but it was an useless attempt.

    "Why are you afraid of the darkness? Just wee its embrace." Jason replied with a shrug.

    ''I think I unintentionally quoted someone.'' He thought.

    [ Its better left unnoticed. Who knows what will happen if someone hits us with a copyright? ]

    ''The copyright god is both respectable and petty.'' Jason sighed.

    Minutes passed by in this manner. All of the children had been pulled past the entrance and were now standing in front of the darkness blocking them from seeing past the entrance.

    < The Chamber of Rebirth is active again. May the odds be in your favor. > A panel opened in front of them while a voice repeated the same words inside their heads.

    ''Well, another arc begins.''

    With a jerk, all of them were pulled in by the darknessбн

 Chapter 144 Veritas

    Jason''s vision ckened, which was nothing new for him. He could tell that his body had been lifted off the ground and he was freely roaming around in the middle of who knows where.

    Jason patiently waited for his vision to return and for his feet tond on solid ground. It took only a few minutes for that to happen.

    ''Is this aбн beach?'' Jason looked at his surroundings with a surprised expression.

    He was standing on top of sand barefoot while the sounds of waves crashing against the shore echoed inside his ears.

    In the distance, a wide blue ocean opened up. Jason had never seen such arge view from a beach before so this was a new experience for him.

    [ Um, hostбн look at your clothesбн ]

    ''What is wrong with myбн oh.''

    Jason found out that he was wearing swimming trunks. He hadn''t wore one such thing for a long time.

    ''Well, its clear that this beach isn''t made for simple enjoyment. I mean, look at that guy there.'' Jason''s eyes moved over to a person standing at the edge of the beach.

    The person was wearing normal everyday clothes except they were from Earth. Jason immediately recognized the jeans and normal shirt wore byбн he couldn''t identify the gender of the person.

    [ That''s a she. Her face gives it away smh. ]

    ''It doesn''t. I have read enough cultivation to know that people who generally are not too curvy and look extremely beautiful can be males as well.'' Jason pointed out.

    He slowly started walking towards the woman since there wasn''t anything else for him to do.

    [ You can go swim or explore the beach. ]

    ''And risk being stuck here for eternity? Thanks for the suggestion but no, I am not doing that.''

    After walking for a few minutes, Jason reached the edge of the beach. He took in the woman''s appearance and was surprised to see that she wasбн average by the standards of the other powerful people he had met.

    She light brown hair that reached down to the beginning of her shoulders. Her eyes were of the same color, one you might forget after a few minutes.

    Her body was averagely built and nothing about her stood out. If Jason wasn''t living in another world, he might have taken her as a normal human walking around the world.

    "The truth isn''t always shining and golden, my dear." The woman suddenly said, her face turning in Jason''s direction. "Reality is not what one expects it to be."

    "That is true, I guess?" Jason replied, not sure whether he should to say something else or not.

    "Hmm, maybe I shouldn''t have started talking in that manner." The woman sighed. "I should have just let one of the people under my control do this."

    "Uh, people under your control?"

    "Don''t think too much about them. They are just people who sacrificed themselves for a cause they believed to be the truth. They were wrong though." The woman shrugged.

    Jason gulped nervously. He couldn''t tell whether the woman was telling the truth or not.

    "You might be wondering who I am," She said. "I guess I should have introduced myself. My name is Veritas and I am the goddess of truth."

    "бн" Jason was left stunned by this introduction.

    It was quite hard for him to believe that someone so ordinary as the woman in front of him could be a goddess.

    "I just stuck with my original appearance. I was born with this appearance and I have kept it over the years. After all, this is the best way to remain truthful to yourself." Veritas shrugged again.

    "Then where you the one who had talked to me in the forest when I was undergoing the trial of fear?" Jason questioned, putting his guard up.

    Though he had no idea whether he could even do anything to a goddess. Maybe Veritas would spit truth at him and make him miserable.

    "No, that was not me. I know who it was but there is no point in telling you that." Veritas eyes lightly glowed with power. "Coming on to the main task. You can ask me any question you want and I will provide you the correct and truthful answer."

    "Any question that I want?" Jason asked in a surprised tone.

    "Yes, anything you want. You can ask me how you can be the strongest. You can ask me how to obtain a big harem of beautiful women. You can ask me how to be the richest person in the world.

    Since I am the goddess of truth, I can answer your question easily with the correct answer. Though remember, you can only ask me a single question." Veritas exined.

    Jason, who had originally nned to ask for his threshold to break out of the chamber, hesitated.

    If he could get the answer for any question he askedбн

    [ Host, that answer would be useless if you can''t leave the chamber. Do you want to be trapped here for eternity? ] The system questioned.<sub> </sub>

    This seemed to bring Jason back to reality. He shook his head once to get rid of his thoughts before looking directly into Veritas''s eyes.

    "I want to know what limit I have to cross to exit the chamber of rebirth." He said in a clear voice.

    "Looks like someone told you what to ask." Veritas smiled humorlessly. "If you had asked how can I exit the chamber, I would''ve answered with "you just have to break your limit" and would have vanished."

    Hearing her words, Jason silently thanked his grandparents. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn''t gotten to know his limit.

    "Well, there are three things you have to break through. One is to reconnect with your guardian. Second is to advance your job sses. Third is to form bonds you never formed before." Veritas stated his limits.

    Jason wanted to ask more things but he knew that the goddess wouldn''t answer any of his questions.

    "Jason, do you mind if I take a few minutes of your time before sending you off?" Veritas questioned.

    "Okбн"

    Veritas sat down and gestured for Jason to do the same. Both of them sat side by side and oversaw the ocean.

    "Are you a sealed goddess?" Jason curiously asked.

    "You do know that I am not obliged to answer any of your questions?"

    "I know. I am just curious since I know that Phobos was trapped due to her powers. I was wondering whether the same thing happened to you." Jason shrugged. Veritas''s shrugs had infected him as well.

    "Well, I am chained as well. I just love to remind people of the truth but no one really likes that. People like illusions more." Veritas sighed.

    "I mean that''s obvious. Reality is often too in, normal and boring." Jason replied, his eyes unconsciously moving over the goddess''s body.

    "Would you rather prefer this?" The goddess smiled before snapping her fingers.

    Her clothes were suddenly reced by a tight bikini swimsuit. Her breasts had grown bigger and her body had be more curvy.

    Jason''s jaw dropped after seeing such a transformation. It was at the level of a Dixney movie transformation of a nerd girl to the popr girl.

    "I know people like this but they don''t understand its impossible to get this. Well, not really impossible but its not exactly super easy." Veritas sighed andid down on the sand.

    Since she hadn''t changed back, Jason found it pretty hard to not stare at her body. Veritas, of course knew this but the goddess didn''t mind it.

    In her eyes, Jason was just a small child whose age was extremely young aspared to hers. That plus the fact that the goddess had been bored for a long time and wanted to have someone to talk to.

    It was also fun to tease the younger generation.

    "Ahemбн You want everyone to realize that no matter what happens, only the truth will emerge in the end?" Jason questioned with a fake cough.

    "Indeed. I wonder how a child like you understands the simple truth that I want to tell." Veritas sighed.

    "I think the others understood it as well but they didn''t want to show it. People love to think that they are not living in the reality they are living in, if that makes any sense."

    "It does." Veritas smiled. "Its not bad to talk to someone after so long."

    "Maybe. I can''t tell since I haven''t really experienced it before." Jason replied.

    "Anyways, its time for you to be on your way. I have to talk to two to three other people as well. I highly doubt that any of them will be able to talk like you did. None of them are reincarnated." Veritas sighed and stood up.

    Jason stood up and met the goddess''s gaze.

    "You can look at me onest time before I send you away." Veritas teased with a smile on her face.

    Jason, however, took her words seriously. It was not everyday one got to see a goddess in a bikini suit, that too the goddess of truth.

    Veritas hadn''t expected Jason to take her words seriously but since he did take her seriously, she nodded her head in appreciation.

    After all, he was just showing his true nature as someone who was about to enter teenage for the second time.

    Veritas even did a twirl on her spot which made Jason cough severely. But once that was over, the goddess reverted to her original self.

    "Good luck. I hope you don''t spend too much time in the chamber." She patted his head once before sending him off.

    Jason once again vanished from his spot, not aware of where he was going next

 Chapter 145 A Modernish World

    ''I am waiting for the moment I get to learn the teleportation spell.''

    After an unknown amount of time, Jason finallynded on solid ground. The first thing his eyes observed was his clothing.

    ''First the goddess of truth was dressed in modern clothes and now I am the one who is dressed in them.'' Jason sighed.

    He was wearing a in ck jeans with a ck hoodie on top. The hood was pulled back and touched the back of his neck.

    Upon looking at his surroundings, Jason was surprised to see that he was not the only one who looked modern.

    His surroundings were simr to that of a city from Earth.

    ''Is this ce even real?'' Jason questioned.

    [ Hmmбн it has mana in it so its not Earth. The mana, however, feels different from that of Clover. Perhaps we are in some other world? ]

    ''Well, let''s start exploring.''

    Jason walked around the streets and was pleased to see that the citizens were wearing the clothing from Earth.

    Though he liked the clothes he wore in Clover, the feeling of Earthen clothes was different.

    [ Where are we going? ]

    ''No idea. I am just trying to figure out where we are. If I don''t learn anything new, I will just exit the city.''

    Jason had imprinted the three things told to him by Veritas. After all, he could only leave the ce once he had managed to break through those limits.

    Ten minutesterбн

    ''Well, thats the entire city. This is the exit.'' Jason thought while standing in front of two big metal doors.

    The city was a mix of medieval and modern style. Jason had to admit that it would be the perfect ce to reincarnate and live in.

    [ So should we head out? ]

    ''I guess.'' Jason was about to move out when a frown appeared on his face.

    He squinted hard at a figure who was awkwardly moving right in his direction. The figure looked familiar.

    "Orion!" Jason suddenly called out.

    The figure lifted his head and looked at Jason with a surprised expression. Orion broke into a sprint before stopping a few meters away from Jason.

    "Iбн thought that Iбн" Orion panted.

    Once he had caught his breath, the duo exchanged their experiences. Jason, of course, didn''t mention the fact that he had already experienced the same surroundings before.

    ording to Orion, he had arrived somewhere in the city about five minutes ago and had immediately made his way to the entrance.

    "Others might have appeared in the city as well. Let''s go check the back entrance."

    "All right. Don''t you think these clothes are slightly better looking than the ones we usually wear?" Orion questioned.

    He was wearing simr clothes to Jason but instead of a hoodie, he was wearing a leather jacket.<sub> </sub>

    "Indeed," Jason agreed. The two of them started making their way to the entrance.

    Orion gawked at a few people passing them. It seemed that he was fascinated by the way things were in the city.

    After a few minutes of walking, both of them reached the other end of the city. To their surprise, they found a certain red-head girl arguing with what looked like a policeman.

    "Amber, there you are!" Jason suddenly called out. "I have been looking all around the city for you. Do you know how worried auntie and uncle are?"

    Both Amber and the policeman looked over and were surprised to see Jason. Fortunately, Amber understood that he was trying to help her and got into character.

    "See, I told you that I was looking for someone." Amber pouted.

    <o>,m "I am pretty sure you said that you were looking for a dragon but whatever." The policeman sighed. "I don''t get paid enough to do this. Scram!"</o>

    Amber walked away with Jason before joining Orion. She told her story about how she had appeared near the gate and had gotten into a heated argument with the policeman.

    "What were you arguing about?" Jason asked curiously.

    "Nothing of importance." Amber shrugged. Being dressed in a pair of ck leggings and red leather jacket, she gave off the vibes of a hothead from a webnovel.

    [ You are once again makingparisons with fictional characters. ]

    ''Sometimes I forget that you can listen to my thoughts. Also, why do you care how I think of others?''

    [ That''s a fair point. ] The system agreed and went silent.

    "Let''s see if we can find anyone else. We will meet back at that cafe in ten minutes." Jason pointed at a cafe across the street.

    After memorizing its name and location, the trio split off. None of them were worried about anything since they were present in a civilized city.

    Even if something went wrong, they were strong enough to fight. If worst came to worst, all three of them had their own tricks they could use to escape from a tight spot.

    Jason had no luck in finding anyone but Orion and Amber did. The former had managed to find Zeke while thetter had found M.

    "I guess the five of us are the only ones present here from another world." Jasonmented once the five of them had gathered together.

    Thought the children found the concept to be rather strange, all of them agreed with Jason. They could sense that the mana in their surroundings and the culture around them was really different that the one they were used to.

    "But what if we are on another continent?" M asked curiously.

    "That is possible I guess but it doesn''t matter. We are in an unknown environment and our goal is toбн" Jason suddenly paused.

    He realized since all of them belonged to big families, there was a chance that all of them would have asked the same question from Veritas.

    [ Or the people under her control. ]

    "Well, let''s just find some ce to stay." Jason sighed.

    All of them started looking for a ce to stay but they soon realized that they were facing a major problem.

    None of them had any moneyбн

 Chapter 146 Theory Of Natural Magic [Part 1]

    "Well, are we going to sleep outside now?" Zeke questioned once all of them had tried looking for money.

    Except for stealing money or breaking into someone''s house, the group didn''t see any other option instead of sleeping outside.

    "We can go ahead and try to find some kind of shelter or perhaps find a spot in the corner of the city and live there?" Amber suggested.

    Since all of them had spent a week out in the wilderness, they knew how to create basic survival structures and leave peacefully.

    Just when Jason was about to suggest something, an old woman came running in their direction.

    All of them looked at her with weird expressions.

    "Where have you all been? Do you know how I was worried searching for you?!" the woman eximed.

    All of them exchanged a look, not knowing what they should say in reply. They hadn''t expected to meet someone who knew them.

    "Follow me back. I don''t what would happen if all of you got kidnapped." The woman sighed and gestured the children to follow her.

    "Should we go after her?" Jason whispered.

    "We don''t have any other ce to stay at. The worst that can happen is that this woman is in disguise andter turns out to be the kidnapper." Orion shrugged, earning him judging looks from the others.

    ''He thinks the same theories as me.'' Jason thought silently.

    All of them reached an agreement and started following the old woman. Currently, she was their best bet for finding a shelter as well as information on the ce they were present in.

    She took them through different parts of the city before almost reaching the outskirts. There, an old building stood straight amidst other old houses.

    A small ground extended right beside the building where children of various ages could be seen training.

    "If not for the talent you all posses, I would have given you a good spanking. Now go there and train till dinner time. I want to see at least a spark of magic produced by then." The woman threatened.

    Before any of them could say anything, she strode inside the building.

    "Uh, are we living someone else''s life?" M questioned.

    None of them knew the answer to this. They had their respective theories on the current situation but none of them had solid proof to prove that they were correct.

    "Let''s just practice. We will get food soon and a shelter is already provided. Plus I think that we are some sort of prodigies here." Jason said and advanced towards the ground, followed by the others.

    The moment they stepped foot on the ground, children started dispersing to provide them some space.

    This confirmed Jason''s theory as he got ready to cast magic.

    ''Wait, didn''t thedy say that she wants to see us casting at least one spark of magic?''

    [ Yes, she did. Perhaps this version of you is quite behind on magic casting. ]

    While thinking about that, Jason decided to start by summoning a few sparks of lightning around his fingers.

    Like usual, he raised his hand and willed the lightning mana to emerge forth. However, a minute passed in this manner and no sparks of lightning were visible around his hand.

    Jason blinked in surprise. He tried the same thing again yet the result was the same.

    ''Systemбн''

    [ Already running a scan on your body. Please wait for a few minutes. ]

    Jason nodded in acknowledgment before shifting his attention towards the others. None of them were faring better than him and looked confused.

    [ Scanplete. It looks like the mana in your body is refusing to take form in this world. If you want to cast magic, you will have to use the natural mana. ]<sub> </sub>

    A frown appeared on Jason''s face after hearing the system''s words. Using natural mana to cost magic was ten times difficult than normal magic casting.

    The difficulty was high due to the fact that one would have to use mana that didn''t belong to their mana.

    While using mana from one''s own body, it was easier to produce magic. By simply guiding the mana and submitting it to yourmand, you could produce magic.

    On the other hand, one would have to first consume the natural mana and make it a part of their body. Only then would they be able to proceed to the next mana.

    ''No harm in trying.'' Jason, who had tried using natural mana to do magic before, knew what the first step was.

    He let his body rx and temporarily stopped his mana from flowing all around his body. Jason spread his senses in the nearby area and focused on the natural mana present in his surroundings.

    One benefit of using natural mana was the fact that you could be a multi-caster. Even if you didn''t have an affinity with an element, you could still cast high level spells by gaining supreme control over the natural mana.

    Jason focused on the natural mana particles that were closest to him. He gently made them move towards his hand.

    [ Why don''t you use your vision control to see the mana particles directly? ]

    ''That''s actually a good idea.'' Jason turned his vision control on and focused on the mana particles closest to his hand.

    He could see tiny white spherical structures carelessly moving around his hand. These particles had been separated form the natural mana present in the area.

    With precision, Jason was able to make the particlese in contact with his skin. Once he had done that, he eased up a bit.

    The particles of mana soon entered his arm. Jason''s could still see them and in front of his eyes, the white particles turned purple.

    Once he had sessfully converted the particles into his own mana, Jason focused on his hand.

    This time, sparks of lightning flickered around his hand. Jason grinned at his sess before shaking his head.

    ''If this is the way to use magic in this world, things must be quite hard. But those who managed to be proficient in using natural mana will be quite terrific when they get to Clover.''

    [ Host, I just thought of a theory. ]

    ''Hmm? What is the theory about?'' Jason questioned.

    Before the system could reply, madughter echoed around the ground.

    "HAHAHAHAHA! I knew I had struck diamond when I took you in my orphanage!" The old woman from earlier rushed forward and lifted Jason of from the ground.

    Attacked with the sudden embrace, Jason struggled to get free but it was useless. The old woman had the strength of a pro wrestler.

    "All of you go to the dining hall this instance. We are going to eat slightly better food today!"

    Hearing her words, the children dashed towards the orphanage. Jason''s friends looked at him for a few seconds before following the horde inside.

    The old woman set Jason down and grinned. "You did good, kid. Now go inside and enjoy your food."

    Jason watched the woman enter the orphanage while humming a tone to herself. There really were different kinds of people.

    ''What is the theory called?'' Jason asked curiously.

    [ It is called the Theory of Natural Magic. I think with this theory, you will make a major breakthrough in magic and skill casting. ]

    ''Exin the entire theory to me while I eat,'' Jason replied.

    He looked at the ground onest time before entering the orphanage. Perhaps he would get to eat some dishes from Earth.

 Chapter 147 Theory Of Natural Magic [Part 2]

    [ There are two ways to perform magic, right? ]

    ''If you mean usage of mana to cast magic, indeed. The first one is to use the mana produced by one''s body while the second one is to use the natural mana. For the former, you need at least an A grade or higher affinity.''

    Jason was currently seated on a chair in the dining hall. The food served in front of him was curry rice.

    Though he hadn''t eaten much of it on Earth, Jason was pleased to find out that the curry rice had a unique taste which satiated his hunger.

    [ To use the former, one simply needs a mana core inside their body. It works like a heart and supplies mana to the entire body. Though the mana is in raw form so to use it, you have tomand the mana. This is how magic is produced. ]

    ''Correct,'' Jason agreed. ''A person with multiple affinities has multiple cores in his or her body, situated right around the heart. Though they can''t directly be affected by anyone excluding dark and life mages.''

    [ Indeed. But what if both of these ways are essentially the same? What if the natural mana is responsible for producing mana inside a mage''s body? ]

    ''Thatбн'' Jason suddenly put his spoon down, his eyes shining. It was as though he had just received enlightenment.

    [ What if all mana cores absorb the same amount of mana but the affinities of the core converts it into the respective mana usable by a person? ]

    ''That will exin why mages with multiple affinities have multiple cores!''

    [ Not only that but it will also exin why those with higher affinities can have more mana stored in their body and can also produce higher quality of mana aspared to those with lower affinities.

    Their cores have a higher level of production. Now all we have to learn is how a core is formed and then, we might be able to increase your affinity. ]

    Jason could feel his blood boiling in excitement. But since he was currently eating in the dining hall, he didn''t let his excitemente out.

    He silently ate his dinner before approaching the old woman. She was the owner of the orphanage Jason and the others were currently staying in.

    "Can I please practice outside?" Jason pleaded. "I think I might be able to make a breakthrough."

    Hearing his words, the old woman was surprised. "If you are that confident, go out and try to cast magic!"

    Jason nodded sincerely before dashing out of the hall. He was itching to put the system''s theory to the test.

    ''That exins why I can''t use my own mana here. The mana running inside my body belongs to another world and is therefore not being used.''

    [ You are correct. If you can master the ability to absorb natural mana, you will steadily rise in power. ]

    Jason appeared in the ground. Night had already settled over the entire city and the moonlight was shining across the ground.

    Jason immediately focused on the magic particles around him and started attracting them towards his body.

    The moment the mana entered his body, he could feel his mana increasing slightly.

    [ Your cores are reacting to the natural mana! ] The system eximed.

    ''Keep a check on our surroundings. There is something that I have to confirm.''

    Jason closed his eyes and focused on his element. A few secondster, he opened his eyes and stared at a huge sphere floating in front of him.

    The sphere was pure purple and sparks of lightning flickered around it. Three question marks, each ck in color, were etched on the core.

    This was Jason''s mana core, something he had seen long ago under Risa''s guidance. Currently, his gaze was fixed on the flickering sparks of lightning.

    Jason''s core was processing the mana he had absorbed earlier. In front of his eyes, he could see the white particles of mana turning into purple sparks that were absorbed by his core.

    Jason could also feel his body''s mana flow being recharged. If he tried casting magic with this mana, he would easily be able to do it.

    ''This proves your theory to be true. But it can only be proved correct when we make it back to Clover.''

    <o>,m Jason focused again and appeared back in the ground. Using his newly acquired mana, he summoned a lightning bolt.</o>

    If the owner of the orphanage had seen him, she would have freaked out. But it would be clear in the morning and things would get interesting.

    [ Give the others a hint about this in the morning. ] The system suggested.

    ''Why?''

    [ Because its a good thing to form rtionships. Even if you want to solo things, it best to have a backup just in case things go wrong. Also, helping them will make them indebted to you. ]

    ''That''s actually pretty good advice.''<sub> </sub>

    [ I swear I am changing because of you. The me from years ago would''ve rather pushed you to be friends with them. My thoughts have be much darker aspared to that time. ]

    ''Hehe, not my fault. You just go to know more of the world and changed your mindset.''

    Jason made his way back to the orphanage. Following the children, he entered the sleeping chambers.

    Tons of beds mattresses were spread out in one big hall. The mattresses all looked used and old and were probably bought from some nearby second hand shop.

    Or perhaps they were donated to the orphanage by the people living in the city.

    ''Tomorrow, I will explore this type of magic more.'' Jason thought before going to sleep.

    Once morning arrived, all the children gathered in the dining hall again and were served their food. in bread with half fried omelet.

    "I would like to announce something important. Hopefully, all of you brats will listen to what I have to say." The old woman suddenly announced.

    Her name was Rharia and she had grown up in the very same orphanage before taking over it in herte thirties.

    "Exactly three months from today, someone wille to test you to check your magical potential. If more than five of you are selected from here, the orphanage wille under the government''s wing and we will get some nice money." Rharia announced.

    The children looked determined except for the group of five who hade from another world.

    Silently, they all decide to meet outside and further debate on this.

    "Could this be a sort of trial? If we clear the test, we might be able to leave this ce." M suggested once all of them had gathered outside.

    "While that is a possibility, there is a chance that this is a trick. What if we are being tested to see how much we will stick to the rules?" Orion questioned.

    ''He exactly states what I am thinking. He is good.'' Jason silently observed.

    "Can I ask you all something?" Zeke suddenly interrupted. "You have to answer my question truthfully.

    All of them went silent for a few minutes before nodding. If they didn''t n things carefully, they might remain inside their new world for a long time.

    "Did all of you receive a limit where you have to grow stronger by advancing in your level of control over one or more of your elements?" Zeke finally asked the question.

    One by one, the other four nodded. Zeke sighed in relief before saying, "I received the same thing. I think we have to understand how to cast magic here and grow stronger."

    "I think the same."

    "Me too."

    "Me three."

    "Same for me."

    Once they had reached an agreement, the children started thinking of ways to do this. It was then that Jason decided to reveal the secret to using magic in their new surroundings.

    "Do all of you know about natural mana and using it to conduct magic?" Jason questioned.

    Seeing all of them nod, he proceeded. "Then use your knowledge about it here."

    After giving them the hint, Jason walked away and started using the converting the natural mana into his own mana.

    ''It would be so good if I manage to turn this into passive ability.''

    [ On Clover, this is a passive ability. All mana cores get recharged this way. That is why things that are able to increase your mana are super useful. You can basically store a ton of mana inside it and use it an any given moment. ]

    ''But if you can do the same with natural mana, you will be invincible. Imagine using the natural mana to create an apocalypse like environment around you. Thunder cracking and striking a volcanic wastnd.''

    [ Stop daydreaming, host. Focus on your magic. ]

    Jason sighed and did as told. The others were also able to realize what he had meant and had started practicing magic.

    The other children could only watch the group of five produce magic with expressions of jealousy and envy visible on their faces.

    As for the owner of the orphanage, she was cackling at her good fortuneбн

    And just like that, two months flew by.

 Chapter 148 Thunderbolt

    In the two months, the group had steadily progressed in their magic skills. Even though they were basically climbing the samedder, there were using one hand to do it.

    Their sesses stacked up and soon enough, all of them were back to their old self.

    The real challenge would begin from that moment. They had to break through their original limits and reach a new height.

    "One month," Jason reminded. "In one month, all of us will have to give that test and hopefully, we will clear it."

    "Even if we clear the test, we still have to break through the threshold specified for us." Amber added. "Without doing that, we won''t be able to leave this ce."

    "We all know that." M sighed.

    The owner of the orphanage had started treating them nicely ever since they had showed potential in getting better at magic.

    Other kids had tried to earn her favor as well and had even approached the group to tell them some tricks.

    At first, they were willing to part with the simple trick but they soon realized that things could be different in the current world.

    "Try to feel the energy around you. If you can do that, we will help you ahead." In the end, Jason had given them something to work with.

    Unfortunately, none of them were able to sense the mana particles and couldn''t answer any questions that the group asked them.

    "This world isn''t fair to everyone. Its better that they learn that instead of being served with fake hope." Orion muttered thoughtfully.

    "It would be better for you to practice magic instead of trying to sound philosophical." Zeke snickered.

    The duo locked gazes and started berating. Neither Jason nor the two girls paid them any attention.

    They were instead focused on improving their magic with the sole goal of creating tier three spells.

    ''Any news on Hestia?'' Jason asked. He had been questioning the system about the same thing everyday.

    [ Nope. She hasn''t stirred in her sleep. ]

    ''I don''t think that this has something to with the power-up I did inside the Trial of fear. mey got reunited with Amber one week after our arrival here!''

    On point, Jason and the system looked at the magma smander hanging around Amber''s neck. mey didn''t seem to mind the things happening around him and was simply sleeping.

    Jason wondered if he could exchange positions with the smander.

    ''Is there any way for us to contact Hestia?''

    [ I don''t think soбн Lemme confirm it with the system customer service. ]

    ''There is a customer service for systems?!'' Jason didn''t know whether to be delighted or weirded out by the sudden revtion.

    [ What do you think would happen if no one was there to answer the queries of a new system and host? Why do you think the customer service go is one of the strongest gods to ever exist? ]

    ''Uhбн You go question the customer service while I try to create a lightning tier 3 skill.''

    [ Don''t. You can try using thunder to create skills now so its better if you improve your thunder control and make all of your skills rted to thunder. ]

    ''When did this change happen?''

    [ About two hours ago. I was observing your body to make sure I wasn''t wrong. Though there is a small chance that something can go wrong, you can use thunder now. ]<sub> </sub>

    With another revtion thrown at his face, Jason let his mind rx and started practicing thunder mana control just like the system had suggested.

    Since his body had already gotten used to the new mana surroundings, his core was now producing mana like usual.

    Jason willed upon the lightning mana toe forth but just before it could appear around his fingers, he summoned a second wave of it.

    He slowly concentrated on the purity of the mana. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead but after three minutes of focus, dark purple as well as light purple sparks of lightning, or[under. He wanted to go find Hestia right at that moment but doing it in daylight would arise suspiciousness.

    So instead, he decided to visit his guardian in the night.

    ''Let the grind begin.'' Jason thought before summoning even more of his thunder mana.

    A few strands of his hair stood straight as he tried circting the thunder mana all around his body.

    The children standing a few meters away from him looked at him with a gawking expression. They slowly moved away to prevent any kind of ident from happening.

    Jason took a deep breath and concentrated on forming a thunderbolt. It took him three minutes just to form the two inches of a thunderbolt.

    He didn''t give up and continued to try. Hours passed by in this manner and at the end of day, Jason managed to create a normal sized thunderbolt in under a minute.

    Upon looking at his thunder mage job ss, he noticed a new change.

    ---

    < Thunder Bolt (Tier 2) >

    - Summon a bolt of thunder.

    <o>,m ---</o>

    The lightning bolt skill had changed into thunderbolt though it still remained at the same tier.

    [ Though its not official, you can consider that every tier is subdivided into three other ranks, simr to what happens with power rankings. ]

    ''So I guess thunderbolt is at the peak of tier 2.'' Jason replied while eating his dinner.

    His advancement in being able to use thunder was definitely a good thing. If he worked a bit harder, he would be able to convert all of his lightning skills to thunder skills.

    [ Well, you necessarily don''t need to create skills. The same is true for all those in your ss. Skills and Spells are basically just limiters that are ced on the way mana in used to do something. ]

    ''Wait, this means that those who have much more mana can abuse a tier 2 skill to their liking.''

    [ Indeed. That is why the skills and spells are divided into tiers so that someone doesn''t abuse and destroy their body. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    Jason finished his food and made his way to a special room in the orphanage that was allotted to him and his friends.

    They had received it after creating a few skills. It mainly served as their discussion room where no one else would be able to listen in on their conversations.

    Jason was tired that day to discuss anything. Heid down on his bed, pulled on the covers and went to sleep.

    It was about time he met Hestia

 Chapter 149 Worlds Which Vanished [Part 1]

    Jason entered his own dream world. Considering how he was already in a dream world inside the chamber of rebirth, it didn''t make much sense.

    But then, half the things in his life didn''t make sense.

    [ Focus on the connection that connects you and Hestia. Try to reach towards the other end and find Hestia. ]

    Following the system''s words, Jason closed his eyes and focused. He could feel a small tug in his gut that tied him to Erebus and the system.

    A few secondster, a second tug appeared. Both forces seemed to be equally attracting him and thus maintained a bnce.

    These were the bonds that connected Jason to his patron god and his divinity, aka the system, as well as his guardian.

    It could also be considered as a rope where Jason was present at one end and Erebus and Hestia were present at the other end.

    Uponparing the two ropes, Jason found out that the second one seemed a lot loose. It might even slip off if the ends weren''t tightened.

    [ Imagine that you are walking on that rope and are trying to reach the other end. If you feel tired or shaky, think of Hestia''s powers or looks or basically anything that you remember about her. ]

    Jason did as told and imagined himself walking on the rope. Suddenly, his body jerked forward and he started flying forward.

    His surroundings were simr to that of a mountain, often replicating Hestia''s domain which he had seen glimpses of.

    Currently, Jason was heading forward in a straight manner. In the distance, he could see that the rope soon went up a hill.

    A marble structure was situated at the top of the hill and the rope seemed to be connected to the structure.

    ''This feels like a train ride at a carnival.'' Jason observed.

    He steadily traveled to the bottom of the hill but the moment he rose up, his body started shuddering.

    [ Think of something rted to her! ]

    ''Uhбн'' Jason''s mind temporarily went nk. ''She has curly brown hair!''

    The moment he thought that, his body started flying without any disturbances. He could feel his light body moving through the air without any worries.

    [ Out of all the things you could choose from, you chose her hair color? ] the system said in a surprised tone.

    ''My mind nked out! It worked though.'' Jason stated.

    He flew like that for another two minutes before feeling imbnced. This time, Jason thought of Hestia''s red eyes.

    He faced numerous hurdles in this way but he continued to think of the ex-goddess. He thought of her abilities, her wolf form, her voice and basically anything that popped up in his mind.

    When he was five meters away from reaching the structure, the final hurdle appeared, or at least that''s what it seemed like.

    Jason was suddenly thrown away and started falling down the hill.

    ''What else is left?!'' he thought with a panicked expression. He had almost mentioned everything about his guardian.

    [ Personality and body. Mention both! ]

    ''Hestia is quite old and is wise. She knows many things and mostly talks about the relevant things. Uhбн she is quite beautiful and had the body of a goddess, perhaps because she is technically an ex-goddess.

    Despite her age and power, she isn''t arrogant and knows how to strategize. Uhбн what else? I don''t her three sizes or her favorite hobbies or anything like that.''

    [ There''s no need for thatбн ]

    <o>,m Jason''s body had already stopped falling and he was flying towards the marble structure again.<sub> </sub></o>

    ''Why does that look like a temple?''

    [ probably because it is a temple. ]

    The marble sculpture had two gargoyles ced at the entrance. Both of them were wolves, which to Jason, wasn''t a big surprise.

    The doors, which might have been glorious, were barely taller than him. Jason didn''t understand how they were still in ce after their top parts were pulled off.

    He jumped on top of the gates and peered inside. The temple''s interior might have been glorious once but just like the gates, it was either half-destroyed or half ckened with ash.

    The only thing that looked odd in the destroyed ce was the body of woman hovering in the middle of the temple.

    ''Damnбн did I justnd in the middle of a horror movie shooting?'' Jason questioned himself.

    The woman was none other than Hestia. Her body was suspended in the air and her eyes were misty.

    Jasonnded on the inside of the temple and slowly walked towards the center. His eyes were fixed on Hestia.

    "What happenedбн" he mumbled.

    [ Nothing good. She is an ex-goddess and an apex guardian. Very few people in the world can put her in such a condition. ]

    ''That is what frightens me.'' Jason admitted.

    He soon reached the center of the temple and looked up at his guardian. Jason didn''t understand how he could help her but after a few minutes of internal conflict, he started rising in the air.

    He did this by expending his thunder element. Since no one was near him, he could do it much easily.

    ''Uh, any idea what I am supposed to do now?'' Jason questioned.

    [ The customer service didn''t respond to this. We are on our own. ] The system sighed. [ Try touching her hand. Maybe she will react to that. ]

    Jason slowly raised his right hand forward and touched he right arm. It was coldest thing he had touched in both of his lives.

    He wanted to pull his hand back yet for some reason, his body refused.

    Jason''s mind suddenly plunged into a new ce, a ce which he had never seen before.

    Right in front of him was a, or at least that''s what the size of the giant sphere indicated.

    The was pure red and currently, it was burning with fire. The ground was breaking piece by piece and fires raged around the surface.

    A woman''s cry resounded all around the as well as the surrounding area.

    ''There is no one to listen to her.''

    Jason didn''t know how he knew it but he could tell that it was the truth. The entire didn''t have a single living being present on it.

    That was until he saw a figure falling through the cracking. The figure was a tiny ck dot that fell through the cracks but just like the woman, no one was present there to save him.

    ''Waitбн that voiceбн''

    With a jolt, Jason realized that the voice belonged to Hestia. Though it sounded much younger than the voice he was used to hear, Jason recognized it.

    And with that, he realized another thing.

    ''This scene is a memory. It has already happenedбн''

 Chapter 150 Worlds Which Vanished [Part 2]

    Jason continued to see the same thing for a few seconds but nothing changed.

    [ Host, I think you should stop touching Hestia''s arm. ] the system suggested in a worried tone.

    ''Hmmбн'' Jason thought on the topic for a few seconds before pulling himself away from the memory ying in front of him.

    He appeared back in the temple. With some effort, Jason pulled his hand away from Hestia''s body.

    [ Damn it! Its happening. ]

    ''What''s happening?'' Jason questioned. Unfortunately, he got the answer to his question soon.

    Jason saw a new set of memories ying in front of him, all of them being his memories. His entire life started ying in reverse.

    Jason saw himself surviving in the forest, making new friends, fighting Hecate, fighting in the tournament, meeting Hecate in the Kamizel forest, learning to control the light and dark element and everything else he had experienced in his second life.

    ''Thisбн''

    Jason suddenly froze as he looked at a scene he didn''t remember. It was Erebus standing in a void like ce where countless white balls of light, souls to be specific, were present.

    Erebus zoomed in on one of the souls and stood there. Suddenly, another soul appeared in his hand.

    Jason didn''t know whether things were moving in reverse or not. Erebus guided the soul towards the other one and merged both of them together.

    [ That''s meбн ]

    ''What?''

    [ Hebined both of us together so that no matter what happens, I will be able to help you. ]

    ''Wait, does that mean that you were once alive?'' Jason asked with widened eyes.

    [ I don''t know. ]

    Before Jason could ask anything else, the memory vanished. Now he saw himself on Earth, fighting the soldiers around the bunker.

    Things continued to move backwards and soon enough, Jason saw Thalia again. His stomach contracted yet the memories didn''t stop.

    His first life yed in reverse and even showed his birth. For the first time, Jason got to see his mother.

    ''She looks beautiful.'' Jason noted as he saw his mother. Her hair were shining silver, much like his current hair. Her eyes were golden brown, almost shining like the sun.

    ''This should be the end.'' Jason sighed.

    He had went through a mixture of emotions by seeing all of the memories. But now that he had gone through his first life, nothing would be left.

    ''Huh?'' Jason suddenly felt surprised when the scenery changed again.

    Thunder rampaged on the top of a hill, much simr to the one he was currently standing on. The same marble temple stood on top of the hill yet it looked brand new.

    Hestia was flying above the temple, her eyes burning with power. She pointed her right hand towards the dark sky, releasing a dark beam.

    A pure white thunderbolt shot from the sky and shed with the dark beam. For a second, Jason thought that he saw a person inside the thunderbolt.

    ''Another part of Hestia''s memoriesбн''

    Jason was suddenly pulled back to the temple where a frozen Hestia was hovering in front of him.

    He didn''t say anything andnded on the ground. Jason started taking deep breaths to calm himself.

    ''Someone should issue warnings at such ces. Something like, "Warning: entering and touching the frozen goddess will give you a free ride across the memory rollercoaster". This is a necessary thing.''

    [ I agree. This was unexpected. ]

    Jason nced at Hestia onest time before he walked towards the entrance of the marble temple.

    His shock limit for the day had been achieved.

    ***

    Jason woke up on his bed with a thirsty throat. With a sigh, he stood up and started moving towards the orphanage''s kitchen.

    Suddenly, a drop of water fell down from his right cheek. It was followed by a few more drop of water.

    ''Is it raining outside? I gotta say that if that''s the case, this orphanage is built really badly.''

    But the moment Jason looked at the ceiling, he realized that it wasn''t raining. The drops of water wereing out of his eyes.

    ''Am Iбн crying?'' he blinked in surprise.

    His vision had started blurring from the tears yet he felt no emotion inside him.

    [ There aren''t your tears, host. ] The system said in sad tone. [ These are the tears of someone who lost everything not once but twice. These are the tears of someone who watched worlds vanish in front of their eyes. ]<sub> </sub>

    At first, Jason didn''t understand who the system was referring to. But after a few minutes, it finally hit him.

    [ You are right, host. The moment you both connected during the Trial of Fear, Hestia''s soul became a bit more lively. So when you took the trial, she was fighting her own fears.

    Till this moment, she is still fighting her own fears. Remember how Phobos suddenly seemed afraid? I think Hestia was the reason for that. But due to using her powers, she was trapped in her own nightmares. ]

    ''This means that the scenes I saw were just a part of the endless nightmare that she keeps on experiencing.''

    Jason steeled his heart and walked out of the room. Tears continued to flow out of his eyes but he made no attempt to stop them.

    Jason started heading out of the orphanage. His throat no longer felt dry. He simply wanted to see the night sky and sit under it until the tears stoppeding.

    Jason exited the orphanage and went to sit on the ground where he practiced daily. The sky above his head was partially cloudy and slow wind was blowing all around.

    Despite that, the stars and the moon were clearly visible over his head. Jason looked at them with blurry vision.

    Slowly, the tears started dying down.

    ''System, do you remember anything from your previous life?'' Jason asked.

    [ No, I don''t remember anything. ]

    ''Perhaps that''s the reason Erebus stopped me from giving you a name. We will have to wait for some time to see whether you will remember anything from your previous life or not.''

    Even after the tears had stoppeding out of his eyes, Jason didn''t feel like going back inside. Something about the night kept him outside for good.

    "Damn, its cold out here."

    Suddenly, a feminine voice echoed inside Jason''s ears. He turned back to see Amber standing behind him with a curious expression.

    "I take it you tried to meet your guardian and see what happened?" Amber questioned with a curious face.

    Jason blinked in surprise. "How did you know that?"

    "Well, I received a simr response to what happened with you." Amber smiled.

    She walked forward and sat beside Jason. mey was calmly sleeping on her neck, making Jason sigh.

    "Yes, I did try to get my guardian back but it didn''t go as expected. I saw someбн things."

    "You saw some of her memories didn''t you?" Amber asked. "Not only that but you also saw your own memories ying in reverse."

    Jason simply nodded. "You experienced the same thing when you tried to get mey back?"

    "Yeah. mey was stuck in a nightmare. Heck, I didn''t even know that he was a she until I saw mey''s real form." Amber sighed exasperatedly.

    "Wait, you are telling me that mey is actually a female? How did you not know that?"

    "I mean, he always spoke with me in a neutral voice. I ASSUMED he was a male."

    "бн"

    Jason asked the system what the time was. Fortunately, five minutes had already passed by since midnight so his shock limit had already been reseted.

    "Did you see anything rted to a war?" Jason suddenly questioned.

    Amber hesitated to reply at first but after a few minutes, she replied, "yes, I did see some scenes like that. mey was fighting some guys."

    Both of them sat in silence for the next few minutes. Neither of them knew what to say nor were they sleepy enough to go inside and sleep.

    "Hey Jason, how much time do you think has passed in the outside world?"

    "Definitely more than two months. After experiencing the trial of fear and entering a dream world, I don''t think time flows normally here."

    "I feel the same." Amber sighed. "Do you want to fight?"

    Jason blinked in surprise. "Though that''s random, sure."

    The duo stood up and put some distance between themselves. Since they were still dressed in their night suits, they didn''t look intimidating and instead looked like children who were sleep walking.

    "Let''s do one element only. I will use dark element." Jason suggested.

    "Then I will use fire element to match the destructive power of your dark element." Amber grinned.

    Both of them raised their hands forward and shot their respective attacks at each other. Jason had used a beam of darkness, simr to the one he had seen Hestia use.

    Amber on the other hand had released a Chinese dragon made from mes. Both of the attacks crashed mid-air, causing a big explosion.

    Their users smiled on their spots despite knowing about things that were enough to break the hearts of their guardians.

    After all, both of them knew of worlds which vanished.

 Chapter 151 Lightning Destroys, Thunder Protects

    "Haaaбн when did you get so hardworking, Zeke?"

    "Tsk, you are not using your full power, Jason. Its not right that only I use my full power!" Zekeined.

    Icicles shot out from his hand repeatedly. Jason was dodging them one after the other with the help of his thunder element.

    It had taken him a week to develop a movement technique which wouldn''t destroy his limbs or internal organs due to excessive energy usage.

    "You asked for it." Jason replied with a grin.

    He pushed more of his thunder element towards his feet before jumping in the air. He managed to reach a whooping height of fifteen feet with the single jump.

    ''Hmm, let''s see if harpoons can be used in some other way as well.'' Jason thought silently.

    A harpoon of darkness shot out from his right hand, directly going in for Zeke''s head. Thetter immediately moved away from the path of the harpoon.

    The temperature in the area started lowering. The harpoon froze in air before hitting the ground with a loud clung.

    Crystals of ice circled Zeke''s body, acting like bodyguards. Jason had already fought against Zeke once and knew that the icicles would automatically move towards any attack released by him.

    ''He can freeze my thunder attacks with those crystals. I can try outrunning them but that would give Zeke the time to increase his defense.'' Jason observed while shifting from ce to ce.

    Thest battle between him and Zeke had happened four days ago. Much to everyone''s surprise, Jason had lost.

    Zeke had managed to slip one of those icicles into the wind. Even with his low level wind affinity, he had managed to make the iciclee in contact with Jason''s face.

    If thetter had made any move, the icicle would have frozen his face.

    "Gonna go full power or not?" Zeke raised an eyebrow.

    "Fine." Jason sighed.

    The thunder that was being restricted by his body suddenly went out of control.

    Jason vanished from Zeke''s line of sight and appeared beside him in the a mere second. Zeke had anticipated this and had made a shield of ice around him.

    ''Thunder might be my shiest and most-used element but dark element was the thing that I was naturally born with.'' Jason thought with a smile.

    Suddenly, dark particles of mana gathered around his feet. He came in contact with the shield of ice and managed to shatter it easily.

    The shield might as well have been made from thin ss. It cracked into numerous pieces and didn''t affect Jason''s speed in any possible way.

    Jason removed the dark mana from his feet with a single thought as his foot came in contact with Zeke''s face.

    Thetter was blown away by it and skidded to the ground. Though he did get up soon, his face looked dirty.

    "So that''s the size of my shoe." Jason muttered, his right hand pointing towards the shoe mark that had been stamped on Zeke''s face.

    "I''ll get you for that!" Zeke shouted. He propelled himself forward using wind magic and shot towards Jason.

    Ice appeared around Zeke''s body like an armor, ending up in a pointy end.

    ''That''s a good move. I can do the same thing with both of my elements. Perhaps I should trybining them.'' Jason wondered silently.

    Their battle continued to go on and in the end, Jason won. Both boys, however, weren''t tired and fought for several more rounds.

    In the following two weeks, Jason fought against all of his friends. He managed to learn many new things and even developed the concepts of new skills.

    With some practice, he would have a bunch of tier 3 skills in his arsenal.

    [ You only need one more tier 3 skill to move to the next rank. You will be a ruby(A) ranked person than. ]

    ''What about the advancements of my job ss? Though bing stronger is a goal that I have to achieve, advancing in my job sses is one of the three limits.'' Jason reminded.

    [ Hmm, ording to my calctions, Thunder mage job ss should evolve soon. I think there is only a minor concept that you haven''t learned yet. ]

    ''Minor conceptбн''

    Jason had no idea what he could have left out since he had been training for so long. Perhaps he had to do some kind of weird dance or some voodoo magic to advance?

    [ Wait, that''s it! ]

    ''I have to perform voodoo magic?'' Jason frowned.

    [ Fortunately, no. You just have to pray to some god and you''ll advance. ]<sub> </sub>

    ''Huh? You are telling me that to advance to the next level of a job ss, I will need to pray to a god or goddess?''

    [ In cases of special sses, the advancement requirements are different. However, all of them have one thing inmon. Once all the other requirements have been made, the person would have to pray to the god that their family worships.

    Either that or they will have to pray to a god or goddess rted to their element. ]

    Jason nodded mentally, closed his eyes and sat on the ground. Midnight had already passed and only five children were present in the ground.

    The other four had already seen Jason do the same thing numerous times and didn''t question his actions. They simply focused on themselves.

    ''I have someone in mind. If that person doesn''t qualify, I will think of someone else.'' Jason replied to the system.

    [ Then repeat the words after me. ] The system ordered. [ "May the thunder pave a path towards my victory. In the end, I will end up at the end of the road and with blessings from a god of *insert element* I will climb to new heights." ]

    ''That''s kinda cringe but then, most prayers and chants are like that.'' Jason shrugged before repeating the words mentally.

    [ Now think of that person simr to how you thought of Hestia. Maybe less physical features. ]

    The system would be lying if it said that it wasn''t curious to know the name of the person Jason was thinking about.

    Unfortunately, neither it nor anyone else would be able to know the name of the god that the silver-haired boy had chosen.

    This was done to ensure that conflicts between deities governing the same thing didn''t happen.

    Jason focused on the details of the figure he had in mind. ''A fallen goddess who, ording to what I know, isn''t rted to lightning or thunder but can still use both expertly.''

    He went on to think about the said person before ending it with a smile. ''In the end, she was an Olympian so when ites to power, she is strong.''

    The moment he finished, his mana core burst with mana. His entire body was engulfed in thunder mana from head to toe, covering him in thunder.

    "Did he just copy me?" Zeke questioned while his jaw twitched.

    "It looks cooler and deadlier," Orion pointed out. "With enough practice, all of us can do this with our main elements or even our less powerful elements."

    "Damn, it would be cool to be standing in the middle of a cyclone." M daydreamed, or nightdreamed since it was night.

    Soon enough, all of them started thinking of creating their own skills. Zeke grumbled about reporting them to the copyright god but unfortunately, the god was currently busy fighting against other websites.

    As for Jason, his consciousness was no longer present in the ground. He was currently seeing his core expand to twice its size, simr to that of a spiritual core in cultivation.

    "Its been a while since anyone thought of me as a goddess of thunder." A sweet voice entered his ears.

    "Hestia," Jason murmured.

    "Yes, it''s me." Hestia materialized in front of him and smiled.

    "That was quite simple. I just had to pray to you and boom, you appear?" Jason questioned.

    "No, I am still trapped in the nightmare. This is just a small version of my consciousness that I managed to cast here to help you advance." Hestia replied in a sad tone.

    "So you are a goddess of thunder."

    "Yes and no. Zeus gave me the power of thunder to protect not only myself but Mount Olympus and humanity as well. I still remember that he said, "lightning destroys, thunder protects" to me after handing me thunder." Hestia exined.

    "But isn''t thunder just the supreme and purest form of lightning?" Jason asked in a confused tone.

    "Theoretically, yes. The Zeus back when we were fighting the Titans was quite different. ording to him, lightning gives you the ability to fight back and destroy things. But thunder is something even stronger.

    With it, you can not only protect yourself and destroy your enemy, you can also protect those around you. That is why I gave you the different types of lightning. Maybe I should evolve it." Hestia feel deep in thought.

    "That Zeus sounds like a cool person." Jasonmented.

    "He was but after so many years of existence and power, even he changed. His scandalous side is quite famous due to those reasons." Hestia sighed. "I miss my old self as well."

    "You must have been strong back then." Jason marveled.

    "I was one of the original twelve Olympians before giving out my seat to Dionysus. I was there when everything else failed and when all gods abandoned their home to fight.

    I was there when humanity was passing through the dark ages and I provided my mes and warmth to them. I am blessed with many powers and I protected not only mine but other gods'' homes as well."

    Hestia''s eyes started glowing with power. Her words contained a divine energy which resonated with Jason''s soul.

    "I am Hestia, goddess of the Hearth and a protector of what one might call home. I am thest Olympian goddess.

 Chapter 152 That Sounds Familiar

    "Jason, get to the forest. I will be back by then." Hestia instructed.

    Before Jason could ask her more about the forest, she vanished from her spot. While sighing, Jason exited the ce too.

    His eyes opened up and were greeted with by multiple system screens.

    ---

    Congrattions! Your job ss <Thunder Mage> has evolved into <Thunder Grandmage>

    ---

    <Thunder Grandmage>

    - Someone who was mastered the power of lightning and had moved onto its purer form. Such a person can cause destruction with just a flick of their finger.

    - Can control all forms of natural lightning(mana).

    - Can control the mana present inside other beings(only of those who are below your level).

    ---

    <Thunder Armor (Tier 3)>

    - By controlling the mana present inside you or around you(limited to lightning mana currently), you can create an armor of thunder.

    - Increase in agility, defense and offense.

    ---

    [ The exact level of increase can''t be stated. You will have to make due with these details. ] the system added he had seen all the system screens.

    Jason nodded once before heading to his status page. His rank had been changed to Ruby(A) and was currently at the low level.

    ''I never noticed such an effective change before.'' Jason observed.

    He could sense the mana around him more easily. Jason also realized that his control over mana had increased with his breakthrough.

    [ The breakthroughs before these are kinda low leveled. That is why its sometimes harder for the majority of the poption to figure them. ]

    ''That exins the formation of tiers and such. Some skills and spells can only be unlocked when you have a better control over mana and know how to use it effectively. Thus it will show the increase in power level.''

    [ Indeed. When one of your friends breakthrough to the next level, you will be able to see this too. ]

    ''That will happen sooner orter. The question is, how do I evolve my main job ss?''

    [ Lemme get back to you in a minute. ]

    Once the system went away, Jason stood up from the ground. He raised his right hand and summoned a bit of his thunder mana.

    The mana inside him rushed out in under a second and appeared in his hand. It took the shape of a thunderbolt, following themand given by Jason.

    ''Such a high level of controlбн''

    [ Turns out you''ll have to wait until you are thirteen to get the evolved form of your main job ss. Also, it can''t happen here. ] The system exined.

    ''I guess I don''t have anything else to do except waiting for the exam to start.'' Jason sighed, the mana around his hand vanishing alongside it.

    "Oi Zeke, do you want to fight?" he asked aloud.

    "Definitely." Zeke replied with a grin. The ground below his feet started freezing, showing his excitement to battle.

    Jason smiled and raised his right hand. "Let''s do it."

    ***

    "Listen carefully, brats. I know ny percent of you are going to fail but to sound motivating, I wish you all luck. Now go to the city center and make sure you don''t embarrass me." Rharia said in a disappointed tone. "Scram!"

    Most of the children left the orphanage with dejected expressions. Most of them knew that they were going to fail.

    They had more faith in the group of five since they would benefit from it as well. Silently, all children prayed that all five of the group passed the exam.

    As for the group, they were walking at the front of the crowd of children heading towards the city center.

    "I have been curious about this for some time," Orion said. "What exactly are we giving the exam for?"

    "eptance into some magical institution or something like that." Zeke relied with a shrug.

    Neither of them were concerned about the reason for giving the exam. Their only goal was to pass it, break their thresholds and go back to their own lives.<sub> </sub>

    "Remember, don''t show too much of your powers," M warned. "I know it firsthand that during such events, the prodigies are chosen to be at the top. But due to beingmoners, we will definitely face some small amount of difficulty."

    "Have you seen it happen?" Jason questioned curiously.

    Since M was a princess, it wasn''t unbelievable. Every world had its own share of idiots spread across all sections of society.

    "I have seen a few incidents like this." M''s eyes darkened. "Sometimes the nobility or the royalty aren''t spared either."

    No one asked her about the meaning of herst sentence. Instead, they silently walked up to the city center.

    A small ex-convent was built near the city center, currently being used as an administrative office.

    The exams were going to be held in front of the convent and children up to fifteen years of age could appear for the exams and take part in them.

    A huge crowd of children were gathered near the convent, marvelously starting at a man flying in the air.

    To them, he looked like a god. Jason and the others chuckled when they saw this.

    All of them could fly or at least remain suspended in the air for a temporary time. What the man was doing seemed like pretty simple to them.

    "Wee everyone!" the man bellowed. "Today, we are going to hold the exam for entrance into the the academy of the church of !@#$%^&*"

    Jason frowned upon hearing the name. To him, it sounded as though someone had mashed special characters together to name a something.

    "Did any of you catch that name?" Amber asked in a confused tone.

    The remaining four shook their head. At least they knew that the exam was being held to gain entrance to a academy supported by a church.

    "Anyways, the goal is simple. There will be two stages to this exam. The first will be preliminary stage. Once you havepleted this, you can join the academy at themoner level.

    The second stage is optional but if you clear it, you can enter the academy at the same level as those belonging to the clergy." The man exined.

    The children went into an uproar. It was as though someone had just invited them to an all you can eat candy version buffet.

    "I feel confused right nowбн" Zeke muttered.

    "Same." Jason agreed.

    "Now listen carefully. All those who can use something simr to a skill will pass the preliminary round." The man stated the rules. "You can start whenever you want. I will be monitoring all of you."

    Jason exchanged a look with his friends. The margin for passing was so easy that it was almostughable.

    "Well, looks like we pass." Amber shrugged before summoning a bunch of fireballs around herself.

    Zeke summoned ice crystals while M made two wind des appeared in her hands. Orion summoned a rectangr piece of light and made it shine brightly.

    Jason simply summoned a lightning bolt. Since they were all trying to hide their true powers, what they had used was quite low leveled.

    "You five pass!" the man dered with an excited expression. He could tell that the five children were at least above average level. "Would you like to undergo the second stage?"

    All of them exchanged a nce again and slightly nodded. Since the first test was easier, the second couldn''t be that harder.

    "Very well. You can back off after hearing the details so no worries. Please make your way to the city gate and meet with my colleague there. He will be flying in the air as well." The man exined and continued to monitor the children.

    It took them fifteen minutes to reach the city gates. Just like the man had said, his colleague was waiting for them at the city gates.

    "Listen up,'' He said the moment they appeared closet to him. "Your goal is to survive out in the nearby forest for a day. Think you can do it? If yes, step past the gates. If no, remain here. You have one minute to decide."

    "That sounds familiarбн" Jason muttered. He remembered how Izzy had trained them by making them live out in the wild for a week.

    Thrown with the sudden choice, all of them hesitated to move. However, Jason walked out just a few secondster.

    Amber stepped outside next, followed by Zeke and Orion. Atst, only Mia remained.

    ''Nothing to worry about. We have done this before.'' M thought while looking outside.

    With a deep breath, she took her step outside. For her, doing things she wasn''t sure of was quite difficult.

    It was only due to the fact that she knew the people in front of her that she was willing to step outside.

    If anything went wrong, she would at least have someone to rely on.

    ''Come on, M. Don''t think about the past. These guys aren''t your brothers and cousins. They won''t try to feed you off to deadly animalsбн''

    But the moment her foodnded on the other side of the city gate, her body turned to particles of light.

    In front of their eyes, the particles of light flew towards the sky and vanished from the ceбн

 Chapter 153 I Have Changed A Bit

    "What just happened?" Jason asked with narrowed eyes.

    The scene had left them stunned. The man, however, looked confused.

    "Are you all backing out? If not, don''t keep standing here. It will only count as a survival if you are at least hundred meters away from the city. Someone will monitor you so don''t think you can fool us." He exined.

    The quartet exchanged a nce before they started moving in the opposite direction of the city.

    "So, she broke her threshold?" Orion questioned once they had put some distance between themselves and the city entrance.

    "I guess," Jason agreed. "Though that was easy, its the only exnation we got. Either that or she got kidnapped."

    He paused and looked at the surroundings. "Also, we are being watched. Its best if we remain silent to prevent unwanted animals from finding us."

    The others somehow understood that Jason was indicating that they were not alone. All of them kept their mouth shut and simply observed their surroundings.

    Silently, they remembered the threshold that was told to them soon after they had asked their one question.

    "Hmm, we can live for a day without food easily." Zekemented after a few minutes. "The only thing to be worried about is beasts."

    "Beasts won''t be a problem as along as we can fight them together. We can handle any beast unless a S rank or higher beast appears." Orion added.

    Jason, however, wasn''t paying attention to them. His eyes were moving through the nearby area and the more he looked, the grimmer his face turned.

    "Guys, I have two news. The bad and the super bad one," he slowly said. "Which one would you like to hear?"

    "Uh, the bad one?" Zeke replied in a confused tone.

    "All right. All of us are surrounded by bandits," Jason dered. "The super bad news is that they are going to attack us in a minute or so. Perhaps even sooner now that I have told all of you about their ns."

    Hearing his words, the other three immediately went alert. Zeke and Amber summoned their respectivepound elements and were ready to raze everything to the ground.

    Orion used his light mana to create a small circle around them. He whispered, "As long as you stay inside the circle, you will be able to recover all minor to semi-major injuries. The time taken to heal ranges between a second to two minutes."

    Though Orion wanted to fight, he knew that his role as a support would be more beneficial in the correct situation.

    ''So this is why none of the people from the city wants to leave it premises. Too many bandits and beasts are spread around the entire area.'' Jason observed.

    He saw as far as he could without hurting his eyes. He had used a lot of his mana to do so and his body was feeling a bit lighter.

    Jason cut off his special ability and instead replenished his mana. Simultaneously, a dozen or so figuresunched out of the bushes and surrounded the group.

    [ Host, I don''t think they are actual banditsбн ]

    ''Huh? What do you mean by that?'' Jason asked with a frown.

    Without saying anything, two bandits lunged forward. Jason let Amber and Zeke deal with them and stepped back to observe the situation.

    [ They know we don''t have much money since we are children. There bodies aren''t emitting any bloodlust or signs of greed either. This feels like a staged attack. ]

    ''Perhaps this church, or whatever it is, wants to test all of us.'' Jason replied with a thoughtful expression.<sub> </sub>

    He didn''t pay any attention to the battle and simply chucked a thunderbolt towards one of the figures.

    The person disappeared from the scene before the thunderbolt could pierce his skull. Otherwise, he would be lying dead at their feet.

    The other bandits seemed to pause when they saw Jason''s actions. The other two kids had simply been handicapping them but the silver-haired boy had directly tried to kill them.

    [ Its true. No normal bandit would act like that in such a situation. ]

    After hearing the system''s words, Jason smirked. He raised his right hand towards the bandits and released a snake made from thunder.

    The pure reptile made from thunder lunged towards the throats of the ''bandits''. In the blink of an eye, most of them vanished.

    "So they were here to test our capabilities." Orion muttered from behind. He had a feeling that something was wrong but couldn''t quite locate it.

    But once he had seen the bandits vanishing one by one, he realized that the entire thing was either nned or the bandits had some high level teleportation.

    "That might have been a fake wave but a real one is about to arrive soon." Jason warned, his eyes glowing a bit due to using his ability. "Let''s get out of here."

    Jason guided them to a ce where they could stay rtively well hidden. He turned off his ability at the same time and rubbed his eyes.

    "Zeke, can you give me a small piece of ice which I can put on my eyes?" Jason questioned while sitting down on the ground.

    "Sure," Zeke replied. He created a t piece of ice and tossed it to Jason. Thetter put it on his right eye and sighed in relief.

    ''Ugh, using this ability too much is quite harmful.''

    [ That happens because you use it on certain asions. Maybe if you tried using it passively, things would be easier. ]

    ''Maybe.''

    With a sigh, Jasonid on the ground and stared at the sky.

    "So, what are we going to do next?" Zeke questioned. "Are we just going to sit here and enjoy the nice weather."

    p "Weren''t you thezy one?" Orion asked with an amused look.</anda>

    "I am thezy one."

    "From the looks of it, you are the only one who wants to do something else." Orion countered.

    "Thatsбн true." Zeke agreed. "Normally, I would be sleeping by now but I am more excited about exploring this ce and maybe fighting some beings."

    "So you are bing a muscle head." Jason joked.

    "You keep lying on the ground and act dead." Zeke smiled. "But I guess you are right. I have changed a bit over the past few months. Maybe it isn''t that bad of a thing."

    Before anyone could agree or disagree with him, Zeke''s body turned into particles of light. Simr to what happened with M, the particles of light flew towards the sky and vanishedбн

 Chapter 154 I Am Bursting Into Particles Of Light

    "Well, thats two down." Jason sighed. He sat up and flexed his neck a bit. "If either of you feel like you are turning into particles of light, do tell me beforehand."

    "I don''t think we will have time to tell that. After all, the process seems to be instantaneous." Orion noted.

    "I was just joking." Jason stood up and looked at towards the North. "The predators are on the move. Evening will soon go and night wille. We will have to find a shelter before that."

    "Preferably a shelter where we don''t get infested by monkeys." Amber coughed lightly.

    "I guess we can manage that." Jason smiled.

    Orion didn''t understand what the two of them were talking about. After all, he hadn''t been with them during the survival exercise.

    ''Why am I interested in it in the first ce?'' he questioned himself. ''I don''t need to know about other people''s things unless they concern me or are of political importance.''

    Orion had heard enough non sense in his house that he had alienated himself from such stuff.

    If he didn''t find anything of interest, he would no longer listen to that. This was a good thing considering how his mother, father and step-father were continuously bickering.

    Even when Brian had moved out, Orion hadn''t been able to get some rest.

    ''Focus, bish! You are not getting distracted by such things in the middle of the forest.'' Orion scolded himself and tried to empty his mind.

    On the other hand, Jason was discussing something important with the system.

    [ Hestia isn''t moving or anything. I tried looking at her directly but some kind of force surrounding the temple repelled me. ] The system reported.

    ''Hmm, we still need to reach Hestia and help her. She did say that once we reach the forest, she wille back. That doesn''t seem to be workingбн''

    [ Maybe we have to reach some specific part of the forest? Speaking of that, do you remember that beast which you talked with during the trial of fear? ]

    ''I do remember that. It also asked me to bring Orion and Amber along with me.'' Jason suddenly paused. ''Both of whom are walking behind me.''

    [ Sounds like the perfect moment for something to go wrong. ]

    ''Well, you jinxed it. Now something will definitely go wrong.''

    Jason stopped walking and held up his hand. Orion and Amber watched this with confused expressions as he raised three fingers.

    "Threeбн twoбн oneбн" Jason muttered while keeping his eyes open.

    Since nothing seemed to be happening, he started stretching the count. "Zero point nineбн Zero point eight, zero point seven, zero point six, zero point fiveбн"

    BOOM!

    An explosion suddenly took ce beneath their feet, dragging them under the ground. Jason said zero at this moment and used his thunder to get to the surface.

    Amber pushed upwards with her fire, using it like a jetpack.

    ''Great, I am left out once again.'' Orion sighed mentally.

    The only way he could push himself upwards was by using something as a support for his feet. He would channel his mana to his feet and increase his jumping ability.<sub> </sub>

    Using that, he would be able to jump at what someone might call an inhumane level. If he controlled his weight as well, he could almost fly like a bird, except he would have to p his hands.

    ''Maybe the chamber of rebirth will reincarnate me. Hopefully, it will be in a better ce where I won''t be left behind.''

    Just as Orion was about to get buried under the Earth, he felt something wrapping around his arm.

    His eyes widened when he saw that Jason had shot a whip made of darkness and had wrapped it around his arm.

    Amber too had helped him by bringing a somewhat stable piece ofnd below his feet. This allowed Jason to grab a hold of him without pulling his shoulder out.

    "Orion, maybe try helping us a bit?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

    Orion shook his head to clear his thoughts before using his secondary element, the life element, to lighten his weight.

    The way he did it was by decreasing the force of attraction his body felt. With enough practice, he could suspend himself in air but it couldn''t be done instantly.

    "Phew." Jason sighed in relief. "You are heavier than you look."

    "Can I ask you something?" Orion questioned in a low tone.

    "Go ahead."

    "Why did you both save me?"

    "Maybe a thank you in its ce would be nice." Amber muttered.

    "Or perhaps something like "I am grateful for your help" would be nice." Jason mused. "Do we really need a reason to save you?"

    "People do things with a reason or some kind of goal in mind. No one just does something without a bigger goal." Orion replied with narrowed eyes.

    "That''s one way to think," Jason muttered. "But sometimes, people just do what I want. I don''t need a reason or a motive to save someone or kill someone. What I see and what I have understood are the two things I act on.

    Nobody has the time to think of the future during such moments, unless you are an overthinker. Its too much."

    Jason couldn''t help but remember the time he had spent on Earth. His thinking had been simr to Orion''s.

    Once he had reincarnated and had experienced numerous new things, Jason slowly changed. Currently, he could define himself as a handsome ma for trouble who seemed to attract all kinds of beings.

    "I seeбн" Orion murmured.

    Though he felt weird, Orion could tell that he had just made a breakthrough in the field called development.(AN: character development ahem.)

    "Hmm, we will talk about it back in the real world." Orion said with a confident expression.

    "We can talk about it now too." Amber pointed out. Even though her knowledge on the topic, if there was a topic at all, was low, she felt she could add some points as well.

    "Nah, I am bursting into particles of light." Orion smiled.

    His body suddenly changed to particles of light and flew to the sky before vanishing. Only Jason and Amber remained inside the chamber of rebirth

 Chapter 155 Is She A Prophet?

    "Amber, what threshold do you have to break?" Jason casually questioned. "Its fine if you don''t want to answer."

    "Its to activate something," she replied. "I can''t tell you what it is."

    "No problem. Mine is to connect back with Hestia." Jason replied before looking around.

    Using his vision control ability, he could see the changes in the mana particles. Someone was setting up traps all around the forest and none of them were normal traps.

    [ Those guys from the church thing are not responsible for this. Its either some guy who is interested in you both or it is a smart beast. ]

    ''Or its you know who. Its pretty obvious that strange things only happen due to strange guys who want me for some goddamn reason.''

    [ One, you are a half demon, which ording to my knowledge, are quite rare. Two, you have three divinities inside you, including me. Three, you have an apex guardian as your guardian. I don''t see why people are attracted to you. ]

    ''All right, there is no need to be sarcastic.''

    "Where do you think we should head?" Amber questioned while looking at the hole in the ground.

    "No idea. What do you think?" Jason shrugged. As far as he could see, the entire forest was a danger zone for them.

    Unless they exited it, there wasn''t anything they could do about it.

    "How about heading to the center? In the story books, the center of a ce always has something that will help the person in their quest or that''s where their of a viin is located." Amber suggested.

    "Let''s go there," Jason agreed. "We will have to be on the lookout for traps though."

    Once he had warned her, the two of them started their journey towards the center of the forest.

    ***

    "Tsk, one of them already went back. Maybe you shouldn''t have told him his threshold."

    "There''s no need to be this upset," Veritas, the goddess of truth pointed out. "He wille here, Cerberus."

    A beast sitting near her legs, grumbled. It was at least five times bigger than Veritas yet the goddess didn''t looked the least bit terrified.

    "I just want to go out. Phobos will be released soon. I want to get out as well!" Cerberus grumbled.

    "We will get out chance to go out. Don''t worry, I will make sure that we go out as well." Veritas promised. "We require just a tiny bit of that boy''s divinity. Same for the girl."

    "As you say, Veritas." Cerberus. "I swear that once I get out, I am going to smack those Greek gods with my paws."

    "I can help you in that." Veritas grinned. "After all, I hold a grudge with them too."

    ***

    "Why does someone even need to dig these many holes?" Amber asked with a baffled expression. "Its clear that we will never fall in them once we have learned our lesson."

    "Some people never learn there lesson. I once knew about a group of three who dug multiple holes to trap some people. They seeded most of the time." Jason sighed.

    Both of them had resorted to flying since walking on the ground was fatal. The number of traps they encountered had been reduced by a lot.<sub> </sub>

    "We are about to reach the center soon." Jasonmented while looking towards the east.

    His eyes could see two concentrations ofбн power?

    [ That''s not mana. ] The system said slowly. [ That''s divine energy. ]

    ''Does that mean that two divine beings are waiting for us in the middle of the forest?!'' Jason asked with a baffled look.

    Amber looked at him with a confused expression but didn''t ask anything. She knew that Jason had some ability which helped him sense either mana or living beings.

    Such an expression only meant that he had discovered something shocking.

    [ Potentially. Though divine energy is something that no one under the level of a demi-god can see. That energy is too less and weak to belong to a proper god or goddess. ]

    ''You are forgetting that pseudo-gods or demi-gods aren''t beings we can fight, much less gods!''

    [ You can confirm things for yourself by reaching the middle of the forest. Maybe Hestia will awaken then. ] The system argued with a pointed that shut Jason up. [ Or you can go back and remain inside this ce for who knows how long. ]

    ''How did you get so good at arguments?''

    [ By pulling out youtube videos from your memory. ] The system snorted. [ I just used valid points. ]

    Jason sighed and gave up. He turned to look at Amber and said, "want the bad news or the super bad news?"

    Amber anxiously looked around to see whether a deadly trap had just sprang up. Once she was assured that nothing was wrong, she replied, "give both one by one."

    "The bad news is that we will mostly be useless in a fight once we reach the center. The super bad news is that if we do end up fighting the things in the center of the forest, we will die."

    "What are the chances of our death?"

    "Ny nine point nine nine percent," Jason replied with a grim expression. "We might win if we don''t have to fight them but if we do, the zero point one percent isn''t really reliable."

    "mey, can you smack him for me?" Amber suddenly questioned.

    Jason blinked in confusion but before he could say anything, the magma smander jumped on his face and smacked him with her tail.

    mey jumped back on her vessel and wrapped around Amber''s neck. For some reason, Jason could tell that the smander had a smug expression on her face.

    "I have already been in too many near death situations that it has be a normal thing for me. My definition of bad now includes torture or such things." Amber said with a pout.

    "I guess there is no need to say anything then." Jason muttered before advancing towards the center.

    "Indeed. Let''s just get done with our quests," Amber smiled. "Who knows? We might be able toplete our quests by putting ourselves in a dangerous situation."

    "Jason looked at her with a surprised expression.

    ''Is she a prophet?''

 Chapter 156 Welcome To Our Prison

    "Now what?" Jason asked once he and Ambernded in the center of the forest.

    The area opened up into a clearing, a very clear example of a region for a boss fight. Standing in the middle of the clearing were two figures, one woman and a three-headed dog who was ying with a red rubber ballбн

    "We meet again, Jason." Veritas smiled. "Hello Amber, I am the goddess of truth, Veritas. Nice to meet you."

    A frown appeared on Amber''s face. She looked at the dog once before looking back at the goddess.

    [ Am I supposed to bow down or something? ] She questioned Jason.

    [ As far as I know, showing some respect is enough. Not like there is anything else that we can do here. ]

    "Nice to meet you tooбн" Amber replied.

    "There is no need to be nervous." Veritas smiled. "I can''t do anything to you and neither can Cerberus. We are bound by ancient rules andws."

    Hearing her words, something clicked inside Jason''s mind. He remembered the details he had read on the goddess of fear, Phobos.

    "So you trapped like Phobos?" he asked.

    "Indeed. This forest and this entire realm is our prison," Veritas agreed. "Everything here is created by us to test those entering the chamber of rebirth. If you clear and reach your thresholds, you will get something great once you return."

    Jason and Amber wanted to say that they already knew this but they remained silent. This was mostly due to the fact that the three headed dog beside Veritas had chewed his ball to doom and was now staring at the duo.

    "I am Cerberus." The dog said in a clear male voice. "I am the dog that used to guard the doors of the underworld. Please to be your acquaintance."

    ""Uhбн""

    Both Amber and Jason had no idea what they should reply with. Though he sounded friendly, Cerberus looked like a dangerous dog.

    "Looks like your words didn''t reassure them." Cerberus snorted. "So much for being the goddess of truth."

    "They are mortals, young children at that. Itsmon for them to fear you especially when traces of your divinity are leaking out."

    "I can''t control that, you know."

    "I never said you could. I just stated the truth." Veritas said with a calm expression.

    "You and your annoying truthsбн" Cerberus grumbled.

    Jason and Amber watched this back and forth exchange with an interested expression. It was the first time that thetter was watching such an exchange between two supposed gods.

    Even Jason, who had seen this before, was interested in seeing the oue.

    "Let''s talk with them first and then continue this discussion. We have a lot of time to talk things out." Veritas said atst before looking at the duo. "Both of you want to get out?"

    The duo nodded in reply.

    "I can tell you the way to break through your threshold on one condition. You will have to fight against a certain creature and if you win, you can exit this ce in the next two hours. If you fail, you die and get reborn as a baby in this world.

    You will grow up and will have to do the same thing again to exit this ce. Do you want to try this method or try ying with your luck?"<sub> </sub>

    The duo exchanged a nce and started talking with the help of telepathy. When it came to luck, both of them weren''t the luckiest person they knew.

    Though they might not be some of the luckiest, betting with their lives was something they didn''t want topletely leave on luck.

    "We are willing to do this," Jason said after a few minutes.

    "Good. Now go fight." Veritas waved her hand in their direction and sent them away.

    Cerberus sighed once before he too vanished alongside the goddess of truth.

    All four of them appeared in a new location which was designed specifically for fights. Two seats were ced in the sky, one of which was normal human sized while the other was arge cot like structure.

    Sand was visible for tens of kilometers with no signs of life, except for the two children present on the ground.

    Jason and Amber stretched their bodies and warmed up to fight. They had fought many times and were used to it by now.

    [ We can take on a high A ranked or perhaps even a low S ranked beast now. ] Ambermented.

    [ That''s if we go all out but I guess you are right. ]

    Neither of them were the same as they had been during the fight with Iktomi. Perhaps they could win nowбн

    "You simply have to kill your opponent," Veritas announced. "Either you die or your opponent dies. You will have infinite amount of times and everything is allowed in the fight. We can start once you are ready."

    Jason and Amber took a few minutes to prepare some strategy. Veritas smiled at their actions but didn''t say anything.

    Cerberus, who had seen the same thing multiple times, shook his head. He could predict the oue of the fight but decided to put some faith in the duo.

    "We are ready!" Amber yelled once the two of them ha finalized their strategies.

    "Very well." Veritas waved her hand over the battlefield. "The fight begins!"

    Jason and Amber spread out a bit and prepared to attack. Divine energy was had gathered a few meters away from them and was slowly taking the shape of their opponents.

    [ Don''t attack that. Our attacks will be absorbed by it. ] Jason warned Amber.

    With the help of his vision, he could decipher that the heap of divine energy was absorbing the nearby mana and was using it to power up the creatures.

    A minuteter, the divine energy separated and two beings stood in front of the duo. Their appearance turned humane after another minute, shocking both Jason and Amber.

    "They look exactly like usбн" Amber said with a dazed expression.

    Jason''s mouth was slightly open as he saw a mirror version of himself standing a few meters away.

    "Your opponents," Veritas grinned. "Are you only. Can you fight against your self?

    ***

    AN: Personally, I think the quality dropped a bit in the past four to five chapters, probably because I was busy with IRL matters. But I am free now and I will try my best to deliver good content to the best of my abilities *Bows*

 Chapter 157 Real Versus Clone [Part 1]

    Jason and Amber paused for a few seconds. Their counter parts looked exactly like them except for their hollow eyes.

    C-Jason and C-Amber were staring directly at the original ones. A thunderbolt appeared in C-Jason''s hand while C-Amber summoned a whip made of darkness.

    (AN: In case you didn''t understand it, C is the short form for clone.)

    The two clonesunched themselves at the originals with the goal of killing them. Jason and Amber soon got back to their senes andunched their own attacks.

    [ Do you think our n will work against ourselves? ] Amber questioned in a doubtful tone.

    [ if it doesn''t work, we can always find other strategies. We just have to focus on defeating them. ] Jason replied.

    [ So that''s the reason this chamber can trap someone for eternity. These two set thresholds that can''t possibly be broken easily and thene forward to help the others. ]

    ''They summon clones of the others and let them fight. If they are the same as us, they might be familiar with our fighting style as well as our ns.''

    [ Just be careful. I will try to warn you of a deadly blow if you don''t locate it. ] The system went silent.

    Simultaneously, Jason shot a thunderbolt towards his clone. The clone did the same thing and threw the thunderbolt in its hand.

    The two shed mid-air and vanished. Jason frowned as he realized that the clone''s attack power was the same as his. Furthermore, it was using the same movement technique as him.

    Jason jumped back to retreat yet the clone had other ns. C-Jasonunched itself forward and summoned a shiny ck thread.

    ''Ariadne''s thread!''

    As soon as the thread was thrown in his direction, Jason had to use his thunder element to get out of the way.

    The thread hit the sand and got buried it inside. Clone let go of the thread and used a new strategy to fight against Jason.

    Amber wasn''t faring any better. Her attacks were being countered by her clone easily.

    When she manipted the Earth, her clone would do the same and end the entire thing in a stalemate. If she used fire, the same fire would meet her attack.

    Amber could only resort to trickery but her clone managed to fight against her tricks. In fact, it even managed te up with its own tricks that Amber couldn''t foresee.

    The two children retreated together and stood back to back. Their clones were present in front of their respective eyesight yet neither of them was willing to fight head on.

    [ Amber, how about we focus on one target while mey keeps the other one busy? I don''t think we will be able to win if we fight our clones head on. ] Jason suggested.

    [ Its a good n but what if mey also has a clone? We will never be able to win that way. ] Amber argued.

    "Hmmphбн" A feminine snort entered their ears.

    mey stared at her vessel with a smug expression. The guardian talked with Amber through telepathy before jumping off Amber''s neck.

    [ What did she say? ] Jason questioned.

    [ mey said that she is too powerful and smart for a mere clone to defeat her. She also said that she can defeat my clone if she wants to. However, I have to be the one to kill her or Veritas will consider the trial to be a failure. Apparently, they both go a long way back. ]

    Jason wanted to discuss more on the topic but he didn''t have the time to do so. mey was already fighting Amber''s clone while his own clone was nning on attack them.

    [ Attack my clone from two different sides. Use your strongest attack but be prepared to use your magma element. On my signal, you will have to control the ground and use your magma element to do something. ]

    After telling her the n, Jason whipped into action. He summoned his white thunder, an evolved form of his white lightning, and let it wrap around his body.

    Once his entire body was covered in the white thunder, Jason jumped off the ground. He shot towards the air with a crackling sound, his hand aimed at his clone.

    A thunder snake shot out from his hand and started moving towards the clone''s head. Amber used her earth element to control the ground, creating a type of quicksand below its feet.

    The clone was forced to dy its attack and had to dodge the attacks. Jason''s thunder snake was met with a simr snake while the clone used thunder to jump from the ground.

    Mid-air, it used the dark element to form arrows of darkness. It directed them towards the duo while resuming the preparation for its previous attack.

    [ Those arrows are cursed. If even one of them hits you, a random curse would be inflicted on your body. ] Jason warned.

    His eyes could see the familiar cursed energy inside the arrows. Not only that but the arrows were also aimed towards their hearts, making them impossible to dodge.

    ''It sucks to know that my clone can use my main element better than meбн'' Jason observed while summoning a string in his head.

    He coated Ariadne''s thread with some of his thunder and used it as a whip to cut through the arrows.

    [ Why don''t you use your main element more than lightning or thunder? ] The system questioned curiously.

    Jason gritted his teeth and didn''t reply. His attention was focused on the cutting the arrows one by one using Ariadne''s thread.<sub> </sub>

    Once he had eliminated half the arrows, he decided to reply. ''It''s because my main element is only at the A rank and unless you master the corrosion property, the dark element isn''t that good on its own.''

    [ That''s valid I guess, at least from your viewpoint. Most dark element users in fantasy used necromancy or creation to fully utilize the dark element. On the other hand, Thunder provides you much more flexibility. ]

    ''Exactly. I couldn''t have said it in a better way.'' Jason agreed.

    [ But that''s where you are wrong host. Your low affinity isn''t really low. You''ll understand that once we exit this ce. Also, you just haven''t gotten to know the real use of dark element.

    Remember how Risa exined the concept of dark, light and life magic to you. Simrly, you need someone to teach you more ways to effectively use the dark element. Its best if you ask Izzy to teach you once we get out. ]

    ''Iбн'' Jason wanted to say something than thought not to do it.

    He had managed to cut down all the arrows while Amber created a shield of earth to block the arrows. The tip of the arrows was stuck in the Earth, making Jason frown.

    [ Why didn''t you burn them? ]

    [ Don''t these arrows contain curses? If I can spread these curses throughout an attack, I will be able to use a cursed attack. ]

    [ You can do things like that?! ]

    [ I don''t know. Its worth a try. ]

    Jason''s frown deepened as he looked at the fallen pieces of arrows lying on the ground. Most of them had vanished yet the recently cut arrow was still present there.

    Jason bent near the arrow and used his vision to see the cursed energy present inside the arrow. Between the ck colored dark mana energy, tiny spots of gray were visible.

    ''System, I have a wild idea but I need you to confirm something for me.'' Jason thought, his eyes shining.

    [ Uhбн sure? ]

    The system was confused but when it heard Jason''s idea, it immediately scanned the arrow. Its scan was barelypleted before the arrow vanished.

    [ You were correct, host! ] The system announced.

    ''I seeбн'' Jason looked at the arrows still stuck in the Earth shield.

    They were slowly vanishing but at a much slower rate aspared to the arrows he had cut in half.

    [ Amber, throw that shield towards my clone. ] Jason instructed.

    [ Sure. ] Amber, who could tell that he had a n in mind, chucked the shield towards the clone.

    C-Jason chose this exact moment to attack. It was as though it had been waiting for one of them to attack it before releasing its own attack.

    Twin dragons made out of pure thunder, white one at that,unched from the clone''s palms. Both dragons looked as though two anacondas had beenbined together and given the form of a Chinese dragon.

    They strode directly towards Amber who the clone had judged to be a bit more defenseless than Jason.

    Unfortunately, its n wasn''t going to work that easily.

    ''If this doesn''t work, I will haunt you, system.'' Jason thought with a grim expression.

    He took a deep breath and jumped forward. Amber''s jaw dropped slightly when she saw that Jason was heading towards the dragons'' path, hoping to let them attack him.

    Before she could fullyprehend this, Jason appeared in front of the dragon and let them collide with his body.

    A searing pain shot throughout his body, followed by the sound of screaming. Jason could feel every inch of his body being electrocuted.

    Though he had a natural resistant against lightning, thunder was a different matter. If someone at his level or someone stronger than him used lightning or thunder against him, it would affect him like any other person.

    The attackunched by the clone was enough to kill him. The minimum damage would include destruction of internal organs and such.

    ''I have to learn to cut my pain receptorsбн'' Jason thought as the pain slowly started receding.

    Cerberus and Veritas, who had been watching the fight with bored expressions, leaned forward in their chairs.

    Expressions of surprise adorned their faces. Neither of the two deities had epted Jason to learn the secret of fighting the clones at such a young age.

    Jason felt the pain slowly move out as the two thunder dragons slowly started vanishing. Even the clone was taken aback by this sudden development.

    Jason grinned. "Do not underestimate a thunder magic wielder."

 Chapter 158 Real Versus Clone [Part 2]

    Once he had examined the dark mana carefully, Jason had learned it was almost an identical copy of his mana.

    The only difference was that the mana used by his clone contained tiny particles of divine energy.

    This particles of divine energy belonged to Veritas and Cerberus who were responsible for summoning the clones.

    It was their power which was being used to keep the clones alive and functioning. The mana inside them also came from the divine energy being supplied to them.

    After confirming things with the system, Jason realized that since the mana was simr to his own mana, he could initially use it on himself.

    That was the reason he was able to suck the two thunder dragons inside him. The pain had been caused by the divine particles which didn''t want to enter his body.

    But after putting enough force and pressure into them, Jason ended up absorbing both the mana and the divine particles.

    "You shouldn''t lose focus on a battlefield." Jason grinned, his hand pointing towards the boulder that had been chucked by Amber.

    When he had jumped towards the dragon, he had sent a message to her and had asked her to slow down the boulder.

    Through their coordination, Amber was able to time the boulder. It hit his clone straight in the face and sent him flying away.

    C-Jason''s neck was bent at odd angle, probably due to the shattering of its bones. The arrows which had been stuck to the shield boulder came in contact with the clones''s skin.

    Jason focused on the arrows and controlled them from a distance. The dark arrows acted like an extension of his body, allowing him to control them in any way he wanted.

    One by one, he let the curses from the arrows enter the body of the clone. Its skin turned a sickly shade of pale before slowly disintegrating.

    After a minute, nothing remained of the clone that had been created by the two deities. Jason and Amber exchanged a nce before looking on mey''s end.

    The magma smander had been holding on without putting much effort. She was simply using her tail to block any advances made by C-Amber.

    [ We will use the same strategy but you will be the one defeating your clone. mey told you to do it so it must be important. ] Jason stated before the two of themunched forward.

    [ How did you absorb those dragons? ] Amber questioned in case she needed to do the same thing with an attack thrown by her clone.

    [ If the clones are a copy of us, it means that they contain the same mana as us. I simply gambled on that theory and seeded. ] Jason replied with a grin.

    Amber didn''t know whether to congratte him for his bravery or stupidity. She realized that one situation could definitely be looked at from multiple viewpoints.

    [ So after experiencing hellish pain, you figured out that you could absorb the manaбн ]

    [ In a summarized version, yes. ] Jason replied with a smile.

    [ You are crazy. ] Amber sighed. Despite that, she couldn''t help but feel the itch to do the same thing herself.

    The red-head knew that she wasn''t a masochist yet she still wanted to absorb the mana released by her clone.

    [ Its an instinct. It contains divine energy which is reacting with the thing I gave you. ] mey''s voice echoed inside her mind.

    Amber blinked in surprise. She didn''t have any visual ability to help her see the divine particles and her sensory skills weren''t that high either.

    [ So will the particles of divine energy activate it? ] she asked eagerly.

    [ Truth be told, I don''t know. I shouldn''t be able to hand out my divinity since technically, I am not supposed to hold one. The one inside you is my original divinity. Perhaps a bit of a divine energy can charge it. ]

    [ So basically, we are ying a gamble as well. ] Amber sighed mentally.

    [ Once you are older, you will realize that life is simply just a gamble. Every situation you get in and every decision you take changes things. But what do I know about philosophy? I am just a fat smander who loves heat. ] mey replied, emphasizing thest sentence.

    [ Haбн we will talkter. ] Amber finished just in time to see mey vanish from her spot.

    C-Amber immediately looked at her two new opponents and frowned. The clone was likely projecting the emotions of Cerberus who was frowning in his seat.

    "Veritas, will we let them go once they clear the trial? We will have to tell them all the things we promised to them." Cerberus said in a concerned tone.

    "Don''t worry about that. I said that I will get our freedom and I only speak the truth." Veritas replied casually. "There is no need to be worried or concerned."

    "You got us this far. Can''t argue with that." Cerberus agreed.

    It was the goddess of truth who hade up with a n for their escape. Not only that but she was the one responsible for carefully setting everything up.

    "Its a good thing that you met the kid during the trial of fear. It helped us inmunicating with Phobos." Veritas added.

    "That was your nбн" Cerberus paused. "You are trying to make me praise you, aren''t you?"<sub> </sub>

    "No, I am just making you state the truth." Veritas grinned. "Now sit back and enjoy the battle."

    On the ground, Jason and Amber were following the same strategy as before. C-Amber was a bit sluggish after her fight with mey but the guardian had made sure that no major damage was dealt to it.

    mey knew that if she had dealt any threatening damage to the clone, Veritas might find a way to exploit them.

    After all, truth could easily be exploited and manipted.

    [ I draw her attention while acting weak while you finish her. ] Jason instructed andunched himself in the air.

    However, instead of using thunder, he summoned Ariadne''s thread. Jason remembered the structure of the dark arrow and tried summoning them.

    He was able to create five such arrows and tied the thread to all of them. Jason directed the arrows towards C-Amber and used the thread to cut her iing attacks.

    However, he was only acting as the decoy while Amber went in for the kill.

    ''Focus. You have to absorb one of her attacks.'' Amber thought with a calm mind.

    She used her earth powers to manipte the ground and opened a hole beneath her clone. C-Amber, who was busy fighting Jason, was forced to move away from the ground.

    Amber used this moment to advance instead of directly attacking the clone from a distance.

    C-Amber sensed that Amber wasing closer and released a fire attack. A fire Phoenix was released from its hands and directly shot towards Amber.

    [ Jason, don''t cut it down. ] Amber instructed Jason who was about to cut the Phoenix in half.

    The silver-haired boy didn''t say anything and simply continued to fly above the ground. Amber steeled her nerves and jumped in the path of the Phoenix.

    Her resistance to fire was simr to Jason''s resistance towards lightning. But simr to him, she was weak against magma mes at her own level or stronger than her level.

    Her body started burning from both inside and outside. Amber gritted her teeth and let her skin get burned.

    The sleeves of her shirt and the bottom of her jeans burned away and the fire directly came in contact with her skin.

    But instead of burning her skin, they simply boiled her body without damaging her outer skin.

    Amber released a low shriek due to the sudden pain that spread inside her. Her nostrils and throat were burning yet she held on.

    mey watched this with a sad expression. She knew that Amber was doing it for her sake and though she could stop her vessel, she didn''t do it.

    ''You have already suffered. Asking you to stop at this point would be a betrayal.'' mey sighed, her eyes continuously staring at her vessel.

    C-Amber, unlike Jason''s clone, wasn''t fazed. It had seen the same happen to the other clone and knew that this was the best moment to attack.

    Sadly, Jason wasn''t going to let it pass. He knew what pain Amber was going through so he decided to protect her until she was able to absorb all of the magma mes.

    Two minutes passed by in this manner before Amber started absorbing the mes. They entered her body in less than a minute and supplied her with energy.

    Her eyes burned with power as she joined her palms together. Amber split her hands and formed two circles with them.

    Raising her right hand, she struck empty air. Jason was confused for a second but when he saw the result of her actions, a smile appeared on his face.

    The ground shattered in two parts andva oozed from the cracks. Theva suddenly rushed forward and wrapped around C-Amber''s legs.

    Before she could react to it, theva pulled her down in the boiling pit. Amber joined her palms again and in the three blinks of an eye, thend closed.

    Jasonnded on the ground and pped Amber''s back.

    "That was kinda cool," he praised.

    "Thank you." Amber smiled. "Also, thank you for protecting me."

    "No need for saying that. We have been doing that for quite some while and I have to say, we make a good team." Jason grinned.

    Amber simply nodded, a warm feeling spreading through her chest.

    [ Smoothбн ] The system said in a shocked voice.

    ''No need to sound so shocked.'' Jason mentally facepalmed.

    "Well, the fighting is over." Veritas''s voice entered their ears as the goddess of truthnded on the ground. "Congrattions, you have won the fight. Its time for me to held up my end of the deal.

 Chapter 159 Planning A Grand Return

    "To connect with your guardian again, simply use the particles of divine energy inside you. Absorb them and direct them towards your soul. Your guardian will be able to break free from nightmare." Veritas exined to Jason.

    "As for you," Cerberus said. "Do the same thing. The piece of divinity inside you should partially activate but I am afraid that there is nothing else we can do for it."

    "I seeбн" Amber replied with a dejected look.

    Seeing her disappointed expression, mey suddenly jumped on top of Amber and wrapped around her neck.

    Some conversation happened between the duo and Amber''s mood got slightly better.

    "You both can do that here only," Veritas added. "Once you are done, you will be able to leave this ce and wake up inside your real bodies."

    "We will be leaving now. You both are a fun pair." Cerberus grinned.

    The pair of divine beings said their farewell and vanished from the ce. They had moved towards the final phase of their n and their only goal was to observe things from the shadows.

    ''Warn me if anything unusual happens.'' Jason asked the system before sitting on the ground.

    He could still sense the particles of divine energy inside him. Jason gently guided the particles towards his soul.

    Though he didn''t know the exact location of his soul, he could feel Hestia''s power leaking out inside his body.

    He focused on that connection and sent the divine particles towards his guardian.

    ''Hestia, wake up. You have lived in those nightmares for long enough.'' Jason silently added.

    Thest particle of divine energy left his body. His eyes glowed once as the the divine energy was no longer present inside his body.

    Jason patiently waited for something to happen. He believed in Veritas''s words since she was the goddess of truth.

    [ You shouldn''t trust others so easily, especially gods and goddesses. ]

    ''I never said that I trusted her. I simply said that I believed in her words.'' Jason replied.

    Five minutes passed by in such a manner yet Jason didn''t lose hope. Atst, something happened after ten minutes had passed.

    Jason body suddenly burst with thunder and dark mana. They wrapped around him and supplied him with an otherworldly power.

    [ Thank you for waking me up. ] Hestia''s sweet voice entered his mind.

    ''No need. It was my job to wake you up since you are my guardian.'' Jason replied and stood up from the ground.

    He looked around to see Amber still sitting on the ground. The red-head seemed to be meditating.

    Jason curiously activated his special vision and peered at Amber. After his breakthrough, he could now see the mana inside other living beings at his level or below his level clearly.

    His eyes could see the movement of the divine particles slowly vanishing near her heart. Jason continued to watch the scene with an interested expression.

    If someone else saw him, he would have definitely been marked as a pervert.

    ''Is it me or her mana looks more purer than mine?''

    [ Hmm, you can say that her mana is a bit purer than yours though I don''t know the reason for that. ] The system replied. [ Host, look at her mana core. ]

    Hearing the system''s words, Jason looked at Amber''s mana core, rather, multiple mana cores.

    All three of her mana cores were shining brightly, producing mana at an rming rate. Jason saw some that most of the natura mana automatically started moving towards Amber''s body.

    Jason cut of his mana vision and observed the scene through his normal eyes. His eyes widened when he saw fire wrapping around Amber''s body like a protective shield.

    He could see that the fire wasn''t created from Amber''s own mana but was created from the natural mana that was gradually wrapping around Amber.

    Five minutes passedterбн

    The fire around Amber had taken the form of a smander. Amber was sitting inside its head while the rest of its body stretched behind her.

    A sh of light suddenly went out of her body and illuminated the entire area. Different colors of light shot out from her body in the form of rays.

    Amber''s eyes flew open, the irises glowing a bright shade of orange. Jason switched on his vision ability again and saw mana leaking out of her body.

    But he probably didn''t need to do that. Arge wave of mana shot out of her body, causing the nearby sand to change into ss.

    Jason was knocked off his feet but managed tond back by doing a flip in the air. His eyes were focused on Amber''s magma mana core which was glowing the brightest amongst her three mana cores.

    ''So that''s what happen when a divinity activatesбн'' Jason thought with an awed expression.

    [ Her divinity is only partially activated. It is currently working at fifty percent power but judging from the outburst we witnessed, that divinity definitely belongs to a major god. ] Hestia replied in a doubtful tone.

    ''Is something wrong?'' Jason asked.<sub> </sub>

    [ Well, if that divinity belonged to her patron god, it would''ve been activated shortly after she was born. Did she tell you anything about having a patron god or goddess? ]

    ''No, she never told me about anyone like that.''

    [ Well, I have my theory but I don''t want to believe that its true. Can you do me a favor and ask her about her divinityter on? ]

    ''Sure.''

    In front of his eyes, Jason saw the smander slowly vanishing. Amber stood up from the ground and smiled at him.

    With a jolt, Jason realized that Amber was emitting an aura that could rival his own aura. If the two of them fought, the silver-haired boy wasn''t sure that he would win without revealing his trump cards.

    "We should be going back now." Jasonmented while walking up to Amber.

    "Maybe. We have spend a few months here but I have a feeling that quite a lot of time has passed in the outside world." Amber sighed. "I wonder how everyone is doing there."

    "They should be fine, hopefully." Jason murmured.

    The two stood in their spot for a few seconds before their bodies started turning to particles of light.

    "See on the other side." Amber said before her body vanished.

    Jason spared his surroundings onest nce before closing his eyes. His body turned to particles of light and vanished, leaving the ce behind for good.

    ***

    "Was the energy generated by the two of them enough?" Cerberus questioned.

    He and Veritas currently stood on the tallest peak present in their domain. Both of them could only look at the two youngsters vanishing without being able to leave themselves.

    "Its more than enough." Veritas smiled. "If everything goes right, we can actually leave this ce in six months."

    "So we will be leaving then?" Cerberus questioned.

    Before Veritas could reply, a teasing female voice answered, "No, you both won''t be leaving then."

    Phobos suddenly materialized in front of the duo in her subus form. Her eyes were burning with power yet the goddess of fear kept it under control.

    "Hello, Phobos." Veritas greeted with a smile.

    "Hey, truth speaker and big dog," Phobos replied. "Two more people would like to appear here and it would be better if you let them enter this ce."

    Veritas and Cerberus sighed before letting the remaining two figures to enter their domains.

    "Its nice to see all of us gathered together after such a long time." A male figure said in a deep voice.

    He was dressed like a medieval traveler and had white bandage tape wrapped around his eyes. His body wasn''t well built yet was emitting an aura that made the other three gods feel slightly anxious.

    "You should turn that stupid passive ability off, Hod." Phobos punched the man called Hod in the arm.

    "Also, that was a bad pun." Cerberus coughed lightly.

    Technically, Hod was blind as long as the bandages wrapped around his eyes were present.

    "Tsk, you guys haven''t changed one bit, all of you are still noisy and annoying." Thest figure said in an annoyed tone.

    His skin was sun kissed with different runes drawn across his arms. A snake biting its tail was etched on the man''s forehead.

    A scythe hung from his back, shining brightly under the sun. Heavy armor adorned his body, making him look oppressing.

    "Apophis, we are not going to war. You cane here in your more casual look." Veritas sighed.

    Apophis looked like he was about toint but all the other gods red at him, including Hod.

    In the end, he changed into a much more casual look, which included cotton pants and shirt paired with sunsses that were lying on the edge of his nose.

    "That''s better." Hodmented before deactivating his passive aura. All the other figures had their auras deactivated as well since it would create a huge conflict if all of their auras were on at the same time.

    "As I was saying, you both aren''t going out in six months or rather, you shouldn''t go out after six months. All of us will still be trapped inside your various trials so you will alone out there." Phobos exined.

    "That I know." Veritas smiled. "I was just checking whether all of you were listening or not. My hunch was correct. All of us have fallen from our previous godly positions and are more interested in eavesdropping on each other."

    None of the four other deities could tell whether the goddess of truth was joking or not. It was hard to determine this with Veritas.

    "Anyways, let''s get to the main topic," Apophis muttered. "I take it that we will be nning our return to the outside world?"

    "That we will." Veritas grinned. "After all, it will be grand return of five deities who were sealed off."

 Chapter 160 Its Been A Long Time

    ''Can''t I skip this floating through the void part?'' Jason questioned.

    The silver-haired boy was currently flying in a ck ce, or at least assumed he was since he couldn''t see jack.

    [ You are heading back to your main body. You can''t expect someone to just zap you that easily. That will shock your mental condition as well as your soul. ]

    ''They can put me inside an elevator with some music.'' Jason pointed out. ''But I guess this is pointlessining.''

    Jason calmly waited for him to reach his main body, which happened after five minutester.

    ''I wonder how long I was out forбн'' Jason thought before opening his eyes.

    He was currently staring at a in white ceiling. A strange tightness was present in his body yet he did nothing against it.

    Jason let himself get adjusted to being back in his original body before making a move. He slowly sat up and looked down at himself.

    "What the fk?!" he immediately cursed after seeing the condition of his body.

    He had grown tremendously and his body and developed a lot. His clothes were too short for his new developed body, thus exining the tightness.

    Suddenly, a pair of clothes appeared on hisp. They were in ck clothes and had nothing fancy about them.

    Jason slowly stood up and looked around to see his new surroundings. He was present in a small white room devoid of any furniture.

    A door was built in the western part of the room, marking it as the only exit. Once he had made sure that no one else was looking at him, Jason removed his clothes.

    The moment he did this, he noticed that a strange ck goo was covering his body. Simultaneously, two buckets of water appeared near Jason''s feet.

    He spent the next ten minutes cleaning himself and once he was done, Jason realized that his power had changed a bit.

    Not only that but his mana sensing abilities had reached a new level as well. He could easily sense the particles of mana in his surroundings.

    Jason also looked down at his body and observed that he was quite well built. Though he wasn''t muscled extremely, he still had a lean strong body.

    He walked up to one of the walls and hit it with hand. A small crater was created in the wall from his punch yet Jason didn''t feel any pain.

    ''Strangeбн'' Jason though before continuing to clean himself.

    ''Show me my status, system.''

    < Error! Data needs to be collected before disying status of the host''s body. >

    ''Oh?'' Jason raised an eyebrow.

    [ You just came back into your body after a long time and the system wasn''t active here. I will have to run a full scan on your body. Since many things could''ve changed, it will take at least thirty minutes to finish. ]

    ''Do it.'' Jason instructed before wearing the clothes.

    The new pair of clothes felt light on his body and werefortable. Jason walked out of the room and entered a bigger hall.

    <o>,m This ce was also white like the room and stretched on for at least a kilometer. It was quite narrow like it had been specifically built for just Jason to travel.</o>

    [ Looks like you can''t exit this ce now. The door behind you vanished. ] The systemmented.

    Jason looked back and confirmed its words. Turning back, he started walking with the goal of finding the others who had entered the chamber with him.

    ''It feels weird to suddenly look at the world from this level.'' Jasonmented.

    Due to his sudden increase in height, it felt a little weird for him to look this tall.

    Jason continued to walk down the hall before ending up at another door. He opened this door as well and crossed to the other side.

    A jungle was present in front of him alongside two others figures. One of them was Orion while the other was Amber, or at least that''s what Jason guessed.

    "Hey guys," he greeted.

    Amber looked like a fifteen year old girl. Her red hair had grown to her waist and were secured in a braid.

    Her height had increased as well and she was only an inch shorter than Jason. As for the rest of her appearanceбн

    [ Do you require my assistance in controlling your hormones? ] The system questioned in a teasing tone.

    ''Its not like that.'' Jason replied in an annoyed tone.

    However, he had to admit that Amber currently looked like a beauty. Her curves had developed in the right ce, though they hadn''t fully matured.

    Her shirt, which was also ck, loosely hung around her twin peaks. A set of tiny freckles had appeared on her nose and her eyes looked refreshed.

    Jason could feel his heart beating a bit faster. It made him realize how much he hated teenage hormones at times.

    Fortunately, his little brother wasn''t that excited. Otherwise, he would have faced some major problems.<sub> </sub>

    [ Ahem, maybe you both should start dating. ] The system said wisely. [ Both of you form quite a good pair.

    ''Its not a bad idea.'' Jason, surprisingly, agreed. ''But before that, I will have to get things sorted. How much time has passed since we have been inside the chamber?''

    [ Excusesбн ]

    ''Hey, you can''t expect a somewhat traumatized person to start dating another person after they have spent years away from the real world.''

    [ First of all, everyone in this world has a bit of trauma. Secondбн I guess I shouldn''t say more. Let your heart move where it wills. ] the system went silent.

    Jason, on the other hand, remembered the time he had spent inside the chamber. He had to admit that he and Amber had grown a lot closer.

    Not only that but he had also formed close rtionships with the others, something he didn''t think he would be able to do easily.

    ''One of my thresholds was to form bonds that I have never done beforeбн''

    Jason turned his gaze towards Orion who had also hit a growth spurt. However, he was at least half a feet shorter than both Jason and Amber.

    His hair had grown down to the nape of his neck and he was fidgeting nervously. Jason realized that his own hair and grown a bitrger but weren''t on the same level as Orion''s.

    "I guess we were inside that ce for a long time." Hemented while talking a look at their surroundings.

    They were present in the same area they had stepped into with Albus. The chamber of rebirth was present behind them but unlikest time, the gates were closed shut.

    "Do you think someone is gonna pick us up?" Orion questioned. "I don''t think we can get back without the help of someone else."

    ''Can you sense Duphia''s location?'' Jason asked the system.

    [ No, I can''t. We are either too far away from it or there is an external power at work here. ]

    ''What about you Hestia?''

    [ Its a mixture of both. ording to my calctions, we are at least one light year away from Duphia, which is impossible. Some strange magic is at work here. ]

    Jason sighed after hearing his guardian''s words. Amber reacted in a simr manner which meant that she had asked mey to do the same thing.

    "Phew, you must be thest batch."

    The trio suddenly jumped when they heard a voice from behind. Upon looking back, they were met face to face with the principal of the Royal academy.

    "You guys spent a lot of time there," Albusmented. "But I guess it was worth it. Your powers and bodies are proof of that."

    Without exining the real meaning behind his words, Albus snapped his fingers and teleported them out of the jungle.

    The quartetnded directly in the infirmary situated at the academy.

    "Why did youбн" Jason had barely started speaking when a headache hit him.

    His body felt light and his head was dizzy. He stumbled and barely prevent himself from falling by holding on to the edge of a bed.

    The other two didn''t fare well either.

    "You have spent nearly five years inside that chamber. Your body needs to be treated medically. I won''t be surprised if you get knocked out for at least ten more days." Albus exined. "Risa will take good care of you. I will go and report this to Zn."

    Jason couldn''t even register the shock since he had already lost consciousness. All three of them were now lying on the floor unconsciously.

    "Its been a long time, Jason." A beautiful woman with red-hair murmured.

    A smile was visible on her face yet her green eyes contained a different kind of sadness.

    Risa approached Jason and picked him from the ground. She gently ced him on the bed before doing the same with the other two children.

    The heads of the other three families had requested her to take care of their children once they had gotten out of the chamber of rebirth.

    Risa had epted their request and had even taken care of M. Currently, the princess was with her family while Zeke was staying with his family.

    ''Maybe I should have stopped them from entering the chamber.'' Risa thought while examining Jason''s body. ''Maybe thenбн''

    Her thought trailed off when she sensed the power inside Jason''s dark mana core. She rubbed her eyes twice and pinched herself to make sure that she wasn''t daydreaming.

    Simultaneously, a bunch of system windows appeared in front of Jason''s face.

    < Ding! Main job ss ''Child of Darkness'' has evolved into ''Teenager of Darkness'' >

    < Your elemental affinity with the dark element has been upgraded due to the advancement of the ss. >

    < Current affinity: S grade >

 Chapter 161 Changes In His Body

    "Haбн The chamber really is a strange ce." Risa muttered while rubbing her forehead.

    She was thankful that no one else was present in the room or else, she would have to answer some questions.

    Risa moved away from Jason''s body after confirming that everything was fine. Though his body had received numerous changes, it was mostly functioning well.

    Risa went ahead and checked the bodies of the other two and was met with back to back surprises.

    ''For Theia''s sake, how can they be so powerful after getting out from the chamber? Not only them but the other children as well.'' Risa sighed. ''Did the chamber get super charged after so many years of remaining dormant?''

    Risa looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. She chanted a few words under her breath before opening her eyes.

    ''I should start taking care of them.'' She thought with a determined expression before starting to help the others.

    ***

    In the passing week, Jason continued to hover between the lines of consciousness and unconsciousness.

    He could see the system windows in front of his face yet couldn''t read them easily. The more he concentrated, the blurrier his vision would get.

    Ultimately, he would pass out.

    It took him exactly ten days to fullye back to consciousness. The moment he did that, he could read the words written on the system screen in front of him.

    ''Uhбн Am I dreaming?

    [ No, you are not dreaming. ] The system replied. [ Didn''t you think that your main was quite low despite of belonging to a family of renowned prodigies? ]

    ''I did think that but what does this have anything with that?''

    [ It has everything to do with that. Basically, your main element could''ve been a lot stronger but Erebus had to restrict it to prevent you from gaining to much spotlight. The previous you was easily able to blend it with the other prodigies due to that. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    Jason had to admit that the reasoning made sense. If he had a prodigy ss affinity with the dark element as well as the thunder element, he might have been enved.

    [ You can''t get enved, dummy. You have Sancus''s divinity inside you! ] The system reminded.

    ''Right.''

    Jason started rubbing his forehead while reading the name of his evolved job ss. Who thought that naming it as Teenager of Darkness was a good idea?

    [ You canint to Erebus. He wanted the name to be unique and simple. ]

    ''Mind telling me about the other changes in my body?''

    [ Here is the full report. ]

    ---

    During the time spent inside the chamber of Rebirth, more than four years have passed on the world of Clover. Your current age is fifteen years old and your birthday was a month ago.

    ---

    Your body has grown stronger though you can''t be considered a body builder. Your mana flow and mana conversion change have increased at a rapid level. Your mana pool for all three of your elements has expanded ten times its original size.

    ---

    ''Wait, three elements?'' Jason asked in confusion.

    [ Check your dark mana core. ] The system instructed.

    Jason closed his eyes and focused on his dark element. When he opened them, he could see a huge ck sphere with the letter S printed of it.

    However, the western part of the sphere was slowly turning white. Jason roughly estimated that ten percent of the sphere had turned white.

    [ This is your light mana. Once your dark mana core evolved, the light mana also got an official rating. Focus on it to check its details. ] The system guided.

    Jason stared at the white portion of his mana core and focused. He thought of daylight and other things rted to light mana, the mostmon being light itself.

    Once he opened his eyes, Jason noticed a small white sphere which was floating right beside his main mana core.

    The white portion of the dark mana core had now vanished and theplete core had turned ck.

    ''Wait, does that say S or am I hallucinating?'' Jason questioned the moment he saw his affinity with the light element.

    [ You are not hallucinating. Though you have a very high affinity, your mana pool for the light element is basically one-tenth the size of your dark mana pool. ]

    ''But it does exist!''

    [ That''s true. However, both of these exist together as one mana core. I don''t think I can provide more information on this. You will have to ask your grandmother about this. ]

    ''I had to do it sooner orter. No one else knows more about light magic than her. But then, she won''t be able to teach me due to the curse.''

    [ So we help her in removing the curse? ]<sub> </sub>

    ''If it was possible to do that, don''t you think that they would have done it long ago?''

    [ There''s no harm in confirming things. Anyways, you should read the rest of the report. ]

    Jason agreed with the system. With onest look at the light mana core, he exited the ce.

    ---

    Due to the upgrade of your job ss, your proficiency in sensing natural sources of dark mana has increased.

    ---

    Due to recent discovery of how the mana core produces mana and absorption of mana, you have made a breakthrough in the field of dark magic.

    Side job ss ''Dark Mage'' has evolved into ''Dark Grandmage''

    ---

    ''If I remember correctly, the advancement stages for dark mage are Dark Grandmage, Dark Wizard and Dark Archeon?''

    [ Yup, those are the advancement stages. ]

    Jason sighed and opened his ''Teenager of Darkness'' job ss information. The description made him wonder whether he was reading the right thing or not.

    < Teenager of Darkness: A person who managed to live until their teenage years with the power of darkness inside their veins. This serves as a proof that survival is possible even if you are a unique specimen in the world of humans. ?>

    Jason felt like coughing blood after reading the description. Though no matter how bad it sounded, he had to admit that he was indeed a rare being.

    With a sigh, he sat up on his bed with his back ced on the pillow. He took in the rest of the room and saw Amber and Orion sleeping peacefully on their respective beds.

    ''Huh? What is that?'' Jason narrowed his eyes when he saw a ball of white mana floating beside the duo.

    The ball of light seemed to be supplying the two children with mana. Their bodies processed the mana as energy and kept them nourished.

    Jason was able to perceive this with the help of his vision. He looked on his right to see that a simr ball of light was supplying him with mana.

    However, when he looked down at his body with ability, Jason noticed that his body was producing its own mana simr to the white one.

    His mana was much more whiter than the one being supplied by the ball of light. Inparison, it could also be referred to as golden colored whenpared with his own mana.

    ''I think this is life mana? Its working like an IV drip but actually supplies one with every nutrition required by their body.'' Jason concluded.

    "So you can see those particles of life magic I left behind." Risa''s voice suddenly entered his ears, making him look around with a surprised expression.

    Risa was standing right beside his bed yet he hadn''t noticed her. He had been so busy in observing the mana that he had ignored her.

    "I, uhбн" Jason tried to think of an excuse but his mind betrayed him at this moment. Fortunately, there was no need for him to do that.

    "Jason, I know you can perceive mana particles by manipting the mana present around you eyes," Risa said gently. "There is no need to think of an excuse."

    "Huh?" Jason suddenly paused. He hadn''t expected Risa to know about his ability. Though he had used it in front of her a few times so there was that.

    "I knew that noble demons can see in the dark. Your mother and Astryn made that clear to me." Risa smiled. "As for your mana perceiving ability, I first noticed it back in Kamizel forest when we had been trapped by the mist."

    "You have known about it since thenбн" Jason''s voice trailed off.

    Perhaps he had given himself too much credit for being able to hide his ability. With a sigh, he shook his head.

    "Everyone has their secrets, Jason. I could tell it because I have been doing this for a long time." Risa replied with a sad expression.

    This reminded Jason that he had been gone for more than four years.

    "I was gone for a really long time, wasn''t I?" he muttered.

    "You were but there''s no need to me yourself." Risa sighed. "I have waited for much longer and was only met with disappointment. People control their lives themselves so sometimes, it doesn''t matter what others try to do."

    "Grandma, what exactly happened to Father?" Jason slowly questioned. He had a feeling that Risa was talking about his father.

    "Well, you can that he loved his wife and unborn child too much to let them get sacrificed for the sake of appeasing a few petty gods." Risa replied, her eyes containing memories from the past.

    "But I am not talking about Michael. All of us knew his decision and what would happen to him."

    "Then what who were you talking about?"

    "Jason, do you know how many children me and Issac had?" Risa asked back.

    "Uncle Ray and my father," Jason replied in a confused tone.

    "I guess we never told you about the past. We still are not ready to open the wounds from the past but I guess you have a right to know about things that happened years ago." Risa sat down on the bed and looked directly into Jason''s eyes.

    "I was talking about our second child, a daughter. If she was alive right now, she would''ve been your auntбн"

 Chapter 162 Curse Of The Syrward Family [Part 1]

    "бн" Jason was left speechless. He simply looked at Risa with an eager expression and waited for her to continue.

    "When Issac married me, both of us were quite infamous throughout the continent. He was the leading prodigy in the field of battle while I was rapidly advancing to be the best healer on the entire continent.

    There was a different king at that time. Though he wasn''t much better than the current king, he at least didn''t try to restrict our powers. As long as we were getting stronger and kept ourselves in check, we could mostly do anything we wanted." Risa paused.

    Jason noticed that her words contained a longing for something that she once had.

    ''I still don''t know why this curse was ced on them or why they let the king boss them aroundбн'' Jason realized that in reality, he knew very little about his family.

    "What happened after that?" he asked.

    "Well, everything was going well. The nobles formed rtionships with us since they knew that we would y a major role in determining the kingdom''s future. Everything was fine and we had two children in the following years."

    A faint smile appeared on Risa''s lips. "They were your father, Michael, who was the oldest child and your aunt, Silvia."

    [ First time I have heard that name. ]

    ''Something bad must have happened because I have heard others take Uncle or father''s name numerous times. Both my grandparents are quite famous so there is no need to mention them here.''

    "Both of them grew up together bu despite having two children, we went ahead and had a third child, Ray. When Michael turned five years old, the current king entered the Royal academy.

    We knew that he was a prodigy alongside his younger brother Zn. We didn''t pay much attention to them but looking back at it, maybe we should have done something." Risa continued in a regretful tone.

    [ Host, do you believe that things can be changed if you get a second chance? ]

    ''Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the person and the time. Look at me for example. I got my second chance and reincarnated in this world. Things aren''t that bad here.'' Jason replied after some thought.

    Risa was about to continue the story when she heard a growling sounding from his stomach.

    "I forgot you haven''t eaten anything," She murmured.

    Risa walked out of the room and went in search of food. Jason on the other hand looked at the ball of light hovering beside him.

    The ball of light had stopped sending mana to his body and simply floated beside him. Jason turned all of his visionary enhancements off and stared at the ce where the ball was supposed to be.

    However, what greeted him was empty air.

    ''How does that work?'' Jason asked with a curious expression.

    [ I think it works by gathering natural mana and directing it with the help of one''s own mana. So basically, only those with an affinity with the said type of mana can sense or see the such mana. ]

    ''Its quite confusingбн''

    [ It is. Thankfully, only those with a S grade or Z grade affinity can actually do this. I read that in a book. ]

    ''Which means that its hundred percent confirmed that she has that level of affinity.''

    Risa returned after a few minutes with a te of food in her hand. She passed it to Jason who happily chewed on the food.

    "Whatбн happened next?" he asked between bites.

    "In the following years, strange things started taking ce. Some noble families suddenly started following the words of the royal family blindly. A few policies were created which made themonersunch protests.

    This went on for almost six years before all of a sudden, everything died. The current king, Julian Vancouver, was responsible for this. He had calmed all of them and so on became the hot stuff."

    "Hot stuffбн" Jason murmured.

    "The Crystal ceremony was once again held and this time, Michale participated in it. He of course won the battles and entered the royal academy. Silvia entered the royal academy the year after by obtaining the second ce in the tournament.

    Michael and Silvia kept us updated on things happening throughout the years and soon, it was Ray''s turn to take part in the Crystal ceremony. Unfortunately, his talents weren''t the same as his elder brother and sister.<sub> </sub>

    Fortunately, we realized that he was under pressure due to the positions his elder siblings had turn. We somehow managed to make him understand that even if he didn''te at the top, we won''t have any problem with him."

    "Did uncle Ray understand that easily?" Jason questioned as he remembered that Ray was sometimes a very stubborn person.

    "Well, it took us some time to convince him. It was a good thing we did that since he got the seventh spot in the tournament. Ray wasn''t chosen by the Royal academy but both the Wisteria and the Pearl academy offered invitations to him.

    Ray, for a yet to be known reason, chose Pearl academy. Maybe Issac''s genes had affected him too much. Fate, however, is a strange thing. It was at the Pearl academy that Ray met Zara for the first time."

    "Oh?" Jason''s eyebrows shot up. He hadn''t expected that his Uncle would''ve met his future wife at his academy.

    This made Jason think about something that he probably shouldn''t be thinking aboutбн

    "She joined the Pearl academy in her third year as an inter-continent exchange program. The only reason our kingdom was chosen from this continent was because of me." Risa grinned. "I had given the demi-human kingdom a way to cure their tangled hair."

    "There is magic for that?"

    "There is magic for almost anything in this world. You just have to keep experimenting to find it. Anyways, Ray was quite bold and he far outshone your father in that field. But Michael wasn''t someone to be underestimated.

    He had already defeated the top prodigies in the academy by himself and those included people from an year above him." Risa said proudly.

    "Did father enter the chamber of rebirth?" Jason asked while trying to imagine his father fighting in the school.

    Sadly, his imagination was quite bad since he only knew that his father had purple eyes.

    "He did enter the chamber in his fifth year but he got out after a month. His effects were quite good as well," Risa replied.

    "Grandma, I have never seen a picture of fatherбн" Jason suddenly stated.

    "Of course you wouldn''t have a seen a picture of him," Risa replied with a bittersweet smile. "You are the only proof of his existence present in this world. Everything else has been wiped out."

    "Huh?" Jason blinked in confusion.

    "Fast forward two years in the story and Michael had left the academy. He decided to be an adventurer and decided to visit the other continent. He started by the Eastern continent where the demi-humans and the elves live together.

    He spent a few months there and went on to explore the Western continent which is ruled by an union of dark elves, dwarfs and giants. Atst, he went to the demon continent.

    At that time, the humans and demons were in close contact with each other. We traded stuff and other things. Unfortunately, our king kept on scamming the demon king, the ruler of the entire kingdom.

    During his visit, Michael faced many difficulties due to this. He still made it to the demon capital which was the goal of his visit.

    There he met the royal and high end noble families. Though this is a bit cliche, he somehow ended up in a conflict with one of the nobles. Since our reputation wasn''t that great, the noble ended up challenging your father.

    Any guesses who the noble was?" Risa asked.

    Jason tried to rack his brain for some idea but only ended up with one answer. "That''s how he met my mother?"

    "Indeed, that is how Michael met Evelyn At that time, your mother was being chosen to be the priestess of one of the major gods that the demons worship. That was why she was a bit aloof and dangerous.

    Surprisingly, she actually had enough power and skill to back her words and attitude. Considering how Astryn and Fel were the ones who trained her, the result was quite expected.

    Their battle ended in a stalemate. Evelyn asked the demon forces toбн ahemбн imprison your father. There romance was quite a weird development but those of us here were ignorant about it.

    After all, Julian had ascended the throne here and a new kind of order was being imposed here. The noble parties and others were shifting teams and stuff."

    "So it was during this time that things started going wrong." Jason guessed. It was easy to guess that something like that would''ve only happened during such a major change.

    "Indeed. It was Julian Vancouver who started making all noble families swear an oath of supreme loyalty towards him. When people resisted, he went after them, including our familyбн"

 Chapter 163 Curse Of The Syrward Family [Part 2]

    "But he couldn''t have been that strong." Jason stated.

    "Julian has an ability that is absolute in any ce. Any person with a lower status ranking than him will have to kneel in front of him and obey hismand. Its a duel ex machina that can''t be fought with.

    Fortunately, it has loopholes. For example, there is a chance that you don''t count in the social hierarchy. Something simr happened for me and Issac since we had long since distanced ourselves."

    Jason wanted to ask something but decided not to after seeing the expression on Risa''s face. She looked regretful and sad yet their was a dangerous look in her eyes.

    The look belonged to someone who still had a tiny spark of rage burning inside them. Jason was quite familiar with this.

    "We reached out some of our friends who were facing simr problems. All of us decided to band together and fight Julian. In other words, we were rebelling.

    All of us were strong enough but couldn''t be considered at our peak due to some reasons. When the fighting began, we had the upper hand despite being severely outnumbered. But soon enough, Julian started manipting the prodigies from the noble houses.

    One by one, the disadvantages started piling against us. Not only that but he also started targeting the people in the families of our side. One of them was Silvia who, unfortunately, was a member of the hierarchy.

    Had we known that before, we wouldn''t have let her go to the front lines. Once she was captured, it was kinda over for us. Julian made sure to effectively ckmail us, starting by sending us Silvia''s middle finger in a gift package." Risa gritted her teeth.

    ''Damnбн not only are we cursed, we have a bad past.''

    [ Be prepared for the future, host. ] The system replied in a concerned voice.

    ''Wellбн''

    "That''s when things really started cracking apart. Me and Issac had no choice except going to the royal pce and meeting Julian face to face. He, of course, tried to enve us. But it didn''t work since we were protected by powers far higher than his level.

    In the end, we were forced to swore an oath which stated that no matter what happened, we can''t go against him. He also ced the curse on us before setting out to capture the remainder of the rebels.

    Michael returned to the continent with the news of him getting married but what awaited him was a broken family. Ray slowly started excluding himself and went to the demi-human kingdom.

    Michael on the other hand was dead set on killing Julian and dragging his head through the ground. But Julian is no fool. He carefully used Michael''s love for his sister and made sure that he would swear an oath too.

    The war between the rebels and the crowns finally ended with Julian marrying Silviaбн"

    Jason blinked in confusion when he heard thest line. He asked the system for confirmation to make sure that he had heard the right thing.

    "Don''t look so surprised. Julian was far more dangerous than we had realized. He had his eyes set on Silvia during the first ceremony and had been concocting a n since then.

    His goal was to ensure a line of sessors with good bloodline as well as keep us trapped forever. Even if we dared to break the oath, we wouldn''t be able to do anything as long as Julian had Silvia under his control.

    Since she is also connected to our bloodline, he can deal some major curse on me and Issac by directly using her blood. Fortunately, we have been under protection for a long time." Risa finished, her body sagging.

    "Is that the reason that you know how to break numerous curses?" Jason asked in a low tone.

    "Indeed. Yet till this date, I haven''t been able to break the curse ced on us." Risa sighed. "I wished the suffering had ended there but no, the world wasn''t satisfied yet."

    "Your father''s wedding was the next major event we attended as a family. It happened three yearster due to some reasons but at that event, every member of the Syrward family was present. Silvia did attend the event but she was kept under heavy surveince.

    Julian was also present with her and was hoping to get more details on the demons, since the wedding was held on the demon continent. Silvia also had a child with her, her first born and Julian wanted to make sure that the child never got to know of his grandparents.

    I could only watch her helpless self while wishing Michael and Evelyn the best of luck, still not knowing that there was another disaster waiting in the distant future.

    Unsurprisingly, Evelyn got pregnant one monthter and that''s when the real danger began. The new demon king ascended the throne and he wanted Evelyn to stay in the demon realm.

    He originally wanted her to be the Demon Priestess, someone who is directly connected to one of the nine major demon gods. However, the requirement for one to be a priest or priestess of that caliber was to retain their virginity.

    Since the demon king already knew that there was no point in going after Evelyn, he decided to go after her unborn child. After all, the child would have the blood of one of the higher nobles as well as one of the strongest human families."

    Risa stopped talking and let Jason absorb everything she had said till that point.

    ''It makes sense that the demons tried to kidnap me twice, not counting the attempts made before my birthбн ''<sub> </sub>

    Jason realized that most of events in his life could now be reasoned with. Many of them could be traced back to the past.

    Risa continued after a few minutes had passed by. "Michael and Evelyn kept moving through the human continent to shake off their pursuers. Julian didn''t offer them any support and even helped the demons indirectly.

    They had no choice except to run towards the nearby kingdoms but one by one, their hiding spots got limited. Atst they were cornered in Duphia since that was the only ce they could remain at and have a chance of winning."

    "It was also the ce where Michael asked me to promise something to him," Issac''s voice suddenly entered the room.

    Jason and Risa turned their heads to look at the door. Issac was standing their with an expressionless face.

    He had probably been standing there for quite some time and yet had gone unnoticed. Jason noted this down and asked the system to remind him to ask Risa and Issac about this special skillter on.

    "Michael made me promise that no matter what happened, I would make sure that you survived. He also wanted me to prevent you from getting involved with the matters of the kingdom but I guess I couldn''t do that." Issac sighed.

    He entered the room with a dejected look. Issac went towards the window in the room and opened it, letting some natural wind enter the room.

    "Ten dayster, Michael vanished. He had already told us this would happen but regardless of that, it was quite shocking. Every physical proof of his existence, excluding you, vanished without a trace.

    The demon king as well as the sins andmanders working under hismand retreated back to the continent and made no further advances towards you. A rumor soon spread that Michael and Evelyn had died.

    But in reality, no one knew what had really happened." Risa finished and sighed.

    Jason looked at her before looking at Issac. His grandfather stood near the window with an expressionless face.

    Issac seemed to be engrossed in old memories that he had once buried inside or at least that''s what Jason believed.

    ''System, do you think my mother knows what happened to my father?''

    [ Maybe, maybe not. Things can only made clear if you meet her. ]

    Jason didn''t reply since he didn''t know what to say. He got up from his bed and lightly stretched his body.

    "Grandma, where is my mother currently staying?" Jason questioned without looking at Risa.

    "Evelyn is currently staying at the Central continent in a secluded temple. She is under a the protection of someone and as long as she stays there, no one can touch her." Risa replied.

    [ She''s probably doing that so that no one can take her hostage. ]

    ''Hmmбн'' Jason, once again, didn''t know what to say.

    Though Evelyn was responsible for bringing him to this world, he didn''t really know her. For him, she was an unknown figure who he had never met.

    p Risa and Issac were the ones who had truly taken care of him since he was little. Truth be told, Jason wasn''t even that close to Ray and Zara.</anda>

    [ I don''t think Ray ever let anyone get close to himбн ]

    ''If that''s the truth, I don''t me him. Things can get quite difficult once something like that happens.'' Jason agreed.

    The next five minutes were spent in silence. No one was willing to say anything since they trio was engrossed in their own thinking.

    "I will ask onest thing. Who was the child that Aunt Silvia gave birth to?" Jason broke the silence as he couldn''t contain his curiosity.

    "The child is rather well known. Julian even considers him the ''perfect heir'' he could have gotten," Risa exined.

    Jason silently guessed the person''s name and waited for confirmation.

    "The child born to Silvia and baring the blood of the Syrward family is," Issac said. "Hiro Vancouver, the crown prince of the kingdom."

 Chapter 164 Going Back To The Beginners Area

    "So I have the next in line to the throne as my cousinбн" Jason murmured.

    This marked both of his cousins as nobles. Nora was the son of Zara who was the princess of the demi-human kingdom whereas Hiro was the prince of the Vancouver kingdom.

    "You do have two noble bloodlines inside you. Fel, your maternal grandfather is one of the nine demonmanders as well as one of the sins. Astryn is the descendant of one of the strongest demon families involved in the controlling of thunder and lightning.

    Evelyn is under the protection of one of the strongest demon gods. You already know about us so don''t think that your bloodline is weaker than those of the royal blood." Risa reminded in a gentle tone.

    Jason, however, was focusing on one single line. "So that means that not only Grandpa but Astryn has thunder element as well?"

    "Indeed. Why do you think both of us get along?" Issac raised an eyebrow.

    "Its because both of you are battle junkies!" Risa replied before Jason could say something. "You met Amon in a simr way and befriended him. Its true that birds of a feather flock together."

    "Except in this case, we are humans who love to battle and decided to get along. I still remember the time when I, Karna, Amon and Astryn had a four way battle. That was such a legendary dayбн" Issac muttered with a reminiscing expression on his face.

    Risa shook her head with a disappointed expression while Jason asked the system about Amon.

    [ He was the guy Issac asked toe fight with him when the demons had invaded Duphia. ]

    ''Good thing that I have you to keep track of things. I am quite sure that I would''ve forgotten most of the things if it weren''t for you.''

    [ Thank you, host. Please give me some more praise. ]

    Jason went on to thank the system for an entire minute before collecting his thoughts. He had just received a huge amount of information and wasn''t sure what he was supposed to do with it.

    "Anyways, I think its about time you stepped out of this room." Risa suddenly said.

    She waved her hands in the direction of the other two children present in the room.

    Amber and Orion gasped loudly as they jolted awake. They looked at their surroundings and tried to figure out what was happening.

    "As your doctor, I discharge you all from this room. Now go out and see what has changed in the past few years. You might want to visit your hometowns and families. Ask the guy sitting at the reception to do that for you." Risa instructed.

    The trio started moving towards the door. Surprisingly, they weren''t willing their bodies to move and were simply walking due to some other force.

    ''Probably one of Risa''s powers.'' Jason thought after he regained control of his body. ''Hestia, you there?''

    [ I am here. I am not at full power but I am conscious. ] Hestia replied in a tired voice.

    ''Just don''t go away again. Ask for my help through the system or something.'' Jason replied casually yet he was internally worried.

    Since Hestia was directly connected with his soul, Jason had been more affected than he had realized.

    Though he was still not in peak condition, his senses felt a bit more active than they had during Hestia''s absence.

    Jason slowly walked to the reception area and to his surprise, Brian was sitting at the desk with a tired expression. ically Brian''s child so he might be feeling a bit anxious for his own child.

    [ Don''t jump to conclusions. You don''t how people can behave at times. ] The system warned.

    Jason slowly moved towards Brian before saying, "Hi, uncle Brian."

    Brian suddenly jumped in his seat. He looked around and his eyesnded on Jason. "Don''t scare me like that, kid. What would you do if I had a heart attack?"

    "First of all, grandma is literally present a few rooms away. Second, the chances of someone like you getting a heart attack from something like this are very low." Jason pointed out.

    Though internally, he was surprised to find out that he had managed to shock Brian despite the clear difference between them.

    ''He must have been zoning out hard.''

    [ That''s a conclusion that you can easily make. ]

    ''What''s up with you suddenly talking about conclusions?''

    [ Nothing. I just think its a good idea to warn you about such things. ]

    Jason sighed and looked around to see where he was. His surroundings looked very simr to that of a hospital from Earth except the entire ce seemed to be empty.

    Orion and Amber slowly trudged past him and greeted Ray. Their eyes looked grim meaning that Risa had probably told them that they had not been in action for more than four years.

    ''Waitбн four yearsбн System, why do I feel like I am forgetting something important?'' Jason asked with a mental frown.

    [ Let me search for important events that were scheduled for the future. I will get back to you soon. ]

    In the mean time, Jason looked at both of his friends. Orion looked a bit shaken after seeing his father. Brian seemed to be in a much simr condition yet he hid his emotions.<sub> </sub>

    ''Wait, Brian is Risa''s brother. Doesn''t this mean that both of them wouldn''t have that big of a age difference between them?'' Jason''s expression turned to one of semi-horror.

    [ Why are you thinking of such weird things? I hope your brain didn''t bee super charged aftering back thiste. ] Hestia muttered.

    ''Its called filling plotholes. Also, this question is an important one. Either Brian is super old or my great grandparents thought it would be a fun thing to pop a child before dying.''

    [ If the skull emoji was avable to me right now, I would spam itбн ]

    ''How do you know about the skull emoji?''

    [ Stop asking questions! ] Hestia hissed. [ Just listen to what conversation is going on and ask things from the system. ]

    [ Now you know how I feel. ] The system muttered absentmindedly while going through the details.

    "Mister, can you send me to my family?" Amber asked Brian.

    "That''s what I am here for. Orion, do you want to go back to the family house as well?" Brian asked without making eye contact with his son.

    "No, just take me to Sora. If he is at the mansion, I will happily go there," Orion replied in an emotionless tone.

    "Both of you wait here. I will back in a bit." Brian jumped over the counter andnded beside the children.

    By snapping his fingers, he created a small teleportation circle below him. Both him and Orion vanished from the spot, leaving Jason and Amber behind.

    "Soбн how does it feel to be back?" Jason questioned in a low tone.

    "I don''t know. Nothing really feels different except our looks," Amber replied. "I will give you my answer once I have visited my family."

    "I seeбн"

    An uneasy silence hung over the ce. Neither of them knew what to speak and were simply looking at different parts of the room.

    Fortunately, Brian showed up and made the things a bit lessplicated. He took Amber away next and appeared back a minuteter.

    Simultaneously, the system finally found out the event. [ Host, we were supposed to take that demi-god named May to a temple on her fifteenth birthday! ]

    ''Wait, lemme remember that.''

    Jason zoned out for a bit before it hit him. He remembered the demi-god name May who was currently in the custody of the Red-butt monkey king.

    "Uncle, can you take me to the beginner''s area of the forest around the royal academy?" Jason asked in a serious voice.

    [ If we missed her birthday, there''s a chance that her divinity burst out and took a huge part of the forest down. ]

    ''Maybe you should have told me that thest time we were there. I would have definitely remembered it that way!''

    "Sure?" Brian replied in a confused tone. Regardless, he snapped his fingers and created a small teleportation circle.

    Both of them vanished from their spot and appeared in the middle of a forest. Jason was surprised to see a group of young children gathered together.

    They were being lead by a teacher who was telling them how to use basic magic for survival.

    ''I wonder if the trials and entrance to the chamber continued once I had went inside.'' Jason wondered before looking at Brian.

    "You can go back. I will ask the teacher to drop me off at academy. Please ask grandma and grandpa to visit me there in a few hours."

    "Take care, Jason." Brian replied with a nod before vanishing.

    Jason simply jumped on the branch of a nearby tree with the help of his white thunder. Since it was more focused on speed, he decided to use it from now on.

    ''My body should be strong enough to contain more of my powers. I should try going all out sometime.'' Jason observed while making his way towards the monkey settlement.

    ''Also, sorry to bother you Hestia, but are my senses working better or am I just imagining this?''

    Jason could feel several mana sources all around him. He could even pinpoint their location and tell the power levels of those weaker than him.

    Since it was the beginner''s area, most beasts were weaker than him.

    [Its obvious that the chamber affected all of your powers and senses. You can now use my power to sense the beasts in a two kilometer radius. ]

    Jason nodded in acknowledgment before using his powers to locate the house of the monkey king.

    Fortunately, it looked as though nothing had been destroyedбн yet

 Chapter 165 Wukongs Fling

    p Once Jason arrived in the vige of the monkeys, he directly went to the king''s house.</anda>

    Though he got many strange looks, no one dared to approach him. Jason felt confused since he knew that there was no chance that any of the monkeys could easily recognize him after four years.

    [ The beasts can tell that you a vessel. My aura ising out of your body in thick amounts and all beasts can sense it. ] Hestia exined.

    Jason had to admit that the ability was kinda cool. He could use it to put some pressure on the beasts at his level or below him, that was if they knew who his guardian was.

    Once Jason arrived in front of the monkey king''s house, he knocked on the door and waited for someone toe out.

    ''Hmm, no guards are present here.'' Jason observed silently.

    The door swung open a few secondster to reveal a depressed looking monkey king. The red-butt monkey king''s cheeks were hollowed while dark bags were present under his sleep deprived eyes.

    But when his gazended on Jason, the monkey king perked up. "You finally came here!"

    Without any warning, he dragged Jason inside the house. Thetter let himself get dragged while his eyes were searching every inch of the house.

    ''Systemбн''

    [ Yes, host, you are seeing things correctly. ] The system replied immediately.

    Jason''s expression grimed as he input more of his mana into his irises. Faint particles of gray energy suddenly popped up in his vision, all of them leading to a certain room inside the house.

    [ Divine energy. So much divine energy is abundantly present inside this houseбн ] Hestia murmured. [ I don''t think even I can release this much divine energy in my current state. ]

    "What happened here?" Jason asked aloud.

    "Since the past week, a weird energy has been leaking out of May''s body. Most of my monkeys were knocked out by it and I am the only one who is still conscious. But I am afraid that I will crash down as well." The monkey king replied.

    He led Jason to May''s room whose door was shut close.

    "Go inside. I am afraid that I won''t be able to stay conscious if I enter the room." The monkey king exined before sitting beside the door.

    Jason''s hand touched the door knob and slowly turned it open. The door opened by a crack and an immense amount of divine energy suddenly sted his body.

    Fortunately, Jason was already used to having divine energy inside him and was able to repel the iing divine energy.

    He opened the door by another crack and slipped inside, closing it behind him. His entire body was once again sted by divine energy.

    This time, it was more thicker and dangerous.

    ''I''m feeling dizzyбн'' Jason blinked a few times to make sure he kept his focus.

    [ Leave it to me. ]

    [ And me as well. ]

    The system tried focusing on the connection that bonded it and Jason together. Since it was also powered up by Erebus''s divinity, the system itself had ess to a limited amount of divine energy.

    Using this connection, the system started emitting a divine aura whichbated the divine energy present in the surroundings.

    Hestia did a simr thing and erected a protective shield around Jason. Both of thembined were able to prevent the silver-haired boy from crashing and losing consciousness.

    [ Though you are used to experiencing divine energy, this one is a bit different. It ising out of a demi-god''s body plus May has no idea how to control it. I am pretty sure her birthday is about toe soon, hence the release of energy. ]

    ''Can you or Hestia guess the exact date? I would be able create a n if I have a fixed date.''

    [ I can''t tell birthdays of people just by looking at them. It requires a profound knowledge of astrology or something like that to tell people''s birthdays quickly. ] Hestia replied with a sigh.

    [ I can''t tell something like that either. Fortunately, there is one guy who we can ask to help us. ]

    ''You aren''t talking about Erebus, are you?'' Jason slowly asked.

    [ Yes, I am talking about Erebus. In fact, I am sure that he is already searching for Wukong. In the meantime, why don''t you sit down and meditate? ]

    ''Will that do anything?''

    [ I will open small portions of the barrier and let your body get familiar with the divine energy bit by bit. It will serve as good timepass until Erebus responds. ]

    ''And what if he doesn''t?''

    [ Don''t be a pessimist. ]

    ''I take it you don''t know.'' Jason sighed and sat cross legged on the ground. He closed his eyes and started meditating.<sub> </sub>

    Simultaneously, the system removed a small portion of the barriers and let Jason''s bodye in contact with the divine energy.

    [ Hopefully, you were paying attention, Erebusбн ]

    ***

    ''Being a patron god is such a burdenбн'' Erebus grumbled while moving through the Bar of god.

    The amount of gods and other species seemed to be much greater than usual. Fortunately, the god of shadows knew where to find Sun Wukong, May''s father.

    Erebus was curious to see what Wukong''s reaction would be since the real monkey king ha long since left the realm of mortals behind.

    ''I wonder if it was due to that child and her mother that he left behind the mortal realms. He used to enjoy their drinkingpetitions and festivals a lot.''

    Erebus had been a god for a much longer time whenpared with Wukong. He had seen many things that thetter hadn''t and had also experienced many deaths.

    ''The sad part of being a god is that except other gods and goddesses, you are not sure who will be alive alongside you. In the end, most gods end up alone and iste themselves.''

    Erebus reached one corner of the bar and smiled a little. Wukong was sitting in that exact corner and was drinking something out of a golden goblet.

    "Oi,e with me." Erebus casually approached Wukong, passing through the other god''s barrier with ease. "I have something important that I want to discuss with you."

    "What a coincidence. I have something that I want to ask you as well." Sun Wukong smiled and dispelled the goblet.

    The monkey king stood up and stretched his body a bit. His silver eyes sparkled with mischief which made Erebus crack his knuckles.

    "I swear that if you ask me for the recipe again, I will smack you with that giant rod of yours." Erebus threatened.

    "Chose your words wisely, Ere." Wukong grinned. "Also, no matter how much I try, I can never make the nectar taste exactly the same as yours."

    "That''s a given. I am a professional bartender." Erebus snorted before snapping his fingers.

    Both the gods vanished from the spot and appeared in Erebus''s special corner. The god of shadows snapped his fingers a second time as a ss made from gold appeared in front of Wukong.

    A red liquid appeared inside the ss, making Wukong smile. He picked up the ss and slowly drank it, savoring the taste of the nectar prepared by Erebus.

    "What did you want to ask, Ere?" Wukong questioned in a jolly tone.

    "Tell me about your child named May." Erebus replied bluntly.

    Wukong almost spat his drink on Erebus''s face. He quickly swallowed the remainder of it down his neck and red at Erebus. "How do you know about someone who died more than fourteen years ago?"

    "You remember when she was born?" Erebus asked in a surprised tone.

    Gods mostly didn''t care about the things happening in the realms around the world. They didn''t care much about mortals either, except for the asional visits and one night swings.

    "I cared a bit too much about her mother. She convinced me to leave her behind with my child and I did it," Wukong replied in a bitter voice. "Even though the child born would be half human, it would be extremely powerful."

    "Some other god didn''t like that and wanted to kill both the woman and the child. But they didn''t expect the woman to be good fighter." Erebus continued. "But since she was cornered and had to escape."

    "I told her that if she wanted to meet me once again, she just had to find any nearby monkey group and chant my name three times."

    "So that''s what she was trying to do when she escaped to the forest. That child was left behind and she tried to find a monkey to call you." Erebus muttered.

    "She seeded in doing and I appeared down on Clover. Unfortunately, it happened at the moment of her death. I killed her pursuers and thought that the child was dead." Wukong sighed. "But I guess she lived or else you wouldn''t be questioning me about her."

    "Indeed, she did survive and is currently sleeping a few feet away from my only follower. Its strange how things somehow end up together."

    "Well, we have been alive for a long time and know that such things can both be taken as coincidences as well as work of fate." Wukong said with another sigh.

    "Then I will ask the question. When is May''s birthday in Clover time?" Erebus asked seriously.

    Once he had relied this information to the system, his part would be passive. After all, even he had to follow certainws and rules while helping his follower.

    ''Fortunately, I can bypass manyws and rules due to only having a single follower.''

    "Her birthday is exactly six monthster. Also, you might want to tell your follower to control my child''s flow of divine energy. The divinity inside her will continue to leak otherwise and destroy everything in a two hundred kilometer radius after six months."

    "Sure," Erebus nodded. "I''ll pass on the message."

    Sun Wukong sighed once before saying, "then listen closelyбн

 Chapter 166 Mays Divinity And Curse [Part 1]

    [ All right, her birthday is exactly six monthster. ] The system announced inside Jason''s head.

    The teenager lost his concentration and opened his eyes. The divine energy which was previously making him feel dizzy was now calmly swirling around.

    ''It took Erebus two hours to just get a birthday dateбн''

    [ Time flows differently in the bar. What might have been a five minute conversation would feel longer in different realms. ] The system pointed out.

    Jason sighed and stood up from his spot. He looked at the crib ced in the corner of the room.

    The baby lying inside the crib was responsible for creating such thick waves of divine energy.

    ''What else did Erebus tell you about her?''

    [ Well, if her divine energy isn''t contained, it will blow up everything in a two hundred kilometer radius, including the academy. ] The system replied awkwardly. [ Not only that but this energy would mutate all the beasts in the nearby area. ]

    ''Anything else you might wanna add? What about an ancient beast which will be unsealed if divine energy is supplied to it?''

    [ I am afraid nothing else is left to add. The idea isn''t half bad though. Anyways, its best if we move her away from here or otherwise, things will get superplicated. ]

    ''When are things not superplicated?'' Jason asked with an amused expression. ''Is there a way to stabilize the child''s divinity?''

    [ There is one way to do that but its kindaбн dangerous. ]

    ''Go ahead and tell me. I breathe dangerous most of the times.''

    [ Aren''t you feeling a bit too confident? ] The system asked worriedly. [ I don''t think I have ever heard you speak in this manner. ]

    ''What do you mean? This is just my normal self.''

    Jason casually strolled towards the crib and peered at the baby. May had her eyes closed and seemed to be sleeping.

    After activating his mana vision, Jason could divine particlesing out from the center of her body and merging together with the mana in the air.

    [ Hestia, isn''t Jason acting weird? ] The system consulted Hestia while making sure that Jason couldn''t listen to their conversation.

    [ I think its the effects of the divine energy that Jason absorbed. Since the divinity belongs to Sun Wukong, such changes are a bit expected. ]

    After hearing her words, the system quickly pulled on all the data she had on Sun Wukong.

    [ Sun Wukong is the fearless monkey key, often called as the Sage of Heaven or the Stone Monkey. His personality is often said to be quite rxed and arrogant. ] The system summarized.

    [ Jason is basically acting a bit like Wukong. Once we leave the room, it will take a few minutes for him to return to normal. ]

    [ I seeбн ]

    While the system and Hestia were having this conversation, Jason was examining May''s body with his vision.

    He noticed that she had an enormous amount of mana sealed inside her mana cores yet due to her sealed powers as a demi-god, she couldn''t make use of her abilities.

    ''The same must be true for her divinity but since its contains divine energy which is much stronger than mana, her divinity must have started leaking.'' Jason guessed and concluded his observation. ''I am still waiting for your reply system.''

    [ Right. To pull her out of this condition, you will have to pull arge chunk of divine energy out of her divinity and seal her divinity again. The problem is that you can''t let it roam free.

    You will have to store the divine energy inside one of your divinities, specifically me. But to do that, you must have some sort of connection with May, like blood connection or a power bond. ]

    ''I don''t think I have either of those with her.'' Jason replied with a frown.

    [ You are correct, host. However, you can form a sort of temporary connection with her by absorbing more of the divine energy present in the atmosphere. Once you have done that, you can expel the divine energy inside her.

    I will automatically absorb it inside your soul and lock it in case you or Hestia need it for future use. But there are many risks involved in this. You want to do this? ]

    ''Hmm, having divine energy inside me is quite useful. Judging from the past of our family, its better if I have a weapon like that at my disposal. Plus having a demi-god with me is definitely going to be quite an addition.''

    [ Don''t think of her as a tool to manipte, host. Her mother already went through so much sufferingбн You can try to befriend her, which in turn, can let you to having a way to talk with Sun Wukong. ]

    Though the system didn''t like this form of reasoning, it knew that the current Jason was not the one it was familiar with.

    That was why it was better to counter his thinking with something simr, just put in a different way.

    ''You''re right about that. I will start gathering the divine energy right now.'' Jason replied and sat cross-legged on the floor. ''Hestia, can you please exin this to the monkey outside?''<sub> </sub>

    [ No problem. ]

    Hestia suddenly materialized in front of Jason in her wolf form. Surprisingly, her size had changed a lot.

    The bestparison would be to say that she had turned into a teenage wolf, just like Jason. Her fur had grown thicker and sparks of lightning continuously flickered around her body.

    Hestia slowly walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. She did this by using her powers since it was nearly impossible for a wolf to be able to open a locked door without breaking it open.

    The red-butt monkey king suddenly snapped to attention when he felt the familiar aura around him.

    He jolted awake and stood straight. His gazended on the wolf present in front of him. With one knee bending, the monkey king knelt and paid homage to Hestia.

    "How are you, supreme guardian?"

    "I am all right, thank you for asking." Hestia replied politely. "I just want to inform you that Jason will be spending quite some time inside the room. Please don''t bother us."

    "As you say, mydy."

    If any human had heard them talking, they would be left wondering as to what both of them were saying.

    After all, Hestia and the RB monkey king were talking in their ownnguages.

    "I will go back now." Hestia said atst and went inside the room again, locking it behind her back.

    RB monkey king immediately got up from his ce and exited his house. ording to the supreme guardian, it was best if he asked everyone to gather at the edge of the vige until the coast was clear.

    This would ensure that none of the monkeys would be hurt while Jason was dispelling the divine energy out of May''s divinity.

    The RB monkey king took Hestia''s words seriously and immediately nned to evacuate. He didn''t want to put any of his subjects in danger.

    As for Hestia, she was looking at Jason with a worried expression.

    [ Jason, don''t you think you should at least tell Risa about this? ]

    ''You are right, I should do that.'' Jason suddenly opened his eyes and thought of his grandmother.

    Since he had never officially learned how to contact her using their family connection, Jason blindly aimed for her by simply thinking about her.

    He felt a weird tingling sensation passing throughout his body. It was as though his own blood was doing something against him.

    "Hello?" Jason called out.

    Static noise suddenly exploded inside his head, making him clutch his ears in pain. Jason groaned a bit yet he managed to battle the pain.

    ''Huh?''

    A clicking sound resounded inside his mind before he was connected with Risa, at least that''s what he assumed.

    [ Jason? ] Risa''s voice echoed inside his head.

    "Yes, its me, grandma. I just wanted to tell you that I won''t be meeting you for quite some time. I''m in the middle of an important thing and I will see youter on." Jason hurriedly got the message through since the static was returning slowly.

    [ Huh? Can you at least tell me your location? ] Risa asked, her voice slowly fading away.

    "Beginner''s area. Royal academy!" Jason barely got the four words out before the static invaded his mind.

    He hurriedly cut of the connection, not sure of how he did it.

    "Haaбн haaбн" Jason started panting once the connection had disappeared.

    He wiped the sweat of his forehead and started meditating again. The divine energy around him swirled to a great extent and entered his body at once.

    Time passed by as droplets of sweat appeared on Jason''s forehead. The more energy he absorbed, the more difficult it was for him to keep it inside while trying to obtain more.

    [ A connection can only be established if you gather all the energy at once and use it. ]

    Those were the words the system had told him. Jason could only grit his teeth and continue to try hard.

    Fortunately, it didn''t take long for him to gather the energyбн

 Chapter 167 Mays Divinity And Curse [Part 2]

    ''System, tell me what I have to do nowбн" Jason said in a deep voice.

    His body felt heavier and much harder to control. Jason could feel his mana and blood being affected by the divine energy.

    Thetter almost seemed alive since it was trying to break out of Jason''s body.

    [ Mix your mana with the divine energy and ced your index finger on May''s forehead. Dispel the divine energy through your finger and send it inside her body. You will form a bond with her this way. ]

    Jason did as told and let his mana freely mix with the divine energy. He could feel a resistance going inside his body.

    It seemed like his mana and the divine energy were ying a football match inside him for supremacy.

    Somehow, he managed to touch May''s forehead with right index finger and dispel the gathered energy inside him.

    The mixture of divine energy and mana came out of his hand in the form of a ck ray and directly entered May''s body.

    Jason immediately felt something connecting him to May. The connection was simr to his bond with Hestia but instead of a tight rope, a tiny string was connecting him and May.

    [ This is going to be a bit painful but what I want you to do right now is to focus on the connection and try sucking leaking energy from her body. ]

    ''I really wish I didn''t have a dirty mind at this momentбн'' Jason groaned mentally.

    [ Can''t help you with that. Also, once you have started absorbing the divine energy, leave the rest of the work to me. I will guide the energy to myself automatically. ]

    Jason sighed audibly before focusing on the connection. The divine energy leaking out of May''s body suddenly started moving towards him and entered his body.

    Jason blinked in surprise since he had been expecting some kind of bacsh but fortunately, nothing like that happened.

    [ You jinxed usбн ] The system muttered in a disappointed voice.

    As soon as the system got the words inside Jason''s mind, the divine energy present in their surroundings started gathering at one point.

    ''Is it alive or what?'' Jason asked with a frown.

    [ Its alive in a way since divine energy is basically same yet not same. It varies from god to god depending on his or her personality. Also, you can remove your finger from May''s forehead. It will be better if you prepare to run now. ]

    Jason didn''t need to be told twice. Despite the slight change in his personality, the gears of his mind were turning to figure out the situation.

    He lifted his finger of May''s forehead and summoned some of his white thunder around his legs.

    Jason looked around the room and noticed that most of the divine energy present in his surroundings had gathered in on fixed spot.

    It was now taking the shape of a human figure which was exactly twelve feet(3.6 meters) tall.

    ''Just when I needed a window to escapeбн''

    Jason''s eyes roamed around the room yet he couldn''t find any other escape other than the door. While gritting his teeth, Jason threw two thunderbolts at the ceiling.

    ''Hopefully, the red-butt monkey king wouldn''t mind me destroying his ceiling in order to protect his entiremunity.''

    Jason jumped towards the ceiling and escaped through the hole he had created. His instincts were telling him to get far away from the humanoid figure of energy lest it attacked him.

    [ It will attack you. Divine energy is usually attracted to those who either have the same energy inside them or have anything rted to it inside them, like a divinity for example. Since you currently have both of them, you are fked. ] Hestia exined.

    ''System, I think it would be better for both of us if you increased the speed of the conversion process. I don''t think I would like to fight energy that came straight from Sun Wukongбн''

    [ I am already going at full speed and I don''t think I can do this any faster. Plus I think that you will have to either dispel that divine energy or absorb it inside yourself. ]

    ''Great, one trouble after the other.''

    Jason jumped back just in time to see the divine energy shooting out of the hole in the ceiling.

    It had taken the form of a humanoid figure, one with a tail and a rod in right hand. It was a dead give away that the humanoid figure was Sun Wukong, the monkey king.

    ''Does that rod expand?бн'' Jason thought with a nervous expression. He wasn''t the least bit interested in getting pierced by a rod made of divine energy.

    [ That figure can use many of Wukong''s abilities but it won''t really hurt you. Its main goal is to enter your body and get inside your divinity. ] Hestia exined patiently.

    ''Isn''t that what I want to happen?''

    [ It is but you are forgetting the fact that the divine energy inside your is slowly being transfered to Erebus''s divinity. If you absorb all that energy at once, your body might explode into a thousand pieces so its better to let the previous one vanishpletely. ]

    ''But thatбн figure is going to chase after me to enter my body. So I basically have to deal with a stalker and avoid getting pierced.''

    Jason looked around the vige and tried to find a way to avoid the divine energy until the system gave him the thumbs up.

    Simultaneously, the figure shot forward and threw the rod in Jason''s direction. It expanded by ten times its original size and was aimed at pinning him down.

    "Fkбн"

    Jason cursed under his breath before jumping high in the air. He used the side of the rod as support and climbed it.<sub> </sub>

    Stopping at the top, he raised his hand in the figure''s direction and threw a harpoon of darkness.

    His harpoon was easily dodged yet the thread he had secretly tied around it went unnoticed. Jason carefully controlled the thread and made itunch towards the figure''s legs.

    Jason hoped that if he cut the divine energy''s legs, he would be able to buy himself some time to get far away without taking any damage.

    Unfortunately, he had judged one thing wrongly.

    "Huh?"

    The moment Jason pulled on the thread tied around the figure''s leg, the thread broke apart into numerous tiny pieces.

    A sudden pain red through Jason''s hands, making him look down with pained eyes. The skin on his palms looked as though it had been skinned using a knife.

    Fortunately, it was slowly healing so there wasn''t any major problem that he had to face, excluding the constant sharp pain he was feeling.

    ''So my thread doesn''t work and I have to dodge a weapon that can expand itself to basically destroy the entire vigeбн''

    Jason looked down at the vige to see that the rod had destroyed a few houses before returning to its user.

    [ Jason, there is something I want you to test. But to do that, you have to make sure that you don''t get hurt in any manner. ]

    ''I guess I can manage that. What are we going to do?''

    [ Jump towards the divine energy and concentrate on Erebus''s divinity, aka the system. Once you are about to be hit by an attack, let me and the system take control over your body for a split second. ]

    ''What can go wrong?''

    [ Worst case scenario, you get hit by the attack and the divine energy enters your body. Best case scenario, that figure can no longer use a weapon. ]

    Though the reward wasn''t that high, Jason had to admit that his odds would be much better if he got rid of the golden rod.

    It would also prevent the remainder of the vige from getting destroyed.

    ''All right, let''s do this. System, warn me if we get too closer to May.''

    Jason suddenly jumped forward, white thunder trailing around his body. He let the thunder run wildly and increased his speed to the maximum.

    [ Jason, why are you interested in saving that child? You can just dispel that energy and leave the child to die. ] Hestia suddenly asked.

    ''Hmm, I am just doing it so that you don''t feel guiltyter on. She is Wukong''s daughter, right?''

    [ Yes, she is. ]

    ''How is your rtionship with Wukong?''

    [ Pretty all right. Both of us used to be good friends and fought many battles together. ]

    ''I see. That''s your answer then.'' Jason replied with a smile.

    The golden rod appeared in front of him in the next instance, its size expanding by an enormous amount.

    ''I leave things to you both.'' Jason thought before letting his body go limp.

    [ You can trust us. ]

    [ Indeed. ]

    Jason''s body suddenly exploded with a golden energy. Both the system and Hestia used their powers to such the divine energy directly inside themselves instead of letting it stay inside his body.

    Though this caused both of them to feel heavily fatigued, they managed to suck the entire rod inside Jason''s soul and save its divine energy.

    "Haa!" Jason gasped before entering his body again.

    Seeing that the rod had vanished and that the divine energy figure was not making any advances in his direction, Jason''s lips curled up into a small smile.

    "Now its somewhat fair.

    ***

    AN: Real life update here. My back had been hurting a lot in the past two to three days so I went to a doctor today. Looks like I overexerted myselfбн

    Also, my schedule is getting even tighter. I just wanted to tell you all that the chapters might get updated a bitter than intended.

    But rest assured. I will definitely upload them xD

    Have fun reading!

 Chapter 168 Mays Divinity And Curse [Part 3]

    Since he had already removed the weapon out of the battle, Jason managed to dodge the rest of the attacks thrown by the figure.

    Even though it was Sun Wukong''s representation, it was rather slow and weak. The divine rod was the only thing allowing it to push Jason into a corner and have its way with him.

    [ All right, you can get close and attack it. Once youe in contact with it, your body will automatically absorb the divine energy. ]

    Jason nodded in acknowledgment before shooting towards the divine energy figure. He focused the thunder on his feet and used it to give himself an extra boost.

    Before the figure could realize what was happening, Jason crashed into it, hitting its semi-solid shoulder with full force.

    The divine energy from the figure instantly got absorbed by Jason''s body, making him cough a bit.

    [ Everything is done. You should go and take care of may. Hestia, can you please inform the RB monkey king that the danger has been dealt with? ]

    [ Sure, that''s the least I can do. ] Hestia replied before materializing in front of them.

    The guardian walked off towards the edges of the vige while the system sighed. It had been quite anxious about the n formted but fortunately, everything had happened correctly.

    [ There is still one thing that you have to take care ofбн ] A tired voice said to the system.

    It immediately recognized the voice. It belonged to its creator, Erebus.

    [ What do I have to do? Also, haven''t you been talking too frequently? I don''t think you are allowed to contact and effect things this frequently. ] The system replied in a worried tone.

    [ Don''t worry, I am not the one using my divinity to talk to you. Sun Wukong is the one doing that so we aren''t breaking any rules. ]

    [ All right. Then tell me what I need to do next? ]

    [ Listen carefullyбн ]

    While the system was holding this conversation with Erebus, Jason had appeared back inside the room.

    He walked closer to the crib and peered inside to see that May was actually awake. Her eyes were wide open and were looking at the surroundings with a weird expression.

    "Um, can you understand what I am saying?" Jason asked gently.

    May rolled her eyes before nodding. "Beh bhe buh beh!"

    Whatever she said, Jason could no longer understand. The ability to understand childnguage ended once someone crossed five years of age.

    "Do you know telepathy or anything like that?" Jason asked curiously.

    Realizing that the silver-haired boy couldn''t understand her words, May released a short sigh before shaking her head.

    Jason sighed as well and sat beside the crib. He wasn''t tired but sitting felt morefortable for him.

    A few minutester, Hestia returned with the RB monkey king in tow, who had his head bowed down in respect.

    "Everything should be fine," Jason said before standing up. "I don''t think you will face any other problems except for rebuilding this vige. Also, you have done a good job taking care of her, the monkey god is happy by the things you have done."

    Jason didn''t know why he added the ending part but it made the monkey in front of him cheer up.

    "I am happy to be of service. I just want to know whether I can live here safely." He asked while looking at May.

    [ Host, tell him that you will be taking May with you. ] The system suddenly said.

    Jason blinked in surprise but didn''t question the system''s words. "You don''t have to worry about that. I am going to take her away and keep her safe so that you and the other monkeys don''t face any problem."

    [ You sure know how to improvise on the spot. ] Hestia mused.

    ''Its a mandatory ability to have no matter which world you are living in.''

    [ Host, please pick up May and walk out of the vige. I will exin everything to you on the way out. ]

    Jason peered inside the crib before extending his hands forward. He wrapped them around May''s body and lifted her out of the crib, alongside the nkets surrounding her.

    "We will see you soon." Jason said to the RB monkey king before walking towards the exit.

    The RB monkey king bowed to Hestia once before the guardian vanished from her spot as well.

    ''Mind telling me why I am carrying a baby out of this ce?'' Jason questioned once he had walked out of the vige.

    [ May might experience outbursts of divinity in the future and they will be much stronger than this version. That''s why its best if she doesn''t stay in the vige. Plus her godly parent himself asked you to take care of May. ]

    ''бн''<sub> </sub>

    Jason didn''t know what to say to that. Now even gods were asking him for small favors, babysitting for example.

    [ Don''t worry. Gods remember the people they owe things to. I am sure that you Wukong will help you in the future. ]

    ''Whateverбн'' Jason sighed.

    He was trying to think of a way to exin the current situation to his grandparents. After all, showing up with a baby in his hand could imply a lot of things, especially considering the fact that he had went to such a specific ce.

    ''I guess I should just contact grandma to pick me up. We can talk face to face that way and I would be able to exin things better.''

    Jason stopped on top of a tree and closed his eyes. He could feel May''s body radiating heat energy and her heart slowly beating inside her chest.

    Since he was somewhat used to handling babies due to his experience on Earth, he was able tofortably hold May without making her wake up.

    ''Uh, hello, grandma? Can you hear me?'' Jason asked in a confused tone.

    Static, much low-pitched then the one he had heard before, filled his mind. It seemed likemunicating telepathically over long distances was simr to tuning a radio.

    You had to find the right channel and frequency before you could establish a connection and talk with the other person.

    ''But if this is a radio, doesn''t that mean that other people can also listen to us?''

    [ That is correct. Other people can indeed listen to you. ]

    Jason suddenly froze when he heard an unknown voice inside his head. It sounded feminine yet contained a hidden despair that Jason somehow deciphered.

    [ I can hear that. The divine energy inside your body allows you to sense the undertone of my words as well as my feelings. Its honestly quiteplicated so don''t think too much about it. ]

    Jason blinked in surprise before looking down at the baby in his hand.

    "Did youбн just talk?"

    [ I did. Sadly this is the only way I can talk with you. ] May sighed inside his head.

    ''This feels awkwardбн'' Jason paused. ''Wait, do you know what a radio is?''

    [ My mum used to think about such an object. She used to tell me that it existed on another realm where she had been living in her previous life. I thought she had lost her sanity a bit considering how nothing like that exists here.

    Not to mention that I was still inside her womb at the time and wouldn''t have been capable of understanding her words. ]

    ''But you did understand her words.'' Jason pointed out.

    [ Being the child of a god has its own benefits. I got a set of memories inside my head which told me every basic thing about the world and myself. I also know many things about magic and my parents.

    My mother, for example, was reincarnated here from a realm called Earth. On the other hand, my father is an extremely old god who is also a monkey. ] May replied.

    Jason couldn''t help but smile at the way she said those words. ''You sound just like an emo teenager.''

    [ Maybe cause I am one myself? Though I might not look like it, I am fourteen years old. ]

    ''I know. You will also turn fifteen, the same age as me, in six months.''

    [ Damn, I am going to die then. Maybe you should just bury me up and leave. That would be a fun thing to do. ] May replied with an exasperated sigh.

    Jason could tell that she was joking, perhaps due to personal experiences or the connection between them.

    ''After the trouble I went to make sure that you will be all right, I am not going to bury you. Plus I have to make sure that I can get a good favor from your father. You are stuck with me until you enter a temple at fifteen years of age.''

    [ Oh? You aren''t helping me out of the goodness of your help. ]

    ''I don''t do anything out of the goodness of my heart, well ny-five percent of the time. Also, you are a demi-god and you will be quite strong in the future. If I save you, you will be indebted to me.''

    [ Good thing you are not the good guy. I hate such people. ] May muttered bitterly. [ They always lose in the end and die meaningless deaths. ]

    ''Not always but most of the time, yes.'' Jason agreed. ''But you haven''t met the people of this realm yet. You might understand a thing or two about their behavior once you do that.''

    [ Maybe, maybe not. I might understand things or I might not understand things. But the, at least I have someone to mentally torment now! ]

    ''I heard that correctly, didn''t I?'' Jason asked with a small frown.

    [ You did! Now I have someone to share my curse with so I am going to talk to you for hours. ] May replied cheerfully. [ By the way, I think you found the right connection. You should talk to the other person. ]

 Chapter 169 The Pieces Are Falling Into Place

    "Jason, is there something that you might want to exin right now?" Risa asked with narrowed eyes.

    She was currently looking at May who was sleeping in Jason''s arms.

    "I will exin it once we get to a more private ce."

    "You definitely have a lot of things to exin then." Risa muttered before creating a teleportation formation.

    She had appeared to pick up Jason five minutes ago, that too after roaming around the forest for a few minutes.

    Though neither of them had trust in her abilities, teleportation was the best thing they could do to get away from the forest.

    "Touch my arm," Risa said. "I will bind you with some of my mana to make sure we don''t separate."

    "If we could do this, why didn''t we do this in the past?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "Its because there is a chance that you might end up hundreds of kilometers away from me. At least I will have an idea about your location this way."

    "бн"

    Before Jason could protest, the teleportation circle activated and teleported both of them away.

    When theynded on solid ground again, Jason was happy to see that he had appeared right beside Risa.

    "Hmm, we didn''t appear that far away from Duphia. It should be at a ten minutes running distance, less if we use other skills to increase our speed." Risa muttered after taking a look at their surroundings.

    "Grandma, do you have a skill that makes you extremely fast?" Jason questioned with a curious look.

    "Yes, I do have many such skills but there is one that makes me quite fast." Risa grinned. "Maybe we can race back to Duphia. This will show you how fast I can be."

    "All right. I will use maximum amount of thunder as wellбн Wait, I have a kid with me." Jason muttered when he looked down at May.

    [ Don''t worry, I have a high resistance against lightning, thunder, fire and ice. Its a hereditary thing I received from my father. You can go at an extremely fast speed and I won''t be affected by it. ] May reassured him.

    Jason asked her a few more questions but once he was satisfied, he looked at Risa and gave her the confirmation.

    Risa raised her eyebrows but didn''t say anything. She knew that Jason would tell her the entire story once they had reached their home.

    ''Issac must be home as well. Hopefully, he didn''t use too much of his powers or else Julian will know that we were moving through the kingdom to meet Jasonбн'' Risa sighed mentally before looking at Jason.

    He had called upon the power of thunder and let the white thunder wrap around his body. His hair stood up in spikes, making him look simr to a Super Yaiyan.

    "See you at the door." Risa said with a teasing voice before vanishing from her spot.

    Jason blinked in confusion but no matter what he did, he could no longer see Risa. Shaking his head, heunched himself forward and dashed through the trees.

    Simultaneously, he activated his mana vision to try find Risa. All he managed to see were particles of her mana left behind once she had vanished.

    ''System, did you capture what she just did. Also, can May hear me when I am talking to you or Hestia like this?''

    [ No, she can''t hear us. Also, I can''t even tell what she did, much less record it. You are on your own for now. ]

    ''Sometimes you are quite useless.'' Jason sighed mentally.

    A minuteter, he was standing at the door of his house. It was quite surprising how you could cover this much distance in such a short amount of time.

    [ You would have been able to travel this distance in a much shorter amount of time if you wanted. You just have to improve your control and try to get a bit more faster. ]

    ''I know. Thunder is quite quick.''

    The door suddenly opened up to reveal Risa standing there on the other side. Judging from the piece of chocte cake she was holding in her right hand, she had reached the house much earlier.

    "How much time did it take you toe here?" Jason asked with narrowed eyes.

    "A second I guess. I was traveling at the speed of light so it was quite hard to tell." Risa replied with a shrug.

    Jason took a deep breath as he tried to process this. "Howe you and grandpa are so overpowered and you still listen to Julian?"

    "About thatбн" Risa''s expression darkened. "There are certain beings that you can''t fight no matter what. You will learn this one day or the other so its better if you prepare yourself for such a day toe."<sub> </sub>

    "What I want to learn now is the teleportation magic. Though I can travel at quite a fast speed, teleportation magic is much quicker and efficient." Jason muttered before entering the room.

    A smile appeared on Risa''s lips when she heard his words. "Its going to be quiteplicated but I will teach you soon. First, we need to talk things out."

    Jason looked down at May and was relieved to see that she had told him the truth. He and Risa then walked into the kitchen to see Issac eating some pieces of chocte cake himself.

    "Damn, I didn''t expect you to have one so soonбн" Issac muttered the moment he saw the baby in Jason''s arms.

    p Jason and Risa exchanged a nce and sighed. They sat down on the chairs while Jason ced May on the dining table, which to be fair, looked a bit weird and awkward.</anda>

    "Soбн mind exining why you have a baby with you?" Issac questioned once he had finished eating the cake.

    "For starters, she is a teenager and not a baby." Jason replied before faking a cough.

    "бн"

    "бн"

    Issac and Risa had to admit that the fact didn''t sound that strange at all. Both of them had dealt with their own share of weirdness over the years.

    If someone told them that the moon was just someone''s butt showing from the sky, they would believe it after some solid proof.

    After all, that would give a whole new exnation as to why the dark and light side of the moon were shown.

    "Let me back upбн" Jason sighed before beginning his exnation.

    ***

    Inside the royal pce situated in Troyбн

    "Hmm, something doesn''t feel rightбн" Julian muttered to himself while being perched on top of his bed.

    The king of Vancouver kingdom could tell that something was wrong but couldn''t exactly pin point the source of the problem.

    Suddenly, a voice echoed inside his head, making him frown. Julian stood up from his bed and immediately started making his way to the throne room.

    ''First Zn disappeared with his family and now this. Things are not going the way they are supposed to go.''

    Once he entered the throne room, Julian immediately went to sit on his throne and closed his eyes.

    He activated his powers and thought of two figures he knew well and hated. The first one was Risa.

    ''She''s clear. She hasn''t used much of her true power after we made the oath so everything''s fine. As for Issacбн''

    Once Julian thought about Jason''s grandpa, his frown deepened. From what he got to know, Issac had recently used a small amount of his true powers.

    Usually, Julian would''ve ignored it but due to the current events, he was feeling suspicious about everything.

    ''Well, I can just ask the spies ced around Duphia to keep a check on the family house. Thest batch had already made it out of the chamber and ording to the information I received, all of them are staying at their own homes.

    I have to get all of them here, or at least the two children with guardians. Once I have them under control, I will be able to increase my manpower by a lot.

    The guardian of Mistopia is also sending me reliable information. I am surprised she managed to stay hidden for so many yearsбн''

    While keeping his eyes closed, Julian checked on numerous people he had forced a contract upon.

    Most of them were the powerhouses of the continent who couldn''t do anything against his advances and orders.

    ''All right, the pieces have all appeared. They are slowly falling into ce and if I guide them a bit, things can get pretty good sometimes.''

    Julian finally opened his eyes and stood up from the throne. A wave of pain immediately descended on his body yet Julian simply smiled and exited the ce.

    ''Soon enough, I will be able to put everything together and create the world we want. Everything would be fine then.''

    Julian returned to his room and crashed on the bed. He closed his eyes and used a bit of the power residing inside his divinity.

    ''I will prove that making me your follower wasn''t a bad idea. I will create the perfect worldбн''

 Chapter 170 Into The Den Of The King

    "His child is a demi-god?!" Issac asked with a wide open jaw.

    He looked at Risa in disbelief, who shared a simr expression. Both of them knew many strange things and had experienced many such things themselves.

    Both of them also had knowledge on gods and demi-gods yet it was the first time they were seeing a demi-god in such a condition.

    "She will stay like this until I take her to a temple on her fifteenth birthday. If that doesn''t happen, there were be strange and dark consequences which I don''t think we should face." Jason finished before rxing in his chair.

    It had took him a few minutes to give them theplete run down of the story. He now realized how unreal the story sounded.

    Fortunately, the Syrward family had been established by using the words weird, chaos etc. as a base.

    "I guess she is going to stay here with us." Risa sighed. "Just when I thought we wouldn''t be seeing children until you or Nora had your own children."

    "She isn''t really a child. May is just stuck in the body of an infant even though she is a teenager in reality," Jason pointed out. "Also, she doesn''t need us to do any thing. We just have to provide her shelter and protection."

    Risa and Issac exchanged another nce while talking things telepathically. Jason on the other hand looked at May and sighed.

    ''If you weren''t Sun Wukong''s daughter, I might have left you behind in a deserted area of the forest.'' He sighed mentally.

    [ Oi, I heard that! ]

    ''I thought it to make you hear it. You are getting to stay here because of the connections I have with a few people. If not for those connections, you might have exploded right now.''

    [ I guess you are rightбн Thank you for saving me. ] May replied after a few seconds.

    Jason didn''t said anything in reply and stood up from his chair. "You guys stay here and discuss things. I''m gonna go meet Karna."

    Without waiting for their replies, Jason walked out of the kitchen and exited the house. He slowly walked towards the edges of their garden and leaped out of the fence.

    ''I wonder how Karna is doing. I haven''t met that guy for so many years. Hopefully, he hasn''t kicked the bucket yet.'' Jason thought while walking towards the edges of the town.

    [ It feels nostalgic to be moving here, doesn''t it? ] The system asked curiously.

    ''I have spent most of my current life in this ce. No matter where I go in this world, this will be my home.'' Jason replied with a slight smile.

    He soon saw the shelter, also the ce where Karna stayed for a better of the day, in the distance.

    [ Hmm, is it the people that make a ce home or is the ce itself that one calls home? ]

    ''That''s a deep question. You all right?'' Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    [ I am all right, host. Thank you for asking. ] The system replied politely.

    Before Jason could think of a reply for it, his entire body shifted upside down. His whole world started spinning and in the next second, he immediately vanished from his spot.

    Inside the Syrward manor, Risa immediately stood up on her spot, her hands mming hard on the table.

    "Jason''s aura just vanished from Duphia." She said with a deadly look.

    Issac immediately stood up from his spot and dashed out of the room. His face remained expressionless yet dangerous thunder seemed to be leaking out of his body.

    He roamed around the entire town in a matter of seconds before returning back to the manor.

    "He isn''t hereбн"

    "I know. Don''t question my powers during moments like this." Risa replied with narrowed eyes.

    "I am not questioning them. I am just stating the facts.'' Issac replied before shaking his head. "But that''s beside the point. We have to find Jason right now and bring him back."

    "I did put a mark on him but I don''t think I even needed to use it." Risa sighed. "He has ended up in the clutches of the person we didn''t want."

    "Julianбн" Issac''s eyes glowed with hatred. "Don''t tell me he is going to force a contract on Jason as well."

    "Knowing Julian, that''s some of the least cruel thing he can do. I just know that we have to get there on time and kick his butt." Risa replied in a dangerous tone.

    "So we can use a bit of our true powers?" Issac questioned, his amber eyes glowing brightly.

    "Just a bit but yes, we are going to use them." Risa nodded before cracking her neck.

    Both of them then looked at May who still present on the table. They reached a silent agreement and picked her up.

    Risa made the demi-god lose consciousness before putting her in one of the numerous rooms present inside the manor.

    Once they had done that, the duo stepped out of the manor and nced in the distance.

    Two blood chilling auras burst out from their bodies and spread over the entire town. Every single citizen of the town froze on their spots and dropped whatever activities they were doing.<sub> </sub>

    The older generation present inside Duphia trembled in fear because the auras they were sensing belonged to a terrifying couple.

    They had seen Risa and Issac in action and were afraid for the person who dared to go against them.

    Unfortunately, they were not aware about the contract they had signed with Julianбн

    "I wonder what those two are up toбн" Karna muttered.

    The shepherd was lying inside the shelter with his eyes closed. However, he had goosebumps all over his body.

    ''Its been a long time since I have sensed their powers. Those two are fking demons when they go all out.'' He thought before shivering once.

    On the opposite outer edge of the townбн

    Amon, the demon who also lived in Duphia, was staring at the direction of the manor with a curious expression.

    ''It must have been Julian who did thisбн'' the old demon knew the current king well.

    Though he wasn''t sure of Risa and Issac''s victory due to the contract of binding ced on them, Amon knew that the duo wasn''t going to let Julian go unscathed.

    ''Well, I don''t have to worry about this. At the end of the day, both of them will live.'' Amon thought before vanishing.

    As for Risa and Issac, they had already vanished from their spots and were headed towards their grandson.

    They were out to get Jason backбн

    ***

    ''I won''t be surprised if I just ended up in the main viin''s hideout.'' Jason thought the moment he appeared in his new surroundings.

    He was currently standing in a high ss room which lookedpletely polished. His eyes quickly scanned his surroundings and noticed that the room was empty.

    ''System, run a scan on the surroundings.'' Jason instructed.

    [ Hostбн ] The system''s replied in a fading voice. [ There is a divinity restriction ced in this room. Iбн ]

    Before finishing its words, the system''s voice trailed off. A grim expression settled on Jason''s face as he upped his guard.

    [ My senses have been dampened as well but since I am technically not a divinity and neither a divine being, I am not that much effected. ] Hestia replied in a tired voice.

    ''Don''t worry, I am not asking you to do anything. Just be there to talk with me.'' Jason replied calmly.

    Suddenly, the door to the room opened up and a man walked inside the room. An arrogant yet calm expression rested on his face while his eyes looked at Jason from head to toe.

    ''Blond hair, slightly arrogant expression and the finish of this roomбн I think I am present inside the room of the fking king himself.''

    Jason didn''t know who to cuss for his bad luck. He could only look at the king helplessly while backing away a bit.

    ''I have to look the least bit intimidating and act terrified. Who knows what I might be subjected to here.''

    Jason''s actions seemed to work as Julian looked at him with a pleased smile.

    "So you are the grandson of those twoбн" he muttered underneath his breath. "You don''t look anything like them though."

    ''Actually, I do. Your eyes are just too weak to see it.'' Jason wanted to reply yet he bit his tongue.

    It was best that he remained silent for as long as possible. If he spoke up, things could get difficult for him.

    "Giving me the silent treatment?" Julian asked with raised eyebrows. "I guess you aren''t that dumb."

    Julian casually walked to the bed and sat on its edge. His eyes were continuously staring at Jason''s face, making thetter feel as though a child molester was ring at him.

    "I will give you a minute to tell me everything you know about the ns of your grandparents. It can include anything mentioning my name, which is Julian, destruction of the kingdom and such." Julian said in a calm voice.

    Jason blinked in surprise since he wasn''t sure whether he heard the right thing. As far as he knew, neither of his grandparents were secretly nning a rebellion.

    [ Considering the things they lost the first time, I would be surprised if they even formed a small opposing faction, much less n a rebellion. ]

    ''Which makes me wonder whether they are good actors or is this king a bit screwed in the head.''

    Jason didn''t speak anything for the next minute, making Julian sigh.

    "Remember, you got this on yourself."

    Julian snapped his right finger, the edges of his lips curling into a small smile as the power of his divinity filled the room

 Chapter 171 An Awakened Promise

    A wave of oppression immediately weighed down on Jason. His body slowly sunk to the ground before being pressured by the power of Julian''s divinity.

    [ I know the person that divinity belongs toбн ] Hestia said in a hateful voice. [ I hate that person so much. ]

    Jason, however, wasn''t paying any attention to her words. The oppression weighing him down was too much for someone of his caliber.

    "This world is cruel and only those with divine powerse out at the top. Even though you have a divinity and a guardian, both of them will be useless inside this room. On the other hand, my divinity is enhanced up to hundred percent of its original potential."

    ''Why do viins keep giving exnations for things they do?'' Jason wondered despite the pain before sumbing to it once again.

    "Don''t worry, you will be saying things soon enough." Julian said with a smile.

    He stood up from the bed and summoned a piece of paper in front of him. Jason recognized it as a contract, making him sweat a bit.

    It didn''t take a genius to figure out where this was going.

    "Now I just need a drop of your blood and you will be under my contractбн" Julian muttered before heading forward.

    He lifted Jason''s right hand and pricked it using magic. ck blood started flowing out of Jason''s hand, making Julian raise his eyebrows.

    "I forgot that your mother is actually a noble demon. Goddamn kid, you have one heck of a bloodline running inside you. I should definitely marry you off to one of my daughters, maybe the third oneбн"

    ''Is he talking about M?'' Jason thought with a frown.

    The slight amount of pain from the pricking had managed to give him rity for a few minutes. Unfortunately, he still couldn''t think of a way to get out his current situation.

    ''Hestia, you said you knew the owner of this divinity. Mind exining how I can get rid of this?'' Jason questioned his guardian.

    [ I am afraid that you can''t break free from this, unless you are on a higher position in the hierarchy whenpared with Julian. ] Hestia replied honestly.

    ''In simpler terms, I will get bonded into life long very contractбн'' Jason thought with a mental sigh.

    Unconsciously, he remembered the moment in the Kamizel forest when Hecate was trying to form a contract with him.

    The current condition was much simr to that except for the fact that Julian didn''t need Jason''s consent to form a contract with him.

    The king had simply taken his blood and used it to form a contract irrespective of Jason''s opinions.

    ''Waitбн contract!''

    Jason suddenly remembered some words that a god had told him a long time ago.

    "Make sure you upheld the promises you make Jason. However, do pay those back who try to take advantage of your kindness."

    These were the words told to him by Sancus before the god of oaths had offered him his divinity.

    ''If I remember correctly, I can''t be forced into a contract.'' Jason lifted his head slowly and peered directly into the eyes of the king.

    Simultaneously, the purple floating inside his dream world started radiating a divine energy.

    This divine energy circted through Jason''s body and charged him from the inside. Slowly, the pressure on his body started to decrease.<sub> </sub>

    Julian did notice this but he didn''t care anymore. He simply smeared Jason''s blood on the contract and grinned.

    "Starting from today onwards, you are under a contract that will force you to obey my everymand." Julian said happily.

    However, his happiness was short-lived. The contract in his hands immediately caught fire and burned into ash.

    Julian blinked in confusion before giving Jason an incredulous look. Thetter slowly stood up from the ground and brushed the dust of his clothes.

    The purple pen immediately burst out of his body and hovered in front of him like a protection shield.

    "A divinityбн" Julian immediately recognized the object as a divinity.

    Though he had no idea what it was, he could tell that the divinity was on the same level as his own divinity. This made Jason the holder of two divinities, including one that could rival Julian''s own divinity.

    Unfortunately, what the king didn''t know was that Jason''s original divinity far outshone his divinity, not to mention the golden ring that was still unactivated.

    "Who did you call a ve?" Jason asked with narrowed eyes.

    Even though he knew that he couldn''t win in a fight against Julian, he still decided to put a strong face forward.

    This was also due to the fact that he could currently sense two powerful figures approaching the pce.

    "Whose divinity is that?" Julian asked in a calm voice despite knowing that Risa and Issac were about toe and fight him to take their grandson back.

    "Its the divinity of a god who oversees contracts." Jason winked. "Also, my grandparents are about to whoop your ass."

    ***

    At one of the many ces present inside the divine templeбн

    "So it finally activated huh," Sancus muttered while overseeing the events unfolding below him.

    As a god, he could tell when his divinity was activated or was being used by someone else. Most of the divinities he had given out during Jason''s batch had been activated, except his which activated at thest position.

    ''You are currently stuck in a weird position. However, I have to admit that you definitely took my words seriously.'' Sancus smiled.

    The god of oaths and promises knew that Jason had held onto his promises so far. Not only that but he remembered to stand up against those who were trying to force him into a contract.

    ''If Hestia hadn''t interfered during the scene in Kamizel forest, things would be much different right now. But I guess everything might happen for a reason or can simply be a string of coincidences.''

    Sancus sighed before cutting the connection from Duphia. Despite being a god, there were many questions that he still didn''t know the answers to.

    But what he did knew was the fact that promises and oaths weren''t something to be taken lightly.

    After all, his divinity was also called ''awakened promise'' because once it was activated, it would hold on to the user''s biggest promises until he or she diedбн

    ***

    AN: Another chapter(bonus chapter)ing soon. Huge shout out to Cabell_Hall for providing huge support to the novel!

 Chapter 172 Chase Through The Sky

    "Damn itбн" Julian muttered when he felt two forces shing against the sides of the pce.

    The two forces tore through the entire pce before stopping right at the entrance of the room.

    "Julian, you made a mistake by bringing him here." Risa''s voice echoed inside the room as the doors opened up to reveal both Issac and Risa.

    Julian looked at them with a displeased expression on his face yet he didn''t say anything to them.

    The king was well aware that if he wanted to stop the destruction of the pce and think of a way to capture Jason, he would have to call upon his full power.

    "I wish Zn was here for these moments. It would have been so easy to order him around and get all of my work done without any worries." Julian sighed exasperatedly.

    Raising his right hand towards the entrance, he immediately activated the full power of his divinity. He used to it to put the contract between him and Jason''s grandparents into effect.

    Both Risa and Issac immediately felt something clutching around their hearts yet neither of them did anything against it.

    However, the purple pen zipped past Jason and appeared in front of the couple. It touched their foreheads with its tip before returning to Jason''s sides.

    ''The pen looks dull whenpared to a few seconds agoбн'' Jason observed.

    This could only signify that the pen had used some divine energy to do something. The effects of its move showed up in the next few second.

    "It feels so good to not be restricted by any other powers." Issac muttered while flexing his shoulders.

    The constraints around his and Risa''s hearts had immediately vanished once the purple pen had touched their foreheads.

    Neither of them had any knowledge as to what the purple object was but they knew that it was a divinity.

    ''I really hate when things get like thisбн''

    Julian, on the other hand, was perched on his bed. He could no longer feel the contract between him and the old couple, meaning that something had broken the contract.

    Julian figured out that it was the purple-colored divinity which did this.

    ''I have to gain more information about the owner of this divinity. How did he manage to counter the contract created by my patron using such a small object?''

    Julian closed his eyes and focused on the connect with his patron god. Though he didn''t like doing this either, he didn''t have any other option left.

    [ Why did you call me? ] A deep voice resonated inside his mind.

    ''Things have gone wrong. There is a weird purple divinity floating in front of me which liberated Issac and Risa from our contract. Not only that but it prevents me from enving their child.'' Julian replied in a respectful manner.

    [ Wait, does the object look metallic and cylindrical? ] The voice asked in a grim tone.

    ''Yes, it does. Do you know who the divinity belongs to, my lord?''

    [ It belongs to a god named Sancus. He is the god of oaths and promises and those with his divinity can override certain contracts and prevent themselves from being enved. ]

    ''Then does that mean that all of my powers will be useless against him?''<sub> </sub>

    [ Indeed. I guess I have to use your body personally to counter this divinity. Tell me everything in detail and there might be a chance that we will be able to capture all three of them. ]

    ''As you wish, my lord.''

    Julian immediately gave up the control of his body and let his patron enter him. His veins suddenly bulged up, making Risa and Issac exchange a nce.

    [ Issac, grab Jason and get out of here. He is summoning his patron. ]

    [ I wish we could beat of their asses together. Unfortunately, trying to do that will only result in the same thing asst time repeating itself. Let''s get out of here. ]

    Once the two of them hadmunicated telepathically, Issac immediately grabbed Jason and dashed out of the room at blinding speed.

    Risa also vanished with a bright sh of light, leaving Julian alone in the room. The king slowly opened his eyes to reveal golden glowing pupils.

    "They are quite fastбн" the same deep voice muttered through Julian''s mouth.

    Julian''s patron god was currently present inside his body yet there weren''t many things either of them could do.

    ''I should try to chase them. Once they enter Duphia''s boundaries, it would be impossible to capture them.''

    The god suddenlyunched himself out of the room and turned into a red beam of light. The red beam of light burst through the destroyed pce walls and started heading in the direction of Duphia.

    Meanwhileбн

    A white ray of light was shooting through the sky a few hundred kilometers away from the pce.

    This white ray of light was Issac who tightly held Jason against his chest. Thetter was wondering how his body was even in correct shape while moving at such a high speed.

    [ Its because of your affinity with thunder and the fact that you can use the same white thunder, albeit at a much lower level. Also, hey there host! ]

    ''Wee back, system.'' Jason replied with a small smile.

    [ Also, I think you should know that a red beam of light is following you from behindбн ]

    Despite the searing wind, Jason slowly turned back and tried to make things out by keeping half of his eyes closed.

    He could finally see the red beam of light heading straight towards them. Jason looked up at Issac''s face and was smiled to see him smiling.

    ''Is there something going on that I am not aware about?''

    [ We reached Duphia just now. ] The system announced once they had passed over the boundaries of Duphia.

    "Eat sht, you brain dead god!" Issac shouted at the top of his lungs beforending in front of the Syrward manor.

    As for the red beam of light, it immediately came in contact with a ck dome which reflected it back.

    It shot back at twice the speed and went towards the ce it hade from, only to be seen sometime in the futureбн

 Chapter 173 Aftereffects Of Divinity Usage

    "What was thatбн" Jason questioned, his heartbeat slowly returning to normal.

    "That was a sky chase with a god possessing the body of another human." Issac replied in a calm voice. "Let''s get inside, we will talk things then."

    After saying those words, Issac moved inside the house. Jason silently followed him while thinking about the raw thunder that had came out of Issac''s body.

    The power of it was enough to at least charge an entire state, if not a country.

    ''He had used the same white thunder that I useбн''

    [ It should be the other way around since he has been using thunder for a majority of his life, which we don''t know how long it is. ]

    ''True. I have to admit that though Grandpa looked more shier, grandma''s skills were more practical and useful.''

    [ You can try and learn both since you have ess to both their elements. But before that, you need to learn teleportation magic. ]

    ''Speaking of that, can they even teach me that considering the curse that is ced on our family?'' Jason asked curiously.

    [ They should be able to do it since teleportation magic seems like a basic things that most people should know how to use. ]

    Jason was still doubtful about that yet his attention was diverted by the purple pen floating in front of him.

    Sancus''s divinity looked like a normal pen after it had used its powers to allow Risa and Issac to break free of Julian and his patron god''s contract.

    ''Does this mean that both of them are finally free from the contract and can do whatever they want?'' Jason asked himself.

    He didn''t want the system or Hestia to confirm or deny the statement which was why he kept it restricted to his own mind.

    "That was a good rebound. I think he had forgotten how powerful that barrier can be." Risa, who sitting on one of the chairs, said with a smile.

    She was holding May in her arms who had been brought back from her temporary unconsciousness.

    "So what are we going to do know?" Issac asked while sliding into one of the other chairs.

    No one could tell that these two figures had just destroyed a major portion of the royal pce and had managed to defeat a god in a game of chase.

    Both of them looked like normal old people discussing things about their future.

    "I can feel that I am still bounded by control yet my power usage has gone up to fifty percent," Risa exined. "Let me check yours."

    She leaned forward in her chair and touched Issac''s forehead with her right hand. Risa circted a bit of her mana inside Issac and took a look at his soul.

    Jason, of course, didn''t know this. Though his mana vision allowed him to track the movement of the mana, he couldn''t exin where it vanished off to.

    [ Its entering his soul. Its likely that your grandparents formed a soul bond during their marriage which allows them to peer into each other''s souls. It used to be a sweet thing that true lovers did.<sub> </sub>

    Also, I know you will ask me how I know this. The answer is simple, I used to know the person who was responsible for this and other marriages. You can consider her status to be above Sancus''s during oaths. ]

    Jason nodded in acknowledgment. It was clear that Hestia was referring to a goddess of marriage yet she didn''t specifically take her name.

    [ Its better to sometimes not take the names of gods. They get called upon millions of times a day and don''t bother listening but some of them have names that carry divine power. Using such names might summon a divine spirit or something. ]

    ''The more I learn about gods and divine energy, the more confusing it gets. Like, how does it even work? I take the name of a god or goddess and boom! Hisoka appears here?''

    [ I don''t know who that person is but I will consider him like an evil spirit. Yes, something like that will happen but the chances are quite random. ]

    ''Considering my luck, its best if don''t do anything about thisбн''

    Jason patiently waited for Risa to finish checking Issac''s soul. Once she was done, a wide smile appeared on her face.

    "Your power limit has been lifted up top sixty percent! This means that we can now fight without the fear of being hit with the curses imposed on us by the contract."

    "Finally!"

    Both Issac and Risa looked extremely happy, something Jason could understand a bit. He knew how it felt to have immense power yet not be able to use it.

    "Jason, thank you for what you did back then. You might not realize this but you did a great thing for us!" Risamented before picking Jason up.

    Mind you, he was now fifteen and was a few inches taller than Risa. Regardless, his grandmother was no normal person and easily managed to hold him.

    "Uh, grandma, can you let me down?" Jason asked awkwardly.

    Risa set Jason down before closing her eyes. She checked something inside her soul once before opening her eyes.

    Her green eyes were sparkling with newfound energy while the light in her surrounding started malfunctioning.

    Risa made every single particle of light present in the room focus on her.

    "It feels good to control your power unrestricted. Also, the normal curse ced on us is no longer in effect. This means that we can teach you things freely." Risa exined to Jason.

    The entire room returned to normal as her eyes lost their glow. Jason could feel the hair on his back stand up after this disy of power.

    At least he got the answer to his question.

    "Wait, what happened to aunt Zara?" Jason suddenly asked.

    He remembered that Hecate had immobilized his aunt, who as far as he remembered, wasn''t cured before he had entered the chamber of rebirth.

    "Wellбн" Risa''s voice trailed off before she sighed. "You should take a look for yourself.

 Chapter 174 There Is A Way [Part 1]

    Risa guided Jason towards Zara''s room which was situated on the floor above them. May, who was still being held in Risa''s arms, suddenly sneezed.

    [ I sense a strange disturbanceing from that roomбн ] May said to Jason once they were standing in front of Zara''s room.

    "Grandma, May is saying that she''s getting a bad feeling from the room." Jason relied on the information to Risa.

    "That''s expected considering she is a demigod. Her senses are on another level and she can easily sense shifts in the surroundings. She is like a mana sensing tool." Risa exined before unlocking the door.

    The moment it swung open, cold air sted on the face of the trio. It was as though the three of them had traveled to a different dimension altogether.

    "This is the current condition of the room. Ray is currently in the demi-human kingdom and is trying to find a way to return Zara to her original condition."

    "They allowed him there after all the things that happened during Kerwin''s visit? Wait, what the hell happened to Kerwin?"

    "Woah, ask your questions one by one." Risa held up her hands. "We had to return Kerwin to the demi-humans in order to let Ray enter their domain and study the ancient books only avable to the king himself."

    "The king must love Kerwin a lot." Jason mused.

    "That''s the truth. Ray is technically holding Kerwin hostage and is using his head to gain the information."

    "How long has this been going on for?"

    "Mhm, about two years I think? I don''t really know the exact amount of time Ray has been gone for." Risa sighed.

    Jason suddenly realized that his grandparents hadn''t had anyone living with them for at least an year or more.

    Jason had been inside the chamber of rebirth while Nora was inside his own academy. Ray was staying at the demi-human kingdom while Zara was facing her own circumstances.

    "Anyways, I think its best if we take a look at Zara and leave this ce." Risa said with a cough before walking inside the room.

    Jason followed her inside while shivering. His eyes immediately fell on the bed to see his aunt lying there with a frozen body.

    Her eyes werepletely closed and she wasn''t saying anything. It was hard to tell whether Zara was even alive.

    "Try to look at her body with your special discerning eyes." Risa instructed. "I know you can do something like that so there''s no need to act as though you don''t know what I am talking about."

    Jason didn''t even try to deny her statement and directly looked at Zara with his mana eyes.

    Shockingly, he couldn''t see even a single drop of mana inside her body. All he could see was a mist-like substance present all around her body.

    Jason''s eyes slowly moved towards her heart, near which he mana core was situated. The mist inside her body grew thicker the further up he went.

    Once he had reached the area near her heart, he rubbed his eyes once to make sure he was seeing the correct thing.

    A bundle of mist had wrapped itself around her heart in the form of cage and was slowly poking at it.

    Not only that but it had also wrapped around her mana core and was using both her blood and mana topletely fill her body.<sub> </sub>

    "Is that some kind of living creature?" Jason asked nervously.

    Before Risa could reply, May spoke inside their heads. [ Its like divine energy. Even though its not really conscious, its relying on the instincts and orders of its owner. ]

    "That is correct." Risa agreed without being surprised about the fact that May had just talked to her telepathically.

    [ That exins why Zara and Ariana were left in such a position. Hecate''s primary instincts are to gain control of a strong body in order to solidify her position in this world. ]

    ''But does she really need to do that? From what we saw, she had broken many rules that guardians generally need to follow.''

    [ That still remains a mystery to this day. Unless we personally get the information out of her, I have no ways of knowing how she did that. ]

    <o>,m [ That''s called a plot hole, not a mystery. ] The system snorted.</o>

    ''Now before this goes on to be a weird conversation, can we all focus on the present?'' Jason asked with a mental sigh.

    "Currently, Zara has like an year or two more to live. The mist is obstructing with the functioning of her body and her mana is slowly getting corrupted as well. She has only managed to live this long due to her being a demi-human.

    If she was a human, I am afraid she would have died a long time again." Risa clenched her hand tightly, her face going emotionless.

    ''Ariana is a human, right?'' Jason asked the system slowly.

    [ Yes, she is definitely a human. Judging from Risa''s expression though, something feels differentбн ]

    ''Do you think that perhaps Ariana died?''

    [ You can try asking Amber but I don''t think that is the best decision we can take. ]

    Jason decided to remain silent and give Risa the space she currently needed. As for may, she seemed to be sleeping.

    Jason knew that the demi-god was doing something else that he and Risa couldn''t tell.

    [ Hopefully, she doesn''t n to take the world under her control. We already have a few candidates aiming for that. ] Hestia muttered inside Jason''s mind.

    [ I got it! ] May suddenly eximed, breaking the silence. [ There is a way to bring this woman to her original condition though it is a bit difficult. Do you want to try it? ]

    "Who is this addressed towards?" Risa asked in low voice.

    She knew that there was a chance that May, who had better sensory abilities, might have found out a way to cure Zara.

    The question was whether she would attempt it or would Jason attempt it.

    [ Its aimed at both of you. ] May replied calmly. [ But for starters, do any of you have a small amount of her mana near you? ]

 Chapter 175 There Is A Way [Part 2]

    "How are we supposed to have the mana of a person who hasn''t been producing any mana for years?" Risa questioned, her shoulders dropping.

    Jason, however, stood frozen on his spot.

    ''System, do I still have the bit of mana we stored up more than a decade ago?''

    [ Yes, host, Zara''s mana is still present inside you from all those years ago. I don''t know how much of it can be used by you. ] The system replied.

    "Hypothetically speaking, if we do manage to find her mana, what do we have to do to get her to her original condition?" Jason questioned aloud.

    [ if we somehow have her mana, we can do something simr to what you did with me. Using that mana, you will forcefully form a connection with her and evict the mist around her mana core and heart.

    Once both of them are working normally, the rest of the mist will automatically be destroyed or thrown out of her body. ] May exined calmly.

    "How do you know all this?" Risa asked with narrowed eyes.

    [ What is happening with her is simr to my condition. The divine energy present in my body as well as the divine energy produced by my divinity are interfering with my natural growth and body functions.

    If I don''t get to a temple after the next six months, I will die with a bang. The same is true for her though her time limit is an year. ]

    Risa could only sigh and ept the words said by May. After all, she couldn''t prove them right or wrong.

    "Well, we failed at the first step then. Our best bet is Nora but no one has the same mana." She sighed atst.

    "Actually, we can go ahead and do this procedure," Jason blurted out. ''It feels like this was specifically made for me. Well, I am fked if she asks my how I have this mana.''

    Naturally, that was what happened.

    "Do you have her mana?"

    "I do."

    "How do you have her mana?"

    "I chose to remain silent and not address that question. Now if you will, please allow me to go ahead and wake my aunt up from her long years of sleep."

    Jason walked towards the edge of the bed until he stood directly beside Zara. He ced his right hand on her forehead and rxed his body.

    ''System, send the mana through.''

    [ As you say, host. ]

    Jason suddenly felt something new appearing inside his body. He knew that he couldn''t use this new source of mana yet the energy still felt pure to him.

    [ Guide it towards Zara''s forehead and let it enter her body. Once it does, force it to travel towards her mana core. You will meet resistance like that in a video game. You just have to push forward and reach the mana core. ] The system informed Jason.

    It had already analyzed May''s n and hade up with the various oues. If Jason did things correctly, Zara might wake up pretty soon.

    ''Well, here goes whatever that goes.''

    Jason let the mana enter Zara''s body from his hand.

    Risa''s eyes were glued to his hand as she noticed the different mana passing from his body to Zara''s body. She was able to identify it as Zara''s mana, making numerous questions appear inside her head.

    Unfortunately, Risa couldn''t ask them for the time being since she would be breaking Jason''s focus.

    [ You will be facing the first resistance soon. ]

    A few seconds after the system had spoken the words, Jason felt multiple barriers surrounding the piece of mana he had injected inside Zara.

    [ Imagine that the mana is turning into a bullet of fire and breaking through the barriers. Once you break the first one, the rest will gather together to prevent you from advancing further.

    Use this opportunity to go from the sidelines and progress further towards the second resistance. ]

    ''How do you know all this?''

    [ I am just a good analyzer and scenario creator. Now put your focus there instead of talking with me. ]

    Jason sighed mentally before imagining the mana to take the shape of a bullet. He couldn''t tell how but he could feel the mana slowly taking the shape of a bullet, one made from fire.

    Jason imagined that the bullet shot forward and shattered the barrier as though it was ss. Secondster, he felt the mana bullet colliding with a barrier and breaking it into numerous tiny pieces.<sub> </sub>

    He couldn''t tell whether the other barriers had gathered together or not and decided to rely on the system.

    Jason immediately made the bullet of mana take a sharp turn. It rushed forward without facing any other resistance.

    ''What is the second resistance?''

    [ Corruption. The mist will try to corrupt the mana before it can reach the mana core. This is the resistance you will feel the rest of the time. ]

    Soon enough, Jason started feeling that tiny portions of the mana were being chipped away.

    He increased the speed of the bullet yet the further he went, the faster the bullet started getting corrupted.

    [ You just have to get a small portion of the mana to her mana core and heart. It doesn''t matter how small the portion is, just get it to the heart! ]

    Jason increased his focus and elerated the bullet to his limit. More than half of the bullet vanished in this manner before he reached Zara''s heart.

    The mist around her heart didn''t let the bullet enter, which made Jason grit his teeth.

    [ Give her a small shock quickly! ] May shouted inside Risa''s head.

    She didn''t question why she needed to do that and simply went near Zara. Risa ced her hand on Zara''s right shoulder and used her life element to shock thetter''s body a little.

    He mist around Zara''s heart parted for a split second but it was enough for Jason''s to inject the mana inside her heart.

    He guided the remainder of it towards her mana core and repeated the same process.

    Once the mana and entered both her heart and mana core sessfully, Jason lifted his hand off her forehead and sighed in relief.

    [ Now we just have to sit back and see the effects of the mana in motion. ] The system dered.

    Jason stepped back and stood beside Risa with an anxious expression on his face. Both him and his grandma were using their respective visionary skills to directly look at Zara''s mana cores and heart.

    "Grandma, do you think it will work?"

    "I don''t know. I have performed simr treatments but I have never encountered someone who was put in such a state, that too by an apex guardian."

    Both of them fell silent as they watched the mist around Zara''s mana core and heart slowly moving away.

    Not only that but the path Jason had guided the bullet through started clearing up. The temperature in the room dropped slightly which was noticed only by May.

    [ Give her a few minutes. Her mana core and heart will take some time to get used to producing blood and mana at a normal pace. ] May exined.

    As a demi-god, she had faced a simr problem on numerous conditions. She would have to force the divine energy inside her divinity to make sure that her body functioned properly.

    At most asions, she found it quite annoying yet it worked. However, May had overfilled her divinity with divine energy which had resulted in it leaking from her body.

    Everyone except the red butt monkey king had been affected by it and were knocked out. Even the king himself had to force himself to stay awake or else there would be no one who could have helped the rest of the monkeys.

    ''Its a good thing that he came at that moment. Sometimes I wonder how many things are controlled and how many things happen coincidentally.'' May thought with a mental sigh.

    In reality, she was both grateful and sad about what had happened. If Jason hadn''t saved her, she would probably be no longer alive.

    "Grandma, are you seeing this?" Jason suddenly asked.

    "Yes, I can see this. I think its better if we retreat to the entrance of the room and create a barrier to protect ourselves just in case the mist decides to attack us." Risa replied in a grim voice.

    Mist was slowlying out of Zara''s body as her body was throwing out all of the useless material.

    Her heart was pumping blood at a steady pace while her mana cores were slowly charging her body with mana.

    The trio retreated to the entrance of the room as Risa erected a barrier for protection.

    Jason unconsciously released a sigh of relief before focusing on the movement of the mist.

    It took Zara a long time to evict all of the mist from her body but once the process was done, her eyes immediately flew open.

    However, before any of them could say or do anything, the mist exploded into a vibrant range of colors.

    All of them cked out, not knowing what was waiting for them once they woke upбн

 Chapter 176 Torture In A Bar

    ''Ugh, is there no other way for these things to work? No matter what happens, I always end up cking out and then when I wake up, something weird is happening around me.'' Jason grumbled mentally.

    His eyes slowly opened up and just like he had guessed, he was not in Zara''s room. He was lying on the ground and staring at a ck night sky.

    Jason slowly lifted himself and stared at his surroundings. A dimly lit city was visible in the distance whereas a desert throughout the other sides.

    ''I am pretty sure that there is no desert area in the Vancouver kingdom or in fact, any of the other kingdoms that are present on the human continentбн''

    Jason slowly started walking towards the city since that was the most logical decision he could think of for the time being.

    ''System, can you tell me whether this is the real world or not?'' Jason suddenly questioned.

    [ No host, this is not the real world. Also, you are present in a cold desert instead of a normal one. This could only mean that you are present on either the demon continent or the northern parts of the western continent. ]

    ''So we are still on Clover yet are far from our hometown. Then this is either a dream world or I am seeing something from the eyes of another person.''

    [ No, this isn''t a dream world. Its more like a memory real that you are seeing. Once you reach certain locations, you will see certain events unfold. I just analyzed the surroundings and that seems to be the most logical exnation. ]

    ''Hmm, I am guessing that the city is the certain ce we need to reach to trigger the memory real. I wonder what we will discover there.''

    Now that Jason knew where he was and what he needed to do, he could simply use his powers to speed up the process.

    Jason summoned the white thunder and dashed towards the city. He didn''t care whether someone saw him or not since it wasn''t reality.

    ''Now what?'' Jason questioned once he had reached the city entrance.

    Two huge ck metal door stood in front of him and they were shut tightly. Jason could simply jump over them but his instincts told him that he should not do that.

    [ There must be a sign somewhere around here. Try to look for it and you might be able to trigger the memories. ]

    ''So now it turned into a clue searching game. The things that happened in my lifeбн'' Jason sighed before trudging around to find the supposed clue.

    After five minutes of looking around Jason finally found the ''clue'', a bright spot of light present in the entire area.

    ''Is this the free hint power that such games have?'' he wondered silently before going towards the light.

    Once he touched it with his hand, he suddenly rose in the air. Jason found himself flying towards the entrance of the city where two figures had suddenly made their appearance.

    ''Isn''t that Nero?'' Jason asked with a frown as he recognized the demonmander.

    But when his eyes fell on the other person, his heart skipped a beat. The figure was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met.

    Jason couldn''t help but feel attracted towards her. Even though what he was seeing wasn''t real, his body seemed to disobey him.

    [ She has a divinity. ] Hestia silentlymented.

    The guardian could sense divine energying out of the female alongside something else, something more sinister.

    Hestia couldn''t exactly tell what it was but she was sure that she had sensed the same thing before.

    ''Wait, if I remember correctly, the demon named Amon who lives in Duphia also emits a simr aura. I didn''t check whether he has a divinity but the aura is simr.'' Hestia thought with a mental frown.

    Since she still hadn''t confirmed her theory, she didn''t reveal it to Jason. Only after finding conclusive proof would she tell Jason about it.

    "You should have directly taken us to the pce." Neromented. "The demon king is definitely going to beat the crap out of you once we get back."

    "No worries, I am sure that I can charm him," the beautiful woman smiled. "After all, the number of people who can avoid my charm are very less."

    "Except that our king is the sin of pride and can easily avoid your charm. But I don''t care about that. It will be fun to see the sh between you both." Nero snorted.

    The woman didn''t say anything and simply pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. She looked at the metal doors and leaped over them.

    Nero followed her example and the duo entered the city.

    Jason''s body automatically followed them while he wondered what was going to happen inside the city. It was pretty clear that the two demons weren''t visiting the city to party.<sub> </sub>

    [ You don''t know that for sure. ]

    ''Let''s just wait and see what happens.''

    Jason followed behind the two demons and saw them slip inside a strange bar. Perhaps they really were there to party.

    But once he had entered the bar, not by choice, he got to know what the real purpose for visiting the bar was.

    Nero was currently tied to a chair with runed ck metal chains. The blue-haired woman stood in front of him with an apologetic smile on her face.

    "Sorry Nero but you know I have to do this. There is no knowing what the humans might do with a king like that. I am afraid you might have to experience some pain before I confirm that you are the real Nero."

    "Don''t worry, Diana. I already expected this to happen," Nero replied with a smile. "In fact, I was surprised that you didn''t do this the moment we left that ind."

    "I will do it now." Diana grinned.

    For the next few hours, Jason wondered whether he should even be watching the duo. Diana had performed some pretty questionable methods of ''torture'' that he definitely shouldn''t have seen.

    [ Who knows, they might be helpful in the future? ]

    ''Maybe. Information is sometimes the most important thing that anyone needs to win a battle.''

    Jason calmly waited for the torture to get over. Once it was over, he saw Nero looked at Diana with an arrogant look on his face.

    "Anything else you might wanna try?"

    "Hmm, that''s all. After looking through your memories, I confirmed that you really are the real Nero. The rest of the torture was just done to remove that smug look off your face." Diana grinned.

    "It didn''t work though. I am afraid you bruised me a bit too much in certain regions." Nero muttered before he suddenly stood up.

    The chains around his body broke easily and were stained by his ck blood. Pools of blood had formed all around the bar''s floor.

    Nero''s body was badly wounded yet he didn''t seem to be caring about the wounds. He simply flexed his shoulders and looked at Diana with a raised eyebrow.

    Thetter summoned a pair of clothes from thin air and tossed them to Nero. He simply changed into them without bothering one bit about Diana.

    "d to see they didn''t do much with your body." Dianamented in an amused tone.

    "Oh trust me, they could have done a lot of things. Humans are pretty creative and interesting."

    "You always say that but do you really mean it?" Diana questioned.

    "I do and I don''t. Its simr to how you can say that demons are both brutal and gentle even though thats true for every species out there. Did you ever wonder why we got stereotyped that way?" Nero asked.

    "Its because it makes the perfect sense for us to act like the bad guys. All those hero stories read by humans to their children degraded us. But then, I was never one to talk with you on philosophical level." Diana sighed.

    "You were always the one interested in talking anatomy or lust." Nero pointed out before fixing his hair. "Let''s go see the king."

    "Yeah, we have already tested his patience too much. I am afraid that if we wait any longer, things will getplicated."

    Nero and Diana exited the shop together but before their feet could touch the ground, they vanished.

    All of the mess they had made inside the bar automatically vanished, leaving no trace behind.

    The doors of the bar also closed up as though no one had tempered with them. If Jason hadn''t seen everything with his own eyes, he wouldn''t have believed that someone had been tortured in the very same bar.

    ''The question is, why am I seeing these memories when I have literally nothing to do with either of them.''

    [ Though Nero did try to kidnap you, you don''t know him well enough to view these memories so it doesn''t make sense. ] the system agreed.

    ''What is the thing connecting us here?'' Jason wondered. ''How is all of this connected to the mist, or rather, how is this connected to Hecateбн''

 Chapter 177 Lucius

    Jason was currently flying over the demon continent and was headed in the direction where Nero and Diana were currently present.

    This time, he had control over his body and had to guide himself with the help of the clues that asionally popped around the ce.

    ''This is starting to feel more and more like a choices based story game except instead of choices, I have to find clues.''

    [ how do you evene up with such imaginations? ] The system couldn''t help but ask.

    ''You have known me for about ny five percent of my life and you are still asking that question? You should know by now that I am a very creative person.''

    [ I hope your words weren''t influenced by what Nero said. ]

    ''If I go by that, I am both creative and brutal since I am a half-demon. What do you think about that, Hestia?''

    [ Hmm? Yeah, I agree. ] Hestia replied absentmindedly.

    Both Jason and the system noticed this but they didn''t say anything. It was easy for them to tell that Hestia was thinking about something important.

    Otherwise, the guardian was mostly paying attention to whatever they said, asionally giving her own opinions to it.

    ''I guess we are nearing the capital city. The amount of cities and towns we have crossed seem to be decreasing the further ahead we go.''

    [ You do know that it doesn''t necessarily mean that we are heading towards the capital city? ]

    ''First of all, the royal pce is always situated in the capital. Second, from what I know about the demon king, isn''t it obvious that people would want to distance themselves from him?''

    [ Thatбн makes sense. ] The system couldn''t battle with Jason''s logic.

    ''Let''s just keep heading forward and we will see whether I am correct or not.''

    Jason continued to look for clues in this manner and an unknown amount of time passed. After following half a dozen clues, he finally saw a city in the distance.

    ''What did I tell you?'' Jason asked with a grin.

    Towering in the middle of the city was a huge pce made from a ck metal. Numerous runes were etched in it and shone brightly.

    Since it was early morning, the sunlight reflected on the runes and made them look golden.

    However, the other buildings were far less eye catching. In fact, the number of buildings present inside the city were quite less.

    [ You were correct about people wanting to distance themselves from the king. The poption of the ce is extremely low inparison to even our town. ]

    ''You just get this type of brain once you have read countless fantasy novels. Anyways, let''s head towards the pce. That''s where the next clue is pointing towards.''

    Jason flew towards the pce and took a close look at it. It was smaller than what he had imagined yet it had its own touch of uniqueness.

    After roaming around the entire pce once, Jason located the clue at one specific corner of the pce''s western walls.

    Upon touching the white light of the clue with his right hand, he flew down towards the entrance.

    The demons standing guard paid no attention to him as he flew inside the pce. The interior was designed in a simr way and had a royal vibrant feeling to it.

    Jason noticed that very few people were actually present inside the pce, which was surprising considering how most pce had an abundant amount of workers inside it.

    [ There is a chance that they remain hidden until and unless someone calls for them. ] The system stated.

    Jason shrugged and continued to observe the interior of the pce. He soon entered a grand room which was definitely the throne room.

    A huge throne made from the same ck metal stood at the northernmost point of the room. Sitting on a throne was a rather shabby looking man in his mid twenties.

    He had curly ck hair which currently gave him a bed-head look. His eyes were a deep shade of red but except for them, nothing about the man stood out.<sub> </sub>

    He was dressed in a simple pair of ck shirt and trousers with a normal coat on top.

    Compared to him, the two people kneeling on the floor looked much more impressive. They were naturally Nero and Diana.

    "Greetings, Lord Lucius. I hope my inabilities weren''t that troubling for you." Nero courtesied.

    "Not at all. It should teach you a lesson about your smugness. Diana also showed that human king that his ambitions will definitely lead to his downfall." The man on the throne, Lucius, answered.

    Diana''s face lit up with a smile once she heard thement. "Thank you, Lord Lucius."

    "You both can drop the lord part already." Lucius sighed. "I am not the previous demon king. You both already know that I don''t care about titles or powers."

    "We know that but what you want to do has never been done before," Diana pointed out. "Finding true peace is not that easy."

    ? "I know, Diana. I tried to gain peace by preaching it and I also tried to achieve it by gaining power and enforcing it yet neither of those worked. True peace will never exist unless people change.

    The first step for that is to remove the stereotype people have. Though our race has some pretty trash idiots who firmly believe in the brutality and cruelty part, most of our poption is pretty nice and calm." Lucius sighed.

    He stood up from his throne and moved his body a bit. Simultaneously, Nero and Diana got up from the floor and joined Lucius.

    All three of them started doing basic exercises. If someone looked at this scene, they wouldn''t have been able to tell that these three demons were some of the most powerful figures on the demon continent.

    "Lucius, do you think that if we change the others viewpoints, we will be able to bring a change?" Nero asked slowly.

    "You have known me since our academy days, Nero. You were just amoner and if I told you that you would be one of the demonmanders all those years back, would you have believed me?" Lucius asked with a smile.

    "No, I wouldn''t have believed it. But you didn''t give up and made me change. You also changed a lot of the others in the academy which lead to majority of the demon families actually supporting youбн" Nero replied.

    Both of them shared a smile before Lucius settled on his throne. Nero and Diana snapped their fingers at the same time and summoned smaller versions of Lucius''s throne to sit on.

    "I believe anyone can change. Its just a matter of whether the person himself or herself wants to change." Lucius finished.

    "Speaking of that, I got some pretty interesting things from the human continent. I think both of you will be interested in hearing them." Nero smiled.

    "Let me gather the rest of the five sins and the remaining demonmanders. Diana, would you go tell Fel that things are good to go now?" Lucius asked.

    "As you wish, Lucius." Diana winked before vanishing from her spot.

    "Lucius, I think you should also know that the Syrward family now hates you." Nero blurted out the moment Diana was gone.

    "Thats expected considering how we tried to kidnap their child officially. The first one was pure misfortune considering how I sent you to scout on the demons belonging to the rogue demon families." Lucius sighed.

    "I understand that having that child is the only way of breaking Evelyn free from the curse but can''t we just ask Astryn and Fel to help us?" Nero questioned.

    "We can''t. The thing about curses is that the limited number of people know about it, the better. The curse on Evelyn is an adaptable one. If someone anyone leaked the information about Jason being able to cure her, things would go ballistic.

    After all, she is still the priestess of Hestia. If someone gets hold of her, there''s no knowing what will happen to this world." Lucius sighed.

    "If only things weren''t thisplicated and we could exin things to others." Nero sighed too.

    "My friend, thats why you are the only one I shared this information with. We do need to help Evelyn since I have a feeling that Julian Vancouver will make a move in the future. We can''t let him have that child under his control.

    If he manages to get hold of Evelyn, then its over for us. He will be able to fulfill his dream of world dominationбн" Lucius paused. "Its during times like this that I wish Michael was here."

    "He is still alive, isn''t he? Even if all proves of his existence vanished, it was never confirmed whether he died." Neromented.

    "Nero, Michael might be alive and well but is he really alive? Except for Jason Nightshade, there is no proof that he existed. Can you call someone like that alive who most people in this world don''t know existed?"

 Chapter 178 Two Sides

    ''System, Hestia, which side do you think is correct?'' Jason questioned.

    [ What do you exactly mean by correct, host? ]

    [ Same question. ]

    ''Who do you think is telling the truth? Both sides portray the other as wrong yet both seem to be telling the truth in their own regards. Who will you both trust?''

    [ The demons. ] Hestia replied without thinking ahead. [ You can call my choice to be a bit biased but at least I know the demons much better than the humans. ]

    [ I will remain neutral in both matters. Though we have the basic rundown of both sides, nothing is certain yet. Let''s gather more information before making any big decision. ]

    Jason listened to both of them before sighing. Currently, he was looking at a big ck void since Nero had went to sleep.

    Most of the memories after the meeting with Lucius had haywired and he wasn''t able to see any of them.

    ''Well, let''s see what else I will get to see here.'' Jason thought before rxing back.

    p The memories continued to move forward without him needing to find any more clues. Most of what he learned was pretty useless considering how the memories were appearing in random portions.</anda>

    ''Wait, how am I able to understand them so easily? Don''t they speak a differentnguage there?'' Jason suddenly questioned.

    [ They do butt did you forget that you are a demon as well. Plus it would be too much of a hassle for you to learn an entirenguage from the core just to understand the memories. ]

    ''Sounds like a convenient plot material.'' Jason mused.

    He continued to look at the memories before something interesting finally showed up. Nero was once again present in the throne room yet beads of sweat lined his forehead.

    "What happened?'' Lucius asked with a grim expression.

    "From what I have gotten to know, Julian is trying to bring all the human kingdoms under one banner. If he seeds, we might be facing the wrath of the entire human race at once." Nero replied before wiping the sweat of his forehead.

    Jason was surprised to see that the demonmander was behaving in this manner. From what he knew about Nero, the demon was always smug and calm-headed.

    "He is going to form ''contracts'' with them, isn''t he?" Lucius asked with a bittersweet smile.

    Nero simply nodded and waited for Lucius''s orders. The king of demons paced around the room before finally looking at Nero.

    "Go and gather some more information," he ordered.

    Nero bowed once and started walking towards the door. However, Lucius was looking at his back with an amused smile.

    "Wait, there is one more thing I would like to know," he called out. "If you don''t mind answering it, that is."

    Nero halted and turned back with a confused expression. "Sure, go ahead and ask whatever you want."

    "I want to know why an apex guardian like you is paying double sides." Lucius smiled. "Nice to meet you, guardian of Mistopia."

    бн

    "The fk! Show what happens next!" Jason shouted the moment the memory cked out.

    It was like showing the suspenseful scene without providing the climax to a movie.

    Jason patiently waited for a few minutes but the next scene wasn''t to his liking. It simply showed Nero eating his dinner with a dazed expression.

    [ That was why I was getting a weird feeling. The memories we are watching belong to Hecate, not Nero. ] Hestia muttered.

    ''Does that mean that Hecate has been living on the demon continent this entire time and sharing information with Julian?''

    [ That''s obvious but what irks me is the fact that Lucius stated that Hecate was ying both sides. Perhaps all the information she is sharing with the demons was actually correct. ]

    ''That does make me question why she is doing that.''

    [ For that, you have to talk to her but these are just sets of memories. The further we go, the less they will make sense since the mist inside Zara was just a small fragment connected to Hecate. ]

    ''Might as well wait for them to finish.'' Jason sighed and continued to watch the memories y.

    Just like Hestia had said, the memories started getting even less in number. They soon turned into pictureframes that Jason nced at for a minute or two.

    ''Wait, was that Hecate?'' Jason paused when he saw a beautiful woman standing beside Lucius.<sub> </sub>

    Both of them had smiles on their faces but since Jason still hadn''t seen Hecate''s true form, he had no way of confirming his doubts.

    [ We are approaching the end. ] Hestia announced.

    She could feel Hecate''s powers slowly vanishing since the mist was about to run out. At most, they would be able to view two to three more pictures before going back to the real world.

    ''Hmm, that one is her eating dinner. That one is Lucius and her walking under the moonlight. That one is him slipping a finger on her ringбн wait what?!''

    Jason rubbed his eyes multiple times to make sure he was witnessing the right thing. He looked at it numerous times before it vanished and left him hanging in the void.

    ''Hestia, I saw the correct thing, right?''

    [ I am wondering the same thing myselfбн ] Hestia replied in a stunned tone.

    [ You both saw the correct thing. The demon king, Lucius, had put a ring on Hecate''s right ring finger. I think we all know where this is going. ]

    [ But why? Hecate is an apex guardian and an ex-goddess. She isn''t someone who would be swayed by such mundane things. ]

    ''Whatever the reason might be, Hecate is now on the demon''s side. This leaves the other side with an apex guardian who was hunting me like a yandere.''

    [ Not to mention that the demon king wants you to break some curse ced on your mother. If the curse really is adaptable, we can''t even ask Risa or Issac about it. ]

    Jason sighed exasperatedly. Once again, things had started getting tooplicated for his liking and there was nothing that he could do about it.

    "Let''s discuss this once we appear back." Jason muttered just in time to face a bright sh of light blinding his vision.

    In the blink of an eye, he reappeared in the real world. Surprisingly, he was standing in the same spot he had been before viewing Hecate''s memories.

    "Jason, are you all right?" Risa questioned in a concerned voice.

    "I am fine. What about aunt Zara?" Jason replied, his eyes settling on the bed.

    "You zoned out for a few seconds there." Risa sighed in relief. "As for Zara, I think its best if you use your mana vision to check her condition."

    Jason nodded in acknowledgment and activated his vision ability. He could now see that Zara''s body was once again charged with mana.

    "She should be waking up once her body is back to its original pace." Risa exined. "At most, it will take her an hour to wake up. Let me go contact ray in that time."

    Risa turned around and started walking away with a smile on her face. Jason spared Zara onest nce before he too walked away and close the door behind him.

    "Oh right, once I end up talking to everyone, I want to know how you got your hands on Zara''s mana." Risa added as an afterthought before vanishing down the stairs.

    ''If only she had forgotten about that.'' Jason sighed and climbed down the stairs as well.

    He once again exited the door and stepped out of house but this time Jason didn''t move away from the entrance of the house.

    "You can step out now if you want." Issac suddenly said as he came to stand beside Jason. "Amon currently has his barrier extended over the entire town. You can go meet Karna if you want."

    "So he was the one who created that barrierбн"

    "That barrier has been present around our house ever since you were born." Issac smiled. "I ask Amon to extend it from time to time. Why do you think we didn''t allow you and Nora to get too far from the property."

    "Wait, does that mean that the barrier is active twenty four seven?"

    "Yes, it is. Amon keeps it active at all times to make sure that no one can attack us." Issac sighed. "I hate to rely on him but I am still not at a level where I can directly oppose Julian and his patron.

    In fact, I wasn''t able to beat him when I was just one step away from my peak."

    "If I remember correctly, gods aren''t allowed to interfere in such matters. Doesn''t this break numerous rules?"

    "Julian''s patron was originally born on Clover, which provides him with extra benefits. I think there are a few other factors here as well which help him." Issac muttered.

    [ Well, at least that exins how Ere can do somethings so casually. ] The system murmured to itself casually.

    "Anyways, you can go meet Karna." Issac said atst and walked inside.

    Jason nced at him once before he once again started walking in the direction of Karna''s shelter.

    Hopefully, nothing would go wrongбн

 Chapter 179 Planning

    "Haбн I need a bath now and a change of clothes as well." Jason muttered once he was done with his training.

    His body was extremely sweaty and his clothes had been torn off in many ces. Despite these, he was barely able to cut the metal a bit.

    The trick was to maintain the stability of the thunder and make sure it remained stable at the tip, which was the area directly involved in cutting the piece of metal.

    Unfortunately, the time was over and he would have to wait for the next day to arrive to continue.

    ''System, do you think I should tell my grandparents about Hecate''s memories? We might be facing a war soon.'' Jason questioned on his way back home.

    [ There is no harm in telling her that. Maybe we will be able to learn more things about the demon king and Julian. ]

    ''Remind me to ask them after dinner.''

    Once Jason had arrived at his home, he immediately went to his room and entered the showers. He stepped out after thirty minutes and changed into a new pair of clothes.

    ''I wonder what training I have to face with grandmaбн''

    Jason still remembered the first time he had visited Risa''sb. It had ended up with him taking care of several Eelfishes.

    [ Liar. You ended up killing so many babies. ]

    ''Hey, there was nothing I could do! I was still a newbie at dark magic control then.''

    [ You are still don''t have that advanced of a control. Though you are better than a lot of people, many mages far exceed you in dark and light magic control. ]

    ''Not for long though. I am not training just for the sake of training you know.''

    While debating with the system, Jason made his way to the back of the manor. Risa had asked him to directlye to theb.

    ''She definitely told me that I could see things without any worries now.''

    [ She also said that you should use your vision ability with dark mana just to be safe. ] The system reminded.

    Jason sighed before activating his mana vision. He could immediately see the mana particles in his surroundings.

    He stared at the door for a few seconds before opening it. Jason''s eyes finally fell on the stairway he had walked down on a few years back.

    ''What theбн''

    Jason rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing the correct thing. All of the stairs seemed to be embedded with different types of mana.

    Jason stepped on the first stair and could see a huge block of red mana moving towards him. It pulled him towards down for a few seconds before spreading throughout the stair.

    [ Hmm, your body was suddenly subjected to ten times the normal amount of gravitation force for a split second. Anymore than that and you would have been pulled through the metal and died. ]

    ''That''s a reassuring thing to knowбн''

    Jason continued to walk downwards and every stair ended up doing the same thing to him. Though the effect barelysted for a second and he was able to move forward without any worries.

    ''Hmm, I don''t understand why she asked me to hold my breath and keep my ears closed.''

    [ Look directly in front of you and increase the mana input. You will get your answer. ]

    Jason did as told and focused directly in front of him. He was standing on top of a lightning mana concentrated stair and had already experienced its pulling effect.

    But the moment he increased his mana input, Jason was shocked to see that enormous amounts of mana were directly entering his body from his nose and ears.

    The longer he inhaled, the more mana went inside his body.

    [ If you had consumed this much mana in the past, you might have died from overconsumption. Not to mention that if you hadn''t been walking together with her, there was a chance that you couldn''t have been able to survive the pull.

    After all, you were extremely weak aspared to now and you didn''t have Hestia either. That was why Risa had created that teleportation rune inside your room. ] The system exined.

    ''System, I just realized something.''

    [ What is it? ]

    ''That rune was never removed from my room.'' Jason facepalmed.

    [ бн ]

    Neither the system nor him had remembered that the teleportation connection between his room and theb still existed.<sub> </sub>

    If they did, they could have simply made use of it to appear in theb instead of going down the stairs.

    ''Well, we havee all the way here so it doesn''t matter.'' Jason replied before walking down the final stairs.

    He ended up in front of a door before facepalming again. The door was the same door that Risa had unlocked using someplex thing.

    ''I guess I have to go back to my room.'' Jason sighed and started climbing again.

    He went up the stairs and entered the house again. After appearing inside his room, he picked up a carpet ced on top of the teleportation runes.

    The runes had faded over the years yet he could still see a few drops of his dried blood on top of the symbols.

    Jason dripped some more of his blood on the runes and watched it get activated after a long time.

    The light from the runes surrounded his body and immediately teleported him away. He reappeared inside the same room he had used back when he was trying to master the corrosive property of dark element.

    "You came from the stairs the first time, didn''t you?" Risa questioned in an amused tone.

    She was currently standing near the extremelyrge table and seemed to be working on some sort of creature.

    "I forgot that the teleportation runes were still present in my room. I came to the bottom of the stairs before seeing the locked gates and going back up." Jason sighed and came to stand beside Risa.

    "And then you met the locked door and decided to go back." Risa added. "You know that you could have just called me and I would have unlocked the door for you?"

    "бн"

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder whether using too much thunder had short circuited his brain or not.

    ''Did it effect you as well? How can both of us act this dumb at the same time?''

    [ I think I need to check myself for some virus. That''s the most reasonable exnation. ]

    ''How would you even get a virus?''

    [ Do I need to remind you that we just exchanged foreign divine energy as well as mana from a being of another race recently? ] The system replied.

    ''Never mind. Go run a scan while I try to figure out what thing I will be blowing up next.''

    [ Host, choose your words carefullyбн ]

    ''Damn itбн''

    Jason pped himself on the cheeks once before focusing his attention on the table. Four metal cubes were lying on it.

    They were colored gray, red, blue and green, symbolizing the four basic elements. Jason reached this conclusion since his mana vision was still turned on and he could see the same mana present inside the cubes.

    "These are mana cubes. They simply store the mana for future use though they are pretty expensive to get a hold off," Risa exined. "These are the base for what your training will include."

    Jason looked at Risa with a confused expression. His grandmother passed one of the cubes to him and smiled.

    "Send a bit of your mana inside it." She instructed.

    Just to be safe, Jason decided to use his dark mana. In case anything went wrong, at least he would be able to corrode whatever would go wrong.

    ''Huh?'' Jason''s eyes widened when he noticed the reaction taking ce inside the mana cube.

    Risa had handed him a red mana cube which contained fire mana inside it. Jason had injected a tiny amount of his own mana inside it.

    The same small amount of mana and instantly spread throughout the fire mana in small particles.

    It had mixed together with the fire mana and Jason now felt as though the fire mana belonged to him.

    "The special thing about these four metal cubes is that they will allow you to use the four basic elements as long as someone charged them beforehand. You can ask any of your friends to put their mana inside them.

    You will then be able to use that element for a limited period of time which usually depends on the amount of mana injected." Risa exined before taking the cube back.

    She injected some life mana inside the cube and somehow dispelled Jason''s mana from it. The fire mana returned to its normal state and Jason could no longer feel a connection with it.

    "How did you do that?"

    "I just threw your mana out of the cube with the help of life magic." Risa smiled. "Today I am going to teach you how to create a mana cube inside your body so that you can use it to cure injuries the moment you get hit by them."

 Chapter 180 Green Thunder

    "Soбн why are we standing in front of a forging shop?" Jason questioned.

    He and Issac were currently standing in front of the only forging shop avable in the town. All th meager weapons, utensils, tools etc were created in the same shop.

    "Because the next form of thunder that you are going to learn requires precise control and focus. It will also be best if you try mixing forging with it since its mostly used to create objects using thunder." Issac exined.

    The pair walked inside the shop and closed the door behind them. No one was present inside yet all of the materials required by them were already set on a working table.

    "Look carefully." Issac ordered before raising his right hand.

    Sparks of thunder flickered around his hand before taking the form of asso. Thesso was oddly shaped and thunder continued to spark from it.

    "This is a normalsso I have created with the help of thunder. Now if I focus on it and try to make it a bit betterбн"

    Thesso suddenly started getting more defined yet at one point, it stopped improving. It still remained rough and the thunder sparks flickering from it seemed more dangerous.

    "No matter how hard I try, I can''t force the thunder into a more precise andpact form. It will continue to stand out like this." Issac exined. "But if you shift the type of thunder being usedбн"

    Issac dispelled thesso before summoning another form of thunder. Green sparks flickered around his fingers before anothersso, this onepletely green, appeared in his hands.

    Thesso was extremely smooth and from no angle looked like it had been made from thunder.

    "Is that really from thunder?" Jason asked in a doubtful voice.

    Sparks were no where to be seen and the smooth look made it stand out in a weird way.

    "It is made from thunder. This is the green version of it and though it might look a bit like puke, it is thunder. I am sure you can sense the energy running inside it but you can touch ti to be sure."

    Jason raised his right hand and touched thesso with his index finger. The charges from thesso immediately ran inside his body, surprising him.

    "This contains more energy than a normal thunderbolt!" Jason eximed.

    "That''s because this form of thunder is used topact the mana. It is often used to confuse others by making them believe that the power level of this thunder is the same as others."

    Issac dispelled the currentsso as well before summoning a green thunderbolt. It too appeared smooth and no charges ran out of it.

    "Though it looks less shy, its much more effective that a normal thunderbolt."

    Issac summoned a normal thunderbolt and held the two forward for Jason topare. Thetter touched both of them and sensed their power to the best of his capabilities.

    "The green thunderbolt contains almost twice the amount of power than a normal oneбн" Jason murmured once he had finished his observations.

    "Indeed, you are correct. That is why those who can control more forms of lightning are deadlier than normal lightning mages. Thunder, being an extremely rare element, is of course supreme than lightning.

    Its evolved forms are superior than normal thunder as well. That is why there are four different forms of thunder that can be used depending on the situation."

    "Then why didn''t you use them before?" Jason questioned.

    "It was because of the contract. Risa and my powers were restricted to a certain limit. If we went over that limit, Julian and his patron would be able to sense our powers and things would get ugly." Issac sighed.

    "Do you know who is patron is?"

    "No, I don''t know that. The only information avable is that his patron was born on Clover. That was why he enjoys many more perks."

    Jason and Issac sighed simultaneously. Both of them wanted to know more information on Julian''s patron god for their own reasons.

    But in the end, both of them wanted to know of a way to remove the patron god from the equation or at least limit his powers to a certain degree.

    "Anyways, let''s get you started. Try to think of the green thunder and summon it."

    Jason nodded and raised his right hand. Obeying Issac'' instructions, he thought of the green thunderbolt his grandpa had summoned.

    Green sparks of thunder immediately started flickering around his fingers. Jason guided the sparks slowly and create a thunderbolt.

    To his surprise, the thunderbolt formed was half the size of a normal one he was used to creating. Both of them had the same energy inside them yet the difference in size was too enormous to avoid.<sub> </sub>

    "Though its a bit rough and small, I am surprised to see that you managed to summon one on your first time." Issacmented. "Trybining more mana with it and bringing it to the size of a normal thunderbolt.

    Jason did as told and infused the thunderbolt with even more green thunder. Its size slowly increased before reaching the size of an average thunderbolt.

    "Now continue increasing the size of the thunderbolt. Keep trying it until you feel that no more mana can be injected into the thunderbolt without shaking its stability."

    Jason blinked in confusion yet continued to inject more mana into the thunderbolt. The size slowly started increasing before Jason started facing difficulties.

    The mana he injected simply rebounded, sending a jolt of shocks through his arm. Jason immediately dropped the thunderbolt in his arm.

    Issac swiped forward with the speed of thunder and plucked the thunderbolt before it could hit the ground.

    He calmly absorbed the energy inside the thunderbolt since he too was a thunder mage, one at a much higher level whenpared with Jason.

    "That''s called thunder rebound. Once you have reached the limit ofpacting thunder, the excessive amount will send a shock through your body. Normal people, especially those between Practitioners(F) to Silver(C) ranks can be knocked unconscious by this.

    That''s why its best to get precise control over this form of thunder and you will be able to use this deadly weapon against others." Issac exined.

    "So I am going to learn how to do that inside this shop." Jason muttered.

    "Exactly. You will be creating various tools with the help of green thunder and use it to cut pieces of scrap and even do a small amount of forging. After all, forging requires precision and a certain amount of force.

    If you make the slightest mistake, anything can happen. Its also the best way to learn. I am sure that you can master this within ten days."

    "That less?" Jason asked in a surprised tone.

    "You are a natural at such things and I am sure that your control over the dark element will help you here. This shop will be avable for use until noon. Make sure you don''t destroy it," Issac paused. "Too much. Don''t destroy it too much."

    Issac carelessly walked out of the door as though he had done his job. Jason nced at the door for a few seconds before turning his gaze towards the table.

    Arge chunk of aluminum was lying alongside other forging materials. Jason spared them a nce before taking them aside.

    ''At least I know what tools I have to create.''

    Jason observed the tools used for forging before proceeding ahead to create his own tools. The first thing he needed to do was to cut the aluminum.

    To do that, he needed something that could either burn through the sheet or corrode it.

    ''I wonder what I would do without you.'' Jason said to the system.

    [ You will be just another reincarnator wondering what you are doing with your life. ] The system chuckled.

    After all, it was responsible for telling Jason what he needed to do next.

    Jason stared the sheet of metal for a few seconds before lifting his right hand. He could simply create a sharp de made of dark element and corrode the metal.

    But that was not what he needed to do. He needed to use the green thunder to first cut the metal.

    ''All right, how hard can it be?'' Jason wondered before summoning a thunderbolt made from green thunder.

    <o>,m He slowly led it get to its maximum height before touching the aluminum metal with its tip.</o>

    Jason gulped nervously as he plunged the thunderbolt with full force. Instead of cutting through the metal, the thunderbolt exploded in Jason''s hand and sent him flying.

    He managed tond on his feet and looked at the condition of his hand. Fortunately, he had only received minor injuries which were already being healed by his passive healing ability.

    ''This brings back memories.'' Jason thought with a smile.

    He could still remember the time he had been training with Risa and Karna. He also remembered the numerous amount of failures.

    ''Well, I just have to keep trying. A few sts can''t scare me!''

 Chapter 181 Mana Cube

    "Haбн I need a bath now and a change of clothes as well." Jason muttered once he was done with his training.

    His body was extremely sweaty and his clothes had been torn off in many ces. Despite these, he was barely able to cut the metal a bit.

    The trick was to maintain the stability of the thunder and make sure it remained stable at the tip, which was the area directly involved in cutting the piece of metal.

    Unfortunately, the time was over and he would have to wait for the next day to arrive to continue.

    ''System, do you think I should tell my grandparents about Hecate''s memories? We might be facing a war soon.'' Jason questioned on his way back home.

    [ There is no harm in telling her that. Maybe we will be able to learn more things about the demon king and Julian. ]

    ''Remind me to ask them after dinner.''

    Once Jason had arrived at his home, he immediately went to his room and entered the showers. He stepped out after thirty minutes and changed into a new pair of clothes.

    ''I wonder what training I have to face with grandmaбн''

    Jason still remembered the first time he had visited Risa''sb. It had ended up with him taking care of several Eelfishes.

    [ Liar. You ended up killing so many babies. ]

    ''Hey, there was nothing I could do! I was still a newbie at dark magic control then.''

    [ You are still don''t have that advanced of a control. Though you are better than a lot of people, many mages far exceed you in dark and light magic control. ]

    ''Not for long though. I am not training just for the sake of training you know.''

    While debating with the system, Jason made his way to the back of the manor. Risa had asked him to directlye to theb.

    ''She definitely told me that I could see things without any worries now.''

    [ She also said that you should use your vision ability with dark mana just to be safe. ] The system reminded.

    Jason sighed before activating his mana vision. He could immediately see the mana particles in his surroundings.

    He stared at the door for a few seconds before opening it. Jason''s eyes finally fell on the stairway he had walked down on a few years back.

    ''What theбн''

    Jason rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing the correct thing. All of the stairs seemed to be embedded with different types of mana.

    Jason stepped on the first stair and could see a huge block of red mana moving towards him. It pulled him towards down for a few seconds before spreading throughout the stair.

    [ Hmm, your body was suddenly subjected to ten times the normal amount of gravitation force for a split second. Anymore than that and you would have been pulled through the metal and died. ]

    ''That''s a reassuring thing to knowбн''

    Jason continued to walk downwards and every stair ended up doing the same thing to him. Though the effect barelysted for a second and he was able to move forward without any worries.

    ''Hmm, I don''t understand why she asked me to hold my breath and keep my ears closed.''

    [ Look directly in front of you and increase the mana input. You will get your answer. ]

    Jason did as told and focused directly in front of him. He was standing on top of a lightning mana concentrated stair and had already experienced its pulling effect.

    But the moment he increased his mana input, Jason was shocked to see that enormous amounts of mana were directly entering his body from his nose and ears.

    The longer he inhaled, the more mana went inside his body.

    [ If you had consumed this much mana in the past, you might have died from overconsumption. Not to mention that if you hadn''t been walking together with her, there was a chance that you couldn''t have been able to survive the pull.

    After all, you were extremely weak aspared to now and you didn''t have Hestia either. That was why Risa had created that teleportation rune inside your room. ] The system exined.

    ''System, I just realized something.''

    [ What is it? ]

    ''That rune was never removed from my room.'' Jason facepalmed.

    [ бн ]

    Neither the system nor him had remembered that the teleportation connection between his room and theb still existed.<sub> </sub>

    If they did, they could have simply made use of it to appear in theb instead of going down the stairs.

    ''Well, we havee all the way here so it doesn''t matter.'' Jason replied before walking down the final stairs.

    He ended up in front of a door before facepalming again. The door was the same door that Risa had unlocked using someplex thing.

    ''I guess I have to go back to my room.'' Jason sighed and started climbing again.

    He went up the stairs and entered the house again. After appearing inside his room, he picked up a carpet ced on top of the teleportation runes.

    The runes had faded over the years yet he could still see a few drops of his dried blood on top of the symbols.

    Jason dripped some more of his blood on the runes and watched it get activated after a long time.

    The light from the runes surrounded his body and immediately teleported him away. He reappeared inside the same room he had used back when he was trying to master the corrosive property of dark element.

    "You came from the stairs the first time, didn''t you?" Risa questioned in an amused tone.

    She was currently standing near the extremelyrge table and seemed to be working on some sort of creature.

    "I forgot that the teleportation runes were still present in my room. I came to the bottom of the stairs before seeing the locked gates and going back up." Jason sighed and came to stand beside Risa.

    "And then you met the locked door and decided to go back." Risa added. "You know that you could have just called me and I would have unlocked the door for you?"

    "бн"

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder whether using too much thunder had short circuited his brain or not.

    ''Did it effect you as well? How can both of us act this dumb at the same time?''

    [ I think I need to check myself for some virus. That''s the most reasonable exnation. ]

    ''How would you even get a virus?''

    [ Do I need to remind you that we just exchanged foreign divine energy as well as mana from a being of another race recently? ] The system replied.

    ''Never mind. Go run a scan while I try to figure out what thing I will be blowing up next.''

    [ Host, choose your words carefullyбн ]

    ''Damn itбн''

    Jason pped himself on the cheeks once before focusing his attention on the table. Four metal cubes were lying on it.

    They were colored gray, red, blue and green, symbolizing the four basic elements. Jason reached this conclusion since his mana vision was still turned on and he could see the same mana present inside the cubes.

    "These are mana cubes. They simply store the mana for future use though they are pretty expensive to get a hold off," Risa exined. "These are the base for what your training will include."

    Jason looked at Risa with a confused expression. His grandmother passed one of the cubes to him and smiled.

    "Send a bit of your mana inside it." She instructed.

    Just to be safe, Jason decided to use his dark mana. In case anything went wrong, at least he would be able to corrode whatever would go wrong.

    ''Huh?'' Jason''s eyes widened when he noticed the reaction taking ce inside the mana cube.

    Risa had handed him a red mana cube which contained fire mana inside it. Jason had injected a tiny amount of his own mana inside it.

    The same small amount of mana and instantly spread throughout the fire mana in small particles.

    It had mixed together with the fire mana and Jason now felt as though the fire mana belonged to him.

    "The special thing about these four metal cubes is that they will allow you to use the four basic elements as long as someone charged them beforehand. You can ask any of your friends to put their mana inside them.

    You will then be able to use that element for a limited period of time which usually depends on the amount of mana injected." Risa exined before taking the cube back.

    She injected some life mana inside the cube and somehow dispelled Jason''s mana from it. The fire mana returned to its normal state and Jason could no longer feel a connection with it.

    "How did you do that?"

    "I just threw your mana out of the cube with the help of life magic." Risa smiled. "Today I am going to teach you how to create a mana cube inside your body so that you can use it to cure injuries the moment you get hit by them."

 Chapter 182 Pain Is A Strange Thing [Part 1]

    "But isn''t our body already acting like a mana cube? We store mana inside us and use it to produce magic whenever we want." Jason replied in a confused tone.

    "You are correct about that. Mana is present inside our body in a deactivated form. When we use it to produce magic, it res to life. A normal mana cube follows the same procedure.

    However, there are some mana cubes which contain activated mana inside them. If you add just a tiny bit of mana inside them, they will perform a specific task." Risa exined.

    "So basically its like the ck cube Albus had used to start the trial of fear." Jason muttered.

    "Yes, that''s an example of a mana cube. But that cube is a lot moreplex and different so we won''t count it now. What I will be teaching you is to store your activated mana in certain regions of your body.

    For example, if your arms are about to be cut off, the mana will immediately kick in and start healing your arms before they can be cut off. If you add dark mana to the mixture, it will be even more useful due to its natural high corrosiveness.

    Of course you can generate the same effect with light element but using a mixture of both elements is much more practical." Risa finished.

    She stretched her right arm forward and touched the area below her wrist with her left hand''s fingers.

    "Watch closely. I won''t create a mess but still." Risa warned before raising her left hand. "Also make sure that you are using your mana vision to see the movement of particles."

    Jason nodded and increased his focus. The system too was ready to record any strange thing that Risa might do.

    Seeing that he was paying attention, Risa proceeded ahead with her demonstration. She brought her hand down on the area below her wrist before lifting it again.

    It all happened in an instant and if Jason wasn''t using his enhanced vision, he wouldn''t have been able to witness what had happened.

    A coating of dark mana had covered the sides of Risa''s left hand. The moment her hand had made contact with the other arm''s skin, her hand managed to pierce through her skin.

    Her hand had almost cut her hand off her arm yet something had prevented that from happening.

    A burst of life mana and dark mana had been released on the spot of impact. The dark mana had engulfed the wound and had started corroding it.

    The life mana on the other hand had not hastened the healing process, it had also started regenerating theyer of skin directly below Risa''s other hand.

    Jason couldn''t help but feel amazed when he saw that the dark and life mana preventing Risa''s hand from going further.

    All of this happened in a matter of seconds and by the time Risa had lifted her hand, the entire wound had closed up.

    "This can only be done when you have reached a higher level." Risa smiled. "Normally I would tell you how to create a mana cube inside your body and slowly take it from there. However, you have already cleared the basics of this."

    "Wait, so my passive healing that happens is actually due to mana being stored in active form inside my body?!" Jason asked with an in incredulous look.

    [ That also exins why your ability works in that peculiar manner. The moment you are injured, the activated mana automatically seeks the spot of injury and starts curing it.

    The reason you can''t cure bigger injuries is because your suppl of mana is limited and your knowledge of healing is quite low. Your body can only do this much at its current level.]

    After hearing the system''s exnation, Jason knew that it was right.

    "Yes, some of the healing you do is only possible due to the fact that your activated light mana is healing the wound. Your dark mana, unfortunately, doesn''t y a role in it. If I teach you how to do that, you can get much better at this.

    You might even be able to regenerate light fractures and damaged tissue. Though neither dark nor light magic focus specifically on healing so there''s no knowing what your limit would be." Risa muttered.

    "So what are we going to do know?"

    "We are going to help you use both of dark and light mana together simr to what I did once you learn how to do this, we will proceed ahead. But be warned, this is a slow and grueling process that will take weeks to master."

    "As long as I can learn it, it doesn''t matter how much time it will take for me to master this." Jason replied with a determined expression.

    "Good because the first thing we are going to do is to remove the upperyer of your skin from the top portion of your hands."<sub> </sub>

    "бн" Jason didn''t know whether he heard the right words or not. He had to ask the system for confirmation to make sure his hearing hadn''t been affected by the thunder training.

    "If you want to learn this, you will have to create a wound you can''t heal passively. This is the least painful way for you to learn how to use both dark and mana in passive healing," Risa replied in an apologetic tone.

    Though she didn''t want to see her grandson getting hurt, it was the only way he could learn things.

    Risa herself had mastered some of her healing abilities this way. Unfortunately, her teacher, who was also her father, had taught her harshly and cruelly.

    ''My teenage self would havemitted suicide if she knew that I would be teaching my future grandson the same thing.'' Risa sighed before focusing her attention on the present.

    "Jason, do you know how to cut off your pain receptors with the help of dark magic?" she questioned.

    "No, I don''t."

    "Take some of your dark mana and guide it towards your shoulder. Once you are there, think of the dark mana slowly numbing your the neurons, aka nerve cells, inside your arm. Limit the numbing or else you won''t be able to use your arms.

    Now gently let go of the dark mana and your arms won''t be able to feel most things for the next two to three hours. This is the general way to cut off your pain receptors." Risa instructed.

    Jason gently guided the dark mana inside his body towards his shoulders. Once the mana had reached his shoulders, he slowly sent it through the rest of his arms.

    Slowly, a numbing sensation spread through Jason''s body. He made sure to not go overboard and kept the numbing sensation to a minimum.

    "So how do I check that I can no longer feel things?"

    "Let me do that for you." Risa stepped forward and gently ran her right index finger through Jason''s arm.

    Thetter couldn''t feel Risa''s touch and had no idea what had happened. But when he looked down, Jason was surprised to see that blood was dripping from his arm and falling on the ground.

    "Its strange how I don''t feel any pain despite seeing the blood falling right in front of me." He muttered.

    The wound slowly started closing up, indicating that Risa hadn''t dealt a major blow to him.

    "Now the next part is the tough oneбн" Risa sighed before holding her right hand forward. "If you feel even the slightest amount of pain, immediately tell me."

    Risa''s finger once again traced Jason''s skin and this time he was staring directly at his arm

    Inch by inch, Risa''s finger dug deeper into his skin as ck blood oozed out from the wound. Jason had never seen such a huge amount of his own blood, at least not in his current lifetime.

    Surprisingly, he didn''t flinch in the slightest and simply let Risa do her job. He had understood that it was hard for her to do something like this to her own grandson.

    If not for the fact that he could no longer feel pain, Jason was sure that Risa wouldn''t have proceeded ahead with the procedure.

    Like that, many minutes passed by.

    "Finallyбн" Risa sighed and stood straight. "Its done. I only cut a small portion but still, it looks quite ugly."

    Jason had to agree with her on that. His skin had been cut off and he could directly see the tissue and muscles underneath his skin.

    Risa had only removed two to three inches of his skin in the form of a square. It was enough for him to practice and could easily be mendedter on.

    ''My blood is no longer flowing out of itбн'' Jason observed.

    The blood around the wound had seemed to be frozen, probably Risa''s doing. Though it looked pretty disgusting, Jason had to admit that he would rather prefer this frozen version than to see his blood continuously dripping out of the wound.

    "Now that we are over that," Risa sighed. "Its time for you to start healing it. For starters, slowly send some of your dark mana towards the wound. But make sure to overload your arm or else, you will once again feel a searing hot pain spreading throughout your arm."

 Chapter 183 Pain Is A Strange Thing [Part 2]

    "This is going to be toughбн" Jason muttered before summoning his dark mana towards his wounds.

    He slowly guided it towards his cut off skin while trying to make sure that the mana didn''t activate his receptors again.

    Even if they got activated for a few seconds, Jason would feel raw pain shooting throughout his body.

    "Slowlyбн slowlyбн" Risa chanted under her breath. "That it! Use that dark mana to coat the entire wound and make sure that it can corrode other things."

    Jason nodded and started covering his wound with the dark mana. He also made sure to use the corrosive property to destroy things around the wound.

    This didn''t have an effect on the person using the dark mana. Otherwise, the rest of Jason''s arm would have corroded as well.

    ''This is a lot harder than I thoughtбн'' Jason gritted is teeth and continued the process.

    He somehow managed to cover one fourth of the wound before the real struggle began. Much to his shock, the dark mana closest to his normal skin started acting weirdly.

    The moment he tried to stop it, the entire patch started reacting. Risa ced her hand on his shoulder in less than a second and used her life magic on him.

    "Haбн"

    Jason gasped loudly before looking down at his wound. The skin had beenpletely healed by Risa''s magic.

    It was as though it had not been scarred once in his lifetime.

    "That there was a reason that you should never practice this alone. If I hadn''t been here, the dark mana would have activated your pain receptors again and you would be in intense pain.

    Though the dark mana itself won''t do anything, the pain will cause a weird reaction and would make you lose focus. There is no knowing what might happen after that." Risa sighed in relief.

    Jason silently swore to never practice the same thing when he was alone. It would be better to do this under someone''s gaze instead of fooling around on his own.

    [ Though the chances of your hand being crippled are pretty low, its better to be safe than sorry. Its a good decision on your part to do this. ] The system agreed with his decision.

    "So I have to get my skin cut again?" Jason questioned.

    "That''s the only way for this to work." Risa sighed. "Also, there isn''t any shortcut or trick I can tell you to help you understand this better. You will have to clear this entire thing yourself and I will just make sure you don''t get hurt."

    "Let''s start again." Jason replied with a determined expression.

    "That''s the spirit."

    ***

    ''Despite getting healed, my arm is quite soreбн''

    Jason was currently lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. He and Risa had been practicing the same thing over and over again the entire day, with many breaks that is.

    "Even if magic will mend you together, its not good to overuse it on your body. Breaking and mending the same thing over and over again can sometimes cause weird changes in that particr area."

    Those were the words Risa had said to him the first time they had taken a break. Jason understood some of it but now that he was lying on the bed, it made much more sense to him.

    [ Though magic is just like your body, its not easy to change things so easily. If you had done the same thing repeatedly without taking any breaks, your muscles might have given up or your tissues might have torn a bit.

    Magic and science go hand in hand even though both of them areposed of different set ofws and rules. Its quite fascinating for a schr to learn about this. ]

    ''I am not a schr but I have to admit that it is indeed quite fascinating to learn. Its like learning physics and chemistry except you hate the numericals.''

    [ That makes sense for some weird reason. ]

    ''I knowбн''

    Jason closed his eyes and let his body rest. After all, he had to repeat the same process the following day.

    He soon fell asleep, getting lost in the world of dreams. The simple pleasure of getting to sleep in reality almost felt new to him.

    [ Good night hostбн ]

    ***

    There are times when you wake up naturally in the morning. Those are good times. Then there are times you are woken by your rm or a family member. Those are not so good times.

    Then there are the times when you are woken up by the size of a bomb exploding in your backyard. Now those are the worst times.

    Jason was peacefully sleeping in his bed when something suddenly dropped in his backyard. An explosion was heard which startled him out of his sleep.

    "Nuke where?" Jason blurted out before looking at his surroundings.<sub> </sub>

    For a minute, his mind had thought that he was back in the warzone on Earth. Fortunately, he was still sitting on his bed in Duphia.

    "Did grandpa demolish someone?" Jason muttered before getting out of bed.

    He quickly changed into a new pair of clothes and opened his window. Outside, he could see a lot of smoke spreading across their backyard.

    Jason immediately activated his mana vision and saw multiple unknown figures inside the cloud of smoke.

    Surprisingly, his earlier guess had been correct since Issac was currently standing in the middle of the smoke.

    Jason immediately jumped out of his window, activating his white thunder in the process. He easilynded on the ground in the next instance and looked around with narrowed eyes.

    "There wasn''t any need toe down here. I can handle them on my own." Issac snorted as he could tell that Jason was standing close by.

    "I didn''te here to help you. I came here to make sure that you don''t go overboard and kill them." Jason replied with a smile before walking towards the cloud of smoke.

    Issac used his wind magic, his secondary element, to clean the smoke in an instant. Jason could now see at least a dozen figures dressed in all ck clothes lying around Issac''s feet.

    "These guys are the king''s personal fighting unit. If I had my powers under restriction, it wouldn''t have been possible for me to defeat all of them so easily. I might have required Risa and Ray''s help." Issac trailed off topic.

    Jason no longer paid attention to his words and instead observed the figures. It turned out that if he used the normal amount of mana to enhance his vision, all of the men wouldn''t pop up in vision.

    "They are extremely good at hiding their presence." Issac added, his eyes looking at Jason with curiosity.

    [ He wants to know how you were able to see them despite that. ]

    ''That''s obvious. I had to use a lot more of mana than normal yet I was still able to see them without facing any kind of withdrawal in my vision.''

    [ I will run a scan on this and tell you the detailster on. ] The system replied and went silent.

    "Why are they here?" Jason questioned.

    "That''s what I am trying to find out. Unfortunately, physical torture doesn''t affect them that much. They have already been inflicted by various forms of torture to make them resistant towards it." Issac suddenly smiled.

    "That''s why I have to take care of things from here," Risa said from behind. "Good morning, Jason. Do you want to see how I can break a person from the inside?"

    "бн" Jason had no immediate answer for her question. Though he was no fan of conducting physical torture, mental torture was something different.

    "All right, I will see it." Jason replied after thinking about it for some time.

    "Good. Issac, can you take them to theb? I still have to prepare some special food for Zara." Risa said and went inside.

    Issac simply sighed and started picking up the unconscious bodies. Jason casually watched his grandpa haul bodies to Risa''sb before going back inside.

    He got his daily things done and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Once that was done, Jason went back to the upper floor to check up on May.

    The demi-god was currently staying inside his grandparents room. ording to Risa, she was helping May control her divine energy.

    ''She must have some sort of divinity as well.'' Jason guessed. ''There is no way she can easily tell May what to do without making any previous encounters with a demi-god.''

    [ What if she is a demi-god herself? ]

    ''Hestia or you would have been able to sense that. Unlessбн'' Jason shook his head to get rid of the conspiracy thoughts.

    He quickly entered his grandparents room, took one nce at May, and returned to his own room.

    Using the teleportation formation, Jason appeared in theb just in time to see Risa strap one of the unconscious men to a chair.

    "If you ever need to wake up an unconscious person, ce your hand at the nape of their neck and send a short amount of lightning through their body. If you can''t do that, use dark mana to disrupt their natural body flow." Risa said absentmindedly.

    She pressed her right index at the man''s nape and sent a slight tremor inside him. His eyes immediately flew open and directlynded on Risa.

    "Morning, dear." Risa greeted with a humorless smile.

    The man''s face froze as his jaw dropped slightly. "Youбн youбн"

    "Don''t bother. I know they teach you all about me." Risa smiled. "After all, I was one of the most famous torturers in my peak. Jason, watch closely. I will show you how pain is a rather strange thing."

    Jason gulped nervously before nodding.

    No matter what happened next, he knew that the guy was going to experience something hellish

 Chapter 184 Veins Of Fire [Part 1]

    "The first step to cracking someone open is to not do it literally. Physical wounds don''t hurt as much as the mental ones," Risa said in a low tone. "I am sure that this gentleman knows what I am about to do."

    The man tried to bite his tongue but the moment he bit his tongue, nothing happened. Risa''s smile widened when she saw this.

    "Suicide is not an option. I have already deactivated the self-destructive formation ced around your hearts and I have also used the auto regeneration spell on you. You can''t die unless I allow it." She exined to Jason.

    "You shouldn''t be able to use all thoseбн" the man replied through gritted teeth.

    "I can now. Don''t bother trying to contact your superiors. I already made sure you could do nothing." Risa replied.

    The man couldn''t help but feel helpless. His eyes moved towards Jason, hoping that he could use the kid to his advantage.

    "Kid, don''t let her do this to meбн I would rather die than let this happen." The man said in a terrified voice.

    Though Jason was a teenager, the man knew that he had recently gotten out from the chamber of rebirth and might still have the feelings of a child.

    If he could do the perfect acting, he would be able to earn Jason''s pity. Unfortunately, he was trying his luck with someone much older than his physical appearance.

    "Nope. Grandma, can you do this a bit quicker. I want to see how you do this so that I can go and peacefully start my daily training."

    "All right, watch closely. You can do this by mixing light and dark element." Risa exined before cing her hands on both sides of the man''s head.

    Jason could see the mana traveling from her hands inside the man''s head. Slowly, the mana seemed to be merging with the man''s mana, something Jason didn''t know was possible.

    "If you try to this without perfect training, you will create a huge explosion. When two different manas are forced to merge together, they will react and create a huge explosion.

    I didn''t stop you from curing Zara because you were using her own mana. That was also the reason I couldn''t do the same thing to her." Risa exined.

    "Hmmбн"

    Jason''s eyes continued to look at the two mana merging together. It tok a few minutes but once it was done, the man released a guttural scream.

    "Now this is the interesting part." Risa muttered before guiding the mana towards the man''s head.

    "You can''t see this but currently, I can control his thoughts and imagination using the mixed mana. I can basically show him anything I want and take a peak at his memories."

    Jason silently shuddered at this. This was an extremely dangerous form of torture since you could basically make the other person see any kind of vision.

    "Now, let''s see why they are hereбн" Risa muttered before sending some waves of her mana into the man''s head.

    "The king ordered us to go capture the two guardians as well as the other two main prodigies of the four families. We advised to go after the Syrward and Feuer family first." The man said in a monotone voice.

    A frown appeared on Risa''s face when she heard the man''s words.

    "Its understandable that they want to attack us. Julian must have thought that we would have been hit with some form of withdrawal after fighting the contract ced on us. But why would they go for the Feuer familyбн" Risa muttered.

    She dug deeper into the man''s memories and used her mana to break his mental barriers. Not only that but she carefully manipted him to make sure that he wouldn''t be able to think the same way again.

    "We have information that the girl called Amber Feuer recently vanished from the Feuer mansion after returning there. We are hoping to get to her and capture her." The man blurted out in the same monotone voice.

    The frown on Risa''s face deepened. She removed her hands from the man''s head before tapping his forehead with her right index finger.

    His body instantaneously turned to ashes that were automatically taken to dustbin. Risa cracked her knuckles a bit before closing her eyes.

    Jason watched this silently as he had a a feeling that Risa was contacting the Feuer family.

    ''Telepathy and teleportation got to be some of the most useful forms of magic out there.''

    [ They are. Even I can teach you telepathy to a certain extent. ] The system chimed in.

    ''Why didn''t you tell me this before?''

    [ Because you already have so much on your te. Unless you don''t n on sleeping, I don''t think you can fit all of this into your schedule and still remain a human. ]

    ''Sleep is for the weak.''

    Jason patiently waited for a few minutes for Risa to be done with hermunication. But once she was done, she looked at him with a grim expression.

    "Turns out Amber''s family didn''t know that she vanished but now that they scourged the entire ce, they can''t find her. Julian must have gotten some of his high level spies inside the family.<sub> </sub>

    But that''s not important for the time being. Amber is a valuable asset for Julian and no matter what, I don''t what him to get his hands on her. If he does, its going to be terrible for both her and us." Risa said in a grim tone.

    [ She might be remembering what happened to Silviaбн ]

    ''Keyword is might.'' Jason reminded. "Do they have any idea where she could have went?"

    "No, they don''t. For all we know, she is already in Julia''s clutches and is being forced to form a contract." Risa replied. "That''s why Amber''s father is requested you to help us."

    "Me?" Jason blinked in confusion.

    [ You can sense the other eight guardians. I think that was visible on the pros and cons list. ] Hestia said with a fake cough.

    "I am ready to help." Jason replied immediately, earning him a nod from Risa.

    "Try doing it in your room. I will quickly go through the rest of them to make sure they can''t do anything. Well, they still can''t do anything but its better to be safe than sorry." Risa muttered before getting back to her job.

    Jason on the other hand stood near the runes and once again activated them. He stepped on them and reappeared inside his room.

    ''So, what am I supposed to do? Astral project myself and hope that I end up finding her in this huge mass ofnd?'' Jason questioned jokingly.

    [ We are going to do something simr to do that. Just sit cross-legged on the bed and meditate. ]

    Jason did as told and settled on the bed.

    [ Now concentrate on my voice. Focus on the bond between us and imagine it spreading widely. Once you have gotten at that stage, imagine another string that connecting someone with that simr bond.

    Since you know how Amber looks and stuff, you can used that as a visual power. Once you find that other bond, just contact her using the same radio telepathy. Hopefully, you can do it. ] Hestia exined.

    Jason''s jaw twitched a bit after hearing those words. It felt like someone had given him the ingredients for making a dish without actually exining the entire procedure.

    "Here goes whatever that goesбн"

    Jason soon started thinking about his bond with Hestia. A rope tugged at his gut, making him feel more connected to his guardian.

    This was the same rope he had used to meet Hestia inside the temple situated in an unknown ce.

    ''Come to think of it, I never got know what that ce was.''

    [ It was the first temple I ever received. It was also the most sacred ce you could worship me from. First temples are like that for a god or goddessбн ] Hestia replied in a dazed tone.

    Jason couldn''t help but wonder whether he had triggered some memories for Hestia. But since he currently had a task at hand, he didn''t pay much attention to it.

    Jason slowly thought that his connection was expanding over the horizon. He could feel the tug in his gut getting stronger the more he stretched the connection.

    ''This takes a lot more mental strength and imagination than I thought it would.'' Jason observed.

    It took him a solid ten minutes to actually sense another bond simr to his. He immediately projected Amber''s image inside his mind, hoping to make contact with her.

    His vision suddenly exploded with a bright light

    [ Open your eyes. ] The system urged.

    Despite the bright light, Jason slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was a beautifulke surrounded by numerous trees.

    Dozens of pink ducks were traveling in the water and if Jason had seen them normally, he would have thought that the scene was wholesome.

    ''There she is.''

    His eyes immediatelynded on Amber who was sitting at the side of theke. Upon looking closer, he noticed that drops of tears were falling down her cheeks.

    Jason wanted to say something yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t get the words through.

    That''s when he remembered about the telepathymunication. He immediately tuned into the radio and found the right frequency within seconds, having no idea how he did it.

    But before he could say something, Jason noticed movement around Amber. One thing connected with other and he finally said his words.

    "Watch out! There are four people behind you!"

 Chapter 185 Veins Of Fire [Part 2]

    Jason immediately reappeared inside his room and jumped towards the runes. Once he had activated them, he went back to theb.

    "Looks like you found her." Risamented the moment she saw him.

    She had just finished cleaning thest man and was simply waiting for Jason to return. His expression was enough for her to guess that he had found Amber and that she was in some kind of danger.

    "I did and she is about to be attacked by what looked like the king''s people," Jason said in a hurry. "Do you think we can reach her?"

    "Well, if you have found her, we can easily reach there. I can try teleportation formation but you know that we will end up a bit far from her. Are you ready to go get her?'' Risa questioned back.

    "I am."

    "Thene stand here and channel the location to me using telepathy. Just send an image of the ce and I will do the rest of the work."

    Jason did as told and walked to stand beside Risa. He tuned in to the telepathy radio, a name he hade up with on the spot.

    ''I wonder if she can even get us close to that locationбн'' Jason silently wondered before channeling the image to Risa.

    Thetter immediately started drawing runes on the floor. It took a minute for Risa toplete the teleportation formation but once it was done, both her and Jason vanished from their spots.

    "Looks simr to that area." Risa muttered once they had appeared in their new area.

    Jason and Risa were currently surrounded by thick palm trees on both sides. For some reason, the morning light still hadn''t hit the ce, making it appear dark as though it was still night.

    "Let me see how far we are from herбн" Jason muttered before expanding his senses throughout the area.

    Now that he was much closer to Amber than before, Jason could immediately feel her popping up into his domain.

    His head jerked towards the east before looking back at Risa.

    "Let''s go. Risa ordered before turning into particles of light and rushing forward.

    Jason activated his white thunder and jumped forward as well. Using the connection, he guided himself towards Amber''s location.

    ''System, can grandma sense the lives of others?'' Jason asked randomly.

    [ There is a chance that she might be able to do that though I haven''t sensed her doing the same with us. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    It took Jason barely three minutes to get to theke where he had seen Amber. The connection he had been using disappeared, making him frown.

    [ It doesn''t give you the exact location. Once you are one kilometer away from the specific vessel, the signal vanishes. This happens to make sure that the auras of the two guardians don''t sh.

    If that happens, it can lead to degradation of senses and things like that. You don''t have that much area to cover up so things are going to be pretty easy. ] Hestia exined.

    Jason nodded before looking around to see any signs of Amber or the men. However, before he could move, the entireke in front of him erupted like a volcano.

    A tornado made from pure red mes appeared in the middle of theke, evaporating the water at an rming rate.

    Hovering at the tip of the tornado was a young girl with red hair and glowing orange eyes. She was none other than Amber who was currently ring at figures emerging from underneath the water.

    ''Did they just take her underwater to fight her?'' Jason thought with a frown.

    Though on second thought, it made much more sense to fight a magma mage under the water instead of fighting them onnd.

    [ Jason, release as much of you thunder that you can without getting noticed by others. I have a feeling that you might need to dodge some of the attacks that will be thrown in this direction. ] Hestia suggested.

    Jason used more of his thunder as he had noticed that the look in Amber''s eyes was simr to someone on the verge of breaking down.

    He carefully stepped back and watched the fire flicker around Amber''s body. The people sent by the king to capture Amber looked at her with guarded expressions yet it was clear that they had anticipated this.

    [ She is currently in a very traumatized phase. The divinity inside her is like an ocean during a storm. Its extremely chaotic and if she releases all that power, I am sure that not even these highly trained professionals can live to see the daylightбн ]

    Once he had heard her words, Jason used his vision to personally see the divine energy. Unlike May, whose body was emitting divine energy at a dangerous rate, Amber''s body was emitting low amounts of energy.

    ? It was almost negligible yet if she had a ton more of the same energy stored inside her divinity things would get a lot tougher.<sub> </sub>

    [ Just let things be. I tried contacting her guardian but she isn''t responding. I have a feeling that we might just get to see a brilliant fight in front of us. ]

    ''Aren''t we supposed to prevent things like this from happening or am I remembering the wrong thing?''

    [ Nah, we are just going to let her get all of it out. Even Risa agrees with this. ]

    Jason looked around with a surprised expression just to see Risa standing a few meters away from him.

    Her face remained expressionless yet her eyes werepletely focused on Amber. If she wanted, she could have ended the fight pretty easily but for some reason, Risa remained fixed on her spot.

    ''I guess it is better to sometimes let it all outбн''

    Jason turned his gaze towards the tornado again, wondering what Amber''s next move was going to be.

    The ones sent to hunt her were also wondering the same thing. Their numbers ranged between ten to fifteen, which might have seen like an overkill if Amber wasn''t a vessel.

    All of a sudden the tornado expanded over the entireke, covering all the experts in its burning mes.

    Unfortunately, Julian had used his brain while sending the forces. All those who hade to capture Amber shot out of the tornado while being surrounded by water shields.

    ''Wait, those are definitely burn marksбн'' Jason noticed that many of them actually had burn marks on their arms.

    [ They were caused by their own shields. Amber controlled her mes in a way to make sure that the water didn''t evaporate yet still turned hot enough to cause some serious damage. ]

    ''That''s one way to use someone''s powers against themselves.''

    Jason continued to watch the fight. The water mages all released attacks simultaneously in hopes of extinguishing the tornado at once.

    Yet Amber was currently in a different realm. She raised both of her hands forward and shot two tornadoes out of them.

    Theybined together before expanding in the form of a firewall, reminding Jason of the move that Amber''s twin had used a few years back.

    All of the iing water attacks came in contact with the firewall, evaporating the moment the fire touched them.

    Half of the water mages shot from their spots, water droplets trailing behind them. Arrows of water formed around their bodies and attacked Amber from various directions.

    The remaining group all started performing hand signs and in less than five seconds, they had conjured up three water dragons in front of them.

    The water dragons shot straight towards Amber who still hadn''t moved from her spot. Shockingly, both the arrows and the dragons hit her at point nk range.

    They threw her backwards, making both the water mages and Jason feel confused. Amber hadn''t resisted one bit and simply had let herself fly back.

    Risa was the only person present there who didn''t question what Amber had done. Her eyes were grim as she stared at the direction Amber had been thrown in.

    ''It should be happening nowбн''

    The moment the thought entered Risa''s mind, a huge explosion took ce in the spot Amber hadnded in.

    The ground started rumbling and cracking apart. Jason''s eyes widened when he sensed the amount of divine energy leaking out of Amber''s body.

    He immediately took off into the air and summoned the purple pen, which was Sancus''s divinity.

    ''How do I take some divine energy out of this?''

    [ Just focus on the object. You should be sensing the divine energy soon. ] Hestia replied since she understood what Jason was nning to do.

    He immediately focused on the pen and soon enough, divine energy starteding out of it. Jason controlled the divine energy as though it was an extension of his body.

    He made it move towards his body and wrapped himself in it. The moment he did that, the divine energy from Amber''s body shot out in the form of a wave, knocking everything back.

    Risa watched this with a grim expression while clenching her fist.

    ''If only I could have saved Arianaбн''

 Chapter 186 Last Bit Of Destruction

    ''If I ever go wild, will I be doing things simr to this?'' Jason questioned.

    Currently, multiple fire tornadoes were revolving around Amber while the ground had split itself in multiple pieces. Lava oozed out of the ground and flew towards the tornadoes.

    Anyone present on the ground would have instantly been turned into ashes. However, despite this, Risa was standing on the ashen ground.

    The area around her feet seemedpletely fine despite multiple cracks running all around her. Not even a single drop ofva touched her body.

    Risa wasn''t bothered by the temperature change either and simply looked at Amber from a distance.

    [ I am afraid you might be even worse. You have three divinities, two of which are active. You have the powers of a guardian as well as the thunder and dark elements with high affinities each.

    If you ever lost controlpletely, you will be one of the most dangerous existences around the entire kingdom. Though it will have harsh consequences. ]

    ''Everything has consequences. Amber is going to face some serious bacsh as well, isn''t she?''

    [ You are correct, she is going to face a lot of bacsh. Once she returns to her normal state, she will be in need of medical assistance. Risa will be the one responsible for providing that. ]

    Jason and the system silently observed Amber fighting the experts after her. None of their attacks managed to pierce the tornadoes that had surrounded her.

    Amber''s eyes glowed brighter than ever as a dragon emerged from her body. The dragon was the size of an airne from Earth except it waspletely made of fire.

    "They won''t win no matter how strong they areбн" Risa muttered.

    In front of their eyes, the dragon continued to expand before it stretched over the entireke. With a flick of her hand, Amber guided it towards the water magic experts flying in the air.

    Even they had realized that they were facing impending doom and immediately tried to escape using teleportation magic.

    "Its useless," Jason said aloud. "The divine energy has already covered them like a secondyer. They can''t escape now."

    His words became true soon enough since none of the experts could get out of the ce.

    "Formation grandia!" One of them shouted.

    All of them shuffled their positions before focusing their mana in a single spot. Their manabine together and formed a tiny sphere of water.

    Jason was surprised to see that so many mana merged together yet none of them were exploding. This showed that all of them had a fine control over their mana.

    ''System, do you know the oue?''

    [ I do. ]

    Jason sighed when he saw the sphere of concentrated water mana shoot towards the dragon. Despite its size, he knew that both attacks had simr power inside them.

    The mana was spread in the case of the dragon while it was concentrated in the case of the sphere. The moment both of them came into contact, they exploded, producing arge amount of heat and smoke.

    Having experienced many fights, all the experts knew that the battle was far from over. They raised their level of alertness and looked at the surroundings with narrowed eyes.

    ''The fight is over.'' Jason sighed, his eyes focused on Amber who was present in the middle of the smoke cloud.

    One by one, the experts suddenly started turning to ashes. Their bodies burned from the inside and before any of them could figure out what was happening, they were dead.

    [ When too much divine energy enters the body of a person without a divinity or low level resistance against such an energy, their bodies can''t handle the level of power. It results in either death or the creation of an abomination. ] Hestia exined.

    Once all of the experts had died down, the smoke cleared away. Amber was still floating in the sky but all the tornadoes around her had died down.

    Her eyes had returned to their normal red. Her body seemed to sag down, the divine energy around her slowly vanishing.

    On instinct, Jason jumped towards her. He had a feeling that she would be falling from the sky.

    His feeling turned out to be correct as Amber''s body suddenly started falling towards the ground.

    Jason reached her easily, thanks to his thunder speed. He caught her in his arms and dashed back to an area of the ground that was still stable.

    "Huh?" Amber looked at Jason with half-closed eyes. "What are you doing here?"

    "Saving you from hitting the ground." Jason replied without thinking much. After all, it was kinda what he was doing at the moment.

    "I guess I did hear your voice thenбн" Amber chuckled. "Don''t you feel horrified to see this much destruction?"

    "I have seen worse." Jason shrugged. "You should be worried about yourself. Using such power doese with a price."

    "At least I got rid of those guys. Though if you hadn''t warned before, I would have likely been captured inside a mana prison made from concentrated water mana," Amber said in a weak voice. "Thank you for saving me."

    "No problem," Jason replied.<sub> </sub>

    He could feel the energy inside Amber slowly fading away. He looked at Risa before walking towards her.

    ''Wrath is a dangerous thing.'' Risa thought with a sigh before kneeling on the ground.

    She ced her right hand on the few pieces of the brokennd and closed her eyes. Risa knew that the ce was symbolic to Amber since it had been meaningful to Ariana as well.

    Risa had visited the sameke with her friend in earlier days.

    ''I guess we will never get to see this ce together again.''

    Risa passed a insane amount of her life magic into the ground. She directly connected with the natural ecosystem of theke and used her life magic to slowly heal thend.

    ''I didn''t know that was possible.'' Jason thought with a surprised expression.

    In front of his eyes, the ground started healing itself. Droplets of water also started appearing on top of the newly creatednd.

    Risa carefully manipted her for a few more seconds before getting up from thend. She looked at Amber''s unconscious self, checked her conditions quickly and ced her hand on her forehead.

    "We have to take her with us." Risa dered a few secondster. "She is going to require some intensive care if we want to save her."

    Jason simply nodded and tightened his grip on Amber''s body to make sure that she wouldn''t slip.

    "Hold on tightly." Risa said before using teleportation magic.

    Jason nced onest time at the entire ce just in time to see that thend had mostly reverted to its original form. Half of theke had also been filled by the water making it seem like no disaster had urred there.

    That was thest thing Jason saw before being pulled away from the ce. The trio reappeared right outside the entrance to Duphia and had to walk back to the manor.

    Once they reached there, Risa instructed Jason to take Amber to the only guest room avable in their house.

    "I will have to set up someplicated spells around her to make sure that her life is sustained. Leave her here and go outside." Risa said once Jason had ced Amber on the bed.

    He simply nodded and left the room, wondering what could be the mostplicated spell that Risa could cast.

    [ It would definitely have to be one that either regenerates most of the body or something simr. ]

    [ It can also be rted to destruction. Technically, magic wasn''t designed to have bounds. Its the humans who put limits on it. ]

    ''I sometimes forget that one of you is a guide connected with a primordial working as a bartender while the other one is an ex-goddess belonging too Olympus.'' Jason sighed.

    He once again went to the kitchen to catch himself a midnight snack. Once he had obtained his snack, Jason went out of the house and sat near the door.

    He eyed the beautiful night sky while zoning out. Despite this, Jason knew when Risa opened the door and came outside.

    "Her grandmother didn''t survive, did she?" Jason asked after a few minutes.

    "No, she didn''t. Amber likely found out about that, causing her divinity to take hold of her and use her power." Risa sighed.

    "I thought her guardian would have helped her." Jason said to both Risa and Hestia.

    [ Under normal circumstances, we can prevent our vessels from harming themselves or getting themselves killed. But when you are high on your emotions and can''t control yourself, we can''t do anything.

    After all, we aren''t in a ve contract where we gainplete control over the people we have a bond with. Once Amber lost control, mey couldn''t have helped her but I''m sure that she did try to talk Amber back into sanity. ] Hestia exined.

    Risa said more or less the same thing, excluding the part about mey.

    "So she wasn''t really in her senses," Jason said atst. "This means that once she wakes up, she is going to be hit by a wave of emotions. This is going to be toughбн"

    ***

    AN: The month hase to end and I am surprised to see that I did quite good this month. We crossed 200 golden tickets, stepping into the top 200 GT rankings.

    I am also happy to announce that I have received a huge amount of support from you guys. But right now, I am afraid that I can''t keep going the way I am.

    I feel like thest few chapters haven''t been up to the mark and that I am just forcing myself to write.

    That is why I am going to write the next few chapters after carefully thinking what I have to do.

    This being said, I will try my best to upload chapters on time but if I gette or miss an update, I hope you forgive me.

    Happy reading <3

 Chapter 187 Unlocking Green Thunder

    A few days passed by without Amber waking up. Risa had her dozed off most of the time since she knew that the moment Amber would wake up, she would experience a lot of hellish pain.

    "I will have to wake up her soon to let her body process a few things. It isn''t going to be pretty." Risa muttered absentmindedly during one of Jason''s training sessions.

    "I want to be there when you will do this," Jason replied. "I''m curious to see how the entire thing will y out."

    "Sure. Focus on your training right now."

    ***

    The next day, Jason was standing inside the forging workshop early in the morning. He had already learned how to cut the metal and had also crafted tools using green thunder.

    Now he only need toplete thest step and that was to shape the piece of metal he had cut using his generated thunder.

    It was not an easy thing to do since he needed to make sure that the thunder remained in the same constant form.

    Otherwise he would end up creating an explosion inside the shop.

    ''Here I go.''

    Jason carefully called upon his green thunder and brought it closer to the piece of metal. He touched it with the tip of the thunderbolt and slowly started cutting in.

    He made sure that the mana particles remained in their designated spots and didn''t move in other directions.

    This was what gave the green thunder its smooth yet deadly form.

    It took Jason a few seconds to cut a small piece out of the sheet of metal. Once he was done, he shifted it to another working table.

    He summoned more of the green thunder and created a hammer from it. The hammer resembled a real hammer and didn''t have any sparks of thunder escaping from it.

    The next thing he created was a stand for forging, which was weird considering numerous stands were already present inside the workshop.

    [ ording to Issac, its betetr to use a stand made of your own thunder. It will allow you to stabilize the thunder that might run wild. ]

    ''Bold of him to assume that I can control the thunder energy at allбн''

    Jason sighed and created a stand from the green thunder. It was a small three inches base for keeping objects that required hammering or things like that.

    Jason carefully ced the cutout piece of metal atop the stand before picking up the hammer again.

    He gently tapped the metal''s surface with the hammer before taking a deep breath and bringing it down on the metal. A nging sound resounded throughout the room as the metal bended a bit.

    Jason repeated the process a few times before the piece of metal was evenly t. He dispelled the hammer then and picked up the ttened piece of metal.

    He walked up to the firece and ced the metal on the floor. Jason bent down on his knees and summoned the next tool, a pair of tongs for holding the metal.

    <o>,m Creating the tongs was more difficult than creating the hammer since he needed to make them more flexible without interrupting the flow of mana.</o>

    [ Guide the thunder towards a central flow before making spreading it in two different directions. Add a bit of flexibility and make sure that the thunder can be gripped using your hands. ]<sub> </sub>

    Jason did as instructed and created a fixed central point of concentrated mana. From there onwards, he made the thunder go out in two separate directions.

    Just to make sure that it wasn''tpletely stiff, Jason called back a few mana particles. The entire process was much moreplicated than it sounded.

    After a lot of sweating and careful control of mana particles, Jason finally ended up with a pairs of tongs for lifting the piece of metal.

    He grabbed the tongs and tightly picked up the metal. He slowly raised it forward until it made contact with the fire.

    Once that happened, Jason summoned another tool using his thunder. This time he crafted another hammer, one twice the size of the one from before.

    ''It should be hot enough.'' Jason pulled the metal back and ced it on another stand.

    He raised the hammer high and brought it down on the metal. He slowly started shaping the metal into the form of a cube since that was the only thing he could think of crafting.

    After a few more bangs, he once again ced the metal inside the fire and waited a few seconds.

    He took it out again and hammered it. Jason repeated this process a few times until the metal had sessfully taken the shape of cube.

    ''Waitбн''

    It was at this moment that Jason ran into a problem. The tongs could no longer hold the metal cube since he hadn''t made them to grab something that big.

    After wracking his brain for a few seconds, Jason dispelled the tongs. He instead summoned a soothsso made from thunder and carefully wrapped it around the metal cube.

    Surprisingly, no sizzling sounds were heard. This was because both thesso and the cube were at a simr temperature, thanks to Jason''s control.

    He slowly lifted the mana cube from the stand with the help of thesso and walked to another corner of the workshop.

    A bucket of water was ced there and Jason dumped the metal cube into it, dispelling thundersso in the process.

    "Finallyбн" Jason wiped the sweat off his forehead and sat back with a rxed expression.

    He just needed to wait for the metal cube to cool down and then he would hold his first forged piece of equipment in his hand.

    < Ding! A new variant of thunder has been unlocked. >

    < Do you want to see the details on the new type of thunder? >

    Jason looked at these notifications with a grin. However, he dismissed them, deciding to check them once he had settled downfortably.

    ''This much time should be enough.'' Jason thought after fifteen minutes.

    He put his hand in the bucket of water and fetched out the metal cube. Holding his first creation in his hand, Jason couldn''t help but feel a sense of pride.

    ''One step closer to bing a master of thunder.

 Chapter 188 Slashing Divine Energy

    Jason returned home with the metal cube ced inside his storage. He directly headed towards the kitchen and slumped down on the chair.

    "You seem tired more than usual," Risa remarked before passing Jason his food.

    "I finally mastered the usage of green thunder at the amateur level. I crafted this with its help." Jason took out the meta cube and ced it on the table.

    Risa eyed it with a curious look before patting Jason''s head. She then walked out of the room and started heading towards theb.

    ''Show me the information on green thunder now.''

    < Green Thunder: Green thunder is the crafty type of thunder. With the help of this thunder, one can mold thunder into any desired shape without fearing the leakage of charges or uncertain destruction. >

    Jason nced over the information in a few seconds before sighing. The information failed to tell how hard it was for someone to master the thunder to a level where they could use it without letting it run wild.

    [ This is just a small summary and indicator to tell that you have sessfully unlocked the power and can use it onmand. ] The systemmented.

    ''I know.''

    Jason quickly ate his food and went to theb to continue his training. Much to his surprise, Risa wasn''t the only person present in theb.

    "Today is the day when I will wake her up." Risa said the moment she saw Jason.

    Amber was currently lying on a bed near her. Her skin had many blisters spread across at uneven distances.

    Her face also looked pale and her body had thinned out since thest time Jason had saw her.

    "If I don''t wake her up today, her body will slowly stop doing certain things. The divine energy that she used didn''tpletely leave her body so she will have to manually throw it out right now if she wants to have a normal body," Risa exined in a concerned voice.

    She had already lost one of her dearest friends, Ariana, to something simr to divine energy.

    Risa wasn''t nning on losing another person due to the same reason. Fortunately, the barriers on her powers were a bit more loose and she could use magic she formerly couldn''t.

    "Is there anything I can do?" Jason asked with a serious expression.

    "The only thing you have to do is to counter the waves of divine energy that might escape her body. To do that, you will have to use some of your own divine energy." Risa instructed.

    Jason nodded and closed his eyes. He could feel Sancus''s divinity inside him, waiting for the right moment to be called upon.

    [ You can generate attacks using divine energy. Just call upon the pen, infuse a bit of the energy with your mana and counter the iing divine energy waves with it. ]

    ''You make it sound so easyбн''

    Jason opened his eyes and nodded towards Risa. Thetter nodded back and approached the bed.

    Touching Amber''s face, Risa slowly started stabilizing Amber''s body. She also cut off some of her pain receptors to make sure that the red-haired girl wouldn''t feel the entire intensity of the pain.

    "I am going to wake her up." Risa warned before sending her life mana inside Amber''s body.<sub> </sub>

    Thetter''s eyes immediately flew open, taking in the ceiling.

    "Where?" Amber asked in a hoarse voice. She tried sitting up yet her entire body suddenly went still.

    A wave of pain hit her abdomen, making her clutch her stomach with a groan. Risa looked at Jason and gave him a small nod.

    "Amber, I know you can listen to me. Just let the pain slip away from your body. Think of it leaving your body and entering the surroundings." Risa instructed.

    Amber gritted her teeth and did as instructed. She thought the pain to be leaving her body and much to her surprise, it worked.

    Red energy invisible to the naked eye started leaking out of her body. Fortunately, both Jason and Risa had their respective skills to help them see the red divine energy.

    "Do it now!" Risa eximed.

    Jason immediately spun into action. He called upon the divine energy of the purple men while summoning his dark element.

    Though he originally nned to use thunder, Jason realized that using the dark element was a much safer alternative.

    Not only would the corrosive property would help him, he could control it much easily. Also, in case anything went wrong, Jason knew he could cut off the dark element more easily than thunder.

    [ Be careful. Divine energy can make attacks more charged than normal. ] Hestia warned.

    Her words turned out to be true as Jason manifested a whip of darkness. The whip shone brightly and with a single swing, Jason was able to cut through it like butter.

    ''Wait, what exactly does this do? Didn''t I just divide the divine energy?''

    [ It doesn''t work that way. The separated part will mix with the natural mana of the area. You just have to keep doing the same thing over and over again. ]

    Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise but didn''t say anything. He simply kept on cutting the divine energy without any care.

    He had no idea how much time passed by in this manner. He only stopped once Risa stepped back with a relieved expression on her face.

    "You can rest now. Her body expelled all of the excessive divine energy." Risa informed.

    Jason nced at Amber who was lying on the bed with a peaceful expression. Her eyes were shut close and a lot of sweat had umted throughout her body.

    "She will wake up in half an hour or so. Why don''t you go get refreshed?"

    Jason nodded and teleported back to his room with the help of the runes. He took his time getting refreshed, wondering about a lot of things side by side.

    Once he was done, he reappeared in theb and sat near the edge of the bed.

    There were a lot of things he wanted to talk to Amber aboutбн

 Chapter 189 Flames Of The Heart [Part 1]

    "Why are you sitting down there?" Amber asked.

    Jason was startled the moment he heard her voice. He had expected Amber to not wake up for at least ten more minutes yet she had surprised him.

    "How long have you been awake for?"

    "More than five minutes. Tell me, why are you sitting down on the floor?"

    "I was waiting for you to wake up." Jason replied before lifting himself from the floor.

    He shook the dust of his clothes and looked at Amber with observant eyes. His mana vision was activated and he could see that her mana flow and blood flow had returned to normal.

    "Looks like your body is almost back to normal. You might experience the asional sharp pain." Hemented.

    "Physical pain isn''t something that I can''t handle," Amber chuckled. "How long was I out for?"

    "Around two weeks. You created quite a mess using that much divine energy." Jason went ahead andunched into a narration of the events that had transpired near theke.

    Amber listened to entire story with a tired expression on her face. She shifted her body a bit and made some space for Jason to sit on the bed.

    "I guess I lost control over myself. That ce must be hellish right nowбн" she muttered in a regretful tone.

    "Actuallyбн" Jason sat down on the bed. "Grandma used her magic to heal the ce before bringing you here. The area is still the same."

    Amber''s eyes widened in surprise before a smile appeared on her face. Jason could almost see some tension leaving her body once she had learned that theke was still intact.

    "That ce is special to me. Grandma used to take me and Andrew there when we were tired of training or just wanted to distance ourselves from our family." Amber sighed. "It was the only ce I could think of when I learned that grandma was dead."

    "How did you even get there? From what I know, that ce is pretty far away from your home."

    "I don''t know. I just wished that I was there and the next minute, I was standing beside theke. It was almost as though I had used teleportation magic," Amber replied in a confused tone.

    Jason on the other hand was trying toe up with something that will exin this. However, he didn''t really need to do it.

    [ Its one of the powers that I granted you. ] A feminine voice echoed inside the room. [Certainndmarks that you marked as important can be visited by simply thinking about them. ]

    A few secondster, mey appeared around Amber''s neck. The magma smander was wrapped around her neck in a cozy manner.

    [ I should have known that it would be your powers. Since you have jurisdiction over the entirety ofnd, you can allow your vessel to travel much easily. ] Hestiamented.

    [ I didn''t think Amber would be able to use it that way. If I had known that, I would have made sure that she would never leave her home. Cut me some ck, Hestia! ] mey pouted, or at least that''s what it seemed like.

    [ Yeah, yeah, whatever. Also you seem to be growing quite big. Do you think its safe for you to be hanging around the neck of a girl like that? ]

    [ It ispletely safe since Amber is my vessel. I can control m form anyways so she won''t have to face my dragon self. Can''t you do the same? ] mey questioned.

    [ I actually forgot about thatбн ]

    Hestia suddenly appeared beside Jason in her teenage wolf form. Her body slowly started shrinking before she became the size of a wolf cub.

    [ Thank you for telling me that, Hephaestus. ] Hestia thanked mey.

    [ Don''t use my that name. I hate it. Mother deliberately chose that name despite knowing that I would be a girl. ]

    [ I know. She can be like that sometimes. But we are gods so it doesn''t really matter what gender we are. ]

    [ You mean ex-gods, right? ]

    [ Yeahбн]<sub> </sub>

    Jason and Amber exchanged a silent nce while listening to the conversation between the two guardians.

    Both of them knew that their guardians had been ex-goddesses but they had no idea that they had known each other that much.

    Jason silently gestured for Amber to get up from her spot and let the two guardians chat amongst themselves.

    Amber nodded and gently peeled mey off her neck. She ced the smander on the bed and stretched her body.

    "I am moving after a long timeбн" she muttered.

    "We have remained still for a longer amount of time." Jason smiled. "Let''s go outside."

    He grabbed Amber''s right hand before activating the runes. The moment they appeared inside his room, Jason dashed towards the window and jumped out of the room.

    [ There''s nothing present in your room. Isn''t this a bit excessive? ] The system questioned.

    ''It just feels a bit awkward. At least I can talk in a rxed manner when we are present outside the house.'' Jason countered.

    "That was quick," Ambermented in a surprised tone.

    "You will be surprised to see what you can do as well. There are many changes in our body after leaving that ce." Jason replied.

    "I guess that''s true." Amber sighed before she started walking towards a tree in the distance.

    Jason followed her, asionally activating his mana vision to check on her body conditions. After all, she had only woken up a few minutes ago.

    Amber settled down in the shadows of one of the tree before staring at the semi-cloudy sky.

    "Jason, have you ever wondered why we became the vessels of the apex guardians?" Amber suddenly questioned.

    Jason fell silent as he tried toe up with an answer to her question. Hestia had became his guardian during his fight with Amber in the tournament.

    Was it simply because Hestia had found him the mostpatible at the time or was was some other force working on it?

    [ You could have ended up with Hecate, who was an apex guardian as well. Unless your body is too good of a vessel, I can''t simply say that all of this was a coincidence. ]

    ''But I know my body is the perfect vessel guardians like Hestia or Hecate could ask for. I have thunder, dark and light elements, a supreme bloodline and three divinities.''

    [ I guess that''s trueбн ]

    Jason remained silent for a few more seconds before finally answering Amber''s question. "Personally, I don''t know. Things happened very suddenly and though I have asked Hestia about this, I don''t think I can give you a concrete answer."

    "I seeбн I can''t find an answer as well. mey told me that I was the perfect vessel for her so thats why she chose me. I am still wondering whether there is something else she isn''t telling me." Amber muttered.

    "Everyone has their secrets. Hestia and mey know more about the world than both of usbined do. They have seen many things and probably know what they should tell us and shouldn''t tell us."

    "I guessбн"

    Amber slowly slumped down on the ground and closed her eyes. Jason didn''t say anything and instead shifted his gaze towards the sky.

    Gentle wind was slowly moving through the area, providing them with a nice resting spot. Jason wanted to sleep as well but there was more training that he had to do.

    "It would be kind of nice if things remained this way. Both of us simply lying underneath a tree without having to worry about anything elseбн" Amber muttered in a low tone.

    Jason had almost not heard her words. However, since he did hear them, he couldn''t help but agree.

    "Unfortunately, this world isn''t nice." He sighed. "It strives on cruelty, pain and suffering. But then, there are moments like this as well. Though they might notst long, they are enjoyableбн"

 Chapter 190 Flames Of The Heart [Part 2]

    "I will be going now. We can talk at night if you want." Jason said before standing up.

    Amber simply nodded and remained at her spot. Jason stared at her for a few seconds before heading towards the manor again.

    His mind was still thinking about Amber''s question while he made his way to theb. Once he appeared there, he saw that the two guardians had already vanished and that Risa was present there again.

    "I was wondering whether you would show up or spend some time with Amber." Risa smiled.

    "Its important for me to learn this in case I or someone else gets hurt in the future. I can still spend time with herter on." Jason replied with a determined expression.

    Risa nodded in agreement before gesturing for him to begin. Jason took a deep breath and cut off his pain receptors.

    He stepped forward and let Risa cut his skin off. During this, he couldn''t remove one thought from his mind.

    ''The question is, how long will this peaceful moment exist?''

    ***

    At night, Jason hit his bed with a tired expression. He still hadn''t been able to control the dark mana sessfully to prevent any infection from getting to his skin.

    The frustration caused by this was next level but there was nothing he could do except continue his training.

    ''I just have to figure out what I am doing wrong.'' Jason sighed.

    He was minutes away from passing out when he heard a knock on his door. Jason slowly dragged himself up and walked towards the door.

    Jason opened the door to reveal Amber standing on the other side.

    "You look like a half-dead personбн" Ambermented the moment she saw his appearance.

    "Well, constant training of this level can do things like this to a person." Jason smiled before stepping aside to let Amber enter his room.

    He had cleaned it a bit after taking a shower so he could let her enter it without causing any problems for himself.

    [ I still don''t understand how that would have caused a problem. Your room barely has anything in it and even if you didn''t clean it, it would still look pretty good. ]

    ''Somethings don''t require exnations. They are just based on instincts.''

    Jason and Amber sat down on the bed together, an awkward silence hanging over them. The only sound present in the room was that of the wind blowing in from the window.

    "Soбн what exactly are you learning?" Amber questioned, thus breaking the silence.

    "I am learning how to heal major injuries passively. Its quite an excruciating thing to do."

    "But how are you learning to heal injuries when you have the dark element?" Amber asked in a confused tone.

    It was at this moment Jason realized that he had slipped up. Risa had told him that such knowledge was extremely destructive for the rest of the world so it was better if we kept it restricted to himself.

    "Dark element still can heal injuries due to its corrosion. Most people can''t do this since it requires at least an A grade affinity with the element to do this.

    Even then there is no guarantee that the mage can learn it. I am not sure that I will be able to learn this either but giving up isn''t going to do me any good." Jason exined, mixing some truth into his story.

    "That makes sense. My grandma told me the same thing about my elements. Due to my affinity and magma element, there are things that I can do with the fire and earth elements that others can''t." Amber replied.

    Her shoulders sagged down a bit when she said grandma. Jason, who had his fare share of experiences with losses, gently ced his hand on Amber''s shoulder.

    "Amber, answer me honestly. How are you feeling currently?" he asked calmly.

    "Sad. Grieving. Confused. A bit lostбн" Amber replied honestly, her voice decreasing to barely a whisper.

    Jason gently used his light magic to create a somewhat warmer aura around Amber. Risa had taught him that doing things like this helped in calming the emotions of another person.

    "Truth be told, I have no idea how it feels to lose a grandparent," Jason said. "I have had both of my grandparents with me ever since I was a child. However, I don''t know anything about parental love. Neither my mom nor my dad have met me ever since I was born."

    [ Technically, your mother was there with you for a short period of time after you were born. ]

    ''That doesn''t really count.'' Jason pointed out.<sub> </sub>

    "What I want to say is that those who are usually considered gifted or talented have to face more problems and drawbacks than the others. We will have trauma and depression yet we know that we can''t stop.

    Once we stop, what is the point in living? Pessimists say that everyone will die in the end so everything is useless but is it? What is better, giving up on life or struggling to live?" Jason fell silent.

    For some reason, he felt like he had achieved some degree of spiritual wisdom. If someone had said the same words to him during the war on Earth, perhaps he would have gone for shelter instead of saving those lives.

    That in turn wouldn''t have reincarnated him into the world of Duphia.

    "You know, that''s one way to motivate someone to liveбн" Amber replied, her lips curling up into the barest of smiles. "But I guess staying this way isn''t going to help anyone. I have to find some kind of thing to do."

    "You can train to be stronger. You can strive for revenge or a better society than the one we have. There are many kinds of things that you can do and it doesn''t have to be a big one." Jason exined.

    "You don''t really sound your age. I might expect someone thrice my age to say these things." Amber replied with a genuine smile.

    Jason faked a cough since he didn''t have a reply. Technically, Amber was telling the truth since his mental age was definitely more than her.

    "I guess I can try finding something to do tomorrow." Amber sighed. "But tonight, I just want to have a good sleep."

    "Just lie down on the bed and close your eyes. Try to think about a happy memory or something and you will fall asleep soon."

    "All right."

    Before Jason could say anything else, Amber crashed down on his bed. She took the right corner and closed her eyes.

    Jason was about to get up and sleep on the couch when Amber''s hand grabbed his arm.

    "Stay here. If I have nightmares, I at least want to know that someone is beside me." Amber said while keeping her eyes closed.

    Jason took a deep breath before sitting on the bed with his feet resting straight. Amber retracted her hand yet her body was still facing in his direction.

    A few strands of her hair were covering her face as she tried to sleep. Jason could feel his heart pounding a bit faster while seeing this.

    ''Get a hold of yourself, idiot!'' he shouted at himself before letting his body rx.

    He extended his legs and peacefullyy on the bed. Unfortunately, his mind was way too active to let him sleep in peace.

    "Maybe you are the one who needs to rx." Amber snickered from the side.

    "Its not easy to sleepбн" Jason murmured under his breath.

    "Jason, do you know about the mes of the heart?" Amber suddenly asked.

    Jason turned to look at her face yet her eyes were still closed. He closed his eyes as well and turned back to his original position, his head facing the ceiling.

    "No, I don''t."

    "My father told me that grandpa believed that every heart had mes inside it. These mes were responsible for making people experience different feelings. The gentle yet tender mes of love.

    The high burning mes of anger. The low burning mes of sadness. ording to him, every heart had these mes. If one could master to control them, they would be able to gain master over their emotions." Amber exined.

    "Now that sounds like something someone his age might tell to youngsters." Jasonmented.

    "I know, right? But when I was a child, I used to believe in his words. I tried to master the mes which lead to a lot of idents." Amber chuckled.

    "Do you believe in them right now?" Jason asked curiously.

    "My faith in that has died down over the years but I still believe in it a bit. I did discover that certain people can make those mes change without meaning to do anything." Amber chuckled again.

    Jason felt confused a bit before he realized what Amber was hinting at. He turned again and stared at her.

    "Do you meanбн" His voice trailed off when he realized that Amber had fallen asleep, that too with a smile on her face.

    Jason could only sigh and curse a bit at the red-haired girl sleeping beside him. In the end, he too closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

    However, he couldn''t help but wonder whether the mes of his heart were changing unconsciously as wellбн

 Chapter 191 Two Vancouvers And A Syrward [Part 1]

    [ Host, wake upбн ]

    The next morning, the system had to wake up Jason itself. It hadn''t realized how much time had passed by until it actually checked the time.

    ''What time is it?'' Jason mentally asked, his eyes slowly fluttering open.

    [ Ten in the morningбн ]

    ''The fk!''

    Jason tried sitting up but froze when he realized that something was pinning him down. Amber''s arm was sprawled over his chest and she was sleeping peacefully.

    Jason took a deep breath before trying to pry himself free from her grip. He gently lifted her hand off his body before sitting up.

    ''That was a new experience for me.'' Jason thought before standing up.

    The surprising thing was that despite the time, no one had bothered to wake him up.

    Jason suddenly froze when a thought entered his mind. If Risa or Issac hade to wake him up and seen him in that conditionбн

    [ Don''t. Just don''t. ] The system cut off his train of thoughts.

    It was a good thing that it did that or who knows how far Jason would have gone.

    Walking down the stairs, Jason noticed that a strange silence was present over the entire manor. Usually Risa and Issac would be talking in the kitchen or his aunt and uncle would be discussing things in their room.

    Though he wasn''t able topletely understand what they were saying, Jason was used to hearing some kind of noise.

    ''Don''t tell me something weird happened again.'' That was the first thought that entered his mind after observing the silence.

    But the moment he stepped down thest stair, he understood why the entire ce was silent.

    The prime minister of the kingdom, Zn Vancouver was currently bowing in front of Issac and Risa.

    A blond-haired girl around Jason''s age stood by his side, her hands tightly balled into fists at her side.

    "Zn, there is no need to do this. I already told you that you can stay here for the time being." Issac sighed. "However, I won''t be able to help you in your case. You have to break the case yourself and escape your brother''s grip."

    "Issac, I know that your grandson can break the curse. Please just ask him to help me and I will tell you things that you wouldn''t get to know from any other person. Trust me when I say that you want to know these thingsбн" Zn begged.

    <o>,m Before Issac could reply, Jason faked a cough and stepped forward. All eyes turned towards him, making him remember that he still had a bed-head look.</o>

    [ You still look good in your bed-head look. ] Hestiaplimented.

    ''Uh, thank you I guess?'' Jason replied as he felt unsure as to what he should say back.

    "You must have a sixth sense or something. I was sure that you were going to sleep peacefully for some more time." Risamented after looking at Jason''s appearance.

    Now that he had confirmation that Risa had definitely seen him, Jason masked him emotions.

    "Morning," he greeted. "How are you, mister Zn?"<sub> </sub>

    Zn''s eyes stared directly into Jason''s eyes before he started moving forward. The girl remained stationary at his side, her eyes staring at the floor.

    "Jason, can you do a favor for me? I swear that if you do it for me, I will forever be in your debt." Zn said in a shaky voice. "Please just listen to what I have to say once."

    "I guess I can do that," Jason replied. "But can you give me a few minutes to fix my appearance?"

    Zn nodded enthusiastically before sitting on one of the couches. The girl sat beside him, her eyes finally taking a look at Jason.

    "She''s my daughter, Aysel." Zn added from the side. "I will make the proper introductions once you are done fixing your appearance."

    Jason nodded and went up the stairs. The moment he entered his room, he shut the door behind him before taking a deep breath.

    Amber had finally woken up from all themotion but was still lying on the bed.

    "You seem like someone just told you that you are getting married," shemented in an amused tone.

    "Well, a princess is sitting downstairs so I might as well make her my bride." Jason smiled when he saw the surprise settling on Amber''s face.

    "Woah, what is happening?" Amber asked while sitting up.

    Jason summarized what happened below before heading towards the bathroom. "If grandma or grandpaes, tell them I am in the shower. Also, they might tease a bit so deal with that."

    "As you say, chief."

    Jason entered the shower with a sigh. Things gotplicated for him real quick. But then, that was how life worked.

    ''What curse do you think Zn was talking about?'' Jason questioned the two voices in his head.

    [ Its probably something rted to the royal family. ]

    [ Julian probably has the entire royal family under a curse to make sure that none of them can betray him. ]

    [ That is a good way to actively used his divinity and keep things under control. I won''t be surprised if Zn is under a simr curse like you grandparents. ]

    [ This keeps Julian''s divinity active too. If only he didn''t have that brain, he probably would have been defeated easily. ]

    Jason wholeheartedly agreed with both the system and Hestia. Julian was a formidable person, not counting the tactics he used.

    ''I guess I will have to get my divinity usage on a simr level if I want topletely oppose the effects of his divinityбн''

    Truth be told, Jason had no idea about the limitations of his divinity. All he knew was that it could help him break bad contracts as well as sign binding ones.

    [ Hmm, I think Sancus will pay you a visit in your dreams. Gods usually do that once their follower has activated their divinity. ]

    ''I guess that would be good.'' Jason replied, stepping out of the shower.

    He quickly dried himself before changing into a new pair of clothes.

    ''But for the time being, let''s clear this mess. We can worry about divine energy and beingster onбн''

 Chapter 192 Two Vancouvers And A Syrward [Part 2]

    "You took your sweet time." Risamented the moment Jason stepped out of the bathroom.

    A teasing smile was visible on her face, making Jason steel his nerves a bit.

    "If they really need my help, they will wait for me no matter how much time I take," he replied.

    "I guess that''s true. Amber should be bringing your food soon. Talking and staying with you might just have been the thing that she needed toe out of her misery." Risa said in a slightly amused tone.

    Jason decided to ignore her remark and sat on the bed.

    "Remember, you can chose not to help Zn. What he will be asking for is no small thing." Risa warned before leaving the room.

    Jason started massaging his forehead while wondering what sort of questions he would need to answer.

    Five minutester, the door to his room opened and Amber walked inside with food.

    "Your grandmother is an excellent cook." Amber grinned before setting the food on the bed.

    The two of them ate it in silence. Amber was simply enjoying the taste of the food while Jason was nning his conversation with Zn.

    ''System, do you think I should question him alone?''

    [ If that''s what you want, you can do that. If anything bad happens, Risa and Issac can step in at any given point of time. Both of them are capable of doing that. ]

    Jason agreed with the system and stood up. "Amber, I will be back soon. Got some things I need to talk to the prime minister about."

    "You mean ex-prime minister, right? Zn was removed from that position a long time ago when he rebelled against the king and went into hiding with his daughter." Amber pointed out.

    Jason blinked in surprise when he heard this piece of information. If Zn hade out of hiding to specifically talk with him, the matter must be of great importance.

    ''I can use that as leverage.'' Jason silently noted before thanking Amber.

    He then made his way down the stairs and arrived in the hall again. Zn''s face lit up when he saw Jason.

    "I am willing to talk now but I want to talk with the two of you alone," Jason nced at Issac who stood like a shadow in the corner. "It will allow me to talk better."

    Jason and Issac''s gaze met as a silent exchange passed between them. Thetter walked out of the house without any argument, technically leaving the three of them alone.

    [ He is going to eavesdrop from the outside, isn''t he? ]

    ''That''s what the nce meant. Its either that or "I am going to f the goats". I don''t want to think that he meant to say that.''

    [ Indeedбн ]

    Jason took a seat opposite of the two royal Vancouver family members. He activated his mana vision at the same time to make sure that no tricks would be yed against him.

    "So, what brings two royals to the house of the Syrward family?" Jason asked casually.

    "I know what happened inside the royal pce when Julian tried to capture you. You not only resisted his divinity, you were also able to loosen the seal ced on both of your grandparents.<sub> </sub>

    This means that you can directly oppose the powers of my brother''s patron and free people from their contracts. I am here to ask your help on a simr matter." Zn exined.

    "You want me to break the curse ced on you by your brother?" Jason guessed.

    "Indeed. As you might understand, Julian works through supreme control. The strongest people in his army are either gathered through ambition or are forcefully working for him.

    But it doesn''t really matter. He had both sides under a contract and if you can free some of them, I think you can make the kingdom enter a new area. But before that, I want you to try the same on me and my daughter." Zn stated.

    Jason fell silent as he leaned back on his spot. His mind started thinking about effective ways to deal with the situation.

    He could simply ept the deal and use the power of Sancus''s divinity to break Zn and his daughter free from the grip of Julian.

    Except there was one thing preventing him from doing thatбн

    "What''s in it for me? I don''t really care about the kingdom and such. My hometown and the people I am close with will remain safe inside Duphia. I can basically sit here for the rest of my life and nothing will happen."

    "I know you can''t do that. You want to explore the area and perhaps learn about things that you don''t have any knowledge about. Your parents for example," Zn narrowed his eyes.

    "Also, do you think you can beat Julian''s patron god if he appears here at full power?"he questioned.

    Instead of saying anything in reply, Jason stood up from his spot and smiled. Suddenly, his body burst forth with thunder. Following the thunder was Hestia''s appearance.

    The guardian maximized her form and stood behind Jason in a protective manner. The divinities inside Jason also started rumbling as divine energy shot out from them.

    "Currently I at a level where I can battle many of the small fries. If I remove the contract ced on my grandparents, both of them will be at full power as well. If we gather all of the allies, do you believe a mere god can do anything?

    Even if all of that failsбн" Jason''s voice trailed off, his lips curling up to reveal a sinister grin.

    [ You want me to do that? ] the system questioned.

    ''Let''s do it. If we can intimidate him, maybe we can strike a better deal.'' Jason replied.

    He had already nned to ept Zn''s request but there were a few things he wanted to make clear.

    The first was that he was in charge. The second was that he would get certain benefits in exchange for helping Zn.

    [ All right. Just don''t scare them too much. Remember, his daughter is still quite young. ]

    Tendrils of darkness suddenly appeared beside Jason. They shot forward and wrapped around Zn''s arms, tying him down.

    "If I leave them on you for more than ten seconds, you will be sucked dry. That is just one of the powers of MY patron god." Jason smiled before recalling the tendrils.

    Zn seemed shaken by what had transpired in front of him. Aysel on the other hand looked as though someone had taken her heart out and put it back in after a few seconds.

    "That is why if you want to help me," Jason added in a businessman tone. "There are a few things that you will have to give.

 Chapter 193 First Contract

    "All debt on your family will be cleared. You will be allowed to go anywhere in the kingdom. You won''t be charged or held ountable for breaking any rules orws. You will above everyone else in the hierarchyбн"

    Zn was currently reading the list of things Jason had stated. It included four more minor things beforeing to an end.

    "Isn''t that a lot of things?" Aysel spoke up for the first time.

    She had expected one or two things from the list but asking for these many at once was too much. Even if Julian was somehow removed from the throne, there was no guarantee that they could provide all of those things.

    "You do realize that what I am asking for are the things that you''ve been enjoying for the entirety of your life?" Jason questioned with an emotionless face.

    Zn and Aysel exchanged a silent nce, both of them realizing that Jason was telling the truth.

    Even though Zn had been unbearable at times, they had been able to enjoy the benefits of being a royal without facing any problems.

    "Thats trueбн" Zn agreed.

    "Then its settled. If you can give me these things, I will be try my best to not only break the curse on you both but help the others on your side as well." Jason finished.

    "Aysel, do you think Hiro would agree to this?" Zn immediately questioned.

    Aysel looked doubtful but after thinking about it for some time, she nodded. "He might not like the deal but if its truly helpful, he will agree to it."

    "I guess we can make this deal with you," Zn looked back at Jason. "But just so you know, Hiro would be the one mainly responsible for fulfilling this since he is the next in line to the throne. If we throw Julian away, he bes the king."

    "No problem. Just smear the bottom of that list with your blood and we will be good to go." Jason replied in a carefree manner.

    Internally, he was thinking about his cousin who was also the next in line to the throne. Jason felt that he needed to meet Hiro somewhere in the near future to discuss things with him.

    ''He is my cousin after all. A royal cousin.''

    In front of his eyes, Jason saw Zn smearing some of his blood on the bottom of the paper. Jason took the paper from him and did the same.

    His ck blood stood in contrast to the normal red one belonging to Zn.

    "Now for the finaleбн"

    Jason reached inside him and called upon Sancus''s divinity. The purple pen instantly appeared in front of his face.

    A purple glow surrounded the pen as its cap opened on its own. The pen slowly moved downwards and touched the piece of paper with its tip.

    It vanished after doing that, leaving a tiny dot of blue ink on the paper. However, this dot was enough to make sure that the contract between Zn and Jason would stay binding no matter the circumstances.<sub> </sub>

    "Now its signed by the divinity of the god of oaths and contracts. You can no longer go back on your words." Jason stood up. "As for where you will be staying, ask grandma. She was listening the entire time anyways."

    Risa chose this specific moment to enter the room and smiled at Jason. After all, he was right about her waiting there for him to finish.

    "You can stay in one of the empty houses around the vige. There is a barrier over the entire ce so you don''t have to worry about anything. You can get food from the town and if you want, Aysel cane here to practice." Risa exined.

    "Thank you for that." Zn replied in a sincere voice.

    "I''ll show you the way to the house. Please wait outside." Risa gestured towards the door.

    Both Aysel and Zn got up at the same time and exited through the door. The moment they left, Risa created a soundproof barrier around her and Jason.

    "Did you put any hidden conditions on the paper?" Risa questioned.

    "No, I didn''t. I can''t do that even if I want to do it. I didn''t get this divinity handed to me without a reason."

    "Good. Though it might not really look like it, Zn can be a great ruler and a good person. He just has been oppressed and molded into his current form by both his father and brother." Risa sighed.

    "Do you think he can trust him after that? What if Julian is actually controlling him right now?" Jason asked with a grim expression.

    He had already seen the powers of Julian''s divinity. Zn didn''t have the protection of Sancus''s divinity and could have easily been forced into a contract.

    "He has been missing for a long time. He most likely found a ce where Julian''s powers couldn''t work and managed to escape his orders. I will still be keeping an eye on him." Risa sighed again. "I will have to ask Amon to maintain the barrier for every second of the day."

    "I want to meet him as well. Maybe he will be able to teach me some things about my demonic half," Jason muttered, remembering how a master like that was usually the person responsible for unlocking a mc''s natural powers.

    [ How many powers do you want, host? You already have so many of them yet you barely used them. ] The system pointed out.

    ''Its always best to have an extremely huge moveset. You can always meet a person who is resistance to some of your major abilities. I thought you already knew this.''

    [ I did. I was just checking whether you remembered all of this or not. ]

    Jason couldn''t help but sigh at that. His system really was on a whole another level whenpared with other systems.

    "You can meet him now I guess. Issac should be lurking somewhere near the house. I am sure he has already heard this conversation so there is no need to exin things to him." Risa instructed.

    Jason nodded and left the house, his mind thinking about the possible things Amon could teach him.

 Chapter 194 The Sin Of Wrath

    Just like Risa had said, Issac was waiting for Jason right outside the house. His eyes were gleaming wiht a strange kind of happiness.

    "I should have known that my grandson was going to be a genius. Thank your mother and her side of the family for that." Issac muttered with a smile.

    Jason smiled back before getting to the main topic. "Where does Amon live?"

    Even though he had been living in Duphia for most of his life, Jason had never seen the demon''s house. Truth be told, he had never seen Amon around the town either.

    "Well, he doesn''t exactly live inside the town," Issac replied. "His circumstances are a bitбнplicated. We can find him outside the town only."

    After telling him that, Jason and Issac exited the town. Since both of them used their thunder element, they were able to do it in under ten seconds.

    "Now that we are outside the protective barrier, Amon should be able to sense our presence. He will soone out to meet us himself." Issac said confidently.

    But before Amon could show up, two ck threads shot out from nearby bushes and wrapped around Jason''s legs.

    Jason raised an eyebrow at this since he could sense that the threads were made from dark element. The affinity of the person responsible for their creation was also below his level.

    ''People should do their homework before trying to kidnap someone.''

    Jason simply destroyed the chains by releasing a dark aura around him. The aura was created by concentrating dark magic together and using it to corrode the chains.

    A bright sh of light suddenly went off in the distance, followed by the appearance of five new figures.

    They were sent flying from their original spot due to an unknown reason and crashnded near Jason and Issac''s feet.

    "I was expecting someone from Julian''s side to attack," Issac whistled. "Who could have guessed that demons woulde this far to capture you."

    The five figures lying around their legs had tiny hornsing out from the top of their head, marking them as demons.

    All of them were knocked unconscious by the person responsible for throwing them out.

    "Lucius has waited for a long time. I think he is finally starting to make a moveбн" A deep voice echoed behind Jason.

    He immediately turned back with a guarded expression and was met face to face with Amon. A flicker of power happened the moment their gazes met. The other demon''s dark green eyes stared directly into Jason''s purple ones.

    "You have already seen me twice before but I never got the chance to introduce myself," Amon smiled. "I am Amon Redmoon, one of the seven deadly sins and the demon responsible for the maintenance of the protective barrier around Duphia."

    Jason blinked in surprise while his brain tried to process the information that he had just heard.

    ''He is one of the seven deadly sins just like Lucius and that woman Diana!''

    [ I think we got this information beforeбн ] The systemmented. [ I can''t seem to remember it for some reason. ]

    ''Does that really matter? We just have to wait and see how things y out.''

    "Wait, you don''t have horns." Jason noticed with a startled expression.

    "High level demons can hide their horns," Amon exined. "Also, you don''t have any horns either despite of being a half-demon."<sub> </sub>

    "Am I supposed to have horns by now?" Jason asked in a concerned voice.

    "If you recently turned sixteen, yes. If you are younger than that, there is no need to be worried. Horns usually appear in demons when they turn thirteen but since you are only half-demon, your horns will appear when you turn sixteen."

    "I seeбн"

    For some reason, Jason was getting a calming vibe from Amon. His simple presence rxed his body and let him think more clearly.

    [ I think its because of his divinity. From what I have managed to pull up, the sins have a divinity belonging to a god aligned with their respective titles. Ask Amon what sin he represents. ] Hestia suggested.

    "Uh, Amon, what sin do you have?"

    "Wrath," Amon replied with a neutral expression. "And in case you were wondering, my patron is called Yama."

    [ Yama?! ] Hestia eximed the moment she heard the name of the god.

    ''What is he the god of?''

    [ He is the god of death and underworld. Many deities share the same post but their powers depends on their myths and influence. Yama is like one of the top five strongest when ites to gods of death or at least that''s what I know. ]

    ''These things must keep changing. Is there anyone keeping a record of these rankings?''

    [ I think the god of leaderboards, rankings, or records might have the information on this. I don''t know how to contact them though. ] The system replied.

    ''I guess it doesn''t really matter since we got the answer we wanted.'' Jason pointed out.

    "You have divinities inside you too." Amon noticed. "Mind telling me the names of the gods or goddesses they belong to?"

    At this question, Jason turned his gaze towards Issac. Thetter gave him a gentle nod, allowing Jason to tell the details of the divinities to Amon.

    "One of them belongs to a god called Erebus. Another belongs to a god called Sancus. I don''t know who the third one belongs toбн"

    "Interestingбн" A smile appeared on Amon''s face after hearing the names of the gods. "I know both of them. You must have had quite an encounter to end up receiving their divinities and bing Erebus''s follower."

    "You know about that?" Jason asked in a surprised tone. He was sure that he had never told others that he was Erebus''s follower.

    "Don''t worry, your secret is safe with me. Even your grandpa can''t hear what we are talking about right now," Amon reassured. "I know a lot of things that I probably shouldn''t. Another example of this is the goddess Hestia which resides inside you."

    Not only Jason but Hestia as well was shocked by this revtion. There was no way for Amon to know this yet he still knew the real identity of Jason''s guardian.

    "Don''t worry, I won''t tell this to anyone either. I just wanted to remind Hestia that Hope is still trapped." Amon smiled. "They should be arriving soon as well."

    Moments after he had said those words, explosions erupted around the area.

    "So that''s where you have been hiding, Amon!"

 Chapter 195 I Didnt Expect Them To Be So...

    Six auras matching the same kind of rxed feeling being emitted from Amon''s body appeared in the sky.

    Jason''s eyes widened in shock when he recognized two of the six figures. The first one was the blue-haired sin of lust, Diana.

    Jason swallowed hard when he noticed how Diana looked. Though he wasn''t feeling lustful, his eyes couldn''t look away from her.

    "That is why emotions are quite cruel. Sometimes, you can''t control them." Amonmented from behind.

    The demon ced his right hand on Jason''s shoulder. The moment he did that, some sort of strange power washed over the teenager''s body.

    Jason felt clearheaded and could finally look away from Diana. His eyesnded on the second person he knew in the group, a certain ex-goddess.

    "Hecateбн" Jason murmured.

    "Long time no see, Jason." Hecate grinned from the sky. "Don''t worry, I no longer need you to be my vessel. I found something much better."

    Jason had no idea how he was supposed to respond to that. So instead, he started observing the remaining four people.

    "So he is Evelyn''s son. He has her hairбн" A thinly built man in early twenties spoke up. "Pleased to meet you, Jason Syrward. I am Manny, the sin of gluttony."

    "Gluttony?" Jason felt confused after seeing the man''s figure.

    He was definitely underweight for someone his age and was wearing pure ck clothes which stuck tightly to his clothes.

    His hair, which were the same shade of ck, fell down on his face and covered his bright yellow eyes. It was extremely hard to tell that this man was actually the sin of gluttony.

    "I know I don''t meet the expectations people have when they see the sin of gluttony." Manny smiled. "I am just naturally like this."

    "Its better this way. None of us really show the physical representation of the sin we have." A woman in herte twentiesmented. "Juliana, the sin of envy. Nice to meet you."

    Juliana looked like the teacher who might look strict on the outside but was a real softie on the inside.

    Her bright orange hair were tightly bound in a ponytail, bringing out the shine in her eyes of the same color.

    She was the only person in the group who was freely showing off her horns, a pair of curved orange onesing from the sides of her head.

    "You definitely look like the greedy woman. Its not fair that I got stuck with the sin of greed!" a young boy around twelve years of ageined. "Hey, I am Koro, the youngest of the sins. I have the sin of greed!"

    Koro had a cute smile set on his face, which paired with his sea-blue eyes and golden brown hair, made him look like a shota prince from an anime.

    "Xavier, sloth." Thest man muttered.

    His hair had grown down to his waist and were kept open. His eyes were the darkest shade of ck Jason had ever seen in both of his lives.

    "He doesn''t speak more than three words at a time unless he really wants to say something," Koro exined. "He is the only one of the sins who got the perfect sin to match his personality."

    "Lie. Everyone. Right." Xavier countered.<sub> </sub>

    "Ohe on, you know that isn''t the truth~" Diana smiled. "All of us do represent our sins just a little bit."

    "As if you have the right to say that, you little subusбн" Juliana snorted.

    Diana''s jaw twitched after hearing that remark while Manny and Koro tried not tough. Hecate shook her head with a sigh and ced a hand on Diana''s shoulder to prevent her from doing anything.

    The sin of lust simply started cracking her knuckles while shooting a deadly re in Juliana''s direction. Thetter winked at her, providing fuel to her anger.

    ''These are the sinsбн'' Jason thought with an awestruck expression.

    [ What were you expecting? A group of brain dead lunatics that go around abusing their power and kill the first male on sight while fking the females? ]

    ''Something along those lines. I didn''t expect them to be soбн normal.''

    Though perhaps using normal wasn''t the correct word. After all, normal people wouldn''t be exchanging knife throwing sessions with each other.

    That was precisely what Juliana and Diana were doing. The two were creating knives made from the dark element and were chugging them at each other.

    The rest of th members simply dodged the knives or destroyed them with a flick of their fingers. Judging from their expressions, they were used to seeing this kind of banter between the duo.

    "Anyways, we are here to meet you and Amon in private." Hecate announced. "Issac, do you mind leaving us alone?"

    "What do you think I will do?" Issac finally spoke up.

    ''Its unusual for him to remain quiet for this long, especially during such a scenario.'' Jason observed.

    [ I think he was thinking about some old memory. Don''t ask how I know that. Its just a feeling I got while looking at him. ] Hestia shared her opinion.

    "You aren''t going to budge, are you?" Hecate sighed. "Diana, can you please charm him."

    "With pleasure!" Diana immediately stopped chucking knives and turned towards Issac.

    Activating her divinity, the sin of lust threw a concentrated charming attack at Issac. Thetter raised an eyebrow and let the attack hit him.

    "You gotta do better than that to charm a man who has been in love with a woman for almost a century." Issac said in a disappointed tone. "I guess my expectations towards the sin of lust were too high."

    All six of the sins, including Amon, were left surprised by Issac''s actions. The attack used by Diana had contained enough power to charm ten thousand men at once yet Issac seemed unaffected.

    ''Could it beбн'' Amon''s gears started turning as he looked at Jason.

    Remembering that one of his divinity belonged to the god Sancus, Amon connected the dots and realized that Issac had unlocked some of his powers.

    A smile lit up his face once he realized that his best friend was slowly turning into his older self.

    "You want me to charm you that bad?" Diana asked with a smile. "Let''s see if you can resist a spell capable of charming a hundred thousand men at once.

 Chapter 196 Invitation

    "Let''s leave these two here," Amon suggested. "We can talk peacefully inside a soundless bubble if you want to discuss something important."

    Hearing his words, the remaining sins and Hecatended on the ground. Amon snapped his fingers and created a barrier that would prevent any entity, except godly beings, from hearing their conversation.

    "Jason, you might have recently seen some parts of my memories once you removed that piece of mist I had left inside that demi-human woman," Hecate exined. "Do you know why Lucius wants to get you to the demon kingdom?"

    Jason didn''t open his mouth and simply nodded in response. He put his money on the fact that Hecate had no idea what memories he had seen.

    If that turned out to be true, he could get some important information out of her.

    "We are here to talk to you about that. Lucius wants you to visit the demon kingdom with all of us and get to know your mother''s side of the family better. We want you to get a bit familiarized with the demon continent.

    Other than that, you will have to bring two people called Amber Feuer and Wade along with you as well. Only Amon can apany you as apanion or protector from this ce."

    Jason took a minute to process all the information that had just been dumped on his head. The sins were inviting him to visit the demon kingdom together with them.

    Not only that but Lucius had indirectly admitted the true purpose for Jason''s visit. It was clear that the demon king would definitely meet him during his trip.

    "What do you think he will say about this?" Jason questioned Amon while looking in Issac''s direction.

    "To be honest, he will definitely oppose this thing. He has already lost so much and with the whole Julian fiasco, I don''t think he will allow you to go. But if you talk to Risa, I am sure you can convince her to let you go."

    Amon suddenly ced a hand on Jason''s shoulder. With a serious face, he said, "that''s if you actually want to go there. You don''t have to force yourself to go for someone else''s sake."

    After saying that, Amon snapped his fingers to remove the barrier surrounding the ce.

    Jason fell deep in thought as Issac came to stand beside him.

    "I guess you guys did end up having the talk without me." He sighed. "I''ve to admit that the sin of lust isn''t that weak."

    Diana, who was standing a few meters away, blinked in surprise. She felt disappointed in herself since she wasn''t able to charm Issac despite using the strongest of her charm.

    Though she hadn''t used her demonic or divinity powers, she had still used enough charm able to make a small kingdom fall down on their knees.

    "You will have to do better if you want to do something to me. But then, if you use your true powers, you will alert the nearby forces about your arrival.

    I am sure that your arrival here couldn''t have been that smooth even with teleportation magic. There are barriers preventing that from happening. You must have used the help of an insider toe here." Issac guessed.

    The sins looked at Hecate who nodded with a tired expression.

    "First we had to subdue thebined guards ced around the edges of the continent. Once we had gotten that clear, we made contact with someone Nero had gotten to know over the years.

    That guy knows how to manipte people. With his help, we were able to sneak inside but our powers are way too attracting." Hecate sighed. "If Jason''s sensory abilities are trained, I am sure he would''ve have sensed both me and the sins."

    "Indeed. He has the powers of both a high level noble demon as well as a guardian. Combining them, he would have been able to sense us from thousands of kilometers away." Juliana agreed.<sub> </sub>

    "It doesn''t really matter right now," Manny pointed out. "Our job here is done. You know what we have to do next."

    The remaining sins nodded before they started vanishing. Only Diana and Hecate remained behind.

    "Amon, do you want toe?" Diana asked in a gentler tone.

    "I guess I will oversee this event. I won''t interfere unless the safety of the sins ispromised." Amon closed his eyes and vanished from his spot as well.

    Diana did the same, leaving the guardian of Mistopia alone with the grandpa-grandson pair.

    "I am sorry for what I did to your family member," Hecate blurted out. "I was chasing after Jason since he was the best vessel for me but I was wrong there. He is the perfect vessel but there are many others things in this world."

    In front of their eyes, Hecate bowed down. Jason and Issac exchanged a nce, wondering whether they were seeing the correct thing or not.

    "Uhбн" Issac tried searching for the correct words to speak but couldn''t find them.

    He hadn''t expected Hecate to suddenly apologize to them for the things she did in the past.

    "Well, a simple sorry isn''t enough to make up for the things you did. Make sure you don''t show yourself in front of Zara or Ray. I am sure both of them are itching to get a hit on you," Issac stated. "You can go now."

    "Hestia says you changed," Jason suddenly said. "She is asking how you changed so quickly."

    "It wasn''t quick at all. I just met some certain people which made me look at the world of mortals from a new perspective." Hecate smiled. "I will be looking forward to seeing you in the future."

    With her final words, Hecate vanished from her spot and went to meet the six sins.

    "What did they tell you about?" Issac questioned curiously.

    "They invited me to visit my maternal grandparents house." Jason sighed. "They also asked to bring Amber and Wade with me. Amon will be our guardian there."

    "Who is this Wade guy?"

    "One of my ssmates from the special ss. He didn''t get to enter the chamber cause he couldn''t clear the trial of fear. I wonder how he is doing currently." Jason replied absentmindedly.

    "Do you want to go there?" Issac asked atst.

    Jason slowed down and nced up at the sky. There was internal conflict going on inside him. One side of him wanted to visit the demon continent while the other one wanted to y safe and remain at Duphia.

    Atst, Jason reached his conclusion.

    "I will tell you after talking with Amber."

 Chapter 197 First Divine Oath

    "You are leaving this decision to me?" Amber asked with a shocked expression.

    The duo was currently sitting under a tree outside the Syrward manor. Midnight was steadily approaching yet the two teenagers didn''t look sleepy at all.

    "I am fine with not going as well. I didn''t tell grandpa the real reason for the visit. He thinks it''s only an invitation to see my other side of the family." Jason sighed.

    His body slowly slid to the ground as he rested his head on the hard bottom part of the tree. His mind was currently thinking about what he would do if he actually went to the demon kingdom.

    "You want to go though, don''t you?" Amber smiled. "I can tell you are interested in exploring the demon kingdom and getting to know more about the demon side of your family."

    Jason had to agree that Amber was telling the truth. He would be lying if he said that he wasn''t at least a bit interested in vising the demon kingdom.

    "The problem is that the sins will be with me as well. Even if Amon can br a protector for me, I don''t think he can beat all the sins on his own." Jason stated his concern.

    "I guess having two guardians will serve as some sort of protection."

    "Two?" Jason blinked in confusion before it hit him. "So you are ready to go?!"

    "I am. I need to move on and what better way to do it then go into the supposed enemy''s territory?"

    Jason had a smile on his face. His eyes were still closed as the wind gently blew his hair.

    "Also, isn''t that kinda rough?" Amber questioned while looking at Jason''s head resting on the trunk.

    "Now that you mention it, my head does hurt a bit..." Jasonmented, slowly trying to get up.

    However, a gentle hand prevented him from rising up. Before he knew it, his head was resting on something soft.

    Jason temporarily froze when he felt the soft skin under his head. As far as he remembered, Amber had been wearing a knee-length skirt...

    "Amber..." Jason murmured yet his voice didn''t reach Amber''s ears.

    The system, Hestia and mey watched this scene with internal grins.

    They could tell that both Jason and Amber were blushing like children in love.

    It was so cute that the three of them silently sent a prayer towards the goddess of thighs.

    As weird as that might sound, there really was a goddess of thighs.

    "Reminds you of something?" Issac, who was standing near the entrance of the manor with Risa, asked.

    "Older times. I am surprised he actually told you where they were going." Risamented.

    "I am surprised myself but I guess this shows that he trusts us. We have to let him explore the world anyways."

    "Especially considering the fact that we were never the ones to stop exploring." Risa grinned.

    The old couple looked at Jason and Amber with a loving and protective gaze.

    What the future held wasn''t known by any of them but despite that, all of them were ready to face it in their own way.

    ***

    "Uh... why are all of you looking half-burnt?" Issac asked with a surprised expression.

    Currently the Syrward family were standing in their garden alongside six of the seven sins, Hecate and Amber.

    All of the sins had their clothes burned up, showing that none of them were wearing any kind of special clothes.

    However, their bodies lookedpletely unharmed.

    "We were trying to get him and ended up running into an unfortunate encounter..." Diana muttered while pointing towards an unconscious boy being carried by Manny.<sub> </sub>

    Both Jason and Amber recognized the boy as Wade, their ssmate from the Royal academy.

    "He did this?" Jason asked.

    "No, he didn''t. His protectors were the ones who did this. I wish we could''ve taught them a lesson but they seemed close to him." Juliana muttered in a disappointed tone.

    "In simpler terms, we basically kidnapped him and his protectors retaliated. I teleported all of us here." Amon summarized with a calm expression.

    Somehow, his white coat was slowly returning to ite original condition.

    "Now kidnapped wouldn''t be that kind of a word," Hecate smiled. "We basically borrowed him for a short while."

    Jason silently exchanged a nce with Risa and Issac while wondering whether he was doing the right thing by going with them.

    "Jason and Amber, are you both ready toe with us?" Hecate asked atst

    "Yes, we are going toe." Jason replied as Amber nodded beside him.

    "Good. Now we can leave peacefully."

    "Um before that, I want you all to swear an oath." Jason coughed lightly. "Please swear that none of you will do any harm to us."

    The sins exchanged a nce. Xavier shrugged once before opening his mouth.

    "I swear."

    Following his examples, all of the sins swore the oath, Juliana being thest one to say it.

    Hecate also went ahead and said it aloud. None of them were really bothered by the oath since they wouldn''t face anyshback even if they broke it.

    At least that''s what they thought.

    "Just a reminder that this oath is now bound by the power of a divinity." Jason smiled as a purple pen appeared in front of him.

    Seven purple rays shot out from the pen''s cap and entered the bodies of the sins and Hecate.

    Three golden rays followed the purple ones and hit Wade, Amber and Jason''s bodies.

    In front of everyone, a golden glow bathed the ten people before receding.

    This was the first time Jason had actually made use of his divinity to obtain a divine oath from such arge number of people at once.

    "He did get your hormones..." Amon suddenly chuckled, breaking the uneasy silence that had settles over the ce.

    Issac couldn''t help but grin after hearing that statement.

    Jason, however, was looking at the system screen that had appeared in front of his face.

    < Message from Sancus >

    < Good job, Jason. That was a good oath you got there. I will talk to you about the powers of my divinity tonight. >

    ***

    Author''s note: As you might have noticed, I haven''t been uploading much for the past few days.

    The reason? Myptop broke down. Now I took it for repair but unfortunately, it seems like I''ll have to wait a week before it''s repaired.

    Writing on phone is extremely tough and my eyes hurt by simply trying to write a chapter.

    That''s why I''m afraid that until I get myptop back, my update rate will remain around 4-7 chapters a week...

 Chapter 198 Destruction Of The Past [Part 1]

    Jason couldn''t help but feel excited to talk more about the powers offered to him by Sancus''s divinity.

    However, he had to contain his excitement due to the presence of multiple people around him.

    "Let''s leave now or do you still want to obtain some more oaths?" Diana asked in an annoyed tone.

    The sin of lust felt a little irritated that a child like Jason had managed to obtain such an oath from her.

    "No, that''s all I needed." Jason reassured.

    "Then please step a bit closer to us. I don''t want you both to strand somewhere in the demon continent." Amon instructed.

    Once Jason and Amber had stepped closer to thr sins, Amon closed his eyes and activated a teleportation spell.

    Jason waved at Issac and Riss onest time before vanishing from his spot alongside the others.

    Issac and Risa watched him go whilebating a mixture of feelings.

    Though both of them knew that this wasn''t the first time Jason was going to a hostile environment where many beings would try to take advantage of him.

    "Hopefully Amon keeps him safe..." Risa mumbled.

    "I trust Amon with my life," Issac said. "I''ll put my trust in him and hope that he keeps Jason safe."

    "Same..."

    ***

    [ Amber, did you ask grandpa or grandma to contact your parents and tell them about this? ] Jason questioned.

    Currently, he and Amber were moving through a void like ce.

    Their senses werepletely cut off and they could notmunicate using telepathy.

    This was amon phenomenon experienced during log distance teleportations.

    Even those who had mastered the arts of teleportation magic couldn''t simply use long range teleportation without entering the void-like ce.

    [ I did. Aunt Risa already contacted my father and told him everything that happened after my disappeared. She did omit certain thing though... ] Amber''s voice trailed off.

    Jason immediately understood what she was talking about.

    If both of them could see other right now, Jason would''ve noticed the slight blush of red appearing on Amber''s cheeks.

    [ Anyways, my father argued that I shoulde back but your Aunt shut him up. She does have a way with people. ]

    [ That she does... ] Jason replied while remembering about the special mages Julian had sent to get him captured.

    Risa had gotten a bit creative with them...

    [ Wait, you are calling her aunt? ]

    [ Yeah, it feels much natural. She likes to hear that as well. ]

    [Hmm... ]

    A few minutes passed by in silence before Jason''s sensed were restored.

    He found himself to be standing in a huge field full of red flowers.

    Despite leaving during the morning, the sky had turned orange, almost looking identical to red.

    "Wait..." Jason suddenly froze as he recognized the field he was standing in.

    Even though he had only visited it once, the memories had been etched directly on his soul.<sub> </sub>

    "Wee to the demon kingdom, my descendant." A familiar voice echoed inside his ears.

    Jason immediately turned back and was met face to face with Aiden, the demon he had met almost a decade ago.

    "Aiden..."

    "Yes, that''s me. Good thing you didn''t forget my name. I''m not good with introductions." Aiden sighed in relief. "Anyways, how you doing? It''s been a long time since west met."

    "Uh..." Jason struggled to find the correct words to reply to Aiden.

    A lot of things had happened since thest time they had met.

    Jason had even learned a bit more about Aiden from Hestia.

    ''Hestia, system, can either of you hear me?'' Jason called out.

    However, no response came from either of them.

    "I forgot to mention but the restrictions on my domain are getting tighter. I can''t even talk to my own system." Aiden exined with a bittersweet smile.

    "Doesn''t it get lonely?" Jason questioned.

    "It does but I do have someone to keep mepany." Aiden raised his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.

    Suddenly a figure materialized out of his shadow. Jason blinked in surprise when he saw that the figure was none other than a wolf with a dark blue fur.

    "Wolves have always been friendly with me," Aiden exined while stroking the fur of the wolf. "This one has been with me ever since I got free from prison for the first time."

    "Why did you get imprisoned in the first ce?"

    "You love to ask a lot of questions, don''t you?" Aiden smiled before gesturing for Jason to follow him.

    He started walking towards the north with the wolf walking right beside him.

    Jason silently followed him while trying to figure out what could have happened in the past.

    ''I currently don''t have anyone to help me if anything goes wrong. I''ll have to make sure that Aiden doesn''t do anything to me...''

    Seconds after thinking that thought, Jason started doubting whether he could do anything to Aiden in the first ce.

    Not only was he much older than him, he was also more experienced and powerful.

    Someone like Jason didn''t stand a chance against Aiden.

    "You don''t need to be worried. I am not going to do anything to you, especially since your patron is Erebus." Aiden said from ahead.

    Jason was surprised by his words yet didn''t say anything.

    "You might be wondering how I know this or how I know Erebus? Well, let me answer your question." Aiden sighed.

    "Erebus and I go way back. He used to hide his identity back then since he had caused a small blunder and had his curse''s power increased thricefold. He went by the name of God of Entertainment.

    He worked together with someone called Infini, who was the Goddess of Entertainment. Both of them chose miserable people from Earth and reincarnated them.

    It''s simr to what you went through except we didn''t actually do anything good and neither did we get patrons. Our sole goal, which was kept hidden, was to entertain the other gods.

    It basically meant that our sufferings and enjoyments became a show for them to watch. Damn I still hate that..." Aiden''s voice trailed off.

    Jason''s instincts told him that it would be best if he kept himself quiet.

    Aiden automatically spoke up a few minutester. "The first time I met Erebus in his real form was when my new home, the demon continent part of Clover, was being destroyed..."

 Chapter 199 Destruction Of The Past [Part 2]

    "I had discovered something that proved as a threat to the existence of hundreds of gods. So in order to keep me under control, a god called Hypnos came to seal me.

    Once I was sealed away with only my system to keep mepany, I snapped. The powers inside me broke loose and it was then that I sensed the presence of another being nearby.

    That being was none other than Erebus who had calmly been watching things the entire time. Can you guess what was the first thing he said to me?" Aiden questioned.

    "You are pitiful?" Jason guessed.

    His guess waspletely based on his knowledge of novels with simr scenes.

    Though Jason had considered Erebus''s nature as well, at least the small portion of it that he knew.

    "You aren''t that far off. He said that no matter who you are, if you go against the existence of gods itself, all of them will make sure that you''ll die. Then he took me out of the prison and handed me a coke..."

    "That I can imagine..."

    Jason and Aiden both sighed while thinking about the god of shadows who made sure that the correct drink was handed to the correct person.

    "Anyways, he took me to his bar and told me that he could send me to Clover. It was the name of thebined realm that was formed after all of the separate realms for different races merged together.

    I was the one who forced the gods to do this. So when he gave me that option, I took it. Arriving into the world with my system and the goddess Artemis as my patron, I was dead set on making sure that such a thing didn''t get repeated."

    Aiden suddenly stopped talking as got a faraway look in his eyes.

    It was as though he was remembering the decisions he had made in the past.

    ''Artemis huh... Hestia must know her since both of them are Greek goddesses. I''ll ask her about Artemis once I get out of here.'' Jason noted mentally.

    "A whole lot of things happened after my return and I ended up bing a pseudo-god, being one step away from bing a proper one. Then enters Hypnos who teams up with the evil and ''good'' side of gods to defeat me.

    It turns out I hold a secret that can destroy not only Clover but multiple pantheon at once. Erebus chose this moment to provide his assistance again and sealed me inside this domain, with my permission of course.

    He told me to wait for the day a descendant of mine with simr powers to me would show up in the world of Clover. And that guy is you." Aiden pointed at Jason.

    Thetter blinked in surprise since he didn''t expect to hear such a turn to the tale.

    ''Fk... I don''t want to y this role of being someone with such powr and responsibility.''Jason cursed mentally.

    Unfortunately, he knew that he had already started a rebellion in the kingdom by going against Julian and his patron.

    "What''s so special about me in the first ce?" Jason questioned.

    "One, you are half-human and have an extremely good bloodline from that side.Two, you have a guardian who just so happened to be apanion of mine. Three, you have a system.

    Four, you have multiple divinities. Six, and the most major one, you are Erebus''s only follower and the only person present currently to have his divinity." Aiden stated.

    "Those were just my powers and abilities, some of which were obtained by sheer luck. Still doesn''t make sense as to why I am different..."

    "Jason, you are you. You aren''t a chosen one or anything like that. Heck, you might be called the right person due to your abilities. But I know one thing.<sub> </sub>

    Despite whatever you might believe, you want at least some form of peace in your life to settle down. You want to experience a life free of the constant worries of death." Aiden gave him a bittersweet smile.

    Jason on the other hand felt as though someone had just taken a peek at his soul.

    He had to admit that the time he had spent with his family and friends wa simply next level.

    Even practicing magic or fighting for fun seemed good to him.

    Jason wanted that life tost for a long time instead of being worried about constant threats attacking him left and right.

    "I..."

    "You don''t have to choose between saying yes or no." Aiden interrupted. "I have told you the truth so just take your time and think about it. That''s all I will ask."

    Jason fell silent since that was exactly what he was going to say. He was going to ask for some time to think but Aiden automatically gave him that.

    "I will tell you my decision in the future." Jason managed to say.

    Aiden smiled at him and nodded.

    "I will meet you in a few weeks. Think till then."

    With a snap of his fingers, Aiden sent him off to the real world.

    ''For the time being, my job is done. I leave the rest to you, Jason. Hopefully I''ll be saved but if not, I guess I would be the only person to me.''

    With a sad expression, Aiden sat down on his spot with his wolfpanion.

    There was nothing left for him to do except remembering the destruction caused by him in the past.

    ***

    "I guess I got used to this..." Jasonmented as his eyes flew open.

    Normally he would''ve have gasped but his body and mind were used to the sensation by now

    What he wasng used to was the feeling of water dropping down his face.

    Jason slowly sat up with a confused expression as he felt water tricking down his cheeks.

    He rubbed it off his face and looked around to see where it wasing from.

    However, his vision was soon blurred, making him understand that the water was coning from his eyes.

    ''Why am I... crying?''

 Chapter 200 The Bookworm Guardian [Part 1]

    [ Those are not your tears, host. They belong to someone else... ] The system said in a soft voice.

    Jason let the tears fall silently as he remembered that something simr had happened in the past.

    ''Can you talk to Hestia right now?''

    [ I am trying but she is once again locked up inside that temple. However, she can still hear me and has left a message saying that she will see us soon. ]

    ''I see...''

    Through his blurred vision, Jason tried to get a better look at his surroundings.

    He was present inside a spacious room with aplete ck decor.

    Almost everything inside the room was ck with the asional shade of blue or red.

    ''How long was I out for?''

    [ About a few hours. The sins thought that you passed out due to exhaustion from long-range teleportation. They left you with Astryn at the Nightshade family residence. ]

    (AN: Astryn is the name of Jason''s maternal grandmother while Fel is the name of his maternal grandfather.)

    ''Nightshade huh...''

    Jason flexed his body a bit before making his way toward the bathroom.

    He nced at his reflection in the mirror and noticed that his eyes were puffy and red from crying.

    The tears had stopped flowing yet his eyes still felt a bit sore.

    With a sigh, Jason used the tap to take out some water. He washed his eyes once before focusing on them in the mirror.

    ''System, monitor my eyes.''

    [ On it. ]

    Jason suddenly called his light mana towards his eyes. He slowly guided it towards the white portion of his eyes before letting it spread throughout the eyes.

    He used the light element in order to reduce the puffiness and redness of his eyes.

    Surprisingly, it worked. His eyes returned to a normal state.

    ''That was easy.''

    [ Your control is getting better. Normally the mana might have dispersed a bit but you kept it bound. Good job. ]

    Once his eyes were taken care of, Jason entered the shower.

    Half an hourter, he walked out of the room with a curious expression.

    It was pretty clear that he was staying inside the Nightshade family residence.

    "Nah, you aren''t going to explore this ce on your own. As far as most of the world is concerned, you are not even supposed to exist." An amused voice entered his ears.

    Jason turned around in surprise and was met face to face with Astryn.

    "Hello, grandson," Astryn smiled. "Nice to see you are still alive."

    "That''s kind of the perfect greeting I could get. Even I am surprised that I am alive." Jasonmented.

    Astryn''s smile widened a bit after hearing his response. "You are good at remarks. Something you and your mother have inmon."

    "My mom is good at this?" Jason asked in a surprised tone.

    After all, he had never interacted with his mother to know what she was like.<sub> </sub>

    "Evelyn is quite snarky and tells people off if they piss her. Michael and she had quite a few verbal matches due to that. It was quite entertaining."said fondly.

    The more Jason heard about his parents from other people, the more he wanted to meet them.

    Unfortunately, one of them was currently staying at some sort of temple to protect herself while the other one had simply vanished from existence.

    ''What a bizarre family I have...''

    [ Can''t do anything about that. It''s quite expected considering how bizarre you are. ]

    ''That might have been damaging a few years ago...''

    "So what am I supposed to do here? Talk with you?" Jason asked.

    "If that''s what you want to do, we can do it. Though you can learn more about your demon bloodline and demon powers if you want." Astryn offered.

    Being the naturally curious person he was, Jason immediately epted her offer.

    Astryn guided Jason through the halls of the ce. Jason had confirmed that it was still daytime because the entire ce was quite dark.

    No light was entering the halls from any direction.

    "This ce is so dark."

    "That''s what will happen when you are roaming underground. The real residence of our family is above this ce," Astryn exined. "The sins asked us to do this so that no one will know of your visit."

    ''It''s almost as though they are trying to hide my existence. What''s the worst that can happen if someone from the demon continent finds out that I am here?''

    [ Are you sure that you want to know that? ] The system asked in an amused tone.

    Jason wondered for a few seconds before replying with a no. It was better to leave this stuff to someone else''s imagination.

    "Wee to the biggest collection of ancient books you''ll find on the demon continent." Astryn suddenly announced.

    Both of them were currently standing in front of a pair of huge ck metal doors that seemed to be blocking the entrance to the library.

    The surprising thing was that there was no lock or handle or anything of that sorts to open or close the doors.

    "Let me guess, you need to drip your blood on the door and say something to open it?" Jason guessed.

    "Indeed, that''s the correct way to open it. But I''m not the one who is going to do it," Astryn replied. "You are going to open the door."

    Jason simply sighed and moved forward. He raised his right hand towards the door and nted his thumb on it.

    Suddenly, ck blood oozed out from his thumb even though he hadn''t made any visible cut on it.

    "So your blood is ck..." Astryn mumbled while lookin at Jason''s blood. "Now just say, "I, a member of the Nightshade family, wishes for these doors to be opened."

    "Couldn''t you guys have gone with something simple like "open'' or ''open up''? Why did you go with this entire sentence?"

    "I can''t do anything about this. This library has been here for many centuries. This method of protection was established a long time ago and we haven''t found a way to change it." Astryn shrugged.

    Jason simply shook his head and chanted the words to open the doors.

    Slowly, the metal doors started opening on the inside.

    Jason took a step forward before being hit by a cold wave that sent shivers down his spine.

    "I forgot to mention that there is one more thing you have to do." Astryn smirked. "There is a guardian protecting the library who you have to defeat in order to ess it."

    The moment the words left her mouth, a ck lightning bolt suddenly impaled Jason in the chest...

 Chapter 201 The Bookworm Guardian [Part 2]

    "Why do people keep forgetting to tell me the most important things?!" Jasonined as the bolt of lightning was absorbed by his body.

    The lightning left a bitter taste in his mouth but except that, he was easily able to absorb it without any problems.

    "Huh? How did you do that?" A confused voice entered his ears.

    Jason immediately looked up at the ceiling to see a woman with spectacles hanging upside down on the ceiling.

    Her feet were stuck to the wooden ceiling and her curious purple eyes were looking at Jason.

    ''The same color of eyes as me...''

    Jason realized that this was the first time he was seeing someone with purple eyes.

    Even in his new world, purple wasn''t amon color and was mostly only seen in thunder mages.

    But due to the thunder element being extremely rare, the purple color became rare as well.

    "I just absorbed it." Jason replied with a shrug.

    The woman was about to say something but l before the words could leave her mouth, a green thunderbolt hit her forehead.

    "Thunder..." the woman mumbled with wide eyes.

    The green thunderbolt was taken in by her body and vanished from sight.

    Both Jason and the woman locked eyebrows as they could sense the other''s element.

    Both of them were wielders of the thunder element and judging from the exchange, they had simr levels of power.

    "Thest battle I had with a thunder mage ended up in a stalemate. Come to think of it, your aura is quite simr to that person."

    "That''s because he is Issac''s grandson, Seshat." Astryn informed. "Do you want to battle him in a simr way."

    Seshat clicked her tongue when she heard Issac''s name. Detaching herself from the ceiling, shended on the floor.

    "No, it will most likely end up in a simr way. I''ll just use space magic to kick him out." Seshat replied before rotating her right wrist.

    Jason''s eyes widened in surprise as he was thrown back into a ck void.

    He appeared outside of the library in the next second and saw the doors closing in front of his eyes.

    "Your grandfather made quite the impression of Seshat on his visit here. I am surprised she even let you out so politely." Astrynmented as she came to stand beside Jason.

    Thetter didn''t say anything and simply stared at the doors.

    ''So that was space magic...''

    Though it had looked a bit simr to teleportation, Seshat had used somethingpletely different.

    It was as though she had bended the space between the library and the outside and had simply pushed Jason through it.

    "She has been guarding that library for almost 3 centuries. Her job is to make sure that only those judged worthy can read the books inside."

    "So in simple terms, I need to earn her recognition to read the books inside." Jason summarized. "Meh, that''s too much work. I''ll just wait for the sins to pick me up."

    "Huh? You are not going to barge in again and challenge her?" Astryn couldn''t help but feel surprised after hearing his words.

    "Why would I do that if she can kick me out easily?" Jason questioned back. "It''s too much trouble to go through just to read some books."

    "I thought that having Issac''s genes and living with him for this long would''ve made you like him. He had barged in again after Seshat had kicked him out."

    ''Unfortunately, those genes were transfered to my system. I became more calm headed and rational like my grandmother.''

    [ why does that feel like an insult... ]<sub> </sub>

    ''Because it''s meant to be one.'' Jason smirked mentally.

    "I am more like Risa. Anyways, where are the other two who came with me staying?"

    "The boy went with the sins while the girl decided to stay behind and wait for you to wake up." Astryn replied. "Let me take up to her."

    "Aight."

    Jason and Astryn were about to walk away when Seshat''s voice stopped them.

    "You aren''t going anywhere right now."

    Jason suddenly found himself inside the library again. Seshat was standing right in front of him and was staring at him with a curious gaze.

    "Don''t you want to battle me and read the secrets this ce holds?"

    "No, I don''t." Jason replied calmly.

    "Weird..." Seshat stepped a bit forward until her face was only a few inches away from Jason''s.

    Thetter felt his heartbeat increasing, not due to the fact that Seshat was a beauty who standing so close to him.

    It was the strange aura being emitted by her body that made him nervous.

    The aura waspletely different from all the others he had sensed before.

    [ This is probably the first andst time you''ll see a space mage. That''s why her aura feels so different. It''s a whole new element you are sensing for the first time. ] The system exined.

    Jason was about to ask Seshat something when she suddenly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his back.

    Seshat pulled him closer and tightly hugged, or rather, strangled him.

    Jason could feel the heat from her body transferring to his own yet his mind was currently panicking.

    He couldn''t breathe air and his lungs felt like they were set on fire.

    "Hmm, you are quite resistant to the space element. Is it because of those divinites inside you or due to something else?" Seshat muttered as she let Jason go.

    Thetter gasped and started taking deep breaths to reduce to the feeling of panic that had overtaken him.

    "I squeezed everything out of your lungs and put it in a different ce. I also created a small void near your nose to prevent you from breathing. A normal person would be lying dead on the floor right now." Seshat added after a second.

    Jason wanted to scream at her and ask why the hell had she done that to him.

    Unfortunately, his respiratory system was still recovering and that prevented him from shouting.

    "You... are... weird..." Jason managed to say between deep breaths.

    Seshat looked at him with a smile before patting his head.

    "I know. That''s why people call me the bookworm guardian. My life only consists of reading books, writing some of them and asionally interacting with people."

    "Sounds like a pretty boring life." Jasonmented.

    "You do love to speak whatever you want, huh." Seshat smiled. "I like you. You aren''t like the majority of people whoe here. For that, I''ll give you a reward."

    "Uh, thank you?" Jason replied awkwardly.

    Seshat continued to maintain the smile as her right hand shot forward and grabbed Jason''s hand.

    In front of his eyes, Seshat lifted his right hand and ced it on her right breast...

 Chapter 202 The Bookworm Guardian [Part 3]

    Jason''s braingged a bit yet his instincts told him to remainpletely still.

    "All right. Looks like you didn''t revert back to simple manly instincts." Seshat noted. "Now don''t think too much about my breast and try to feel my heartbeat."

    "Easier said than done..." Jason mumbled.

    Despite that, he closed his eyes and tried to feel Seshat''s heartbeat.

    However, minutes passed by in this manner before Jason realized that nothing was beating inside her chest.

    [ I ran a small check on her body. It doesn''t look like she has a heart. ]

    "You don''t have a heart..." Jason dered.

    A smile appeared on Seshat''s face as she let go of Jason''s hand. Thetter slowly pulled it back while looking at the woman in a new light.

    "I wasn''t born with a heart, or rather, my heart stopped beating moments after my birth. Unfortunately, my parents didn''t let my soul pass away due to the enormous amount of potential I had.

    They teamed up with the royal family and the sin of greed at that time to try a necromancy spell on me. Their n was to just bring me to a self aware state before chaining me to the demon king.

    Their n backfired and he got chained to me instead," Seshat giggled. "That was a fun time for the royal family. I ruled over the continent for a bit before returning here to meet the guardian that was guarding the library back then."

    "So you spent time with him andter became the guardian yourself." Jason guessed.

    Seshat nodded and started walking towards another section of the library.

    Jason stuck closely to her because he had seenacouple of books moving on their spot.

    He had seen a movie where cursed books could move from their spots and could do harm to other people.

    "Do you know that this is the first time in a thousand years that all seven sins exist at the same time?" Seshat questioned.

    ''So we gonna do Fruits Bas*et here?'' Jason wondered silently while shaking his head.

    "Normally only two to three sins exist at the same time but currently, all seven sins are alive at the same time. It''s quite obvious that something will happen since this much power doesn''t gather together for a reason."

    "Are you trying to say that some major destruction is about to be caused?"

    "Kind of. Another interesting fact is that eight out of the nine major guardians have already chosen their vessel. One more and the nine guardians will also be present in this ne."

    Seshat''s voice suddenly turned down to a mumble. "The nine guardians of the human race, the seven sins of the demon race, the four branches of the Elves world tree, two master builders of the dwarves and a single bnce creator."

    Jason asked the system to note all of this information.

    It was pretty obvious that thus information would be useful in the future since it talked about the special people from each race.

    "Wait, what about demi-humans?"

    "That''s who I was forgetting!" Seshat turned around and looked at Jason with an impressed expression. "The five spirits of the demi-human race! All of thesebined define the strongest potential holders of each race."

    Seshat suddenly broke into a sprint and reached a polished wooden desk.

    She picked up a ck leather-bound notebook and flopped it open to thest page with words written on it.

    ck words automatically appeared on the page as Seshat''s eyes started glowing.

    Jason decided to keep some distance between him and the bookworm guardian lest she released an unconscious attack in his direction.

    His decision turned out to be correct one as the space around Seshat started glitching.<sub> </sub>

    ck void like pockets were created in space followed by the appearance of ravens.

    The ravens flocked around Seshat and flew in an unorganized manner.

    Seshat wasn''t bothered by the appearance of ravens and continued to write words in her notebook.

    "An year..." Seshat said after what seemed like an eternity. "That''s the time we have."

    "Before what?"

    <o>,m "That doesn''t matter." Sehsat shook her head. "You''ll be staying in the demon continent for how long?"</o>

    "Uh, ten days I think."

    "Come visit me on the ninth day of your visit. In the meantime, read this book." Seshat flicked her wrist in the west direction.

    A book flew out of a shelf andnded in Jason''s arms. The next second, he appeared right next to Astryn and saw the locked doors again.

    "That was... weird." Jason sighed.

    [ Isn''t that true for most of your life? ] The systemmented.

    "Seshat can be like that sometimes but I guess she took a liking to you." Astryn smirked. "Should we go visit your friend now?"

    Jason nodded absentmindedly and followed Astryn.

    His demon grandmother took them through another set ofplicated hallways before they ended up in front of a door which was exactly the same door as Jason''s room.

    "Go in. If you want anything, drip the floor with your blood and say my name." Astryn instructed before vanishing from her spot.

    ''Might as well create a summoning jutsu...''

    Jason knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it.

    Two minutes passed by in this manner yet no one came to the door.

    ''Is she sleeping?'' Jason wondered silently.

    [ There is another possibility if we go by harem anime standards. Want me to run a check just to be sure? ]

    ''Please do...''

    Jason could already tell what the system was hinting at and he had to admit that the possibility did exist.

    However, seconds after instructing the system to check the interior of the room, the door swung open.

    "You are all right!" Amber smiled as she hugged Jason.

    Thetter was taken back by surprise especially when he noticed that Amber''s hair were a bit wet.

    ''Close call...''

    [ You almost checked the box for another isekai cliche. ]

    ''Why do you sound so disappointed?'' Jason mentally red at the system.

    [ I just wish things moved at a faster pace. ] The system replied in a sad tone. [ After all, it doesn''t seem like we have much time left. ]

 Chapter 203 I Only Know The Possibilities, Not The Outcome

    "You suddenly copsed when we appeared in this ce. The sins exchanged a silent nce but didn''t say anything. Hecate dered that you were exhausted but it was obvious that she was lying.

    They then asked whether I wanted toe with them right there or stay with you until you woke up. As you can see, I stayed here. Wade was offered the same choice but he went with them." Amber exined.

    Jason and her were sitting inside her room. The former had asked her about what had happened to once he had appeared in the demon continent.

    "I guess we have to go with them now." Jason sighed.

    "I guess. Also, your grandma is quite cool. She actually taught me this so I don''t get bored." Amber raised her right hand and summoned a fireball made from ck mes.

    Jason blinked in surprise when he saw the ck mes resting on Amber''s palm.

    "How long was I out for again?"

    "Around a day or so. I am a fast learner when ites to me rted things."

    As if to prove her point, Amber manipted the mes to create a Phoenix.

    The bird flew around the room beforeing to rest on top of Jason''s head.

    Surprisingly, the bird didn''t radiate any heat towards Jason.

    "Are there any other forms of me magic?" Jason asked curiously.

    The ck mes had reminded him of the different types of thunder he had.

    "Dunno. I''ll ask your grandmotherter on. I guess I could ask my parents as well..." with a snap of her fingers, the Phoenix vanished. "Shall we go?"

    "Sure."

    Jason and Amber stood up at the same time and moved out of the room.

    "Do you know your way around here?" Amber questioned.

    "No need. I''ll just summon Astryn here." Jason replied before sitting down on his knees.

    He dripped the floor with his blood and said Astryn''s name.

    In the blink of an eye, Astryn appeared right in front of the two children.

    "When will the sinse to pick us up?" Jason questioned.

    "If you want, I can get Fel to contact them right now," Astryn suggested. "There''s no knowing when they will show up themselves."

    "Hmm, might as well do it."

    After hearing his response, Astryn once again guided them through the mysterious halls.

    ''Amon went with the sins as well. So much for being my protector...''

    [ Actually, he ced a mark on you. If you were in danger, the mark would instantly teleport him to your location regardless of any protective formation... ]

    ''Why do people always love to hold on to details until a very crucial moment?'' Jason grumbled.

    Five minutester, he was standing in front of Fel. It had happened so suddenly that Jason found it a little hard to believe.

    Astryn had suddenly stopped walking and a secondter, Fel had appeared in front of Jason.

    If he hadn''t seen Seshat use space magic, Jason would have sworn that Fel had used space maniption.

    "Hmm..." Fel''s eyes moved up and down Jason''s body as he examined his grandson.<sub> </sub>

    Jason felt as though Fel''s eyes were piercing right through his skin and were noticing every single detail of his body.

    "Did he get the narcissistic side?" Fel asked in a low tone.

    "No, he didn''t, at least not on Issac''s level." Astryn replied with a smile.

    Fel sighed in relief before looking Jason in the eyes. A silent exchange happened between them before Fel put a hand on Jason''s shoulder.

    "Jason, always remember one thing," Fel said in a serious tone. "Never trust Risa''s teleportation abilities, Issac''s negotiation abilities and Astryn''s mediator abilities."

    Jason blinked in surprise at the random piece of advice Fel had thrown his way.

    "Don''t trust his future predicting abilities." Astryn added from the side.

    Even though she wanted to refute Fel''s words, Astryn knew that her husband was correct.

    Instead of calming the two sides, she would inme them or leave them both destroyed. Things were more fun that way.

    "Yeah, yeah. I know that in the future, I''ll definitely see you dressed in a maid outfit while you will be wearing a butler''s clothes." Fel predicted while pointing at Jason and Amber.

    The maid outfit prediction was aimed at Jason the butler one was aimed at Amber.

    ''I shouldn''t trust his words, right?''

    [ Don''t worry too much. This is not that kind of story. Only jokes will be entertained. ]

    ''...''

    Jason felt like facepalming yet refrained from doing so. He simply wondered what he had done to get such a bizarre yet caring pair of grandparents.

    "Anyways, let me send you off to the sins." Fel interrupted before flicking his hands in Jason''s direction. "By the way, it was quite pleasing to meet our future granddaughter-inw."

    Jason coughed loudly while Amber blushed a little. Neither of them agreed or opposed Fel''s statement.

    "I guess that''s one prediction I would like to be true." Astryn winked. "See you both soon."

    Jason and Amber slowly vanished from their spots and went ahead on their journey.

    Astryn and Fel on the hand sighed simteneously.

    "How much of that was true?" Astryn asked.

    "I don''t know. I only know the possibilities, not the oue. For example, I saw a future where Jason loves cross dressing followed by another where he was turned into a masochist.

    Then there was one that showed him traveling into a cave with the sins. All three of them have different chances ofing true yet all of them are possibilities," Fel paused. "I''ve exined thus many times."

    "I know. It''s just fun to hear you talk about your powers." Astryn smiled. "It was due to this that the demon king granted you the position of amander."

    "Sometimes I wish my powers were a bit different. Some possibilities are rather... frightening." Fel shuddered a bit as he remembered the various nightmares he had seen.

    Astrun gently hugged him from behind and rested her head on his shoulder.

    "Don''t worry, I won''t leave you behind. Even if a possibility like that exists, I''ll smash it." Astryn whispered in his ear.

    "I know." Fel smiled slightly before kissing Astryn.

    Despite this, he knew that every possibility, including the worst and the best ones, mighte true in the future...

 Chapter 204 Mays Wish

    While these events were unfolding in the demon continent, things were heating up in the Syrward residence.

    [ So you are telling me that he left me here! ] May shouted inside Risa''s head.

    "I have already told you this three times..." Risa replied as her jaw twitched slightly.

    [ But he left me here... what if my divinity goes out of control or something? ]

    "There are many people other than Jason who can handle that," Risa replied calmly.

    [ Oh yeah? I know you don''t want toe near me since my aura is triggering something inside you, something that has been hidden and not used for a long time. ] May countered.

    The demi-god had sensed " long ago that even though Risa tried her best to take care of her, she maintained some distance.

    In the end, May realized that her divine powers were triggering a simr reaction inside Risa.

    May guessed that Risa also had a divinity inside her but it hadn''t been activated or used for a long time.

    "I... you are right." Risa sighed. "But that doesn''t mean I''ll let you be. I can control your divinity a bit as well. Why do you want Jason to be here though?"

    [Its because... ] May''s voice trailed off.

    ''He is the only one who hasn''t been affected by my divinity and I saw things about him.'' May sighed.

    When Jason had been trying to control her divinity, May had gotten a glimpse at Jason''s life.

    However, she hadn''t seen the memories of his current life, or at least that was the conclusion she had arrived at.

    She had seen a few memories of him growing up and spending time with Thalia.

    May had also seen the memories Jason had of fighting during m.

    May couldn''t help but be fascinated by the actions of the silver-haired teenager.

    "If you want to meet him, you can always go to him," Risa suggested despite knowing that it wasn''t possible.

    May was still stuck in the body of an infant so she couldn''t travel that far without the help of someone else.

    [ That''s a genius idea! ] May eximed.

    Risa blinked in surprise since she wasn''t expecting that response.

    "Uh..."

    Before she could say anything, May''s body started glowing. The divinity inside her body red up as May''s aura started vanishing.

    ''I wish to be with him since he can prevent me from going on a rampage. And he is the only one who I know something about...''

    In the blink of an eye, the demi-god vanished from her spot. All that was left of her was a strand of divine energy that was being attracted toward Risa''s body.

    "Damn it." Risa clenched her fist in frustration before deflecting the divine energy.

    <o>,m ''Jason, I hope she reaches you safely instead of being taken by some other demon.''</o>

    ***

    "Achoo!" Jason suddenly sneezed.

    He and Amber were currently standing under a huge oak tree with Amon.

    The rest of the sins were reporting to the demon king so they had to wait there for their conference to be over.

    "Seems like someone is remembering you." Amon chuckled.

    "Maybe..." Jason shrugged.<sub> </sub>

    A minute passed by in this manner before Jason felt something inside him heating up.

    ''Uh, system, is it me, or is something weird going inside my body?'' Jason questioned.

    [ Let me run a scan. Want me to check up on your divinities as well? ]

    ''Definitely.''

    < Ding! >

    < Scanplete! >

    < A foreign semi-divine presence has been located inside the host''s soul. One of the bonds formed by the host''s soul is currently pulling on this divine energy. >

    A frown appeared on Jason''s face after hearing the message.

    He immediately focused on his bond with May since she was the only semi-divine being he currently had a bond with.

    [ Ahem, you are wrong there. Both Hestia and I define semi-divine beings. ]

    ''Damn, I learned something new by mistake again.''

    [ At least you are not saying that sarcastically. ]

    Jason was about to say something in response when a shrill voice echoed inside his head.

    [ FOUND YOU! ]

    Jason immediately clutched his head as a burst of divine energy shot out from his body.

    May hovered in front of him with a tired expression on her face. The divine energy emitting from her body slowly started vanishing as well.

    "What is she doing here?" Amber asked with a surprised expression.

    Since she too had been staying at the Syrward residence she had gotten to see May a few times.

    Jason had also exined how he had encountered her but he hadn''t told Amber who May''s godly parent was.

    In fact, Jason hadn''t told anyone else who May''s parents were. He felt that it would be much easier to protect her if he and the Red-Butt Monkey king were the only people to know about May''s parents.

    "This is not good. Her divinity leaked out and was probably picked up by most of the senior demons in the nearby area. We need to change locations right now!" Amon said with an alert look.

    "No need to do that. None of you except that child will be leaving this ce!" A high-pitched feminine voice cackled.

    The branches of the tree suddenly shot down and attacked the quartet.

    Jason immediately wrapped his arms around May and dodged the iing branches with the help of his thunder element. Amber attacked the branches head-on with her magma element. Since her element had a huge advantage over the branches, her attack immediately destroyed most of the branches.

    Amon remained still on his position with an expressionless face. The branchesing his way were destroyed by an invisible force, making the owner of the voice click their tongue.

    "My distraction wasn''t that strong I guess."

    Three pink beams suddenly shot from under the ground and directly targeted the trio.

    "The house of lust and envybining together. That''s something new." Amon whistled lowly as the beam hit his body.

    Jason managed to dodge the attack while Amber merged herself with the ground to avoid being hit.

    She also used her powers to sense the presence of other demons hiding underground. Though she wasn''t sure of their power level, she used her powers to slowly trap them inside the earth.

    "Oh, you know who we are?" The owner of the voice jumped down from the top of the tree and revealed herself.

    "I think you might know me as well." Amon smiled. "After all, I am one of the sins."

 Chapter 205 A Family Not Related By Blood

    Awe and Fear.

    Those were the only two things Jason could feel when Amon red up a bit of his divinity.

    The woman as well as every other demon present in the area sank to their knees and started screaming.

    Their hands reached for their throats and they started squeezing them tightly as if they wanted to die.

    "What a frightening power..." Amber murmured from beside Jason.

    The two teenagers could only watch the demons strangle themselves. At that moment, neither of them felt like doing anything.

    "We went away for half an hour and you started killing demons from my family."

    Diana, the sin of lust, suddenly appeared beside Amon and gave him a teasing smile. Thetter raised an eyebrow but didn''t cancel the effects of his divinity.

    "Lady Diana..." The woman from earlier managed to speak. Her eyes were blood red and tears were falling down her cheeks.

    "You shouldn''t try to take someone so blindly. That is why I hate all of you so much." Diana sighed before snapping her fingers.

    Some portion of her divinity red up as well and canceled the effects of Amon''s divinity.

    "Off you go back to the ce you came from." Juliana, the sin of envy, sighed before snapping her fingers.

    The demons instantly vanished from their spots, leaving the sins alone with Jason, Amber and May.

    "So this was the creature that emitted that aura." Koro, the sin of greed,mented. "She looks quite young to do something like this.''

    "You are one to talk. You are fifteen yet you still look like a ten year old." Manny, the sin of gluttony, chuckled.

    "Oi, I didn''t live five years of my life. I am still ten." Koroined.

    "Divinity. Not young. Teenager." Xavier, the sin of sloth, observed.

    Somehow, everyone present there, except May, were able to understand what Xavier meant to say.

    "You are correct. She is older than she looks and yes, she has a divinity that she can''tpletely control." Jason exined.

    Even though he didn''t trust the sins, he had to provide some sort of exnation for the situation.

    ''why do I feel sofortable around them?'' he wondered at the same time.

    [ It''s probably because all of you are high-level demons and have some sort of connection. I am ny percent sure it has something to do with your bloodline. ]

    ''Bloodlines are soplicated. The events of the past still make their way into the future this way.'' Jason sighed mentally.

    "The real question is, how did she get here?" Juliana asked atst.

    "I don''t know. She suddenly appeared in front of us without any exnation." Jason shrugged.

    [ I came here to meet youбн ] May said inside his head.

    ''You sound weak. Go and sleep. I will handle things here and we will talkter.'' Jason urged.

    [ All rightбн Don''t leave meбн ] May replied weakly.

    ''I promise I won''t.''

    "Hmm, I guess she can stay with you as long as wepletely mask her aura," Juliana muttered. "Is that fine with you?"

    "Sure."

    "Xavier, do your thing now." Juliana instructed.

    The sin of sloth slowly moved forward and tapped May''s forehead with his right index finger.

    A small amount of divine energy transferred from the tip of his finger into May''s body.

    Her aura slowly started to fade away alongside the divine energy of her divinity.<sub> </sub>

    Jason used the ability of his eyes to look at what was happening.

    [ Sealing magic. Xavier used his divinity to seal the energy inside May''s body, with her permission as it seems. ]

    ''So he couldn''t have done it without her permission?''

    [ Hmm, he probably could have but that would have required more energy and would probably cause harm to May. You''ll have to personally ask him for more details. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    "Now that her aura is masked, let''s talk about some important stuff," Diana said cheerfully. "Which one of you wants to host him at your family house?"

    "We are going to my house since Wade is staying there as well," Manny replied. "Didn''t we already discuss this?"

    "We totally did!" Koro nodded. "Sis just wants to do some time pass before we go."

    "Oi, don''t expose me, you brat!" Diana hissed.

    "There they go againбн" Juliana facepalmed yet didn''t do anything to stop the two sins.

    This made Jason wonder whether the sins were also like normal people instead of the supposed terrifying demons they were portrayed as.

    "We are like this." Xavier whispered near Jason before walking away.

    ''Four wordsбн'' Jason looked at the sin of sloth with a surprised expression.

    "All right, that''s enough. Koro, drop it. Diana, we have people we need to take care off." Manny said atst and finished the argument between the two sins.

    "Does this happen often?" Jason asked Juliana.

    "All the time. Sometimes I feel like all of them are just kids but perhaps that''s because I''m the oldest one among us five." Juliana sighed.

    "Must be quite tough to handle them."

    "Not really. I have been with them ever since they were born." Juliana smiled. "Lucius, Amon and they are my family instead of the blood rted one."

    Jason maintained his silence and let the sins teleport him away.

    ''I wonder if you have started thinking the same way.'' He silently wondered while looking at May.

    Perhaps for the demi-god, Jason and the Syrward family had be her family.

    A family not rted by blood.

    "ce is a bit rusty so don''t mind it much. If any demon tries anything funny, just tell him or her that you are with me," Manny exined to Jason and Amber.

    All of them were currently standing in a rusty dining hall.

    The chandelier hanging above head was also covered with so much dust that it had lost its shine.

    The same could be said for almost everything inside the room except for one thing.

    A silver ring that was floating in the middle of the room.

    "Oh? That''s interesting." Dianamented. "The ring is reacting to someone''s presence."

    "And it''s not mine." Manny added.

    All eyes turned on Jason. He had his fair share of experience with such things so he immediately handed May over to Amber and closed his eyes.

    The next moment, the silver ring shot from its ce and directly struck Jason''s forehead.

    A system message followed it but Jason could only read half of it before losing consciousness.

    < Commencing ''Death byбн

 Chapter 206 I Have Way Too Many Overpowered Family Members...

    "Well, this is weird. I thought I was going to fight in some kind of challenge after reading the beginning of that messageбн" Jason muttered in surprise.

    He was currently sitting on a leather chair and food kept appearing in front of him. No matter how much he ate, Jason didn''t feel full.

    ording to the system, his only goal was to keep eating until he couldn''t do it anymore.

    ''I wish the challenges I face in the future are as rxing as this one.''

    ***

    "How many minutes have passed by since the ring touched him?" Diana asked in an anxious tone.

    "Almost seven minutes," Manny replied calmly. "If anything had to go wrong by now, it would have already happened so there is no need to worry."

    "Stillбн Most demons cough blood after reaching the two minute mark. Even the members of your family can barelyst up to six minutes." Diana pointed out.

    "Don''t forget Jason is no normal demon. He is only half-demon with the blood of the Nightshade family running through his veins. They are the major branch of the family which descended from the Shadowstone bloodline." Manny reminded.

    The two discussed a few things like this before quietly looking at Jason. The silver-haired teenager had broken something simr to a world record for surviving the longest after being hit by the silver ring.

    Another two minutes passed by in this manner before Jason''s eyes started fluttering.

    "Ten minutes," Manny announced. "He is officially the fourth person in the past decade to survive more than ten minutes."

    Seconds after he had said those words, Jason''s eyes flew open. He looked around with a surprised expression before standing up from the ground.

    "What the hell that was that?"

    "Its a sort of test put up by this ring." Manny exined as the silver ring flew to his hand. The ring automatically slid on his right ring finger and stayed there. "All the sins have this ring that mostly stays with them."

    Jason''s eyes immediately went to Amon''s hand which held a simr silver ring, except with a different pattern.

    Xavier and Diana also had the same kind of rings but the other sins didn''t have them.

    "These rings have a small amount of consciousness and have been with all the previous sins," Juliana informed. "They were personally crafted for the first seven deadly sins."

    "How did the sins came to be?" Amber asked curiously. "I have always wondered how the first of you came together."

    "It is said that the first demon king on the world of Clover gathered seven cursed figures and gave each of them a ring that will allow them to control their cursed abilities. The seven people were then able to live a normal life as long as they wore the rings.

    They were indebted to the king and became his subordinates. Those were the seven sins and the moment they took the rings off and decided to fight someone at full strength, their cursed abilities would get out.

    Later on these families met the son of the demon king, who is known as Aiden Shadowstone. Many think he is the first demon king but they are wrong.

    Aiden gave some of his blood to all the seven sins and told them it would act as a divinity and an ulterior protection that will allow them to control their powers easily even after removing the ring." Diana paused and pointed towards the hands of the sins without rings.

    "That is why we can move freely without wearing the ring. Though it does not have any side effects, it feels like a tint amount of pressure is weighing us down." Koro sighed.

    "Anyways, that blood is still present inside us. Aiden also had three children, one of which was the founder of the Nightshade bloodline, your bloodline.<sub> </sub>

    Also all the sins have always been born into their respective bloodlines so I guess you are rted to all of us in a way." Manny informed.

    ''You were right. It was due to my bloodline that I was feeling this connection.'' Jason said to the system.

    [ Thank you. ]

    "Also, there is something else that you should know." Diana faked cough. "Lucius is rted to you as well."

    "Isn''t that true for all of the sins?" Jason asked.

    "It is but Lucius is... well he is a member of the Nightshade family." Juliana sighed. "He is your mother''s real brother."

    Jason almost choked on in air when he heard the revtion.

    The demon king was his uncle, literally.

    ''I have way too many overpowered family members...''Jason sighed.

    The list of overpowered people in his family kept on expanding. At this point, Jason was left wondering why his family even had any problems to begin with.

    "Lot of restrictions. Responsibilities. Heartbreaks. Many sad things. Wait for future. You will. See it. Too." Xavier whispered as though he had read Jason''s mind.

    "I know..." Jason replied in a low tone becausepared to what the others had suffered, he was still at a lower level.

    "Anyways, wee to the manor of gluttony. Feel free to order anything aloud and that food will appear in front of you," Manny exined.

    "Chocte!" Koro said aloud in order to demonstrate it.

    A bar of chocte appeared in his hands which he slowly nibbled on.

    "That''s cool." Amber whistled. "Red chili."

    Jason made noments at that and simply asked for a donut. Eating a snack like that was the only thing he could use to process the shock he had received.

    "I''ll bring Wade, stay here." Manny instructed before vanishing from his spot.

    Jason and Amber didn''t pay much attention to that and simply kept on eating their food.

    Manny reappeared alongside Wade after a few minutes.

    "Hey," Jason greeted his ssmate.

    But before anyone could say or do anything, a cloud of darkness suddenly emerged out of Wade''s body.

    And as all of them had guessed it, the cloud shot towards Jason..

 Chapter 207 I Can Break Others Out Of Their Contract

    "Sorry about that. My powers have been going out of hand ever since I started controlling them." Wade sighed as the darkness resided and entered his body.

    He flexed his shoulders a bit before smiling at Jason and Amber. "Nice to see you both again after a long time."

    "Years have passed by since west met," Jason agreed. "You have changed a lot."

    "As if you are one to speak."

    Jason noticed that Wade was a few inches taller than him though he didn''t mind it too much. Height wasn''t something concerning to him.

    ''Hmm, I guess I have to cut my hair as well.'' Jason suddenly noticed that his hair had grown much longer and were now irritating him.

    [ You could have asked Risa to do it for you beforeing here. ]

    ''I guess I will do it once we get back.''

    "Now that all three of you are gathered together, I will tell you the real reason we are here." Diana announced. "Starting tomorrow, Jason is going to visit the remainder of the sins house to get their rings and see if they react with Jason.

    We are also going to take Amber to a special spot located in the house of lust. Wade, you already know that you will be going to the house of greed. Once all of this is done, you three will meet Lucius and hear our side of story regarding Julian Vancouver."

    The trio nodded after receiving the information of their travel for the uing days.

    "Why are you doing this though?" Jason asked curiously.

    "That''s a secret," Koro smiled. "When the time is right, we will tell you the reason for this."

    Jason raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything. For the time being, he decided to trust the sins.

    "Who are we going to visit first?" Wade asked.

    "My house!" Koro replied cheerfully. "We will get you nice andfy there before going to sis Diana''s house. Any other questions you guys have?"

    "What exactly am I going to experience in the house of lust?" Amber asked with narrowed eyes.

    "Even I don''t know that. I just know that you''re the right person to take there. Only time will tell what you might face."

    "That sounds rather ominousбн"

    The trio didn''t have any other questions to ask and simply let the sins guide them towards their room.

    Jason was surprised to see that despite being present in the manor of a big family rted to a sin, the rooms were quite standard.

    A simple in ck bed and a closet with an attached mirror were the only pieces of furniture in the room.

    Jason summoned some food from thin air before lying on the bed with a sigh.

    ''System, please keep a check on my surroundings.'' Jason said before closing his eyes to sleep.

    It took him a few minutes to get adjusted to extreme quietness of the ce before falling asleep.

    бн

    "Hmm, where am I now?"

    Secondster, Jason was sitting on top of what looked like the peak of a mountain. He could see snow stretching down for kilometers with no signs of life visible anywhere.<sub> </sub>

    "You are in the waiting area of my domain." A warm familiar voice spoke from behind. "I finally got the time to meet you and exin things about my divinity."

    Jason turned back and came face to face with Sancus. The god of oaths looked exactly the same like the first time Jason had met him.

    "Hello."

    "Let''s move to somewhere morefortable looking." Sancus pped his hands. "This should be a good ce to discuss the powers of my divinity."

    Jason and Sancus were now standing in an office room with tons of papers sprawled all across the room.

    Some papers were littered on the floor while some were hovering in the room. Some were kept on shelves while some were ced on a big wooden desk with a lot of other office rted things.

    "Wee to one of my offices where I and my twin, Horkos, keep tracks of all the oaths sprawled across the various. Not all of them are made in our names though. We just keep track of all those made in the name of Greek and Roman gods.

    We also keep track of the oaths and contracts from the worlds assigned to us. Its one heck of a tough job." Sancus sighed.

    Jason on the other hand was surprised to see that despite being such a god, Sancus still had to a tough job. There was no leaving your work behind."

    "How many oaths and contracts are present in this room right now?" Jason asked curiously.

    "The ones that was are visible are around two hundred thousand. After adding the ones that are not visible, there are almost fifty million of them here." Sancus replied.

    ''Well there goes any chance of me bing his assistantter on.''

    If Jason was going to have to stick with paperwork for all eternity, he would go ahead and take his chances by being reincarnated again.

    [ You can think of all that when you actually die. Come back to reality right now. ]

    ''Right.''

    Sancu made his way through the bundles of paper and sat down on the chair near the desk.

    He crossed his legs and looked at Jason with curious eyes. "Summon your divinity."

    Jason did as told and called upon the purple pen. It materialized in front of him with a dull sh of light and started hovering in front of his face.

    "So that''s the extra divinity I handed outбн" Sancus muttered with a dazed expression. "Its purple instead of the normal blue. What do you think of it?"

    "Um, I don''t know much about it I though you were the one who was going to tell me about your divinity."

    "My normal divinity allows you to have divine oaths, something not everyone can do. It also prevents you from being enved or being forced to sign a contract. It gives you the power to nullify unfair contract you have signed.

    Contracts signed using my divinity will forever be binding unless both parties agree to dissolve the contract under fair circumstances. There are more benefits but you have to be my follower for that." Sancus summarized.

    "Those are pretty all right."

    "Anything else that you have noticed about my divinity which seems unusual?" Sancus questioned.

    "Uh, I can break others out of their contractsбн" Jason replied awkwardly.

    Sancus immediately mmed the tables as his eyes widened a bit.

    "What did you just say?!

 Chapter 208 House Of Greed

    Sancus''s eyes widened when he heard Jason''s words. The god found it hard to believe that such an ability was transferred with his special divinity.

    "Your luck is quite high." Sancus sighed. "That divinity officially allows you to break others from all types of contracts, be it good or bad ones. But remember, breaking contracts will always carry some kind of drawback.

    Not to mention that you will have to suffer the wrath of those who you broke the contract of."

    Jason nodded in acknowledgment. This was something he had thought of long ago and didn''t really mind. Everything came at a price.

    "So I guess thats all about the divinity." Jason said.

    "Unless any other abnormality pops up, that''s about it. Want me to send you back?"

    "Sure, there are many things that I will have to do in the next following days."

    Sancus nodded and simply snapped his fingers. Jason''s body disintegrated on the spot and vanished.

    Sancus stared at that spot for a few seconds before closing his eyes.

    ''Things are going to be troublesome for him in the future. I wonder what the jade emperor will think about him once he learns about the true nature of the three divinities Jason has.''

    Sancus had already seen the presence of the third divinity inside Jason''s body. Even though he wasn''t hundred percent sure about its owner, he had a good guess as to who it was.

    ''She is going to be quite clingy once the divinity activatesбн''

    ***

    "I guess I wake up normally now." Jason mumbled as his eyes opened up.

    He slowly rubbed them and sat up. After summoning some food out of thin air and eating up, Jason stood up and got his daily things done.

    ''Any idea how I am supposed to call for them?''

    [ Nope. They will either show up themselves or you are going to be prisoner here. ]

    ''So those are the best- and worst-case scenarios huh.''

    Jason wouldn''t be surprised if someone left him trapped inside the room. Such things were quite normal for him.

    ''Might as well go out and see what is happening.''

    Jason opened the door and stepped out of the room, changing the worst-case scenario of being locked inside the room.

    But no sooner had he walked a few steps that Wade appeared in front of him.

    "Morning."

    "Good morning."

    Once they had greeted each other, the two of them stood there silently. Neither side knew what to say, especially since they were talking like this after a long time.

    "So, uh, what were you doing for the past few years?" Jason asked.

    "Nothing much. I was staying with my guardians and training with them. The king did approach me and was about to force me to join his side. My guardians took me away and I was saved." Wade shrugged.

    ? "I guess he really is desperate to get power on his side," Jason muttered. "I won''t be surprised if he targeted Zeke as well."<sub> </sub>

    "I don''t know what happened with him. I guess you can go and see what is happening there once we return back."

    "Yeahбн"

    Once again, an uneasy silence settled between the two of them. Fortunately, Amber stepped out of the room and broke the awkward atmosphere.

    "Was it just me who encountered mosquitoes?" Amber questioned.

    "I did as well," Wade replied.

    "I was in deep sleep, so I don''t know." Jason shrugged as he checked for mosquito bites over his body.

    "There were so many of them in my room. But it was fun to find them and burn them." Amber replied with gleaming eyes.

    "Isn''t it too early to be feeling that murderous?" Diana suddenly questioned. "But then, mosquitoes deserve such treatment, especially if they are the variety which sucks mana."

    "I know right? They are soooo annoying." Koroined.

    ''These guys are like mosquitoes as well. They pop up when you don''t expect them to appear.'' Jason observed.

    Currently, only Diana, Koro and Amon were present with the trio. The rest of the sins were nowhere to be seen.

    "Since we will only be going to my house, the others won''t be showing up. Are you three ready to go with us?" Koro asked.

    The trio nodded together, allowing Diana to use teleportation magic to teleport all of them to the house of greed.

    "My ce is a bit more colorful aspared to Manny''s house so keep that in mind." Koro added as an afterthought.

    The six of them appeared in another hall, onepletely opposite of the one that they had just left.

    The entire hall was kept clean and shiny, and the chandelier seemed to be glowing as well. A bald butler dressed in aplete ck outfit greeted them.

    "Wee back, Master Koro. Nice to see you,dy Diana. It''s a pleasure to meet you after so many years, Lord Amon." The butler greeted. "Nice to meet you all as well."

    "You are still the same, K." Amon chuckled.

    "It is what it is, lord." K smiled.

    Jason and the other two stood quietly and listened to the three sins casually talk with K. It took a few minutes before Koro turned towards him with a serious expression.

    "Jason, get ready, I will be summoning my ring. The moment it appears in this room, it will shoot towards you and test you. Be prepared for that." Koro warned.

    Jason nodded and rxed his body. He shared a nod with Amber before stepping forward.

    Koro snapped his fingers and released a small portion of his mana. The atmosphere inside the hall immediately turned a bit dark as a silver ring appeared in front of Koro.

    As expected, the ring immediately shot towards Jason who weed it with a rxed body.

    The ring made contact with his forehead and slowly made him lose consciousness. But this time, Jason was able to hear and read the message sent by the system clearly.

    < Commencing ''Death by Greed''. Results of the trial will depend on the actions of the user. Be warned, external as well as internal damage might be suffered by the undertaker of the trial. >

 Chapter 209 Challenge Of Greed [Part 1]

    ''I guess that''s good to know. I can suffer major injuries from simply eating too much foodбн''

    [ I don''t think you will be eating food again. Since Koro is the sin of greed, you will be facing something greed rted. ]

    Seconds after the system had said these words, a red silver screen appeared in front of Jason.

    < Would you like to change your physical appearance? >

    Jason blinked in surprise after reading the words.

    < Do you want to see your looks first before making the decision? >

    "Yes, I do." Jason replied instinctively.

    The silver screen was reced by a in mirror which showed Jason his upper body.

    He focused on his face and was happy to see that the signs of puberty were not visible on his face.

    [ Your family genes also prevent your facial hair and body hair growth and a lot of other stuff. You can consider yourself to be quite lucky. ]

    Jason smiled a bit as he saw his hair extending down his forehead.

    After thinking about it for a few minutes, Jason said yes to the option and opened another screen.

    This time he could see his upper body in the form of a game stats.

    It was simr to how one could format their own character in role ying games.

    Jason clicked on the hair option and shortened his hair. Once he had gotten it to a more controble length, he exited the window and returned to the main interface.

    Jason tried looking for a close button, but it wasn''t visible.

    ''I feel like I''m looking at one of those annoying ads that can''t be closed.'' Jasonined as he sat down.

    He was currently present in a garden made full of roses, something he had noticed only after shortening his hair.

    Jason soon started creating different things out of thunder and dark elements, ignoring the self-editing screen in front of his face.

    Fifteen minutes passed by in this manner before the screen vanished.

    Jason released a sigh and stood up to face whatever was about toe next.

    "Eh?" Jason blinked in surprise when he saw a stack of dor bills falling from the sky.

    Soon enough, thousands of hundred-dor bills started raining from the sky, making Jason wonder what he was witnessing.

    "Um, those aren''t really useful to me anymore. I can''t do anything with dor bills." Jason said aloud.

    Suddenly, the dor bills turned into gold coins that rained from the sky.

    Jason groaned and activated his thunder element to dodge the iing coin attacks.

    "How am I supposed to take these with myself?!" Jason shouted.

    This time, the coin rain stopped, andughter echoed around the entire ce.

    "You are funny, kid." A deep voice slowly crept up Jason''s ears.

    "Now who might you be? Someone trapped inside the ring?"

    "No, I''m just the consciousness of the ring. I don''t have any name or body but I''m still here." The voice replied. "I''ll give you onest challenge."<sub> </sub>

    With that, Jason was thrown into hisst challenge for the dayбн hopefully.

    Once he appeared in the new spot, Jason immediately put his guard up. Thest challenges were usually the most difficult ones.

    He was standing in a clearing with four silver blocks floating in front of him. All of the blocks emitted an ominous aura, making Jason raise his hands in their direction.

    The first silver block started mutating and in less than a minute, Jason was looking at a perfect clone of himself.

    They looked nearly identical except for the fact that the other Jason had good, styled hair and perfect skin. He could have rivaled one of the jade beauties always mentioned in web novels.

    ''Why do people love to make clones? I will have to fight another version of myself. This is getting kinda old.'' Jason sighed.

    However, he soon regretted thinking that. The clone version of him started mutating again until its muscles were four times what Jason had.

    Thunder started flickering around the clone''s body before wrapping around its body and created an armor of sorts.

    Jason looked at this with narrowed eyes just as the second cube started changing its shape. Soon enough, another Jason was standing beside the first one.

    This one, however, was quite thin whenpared to the real one. His hair was also kept quite short and white thunder was flickering around his body.

    ''Oh wait, don''t tell me that they are going to show the various versions of thunder that I can useбн'' Jason caught on quickly.

    His theory turned out to be correct when thest cube also took the form of another clone. This one had quite long hair and had it tied behind in a ponytail.

    His clothes looked like that of a hunter and asso made from green thunder was also present in his hands.

    ''What will thest cube show? I don''t think I have any other unlocked version of lightning.'' Jason thought curiously.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t get to see the form of thest cube. The green thunder version of him through a dozenssos at him together.

    ''That was quick.''

    Jason immediately turned on his white thunder version and started dodging thessos. The speed version of him immediately vanished from its spot and appeared right beside Jason.

    Thetter didn''t have the time to register its sudden appearance. The clone kicked Jason in the gut, making him stop his movement.

    Thesso guy immediately pulled on the strings of hisssos. Somehow, all of them were not tied to Jason legs and prevented him from moving.

    "Now is the time for the bulky guy to attack." Jason rolled his eyes. "Such an old tactic."

    The normal thunder guy seemed offended by hisment and immediately jumped from his spot.

    Jason saw the clone soaring high beforeing right at him. Jason cracked his neck a bit before sighing aloud.

    "I guess this is the only time I will get to see how powerful I am without any restrictionsбн" Jason mumbled.

    Thessos tying him down suddenly darkened before turning to dust. Thesso guy was confused by this but his confusion didn''tst for long.

    The ground around Jason''s feet started getting corrupted and cracks appeared on it. Jason vanished from his spot and avoided the iing attack.

    "You should control your power more carefully." Jasonmented as he brushed some dust of his clothes.

    Normal thunder clone immediately sank into the ground as the cracks broke apart. Lasso guy had to use his thunderssos to pull the first clone up or else he would have sunken kilometers under the ground.

    Jason had done this by using the dark element to corrupt the ground and create a tunnel of sorts below his location.

    "I hope you are ready to fight seriously." Jason smiled. "Cause I am ready to rumble.

 Chapter 210 Challenge Of Greed [Part 2]

    [ That was cringe hostбн ] The systemmented.

    ''I know but I still wanted to say it once. Just wanted to know how heroes feel before a major fight and what creates this atmosphere of excitement.'' Jason replied.

    Once he had said that, he activated his mana eyes and started moving around. His eyes were tracking the moments of all three of the clones, mostly the white lightning one''s.

    It was the only clone amongst the trio who was capable of preventing Jason from moving too quick or dodging the attacksing his way.

    ''System, can you track the movements of the other two?''

    [ I can. Leave that to me. ]

    Jason slightly nodded before summoning two daggers made from his dark element. Though he wanted to use his thunder to deal damage to the clones, the daggers of darkness were far more effective.

    ? Jason''s eyes caught on to the mana of the speed clone and used it to track his movements. Soon enough, he was matching the clone''s movements and was moving ordingly.

    The other two clones wereunching their own attacks but neither of them had the ability to match Jason''s speed.

    ''So, this is what someone might feel like if they are fighting me. I am mixture of all three of these formsбн'' Jason observed.

    Without any warning, he stopped moving and felt the speed clone slightly bump into him. That was all the time Jason needed to move his hand and stab the clone with the dark dagger.

    The clone didn''t show any expression of pain, but it did clutch at its abdomen. Instead of blood mana was flowing out of the wound which was automatically being attracted to Jason''s body.

    Jason, however, created a bubble of darkness around him to make sure that the mana didn''t reach his body.

    The quality of the mana was much higher leveled than his own and it wasing from his clone. Despite this, Jason wasn''t going to take a risk by consuming the mana.

    [ Good decision. ]

    ''Thank you.''

    Once he made sure that no mana could reach his body, Jason proceeded to the next part of the n.

    He once again vanished from his spot and waited for the speed clone to start pursing him.

    It happened in less than a few seconds, making Jason smile. He snapped the fingers of his right hand and immediately dashed towards the speed clone.

    Thetter froze on his spot as ck smoke started rising from his wound.

    ''By using the right amount of dark and light mana, you can easily corrupt internal organs, especially if the wound is deep and the other side doesn''t have any internal protection.''

    Jason had simply destroyed one of the clone''s internal organs alongside the internal lining of his stomach.

    Even though it was a clone and likely couldn''t feel the pain, the attack was enough to make it copse on the ground.

    Itspanions tried to save it but Jason was already standing right next to its face. Summoning arge amount of dark mana, Jason brought his feet down on the clone''s face.<sub> </sub>

    ''It''s painful to stomp on a somewhat resemnce of my face.'' Jason gritted his teeth as he smashed the clone''s face.

    He immediately jumped back and saw the clone''s mana slowly leaking out of his body. The body started shrinking before reverting back to the form of a cube.

    The cube sank deep inside the ground and kept sinking until Jason could no longer track it with his vision.

    Jason soon shifted his attention back to the two clones who, for some reason, were standing still on their spots.

    It didn''t take Jason more than five seconds to figure out that they were going through a power up due to the defeat of their partner.

    Jason raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything. He simply watched the mana inside the bodies of the clones multiply twice its original amount.

    Not only that but its purity was outssing Jason''s mana purity by a bit. If he were to exchange blows using thunder, the clones would be able to overpower his thunder due to their higher purity.

    ''I was nning to use dark element from the start anyways, so it doesn''t really matter.''

    Jason slowly nned out his next strategy and decided to take the buff guy out. Thesso guy was the easiest to handle but if the buff guy got even stronger and managed tond a hit on him, he would be toast.

    [ You can try trapping the buff guy and attacking him from there. He doesn''t have the speed or the means of saving himself from that. He might be able to destroy things but getting out of traps is another thing. ]

    ''Hmmбн''

    The two clones came back to life again and started moving. Thesso guy had upgraded his arsenal and was now brandishing multiple spiky whips in Jason''s direction.

    Jason summoned his own whips made of darkness and used it to counter the iing whips. However, he immediately had to let go of the whips when he remembered that the thunder could transfer over to him.

    Simultaneously, the attack clone alsounched himself at Jason and started swinging his fists at him.

    Thunder was wrapped around his fists and if any of them hit Jason, he knew he would suffer a major blow.

    There were some close instances where Jason had to use a lot of his dark mana to corrode the iing attack.

    ''Fk!''

    One of the clone''s attacks grazed Jason''s shoulder, sending a tingling sensation down his arm. Fortunately, it onlysted a second and didn''t leave him paralyzed since he was a thunder mage as well.

    Seeing no other option Jason raised his hand forward and transferred a small amount of dark mana from the tip of his finger to the clone''s body.

    Jason immediately jumped back and snapped his fingers to activate the dark mana corrosion. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able push much of the mana onto the clone due to the armor of thunder he was wearing.

    All he managed to do was to put a small hole in the armor. Jason gritted his teeth as he saw multiple green thunder arrowsing his way.

    ''Hestia, please lend me your powers.'' Jason sighed in the end. ''I will need some of them to win this battle.''

 Chapter 211 Challenge Of Greed [Part 3]

    [ Try to keep your mind calm. ] Hestia suggested. [ So much power as once can sometimes overload your brain and give you a huge amount of adrenaline. ]

    Seconds after she had said those words, divine energy started traveling through Jason''s veins. He could have done this by using Sancus''s divinity as well, but the effect would have been different.

    Hestia''s divine energy was much weaker inparison due to her being a pseudo-god like being. But the fact that she also had the thunder element as one of her major attacks provided Jason with much stronger attack power.

    ''Here we go.'' Jason closed his eyes and used a majority of the divine energy to charge up his white thunder.

    His movements were no longer a blur since he hadpletely vanished from sight. The green thunder arrows went right past his body yet none of them were able to hit him.

    Jason sped his hands together and used the remainder of divine energy to create a dark mana sword.

    The de was two feet long and had a dark glow around its tip, where most of the divine energy had been concentrated.

    [ Aim for the throat. ]

    ''Wouldn''t it be messy?''

    [ Who cares about that? It''s the most effective way to win this fight right now. ]

    Jason did as told and appeared beside the green thunder clone. Thetter had created a bubble of thunder simr to his bubble of darkness to prevent ranged attacks from hitting.

    However, the bubble popper the very second it was hit with the tip of Jason''s sword. The divine energy easily cut through the thunder and pierced through the clone''s throat.

    Jason pushed the sword half-way in before pulling it out swiftly. He knew that the other clone would soon be charged as well so he decided to directly attack him as well.

    "No, you can''t do that. Stay put or I will freeze you until he has leveled up." The voice of the ring interrupted.

    Jason was forced to stop due to the voice or else he would be frozen on the spot. Even though no harm would be caused to him, he would lose time to set up a trap.

    ''A hole again? No, he might be able to get himself out this time due to upgraded level of thunder. It will provide him at least some sort of speed increase.''

    Jason''s brainstormed to find a way to trap the first clone. The green thunder clone had already turned to a cube and was sinking below the ground.

    He had toe up with a n quickly because the first clone was also being upgraded to the next level.

    ''Think, Jason, think. What kind of trap can you use to win this fight?''

    [ Do you really need to set up a trap to win this fight? ]

    ''I don''t see any other way to beat that guy. His armor can''t likely be broken through so I can''t hit him directly. I don''t have any mental attacks like Risa does and neither can I control the thunder on his body like Issac.''

    [ You can defeat him easily if you agree to y dirty. ]

    ''Hmm, I guess I can do that. What''s the n?''

    [ You gotta attack his Achilles heel. You do know what that is right? ]

    ''I do. Achilles was a guy from Greek mythology who was an invincible warrior. He only had one weak spot which was an area around his heel. He was defeated by hitting the area with an arrow if I remember correctly.''<sub> </sub>

    [ Indeed. You gotta find the same area for the clone. Honestly, its quite obvious. ]

    ''You aren''t talking about kicking his balls or something, are you?''

    [ Though that''s an option, no. You gotta attack his backside cause the armor is the weakest there. You can use your vision ability to confirm this. Anyways, good luck. It seems he is awake and upgraded now. ]

    Jason nodded in acknowledgment and stared at the clone. Its body had be a bit buffer and the thunder wrapped around him was even purer.

    "You can fight now. Put on a good show for me." The voice giggled.

    Jason''s hair immediately stood up as the clone threw an anaconda made from thunder at him. Jason sliced at the snake with his sword and watched the two pure manas shed against each other.

    The sword managed to cut the snake in half, yet it suffered some damage as well. This was the indicator that some amount of divine energy was also mixed with the clone''s effect.

    ''If the rings were created by the first ever demon king, he might have used divine energy for their creation. Its kind of obvious now that I think about it.''

    If the rings were keeping the cursed power of the sins in check, it was obvious that they contained a much stronger energy inside them.

    ording to Jason, divine energy was the strongest form of energy so that was what might have been used in the creation of the ring.

    ''The fk am I thinking in the middle of a fight?!'' Jason scolded himself and focused on the clone''s backside.

    He wasn''t thrilled to do it but the circumstances forced him to do so. His eyes immediately caught on to the fact that the mana around the clone''s backside was a bit thinner as well as less purer whenpared with the rest of the armor.

    This proved Hestia''s theory to be correct.

    Jason sighed and immediately chucked his sword forward. The clone had also released a thunder dragon as it was currently relying on long distance attack.

    Jason''s eyes allowed him to see that the clone was actually charging most of the energy inside his arms to unleash in one powerful strike.

    The other attacks served as distractions to keep Jason busy.

    ''Too bad I can''t swallow them and use them for myself.'' Jason sighed as he saw his sword destroying the dragon.

    However, the de had grown a bit dull. The divine energy concentrated in the tip had also worn off a bit.

    ''This is my chance.''

    Jason tuned in to the remainder of his divine energy and immediately headed towards the clone''s rear end.

    Simultaneously, the clone raised its right hand and threw a bolt of pure thunder. The sword shed with the bolt and both of them exploded, resulting in a lot of smoke.

    The clone however turned back with glowing eyes and its attack ready to be unleashed.

    Jason was present right behind him and he too was ready to unleash his attack.

    [ The one to hit the attack first wins. ] the system observed. [ Jason, I hope you can do it timeбн

 Chapter 212 Final Clone

    A pping sound resounded throughout the clearing as the clone unleashed its ultimate attack.

    Thunder dropped directly from the dark sky, which had been clear moments ago, andbined together with his divine energy.

    They covered his hands in the form of boxing gloves which allowed him to destroy things easily. Shockingly, all this happened in under three seconds.

    ''Rest in peace.'' Jason thought silently before thrusting his hands forward.

    A long rod made from dark element immediately came in contact with the clone''s backside and destroyed his armor.

    Before it could understand what was happening, the rod came in contact with his body andбн

    No sound of pain escaped the clone''s mouth yet its body came crashing down. Jason thought he had won but unfortunately, he had made the assumption a bit too early.

    The clone attempted ast ditch attack and brought his hands hard on Jason''s body. The charged thunder made his movement appear like a blur and make contact with Jason''s head.

    Though thetter managed to step aside at thest movement, the attack still hit his left shoulder.

    "Ugh!" A harsh cry escaped Jason''s mouth.

    A cracking sound entered his ears, followed by sharp pain shooting throughout his shoulder. Jason could tell that his shoulder had just suffered a major blow and was likely cracked by the attack.

    "Damn itбн" Jason clutched his shoulder and knelt on the ground.

    The clone on the other hand turned into a cube and sank down in the ground, leaving only one cube above the ground.

    It was the fourth cube which hadn''t mutated into a clone.

    "That was good. You defeated the clones at your power level," The voice congratted. "You have officiallypleted the trial but there is still one thing that I can show you. Do you want to see thest level of thunder you can achieve if you go all out right now?"

    "Will I have to fight it?"

    "Obviously but I know you won''t win. You have officiallypleted what I wanted to see so I can let you see it without needing to defeat it. What do you say?"

    Jason remained silent for a few seconds before nodding. Since he already knew that he hadpleted the trial, he just wanted to wait and see the version of himself that would be at its peak power.

    "As you wish. It might hurt like hell but you will be fine once you wake up in the real world. Good luck for the future!" The voice announced.

    Thest cube finally started reacting. Its body expanded until it looked like an exact copy of Jason.

    However, the clone''s hair almost reached its shoulders while two horns were protruding from the top of its head. Its eyes were glowing a powerful shade of purple and sparks ofбн

    "Golden lightningбн" Jason''s jaw dropped slightly when he saw the golden lightning around the clone''s body.

    Somehow, he could tell that the golden sparks was lightning instead of thunder.

    [ It is lightning. Golden lightning or thunder is also referred to as divine wrath since its used by a lot of gods to attack those on different realms. Also, when gods descend to a world, they appear on that particr realm with a bright sh of lightning. ]<sub> </sub>

    ''I never thought I would hear an origin story of a type of lightningбн''

    Jason focused back on the clone and the lightning taking the shape of a lightning bolt. The clone stood on its spot and simply raised its right hand towards Jason.

    Jason had barely moved a muscle to change his spot when he felt something passing right through his chest.

    A bitter taste spread throughout his mouth followed by his body being paralyzed. His body slowly crashed to the ground while the clone simply stared at the sky.

    ''When did he evenunch that attack?''

    [ I don''t knowбн I couldn''t record it. ]

    [ It was at a level mortal eyes couldn''t capture. Your eyes simply are not fast enough to notice what happened right now. ] Hestia exined calmly. [ The clone had simply thrown the lightning bolt and its now passing right through your heart. ]

    ''So that''s the amount of power I will have if I really go all out.'' Jason observed. ''Its scaryбн''

    [ I don''t when the time wille but you will definitely use this power in the future. I will be waiting for that time. ]

    ''Really?''

    [ You need more than one person to remain sane during such times. I will make sure you don''t end up hurting the wrong person. What do you say about that, system? ]

    [ I agree. If you ever lose control like that, we will be there to save you. ]

    Jason had no words to speak as he simply closed his eyes, a small smile appearing on his face.

    ''Thank you both.''

    His body turned into particles of light and was swept away by the wind. The clone reverted back to its cube form and hit the ground with a thud.

    The previous three cubes which had sunk inside the ground resurfaced and appeared right beside the fourth cube.

    Together, the four cubes merged into one big cube before turning into the outline of a man. His face wasn''t clearly visible yet his voice was recognizable.

    "Another interesting person after so long." The man smiled. "I wonder what lord Aiden would think of him if they met."

    The man looked at the sky of his domain before sighing. This wasn''t his real body and was only a small amount of his consciousness that had been left inside his ring.

    It was left there to make sure he would be able to help the future sins of greed in controlling their powers.

    "He already went through gluttony as well. I wonder if the current sins are going to make him undergo all the seven challenges. It would be fun to see someonepleting them after so longбн"

    The man closed his eyes and reminded himself that such matters were useless for him.

    After all, his only job was to stay inside the ring for as long as his services were required

 Chapter 213 I Am Greedy For That?

    "Wee back." Koro greeted Jason the moment he woke up in the real world.

    "How was your experience?" Diana asked with an interested expression.

    "It wasбн exciting." Jason stood up from the ground since his body had grown limp. "However, I will prefer to stay here in the real world."

    Koro smiled after hearing his words. The sin of greed flicked Jason''s forehead with his finger, which was quite impressive considering Jason was much taller than Koro, who looked like he was ten years old.

    "You cleared it in ten minutes. Things are looking good for you if you manage to clear the remainder of the challenges," he exined. "Do you want to go the next house right now or wait for us to get done with Wade''s things?"

    "I will wait. I don''t think I want to undergo another experience like that so soon." Jason replied before looking in the direction of his room.

    He had left May back in his room and had requested mey to guard her. The guardian had easily agreed to his request and was currently staying with the demi-god.

    "If you want to go rest, no one will mind," Koro said. "If you want to call me, just try thinking of the ring and I will be able to hear your call. The same is true with Manny."

    "I will be back in an hour or two. Just gonna take a small rest." Jason informed before he started heading back towards his own room.

    Though he wanted to see what Wade would go through, Jason felt it was more necessary to check up on May.

    ''It''s quite surprising how all the trials and challenges I have undergone hardly put a physical restraint on my body. It mostly affects my mental condition which is quite stable this time.''

    With the help of his system, Jason soon reached his room. Inside, he looked at May rolling on bed with mey watching over her from the ceiling.

    The magma smander was stuck to the ceiling and was looking down with a bored expression.

    "It has barely been fifteen minutes and you already look like you have been watching her role on the bed for years." Jasonmented.

    [It''s quite boring to look after children. I would have already gone to sleep if not for how cold this ce is. I hate cold ces! ] meyined.

    ''Aren''t you like, supposed to be a goddess of mes and weaponry? Why are you feeling so cold then?'' Jason questioned.

    [ It''s something you won''t understand. Gods, especially ex ones like me, have to face many problems. Hestia, why don''t you exin that to him? ]

    [ It''s because I don''t want to exin this to him. Let him be. ]

    [ Tsk. ]

    Jason rolled his eyes at their conversation before sitting on the bed. May immediately stopped rolling on the bed andid on one spot.

    "You are growing upбн" Jason suddenly observed.

    May was now looking more like a human baby. She looked a few months old and now had quite normal features.

    Her divinity wasn''t leaking out of her body anymore either.

    [ Mhm, it will happen one day. Nothing I can do about it. ] May replied. [ Anyways, what are we going to do next? ]

    "Dunno. I will be taking a short nap, I guess. You can sleep too if you want."

    [ I guess it isn''t that bad of an idea. ] May agreed.

    Two minutester, Jason had his head rested on a pillow and had his eyes shut close. Mat was lying on the other side of the bed and was sleeping as well.

    mey looked over the two of them with a smile before hopping towards the door. It opened up at that exact moment and Amber peeped in.

    [ Let them sleep. ]

    ''I know.''

    meynded on Amber''s arm before thetter closed the door. She turned around and made her way to her own room with a smile on her face.<sub> </sub>

    ''Damn itбн I am such an idiot.''

    Once Amberid down on her bed, she couldn''t help but sigh. Now that she had gotten some alone time, she finally got the sorting her own feelings.

    [ Don''t worry, Amber. You are in the right age to feel these things. I''ve enjoyed my time as well and still continue to enjoy it. ]

    ''What are you exactly trying to say?''

    [ Nothing. You will understand it in the future. ] mey chuckled before curling herself around Amber''s neck for warmth.

    Thetter sighed and let the smanderfortably coil around her neck. Amber even provided some warmth by manipting her body heat.

    ''You arezy, you know.''

    [ Mhm. ]

    Time passed by quickly, yet Amber couldn''t fall asleep. She had received enough sleep through the night and since she didn''t have anything to do at the mansion either, she decided to explore it.

    "Let''s go, mey."

    Amber stood up with her guardian still wrapped around her neck. She sighed once but didn''t remove mey from her location.

    After all, Amber knew that her guardian would immediately wake up and help her in case any danger approached them.

    ''Where am I even supposed to go here?''

    [ Towards the kitchens. This isn''t the house of gluttony, or we could have brought tasty food to ourselves with just a mere thought. ]

    ''But something like that should exist here as well, right?''

    Amber paused and decided to try her theory. When she had summoned food in the house of gluttony, she had felt some sort of connection with the house.

    Amber tried searching for the same connection until she felt something clicking inside her.

    ''Did it work?'' Amber asked.

    [ Might as well wait and see. I just want to eat a cake. ]

    ''You are sounding like an olddy, mey.''

    [ Technically I am an olddy. ]

    "Amber?"

    Amber turned around and was met face to face with Jason. The former blinked her eyes in surprise when she saw the way Jason was looking.

    His clothes were still casual but were different than the ones he had been wearing before and his hair were also spread around in a messy manner.

    [ Don''t. ]

    mey jumped from Amber''s neck at lightning-fast speed and hit Jason''s forehead. The moment she did that, he vanished up in smoke.

    ''What the hell was that?!'' Amber looked baffled.

    [ It was an illusion of sorts. ] mey exined. [ Since this is the house of greed, it likely showed you something you are greedy for. ]

    "I amбн" Amber murmured. "Greedy for that?"

 Chapter 214 Azure Dragon [Part 1]

    "That was some nice sleep." Jason muttered while stretching his body.

    May was also awake and was doing the same thing on the bed, looking quite adorable.

    [ Will you be taking me on a tour of this new ce now? ] May questioned.

    ''Depends. Do you really want to take a look at this house.''

    [ I have barely visited any ces so yeah, I want to look around this ce. ]

    "All right, let''s go then." Jason scooped up May from the bed and exited the room. The demi-god remained still in his arms with a smile on her face.

    ''System, can you make sure that we can roam around with bumping into other demons or anything like that?''

    [ Sure. How long would you like to walk around for? I think I will be able to make the perfect route for that. ]

    ''Fifteen minutes should be more than enough.''

    [ All right. ]

    The system soon calcted a route and showed Jason the way to move around the entire area.

    With a sigh, he started his journey inside the house with an excited demi-god.

    ***

    "Wade, you have been sitting there for over two hours now. Staring at a mirror without actually using your powers isn''t going to help you at all." Koro tried to exin. "You will have to activate your powers."

    "But I don''t want to use it without any of them being here," Wade replied. "I have already told you this multiple times."

    "I will say it onest time. My powers are far superior to what you have. Plus, sis and mister Amon are present outside as well. Trust me when I say that you won''t be able to go on a rampage for than ten seconds."

    "All rightбн"

    Wade released a sigh and turned his gaze forward. A huge mirror twice his height was ced in front of him.

    The mirror was the only object ced inside the pitch-ck room Wade and Koro was present in. Surprisingly, it radiated an aura of light around it which allowed Wade to look at his reflection in the mirror.

    "I am using them. Be prepared." Wade warned before closing his eyes.

    All of a sudden, cold wind started blowing inside the room which had no way for wind to enter.

    The wind ruffled Koro''s hair who was standing at a safe distance from Wade. A serious expression rested on his face as he had his silver ring out of his finger.

    "The Azure dragon," he muttered. "I wonder how so many of the special beings ended up gathering at the human continent, that too in the Vancouver kingdom."

    Wade didn''t react and simply let his powers unravel. A blue Chinese dragon appeared at the bottom of his feet before slowly coiling itself around his body from toe to head.

    The dragon, however, didn''te in contact with Wade''s body.

    Wade slowly rose in the air and the mirror rose alongside him. The moment he opened his eyes, a bright blue light got reflected from the mirror, hitting him directly in the body.

    The dragon slowly expanded in size and continued to expand until its tail touched the ground. Its head still remained at Wade''s face level.

    "What am I supposed to do now?" Wade questioned.

    "Just keep looking at mirror and try to think of something that you are greedy for. Its fine if you just think of the word since the mirror will do its work itself!" Koro shouted.<sub> </sub>

    The only reason he did this was because the mirror was slowly expanding its aura to encircle Wadepletely.

    "Just shout if you feel like you are losing control. The mirror can do that to you." Koro reminded.

    Wade didn''t reply and instead nodded. His eyes were focused on the mirror as he kept on thinking about greed.

    There was a time when Wade wanted some things but since then, his greed had decreased.

    There wasn''t anything that he particrly wanted anymore.

    ''I should be safeбн''

    Wade had only just thought that when a ck shadow appeared near his reflection. The next thing he knew, he was experiencing a vision.

    ***

    "What was that?" Jason stopped and looked in the eastern direction.

    Some sort of constant pulse was reaching out to him and was calling out to him. Jason could decipher that it was almost simr to the mana and bits of divine energy he had sensed inside the ring.

    Without knowing it, Jason was slowly pulled towards the source of the pulse. His body felt a weird attraction towards it as though he was a ma being pulled by another ma.

    [ Host, be a bit careful. ]

    ''I know. May, you keep your guard up as well. Hestia, please look after us.''

    Jason continued to walk through the halls and even saw many demons. However, he didn''t pay any attention to them and neither of them paid any attention to him.

    It was as though he was invisible to them.

    Jason soon noticed that the hallway he was walking in was shrinking with time. He was walking towards the source without much knowledge of what he might encounter.

    He remembered Koro''s words at this moment and just to be safe, he kept them at the back of his mind.

    However, he really didn''t need to do that as he saw Diana and Amon standing at the end of the hallway.

    Both of them seemed to be guardian a ck door. The signal wasing from beyond the door.

    ''Why always ck? Why can''t the door ever be of any other color, say pink?''

    Jason walked up to the sins, both of whom were surprised to see him.

    "How did you get here?" Amon asked curiously.

    "I just felt something pulling me from the other side of the door. I somehow found my way here." Jason replied truthfully.

    The two sins exchanged a nce before looking at the door. Their expressions slowly hardened as Amon''s eyes returned to Jason.

    "This means that something is about to happen insideбн"

    On cue, the door sted open, and a roaring sound echoed around the chamber.

    Jason''s eyes widened when he saw something hurrying towards them.

    "Is that a fking tornado inside a closed room?!"

 Chapter 215 Azure Dragon [Part 2]

    A tornado touching the top of the ceiling was steadily advancing outside the door. Amon and Diana exchanged a nce before rushing towards the tornado.

    Jason noticed Amon slipping off his silver ring before pointing his right hand towards the tornado.

    ''It isn''t a normal tornado, is it?''

    [ That obvious but I don''t sense any weird thing about it. Its made from mana only. ] The system replied in a confused tone.

    ''Let''s go see for ourselves. May, hold on tightly and if you feel you are in danger, don''t stop yourself from using your powers.''

    Jason stepped inside the room and immediately noticed that the blue dragon wrapped around Wade.

    He felt as though he had stepped into a Chinese novel since more and more tornadoes were emerging from Wade''s body.

    They seemed normal at first yet all three sins present inside the room had serious expressions on their face.

    Amon released two sickles made from the light element from his palm. The sickles cut the tornado in half, making it vanish in a few seconds.

    They continued to target more tornadoes while Diana and Koro were looking at Wade who was hovering in the air.

    ''A trance. I can bet a decade of my life that this has something to do with that mirror.''

    [ Why are you betting your life so casually? You should be a bit more worried about your life. ]

    ''Because I am that sure about this.''

    Jason stood at the sidelines and made no motion of attacking either the tornadoes or finding out what was happening with Wade.

    He simply left both the jobs to the sins and just observed things.

    "Diana, can you charm him right now?" Amon questioned on the other side of the room.

    "No, I can''t. He isn''t consciousness right now, probably due to the fact that the mirror is showing him some kind of vision." Diana shook her head. "The only thing I can do is restrict the waves sent out by his body."

    "I am already preventing that dragon from going on a rampage so I can''t do anything else. You will have to think of a way to defeat him." Koro added.

    Amon started brainstorming while keeping the tornado in check. His eyes suddenlynded on Jason as a n formed inside his mind.

    "I don''t if this will work but its worth a shot. If it doesn''t work, Diana, you can use your divinity''s powers to pull him back to reality and charm him a bit."

    Amon immediately dashed towards Jason while throwing out more sickles.

    Thetter understood that Amon wanted his help and ced May down. The demi-god didn''t like the feeling of the floor and started hovering in the air.

    [ I can take care of myself. Go forward and don''t worry about me. ] May said.

    Jason nodded and activated his thunder, catching up to Amon in the blink of an eye.

    "What do I have to do?"

    "You have to go touch his forehead and shock him," Amon exined. "Don''t let the dragone in contact with your skin or you will be blown away at a neck breaking speed."<sub> </sub>

    Jason nodded and looked at Wade''s body. The dragon''s grip was slowly tightening on itself and it was inches away from making contact with Wade''s body.

    "The dragon is trying to touch his body but its being repelled by Wade''s mana. If ites in contact with his body, he will be able to take control over Wade''s body and do whatever he wants.

    Its extremely hard for anyone to regain control if that happens. That''s why I rmend that you don''t let the dragon touch you too." Amon exined. "I will protect you from the tornadoes and other attacks in the meantime."

    Jason stretched his arms once beforeunching himself towards Wade. His body felt as light as a feather whilst his movement was a blur of white thunder.

    Compared to the past, Jason definitely felt like he would outrun the horses used by the Syrward family to pull their carriage towards the capital city.

    [ Don''t lose control. Thunder can be pretty hard to control if you lose focus. ] Hestia warned.

    Jason kept her words in mind and tried flicking Wade''s forehead with his right index finger. However, a column ofpressed air made it extremely difficult for him to move forward.

    Simultaneously, the dragon''s eyes stared at him before it struck him like a snake. Come to think of it, Chinese dragons were like overgrown snakes or lizards.

    ''No wonder mey can appear in a dragon form.'' Jason noticed while moving back.

    The dragon continued to stare at him as he made his treat. Its blue eyes, which matched its scales, were glowing brightly.

    It didn''t take an expert to figure out that the dragon was about tounch a major attack soon.

    "Amon, there is something obstructing me from reaching him. Its most likely a force field orpressed air considering that dragon is continuously using air based attacks." Jason exined.

    Amon''s expression turned grimmer as a sigh escaped his lips. He took one look towards Diana and nodded.

    Thetter nodded back before vanishing from her location. Jason, who was well ustomed to teleportation magic, noticed something weird.

    ''Wait, did she just use all types of mana at once?''

    Jason could see left behind mana particles from the teleportation at the spot Diana was standing in. He could also see simr mana particles at her new position, which was right beside the dragon and Wade.

    [ I think your vision just got enhanced. Also, I think thats the way teleportation magic works. You use all types of mana in a meager amount and then pull on the natural mana around you.

    This in turn creates a portal of sorts for you which connects you to another ce and teleports you. That''s why most mages can only teleport to ces they have visited before. They are familiar with that ce''s natural mana. ]

    Jason nodded in agreement before focusing on Diana. The sin of lust was a few inches away from the dragon yet it didn''t seem like anything was obstructing her path.

    "Jason, please close your eyes." Amon suddenly said. "This ce is about to explode with brilliant light."

    Jason was confused yet he didn''t question Amon''s demand. He simply closed his eyes and it was fortunate that he did.

    The moment his eyes were closed, a pink explosion illuminated the entire room, sending a powerful shock wave of divine energy throughout the room.

    When Jason opened his eyes again, he saw Wade lying on the floor and the mirror lying beside him.

    As for the dragon, it had simply vanished from sightбн

 Chapter 216 Mirror Of Greed

    "I didn''t really want to use this on him but sadly, we didn''t have any other choice." Diana sighed.

    "We couldn''t harm him and that was the easiest way to do things without using our real powers or without hurting him." Diana sighed.

    "Why do you guys prevent yourselves from using your real powers? What would actually happen if you use your real powers?" Jason asked curiously.

    "Well, let''s just say he isn''t strong enough to face them, even if we are using them for his own good," Diana exined. "Also, Koro, why did you tell him that everything would be handled well by all of us?"

    "Uhбн" Koro averted his gaze and looked like he was about to run away.

    Diana''s jaw twitched when she saw this. She advanced forward and pinched Koro''s cheeks, making the sin of greed squeal.

    Jason looked at this with a surprised expression before smiling. For some reason, he felt very rxed when he saw the sins acting this way.

    [ Just because someone is one of the seven deadly sins doesn''t necessarily mean that they are a bad guy or anything like that. Same is true for demons. ]

    ''I know. I have stopped looking at things that way a long time ago. I now know that everyone isn''t necessarily the way they are portrayed.''

    [ Either that or they are putting up a show to manipte you. Could be any of those two things. ] The system added.

    Jason rolled his eyes before reaching out to May. He picked the demi-god in his arms again and held her.

    [ Did you sense the weird thing about those tornadoes? ] May suddenly asked.

    ''I did. What do you think caused that?'' Jason questioned curiously.

    [ The natural mana of course. The attack was created using that boy''s mana, yet it pulled on the natural mana inside the room, making it more deadly. I thought I was sensing things wrong, but I double checked to make sure I wasn''t. ]

    Jason nodded even though he hadn''t realized the real reason for the tornadoes being stronger and dangerous than normal ones.

    [ Don''t me yourself. I am the one you should me for such things since I wasn''t able to tell the difference. ]

    ''Um, no offense, but did you take some kind of politeness module?''

    [ No, I didn''t. I just realized something important that I should have recognized long ago. The sins might want to talk to you about that connection you felt. Listen to them. ]

    Jason nodded and turned his focus back to reality. With May in his arms, he moved towards the sins, who were gathered around Wade''s unconscious body.

    "Can someone please exin what just happened?" Jason asked.

    "What you just witnessed was the power of one of the five spirits of the demi-human race. That was the Azure dragon, the spirit rted to storms and winds," Diana exined. "That mirror there is called the mirror of greed."

    "Its an object that shows you the thing you are most greedy for you. We know that one member of the demi-human race will look at that mirror and not actually see anything in it, thus unlocking something special from it.

    That person also has to be the vessel to one such spirit. We have been looking after Wade for some time but unfortunately, he isn''t that person." Koro sighed. "Anyways, are you curious about what you will see in the mirror?"

    Jason nodded slowly. Truth be told, he really wanted to see what he wanted now that he had almost received everything, he needed to make his life interesting.<sub> </sub>

    "You can go and look at the mirror. Just don''t use any of your powers and the mirror won''t be able to get a hold of you. You will have to touch it and release a bit of your mana though." Amon instructed.

    Jason walked up to the mirror and stared at his reflection. He was reminded of the clones he had fought in the trial of greed.

    Jason touched the cold surface of the mirror with his hand and passed a tiny amount of his mana into it.

    The reflection in the mirror suddenly started distorting, making Jason steel his heart for what was about toe next.

    All of a sudden, a golden window opened in front of his face. The words written on the window gleamed ck and glowed with a blood red outline.

    < I am sorry but you can''t see that. >

    Jason blinked in confusion after reading the words however, when he heard a cracking sound, he realized what the words mean.

    "Uh, guys, I think the mirror is crackingбн"

    "The fk!" Koro immediately cursed as he appeared right beside Jason and stared at the mirror.

    A big crack was running through the middle of the mirror and was slowly spreading throughout the rest of the mirror.

    Jason looked at this with a grim expression before touching it with his finger, something he did purely based on instinct.

    The moment his finger touched the mirror, the cracked pieces fell down and scattered around the floor.

    Koro stared at the pieces once before looking at Jason. "Which god did that?"

    "Iбн don''t know." Jason replied honestly. "It happened so suddenly that I didn''t realize it until it was toote."

    "This is quite troublesome." Koro sighed. "Gods always drive me crazy but I guess there''s nothing I can do about this now. Good thing that the mirror will still do its job, bad news is that its multiplied so I have to make sure that it doesn''t fall in the wrong hands."

    Jason didn''t say anything and simply ced his foot over one of the shards of the mirror.

    He put it inside his inventory before saying his goodbye to the sins. He also apologized to Koro who shrugged it off.

    [ Why did you take that piece? I am sure Koro will know about it. ]

    ''I have a feeling it would be useful in the future. What should I do now by the way?''

    [ I just remembered that you have one book that you haven''t yet read. ]

    ''Which boбн oh.''

    Jason sighed as he looked inside his inventory. Despite realizing the answer, the system still replied to him.

    [ I am talking about the book specially given to you by Seshat, the Bookworm Guardian.]

 Chapter 217 The Specialty Of Each Race

    [ Hmmбн It seems like this book is going to tell us about all the details on the different races of Clover and some kind of prophecies associated with them. It''s written in an ancientnguage that I will have to decipher. ]

    ''Good thing they created an index page.'' Jasonmented while staring at the first page of the book Seshat had handed him.

    It turned out to be an index page written in anguage only decipherable by the system.

    [ Its written simr to the few words of demonguage I have observed. ] The systemmented. [ Speaking of that, did you realize that you have been speaking the demonnguage ever since you appeared in the demon continent? ]

    ''Huh?''

    [ Its a package deal thates with me and the other guardians, I think. I didn''t realize it at first either but you have been speaking and understanding demonnguage ever since you stepped here. ]

    Jason was surprised to discover such information but after looking at the book again, he started wondering what other knowledge he could receive from it.

    ''How long will it take for you to decipher it?''

    [ Since it seems pretty simr to the currentnguage, I guess it''s an older version of the currentnguage. I can trante the whole thing in thirty minutes. You can start reading it after two minutes. ]

    Jason nodded and rxed on the bed. He patiently waited for the system to trante the first bunch of pages before starting to read.

    ---

    In the beginning, all races had their own realms to live on. All of these realms barely had any contact with each other and didn''t bother with the other realms. However, an event urred on the demon realm which lead to all of thembining together.

    Clover came into being and all the races were given their different continents to live on, ones which were much smaller aspared to their own realms. Each race started looking for ways to conquer the other continents.

    Soon enough, wars were waging all around Clover with each race trying to get more space for their people. Amidst the chaos, numerous divinities were used to call upon various gods in order to win the war for one side.

    When one God belonging to the original Clover, something that had existed millenniums before the realms were different, looked at the war, his blood started boiling.

    In anger, he descended on the realm in his true form and put an end to the fight at once. No other living was able to oppose his power, leading to the war ending in neither side''s victory.

    The god knew that even if the current generation didn''t fight again, things in the future would still go wrong. He had also used a lot of his divine energy to directly descend on the world and had also broken manyws.

    The rebuttal from that wasn''t going to be easy to bare. So, to make sure the future generations were safe again, he talked with the most peaceful people of each race and created various power holders.

    They were the nine guardians for the humans, the seven sins for the demons, five spirits for the demi-humans, four branches of the world tree for the Elves and two master builders for the dwarfs.

    All of them were handed with the job of protecting the realm and the people from a chaotic war in the future and were even backed up by gods offering special divinities.

    That was how the first set of protectors came into being alongside another person called the ''bnce creator''. The job of the bnce creator was to simply ensure harmony between all and prevent any outer realm threats from attacking Clover.

    The bnce creator, however, was a job that couldn''t be passed on easily like the other protectors post. A bnce creator could only die once he passed on his post to someone considered worthy by the special divinity left by the god of that realm.

    Thus, there were many instances where a bnce creator would have to spend centuries waiting for someone worthy to appear.

    ---

    Jason paused when he noticed that the system was still tranting the remainder of the pages. The back story of the world was much more interesting than what Jason had originally thought of.

    ''Hestia, do you know about all this?''<sub> </sub>

    [ I know about what happened on the demon realm and how it resulted in the creation of Clover. After that, I am nk until the moment I woke up on Animolis. ]

    ''I seeбн''

    Once the further pages had been tranted, Jason began reading again.

    ---

    The guardians of the human race are the biggest in number. A guardian refers to the strongest person belonging to one of the nine realms surrounding Clover.

    Guardians also require a human vessel to work. Other beasts and living beings from the nine realms can step into Clover and can form contracts with other humans as well to stay on Clover.

    However, the nine guardians can only choose those below the age of twenty to be their vessel and once they have broken a contract, they will be kicked out of the realm for a few years.

    ---

    ''I guess the force that ensures this is disappearing.'' Jason observed.

    After all, Hecate had never gone away from Clover and was still present on the realm.

    ---

    The seven sins are demons with divinities and patron gods rted to their sins. They can only be born in the families of the previous sins, meaning that only those that share the specific bloodline can be sins.

    Their powers are also considered curse and will go out of hand lest they abuse it too much. The first demon king had made this part clear.

    Next are the five demi-human spirits, which in a way, are simr to the guardians. Five spirits exist on the realm of Clover, the Azure Dragon, The Ash Phoenix, The Alpine Tiger, The Tundra Snake and the Blood Fox.

    These spirits are naturally born inside demi-humans or can possess themter on in life. However, unlike the guardians, they can inherit their users and even force their will on them to a certain extent.

    After them are the four branches of the world tree which represents the four main direction. Each branch has supreme level of life magic and can control winds to a great extent.

    It is rumored that the branches can also talk to those in the afterlife and can use necromancy but it hasn''t been proved yet. Their powers are directly passed onto the next generation by the previous generation.

    Atst are the two master builders of the dwarf race which can create almost anything one can imagine, including destructive objects.

    To keep their powers in control, the more destructive an object they will create, an equal amount of their life span will be exchanged for it.

    The master builders are chosen by a pair of hammers which are said to grant another protection power which was kept hidden from the rest of the world as per the dwarf king''s wishes.

    ---

    Jason reached the end of the tranted part before he would have to wait again. With a sigh, he read thest part of the currently tranted pages.

    ---

    To make sure that you can gain ess to one of these powers, the basic requirement is to have the blood of any of these races. Those with the blood of two species can gain the special powers of both races.

    More information on these is provided in the prophecy section ahead.

 Chapter 218 House Of Lust

    "This is the most important section and you are telling me I can only read two of them?" Jason asked.

    [ I can''t seem to be able to trante more than two prophecies. There around twelve prophecies in total and I managed to trante the first and the seventh prophecy. I can''t do anything about the rest of them. ]

    ''I guess I will just see the ones that are readable.''

    ---

    When the winds blow east to west, the king of humans will be possessed.

    It will be the survival of the fittest.

    A god will take his revenge.

    ---

    ''Was that aбн haiku?'' Jason asked with a nk expression.

    [ Dunno. This book is quite old so there''s a chance that most of these prophecies have already been fulfilled. I mean, this prophecy could be referring to Julian for all we know. ]

    ''I guess you are right about that.''

    ---

    In the mirror of greed the spirit must see

    The temptation it must flee.

    Storms and screams will echo

    When the bird dies.

    ---

    ''I wonder if the prophet saying these prophecies was drunk. Even I can write better prophecies than theseбн'' Jasonmented.

    [ You can''t really control real prophecies. You just act like a medium to let them through and pray that they aren''t bad for you. That''s all. ]

    Jason sighed andid down on his back. May, who was looking at him read the book, wondered what made him so disappointed.

    The demi-god then decided that it was probably best for her to enjoy her time in her new surroundings.

    She soon started ying with strands of her hair by infusing them with mana and creating new shapes.

    Jason on the other hand read the remaining few sections of the book that described some important information about half breeds.

    ---

    Though half-breeds can easily exist, they usually take on the bloodline of one side of parents. It depends on which side of the family has the more dominant and powerful bloodline.

    However, in cases where both the bloodlines are strengthened, a strong half breed may be born. Such figures can have ess to the specialties of both the races and are dangerous.

    They have more potential than those of either one of their races. It is always best to keep such people close and not make enemies of them.

    ---

    Jason felt like fake coughing after reading the passage. Both he and Nora ended up in this category since both of them were half-breeds.

    They had ess to both sides powers and had strong bloodlines. It made him question whether the sins had brought him there specifically due to that reason.

    [ I guess its kind of keeping your enemies closer by making them your friends. You can be a pretty terrifying enemy to have in a few years once you have mastered all of your powers. ]

    ''I guess thats true and I am also the only person to have met Aiden in the current age.''<sub> </sub>

    [ Nah, young noble and royal demons meet him as well but they don''t make contact with him for more than a minute. They also don''t meet him again. ] Hestia cleared.

    Once Jason had read the bookpletely, a sigh escaped his lips. For the remainder of day, which meant only a few hours, he didn''t have anything to do.

    He spent the next few hours improving his light mana control and talking to May about divine energy control.

    The demi-god was much more ustomed to using divine energy than he was. Surprisingly, she even gave him a few tips that turned out to be useful.

    Like that, night arrived and Jason fell asleep. Nothing else happened.

    ***

    The next day, Jason and Amber were the only leaving the house of Greed. Wade was still passed out and was being taken care of by Koro himself.

    "For today, you are only going to spend the day with both of us," Diana exined. "We will be visiting my house anyways so not like there is anything else you would need."

    "Are you both ready to go?" Amon asked.

    Jason and Amber both nodded as the quartet soon teleported away.

    ''Is it me or do things feel a bit awkward?''

    [ They do. ]

    [ They are. ]

    ''All right.''

    Once the quartetnded at their next destination which, as predicted by Jason, was another hallway, Diana looked around with a serious gaze.

    "Either of you are sixteen or above?" She questioned.

    Both Jason and Amber shook their heads.

    "Then make sure to not think about using the lust feature of my house. You will end up summoning someone to satisfy your lust which I don''t think is something that you should do currently. We don''t want to be marked as pedophiles."

    [ Not to mention that some gods will likely strike down at this ce. You have a way of pulling attention towards you. ]

    "Anyways, Amber, go with Amon to face your trial here while Jason wille with me."

    Both of them split up and went with their respective sin. Jason looked at Amber once and saw her averting her gaze.

    He sighed mentally before following Diana towards their next location.

    "Facing any love problems?" Diana asked casually.

    "How do you know?" Jason asked even though he already knew the answer to that.

    "There is not that much difference between lust and love. I can identify both and can even give some good advice on it." Diana smiled.

    "I guess you are right. I am probably in love right now, something I didn''t expect to experience." Jason sighed. "Being in love is painful."

    "Love is always painful and that is another reason people go for prostitution or sugar mommy and daddy business but that''s not important. The real way to know whether you really love someone is simple.

    Imagine whether you can spend an year or so without seeing or even hearing from them. You have no idea how they are doing and don''t even know whether they are alive. Can you do that?"

    "Iбн" Jason''s voice trailed off as he fell into deep thought.

    He wasn''t prepared to answer such a question that easily and simply kept on thinking about it again and again.

    "You can answer meter on," Diana reassured. "But for now, its time for you to face ''death by lust''. I hope things don''t get too physical in itбн

 Chapter 219 She Isnt Like That

    Diana slipped the silver ring off her finger and gently touched it Jason''s forehead. Thetter''s body instantly went limp as Dianaid him on the floor.

    < Commencing ''Death by Lust''. Results of the trial will depend on the actions of the user. Be warned, external as well as internal damage might be suffered by the undertaker of the trial.

    "Best of luck." She muttered before standing up and waiting for Jason to finish battling the trial of lust.

    ***

    "Are you underage or not? To be specific, eighteen years of age is considered as the age for one to be considered an adult." Jason read the message in front of him.

    He selected the yes option before filling his real age in a nk. It felt like he was signing into his gmail ount.

    Once he had filled his age, he was asked to fill his gender. After being done with that, Jason waited for the trial to begin.

    But the moment it started, Jason released a sigh.

    Busty elves dressed in maid costumes appeared all around him with their heads bowed down. One of them was kneeling near him and it didn''t take a genius to figure out what was happening.

    "Sorry but I am still underage and though you all are very beautiful, I am not interested in losing my virginity during a trial." Jason said with a bored expression.

    All of a sudden, the busty elves vanished and Jason was left standing alone inside what looked like a marriage hall.

    He was able to tell this because a woman in a bridal dress was standing atop a stand meant for the groom and the bride.

    "Who is she getting married to?" Jason muttered before facepalming. The answer was quite obvious as to who she was getting married to.

    [ Remember that Diana said there is very less difference between love and lust. I guess this is supposed to show the love part. ] The system guessed.

    Jason sighed and walked up to the stage to see who the bride was. However, his feet started slowing down when he noticed her face.

    ''Isn''t thatбн'' his thoughts trailed off when the woman turned around and faced him.

    A wave of shock passed through his entire body when the woman revealed her face. It was as though someone had just told him that everything he had been experiencing till then was aa.

    "Thaliaбн"

    Jason fell in a trance as he saw his best friend from his previous line. As if in a trance, he continued to advance forward towards her.

    [ Don''t fall for it! ] the system tried to stop Jason, but it didn''t work.

    He soon reached the stage and jumped on to it. He moved forward and stood right in front of Thalia, his eyes staring into her pure ck ones.

    "Hello, Jason." Thalia smiled before touching Jason''s right cheek with her left hand.

    Jason felt goosebumps spreading throughout his body from the contact made by Thalia''s hand. His eyes were wide open and were noticing every single moment done by her.

    "Helloбн" He muttered.

    Thalia chuckled lightly before stepping forward and cupping Jason''s face in both of her hands. Suddenly, the hall vanished and the two of them appeared in a bedroom.

    Jason couldn''t utter a single word as he got pushed on the bed by Thalia. His heart was beating loudly inside his chest while his brain was trying to make sense of things.

    Thalia slowly lowered herself over him, her eyes staring straight into his eyes.<sub> </sub>

    [ Hostбн Jason, can you listen to me? ] The system called out.

    ''I can.''

    [ Then listen carefully. What you are seeing is just an illusion created by the ring by picking up on the feelings you had for Thalia. What you are seeing isn''t real since she died back on Earth. ] The system exined calmly.

    Jason''s slowly felt a sense of rity spreading throughout his body. He sat straight up and stared at the version of Thalia in front of him with narrowed eyes.

    [ Listen to my voice and focus on it. ] The system guided. [ You are just looking at an illusion so focus on what''s real. ]

    Hearing its voice, Jason closed his eyes and focused on the sound of the system''s voice. He could still feel Thalia''s hands touching his body, yet they didn''t make his heart race.

    [ I will say onest thing. Thalia won''t do anything like that. You know it as well. She isn''t like that. ] The system finished before falling quiet.

    Jason took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. Thalia had vanished from the ce and all that remained was the bedroom.

    Slowly, the bedroom was vanishing as well. The calmer Jason became, the faster it started vanishing.

    ''Thank you very much for what you said, system. I am afraid that I wouldn''t have been able to do to anything due to being in a panicked state.''

    [ No problem. It''s my job to remind you of such things and I don''t think it would have had a good effect on you if I didn''t do that. Though this trial is still a bit sexual for underage people. ]

    ''Technically, I am not really underage. I am well over thirty if youbine both of my ages together. But then, my mentality got affected by the environment of this world.'' Jason sighed.

    He stood up from his bed and stretched his body. The room had already faded away and left him standing in the middle of a garden.

    It was a garden he was familiar with since it belonged to his house only.

    ''Are those Risa and Issac?'' Jason asked with a surprised expression.

    His grandparents stood under one of therge trees and seemed to be talking about something important.

    Jason slowly edged closer to them and saw that both of them looked even younger than they currently did.

    It looked as though they were recently wedded as a marriage ring gleamed brightly on both of their hands.

    A smile appeared on Jason''s smile as he realized what the trial was trying to make him feel. It was sad to admit that it had seeded in it.

    ''I also want to enjoy this experience, but I still have much time left before I do it. There are still many adventures and plots that I have to wrap up. I am sure there will be time for marriageter on.''

    With a smile, Jason lightly touched his grandparents shoulders and closed his eyes. The world around him started spinning before he suddenly woke up on a cold floor.

    Diana was looking at him with a curious gaze and even helped him stand up.

    "How was it?" she asked gently.

    Jason remained silent for a few seconds before smiling.

    "It was eye-opening for meбн"

 Chapter 220 Flames Of Succubus

    "Which trial would I be doing next?" Jason asked.

    "Depends on which of the sins is free but I guess you will most likely be going with Xavier. He should be free soon to take you and Amber with him." Diana informed.

    "Then can we go and see what she is doing?"

    "Sure. Astryn told me to do that as well since she sai that it might appear helpful to you. Something to with visionary ability and theories."

    "Rightбн"

    Jason wondered whether Astryn had wanted to tell Diana about his vision ability. However, the question was, how did she know about it in the first ce?

    Diana guided Jason through the hallways again and this was the first time he got to see the entirety of it.

    However, his attention was instantly pulled away by the maids and butlers roaming around.

    "Is it me or are their outfits are a bit tooбн revealing?" Jason questioned as he saw a maid wearing a dress exposing her cleavage.

    "Things are like that here. Each of the family members of the sins get inflicted by something rted to their sins. My family feels urges of lust from time to time where they only think with their lower halves." Diana sighed. "Its annoying to see them like that."

    "But aren''t you the sin of lust? Do you also get urges like that?"

    "No, I don''t. As long as I have this ring with me, I can control my urges and also prevent myself from going on a rampage with my powers." Diana pointed at the silver ring which was once again back on her finger.

    Jason stared at it for a few seconds before averting his gaze. What happened inside the trial was definitely going to stay inside his mind for some time.

    The sin of lust finally took him through onest turn before they reached a staircase leading towards the basement.

    "The steps are a little slippery so make sure you walk carefully." Diana warned while descending the stairs.

    Jason took her warning seriously and immediately jumped down the entire staircase. Diana looked at this with a surprised expression before smiling.

    "Take a left and enter the room with the silver gate. Amon and Amber should be inside." She gave the directions while continuing her slow descent.

    ''At least it''s not a ck door.'' Jason turned the silver door open and stepped inside.

    He was immediately sted by an extremely hot wave which left a few scorch marks on his face.

    Jason immediately used his dark element to surround himself before taking care of the burn marks. His skin had already started healing itself while the barrier was protecting him from simr attacks.

    "Before stepping inside a room, at least get the details of what is happening inside." Amon suggested as he appeared right beside Jason.

    "me Diana for that."

    Jason''s eyes scanned the room and saw Amber standing in the center of it. In front of her was a ck jewel emitting an extreme amount of heat.

    When Jason switched to his mana vision, he was shocked to see the amount of fire mana present inside the jewel.

    "This much mana can surround an entire kingdom at once!" he eximed.

    "I know. That jewel is called the ''jewel of passion'' which was created by extracting the lustful energy of hundreds of subi in heat. Unfortunately, this can only be controlled by a magma mage at a high level," Amon paused. "In other words, someone like Amber."

    "Please don''t tell me that she is battling the passionate heat of subusбн" Jason murmured.

    "In a much-summarized version, yes. If she can tame those mes and absorb them, she will be able to use true ck mes, otherwise known as Hellmes. Astryn is the only other person who I know can use the normal version of ck mes."<sub> </sub>

    "I think she taught Amber how to use them as well. Oh look, Amber is already using them." Jason pointed out at the tornado of mes Amber had just created.

    It was created using magma element except the normal mes had been reced by the ck mes.

    "She can tame those mes I guess." Amon muttered with an expressionless face.

    Both of them saw the jewel emit a simr tornado, one made fromplete ck mes. The two shed while Amber vanished from her spot.

    She appeared directly behind the jewel and epassed it inside a magma prison. The jewel couldn''t move from its location, allowing Amber to touch it with her right index finger.

    She sent a twinge of her own version of ck mes inside the jewel before pulling back. A thread of sorts was now connecting her with the jewel, allowing her to suck in the energy directly from the inside of the jewel.

    Jason observed this closely with his mana vision, wondering whether Amber''s body could handle all this energy.

    He kept a close look on her body and was about to shout to tell her that she had reached her limit when something shocking happened.

    A divine beacon suddenly shone inside her body, sucking the remainder of the fire mana inside it.

    The beacon was clearly a divinity which was now shining brightly inside Amber''s body like a soul.

    [ Divinity holders can easily tell whether the other person has a divinity or not. Its even easier for you since you only have to use your vision and control it to check whether the other person has a divinity or not. ] Hestia exined.

    Jason nodded absentmindedly as he wasparing the power of the divinity with his own. It was definitely stronger than Sancus''s divinity, yet it failed inparison to Erebus''s divinity, which was the system.

    [ I am one- ]

    ''Of a kind.'' Jason finished. ''I know.''

    The system chuckled before falling silent. Amber on the other hand was taking deep breaths since the energy inside the ck jewel was about to run out.

    Her body was also reaching its limit, but she managed to hold on until thest drop of fire mana had vanished from the jewel.

    Its color slowly started fading before turning to that of a in unpolished ruby. The jewel hit the ground and sank inside it, probably to recharge its own energy.

    Amber on the other hand knelt on the ground while panting. Jason appeared beside her and gently ced his hand on her shoulder.

    ''I haven''t tried this before so let''s see if it works.''

    Jason transmitted some of his light mana to his hand and tried replenishing Amber''s energy. It seemed to work to a certain extent as Amber''splexion turned a bit normal.

    "Thank youбн" she whispered before pulling herself up with Jason''s support.

    "You shouldn''t try to make any quick movements just in case the energy inside you decides to refute." Jason suggested. "Its best if you take things slow."

    "All right. Lend me your shoulder to walk then." Amber replied.

    Jason simply nodded and took Amber back to the door. Amon and Diana were watching the duo with amused expressions but didn''t make any remarks.

    "Congrattions, you have unlocked the ability to use hellmes. Many demons will be ready to kill for that ability. In fact, I won''t be surprised if a few humans will try to do that as well." Diana congratted.

    "That''s one way to motivate someoneбн" Amber snorted. "Now what are we gonna do?"

    "About thatбн" Amon exchanged a look with Diana. "We have to go back. Julian and his patron are currently standing outside Duphia and demanding that you both should be handed over to them.

 Chapter 221 I Wanted To Be Present Here

    "When did that happen?" Jason asked with a surprised expression.

    He wasn''t too worried about Duphia since there was a barrier around it. Not only that but Risa and Issac were strong enough to handle things on their own.

    "Today morning. Your grandparents had brought your cousin back and even two of the other four families moved in with them. The Feuer and Anvilone families are now staying in Duphia as well." Amon informed.

    "Then why do I need to hurry back?"

    "Apparently your powers are required there. They need to break something." Amon replied with an expressionless face.

    Jason immediately understood that some contracts were needed to be broken by him.

    "Let''s go back." Jason replied.

    "You still have four sins remaining to be cleared. You cane back once this matter has been dealt with." Diana informed. "Also, that child is currently staying up in a room so you might want to bring her down."

    "There is no need for that," Jason reassured. "She wille here herself."

    Jason closed his eyes and focused on his connection with May. Once he could sense her presence, he immediately called out to her and asked her toe to his location.

    [ Where are we going now? ] may questioned as she flew towards Jason''s location.

    ''We are going back home. There is an emergency of sorts there. We will be back on this continent again so there are still many ces left to be explored.'' Jason replied.

    [ I see. ]

    May reached him a few minutester and immediately flew into his arms. Jason held her with a helpless smile while Amber was leaning against his right arm.

    "Take us back," he said to Amon before looking at Amber. "Grandma should be able to help youe back in form as soon as we get back."

    "You did fine as well. I don''t think I would even be conscious if you hadn''t supplied me with that energy." Amber smiled as mey suddenly appeared around her neck.

    [ I will share my warmth with you till then. ]

    ''Aren''t you a bit toote for that.'' Amber grumbled.

    For some reason, both Jason and Hestia could hear their conversation. It was because Amber and mey were allowing the two of them to hear what they were talking about telepathically.

    [ I was busy controlling that divinity inside your body. I didn''t know it would activate so easily since I had been expecting it to activateter on. That fire mana definitely had traces of divine energy which managed to charge my divinity. ] meymented.

    ''If all you required was divine energy, you could''ve asked me for it. I have two sources of divine energy and could''ve definitely managed to charge your divinity.'' Jason offered.

    [ it doesn''t work like that. In order to charge this piece of divinity, I need divine energy of my ownбн wait, how did it get charged then? ]

    [ Don''t tell me you were the one responsible for seeing the subi divulging with each other in mes of passion. You do get forgetful sometimes. ] Hestia sighed.

    [ If it happened, it should have happened before all that but it didn''t. Does that mean that this jewel was created when Clover was still divided into separate parts? ]

    [ You still didn''t changeбн How am I supposed to know that when I was bound inside a tree and could only know of the major changes happening around the realm? ]

    [ True but you did break free after the war started. ]

    Jason and Amber exchanged a silent nce while the conversation between their guardians continued. They couldn''t rte to the topic since they didn''t know half the events.

    Meanwhile Amon had already activated his teleportation magic circle to take them away to Duphia.<sub> </sub>

    Amber tightened her grip on Jason''s shoulder while he held May closer to his chest. Such a long-distance teleportation was going to make all three of them dizzy, so it was best to hold tightly and prepare themselves.

    ''If everythingбк''

    [ Don''t. Just don''t. You will only jinx us so don''t even think about thinking what you were about to think. ] The system cut him off.

    ''I can''t even think a simple thought without jinxing us.'' Jason sighed since he knew that the system''s words were true.

    After a few tremors, which ording to Amon were space bumps or glitches, the quartet finally appeared outside the Syrward manor.

    The moment they did, Jason activated his mana vision and saw the ck barrier surrounding the entire city.

    It was created purely out of divine energy spread evenly across every inch of the barrier. Jason couldn''t help but marvel how much pressure Amon had to face just to maintain the barrier.

    "Its not that hard to maintain it with the help of my divinity. Though it is quite difficult to do that right now considering that a literal god is attacking the barrier." Amon said as if he had read Jason''s mind.

    "How do you do that?"

    "Reading expressions and bodynguage goes a long way. I also know that you are curious about most things so its kind of easy for me to guess such things." Amon shrugged.

    Both of them turned in the opposite direction and started heading towards the manor, Amber limping right beside Jason.

    They entered the house and immediately sensed two sources of divine energy bursting through the house.

    "Oh, its you guys." Issac''s voice entered their ears. "I thought someone from Duphia was manipted by that guy."

    Issac directly appeared in front of them, sparks of lighting vanishing from his body. Risa didn''t appear yet the second source of divine energy vanished as well.

    "Things do seem tense here. I am wondering how you still haven''t blown up half the town due to your suspiciousness." Amon mused.

    "It''s because Risa and Ray are here to keep me sane. Not to mention that Zara and Nora, alongside the Feuer and Anvilone family are managing things in the town. They are keeping things in order." Issac exined.

    "What about outside the town?" Jason questioned.

    "Things are tense there. Julian appeared with a small army outside the barrier and tried destroying it. It was clear that he wasn''t possessed but all of a sudden, his patron descended and demanded that we handed Jason, Amber, Zeke and Wade over to him.

    I told him to shove his divinity up his ass but that didn''t work well. Then he suddenly vanished and Risa decided to contact you and warn you. Though we didn''t know you would being back here." Issac said in a surprised tone.

    Jason and Amber immediately looked at Amon, who had said that Jason''s grandparents were asking them toe back.

    "I am sorry I had to lie to you both but that was the quickest way to make things proceed smoothly," Amon apologized. "I came here because the barrier was feeling some pressure.

    I don''t trust the sins that much to leave you both alone there, so I had to take you back as well. Wade will remain safe due to his spirit but you both would be defenseless. We can go back once I stabilize the barrier."

    "You could have exined that to us there onlyбн" Jason sighed.

    "Would have taken too much time." Amon suddenly looked outside. "After all, I wanted to be present here when this happened."

    Moments after the words left his mouth, an earthquake shook the entire mansion. A roaring sound echoed around the entire town.

    A secondter, a cracking noise slowly rose from the noise of terror...

 Chapter 222 Hello, My Future Slaves

    "What just happened?" Issac asked.

    "Nothing big. Julian patron just broke through the firstyer of the barrier. Unfortunately, I have been reinforcing this for a long time. There are multipleyers he will have to destroy. I will keep on generating moreyers as long as I am here."

    Hearing Amon''s reply, Jason understood why it was important for him to be there. He was the creator of the barrier and was responsible for maintaining it and preventing others from being panicked.

    "Should we go out and meet them?" Amon asked.

    "I have been thinking of doing that as well. Let''s see if Risa wants to go or not." Issac closed his eyes for a few seconds before looking at his right.

    Risa appeared at that exact spot with a serious look on her face. Without saying anything, she ced her right hand on Amber''s shoulder and closed her eyes.

    Jason saw life mana traveling from her hand and transferring into Amber''s body in the form of life magic.

    Risa had already sensed that something was wrong with her without even needing to hear it from Amber or Jason.

    "If you are going to meet Julian and his patron, I aming as well. I think it will be best if Amon remains here and works on the barriers. You will be able to create at least two moreyers while we keep him busy." Risa suggested.

    She lifted her hand off Amber''s shoulder and looked directly at Amon.

    "Fine with me. Though I wanted to see that god''s expression when he realizes that I am the one responsible for maintaining this banner." Amon chuckled before vanishing from his spot.

    But before that, he waved to Jason and Amber onest time.

    "May, I think it will be safe for you to remain here only. I don''t want others, especially a god who is our enemy, to know that I have a demi-god child with me." Jason said.

    May wanted to argue back but she knew that he was saying the truth. While sighing, she started floating in the air and headed towards his room.

    "You can ask Ray for help if you need anything. Just release a bit of your mana and make sure to not use your divine energy!" Risa called out and warned May.

    If the demi-god ended up using too much divine energy, Julian''s patron would be able to sense her presence.

    However, due to the barrier, he might not be able to tell who she exactly was. Added to the fact that there were multiple divinity bearers inside the barrier, May was rtively safe.

    Still, it was best to safe rather than sorry.

    "Let''s go." Issac smiled before stretching his body.

    ''You can walk now?'' Jason questioned Amber telepathically.

    ''I think so. Your grandmother''s magic helped me a lot but I think its better for me to use you as a support for the time being. You don''t mind, right?''

    ''No, I don''t. Use me as a support for as long as you want.'' Jason replied and started moving out of the house.

    A small smile briefly appeared on Amber''s face as she walked beside him, her body still leaning on his arm.

    When Risa and Issac saw this, both of them exchanged a look before nodding. They already gave Jason their approval inside their hearts.

    They knew that things would be tough but then, they always were.

    "Jason, make sure you don''t use your divinity in front of him. He is definitely going to get enraged knowing that he can''t do anything to you like he does to others." Risa reminded.

    "I do want to see him infuriated though." Jason replied. "But I guess I will hold back and not show him my divinity."

    "Don''t worry, if things get out of hand, you can shove that divinity into his face. I will support you there." Issac grinned.

    Jason wholeheartedly agreed with his grandpa and nodded in reply. Risa shook her head at this but didn''t tell them to stop.

    ''I wonder what will happen if the entire family was gathered together, including those from the demon continent. It would be a fun scene to watch.'' Amber thought with a smile.<sub> </sub>

    [ It will be quite chaotic as well. Though I guess you are right. It will be fun. ] mey agreed.

    Jason and Hestia could still hear the duo''s conversation but didn''t say anything against it.

    "Should we take them on a tour or directly reach the border?" Issac suddenly questioned.

    "Now that I think about it, let''s take them directly to the border. We shouldn''t let the others know that they are back in case someone tells Julian about it before we get to see his surprised expression." Risa replied and vanished from her spot.

    "Jason, carry her to the start of the town. Make sure to travel at a speed where no one can see you." Issac winked before vanishing as well.

    Jason and Amber exchanged a nce, reaching a silent agreement. Jason''s hands went to Amber''s waist as he tightly held her against his chest.

    [ That''s not the correct position, host. You should take another position which is more suitable for travel. ]

    ''I know butбн''

    Jason sighed before suddenly bending down and picking Amber up in his arms in princess style. His heartbeat once again increased as he turned on his white thunder and started moving towards the entrance of the town.

    [ Don''t be that nervous. Amber doesn''t find this ufortable at all. ] mey encouraged.

    ''mey!'' Amber hissed at her guardian.

    [ What? I am just telling the truth to him so he will rx. ]

    Jason couldn''t help but chuckle at mey''s words. ''Thank you, mey. That helped me rx a bit.''

    [ Told you. ]

    It took them three minutes to reach the entrance of the town. Jason could have traveled the same distance in a minute, but he had to make some changes to his path due to spotting multiple people around the town.

    ''Most of the townsfolk are hiding inside their houses while only the stronger mages from the two other families are roaming around the street.'' Jason noted.

    He put Amber back on her own feet once he noticed Risa and Issac observing the barrier right outside the town''s gates.

    "Be on guard. There is no knowing what trick he might y on us," Risa warned. "Ask your guardians to be on the lookout as well. They will be the most helpful in sensing divine energy."

    Jason and Amber nodded and stared at the barrier as well. Outside the town, a dozen soldiers d in red armor were shooting magical arrows at the barrier.

    Each of the arrow was deflected by the barrier yet it didn''t seem to affect them. It was as though they were working on orders that they couldn''t deny.

    [ Exactly. Remember that Julian can force most people into a contract and make them obey hismands? ]

    ''I know. Can you sense him anywhere around us?''

    [ Hestia would be able to sense him before I do. She is more used to sensing divine energy than either of us. ]

    As if to prove the system''s point, both Hestia and mey suddenly spoke up.

    [ There! ]

    [ He ising! ]

    Jason relied on the information to his grandparents just in time to see a pir of light descending right outside the barrier.

    Julian materialized outside the town with an amused smile on his face.

    "Hello, my future ves." He waved. "We meet again. I hope you are ready to be captured by me."

 Chapter 223 Why Isnt It Working?

    "We are no ves." Issac snorted. "You are just a lunatic hoping to get everyone to enter his secret club before ruling the school yground."

    "Grandpa, was that an insult or something you personally experienced?" Jason asked in a low tone.

    Risa on the other hand couldn''t help but chuckle at her husband''s words. Issac always managed to make the most serious situations feel like a prank.

    "You still haven''t changed one bit despite all that." Julian shook his head. "I expected such things from normal mortals but you should know better."

    "You still are dead set on defining the lines between what a mortal can and can''t do. Let us live our lives the way we want." Issac cracked his knuckles, his expression turning serious.

    "Rx, I am not here to fight." Julian raised his hands. "Bring her in!"

    One of the men standing behind him immediately ran from his spot, heading towards the forest in the distance.

    Issac and Risa''s expression tightened since both of them already knew who he was going to bring.

    [ He is going to bring Silvia out. ]

    ''Obviously. Maybe it was a good thing that Amon brought us back. I will be able to test whether I can break contracts from such a range.''

    [ I know that you can see what contract the other person has signed depending on your rtionship with them. You can check how many contracts your legal family members have signed without their permission. ]

    ''All right.''

    Jason patiently waited while keeping Sancus''s divinity on standby. He remembered Risa''s warning and that was why he didn''t use its divine energy immediately to increase the power of his vision ability.

    "Issacбн" Risa murmured.

    "Don''t worry. Everything will be fine. We have experienced this once before." Issac''s hand closed around Risa''s hand and sped it tightly.

    Jason felt a feeling of anger rising in his chest yet he managed to control himself. Simultaneously, the man returned with a woman walking beside him.

    She wore a simple ck knee-length skirt and a in blue shirt. Her hair, a deep shade of gray, were kept open and fell down to her waist.

    The moment Jason looked at her eyes, he instantly matched them to be the same as his grandfather. He could easily tell that this woman was a member of his family.

    However, no one could have said that she was the king''s wife. Her looks were so normal and natural that it was impossible to tell that she was married to Julian.

    When Jason''s eyes made contact with Silvia, a spark passed between them. Perhaps it was his imagination but Jason was sure that he saw the flicker of a smile on Silvia''s face.

    "Hello, mother, father. I hope both of you are fine," Silvia greeted them as she came to stand beside Julian. "This must be elder brother''s child. Your name is Jason, isn''t it?"

    Jason found himself nodding in reply as Silvia''s gaze turned towards Amber. The red-head gulped nervously as Silvia raised her eyebrows.

    "I am afraid I don''t know who you are. What is your name?"

    "Amber Feuerбн" Amber replied.

    "Feuer?" Silvia sounded surprised. "Damn, you resemble someone I used to know in the past. Is your father''s name, Matt?"

    "It is."

    "I see. He managed to get his life together to some extent." Silvia sighed. "I guess that is good for him."<sub> </sub>

    "Enough. I didn''t bring you here to chit chat with them." Julian interrupted. "I brought you here to put you up for exchange. You both can take her if you give me Amber, Zeke and Wade. You can keep Jason with you only."

    Issac and Risa took a deep breath as their minds processed the words. If they traded over the three children, they would be able to get their daughter back.

    This meant that they would get one out of their two lost children back, that too from the clutches of one of their enemy.

    "Do you think we will do it?" Risa asked in a low tone.

    "Honestly, yes. You can get your daughter back and that too without any foul ys from my side. I can''t lower myself to that extent to cheat in such an exchange. After all, I would be getting three valuable seeds." Julian shrugged.

    Amber was currently staring at Jason with a small amount of terror in her eyes. mey had already appeared around her neck and was ring at Julian''s possessed body.

    The god wasn''t fazed by his re and simply waited for a response to his deal.

    ''Its a trick. It has to be a trick. He will definitely use something written in her contract to get her back or do us some harm.''

    [ You can check it yourself. Use just a small amount of divine energy in your eyes. ]

    Jason followed the system''s instructions and activated his vision ability with the divine energy emitted from Sancus''s divinity.

    The moment he did that, he could see a huge source of red energying from mey. The same energy was present inside Amber in the form of a small hammer.

    When he looked down at his stomach, he could see a purple energy traveling out from Sancus''s pen and heading towards his eyes.

    [ Mana vision allows you to see mana sources and if you mix a small amount of divine energy with it, you can see a mixture of both. But if you use pure divine energy, you can see the form of other''s divinity as well as what contracts they have. ]

    Jason''s vision immediately shifted to Silvia. He found no sources of divine energying from her body neither did he see any divinity inside her.

    ''How do I see contracts?''

    [ Think ''Show active contracts'' inside your mind and her currently active contracts should show up above her head. ]

    ''Show active contracts.''

    Jason waited a few seconds for themand to take effect but nothing happened. He looked at Risa and repeated the same words.

    Three contracts appeared above her head but Jason quickly dismissed them. He looked at Silvia again and tried themand again.

    It didn''t work.

    "Why? Why isn''t it workingбн" Jason muttered in disbelief.

    Risa and Issac looked at his eyes and could see that they were glowing brightly due to the usage of divine energy.

    They saw him staring at Silvia and were somehow able to understand that Jason was checking something about Silvia.

    "What do you mean by that?" it was Amber who took the initiative to ask the obvious question.

    "Youбн" Jason took a deep breath before continuing. "You are not under a contract, are you?

 Chapter 224 Lets Go Meet Our Brothers

    Silvia blinked in surprise when she heard Jason''s usation. On the other hand, Julian burst intoughter.

    "That divinity allows you to see that as well? Damn, I guessing here was worth it just to see those reactions." Julian chuckled.

    Risa and Issac looked as though someone had just told them that they were just seeing the memories of someone else''s lives ying in front of them.

    Never could they have imagined that their daughter wasn''t under a contract. After all, they had thought that she was staying with Julian just because of a contract.

    Silvia, who had now understood the situation, had a sad smile on her face. She made no attempts at proving Jason''s statement to be false.

    The only sound being heard was that of Julian''s patron''sughter. The god was trying hard to stop himself but wasn''t able to do it.

    "I will let Julian watch this scene himself. He will be delighted by it." He said whileughing.

    Julian''s body suddenly touched the ground as his patron let him take back its possession. He blinked a few times before smiling as well.

    "I guess that was quite the surprise to you both, wasn''t it? The daughter you lost was actually staying with me due to her own will." Julianmented. "Anyways, tell me your reply for the exchange."

    "Its a no. I am not sending any children to your side." Risa replied calmly. "You can leave this ce with your forces or we will start attacking as well."

    "As if I am afraid of that. I have thousands of them ready to rece these on the snap of a finger. I am not leaving this ce until me and my patron get what we want." Julian turned around and hooked one arm with Silvia''s arm.

    Without saying anything, he pulled her away from the Syrward family. Jason saw Silvia sigh once but she didn''t turn back once.

    The Syrward family could only look helplessly as Julian and Silvia faded from view.

    "Jason, go towards the town and let Amber meet her family. You will find Andrew and Nora there as well. Talk to them about the future." Risa instructed before vanishing from her spot.

    Issac didn''t say anything yet he vanished as well. Jason turned his vision ability off and looked at Amber.

    She had one of her hands ced tightly on his shoulder but didn''t say anything.

    Even though Jason had never known Silvia and wasn''t attached to her, he had still found a shocking news. She simply wanted to give him his personal space.

    "Let''s go meet our brothers." Jason sighed before turning around and activating his mana vision.

    He went through the multiple types of mana before locating the ones he had been searching for.

    Just like Risa had said, Nora and Andrew were in the same location. He slowly started heading there, Amber moving beside him.

    "How much did you know about her?" Amber asked.

    "Barely anything. Grandma told me about what happened to her when we were staying at the hospital together."

    "You mean after we came out of the chamber?"

    "Yeah. Honestly, this reveal doesn''t really affect me in any way but I know both grandma and grandpa were hurt by it. Its like a betrayal for them."

    "Even if Silvia isn''t bound by a contract, there might be something else stopping her froming back?" Amber suggested.<sub> </sub>

    "Maybe. Truth be told, there are many ways to truly escape a person if you wish to do it. I am just wondering whether they will be able to fight her if Julian decides to use her as a shield."

    "I don''t think they would be able to do that even if she betrayed them."

    "Probably. Oh look, we already arrived at our destination."

    Jason stopped in front of a group of mansions which looked recently built. He had seen many people staring at the two of them when they were walking towards the mansion but it no longer bothered him.

    "Excited?" Jason questioned as he could sense Amber''s heartbeat speeding up.

    "I am meeting my twin after so many years. Of course, I am excited!"

    "Well, let''s go inside them." Jason knocked on the door. "I just hope people don''t make any couple jokes."

    "Let them make some." Amber mumbled just in time for the door to open up.

    "Damn, you grew quite tall. I thought you will remain shorter than me." Jasonmented the moment he saw the person who opened the door.

    It was none other than a certain red-headed demi-human, Nora.

    "Uhбн" Nora seemed tog as his brain processed what was happening. But once he realized who the person standing in front of him was, he went in for a hug.

    Jason hugged his cousin with one of his arms before smiling. Nora was a few inches taller than him, making him wonder whether demi-humans had a different growth spurt system aspared to humans.

    "I didn''t know that you wereing back today!" Nora eximed. "Let me go call Andrew. I am sure that he will be d to see you both as well."

    Before either Jason or Amber could say anything, Nora ran away. His movements were a blur as Jason saw him using the wind element.

    ''Everyone in our family is fast except aunt Zara. Maybe she has a hidden ability as well that allows her to be faster.'' Jason noted.

    "What is it, Nora? Thest time you were this excited, I ended up diving into ake with my winter wear on. Even I feel the cold." Andrew arguing voice entered the duo''s ears.

    Jason felt Amber''s hand tightening its grip on his shoulder as Andrew and Amber arrived at the door.

    The moment Andrew saw his twin, he did a double take. He looked at Jason for a few seconds before shifting his gaze towards Amber.

    mey, who was still present on Amber''s neck, waved her tail in greeting.

    "Iбн" Andrew''s voice trailed off as Amber hugged him.

    Nora and Jason stood on the side as they saw the twins hugging each other. It was a wholesome scene except for the fact that mey was jumping from Amber''s head to Andrew''s head and vice versa.

    Once they broke free, Andrew tried grabbing mey''s tail yet she managed to escape by wrapping herself around Amber''s neck.

    "You never change." Andrew sighed before smiling. "Anyways,e inside. There are a lot of things that we need to talk about.

 Chapter 225 What Bad News?

    Andrew closed the door behind him and lead the duo inside. Amber stuck close to her twin''s side before going to meet her father and mother with him.

    "So, how are you?'' Nora asked casually.

    "Hmm, I am not sure how to answer that but I guess I am fine for the time being," Jason replied.

    "Haбн" Nora sighed. "Things have been weird as ofte. Those belonging to the royal family have started internal wars inside the academy. Me and Andrew were their major targets since we belong to the four families."

    "Were there any other people that they targeted?" Jason questioned.

    "As far as I know, they are acting on the orders of the king, Julian Vancouver. I guess you already had your run in with him."

    "Yeah, that too on multiple asions. He isn''t someone I would like to invite to a birthday party." Jason sighed. "There are so many people out there to get me."

    "That number is definitely bigger for you than it is for me. Though there are some people who would like to get their hands on me." Nora sighed as well.

    An uneasy silence settled between them. Nora didn''t know what to talk about and Jason wasn''t in the mood to talk.

    Both of them simply kept on walking until they ended up in the hall where Amber was reuniting with her family members.

    ''She has quite a big family.'' Jason observed as he saw numerous people greeting and hugging Amber.

    Out of the four families, the Syrward family had the least number of family members, that too by arge margin.

    It was obvious that such a big reunion wasn''t possible for them.

    ''You are feeling awkward, aren''t you?'' Amber''s voice entered his mind.

    ''Not really. I just don''t know what to do now that I am reconnecting with a missing piece of my life.'' Jason shrugged.

    ''Happens. The first thing you can try doing is smiling a bit more.'' Amber suggested. ''You will start enjoying the short moments in life more.''

    ''Trust me when I say that I do know that and I do enjoy the tiny moments in life.'' Jason smiled.

    It took Amber a few minutes to meet up with everyone before she excused herself. Andrew and Amber came to stand beside Jason and Nora as she shot an apologetic look towards them.

    "Its your family. I took my time with my own family and you have the right to do the same." Jason replied with a smile.

    "What are we supposed to do now?" Andrew asked. "We can try catching up but I don''t think either of you will be able to sit still and discuss things like that."

    "What makes you say that?" Amber questioned.

    "Oh please. I noticed how you were a bit reluctant to meet some of them." Andrew snorted. "Also its pretty obvious that Jason is getting bored. I think it would be best if we go back to the Syrward manor to find the next thing we should do."

    "We will get to check up on the barrier as wellбн" Jason murmured. "Let''s do that."

    "Last to get there will treat the others to lunch!" Noah suddenly announced before moving with the speed of wind.

    Andrew cursed and dashed after him, using his fire magic to propel himself forward. Jason and Amber shared a secret smile since both of them knew that they had missed moments like this due to spending too much time inside the chamber of rebirth.

    "Should we give them a chance or destroy them?"

    "Let''s just get there. Do you even have money to treat them?"<sub> </sub>

    "Good point."

    In the blink of an eye, both Jason and Amber vanished from their spots. It barely took them two minutes to reach the top again since they were traveling solo without any worries.

    Nora was the next person to arrive but it took him quite a few minutes to get there. Andrew followed him soon before sighing.

    The quartet headed inside the manor as Jason signaled for May toe to him. The demi-god happily came to him and started hovering around his back.

    "Who''s that?" Andrew questioned with a surprised look.

    "She is May. May, meet Andrew. He is Amber''s twin." Jason made a quick introduction before using his mana vision to see who was present in the house.

    He located Ray meditating inside his room and controlling his mana. The rest of the family was outside.

    [ Try shifting to divine vision. You might be able to see where Amon is. ] The system suggested.

    Jason agreed with it since he knew that Amon would definitely be using divine energy to repair the barrier.

    ''If he is staying at the house, there is only one ce where he could be present at.''

    Jason''s eyes started glowing as he stared directly down. His vision passed right through as he peered inside Risa''sb.

    His guess turned out to be correct as he saw the outline of a silver ring lying in the palm of a person. Divine energy mixed with mana was slowlying out of Amon''s body.

    "I will be right back." Jason exined before dashing out from the back door, May following him closely.

    Only he and May were the people who could safely entered Risa''sb without facing any problems.

    Jason, however, knew that the others might try toe below so he opted to use the teleportation formation still linking his room with theb.

    He reached the window of his room and entered the room through it. After smearing his blood on the symbols, Jason hugged May and prepared to be teleported away.

    The two of them appeared right inside the experiment room where Amon was standing with a grim expression.

    When he saw the two of them, he lifted his gaze and sighed.

    "Since you are the first one toe here, I guess I will deliver the bad news to you first."

    "What bad news?" Jason questioned.

    "Julian''s attacks weren''t just normal attacks using divine energy. Whatever he used managed to destroy the barrier and disabled one of its mechanisms. I can no longer repair the brokenyers nor can I generate new onesбн"

    ***

    AN: the third volume ends with that. Time to do some time skips and go the action part since I seem to be losing a lot of readersбн

    Hopefully this novel will stay alive enough to help me survive xD.

    ***

    End Of Volume 3

 Chapter 226 Finalizing The Plan

    "Do you think it will hold on for much longer?" Jason asked while looking at the golden barrier outside Duphia.

    "It has held on for the past few months. I think it will definitely hold up for a few more months before sumbing to their assault." Amon replied, his eyes staring at the group of red armor-d soldiers attacking the barrier from outside.

    Julian''s patron had been telling the truth when he said that he had thousands of soldiers to rece the current ones.

    No matter how many soldiers were killed by the residents of Duphia, more would keep popping throughout the ce.

    They wouldn''t have bothered those inside the barrier if not for the fact that their attacks had now started damaging the barrier.

    Someone had to be put on guard duty twenty-four seven to make sure the barrier didn''t get more of itsyers destroyed.

    This was a tough job considering the fact that Duphia wasn''t exactly a very small region due to the expansion of the other families that had settled inside the barrier.

    The Bloodthorn family, the Anvilone Family and the Feuer family were all living inside the barrier together.

    The problem was that all the mages sent by Julian were at low Sapphire[S] rank or higher. Only those at a simr rank were able to rival their power and had the potential to win against them.

    Only a handful of such people existed inside each of the three families, and they too had to be filtered out on the basis of trust level.

    Most of the time, half the area was being taken care of by the members of the Syrward family while the others family divided the remaining portion equally.

    "Are you going to do it, or should I do it?" Amon questioned as he looked at the soldiers loading arrows into their bows.

    "I will do it. Grandma wants me to try some more things on them to make sure that they are doing this voluntarily." Jason sighed before stepping out of the barrier.

    His body buzzed with energy as dark magic oozed out from his body. He summoned thunder magic in his legs as well and targeted one of the dozen soldiers.

    His movement weren''t visible to the naked eye, yet the soldiers were able to sense his presence due to his mana usage.

    Three of them had already turned their bows in his direction and had released their arrows. Jason didn''t even bother dodging the arrows and let them hit his body.

    The shaft immediately started hissing the moment it came in contact with Jason''s body.

    ''Dark mana mixed with divine energy really does miracle.'' Jason observed before tapping the neck of one of the soldiers.

    His body immediately crumpled to ground as Jason manipted the functioning of his nervous system with the help of both the light and dark mana.

    It wasn''t an easy thing to do yet months of practice had taught him the correct way of doing it. In less than five minutes, he had defeated all of the soldiers while only suffering a minor wound on his face.

    The wound had also started healing and closed up in the next minute.

    Amon stepped out of the barrier and directly teleported unconscious soldiers to Risa''sb.

    Jason on the other hand stared at the barrier once before closing his eyes.

    [ Jason, are you done? ] May''s voice rang inside his head.<sub> </sub>

    ''Do you need my help to control your divinity?''

    [ I do. Things are getting much difficult now that my birthday is barely a few days away. When are we going to set out? ]

    ''I will see. First, I have to know who else is traveling with us to confirm how many people will be going. I will be nning things ording to that. ''

    [ Amber will be traveling with us, and I think someone else from your family or Amon wille for supervision. You can only take those who know that I am a demi-god. ] May reminded him.

    Jason sighed and started making his way to the other side of the barrier where the entrance to the town was situated.

    Risa was waiting for him there and he will only final things after discussing them with her.

    [ Do you think Wade or Zeke might want toe with you? ] The system questioned.

    ''They will definitely ask where I am going but they don''t know about May. Same goes for you Andrew and Nora. I guess none of them have a divinity either or they would have sensed the divine energy residing inside May''s body.''

    [ Divinities aren''t candies that are given to others for free. Though it might feel like that a lot of people receive them after looking at the bar of gods, it isn''t true. There are numerous worlds out there where they can go to. ]

    [ Also, they might be suspecting something considering how you have to frequently visit May to keep her divinity under control. None of them even know who she is or why she is so attached to you. ]

    ''Hopefully things don''t get too messed up.''

    Jason sighed and kept on walking. Soon he saw Risa standing in the distance and went to discuss things with her.

    "Grandma, May''s birthday ising closer. Do you think we should take her directly to the public capital or find another universal temple?" Jason questioned.

    "The problem is that after the rebellion, Julian and his patron went around destroying most of the universal temples. He also created his own temples in a lot of ces and only left two universal temples.

    One is situated at the royal capital, Troy while the other one is at Troyalias, the ce where we will be going." Risa exined.

    "Who else will be going with us?"

    "Julian will definitely know that we will be leaving so I will keep the number down to five people. I will be going with you and Amber is someone we need as well. We can''t take anyone else from our family since we need them here. Amon will being.

    Nora can''t be taken either since I need him to supervise the younger generation and keep a track on the demi-humans movements. Without revealing May''s identity, it''s impossible for one more person to travel with us."

    "I will talk to May regarding this and hear what she says. Personally, Zeke''s abilities will be quite useful for us."

    "Agreed." Risa nodded. "Now that the n is finalized, we will be leaving in a day. Prepare ordingly."

    "All right." Jason agreed.

    For the first time in months, Jason would be stepping out of Duphia, that too for something that was almost impossible.

 Chapter 227 Setting Out

    [ So you are nning to tell this to someone else as well? ] May questioned as Jason was stabilizing the excessive divine energy present inside her body.

    ''I am just thinking about it. The execution will depend on you.'' Jason replied. ''You might be put in danger because of it since one more person will know about your secret.''

    [ What if you bind him with an oath? Extracting a divine oath from him, especially one made using my divine energy, should be enough to make him hold his tongue. ]

    ''That is actually a pretty good idea.'' Jason smiled. ''Let''s proceed with that.''

    [ I will bring Zeke here. ] Hestia appeared beside Jason in her wolf form before walking away.

    Most of those staying inside Duphia were used to seeing mey and Hestia roaming around. The guardians would speak sometimes and deliver messages but other than that, they were mostly roaming without any purpose.

    [ Will be go back to the demon continent once I have said my prayers at the temple? ]

    ''I don''t know. ording to Amon and Koro, the demon king is nning ahead to make sure he isn''t assaulted by Julian. No one knows what he is nning or what he might do.'' Jason sighed.

    A day after they had met Julian and his patron, Koro appeared at Duphia and informed them that the demon kingdom was under a state of emergency.

    The sins were now busy managing every city and its citizens to make sure everyone knew how to react in cases of war.

    Despite what most of the human race believed, Lucius was actually a ruler who truly cared about his people.

    He was trying his best to make sure most of them would be able to survive if a war happened.

    ''I still have trials left toplete. I wonder what will happen once I havepleted all of them.''

    [ Probably something rted to what Seshat had said. ] The system reminded.

    Jason clearly remembered the words Seshat had said to him once he had returned to her library.

    "You are a beacon and a conduit for the future, Jason. The materials required to activate you are those around you. Once thest material has found you and you have unlocked your real self, the chaos will begin."

    Jason had returned the book Seshat had given to him before hurrying out of the library. The way Seshat had said the words made it feel like she was directly peering into the future and reciting it.

    [ Astryn did say that Seshat is a prophet. She rarely gives prophecies but the ones she does give turn out to be true in the future. ]

    ''Please don''t remind me of that. The more I think about it, the more I feel like everything will be destroyed.''

    [ But its the truth. Everything will get destroyed one day. ] Hestiamented despite being far away from their location.

    [ Indeed. Nothing is guaranteed tost forever. ]

    ''I know. Even gods don''tst forever.''

    Hestia returned after fifteen minutes with Zeke walking behind her. Jason asked May to reveal more of her divine energy and to float in the air.

    "Why did you call me here?" Zeke asked with a confused expression as he saw May hovering behind Jason.

    He knew that May was no ordinary child, yet he was still surprised whenever he saw her flying.

    "Tomorrow, we are going out of Duphia to Troyalias. Do you want toe with us?"

    "Uhбн sure? But what exactly are we going there for?" Zeke asked.

    "We are going there to visit an universal temple." Jason replied and waited for Zeke to ask more questions.

    However, much to his surprise, Zeke didn''t ask anything else and simply nodded.

    "I will go pack my stuff ordingly." He said and exited the room.

    Jason exchanged a nce with Hestia who simply shrugged at him.

    [ Guss you don''t know your friends that well. ]

    ''That stings for some reason.'' Jason grumbled before looking at May. ''Guess your secret is still safe for the time being.''

    [ it will definitely be revealed once I reach the temple. ]

    ''Maybe, maybe not. No one know what will happen once we get there.'' Jason shrugged.

    [ True. Let''s see what will happen tomorrowбн ]<sub> </sub>

    ***

    "If we are going to use a teleportation formation, why are we going there six days before?" Jason questioned.

    He and the rest of those leaving for Troyalias were gathered at the town entrance where Amon was creating a teleportation formation.

    "One, we can''t teleport too close to the capital since Julian has activated the protective carvings embedded in the walls surrounding the city. Two, there are people guarding the temple and defeating them will take a lot of time.

    Also, you and May will have to enter the temple alone one day before the final date since her powers are out of control. That''s why we are leaving right now." Risa exined.

    Jason fell silent and saw Amonpleting the teleportation circle. Since he could no longer regenerate or create moreyers for the barrier, Amon had mostly been focused on strengthening the current barrier.

    He had spent most of his energy on that or defeating the soldiers who were continuously appearing around the town.

    "Let''s go." Amon sapped his fingers and ignited the magic circle.

    All of them stepped into the circle at the same time before being teleported away. Amon, however, noticed something before leaving.

    ''So he is spying on us with thatбн he might not be able to see inside the barrier and hear our conversations, but he definitely saw us leaving.''

    Amon had been able to sense a fluctuation in the natural mana around Duphia, something he had been trying to do for months.

    That was how he was able to know that Julian had been spying on them with the help of a certain object.

    [ The security around the major cities as well as the capital is going to be extremely tight. Julian knows we areing. ] He warned the others.

    ''He will be waiting for usбн'' Jason silently thought.

    He could feel Sancus''s divinity moving inside his soul as it too was pumped up to free people from their contract.

    In the previous few months, Jason had figured out another way to use the divinity to free people.

    Unfortunately, he and Risa still hadn''t found a way to free the soldiers trapped by Julian. Their bodies were embedded with self-destruction magic that would activate the moment their contracts ended or were canceled.

    Not only that but if someone tried tampering with the magic, it would mutate the soldier''s body and make them enter a berserk stage.

    Jason had seen quite a lot of gory things due to that, but he wasn''t bothered by them. He was more interested in seeing Julian getting his face trampled on by thousands of citizens.

    The group suddenly appeared in front of an inn situated at the base of a hill. Jason exchanged a nce with Risa since he hadn''t seen the ce before while traveling towards the capital.

    "We are going from the backside since the temple is closer from that direction. This path also has less cities so the chances of us meeting soldiers or those trying to capture us are quite less." Amon exined before Risa could open her mouth.

    "Also, was this the closest ce you could take us to?" Risa asked.

    "If I went a few meters forward, the space barrier activated around the capital would have sensed our location. I am afraid we will have to travel on foot and have to make sure to not use too much mana or any other form of energy."

    Amon looked at Jason, Amber and May before shifting his gaze towards the inn.

    "If I am not wrong, this inn is actually a guard check post. I am surprised no one came to attack us yet." He amused.

    Moments after the words had left his mouth, the door of the inn opened up and mage dressed in the special forces clothes dashed outside.

    They outnumbered the group five to one and immediately started attacking their individual targets.

    "I guess this will serve as a good warm up." Jasonmented as thunder immediately shot out from his body and hit one of the mages in the forehead.

    He copsed to the ground before being burnt by Amber. The duo then started coordinating and used minimum amounts of mana to destroy their opponents.

    Zeke was freezing most of the attacks thrown his way before unleashing his own move. A magic circle expanded around him and every single special mage standing inside the circle was frozen on their spot.

    Zeke snapped his fingers and the frozen mages broke apart, turning into tiny blood red crystals. No residue, except for the crystals, was left behind.

    Risa and Amon didn''t even need to move from their spots to defeat the special mages. They had fought their fair share of mages in the past and were used tobating them.

    Only May was the one who wasn''t doing anything. Aplicated expression was visible on her face as she felt a weird feeling emerging inside her chest.

    ''Why are all of them so interested in getting me to the temple when I haven''t given them anything in returnбн''

 Chapter 228 I Will Be Waiting For My Future Pawns

    Once the special mages had been dealt with, the group started their advance towards the capital.

    Half the time, May was wondering why all of them were helping her. She could figure out at least some reason for Jason, Risa and Amber yet Amon and Zeke didn''t make sense.

    Zeke didn''t even know that she was a demi-god and was visiting the temple so that she wouldn''t explode with the release of divine energy.

    ''Ugh, this is frustrating. Why am I even thinking about this?!''

    Despite thinking that, May knew that she was feeling guilty. Everyone seemed to be helping her while there was nothing she could do.

    Even if she tried to help them using her divine energy, it would only warn Julian about their presence, leading to more troubles for the group.

    The only thing she could do was close her eyes and bury her head in Jason''s chest. After all, that was the onlyfort she could reach out for the time being.

    ''I think something is worrying her.'' Jason observed.

    [ She must be tired from constantly keeping her divine energy under control. If she lets even a small amount of it slip away from her control, it will immediately send out a signal and reveal our location. ] The system exined.

    ''Hmm, lemme take some burden of her shoulders.''

    Jason reached out for the connection between him and May before sensing the divine energy inside her body.

    Just like the system had said, May was trying hard to keep the divine energy locked in a fixed spot. She was trying her best to make sure none of it leaked out from her body.

    ''You don''t have to worry too much. Even if you out a small amount of divine energy in the form of an aura, I will be able to suppress it on my own.''

    [ Butбн Wouldn''t that add another burden on your shoulder? ] May asked in a low voice.

    ''Nah, I am used to handling your divine energy. Though I can''t directly consume it, I can still control and spread it evenly throughout our bodies.'' Jason replied.

    [ Iбн ]

    ''You are feeling about putting us through so much trouble?'' Jason asked with a smile.

    May''s breathing turned a bit uneven as she shifted in Jason''s grip. [ Yes. I feel like I only keep increasing your problems without providing you with any solution. ]

    ''Truth be told, none of us would be here if we didn''t have a reason for helping you. Zeke doesn''t even know the truth about you, yet he is still interested in helping. He knows you are close to us and thus wants to help.

    You might not realize it but to Amber and Risa, you have be the recement for the people that were once close to them. Amon is here because he knows you are experiencing difficulties.''

    [ What about you? ]

    ''Hmm, you are my responsibility to say the least. At first, I took you in because I was fascinated by your powers. Remember that I told you that in exchange for helping you, I want you to use your powers to help me?''

    [ I do remember that. You thought of me as a tool of sorts. ]

    ''Indeed but I have changed now. Somewhere along the line you became important for me. I guess I will be taking care of you for some time now.''<sub> </sub>

    [ Thank you! ] May replied sincerely.

    Jason simply nodded and smiled. Their journey continued upwards the hill without much happening.

    Most of the beasts vanished at the sight of Amon and Risa. Even the stronger beasts that ruled over various regions of the hill ran away to the apex beast of the area.

    [ You are telling me that a group of humans are traveling towards the capital and two of them are even stronger than me? ]

    The apex beast of the area was a ck tiger twice the size of a fully grow elephant. His fur was lined with golden scars and his eyes radiated the glow of lightning.

    [ Yes, my lord. All of us are telling the truth. ] The rest of the beasts agreed.

    The apex beast stood up from his spot and nced in the direction of the group. He spread out his senses and immediately sensed that the group''s power far outssed his own.

    [ My lord, the human king told you to warn him if anyone like that appears in our area. I think we should do that. ] One of the beasts advised.

    The ck tiger started roaming around a bit beforeing to a decision.

    [ None of you should bother them. If even one of you does that, I am sure that they will try to eradicate most of us to ensure an easy travel ahead. Its best if we maintain our distance and hide. ]

    One the apex beast had given his orders, the other beasts dispersed and spread the news in their respective regions.

    The tiger on the other hand closed his eyes and thought of the human king''s name.

    "Someone finally appeared in the forest?" Julian''s voice suddenly entered the apex beast''s ears.

    A projection of the human king was present in front of him. Julian had a pleased expression on his face as though he had just received some good news.

    [ Yes, there are a group of six people, one is just a child, traveling towards your city. They are at a much higher level than me so I thought it would be best to let you know about them. ]

    "You did the best thing. But is there any way for you to show me how they look?"

    [ I can give you a small glimpse. ]

    Julian nodded for the beast to proceed. The tiger released his aura once again as his vision traveled all the way to the ce where the group was traveling.

    Julian''s projection was also able to see this since he had the beast under a specific contract.

    Once he had confirmed who the members of the group were, a smile appeared on his face.

    "You did good. I will reward you for thister on." Julian said as his projection vanished.

    He woke up inside the pce and got up from his bed. A dangerous smile was present on his face.

    "I will be waiting for you my future pawns. Hurry up ande here quickly."

 Chapter 229 Infiltrating Troyalias

    "Amon, you felt that?" Risa asked with narrowed eyes.

    "I did. I think that was the apex beast of the forest." Amon replied, his eyes turning towards the west.

    "Julian must know about us now. I am pretty sure he will be waiting for us at the capital." Risa sighed. "Let''s use mana to increase our speed. We will reach the capital by night if we try hard enough."

    After saying that, Risa touched the foreheads of the three teenagers with her right index finger. A small circle appeared right in the middle of their forehead before vanishing.

    "This will allow me to sense your location no matter how far you are. Jason, if you need help, you know how to contact me and so do you Amber. Zeke, say my name thrice before dropping a small amount of your blood on the ground.

    I will appear and save you then. These are just general instructions in case any of us get separated. After all, only Jason can keep up with me and Amon, that is if we don''t use divine energy." Risa exined.

    "I won''t be able to use divine energy though because that speed will deal damage to Amber." Jason reminded.

    "I know. Neither me nor Amon would be using divine energy since a magic formation embedded in the walls will repel the energy at us. None of you should use it either since it serves as a trump card as well. Got any questions?"

    "Am I the only one here who can''t use divine energy?" Zeke asked awkwardly.

    "Yes, you are," Risa replied in a sympathetic voice. "There''s a chance that you might get called up by a god or a goddess at the temple. Maybe you will be able to create a contract with a god."

    "After hearing so much about Julian and personally meeting him once, I don''t want to go anywhere near contracts." Zeke shook his head.

    "Your wish. Let''s go now." Risa instructed as she turned on her light element.

    Golden light gently wrapped around her body before she started moving forward at a blurring speed.

    Amon didn''t actively use his powers yet he too moved at a simr pace. Amber sank inside the ground and started following the duo by sensing their auras.

    Zeke had to use his wind element to boost his speed. Since his affinity wasn''t that high, he simply froze the ground in front of him and used wind magic to push himself forward.

    Jason watched all of them go before using his thunder as well. His speed could have easily matched that of Risa and Amon without needing to tune on to his divine energy.

    However, if he did that, he would end up hurting May''s body which couldn''t bear such high speed.

    [ What if I protect myself with the help of divine energy? ]

    ''Can''t do that. Its best if you keep it hidden until we reach the temple. Risa already denied us from using it anyways.''

    [ All right... ]

    ''Don''t be so disappointed. Once we have made sure that you return to normal, there are going to be plenty of opportunities for you to fight. Make use of all the divine energy during those fights.''

    May fell silent as Jason continued to move forward. He was moving at the back of the group and kept an eye on everyone with his mana vision.

    Since no one was using divine energy, it was easy for him to know their locations.

    They continued to travel until they reached the peak of the hill. From there, they could see the coliseum in the middle of Troyalias.

    Jason could tell that it was the backside of the city because he could see a pce of sorts situated close to the coliseum.

    "It should take us around two hours to reach that ce. Make sure to use all of senses because Julian might have deployed traps all around the city. Stick close to each other." Risa warned before they continued moving ahead.<sub> </sub>

    Just like she had said, unexpected traps started popping in front of them. Magic seals, beasts and special mages continued to obstruct their paths.

    But with their coordination, all of them easily cleared the obstacles and reached the back entrance of the city.

    [ Now the troublesome thing is how we can enter the city. The walls have a barrier generated around the city at all times and it can warn the royal pce when unregistered mages enter the city. ] Risa said telepathically.

    [ Grandma, there is no need to create so much suspense. Since you were so keen on moving today and had the rest of the things nned out, I know that you have a n for this situation as well. ] Jason sighed.

    [ At least let me create a melodramatic scene before getting started. ] Risa pouted. [ Amon, please proceed. ]

    Jason simply rolled his eyes at Risa''s reaction. Even during such a tight situation, she wanted to create a melodramatic effect.

    On the other hand, Amon closed his eyes and touched Jason''s forehead with his right index and middle finger.

    Jason noticed that the silver ring restricting Amon''s power was gone. The sin of wrath sent some strange energy inside Jason''s body before doing the same thing with the rest of them.

    [ We should be able to pass inside the city unnoticed. Just don''t use your own mana or divine energy. ] Amon instructed before he directly walked towards the entrance.

    Guards were stationed all around the gate and the barrier at the entrance was there as well. However, Amon managed to walk inside the city without any problems.

    The others followed him with confused expressions, except Risa who had seen the same thing numerous times.

    They kept on walking till they entered the nobility region. The Bloodthorn mansion was empty at the moment due to no member of the four families being present outside Duphia.

    [ Sensory magic would be used at the mansion but if we go inside a specific room, we won''t be caught by anyone. Amber, can you take us all to the basement from under the ground? ] Risa questioned.

    [ Easily. Just guide me to the room and I will take us there. ]

    [ Good. Let''s start then. ]

    Amber immediately made the entire group sink under the ground. All of them had their normal vision cut and had to rely on other visionary or sensory abilities to see or tell things about their surroundings.

    Risa slowly guided Amber under the mansion before asking her to take them up into the basement.

    The group emerged inside a medium-sized hall full of emergency supplies ranging from food to clothes to magic scrolls.

    "This is a safe room that we created in case we ever need to use the mansion as a safe spot." Risa exined. "It has beds stored inside space rings as well."

    "Nice." Zeke whistled lowly.

    "That was the goal behind this room''s creation. It should give us some time to rest, get ourselves in battle ready condition as well as allow us to strategize. Do any of you require weapons?"

    "No, I can create my own weapons." Jason shook his head.

    "Me too." Amber shook her head as well.

    "I used magic best without any weapon, so I don''t need any weapon either." Zeke denied as well.

    "All right. Let''s eat something and n what we are going to do." Risa instructed. "Tomorrow, we make our way to the entrance of the temple and hopefully, defeat the guardians there. Or else, things will getplicated for us."

 Chapter 230 We Are Walking Into A Trap

    The next day, Jason was the first one to wake up or at least that''s what he thought.

    It turned out that Risa and Amon hadn''t fallen asleep and had stayed up for the entire night. Both of them had been figuring out the exact location of the temple since Julian had made sure it wouldn''t be essible to everyone.

    After some research, they had found out that the temple was situated inside the pce. It was another reason the pce was so fortified.

    Julian wanted to make sure that if anyone wanted to offer a prayer or ask their patron directly for help, they would have to meet him and form a contract with him.

    Only then would they be able to enter the pce and step foot inside the temple.

    "To infiltrate the pce, we will have to avoid being seen by tons of sensory mages. On top of that, we will have to make sure that we don''t directly run into Julian. Me and Amon have confirmed that he is present inside the pce." Risa exined.

    "How exactly are we going to enter the pce? From what I saw, it was covered on all sides by protective walls with mages overseeing the entire area around the pce." Zeke muttered.

    "We will be relying on Amon''s magic for that however it will not us for the entire time. We will have tost long enough to make sure we can enter the temple. Once we are inside, Julian won''t be able to do us any harm." Risa replied.

    "Also, we will be able to get out fairly easily if things go as nned. If they don''t, we will still have a backup n so all of you should only focus on getting inside." Amon added.

    After the n had been finalized, the group exited the mansion with Amber''s help.

    Since they were infiltrating such a strongly fortified pce, there was no ce for mistake.

    Once they reached the entrance to the pce, Amon activated his powers below the ground and covered the group.

    Amber slowly took them inside the boundary of the pce. They safely crossed the sensory mages and directly appeared below the pce.

    [ There are traps inside as well. Just like we nned, me, Jason and May will proceed above head while Zeke, Amber and Amon will stay below. Let''s do it. ] Risa reminded onest time before she appeared on the surface.

    Jason and May soon followed her as they emerged in one of the many rooms situated inside the pce.

    Risa and Jason immediately activated their respective sensory abilities while making sure that they weren''t using any divine energy.

    ''I can''t see past more than two rooms.'' Jason observed.

    [ The entire pce is likely enforced with formations and runes. Even your abilitybined with your natural vision can''t see more than this. However, this much vision should be enough to let you see other mages. ]

    Jason nodded before following Risa out of the room. In his arms, May started shivering. A tingling sensation repeatedly spread across her back.

    [ I think I am sensing something. ] May said inside Jason and Risa''s mind.

    [ What are you sensing? ] Risa asked, ducking into a corner with Jason.

    [ I don''t know how to describe this. Something seems to be pulling me towards it. If I try looking for it, I find myself staring at statues and stuff. I think the temple is calling meбн ]

    Jason immediately asked Hestia for help since she was the only goddess he could talk to on the spot.

    [ Its a natural thing that happens with demi-god who haven''t visited a temple yet. That feeling will appear every time she is near an universal temple or a temple dedicated to her father.

    Though the feelings might be extremely strong right now since she hasn''t visited a temple once in her life. Jason, make sure that her divine energy doesn''t start leaking. It will be safe to ask her for directions. ]

    Jason nodded and tightened his grip around May.

    ''May, guide us towards the ce which is attracting you. If you feel like divine energy is about to leak or burst out from your body, just tell me about it.''

    [ All rightбн Head straight from here and take a left from the next intersection. ]

    With May''s help, the group knew the exact location of the temple. If she hadn''t awakened that feeling, they would have to interrogate a worker to find the location of the temple.

    Jason and Risa''s sensory abilities also came in handy. They managed to avoid many interactions due to that and were able to head straight for the temple.

    However, Risa was starting to feel suspicious. Something in her gut was screaming that things would soon go wrong.

    ''Julian knows we will find a way to sneak into the temple. Its impossible that he didn''t set a trap or have soldiers situated all around the temple.''

    Risa had expected at least a few dozen soldiers to appear below ground as well as above ground.

    However, she hadn''t seen any strong mage ever since she had entered the pce. This appeared unsettling to her, making her wish that she could still use her divine energy.<sub> </sub>

    ''There is only one answer to this. We are walking into a trap.'' Risa sighed.

    She could tell that the moment they reached the entrance of the temple, Julian would pop there with his team of guards and special mages.

    She might even see a few of her old enemies that she had fought in the internal war. However, the real problem would appear if Julian managed to capture anyone from the group.

    [ Amon, how much time will it take for you to use our backup escape n? ]

    [ Less than ten seconds. Even if Julian ys some dirty trick, I will use my powers to stop him. You don''t have to worry about our safety as long as its in my hands. ] Amon reassured.

    [ I know. I can''t help but think about the worst case scenario now that I have realized that we are walking into a trap. ]

    [ We were walking into a trap the moment we were seen in the forest. Julian had already formted a n and I am sure its already in motion. The only thing we can do is enter the temple and stay there until May''s birthday. ]

    [ I knowбн ]

    Risa maintained her guard the entire moment but once she noticed that they weren''t encountering any workers, she let herself rx a little.

    She decided to save her energy for fighting Julian and continued moving forward with the group.

    After fifteen minutes of roaming around the pce, May''s eyes suddenly started glowing.

    [ We have to turn right ahead and keep walking straight. The entrance to the temple is situated there. ] She dered.

    All of them upped their guard again as Risa called everyone to the surface. There was no knowing what kind of surprise attack Julian might use so it was best to stay close.

    It was a good thing that Risa did that because the moment they took a right, they spotted Julian standing at the end of the hallway.

    The king had a smirk on his face as he waved at the group.

    "Hello, everyone. I have been expecting you since a long time." Julian greeted. "I hope you are all doing good because I personally want to be the one to ruin your day."

    "Where is your patron, Julian? At least he knows how to talk nicely even with that superiorityplex of his." Risa snorted.

    "There is no need to call him here. I can take care of you as well." Julian cracked his neck before releasing the power of his divinity.

    A suppressing aura immediately hit the group, making them take a step back. Even Risa and Amon were forced to step back in front of the divine aura.

    [ You know what to do, right? ]

    ''I know. May, you can let small amounts of your divine energy emit out now. I will try to see whether I can use it to increase the power of my own aura.'' Jason said before turning on his own divinity.

    He had been charging the purple pen since a long time and it was currently at full power.

    A pleasant aura suddenly radiated from his body which pushed back Julian''s aura, canceling it simultaneously.

    ? Julian clicked his tongue in disappointment before pping his hands. All of a sudden, hundreds of mages surrounded the group, their spells ready tounch towards the group.

    Multiple magic circles opened beneath them, making Risa and Amon sigh.

    Their theory had proved out to be the true.

    "Amon, should wemence with our n or wait for him to give his ''surrender to me or else'' speech?" Risa asked.

    "I think we should attack him right now and be done with it. I don''t need to hear that speech again."

    Amon stretched out both his hands, his lips curling up. A powerful ck st shot out from his palms, dispelling the magic circles and deactivating all the skills and spells around them.

    Julian''s expression turned grim when he realized who the person was.

    "Amon, the sin of wrath. The strongest of the seven sins and the personal bodyguard of the previous demon king," Julian muttered. "I can''t believe you are using your powers for something like this."

    "Priorities change when you have seen most of the world. Sometimes, it''s better to aim for something you want despite of the consequences," Amon replied. "Hopefully, you are ready to be beaten down."

    All of a sudden, Amon''s divinity red up, covering everything in a pitch ck aura

 Chapter 231 I Guess Miracles Are Bound To Happen

    Two ck horns slowly emerged from within Amon''s hair. They were curved horns, simr to that of a ram.

    Their length easily went beyond one foot which was a frightening thing to see. Combined with the fact that Amon''s eyes were glowing a dangerous shade of red, he looked like the evil demon from old stories of heroes.

    "Wrath is a wonderful thing. Even in the face of power, it can give quite a shock to people." Amonmented before clenching his hands into fist. "I hope you were expecting this."

    Amon suddenly released a wave of power from his hands, sending the mages flying away. The ck aura around his body started burning the skin of the mages, making a few of them scream.

    Those who tried to fight back found out that their attacks were immediately absorbed by Amon''s aura. Their attacks also resulted in an increase in the speed of their skin being boiled.

    Julian watched this with a calm expression since he had fought the sin of wrath before. He knew that unless he called upon the strongest mages under hismand, he wouldn''t be able to pose a challenge to the group.

    Unfortunately, none of his strongest warriors were present inside the kingdom. He had sent them on a special expedition which meant that he only had himself to rely on.

    ''If Jason''s divinity wasn''t interfering with mine, I would be able to subject Risa to my control and easily suppress the others.'' Julian mentally sighed before cracking his knuckles. ''I guess I don''t have any other option left.''

    He reached out for his divinity and formed a connection with his patron. A whooshing sound echoed inside his ears as a pir of light tore through the pce and struck his body.

    "We meet again." Julian''s patron said with a smile as he slowly started levitating in the air.

    Amon''s expression darkened, forcing him to move his right hand in a circr manner. One by one, all of the mages started choking before turning into ck dust.

    Amon had gotten rid of all the small fries in one go but the real challenge had only began.

    He now had to battle a god, that too a high leveled one. Even if hebined his strength with others, Amon knew that they couldn''t win.

    [ Jason, be prepared to dash towards the entrance. The moment you enter the temple, I will take all of us back. ] Risa suddenly exined. [ Amon, you know what to do, don''t you? ]

    [ I do. Let''s proceed. ]

    The sin of wrath took a deep breath before locking his vision on to Julian. His divinity red up, sending divine energy throughout his veins.

    [ Host, I am sending you some divine energy from Erebus''s divinity. You are going to need it to see what is happening as well as to travel towards the entrance of the temple. ] The system informed.

    Jason didn''t question the system and simply used the iing divine energy to power up his vision.

    In slow motion, he saw Amon and Risa shot forward whilst Julian summoned a bow of sorts.

    Thousands of arrows made from light were released from Julian''s bow one after the other. Amon created arrows of darkness while a Qilin[1] emerged from Risa''s palms.

    The creature had four legs and had the head of a dragon. A long golden horn emerged from the middle of his forehead.

    The rest of his body was wrapped by a golden light which seemed to be negating both Julian and Amon''s attacks.

    The arrows shed against each other as the Qilin directly hit Julian''s body. The god shrugged it off and hit Risa with a stallion made from light.<sub> </sub>

    Both sides exchanged countless attacks when Jason realized that less than five seconds had passed.

    He looked at Zeke and Amber and saw them staring forward with confused expression. Neither of them were able to see the fights since their eyes weren''t fast enough to capture the motions.

    All they saw were the explosions that were caused muchter on.

    Jason on the other hand had already shot out for the entrance. May had started using as much of her divinity as possible to protect herself, allowing Jason to transcend his speed limit.

    His eyes kept track of the attacks while his body automatically moved towards the entrance. He could feel his muscles stretching inside his body as he passed the level of humane speed.

    "On no, you don''t." Julian''s patron said as he suddenly appeared in front of Jason.

    The god blocked Jason''s path and struck him with punch to the gut. Jason didn''t know how but he managed to move out of the way on his own.

    When his eyes looked back, he saw that the walls had been sted away for several meters. If he had taken the punch, he might be sttered across the wall.

    "Keep going." Amon muttered as he appeared right beside Jason.

    He and Julian exchanged several blows as Risa teleported all around the hall. Her eyes were glowing brightly while she struck several points on Julian''s body.

    Jason saw divine energy leaking out from those very points but he couldn''t stick around long enough to see what else was happening.

    He stepped on top of Julian''s head and used it as a boost to shoot for the entrance. It was a simply opening in the wall surrounded by a golden boundary.

    The other side of the entrance couldn''t be seen due to a hazy golden mist. Jason didn''t care what was on the other side as he passed right through the entrance.

    His body was engulfed by the golden mist as all of his divine energy burst out at once. Jason gasped, his body slowly going limp.

    May had it worse since she had much more divine energy inside her body. Her divinity was rapidly producing divine energy as well so it was a torture for her to get all of it pulled out at once.

    [ Demi-gods can''t survive without divine energy. This ce can''t pull out all of her divine energy and neither can it do the same to you. ] Hestia exined in a grim tone.

    Both Jason and May were gasping loudly as the mist tried to suck them dry. It was almost like they were going to dieбн

    Suddenly, the sensation of death vanished and was reced by a pleasant humming. An amused voice slowly entered their ears.

    "Well, well. I didn''t think I would see someone like you both entering the temple forcefully. But I guess miracles are bound to happen."

    ***

    1. Qilins are creatures from Chinese mythologies often portrayed as creatures with four legs and the face of a dragon. They are sometimes symbolized as animals of light. They are also referred to as Kilins in Japan and Korea.

 Chapter 232 Chronos And Choros

    Jason slowly lifted his head to see two bald monks walking his way. Both of them were twins except for the color of their eyes.

    One monk had dark blue eyes while the other had pure white eyes. They were wearing robes matching the color of their eyes and had their entire body hidden from view.

    A smile was visible on the face of the white-eyed monk as he extended his hand towards Jason.

    "My name is Chronos and I am one of the guardians of the temple. Nice to meet you, Jason Syrward." Chronos greeted. "I hope that the retching sensation wasn''t too overwhelming for you."

    Jason''s jaw twitched when he heard Chronos''sment. However, he didn''t say anything quirky in reply.

    Jason had sensed that Chronos was way out of his league. In fact, he felt as if the guardian was even stronger than Julian''s patron.

    "I am Choros, his twin," the other monk said. "You both will be facing us before being able to enter the temple."

    "Why exactly do we have to fight you both? Can''t you just let us inside the temple so that we can wait there for a few days before praying?" Jason questioned.

    "It''s because Lord Galirius won''t allow that to happen. He has us bound to this ce and we have to act as the temple''s guardians." Chronos sighed.

    "We know that the child is suffering. If we weren''t bound by our duties, we would have allowed you to pass inside. After all, we don''t want a fellow demi-god to suffer." Choros added.

    That was enough to send chills down Jason''s spine. The two monks in front of him were demi-gods, meaning that their strength far exceeded those with a normal divinity.

    If he were to face them head on, he was sure he would lose within seconds.

    "What kind of trial do I have to clear to enter the temple?" Jason asked.

    "Let''s go somewhere scenic first. We will think about things then." Choros flicked his right hand as the space around Jason suddenly distorted.

    He appeared inside a ckhole before appearing in the middle of a flower garden. Jason immediately recognized this as the work of a space mage, making Choros the second space mage he met.

    "Don''t you think the flowers are a bit wilted?" Choros asked his twin.

    "They are. We haven''t visited this ce for a few years so this was expected." Chronos shrugged before flicking his right hand upwards.

    In front of Jason''s eyes, the flowerspletely changed. It was as though they went back in time and appeared fully bloomed.

    "Time magicбн" Jason''s jaw opened slightly.

    "Correct. I''m a time mage while Choros is a space mage. While we were living on Clover, we were quite famous due to our elements." Chronos smiled. "Don''t worry, we won''t ask you to fight us."

    "Your challenge will be something much simpler yet difficult." Choros added.

    The twins exchanged a silent nce before looking straight at May.

    "To enter the temple, both of you must make a decision,"

    "Either one of you shall pass and the other dies,"<sub> </sub>

    "Or both of you die and no one passes,"

    "Take your time to think,"

    "We will return once you are done."

    The twins suddenly vanished without any warning, leaving behind a dumbfounded Jason.

    ''For some reason, I was expecting them to start talking in rhyming sentences.''

    [ I expected that too but I guess they don''t have that level of synchronization. It''s hard to exin the details of a trial and rhyme at the same time. ]

    Jason nodded before sitting cross-legged on the ground. There was no way he was going to die due to such a trial.

    Since he had a lot of time at hand, there might be another exit that was kept hidden from his vision.

    [ Jason, do you think they will kill us both if we don''t choose someone to go ahead? ] May asked in a low tone.

    "First of all, don''t say that I should go ahead because I am not going to go. Second, this is a stupid thing because we didn''te all the way here to let only one of us proceed. Anything else you wanna ask?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

    [ Noбн How will we leave this ce then? ] May shook her head to clear her thoughts.

    ''Some sort of hidden exit must be located here that we will be able to find if we try hard enough. My bet is that we have to clear some sort of mini trial to unlock that exit.'' Jason replied telepathically.

    He turned on his divine vision and looked around with his ability. He tried finding a hidden entrance, which obviously didn''t pop up.

    Jason stood up and started observing every inch of the ce. He tapped the ground with his feet experimentally to see whether it would trigger anything.

    ? ''System, help me here. Let''s run a scan over the entire area.''

    [ My range is kind of short here. It''s probably due to Choros''s space ability but I should still be able to sense some kind of hidden entrance. ]

    With the system''s help, Jason set out to find the hidden entrance that he believed existed.

    May started helping him as well by going in the opposite direction. However, she would have to stop frequently to prevent her divinity from going out of hand.

    She didn''t want to ask Jason for help since he was trying to find a way to get the two of them out of there.

    May promised herself that she would hold herself for as long as she could before finally asking for Jason''s help.

    ''I hope we can get out of this ce by finding another exit. If we can''tбн'' May closed her eyes for a few second and took a deep breath.

    She already thought of the worst-case scenario and what she would do in case it came true. After finalizing her n, she set out to help Jason again.

    And just like that, days started passing by...

 Chapter 233 Rumble Of The Past [Part 1]

    "That''s it. That''s thest inch of this space that I haven''t checked yet." Jason sighed before crashing to the ground.

    He had been scanning every inch of the ce ever since he had gotten there yet he still hadn''t found a way to exit it.

    On the other hand, May had entered a temporary hibernation state to prevent herself from going on a rampage.

    Fortunately, time passed differently inside the space or else May might have already destroyed the entire space in one big st.

    ''System, do you think I should just call both the guardians and try to fight my way out of here?'' Jason asked.

    [ You will lose and die but I guess its worth a try. Maybe if they use a portal created through space maniption, you can jump inside it with May and exit this ce. ]

    ''All right, its worth a shot. If I die like this, I swear I wille back here to haunt these guardians for eternity.''

    Jason stood up from his spot and went to pick up May. The demi-god was peacefully sleeping under a tree as strands of divine energy were slowly forming a cocoon around her body.

    Jason lifted her off the ground and hugged her to his chest with a grim expression. Her body temperature was steadily rising, and her breathing was bing uneven.

    Jason estimated that her birthday was approaching soon and if he didn''t enter the temple by then, May would likely go on a rampage and destroy the entire area, including him.

    "I am ready with an answer." Jason said aloud and looked around with attentive eyes.

    Unfortunately, no portal appeared anywhere as the two monks materialized right in front of him.

    Both of them stared at him with expressionless faces, waiting for his reply.

    "I have decided that both of us are going out. I don''t care about your stupid trial." He said boldly before activating Sancus''s divinity.

    The moment he did that, some sort of pressure was lifted off his shoulders. It was simr to what happened when his divinity countered Julian''s divinity.

    "A divinity of the god of oaths," Choros mumbled. "I guess we can''t simply crush you both by throwing you out of this space."

    "I don''t like those with rule breaker abilities. They can fight on their own terms no matter where they are. But then, they have to pay a high price for it." Chronos narrowed his eyes at Jason''s chest.

    [ Host, your blood flow is increasing with the amount of divine energy you are using. If you use your divinity for more than five minutes, I am afraid that your blood vessels might burst. ]

    ''But as long as its active, they can''t y any dirty trick on me by manipting the surroundings, right?''

    [ No, they can''t. Choros can still use his space magic, but he won''t be able to push your body out of this ne, which in other terms, means throwing someone out of space into an area of ck void.

    He can''t push your soul out of your body either. Chronos can''t make you age suddenly as well so you can battle that as well. Good luck. ]

    Once the system had finished its exnation, Jason shot forward. But instead of white thunder, golden sparks of thunder flickered around his body.

    His purple eyes momentarily turned golden as divine energy surged through his body. May''s protective cocoon prevented her from feeling the sudden powerful charges being emitted by Jason''s body.<sub> </sub>

    Choros and Chronos exchanged a silent nce before pushing back the sleeves of their robes. The monks stretched their necks before releasing their elements together.

    ''Damnбн''

    Jason''s jaw dropped when he saw Chronos moving at the same speed he was moving at. Not only that but Choros was able to keep track of them by continuously teleporting beside them.

    Chronos suddenly flicked his wrists in Jason''s direction and stopping. Jason immediately felt his body slow down to the speed of a snail.

    Choros appeared right beside him and touched his shoulder, teleporting him inside a volcano.

    "FKKKK!"

    Jason immediately covered himself with his dark element before shooting upwards. His skin was scorched in multiple areas and his clothes were burning.

    However, the pain immediately faded away as his skin was healed. The divine energy from Sancus''s divinity was also mixing with his light element and healing him quickly.

    "Come on I need more divine energy!" Jason shouted as he shot out from the volcano.

    Chronos was waiting for him at the top as a magic circle appeared right above Jason''s head. He saw the entire scene of him diving inside the volcano repeating itself as he started falling back into the volcano.

    It was as though everything was happening in reverse.

    ''No, I cannot let this happenбн'' Jason took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His feet touched the surface of theva before suddenly stopping.

    A frown appeared on Chronos''s face as he twisted his hands into a circle. Yet it didn''t do anything as Jason remained grounded on his spot.

    [ I wonder whether two demi-gods and an ex-goddess have the same level of power. Want to find out? ] Hestia''s voice suddenly echoed all around the volcano.

    Chronos''s body immediately went still as Choros appeared beside him with a shocked expression on his face.

    The twins recognized the voice as well as the auraing out of Jason''s body.

    Theva surrounding his feet slowly started lifting up. A rumbling sound echoed inside their ears as the volcano started rumbling.

    Jason''s eyes opened up to reveal a dangerous pair of glowing golden irises. Every single drop ofva present inside the volcano lifted up and formed two wings at his back.

    The wings stretched on for meters until the volcano was empty. Golden thunder wrapped around his hair and body, creating an armor of sorts.

    A small smile appeared on his lips as the ground started rumbling.

    [ Come, Chronos and Choros. Let''s see if both of you can beat your aunt after so many years. ]

 Chapter 234 Rumble Of The Past [Part 2]

    The twin monks didn''t respond and continued to hover on their spots. They knew that the woman talking was none other than Hestia, one of the major goddesses rted to their godly parent.

    "You are his patron?" Choros asked in a low tone.

    [ No, I am not. I am just his guardian. Though his patron is someone who you know very well. ] Hestia grinned.

    She currently hadplete control over Jason''s body while he was watching things from a third person perspective.

    [ I am sure Erebus would like to meet you both soon. I hope you have maintained a good rtionship with him because you were just about to kill his follower. ] Hestia added before rising in the air.

    Theva wings rose behind her as the ex-goddess finally used her divine powers after a long time.

    It was only after talking with mey that Hestia uncovered the truth to using her powers despite not being a celestial being anymore.

    "Chronos, do you want to fight her?" Choros whispered.

    "No, I don''t but you know we have to do it since we are bound by the contract. She must have many restrictions on her so we should be able to fight her." Chronos replied.

    "Then what are we going to do about Erebus? If he really is Jason''s patron, we will be toast the moment we kill him."

    "Let''s think about one problem at once." Chronos lifted his hands together and formed a circle of sorts.

    Immediately, multiple silver magic circles opened up behind him. His body started going through multiple mutations before returning to normal.

    Chronos stretched his arms a bit before shooting forward at a normal speed. However, Jason and Hestia could tell that their body was slowed after the effects of the magic circle.

    It had also strengthened Chronos''s body so they couldn''t avoid the attack either. That''s when Hestia used theva to attack Chronos simultaneously.

    Theva took the form of a wolf that dashed towards Chronos. The time mage didn''t fear the wolf, at least until he realized that Hestia had mixed her divine energy inside the wolf.

    Choros sensed this as well and used his space magic in order to swallow the wolf.

    "You cannot manipte the space like that as long as I am here." Jason said in his normal voice.

    One of his eyes turned purple while the other one remained golden. He now had fifty percent control over his body while the other fifty percent was being controlled by Hestia.

    Together, the two of them made use of Sancus''s divinity to break thews of space and prevented the wolf from being swallowed up by Choros''s magic.

    The space mage immediately appeared beside his brother and the duobined their magic to create a shield.

    Choros''s space magic started absorbing the wolf''s energy while Chronos''s reversed time to make sure that the supply of energy would continue to exist for a long time.

    Unfortunately, Hestia had already foreseen this and was ready with a counter.

    [ You forgot the basics of fighting. Always make sure to use your senses to keep a check on your opponent. ]

    Hestia and Jason appeared right behind the twins and touched their shoulders. The golden thunder wrapping Jason''s body immediately hit the twins and electrocuted them.<sub> </sub>

    Since the thunder contained traces of divine energy, it was able to deal damage to demi-gods like them as well.

    "Haбн" Chronos gasped as he reversed the time on his body.

    Choros wasn''t so lucky and had to use the absorbed divine energy to battle the thunder. This left the twins vulnerable for a short amount of time, something Hestia took advantage of.

    She immediately used theva and the remainder of the thunder to create a Chinese dragon.

    The dragon wrapped around Jason''s right arm before shooting towards Choros, the weaker of the twins.

    Hestia channeled a bit of her guardian powers into the dragon such that she was able to ride it using a projection of herself.

    [ You are still far too young to defeat me. Go practice. ] Hestia grinned as the dragon tore right through Choros''s body.

    The space mage gasped loudly as he felt his chest being torn. He immediately used his space element to maintain his vital organs, but it was already toote.

    Choros had lost the fight as his body vanished from the ne, leaving Chronos''s alone.

    The time mage looked at this with a grim expression. He wanted to retreat back as well but it was impossible since he was bound by a contract.

    ''Wait, the child! He dropped her back at the original location to make sure she didn''t suffer.''

    Chronos suddenly remembered that May was not present at the current battlefield. Jason had left her at the garden at thest moment before he was submerged inside the volcano.

    Chronos started flying towards the garden at hyper speed by decreasing the time around him.

    Jason realized what he was doing and moved in the opposite direction. Choros didn''t pay attention to this since he was more focused on getting to the garden.

    Jason on the other hand was using his connection with May to pinpoint her location. Combined with the fact that he was using divine thunder, it barely took him a few minutes to traverse over hundreds of kilometers of distance.

    [ Jason, did you win? ] May suddenly asked as she sensed him nearing him.

    ''Choros was defeated and Chronos is in a bad condition. Hestia is helping me as well so we will win the battle and enter thetemple.'' Jason reassured her.

    [ Good because I think I am nearing my limitбн I feel bad about asking this but can you please help me? ]

    ''Sure.''

    Jason soon appeared right beside May and saw that her body was literally burning up. The cocoon of divine energy had grown even thicker.

    The moment Jason tried to lift May, the divine energy attacked his hand. He immediately pulled his hand back, a grime expression appearing on his face.

    If he couldn''t touch May, he couldn''t regte her divine energy. And if he didn''t do that, her condition would only worsen before she would go on a rampage.

 Chapter 235 Another Loss For You

    ''How can we defeat Chronos? As far as I know, he can heal himself from even the most dangerous of attacks by reversing time for his body.''

    [ Yeah but he isn''tpletely invincible. I have defeated him numerous times while having my powers restricted at his level. We just have to deal a one shot hit to his heart or mind and he will disappear. ] Hestia exined.

    With the n set in mind, both of themunched towards Chronos, who was currently roaming around in the garden.

    Hestia had also prepared one of her strongest attacks to fight the time mage. However, she knew that her attack would cause Jason to suffer a bit.

    [ I am going to be using a lot of energy to release an attack from your right arm. You won''t be able to use your arm for the next two to three days once I have used this attack. Are you ok with it? ]

    ''Just defeat Chronos. I want to enter the temple and hit May''s father in the head with a stone.''

    [ That would be kind of ironic considering he is also called the stone monkey. ] Hestia chuckled a bit before going serious.

    Both of them locked their eyes at Chronos who was hovering above the garden with a grim expression.

    All the injuries dealt to his body had already been healed. However, they had taken their toll on him as ck spots could be seen under his eyes.

    His skin had also turned pale, and his eyes appeared sunken. The moment he saw Jason approaching, Chronos realized that something was about to go wrong.

    ''He is stillbined with her. It''s useless if I try to fight her head onбн'' Chronos thought before flying away.

    His eyes suddenly started glowing as a vision appeared inside his mind. One of his strongest abilities was ''Future Gaze'', which as the name suggested, allowed him to peek into the future.

    This ability had many restrictions. He could only predict what would happen in the next five seconds since many factors could change the oue after that.

    But in high level fights, even five seconds would provide a big advantage over the opponents.

    "Wait, why is a foot imnted on my face?" Chronos blinked in surprise.

    "Its because that''s what I have been nning to do ever since you put me inside this stupid ce!" Jason shouted before stomping on Chronos''s face.

    The time mage immediately crashed towards the ground, managing to avoid any injury by slowing time as thest second.

    ''I am not going to let them win that easily.'' Chronos licked a few drops of golden-reddish blood of his lips before outstretching his hands.

    Magic circles encircled both of his arms before expanding over the surroundings. Since Jason was still using Sancus''s divinity, Chronos couldn''t directly manipte time to attack him.

    He could still change a few things in the surroundings to indirectly affect Jason and gain an advantage over him.

    ''What theбн''

    Jason''s eyes widened when he saw cracks appearing all around the domain. He soon realized that the surroundings were returning to their former state when they hadn''t formed.

    The uneven terrain didn''t bother him since he could still use his thunder element and Hestia''s powers to fly above the ground.

    Chronos on the other hand started controlling all theva that had just oozed out and had swallowed thend.

    He made dragons from theva, making ten of them emerge right in front of him.

    Hestia didn''t even bat an eye as she summoned twenty dragons twice the size of Chronos''s creation.<sub> </sub>

    The time mage gritted his teeth and started creating even more magic circles.

    [ Its useless to reinforce them. I may not be able to mimic that power but I will always win due torger quantity and better quality. ] Hestia reminded.

    Sheunched all the dragons forward before summoning birds made out of mes. Like arrows shot from a bow, all of them headed towards Chronos in a synchronized pattern.

    Chronos immediately abandoned the skill he was about to use and tried dodging the attacks.

    A few attacks still hit him, tearing one of his arms off his body. Chronos, however, regenerated his arm in a few seconds and took a deep breath.

    "Oh father of the Olympians, I, Chronos, asks for your help in needy time. Lend me the ability to manipte the waves of time and defeat my opponent. Lend me your strength, lord Kronos!" Chronos chanted.

    [ He is at it again. Always using that move as ast resort. ] Hestia sighed.

    She couldn''t tell the number of times she had to face the same move when fighting against Chronos.

    "Shattered Sea of Time!" Chronos shouted.

    All of a sudden, every single thing in the domain stopped moving.

    All objects and living beings were frozen on their spots and were slowly reverting to their original state, with the exception of Jason.

    Though his movement speed had drastically been reduced by seventy five percent, he was still able to move freely.

    [ You underestimated Sancus''s divinity. He grew a lot stronger over the years after racking up many followers and obtaining control over every single oath and contract undertaken in many worlds. ] Hestia snorted.

    Chronos had a baffled expression on his face. He had expected the spell topletely stop Jason despite the effects of his divinity.

    He had reached this conclusion by thinking about the power of the Sancus he knew in the past.

    ''Ha, I am done forбн'' Chronos sighed as he felt most of his strength leaving his body.

    Hestia used this moment to teleport right in front of Chronos and touching his forehead with Jason''s right index finger.

    [ Another loss for you. ]

    A banging sound echoed around the domain as Chronos''s body burst into numerous particles of light.

    Jason clenched his teeth in pain as he felt his entire right arm going numb. Hestia had told him the truth when she had said that the attack would hurt and numb his arm.

    [ At least we won. Look, the domain is disappearing. ]

    The system was correct as the sky was slowly cracking apart. Jason immediately made his way back to May, turning his divinity off and breaking off his special state with Hestia simultaneously.

    His body was ovee with fatigue but with the help of his light element, Jason kept himself going.

    Once he reached May''s side, he saw that the entire sky had vanished and the surroundings were changing as well.

    In the distance, he saw a state. A tall golden statue of a handsome monkey holding a long staffбн

 Chapter 236 Inside The Temple

    The temple soon came into view and Jason was surprised to see that only Sun Wukong''s statues were present inside the entire room.

    All of them depicted his great feats as well as the various powers he had, like Flying Nimbus(English Name), his staff Ruyi Jingu Bang, etc.

    ''If this is an universal temple, why do the statues only show him?''

    [ Universal temples are much more different that normal ones dedicated to a deity or specific set of deities. They can change appearance depending on the worshiper. They are made using special divine materials which can sense the patron of the person.

    Even if someone doesn''t have a patron, it will make them appear in a sacred chamber where they can pray or worship any god they want. The temple sensed May''s energy and concluded that she needed to pray to Sun Wukong as soon as possible. ] Hestia exined.

    ''Then what is she supposed to do?'' Jason questioned while observing May.

    The cocoon of divine energy surrounding her had grown much thicker than before. May had entered an even deeper slumber which made him worry whether she could pray or not.

    [ Since she is a demi-god, she simply needs to chant the name of her godly parent thrice. ]

    ''May, wake up.'' Jason said as he reached for May using their connection.

    The demi-god''s eyes slowly flickered open as she stared at the giant golden statue. Jason relied on the instructions to her and stood back.

    May opened her mouth a little, chanting Sun Wukong''s name thrice in a row. The cocoon of energy surrounding her immediately tripled.

    It soon covered her from head to toe twice, blocking her from Jason''s vision. He was able to tell that she was all right due to their connection and remained at his spot.

    [ Congrattions, you sessfully brought her here. ] A pleased voice entered Jason''s mind.

    The giant statue in the middle started glowing as its eyes directly looked at Jason. May''s body slowly moved forward beforeing to rest at the statue''s feet.

    The cocoon gently changed to thin strands. A golden ray of light was released from the head of the statue and directly came on top of the cocoon.

    [ I am grateful for this and I now owe you multiple favors in the future. Thank you for saving my daughter. ] The same voice, which probably belonged to Sun Wukong, thanked Jason.

    Thetter simply nodded his head and waited for the ray of light for its business to be done.

    Jason didn''t know how much time passed by but the cocoon finally started opening up. Much to his surprise, the person that emerged from the cocoon was not a child.

    May now appeared only a few inches shorter than him. Her hair had grown past her spine while her body had turned to that of a teenager.

    All in all, may appeared the same age as Jason. Another thing to note was the divine aura that surrounded her body like a protective armor.

    ''Wait, where did those clothese from?''

    [ Are you asking that for real or are you just asking that? ]

    ''I don''t know the difference between those two statements.''

    May was currently wearing a pair of red robes that loosely clung to her body, revealing a bit of her curvy body without fully showing it.<sub> </sub>

    [ May, keep in mind that your aura as a demi-god will be on full release for the next week. You have to remain in a protective ce until and unless you are sure that you can hide your aura.

    Also stay close to Jason just in case your divinity goes out of hand. Keep in mind that you are much stronger than before, both physically and magically. Keep your powers under control and don''t use too much of them. ] Wukong warned.

    May nodded slightly and bowed down to the golden statue. Wukong''s eyes glowed brightly before covering May in a golden light.

    Jason on the other hand was teleported out of the room and appeared in a new room, one with only a single statue in it.

    Erebus''s statue made from a pure ck metal stood in the center of the room. No sources of light were present in the room yet it was still lit dimly.

    "So you wanna talk?" Jason raised an eyebrow as the statue''s eyes started glowing.

    [ I do. Since this is a formal ce, even I will have to abide my certain rules. How are your powersing along though? ]

    Jason sat down on the ground and started sharing his experience of using the evolved version of his powers.

    He knew that Erebus was watching over him from the bar. Regardless of that, he shared his experience with him and even asked for advice.

    [ If the goddess who gave you that ring heard this conversation, she would definitely grin happily. ] Erebus chuckled. [ Your love life seems to be prettyplicated. ]

    "Its not thatplicated. Its only one girl and nothing else." Jason pointed out.

    [ Its one girl right now. Wait patiently and observe the feelings of the others around you. You will soon realize that things are much moreplicated. ]

    As someone who saw things from a third person perspective, Erebus had a better insight on the things happening in Jason''s life.

    [ Anyways, I think your job sses will be undergoing another evolution soon. You will have to pray than so its best that you do it now. You won''t have toe back in the future.]

    "That''s how it works?"

    [ Nah. Gods do things on the spot when they receive the prayers of their followers but things are special in your case. You are my only follower so even if you pray right now, I will let your job sses advance when the time for themes. ] Erebus exined.

    "Then tell me your prayer."

    [ I no longer have a prayer designed for me. Just focus on the system and my divinity. That will count as a prayer since we are inside the temple. ] Erebus replied.

    Jason did as told and fell deep into thought. Once he was done, he noticed that he was standing in a in white room alongside May.

    "I guess that''s the exit." May said in a low tone.

    Jason was surprised to hear how sweet and pure May''s real voice sounded. His eyes then looked at the direction she was pointing in.

    A white portal shimmered in the distance. Jason and May exchanged a nce before the two of them walked towards the portal.

    The outside world was waiting for them...

 Chapter 237 A War Is Coming

    "Should we head back?" Jason questioned as he and May appeared outside the entrance to the temple.

    The cracked walls had already been repaired and no traces of the fight that had happened with Julian remained.

    This also meant that to escape the pce, both of them would either have to find an exit door or break through the walls again.

    [ Break through the walls. There''s no knowing what kind of traps he might have set up to capture you both. ] The system suggested.

    Jason agreed with the system and immediately tuned in some of his divine energy. His right hand was still acting numb so he had to channel his thunder element to his left hand.

    He immediately hit the wall with his hand, splitting it in half. May stuck close to him and kept an eye on the surroundings using her divine energy.

    Once the hole in the wall allowed them to look at the sky, both of them rose in the air with the help of their respective powers.

    They shot out at their maximum speed and immediately headed towards Risa''s location, something Jason located with the help of the system.

    ''They are staying in that secret room situated under the Bloodthorn mansion.'' Jason conveyed to May.

    [ How are we going to reach that ce? Neither of us can travel underground. ]

    ''Don''t worry about that. Amber will most likely be waiting for us somewhere if Amon and Risa had carefully nned this. We just need to reach the mansion.'' Jason reassured.

    Just like he had said, Amber was waiting for both of them in some random alley near the mansion.

    Numerous royal guards were situated all around the mansion and some of them managed to caught sight of the duo.

    However, they were able to escape by going underground with Amber.

    "How long were we gone for?" Jason asked.

    "About a week. How much time did you spend inside the temple?" Amber questioned. She knew that time passed differently in special ces.

    There was a good chance that multiple years had passed inside the temple while only a week had passed in the real world.

    "It was definitely longer than a week." Jason sighed. "I just want to lie down, curl up into a ball and sleep peacefully. Examining every inch of a garden can do something to you."

    "You did that despite knowing that you could be wrong," May reminded.

    "You are May, right?" Amber suddenly asked.

    "I am."

    "Risa did tell me that you would have grown since thest time we met so I was prepared to see you change. You look around our age now." Ambermented before pulling them into the secret room.

    Risa and Amon immediately looked at the duo the moment they appeared on the surface with Amber.

    Once they had checked that they weren''t injured, they closed their eyes and returned to whatever they were doing.

    Zeke was the only one who was surprised to see May but he got over it pretty quickly.

    "I have experienced this once before when we came out of the chamber of rebirth," Zeke said. "Its shocking to see yourself in the mirror four yearster and notice the many changes you have went through."

    "Indeed. May, you should go look into a mirror as well." Jason suggested while pointing towards the only mirror present inside the room.

    It was kept in a corner so that anyone can look at their image in peace.

    "What are they doing?" he asked as May went to stare at her image in the mirror.

    "Julian and his patron were beaten a bit in the fight before they escaped. Risa managed to nt a tracker on him and she is currently trying to figure out his location. Amon ismunicating with the rest of the sins.

    Apparently, Julian sent his strongestmanders to the demon continent to conquer small territories and search for something. He is trying to gain more followers for his patron. Amon is keeping a check on the news there." Amber informed.

    Jason''s expression turned grim as he thought more about Julian''s n. Getting more followers for a god, especially in mass scale, could tip the scale during a fight.

    If Galirius managed to get quite strong from gaining an immense number of followers, things would turn bad for Jason and the others.

    ''Why is he trying to conquer the demon race so much? He hates Lucius as well. Something must have happened between them in the past.'' Jason observed.

    He decided to wait for Amon to wake up. So in the meantime, he went to search for some good food to eat.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    In the demon continent, a small town situated far away from the capital cityбн

    "My lord, are you sure that it is situated here?" Julian asked aloud despite not having anyone else near him.

    Galirius directly spoke inside his mind, making Julian sigh.

    He had been roaming around the entire town for three days yet hadn''t been able to locate the object wanted by his patron.

    Julian had searched the entire town thoroughly and had even asked the townsfolk for help. All he had managed to obtain were some myths surrounding the object.

    Currently, he was going towards the center of the town where the town hall was situated. ording to his patron, the town hall was giving him the same energy as the object.

    ''I have dug directly beneath the town hall, have searched for secret rooms and domains inside it and have even dug through its walls to find the object. Nothing is present thereбн'' Julian sighed.

    He had almost given hope that the object was even there. But due to the words of his patron, Julian was forced to search the entire ce onest time.

    ''The sins have managed to locate us as well and are about toe here. The othermanders managed to return back home with the newly earned followers but I definitely need more of those.

    If only this object could be found, I can return home and start converting the others. My n would have already seeded if not for this stupid thing.'' Julian kicked a stone in frustration.

    He didn''t even know what the object was but Galirius had told him that it was extremely strong and powerful.

    For all Julian cared, the object could burn in the mes of hell.

    [ Just try searching it onest time and use your divinity at full power this time. This will definitely allow the sins and the demon king to instantlye after us but its our best bet. ] Galirius exined.

    Julian simply nodded and entered the ruins of the town hall. Once he reached the center, he started hovering in the air in a meditative position.

    That was the only way for him to utilize the full potential of his divinity without hurting himself or those around him.

    Julian focused on the divine energy flowing inside his veins before chanting his patron''s name thrice.

    The moment he did that, the divinity inside his body overflowed with divine energy. His body was surrounded by a red suppressing aura which immediately spread in a ten kilometer radius.

    Julian couldn''t control it and immediately began hunting for the object. His vision shot throughout the town hall yet the result was the same.

    ''I wish I could sense it simr to how he can sense it.'' Julian sighed.

    Suddenly, he felt something clicking in the back of his mind. Something pulled his vision away from the rest of the town hall and made him focus directly above him.

    He hadn''tpletely destroyed the ceiling and some portion of it was present above his head. A group of stars were shining brightly on the ss pane present directly above his head.

    Julian slowly rose up until he could touch the ss pane with his hand. He touched one of the glowing stars with his right hand and felt a pendant drop into his hand.

    The pendant had a red gemstone embedded in it which reminded him of a ruby. But when he sensed what was inside the pendant, a humorless chuckle escaped his mouth.

    "My lord, was this the reason you were eager to get this pendant?"

    [ Indeed. Now with this, we should be able to conquer the entirety of Duphia and make it return to the golden age before the godly war. ]

    Julian nodded before summoning a red fountain pen. He touched the pendant to the pen, his eyes glowing dangerously.

    "A war ising."

    ***

    Back in the secret room, Amon suddenly opened his eyes, chills running down his spine. He stood up from his spot and took a deep breath.

    "What happened?" Risa was the first one to notice Amon acting worried.

    With a grim expression on his face, Amon replied, "everything is about to be wrong."

    The four teenagers gathered around him with confused expression.

    "Why?" Jason asked.

    "A war ising." Amon took a deep breath. "A war that we might not be able to winбн"

 Chapter 238 One Can Only Get All Three Once

    "So what does the pendant actually do?" Zeke questioned once Amon was done exining the entire scene.

    "I don''t exactly know that, but the vibes given by it were enough to send chills down my spine and I wasn''t even using my own projection to see it. I was watching it by tuning in to another sin''s projection." Amon exined.

    [ Jason, ask him for the exact details about the pendantбн ] Hestia murmured inside Jason''s head.

    "Amon, tell me the exact details of the pendant and whether anything about it stood out from the ordinary." Jason relied on.

    Amon told him about the exact specifications on the pendant, making Hestia sigh.

    [ We might just have to face a tyrant now. If the pendant is what I think it is, we are going to have a full scale major war. You should make this clear to all of them. ]

    Jason shared her words with the group, turning their expressions grim. Risa and Amon exchanged a nce before touching the fingertips of their right index finger.

    The moment they did that, a magic circle expanded on the floor. With a coordinated snap of their fingers, the six of them vanished from the underground room and directly appeared outside the Syrward family manor.

    "That was the escape n we had. This was a prenned skill that could be used only after long intervals." Risa exined. "Let''s go inside. I am sure there is going to be a lot of things that we need to discuss."

    ***

    Two hourster, Jason was sitting outside the house with a tired expression on his face. The major heads of all families had gathered together to discuss what they were going to do in the future.

    Jason, Amber and Zeke had been invited to the conversation as well but Jason had decided to leave.

    It was getting quite boring for him so he decided toe outside to get some fresh air.

    ''Hestia, what makes the pendant so powerful?''

    [ It is a soul pendant that could be used to store the majority of a person''s soul. The thing about mortal souls is that once they are torn away or destroyed, they can''t heal on their own.

    Immortal souls on the other hand can regenerate themselves over the course of numerous years. So if a immortal stored his or her soul inside the pendant, it could be conserved for a long time. ]

    ''Even if they die?''

    [ Yes, even if they arepletely destroyed and removed from existence. As long as someone touches the pendant and awakens their soul, they will be able to live again. But if the immortal uses the pendant after a long time, their power will be doubled.

    All of the soul power stored inside the pendant would be converted into soul energy that will power the immortal''s soul, body and divinity. If Galirius and Julian really found a pendant like that, their power is going to be multiplied by twice. ]

    ''That''sбн''

    Jason couldn''t think of the numerous dangers this created. This meant that even if they manage to defeat Galirius and Julian, the god would always be able to regenerate.

    [ It doesn''t exactly work like that. Souls areplicated. Even if he enters a new body after being killed, he won''t have his memories or divinity. Only upon reiming his divinity can Galirius remember things from the past as well as most of his power. ]

    [ The problem is that divinities, especially original ones, are 2 impossible to destroy. Plus the person using the soul pendant will retain a certain set of their memories. Isn''t that right, Hestia? ] The system asked.

    [ Exactly. When I woke up in Animolis, there were only a few things that I remembered. A soul pendant, or rather, the red stone embedded in it can only be used once. It will be destroyed once the soul inside is retrieved. ]

    ''Can''t Galirius get another soul pendant or whatever that stone is called?''

    [ To obtain a soul, you need the voluntary sacrifice of your closest friend, a clean death of your worst enemy and the tears of your supposed soulmate. ] Hestia murmured. [ One can only get all three of these once in a lifetimeбн ]

    ''You had to get all three of them?'' Jason asked in a low tone.

    If Hestia really had created a soul stone, then it meant that she would have gone through a lot of troubles and heartbreaks.

    [ No, that wasn''t mine. I simply stole it from someone on the enemy team during the way atst the moment. Creating one isn''t easy for anyone, be it god or mortal. ]

    ''That''s true.''

    Jason stood up from his spot under the tree and looked at the sinking sun. He didn''t know how much time he had on his hand but one thing was for sure.

    He would soon be fighting in a major war.

    ***

    In the demon continent''s capitalбн

    "So they managed to escape?" Lucius asked with a grim expression.

    The demon king was currently standing in the middle of the throne room and was talking with the sins.

    "The moment we reached there, we sensed a whole lot of divine energying out from the center of the town. It was as if a god had literally descended into the body of their follower." Juliana escaped.

    Normally, gods could only take control over their followers'' bodies by paying a small price. But to directly take control over a body alongside their divine powers, a god would have to pay a major price.

    "No, it wasn''t a god descending down into this world. I am afraid that Julian and his patron have finally founded the soul stone talked about in the myths." Lucius muttered.

    "Then what exactly are we supposed to do against that?" Diana asked.

    "We will have to start evacuation just like we nned during emergencies. I won''t be surprised of Julian starts a war in less than six months." Xavier suggested.

    Whenever the sin of sloth spoke in sentences, everyone knew that shit was about to go down.

    Before Lucius could confirm Xavier''s idea, Hecate suddenly materialized inside the room.

    "Guys, Nero is finally awake, and he wants to talk. I think you might want to hear what he has to say about the family rtions of Julian. We might just be able to get some inside help."

 Chapter 239 Ruyi Jingu Bang!

    "Jason, are you sure you want to fight me?" May asked doubtfully.

    "Yeah, I am sure. If you don''t fight with anyone, how can you do it when the timees. Its best if you start using your power more frequently." Jason replied.

    "As you sayбн"

    Jason and May were currently present in the fields situated around Duphia. The former had asked Amon to increase the range of the protective circle so that he could train May to use her powers.

    Since she was finally free from the curse on her body, the demi-god could finally use her powers without worrying about any withdrawal.

    "What elements do you have again?" Jason questioned.

    "Uhбн light, wind and fire I think." May murmured. "I only used wind and light a bit so I am not exactly sure."

    "Light you sayбн" Jason fell deep in thought when he heard that May had the light element.

    If he wanted, he could get her to use the dark element as well due to the special connection between the two elements.

    However, since she already had a lot to learn, Jason decided to tell her about the truthter on.

    "What powers do you receive from your divinity? You should be able to see all of them on a screen if you try to think about your divinity''s power." Jason exined.

    May did as told and soon started staring directly in front of her face. With a surprised expression, she extended her right hand outwards.

    "Break through the heavens, Ruyi Jingu Bang?" May said in a semi-confused tone.

    The moment the words left her mouth, a stone staff came flying from the sky. Her divinity started shining brightly as the staff appeared in her hand.

    Jason had only heard about the staff in myths but if all of them were true, May was currently holding one of the heaviest weapons to exist in history.

    "Is that the real staff though?" Jason wondered aloud.

    [ It is real. All of the staffs summoned by Wukong''s followers are created from the original staff used by the monkey king. If someone other than his followers lift that stuff, it will tear their arm off due to its heaviness.

    However, some myths say that those with a pure heart and good intentions may wield the staff during times of peril. It totally depends on the fact whether the staff allows you to wield it. ] Hestia exined.

    Jason nced at the staff made from stone before sighing. Truth be told, he had wanted to be Sun Wukong''s follower but had never managed to reach the monkey king in the bar of Gods.

    All he could hope was that May would be able to make use of that power for the better.

    "May, try expanding that staff towards that tree." Jason said while pointing towards a tree in the distance.

    "Expand!" May chanted as the staff suddenly shot started stretching.

    It hit the tree within seconds, making the top of half of it fall on the ground.

    "Try erging it," Jason suggested.

    May did as told and watched the staff grow ten times its original width. Jason couldn''t help but admire the power held within Wukong''s staff.

    May was holding something so powerful effortlessly as though it didn''t weigh much. Jason could tell that if he was bonked in the head with the staff, his skull would definitely be crushed.

    [ You can use divine energy to counter it and protect yourself. Remember, you are fighting a demi-god, not the actual Sun Wukong. ]

    ''You are right.'' Jason nodded before cracking his knuckles. "May, what else can you do?"

    "Uh, I can summon a lightning cloud to travel on and I can create clones of myself. I think I can also summon something that will create huge windstorms. Thest option is blurred to me but it allows me to summon a bottle that will capture people."

    "Interestingбн try riding the cloud and using the staff in its normal form to hit me. Make sure you control its weight though or I might get crushed by it."

    "This can crush you?!" May'' asked with a slightly open jaw. "Its barely heavier than a pillow."

    "Its because the staff can specifically be used by you. If think about it weight, you can tell how heavy it is. You can manipte the weight by your thoughts and it will change ording to that.

    The lighter it is, the faster it will travel. As for heavier version, it will hit hard enough to tear a person apart but it might be a bit slow. Use the lightest version right now while riding on the cloud." Jason exined.

    May nodded before raising her hand towards the sky. She chanted something under her breath before clenching her fist.

    Suddenly, dark clouds gathered directly above May''s head. They got together to form a cluster before shooting downwards.

    The cloud stopped directly in front of May''s body and allowed her to step on it. Much to May''s surprise, she could tell that the cloud was alive.

    "I think the cloud is alive." Shemented.

    [ Its because the cloud you are standing on is one of the numerous offsprings of the original cloud used by Sun Wukong. That is why Wukong''s followers are immensely strong since they use original stuff forbat.

    However, most of them can only use one major weapon. Since you are his direct descendant, you can use all of his powers and weapons. ] Hestia directly exined to May.

    The demi-god looked at the cloud and the staff in fascination beforemanding it to rise in the air.

    "Do you have a name?" She asked innocently.

    The cloud seemed to shift a bit beneath her, making her hear something directly inside her head.

    "Kwinto?" She asked.

    The cloud shifted again as it telepathicallymunicated with May. The demi-god talked with Kwinto for a bit before looking at Jason.

    "I am ready. Should we begin?"

    "Sure, let''s begin." Jason immediately turned on his white thunder and stretched his body.

    It was going to be an interesting fight for him to face something.

    "Ruyi Jingu Bang!" May suddenly shouted and threw the staff at an eye-blinding speed.

    Jason immediately moved away from his spot and the moment he did so, a huge explosion shook the entire field.

    The spot where the staff had hit the ground had a three meter crater in itбн

 Chapter 240 The Names Buster

    ''That''s its attack power at its lightest weight?!'' Jason asked with wide open eyes.

    If the staff could deal this much damage while being at its lightest version possible, how strong could it be at its maximum weight?

    Jason didn''t have the time to think about that as the staff rose from the ground and flew back to May''s hand.

    The demi-god traveled at an inhumane speed and appeared right beside Jason. She swung the staff down with full power, forcing Jason to run away.

    His goal was to test the attack power of the staff while making sure May was able to use it effortlessly. But now, he was also receiving some training in dodging at a high speed.

    ''This was what made me struggle during the fight with the twins.''

    Jason was able to dodge most of May''s attacks easily though he did have a few close calls. After half an hour of training, the duo decided to take some rest.

    May felt a light headacheing since it was the first time she had made use of her powers. Her body wasn''t used to handling divine energy so easily.

    "If you can master your powers, you will be even more dangerous than me." Jasonmented. "Maybe you will be able to surpass me."

    "I don''t think that will happen. Its good for motivation but I know that you aren''t saying it seriously."

    "Haбн caught me." Jason smiled.

    His eyes were currently fixated at the forest past the fields where he had met a goblin for the first time.

    ''Come to think of it, what the hell was that thing? I never asked Risa whether she got to the root of that problem.''

    Jason immediately contacted Risa about that and asked whether she had found anything about the whereabouts of the goblin.

    [ I found nothing about where he came from or what he was. I did discover that his body had been tampered with using multiple different types of runes and magic. It was the work of a professional to say the least. ]

    ''I seeбн Can I go explore the forest with May if that''s fine with you?''

    [ I will ask Amon to keep a track on you with that ability of yours. If you fall into grave danger, he will be able to save you. You can go ahead and explore the forest. ] Risa replied. [ Don''t hesitate to use your divinity if something feels wrong. ]

    ''All right. I will head back if anything goes wrong. It should give May some real life experience as well.''

    [ Indeed. This is going to be pretty useful in the future. ]

    Once Jason had gotten the permission to enter the forest, he and May stepped towards the forest together. Both of them easily managed to get on the other side of the fence and started venturing forward.

    "What can we encounter here?" May questioned.

    "Nothing big. Most of the beasts have been cleared in this area. We might meet some soldiers from the royal family so be on alert." Jason warned.

    The two continued to walk forward while Jason asked the system to guide him to the spot where he had met the goblin.

    Jason still remembered how the creature had spoken the normalnguage in a broken sort of way and how it had not died despite dealing several major blows to it.

    ''System, can you run a scan on the area to check whether there are any beasts or mysterious things nearby?''

    [ I can do that but I have a request. Can you let me use a bit of Sancus''s divinity to run a check using that divine energy? I will be able to look out for things more efficiently. ]

    Jason found nothing wrong with it and allowed the system to make use of Sancus''s divinity.

    A minuteter, the system finished its scanning and reported to Jason.

    [ There aren''t any beasts for several kilometers. However, I did find a weird location thanks to Sancus''s divinity. ]

    The system then gave Jason the location. He and May walked towards it and soon came across a group of huge stone piled on top of each other.

    ''Either my grandparents haven''t bothered checking their surroundings for a long time or this structure was created here recentlyбн''

    Jason turned on his divine vision to check whether the stones held some secret or whether he was overthinking.

    It turned out that he wasn''t overthinking. Each of the stones had a concentration of divine energy at the center.

    ''Uh grandma, I think I just discovered something that you might be interested in seeing. You shoulde to my location soon.''

    Jason sent out the message before turning towards May. Her eyes were glowing simr to how his did when he used divine energy to locate other sources of divine energy.

    At the same time, he could see a small headband floating inside her body. It was her divinity that she had carried since birth.

    "May, can you see the divine energy inside the stones?" Jason asked.

    "I can see them naturally. If I try to turn it off, it automatically vanishes. Why do these stones have divine energy in the first ce?"

    "That''s an interesting question. I wonder if any of us can solve that." An amused voice suddenly came from behind.

    Jason and May moved at the speed of light and shot out several meters away from their spots.

    A six feet something inches man was standing behind the two of them with a smile on his face. His head was bald and he had a white pointy beard.

    The muscles on his arms could easily double Jason''s entire weight. The man was the prime example of how ripped a person could be.

    "May I know who you are and what you are doing here?" Jason asked politely.

    "Nice to see you aren''tpletely like that Issac." The man grinned. "The name''s Buster, which I know, sounds quite ironic. I am one of the suprememanders working under Julian."

    The moment the words left his mouth, Jason and May red up their divinities.

    "That makes you our enemy." Jason said while summoning more white thunder.

    "Naturally." Buster cracked his knuckles. "And what do enemies do? They fight till only one of them remains standing!"

 Chapter 241 May Versus Buster

    "Yeah, we don''t do that here." Risa said as she appeared right behind Buster.

    Thetter seemed surprised for a split second before moving away from his location.

    "You must be the one they all warned me about." Bustermented. "You don''t look very intimidating. In fact, you look quite beautiful."

    "Thank you for the ttery." Risa smiled. "But that doesn''t mean you can leave."

    "I don''t think you know the difference between our powers. I cam defeat all three of youbined." Buster snorted.

    Risa facepalmed and started massaging her forehead.

    "You are a newmander, aren''t you? No wonder you are so cocky and overconfident. Even my grandson would be able to beat you if he tries hard enough."

    "Now that''s an insultбн" Buster flexed his muscles once before disappearing from his spot.

    At least that''s what he thought happened.

    Jason, May and Risa could easily track his movements with their respective abilities. Risa simply raised her right hand up and blocked Buster''s punch.

    The ground beneath her feet shook a bit yet Risa remained firmly on her spot. She raised an eyebrow towards Buster before punching forward with her other hand.

    Before Buster could react, a punch hit him in the middle of his body. He was sent flying by Risa''s punch and crashed against multiple trees.

    "May, go ahead and fight him. I will look after you to make sure that you don''t get harmed too much." Risa instructed as she stared at Buster.

    Tendrils of divine energy were wrapping themselves around his arms, making them appear even thicker.

    Risa wasn''t bothered by the appearance of the tendrils since she had already seen that Buster was a divinity wielder.

    May on the other hand felt a bit excited as she activated her own divinity. The power inside her divinity charged up her staff, making it appear golden for a few seconds.

    "Close range or long range?" she asked Risa.

    "Long range for the time being. I will tell you when to go up close."

    "All right. Expand!" The staff suddenly shot forward, aiming towards Buster chest.

    Thetter stared at it fearlessly and punched forward at thest second. The tendrils of divine energy covered his fist and turned into spikes.

    May immediately increased the weight of the staff and made it appear as thick as Buster''s hand.

    The two things came into contact, creating a loud explosion. Jason''s eyes were focused on the point of contact between Buster''s spike covered hands and the staff.

    Like he had predicted, the spikes hadpletely been broken away while the staff didn''t even have a crack in it.

    Risa was surprised by this while Buster gritted his teeth and decided to attack May up close.

    [ Jason, travel to one of the branches and observe the battle from there. Don''t interfere unless I tell you do so. ] Risa said as the two of them vanished from their spots.

    May realized that she had to fight Buster on her own and shrunk her staff. However, she remembered Risa''s words about fighting Buster at a long range unless she told her not to.

    May immediately summoned Kwinto and rode the cloud to avoid conflicting with Buster.

    Simultaneously, she got to know about another feature of Kwinto. She raised her right hand towards the ground and took a deep breath.

    "Release, Kwinto!" the moment the words left her mouth, Kwinto exploded with bursts of thunder.

    May transfered some of the energy to her staff and watched ayer of thunder wrap around it.

    Below the ground, Buster had to dodge the iing attacks while punching some of them.

    Jason wasn''t bothered by the thunder and simply absorbed all the attacks that came his way. Risa wasn''t too bothered either because when it came to thunder, she had lived with three generations of thunder mages who could have exploded at any given time.

    [ May, you can fight him head on once the thunder barrage ends. Your goal is to knock him out as soon as you can. ] Risa instructed.

    "You are tougher than you look." Bustermented once the thunder barrage was over.

    "And you aren''t half as strong as you look." May retorted beforemanding Kwinto to go towards the ground.

    Now that she could fight Buster head on, May decided to go all out. Kwinto already provided her with a good speed boost and her staff was more than enough to deal with Buster.

    Thetter realized what was happening. He immediately summoned more tendrils of divine energy from his divinity, creating an armor around himself.

    His hands were also covered with twoyers of divine energy as heunched himself at May.

    ''That staff of hers isn''t that ideal for short rangebat especially when fighting a brawler like me. I should have the advantage here.'' Buster thought as he aimed at May''s skull.

    Unfortunately, he waspletely wrong.

    As if she was creating ripples through water, May swiftly moved the staff upwards and blocked Buster''s attack.

    She swung the staff again and somehow hit Buster''s shoulder, creating a crack in his armor.

    Buster came back to his senses and started using martial arts. Somehow, May was able to use her staff as though it was an organ of her body.

    She blocked every single blowunched towards her and created multiple cracks in Buster''s armor.

    ''Fk it! I have to get rid of that staff.''

    Buster changed his strategy and faked going in for a blow. Just like he expected, May used the staff to block his attack.

    His hand tightened around the staff as a grin appeared on his face

    "Got you!" Buster went in with a punch from his free hand.

    May simply raised an eyebrow. Much to Buster''s shock, she let go off the staff and dusted her hands.

    "If you don''t know much about someone''s weapon, its best that you don''t touch it." May said as the staff''s weight changed to the maximum limit.

    Buster was immediately pulled towards the ground before his shoulder was torn off from his body. Not only that but his muscles ruptured and his blood flow turned uneven.

    May simply hit the bottom of the staff with her foot and lifted it up in her hand.

    To deal the finishing blow, she simply brought the staff down on Buster''s head as a light cracking sound resounded throughout the ceбн

 Chapter 242 Past Mystery Solved

    "Girl, I hope you didn''t kill him because we could have used him for some minor interrogation." Risa whistled as she jumped down from the trees.

    Shended beside Buster''s fallen body and immediately provided him with the necessary treatment.

    "Are themanders too weak or is May just too strong?" Jason wondered.

    "This guy was nomander. Julian likely chose some random strong guy, promoted him to this position and sent him here for some kind of test." Risa exined, her eyes setting on the stones. "It definitely has something to do with these stones."

    Jason was about to agree when he noticed something weird. The smallest of stones, which was the size of his hand, was rapidly losing all of its divine energy.

    Simultaneously, Buster''s body started heating up. Risa noticed this and immediately stopped all the treatment that she was giving to themander.

    "Step away from the body and prepare some kind of protective covering." Risa instructed as all of them stepped away from the body.

    Jason''s eyes were fixated on the rock which was losing its divine energy. In less than a minute, the rock was deprived of its divine energy.

    Upon closer inspection, Jason noticed that the divine energy oft her rock was observed by the others near it.

    A crack appeared in the middle of the rock and split it apart. Much to his surprise, Jason saw that cracks had started appearing throughout Buster''s body as if he was made from stone.

    "Grandma, observe that rock."

    Risa immediately looked at the collection of rocks and saw the cracked rocks turning into ashes. The same thing happened with Buster, leaving no trace of his body behind.

    "Now I know what this isбн" Risa murmured as he stepped closer to the gathering of rocks.

    More than a hundred rocks were ced together to form some kind of weird structure. Jason also noticed that all of them varied in size and the amount of divine energy present inside them was in an ascending order ording to size.

    "This collection is called a ''prison bond'', something that can only be done if all the participants of the bond agree to its formation. In it, if someone is on the verge of death or has been defeated in a major fight, the creator can use a trigger.

    The trigger will convert all the energy inside the person into something that can be used by other members of the bond. It will result in the death of that person. This collection of rocks is the representation of the bond." Risa red at the rocks.

    "He left it here knowing that we will find it?" May asked.

    "That is the reasonable exnation for it however that''s incorrect. We might have never found it. Julian simply left it here showcasing how much power he has regardless of whether we will find it or not." Risa sighed.

    She suddenly started drawing a circle near the base of the rocks. Risa didn''t touch a single rock and simply encased it inside a circle.

    "I am pretty sure we can take this to our field. Julian likely made it transportable so that he can allow us to take it wherever we want to keep track of things." Risa exined

    "He just wants to show off that he has the power to do such things and we can''t do anything but watch." May guessed.

    Even she was getting used to Julian''s behavior and was wondering how she could help the Syrward family in defeating him.

    It was easy for her to be influenced by the thoughts of those around her. However, May had actually seen Julian do things to harm Jason and the others.

    She had grown close to them and wanted to protect them from such things. That was why she was dead set on learning how to control her powers and grow stronger.

    "I will take it back. You both can roam around a bit more or you can return back to the field and train." Risa informed before turning into particles of light.

    The cluster of rocks moved away with her as both of them went in the direction of the mansion.

    "Do you want to continue the exploration?" Jason asked.

    "I guess. I want to know how much we will have to travel before encountering a beast. If we are in danger, we can fight our way out of it or we can wait for Amon as well." May replied with a shrug.

    But just as the duo were about to advance ahead, a gurgling sound echoed inside their ears.

    They turned to look at the ground where the rocks had been present a few minutes ago and noticed a weird seal on the ground.

    Multiple circles were ovepping each other while a scythe was present in the middle of the circles. The scythe seemed to be cutting a small portion out of each circle.

    Emerging out of the seal was a silver cube which looked oddly familiar to Jason.

    ''Why do I feel like I have seen something like this before?'' Jason wondered with a frown.

    [ It looks simr to the cube Albus, the principal of the academy, had used to start the trial of fear. It is giving the same vibes as that and the only difference is its color. There''s a good chance that a deity is trapped inside it. ]

    Jason immediately warned May to stay away from the ground and not go after the seal no matter what it did.

    "So you are Jason Syrward huh. Phobos and Veritas were telling the truth about you." A deep voice came out of the cube as it suddenlyunched into the air.

    Just for a split second, Jason saw the image of a hooded figure floating in air with a scythe in hand.

    His face was covered by the hood yet Jason could tell that he was smiling.

    "Who are you?" Jason asked as he felt his voice break unconsciously. The feeling that he got after seeing the image had sent chills down his spine.

    "I guess you have the right to know my name since you have indirectly helped me escape." The voice came out of the cube again. "I am Apophis, an exiled god. I am trapped inside but I am sure we will meet in the future. Until then, goodbye."

    Without any warning, the cube shot towards the sky and vanished. Jason stared at it for a few seconds before he sensed bursts of divine energying out of the ground.

    Rotten hands emerged out of the ground and started grabbing the duo''s ankles. Jason immediately recognized the hands to be those of goblins and the system confirmed it as well.

    Jason sent thunder throughout his body and fried the hands grabbing on to his legs. May did the same thing except she had to shock the hands twice before they let her go.

    The duo jumped backwards and looked at the ground with guarded expressions. Slowly, a dozen goblins emerged out of the ground.

    Their eyes were swollen and their green skin appeared rotten. It was as if they were already dead and someone had summoned them using necromancy.

    ''Wait, was that the reason for them not dying despite facing multiple injuries?'' Jason suddenly thought.

    [ I think that was the reason that the goblin in the past couldn''t face any pain either. If they are already dead, it doesn''t make sense for them to feel any pain or feel anything at all. It must be a high level of necromancy. ]

    ''If that god named Apophis was responsible for this, then maybe the level of necromancy should be high.'' Jason shrugged.

    [ I can''t seem to remember who Apophis was which is quite shocking. I am quite old and know a lot of gods. If I don''t know someone means that they are older than me and were likely sealed off before I could know them. ]

    ''Do you know anyone else who might have more knowledge about Apophis?''

    [ mey might know him since she was one of the major twelve gods. She also heard a lot of things from her customers who wanted her to craft special things. ]

    ''I will ask Amber about herter on I guess. At least one of the past mysteries of that weird zombie was solved. We will move on to the next mystery after defeating the zombies.''

    [ To beat them, you both just have to use attacks charged with divine energy. That will deal a heavy blow to the zombie goblins who are also remade with the help of divine energy. ]

    "May, use divine energy attacks to defeat them." Jason relied on.

    "Um, I am pretty sure I will only use divine energy most of the time to attack others. My usage of mana is very limited."

    "Right, I forgot you were a demi-god with a whole source of divine energy. My bad."

    "Was that sarcasm?"

    Jason sighed and simply pointed forward towards the zombie goblins.

    "Let''s just fight. We will have this discussionter on."

 Chapter 243 Its Good To Make A Public Display Of Power

    Just like the system had said, using attacks charged with divine energy was enough to kill the zombie goblins in one hit.

    ''That was why Risa had trouble killing that goblin in the past. She couldn''t make use of her divine energy due to the contract.'' Jason remembered while hitting a goblin with a thunderbolt.

    [ Definitely. But that doesn''t exin how that cube got here or why did that goblin appear here. ]

    ''You can''t get the answer to all of your questions at once. We will have to wait for some time to receive all the answers.''

    Jason and May ended up cleaning all the goblins in a few minutes. Once they were done, the duo decided to head back and call it a day.

    "Let''s see how fast you can go on that cloud. Try using it at full speed to reach the manor." Jason suggested while looking in the direction of the manor.

    May epted the challenge andunched herself forward without any warning. Her movements couldn''t be captured by normal eyes due to how fast she was.

    But in the end, Jason managed to appear at the manor first with the help of divine energy mixed with his white thunder.

    Risa had already ced the collection of rocks down in the garden and had surrounded it with a protective barrier.

    The major heads of the four families, including Brian, Zeke''s grandfather and Amber''s parents, were looking at the collection with grim expressions.

    "How are we going to defeat so many of them if they keep getting stronger every time one of them dies?" Amber''s father, Matt, asked aloud.

    "We shouldn''t have any problem until the halfway mark is reached. After that, I am afraid that only the strongest of us would be able to rival themanders gathered by Julian." Issac replied.

    "Maybe if we had won the war in the past, we wouldn''t be facing such circumstances." Zeke''s grandfather sighed. "I just want to retire and meet some new young women."

    "Grandpaбн" Zeke shook his head at his grandfather''s words.

    Truth be told, all of the elder generation wanted to retire and live the rest of their lives without meddling with Julian.

    Unfortunately, none of them could get their wish fulfilled and would have to continue fighting till the end.

    "I wish the war had ended back then but it didn''t. Now we have to fight together once again but things might be different this time." Risa said before looking at Amon. "Amon, if you may."

    "The demon king and the other kings are going to join us in this fight. Julian has transfered half of his forces to the demon kingdom and is trying to put the entire continent under hismand.

    If we don''t stop him with them, he will have an entire army under hismand, not counting the fact that he already has the two neighboring kingdoms under his control." Amon exined.

    A stunned silence spread over the entire area. Amon looked at Issac and Risa before realizing that he had spoken something that only he knew.

    With a sigh, he continued on. "Yes, he almost has the entire continent under his rule and in a few days, he will have the fourth kingdom under his control as well.

    He will soon turn most of the residents into his patron''s followers and things will go down the drain. If all of you want to retire peacefully and spread the remainder of your days with the younger generation, we will have to fight together."

    One by one, every person present there nodded their head in agreement. If they didn''t do anything, the future of the next generation would be in danger.

    "Now that all of us are on the same page, there is something I would like to add." Jason suddenly announced as he walked in the middle of the group.

    Everyone gathered there knew who Jason was, not just because of his family but because of the things he had done in the past decade.

    Despite that, some people felt a bit weird getting told things by someone half their age.

    "I can tell that some of you might feel weird that someone like me is addressing you about things." Jason smiled humorlessly. "Just remember that this someone is stronger than almost every single one of you gathered here."

    Thatment was enough to send chills down their spines, especially when Jason showed them a glimpse of his divinities.

    ''I wish you had taught me how to project your aura as well.'' Jason said to the system as he projected the aura of Erebus''s divinity, aka the system.

    [ Erebus''s divinity projects a weird type of aura. You wouldn''t have been able to control it and would have scared a lot of people. That is why I didn''t tell you how you can use it and control it. ]

    ''All right.'' Jason turned the aura off and began with what he wanted to say.

    "ording to what I have calcted, Julian''s divinity can suppress every single one of you present here. Only I can counter the effects of his divinity and prevent you from being enved.

    If any of you ever encounter him in a fight and feel like you are about to be enved, immediately call for help. Each and everyone single one of you are important as a whole." Jason finished before turning towards his grandparents.

    Risa nodded and gestured him toe forward. Jason casually walked up to her and touched her shoulder.

    He activated Sancus''s divinity and turned on the forceful contract breaking ability. His body was surrounded with a bright glow which was slowly being transfered to Risa.

    Five minutester, the glow had vanished from existence. A ringing sound echoed around the garden as the purple ball pen made its appearance.

    It touched Risa''s forehead once and vanished. Secondster, Risa sighed in relief. A huge burden had just vanished off her shoulders as Jason had sessfully broken her contract.

    ''Sometimes it''s good to make a public disy of power.'' Jasonmented while looking at the faces of the others present around them.

    All of them seemed amazed and a bit excited after seeing his disy of power.

    [ If the time calls for it, you have to do it. ] The system agreed.

    ''Indeed.'' Jason replied as he moved in front of Issac. ''This is just the beginning. We have a lot of things waiting for us in the futureбн''

 Chapter 244 Be Prepared For Chaos!

    "He haspletely broken the contracts of all the family heads as well as the rest of them." Julian muttered while walking through the royal pce.

    [ It was expected. The child was still getting used to his abilities but once he mastered it, he focused on breaking the contracts imposed on everyone around him. That was the only way for them to be able to fight us head on. ] Galirius replied.

    ''Can you overpower him now?'' Julian questioned telepathically since he didn''t want anyone else to hear the question.

    [ No, I can''t. He doesn''t have the normal variant of Sancus''s divinity like the ruler of the remaining free kingdom on this continent has. I can overpower her for some time but it''s still a slow process. ] Galirius sighed.

    ''Let''s see. We have managed to convert about fifty percent of one of the other kingdom''s poption into your followers and the same thing in happening in the third kingdom. We should be able to have about ny percent of the poption turned soon.''

    [ I would have liked hundred percent of the poption to be turned but those guys already have followers. Even if this is my home world, I can''t mess with too many gods. ]

    Galirius knew that he was strong and had quite a good support at the bar of gods. Once had the entirety of Clover under his control, he would make some of his supporters have more followers on Clover.

    This was under the condition that he would be able to proceed smoothly without facing any bacshes.

    Even if Clover was his home world, meddling with mortal affairs so much guaranteed a huge bacsh on him.

    Galirius, however, avoided all that by transferring the bacshes to those who were supporting him.

    If he didn''t do that and decided to not suffer from the bacshes, his enemies as well as the gods who wanted to support their followers on Clover could easily counter him with the same amount of power.

    That was how bnce was maintained. Currently, if any of those gods or goddesses wanted to descend frequently like him, they would either have to face a bacsh, transfer it to someone else or provide him with the opportunity of using even more power.

    ''I don''t understand why the divine emperor lets such a loophole exist in the system. I thought he wanted things to be fair and bnced.''

    [ He does want that but then, this is the definition of fair. You can''t trap gods in a pavilion with only themselves to entertain each other with. It''s more fun to see worlds copse and rise. ] Galirius chuckled.

    Julian didn''t ask anything after that. He had realized that the world of immortals was full of pain and misery.

    Though it did include many benefits, the negative side of it was no fun.

    ''Maybe if I obtain immortality, I will also be ying with worlds like thisбн'' Julian thought before shaking his head.

    He decided to focus on the next part of their n which would direct the trajectory for their future.

    ''Do you think a million of them should be enough?''

    [ Send two million. No matter how heartless they be, they can''t defeat and kill so many of them, especially the innocent ones. Once we have Risa and Issac captured, things will be much easier. ]

    ''What about that Amon guy? I know he can rival you with that divinity and natural ability of his.''

    [ The sin of wrath has always been the strongest sin and there is nothing I can do about him. However, I can defeat him due to the extreme rise in the number of followers I have. ]

    ''And the demon continent?''

    [ Honestly, only the family of the sins are strong enough to fight us alongside that traitor Hecate. Send a few million there and if they kill majority of them, we will paint them bad in the eyes of the people here.

    ? If we earn the support of someone inside the four families, we can easily manipte them to get our way inside. The fight will serve as the perfect distraction for that. ]

    ''I take it we are going as well. Seventy of themanders, including eight of the main ten ones are going to the demon continent. The remainder wille with us?''

    [ Yes, we will use them to tire Risa and Issac before striking. We just have to make sure Jason doesn''t get near them and once we have them captured, it''s almost over for all of them. ]

    ''I will ask Silvia toe as well. Even if she is weak, her simple presence will shake all of them enough to lower their guard a bit.''

    [ She can serve as a goodst-minute shield to stop Risa and Issac from attacking. ]

    ''No, she is far too valuable for that. I am not gonna let her do something like that.'' Julian argued. ''Plus, we have other ways to defeat them.''

    [ All right, all right. Keep your precious beloved with you. I don''t care what happens to her as long as we win. ]

    ''One more thing. What are we going to do about that child with the divinity that Jason took inside the temple?''

    [ From what I could tell, she has a strong divinity, but I couldn''t tell whose divinity it was. Don''t worry, she is just a child and is likely new to using her divinity, so we won''t have to worry about her. ]

    ''All right.''

    Julian was currently standing outside the pce and was ncing at the army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers gathered in front of the pce.

    [ Wait, what are you going to do with that child? ] Galirius questioned as he focused his attention on a blond teenager standing at the front of the army.

    ''She is someone special who I owe a promise to. Don''t worry, I have her perfectly brainwashed and under the control of a contract that even a contract breaking divinity might not be able to break.''

    Julian casually walked to the front of the army and tucked a strand of the girl''s hair behind her ear.

    "How are you, M?" he asked with a smile.

    "I am fine, father. Hiro wanted me to tell you that he has nned a nice strategy for you to use. Lady Silvia agreed with him as well." M replied calmly.

    "All right. Ask him and Silvia toe here. We will be leaving in a day or two." Julian instructed.

    M nodded and used teleportation magic to move away from her spot. Julian watched her go with a smile on his face before addressing the army.

    "Soon we will be leaving for our destination. Prepare to fight to the death!" Julian''s voice echoed around the entire city. "Be prepared for blood! Be prepared for war! Be prepared for chaos!"

 Chapter 245 Midnight Butterflies

    ''Why do I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?''

    For some reason, Jason suddenly felt a tingling sensation spreading throughout his body. It was around midnight and he was lying on his bed.

    The strange feeling forced himself to stand up and look outside his window. Moonlight was entering his room and shone on his face.

    ''What could cause this?'' Jason wondered silently and was about to open his window when he noticed a shadow leaping towards him.

    "Amber?" Jason asked in a surprised tone when he saw Amber sticking on his window.

    "Will you open the window or wait for me to smash it?" Amber grinned.

    Jason opened the window and let Amber in. He didn''t bother closing it and simply looked at her face which was being illuminated by the moonlight.

    "I couldn''t sleep at my ce so decided to check on you. Should have known you would be awake as well." Amber said while dusting her clothes.

    "I was trying to sleep but its quite hard." Jason shrugged. "Too bad you couldn''t stare at my sleeping self."

    "That would be a lovely sight to see. Imagine you were drooling all over your pillow."

    "Oh please. You are the one who drools while sleeping."

    Both Jason and Amber startedughing. The former''s eyes noticed that a strand of Amber''s red hair was dangling near her eye, giving her a cute look while she wasughing.

    ''For fk''s sake, I feel like a teenager in love. I am starting to think the cringe things againбн''

    [ That''s what love is. To make it appear less cringy, you can say that love is just the mixing of bodily fluids. ]

    ''бн'' Jason didn''t know whether tough or cry at the definition given to him by the system.

    It sounded both right and wrong at the same time. However, it did rx him a bit and made him look at things more clearly.

    "Soбн what do you want to do right now?" Jason asked.

    "I don''t know. Anything that is interesting I guess." Amber shrugged. "The night is still young."

    "That sounds like something my grandpa would sayбн"

    "Not gonna lie, it actually does. Maybe your family is influencing me more than they should." Amber smiled. "But I guess I don''t mind it."

    Jason didn''t know what took over him but he suddenly reached forward with his right hand and tucked the loose strand of Amber''s hair behind her ear.

    ''That felt nice for some reason.''

    [ For Erebus''s sake, don''t make me listen to feelings of love. I am happy that you have found someone you can love again but please, keep the thoughts restricted to yourself. ] The system said in an annoyed tone.

    ''I guess that''s pretty valid.'' Jason agreed.

    Amber on the other hand had a strange look in her eyes. She was staring right into Jason''s eyes and he was staring back.

    Slowly, both of them moved forward until their faces were inches apart from each other.

    Jason tilted his head a bit and went in for a kiss. Since both of them were of the same height, it was easy for him to do so.

    Amber felt her body going limp as Jason''s lips pressed over hers. She instinctively put her hands around his neck, pulling him a bit closer to her.

    The two continued to kiss for a minute before separating. Jason could feel blood rushing towards his face as his heartbeat sped up.

    Amber was in no better condition as her heart was pounding loudly inside her chest.

    [ Don''t go beyond kissing. You are still underage and are under the observation of the FBI God. ]

    ''But I am not on Earth.''

    [ The FBI god only cares about the age at which someone is considered an adult. That age limit for Clover is eighteen so you gotta wait till then. ] The system replied.

    ''All right. I wasn''t thinking about doing anything else anyways.''

    "Can we do that again?" Amber mumbled.

    Jason didn''t reply and simply moved forward, putting his lips on top of Amber''s. He slowly parted her lips and entered her mouth with his tongue.

    The two continued kissing like this before finally deciding to sleep. This time, they slept facing each other even though they were blushing slightly.

    [ Hestia, I am trying hard not tough and make Amber feel embarrassed but I think I might lose it soon if they keep doing things like this. ] mey sighed.

    [ Well, both of them aren''t really used to it. Though Jason had experienced the same feelings once in his life, I don''t think he is used to such things. ]

    [ I don''t think that either. I mean, I have had much more weird andplicated rtions but I have never seen someone act soбн innocent. ]

    [ Let''s notpare ourselves to them. We have seen many things unlike them so its best that we remain silent and don''t say anything on this matter. ]

    [ True but its hard for me to do that. Find me a topic with which I can distract myself. ] mey requested.

    Hestia thought about it for a few seconds before remembering that they needed the details on Apophis.

    [ mey, do you know anything about a god named Apophis? ]

    [ Apophis? You mean the Egyptian emo dude with the long scythe? ]

    [ That is a pretty urate description. Do you know him or anything rted to him? ]

    [ Well, he was there before you were born. He was the Egyptian god of death and carried a scythe with him, just like all the other death gods. Its their crazy sort of addiction or something.

    However, he was far too ambitious and actually wanted to be the strongest god of death. And to do that, he decided to absorb all the other death gods and goddesses. A pretty dumb move I must say. ]

    [ How did he even manage to think that he could absorb all of them? Even if he could get one or two low level death gods, its not that easy to absorb them especially considering the fact that their divinities will interfere the absorption. ]

    [ Even I don''t know what method he nned on using. I do know he had a team with him, whose members were all ambitious. Never got to know their names though. Surprisingly, they had managed to absorb a handful of gods.

    The divine emperor found out about this and issued a decree to have them sealed and thrown off to a ck portal world. Clover was already a world like that back then since it had just merged together. ]

    [ So that was how the cubes ended up here. This means that there should be more than two cubes on Clover. ] Hestia soon started wondering who else could be supporting Apophis.

    She knew that Phobos, the goddess of fear was sealed inside a cube. Veritas, the goddess of truth might be on Apophis''s team as well.

    ''There should be more than two people who helped him. Even if Veritas and Phobos used their full powers, they couldn''t absorb other gods.'' Hestia concluded.

    [ Why are you curious about him? Did something happen in my absence? ]

    [ Wellбн ]

    Hestiaunched into an exnation of the events that had transpired in the forest. She didn''t left out a single detail and told mey everything.

    [ Oh boy. Things are about to get pretty heated up in the future. ]

    [ Indeed and I feel like both of us are going to be at the center of it due to Jason and Amber. How do you feel about that? ]

    [ The only thing that is currently heating up is Amber''s cheeks. At least she is asleep unlike Jason who is rolling on the bed. ]

    [ That''s something he does on a routine when he can''t sleep. Let''s not bother them and y some game. What do you think about ying the game ''Who''s that god?'' with me? ]

    [ You are on! ]

    While the two guardians busied themselves with the game, Jason was trying hard to fall asleep. However, something weird was happening in his abdomen which prevented him from falling asleep.

    [ You are feeling butterflies in your stomach which is honestly quite cute. But I don''t think you will be able to sleep tonight if you keep experiencing that. ]

    ''I know that but I can''t control it! Can you please help me?''

    [ I am not some kind of emotion maniption device which can be used to numb what you''re feeling. You are on your own, Jason. ]

    ''бн''

    Jason fell silent because for some reason, he felt as if he had heard the same line before. He couldn''t exactly remember who he had heard it from.

    [ Obviously me, idiot. Now if you want to sleep, pinch your nose and hold your breath. When you feel like you are about to pass out, breathe again and you will feel calmer. ] The system sighed.

    Jason did as instructed and managed to sessfully calm himself.

    ''Thank you, system.''

    [ No need. Now go sleep. ]

    ''All right.''

    Jason closed his eyes and soon enough, he was soundly sleeping. The system on the other hand sighed inside its mind.

    [ At least you are starting to forget the words I said, Jasonбн ]

    ***

    AN: damn, I think I ate cringe while writing this chapter. However, it was necessary for me to write this.

    Also, it took nearly 250 chapters for Jason''s official kissбн I have fallen from my post as a smut authorбн

 Chapter 246 I Dont Want This War...

    The next morningбн

    ''So it wasn''t a weird fantasy dream of mine.'' Jason sighed in relief when he found Amber sleeping right next to him.

    He had been thinking that he had imagined the entire night but he was wrong. Amber had actually been with him throughout the night.

    Slowly, Jason got up from his bed and entered the bathroom. By the time he was out, Amber had woken up and was stretching her arms on the bed.

    "Morning." She greeted while stifling a yawn.

    "Got a good night sleep?" Jason smiled.

    "I did. What about you?"

    "I slept peacefully without worrying about anything. Didn''t have any dreams either."

    Jason came to sit on the bed before slowly lowering his head onto Amber''sp. It was much morefortable than lying on a pillow and gave Jason a sudden rush of happiness.

    "Maybe you can sleep for another half an hour. I am sure no one would mind." Amber smiled as she rxed back.

    Jason was about to close his eyes to sleep when someone knocked on his door. He immediately sprang up and went to check who was outside.

    "Morning grandma." Jason greeted Risa who was standing right outside his door.

    "Come outside quickly. There is something important that needs to be discussed." Risa said in a serious tone and turned around to leave. But just before walking away, she chuckled lightly and said, "Ask Amber toe down as well."

    ''Nothing escapes her eyes.'' Jason sighed as he looked back inside the room and told Amber about Risa''s instructions.

    Amber sighed as well and stood up from the bed. Without saying anything, she entered the bathroom and started getting herself ready.

    Jason waited for her outside and much to his surprise, it took her ten minutes to get out. This made him question several things at once but he soon shook them away.

    "Let''s go down. I am sure Risa came to tell us about the meeting early on." Jason instructed.

    "Your grandma is on a whole other level. Now I know why my grandmother called Risa her best friendбн" Amber sighed before intertwining one of her arms with Jason''s arms.

    "You do know that people will take it that way?"

    "I do and I don''t care unless you got a problem about this."

    "Never said I didn''t like it." Jason smiled as the two of them descended down.

    No one was present inside the Syrward family manor with the exception of Issac. Jason''s grandfather saw them together once and whistled.

    "Good job." Issacmented before getting up from his seat. "I would like to hear more about your night but we have to go outside to discuss whether we will be alive for another day or not."

    "Nothing major happened, grandpa." Jason cleared just in case Issac was thinking of something naughty.

    "It''s the minor details that make things more interested." Issac winked. "Let''s go outside. Risa has a message waiting for all of us. I am sure that it will spell ny percent death for us."

    "And the remaining ten?" Amber asked.

    "Those are the chances of survival. All I know is that some people will definitely die and in order to win this, some sacrifices have to be madeбн" Issac sighed.

    The trio walked out of the house and went to stand near a tree where the most important people present in Duphia were standing.

    Risa was floating in the sky in front of them and had a grim expression on her face.

    "Now that all of us are gathered here, I would like to announce that we might be lying dead in about twenty-four hours." Risa announced once the trio had mixed in with the crowd.

    A few people were surprised but the rest of them remained calm. They had fought Julian before and knew how his mind worked.

    They had expected him to attack them the moment he gained enough manpower to do it.

    "I talked to some people on the inside and found out that more than a million people, including soldiers from our neighboring kingdoms areing to attack us. They are being led by the remainingmanders and will reach us in twenty four hours.

    Amon also confirmed that a muchrger poption of humans was heading towards the capital of the demon continent to kill the king and bind the seven sins. Both of us are going to face heavy attacks." Risa exined in detail.

    "Are you sure that there is no other family on the entire continent who is willing to help us?" Matt questioned.

    "You already know that Julian has all the other families under hismand. Our rtionships were never that great either. If not for Jason, all of us would be under his control as well." Brian reminded.

    Soon enough, everyone started discussing ways to stop the attack and stated their opinions aloud.

    After almost an hour of discussing ways to fight against Julian, a draft was finalized upon. Due to the time limitation, the family heads couldn''t afford modifications and simply decided to implement the n.

    "As we all know, themanders will only get stronger with a decrease in their numbers. Once we have defeated the weaker bunch, only a certain group of people will be allowed to fight the remainingmanders.

    These include Jason, Amber, Matt, Brian, Orion, Nora, Andrew, Issac, Ray, Zaraбн" Risa went on take more names which included Zeke''s grandpa and many others from the major families.

    All in total, fifty people were allowed to fight against themanders once their numbers had been reduced.

    "Remember that our numbers are only around ten thousandbined and we will be facing two million warriors. We are going to face many loses so I hope all of you are prepared for it." Risa announced atst before dispersing the crowd.

    Everyone started moving towards the destination they had in mind but were stopped by someone''s voice.

    "Are all of them soldiers willing to fight us?" Orion asked in a loud and clear voice.

    "No, they are not." Risa replied calmly.

    "Then you are saying that we are about to kill millions of innocents?"

    "That''s what war is, kid. People die inrge amounts, and no one is ever right or wrong. It will just show who was left alive to change the things." Risa replied while maintaining her calm.

    "If that''s what war is, I don''t want this warбн" Orion suddenly vanished from his spot with the use of teleportation magic.

    Though he had vanished, his words had left an impact on those who had heard them.

    Could they even fight so many people knowing they would be killing innocents?

 Chapter 247 Maria

    "Mother, do shooting stars fall during the day?" A young girl with two little horns poking from her forehead asked innocently.

    Her mother, a full grown demon with blood running down her right arm smiled. "No dear, they don''t. Why are you asking that?"

    "Because I want to know what that is." The young girl pointed in the direction opposite of the mother.

    The mother turned back in terror to see a m covered man shooting towards them. The city around the mother-daughter pair was already in ruins with a few people running around in terror.

    ''If only we had managed to get to the evacuation site on timeбн'' the mother immediately picked up her daughter and hugged her to her chest.

    She turned in the opposite direction of the ming man and ran at full speed. It was then that she wished that she had a lightning or wind affinity.

    "Mom, I am scaredбн" The little girl whispered before burying her head in her mother''s chest.

    "I know dear but don''t be afraid. I am sure that our demon king will do something for us. We just have to get to a safe location." The mother reassured her child while trying to find a ce to hide.

    "I am afraid your demon king won''t be able to help you escape death." An amused voice rang inside the woman''s ears.

    Her entire body froze in terror as she saw the me-covered mannding in front of her. A humorless smile was visible on his face while mes danced around his body.

    "It''s a shame we were ordered to eliminate this city. You could have been a good follower for his majesty." He clicked his tongue in disappointment before raising his hand forward.

    The woman clutched her left hand tightly around her girl and pointed her other hand forward.

    A bird made from water emerged from her hand and directly charged forward.

    "Oh you are a water mage? For trying to fight back, you at least deserve to know my name," The me-covered man praised. "I am Valdez, one of the ten suprememanders. Now its time for you to die."

    Valdez created his own bird of mes and made it charge towards the water bird. The former evaporated long beforeing in contact with the fire bird, leaving no obstructions in its path.

    "Maria, run!" The mother suddenly shouted as she tossed her child away and jumped forward.

    Water surrounded her body in the form of a bubble as she charged towards Valdez. Somehow the bird turned around and charged back at Valdez.

    "Well, that''s surprising. Too bad I have seen this before." Valdez snapped his fingers.

    A wall of me erected right below the mother''s feet, burning her up on the spot. Maria, her daughter, was left sitting on the ground with a stunned expression.

    "Mom?" she asked in a low voice.

    Valdez brushed the dust off his shoulders and looked at the girl with a tired expression. He slowly walked up to her and knelt on the ground on one knee.

    "Your name is Maria, right?"

    Maria nodded as tears started falling down her eyes. Valdez sighed loudly before cing a hand on Maria''s shoulder.

    "Your mother never existed in her real form. It was just a part of your imagination sprung up by the naiveness of the human mind." He said in a clear voice before lifting his hand off.

    Maria''s eyes glowed brightly once before returning to normal. She looked around with a confused expression and hints of terror visible in her eyes.

    "Don''t worry, Maria. Your delusion was just broken when I used my magic to cleanse your mind. Would you like to follow me and help me purify more souls?" Valdez asked with a smile.

    Maria looked at him with a surprised expression before nodding. The horns on her hand suddenly vanished and her eyes soon changed color to a somewhat familiar shade of green.

    "Oh by the way, from now onwards, your surname is Bloodthorn." Valdez added before grabbing her hand.

    "Okбн" Maria nodded as the two of them vanished from their spot.

    Inside her mind, she no longer remembered the scene where her mother was turned into ashes.

    All she remembered was that her name was Maria Bloodthornбн

    ***

    "What the fk!" Jason cursed as his eyes suddenly flew open.

    He had felt a headacheing when he was training with May and had excused himself by going to the bathroom.

    The moment he had entered it, a vision had forcefully overtaken his mind, making his witness the entire scene from a third person''s perspective.

    ''I have to find out who this Maria Bloodthorn is.'' Jason thought before sshing water on his face.

    From what he could figure out, Maria was likely the name of one of his rtives from the Bloodthorn family.

    The question was how did someone from the Bloodthorn family end up bing one of the ten suprememanders?

    [ How are you sure that it was not something from the past? What if you just saw something currently happening at the demon continent? ]

    ''Call it a gut feeling if you want but I just know that it was from the past.''

    Jason pulled himself out of the bathroom and took a deep a breath before heading out. Instead of going back to train May, he decided to ask Risa about it.

    [ She is currently down in herb. I think she wanted some alone time before the big fight. ]

    ''Maybe. There''s a chance that she made some important breakthrough and decided that it was important to go research it instead of preparing for a war.''

    [ For some reason, that sounds like something Risa would do. ] The system agreed.

    Jason on the other hand activated the teleportation runes in his room and teleported directly to theboratory.

    Once he appeared there, he searched around for Risa and saw her sitting peacefully on a chair with her head resting in her hands.

    "Do you want something?" Risa asked without lifting her head.

    "Can you tell me who Maria Bloodthorn is?" Jason asked in a calm voice.

    Risa immediately lifted her head and looked at Jason with a bewildered expression.

    "Howбн how do you know that name?"

 Chapter 248 To A Better Future

    Jason didn''t answer Risa''s question and simply stared at her. His silence was enough to make Risa realize that she would have to give an answer before receiving one herself.

    "Maria was my mother''s name and she married my father when my grandfather had mixed himself with the king of that time. He had a very good control over the light and fire element which lead to him bing one of the ten suprememanders.

    However, my grandfather was responsible for the murder of my mother''s mother. I know it might soundplicated but that''s the truth. My motherter killed my grandfather and took the family in the right direction alongside my father." Risa sighed.

    Jason on the other hand was trying to figure out whether his family tree could get even moreplicated.

    Both sides of his family were messed up. He himself was messed up and couldn''t do anything about it.

    "I got to know about her from a vision." Jason answered Risa''s question. "Also, I will try and see whether I can remove the contracts forced upon such arge crowd."

    "You wouldn''t be able to do that even if you were a god. Doing something like that will have terrible consequences on you since using too much divine energy can cause fluctuations in space.

    Those fluctuations leads to the world punishing someone responsible for their cause. Best case scenario, you will enter in aa for a year. Worst case scenario, you will be sucked by the world and will be tortured for eternity." Risa informed.

    A smile appeared on Jason''s lips when he heard what the punishments could be. Hestia had already told him about this and had even given him a way to turn the tide in his favor.

    "What if Iбн"

    ***

    The next day, things were tense around the entire town.

    From what Risa had found out, the army would be arriving at any moment with the help of teleportation spells.

    Though they had set up multiple traps, there was a good chance Julian would be able to counter them by sending through part''s of the army one by one.

    The frontbat team might also have to face suicides mages whose only job would be to detonate themselves the moment they would appear on field.

    Orion''s words had also caused many to feel uneasy but none of them deserted the area. They knew that no matter where they went or who they pledged their allegiance to, they would be forced to be Julian''s ves.

    "I never thought I would be fighting again so soon." Zeke''s grandfather sighed.

    "Numok, didn''t you predict this the moment all of us were forced to enter that contract with Julian?" Brian asked while asking raising his eyebrows.

    "I guess I didбн" Numok sighed and averted his gaze.

    Numok, Issac, Brian and Orion were currently standing at the entrance of the town and were looking at thend outside.

    Neither Orion nor Brian wanted to admit that they weren''tfortable around the other person. They had to act like things were fine when in reality, they weren''t.

    "Why are all of you standing there and looking outside with such grim expressions?" Zn suddenly asked as he walked to stand beside the group.

    The ex-prime minister of the kingdom had a calm expression on his face yet he was ready to fight at a moment''s notice.

    After all, this fight was important for both him and his family. If they ended up losing, there was no where else to go.

    "We are wondering how much property you would have to give to each of us if we won this sht." Issac replied with a ttering smile.

    "Remember, Hiro will be the one to be the king so it will be best that you talk to him." Zn raised his hands.

    "Isn''t he our enemy?" Orion asked with a confused expression.

    "Hiro is acting like he is our enemy but he actually isn''t. He is staying with Julian and is the person actually providing us with information from the inside. If we revealed this to the public, I don''t think they would trust us." Zn exined.

    "For most of them, Hiro is Julian''s son so no matter how much we talk about his trustworthiness, they won''t trust him." Brian added.

    Orion nodded in understanding. He remembered seeing Hiro during the ceremony that had happened years ago.

    "Will we face him in battle?" Orion asked.

    "Maybe but I am sure that he will be heavily guarded. Julian wouldn''t want his favorite prince to die in such a manner." Zn sighed.

    "Its hard to believe that Zn is actually the third prince of the kingdom. The other two princes are simply pawns that Julian uses to increase his power and influence." Numok muttered.

    "They are failed princes for him. Despite of being his own children, Julian doesn''t trust them one bit. He only trusts Hiro and M."

    "M?" Orion suddenly felt confused.

    ording to him, M was the royal princess he had met inside the chamber of rebirth. They weren''t the best of friends but had talked during their free time.

    From what he had figured out, M wasn''t the type of princess who would blindly follow Julian in his evil deeds.

    "M has been his favorite daughter since a long time. She even imed a promise from his patron that allows her to ask them for any favor that she wants." Zn escaped. "She was almost killed by her siblings due to that."

    "I mean she can literally ask Julian and Galirius for the throne or for this war to stop but she doesn''t seem to be doing it." Brian pointed out.

    "Do the others know about this?" Orion questioned. He knew that Jason, Amber and Zeke were much closer to M than he was.

    "No, we haven''t told them about it and we will appreciate it if you don''t either. We don''t want them to be worrying about something else during the war." Issac replied with an expressionless face.

    Orion nodded in understanding but inside, he already knew that he was going to tell the others about this the moment he would move away.

    But to make sure that none of the adults present stopped him from telling them, Orion stayed behind for a few more minutes.

    ''Things are going to be tough during the battle.''

    ***

    "Hiro, that''s a pretty nice strategy to counter any traps set by the opposite side!" Julian eximed when he saw the battle strategy nned by Hiro.

    He had been thinking of sending parts of his army to activate most of the traps before sending the majority of them to Duphia''s border with the help of teleportation magic.

    But with Hiro''s simple yet effective strategy, he would be able to do things much easily without a huge loss of manpower.

    "I am happy you like it, father." Hiro smiled and bowed before his father.

    "You are doing a good job, son." Silvia praised with a smile. "Dear, when will be going?"

    "Soon." Julian replied while ncing at the war map ced in front of them. A projection of Duphia was hovering above the table and showcased the entire town. "Its going to be an intense fight."

    "We will be appearing for a few minutes right?" Hiro questioned.

    "Yes, your appearance will show the other side that you were just fooling with them about overthrowing the kingdom. I don''t need to exin but Silvia''s presence will do." Julian smiled.

    Hiro and Silvia nodded since both of them knew what Julian was talking about. The mother-son pair had been nning to help him from a long time which was the reason their strategy was almost perfect.

    "Anyways, one of mymanders is calling me and I have to go meet him. I will talk to youter." Julian excused himself and went away.

    Hiro on the other hand directly stared into his mother''s eyes. Silvia smiled humorlessly and picked up a bottle of wine lying near the table.

    She summoned two sses out of the space ring on her finger and filled them. She handed one of them to Hiro and held the other one.

    "To a better future." Silvia raised her ss forward.

    Numerous thoughts were currently swirling inside Hiro''s head yet he decided to disperse them and focus on his goal.

    "To a better future." Hiro replied and clinked in ss with Silvia''s ss.

    Both of them drank the wine together as it left a burning sensation in their throats. However, they knew that something else would be burning soon.

    ***

    "It was you who showed him the vision, didn''t you?" Risa asked aloud. "I know it was you, mydy."

    No reply came yet Risa kept on staring at the ceiling of the basement with a re. She already knew who was responsible for showing Jason the vision he saw.

    "Hemera, you don''t need to act like that. Juste out and talk to me." Risa sighed after not receiving any reply for five minutes.

    She stood up from her spot and decided to go up to do somest minute preparations. However, just as she was leaving, a gentle voice whispered inside her mind.

    [ Good luck. ]

 Chapter 249 Storm Chaos!

    "It should be starting soonбн" Risa murmured while overseeing the fields around Duphia.

    Though they were still covered with barriers, Risa knew they were going to be the perfect spot for everyone to battle.

    "All of the teleportation spells directly aimed inside the town will make the people appear here. Unfortunately, they can still teleport outside the town and chip at the barrier from there." Issac sighed after repeating the words told to him by Amon.

    "I will take care of those around the other edges of the town. Can you manage all those appearing on this side?" Karna asked.

    The shepherd was currently standing in his young form and was radiating a brilliant golden aura. He seemed like a second son on ground whenpared to the one above head.

    "We can do that. From what I have gotten to know, the army should head out in an hour. I also received information that they will be using a special tactic to avoid the traps we have set up." Zn exined from the side.

    "He didn''t tell you the exact things you are supposed to do?" Brian questioned.

    "Remember that this informant is trying to y both sides for the time being so it would be hard for him to tell us about all the details without giving up the element of surprise the other side has." Numok reminded.

    "Its a wonder all of us can have this conversation without blowing up." Mattmented.

    Currently, the strongest people inside Duphia were all gathered near the fields. Jason and the others were directly exploring the fields while the adults were observing it from a far away location.

    "Maybe its due to the fact that all of us are fighting for the same cause again." Zara suddenly said as she appeared behind the group.

    Since thest time she had made a public appearance, many things had changed about her.

    For starters, Zara had cut her hair down to her shoulders and also carried a whip which was attached to her belt.

    It was easy to tell that the whip was an important weapon due to how many runes were etched on its handle. It also had a very detailed designed and was perfectly handmade for Zara.

    "Are preparations done?" Issac asked.

    "Yes. I have left Kalie in charge of handling the portals when the army appears. The instant they get here, we will also send our people in small numbers." Zara reassured.

    "I hope that she can handle it wellбн" Matt murmured yet his voice was still heard by Brian.

    "Have some faith in your wife." Brian replied while pping Matt on the back.

    Thetter''s jaw twitched and soon enough all of the adults wereughing like young teenagers again.

    "Sometimes I wonder whether the adults are children as well." Wade, who was watching this scene with the rest of his friends,mented.

    "It''s good that they are like this. They have experienced many things throughout their lives yet they can still act like this around each other." Jason smiled.

    He was sitting on the ground beside Amber with his hand entwined with hers. Andrew and Nora stared at them from time to time, wondering whether their assumptions were correct.

    "I wonder whether I will be able to do this in the future." Zeke wondered

    "I know for sure that I won''t be able to do something like this." Orionmented. "I don''t think I will even remain with you all."

    "Why?" Amber raised an eyebrow.

    "All of you are trouble mas. No matter what happens, you guys are always at the center of it in one way or the other. If I remain with you, my life is going to be one heck of a chaotic mess which I personally don''t want to experience."

    "Nobody wants to experience that but life isn''t fun without them." Wade pointed out. "Even I have learned that much."

    "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Not like I have seen the future." Orion sighed.

    Jason was about to say something when he suddenly paused.

    [ Host, they areing! ] The system warned.

    Without saying anything, Jason immediately stood up and activated his thunder. The others got ready as well since they had learned to trust Jason''s instincts.

    Secondster, Risa and the adults sensed the powerful emissions released by a massive teleportation spell.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Why the hell is he bringing more than five hundred thousand people at once?! I thought he was going to clear the traps first." Risa cursed while the adults moved towards their respective spots.

    Things took an unexpected turn when a giant blue magic circle appeared on the surface of the fields.

    Jason and his group were already away from the circle and were staring at it from the sky. They were ready to attack the first batch of the army the moment they would appear.

    "Rx kids, we aren''t going to kill you so there is no need to be so tense." Aid back voice echoed around the ce.

    Suddenly, a blond haired girl wearing casual everyday clothes appeared inside the magic circle.

    "The first princessбн" Znmented from his location before sharing the information with everyone else.

    [ Her name is Briana Vancouver and she is the first princess of the kingdom. She is also one of the ten suprememanders which means that Julian is nning a frontal assault from the get go. ]

    [ Do you know what elements she has and how powerful she is? ] Risa questioned.

    [ She has the dark element with a S grade affinity alongside the earth element with a S grade affinity as well. Her patron is a goddess of nature whose exact name is unknown. Her strength is around Diamond(SSS) rank at the very least. ]

    (AN: Quick recap. The level and strength of a person is determined by the affinity and the number of high tier skills/spells they have. The ranks in ascending order are:

    Practitioners = F rank, Bronze = D rank, Silver = C rank, Gold = B rank, Ruby = A rank, Sapphire = S rank, Emerald = SS rank, Diamond = SSS rank, ck = Myriad.)

    Once everyone had gotten the basic info on Briana, they were ready to fight the first princess.

    However, another two prominent personalities appeared right beside Briana.

    The first person was Albus Jokovic, the principal of the royal Vancouver academy. The second was a blond hair man wearing prestigious battle robes etched with runes.

    [ Gale Vancouver. He only has the water element but it has a S grade affinity. His patron is called Bunzi and she is a goddess of water and seas. He can be pretty dangerous if he calls upon the power of his divinity. His rank is Diamond as well. ]

    With the new information from Zn, all of them were wondering what they could do. Albus was definitely strong as well which meant that the youngster team couldn''t defeat the three opponents alone.

    The question was who would be the one helping them at that moment?

    [ Matt and Ray, both of you will be helping them. ] Risa ordered as her strategic mind started working. [ Neither Albus nor Gale are members of the suprememanders which means that more powerhouses are yet to show up. ]

    [ Indeed. Though Gale is formidable and strong, he is too reliant on his powers of divinity while Albus is way past his prime. The real threat is Briana. ] Zn agreed.

    He locked eyes with both the prince and princess of the kingdom. Both of them were his direct family members yet they were standing on the opposite side.

    Zn hated to say it but he knew that both Briana and Gale were working with Julian on the their own ords.

    Albus might have been working under the influence of a contract but Zn knew that the principal wanted to save his own skin.

    He wasn''t ready to risk his future on the small possibility that Julian would be defeated. That was why he was directly fighting instead of supporting the other side.

    "Hello, uncle Zn," Briana suddenly greeted. "How does it feel to be a traitor?"

    "I am not sure how it feels but I am fine with being here. You made your choice and I made mine." Zn replied firmly and decided to not reply to anything else Briana would say.

    "You always were like that. I wished you chose more for a wealthy andfortable life than feeling negative about the things that were going wrong around you." Gale sighed and raised his hands high.

    Zn''s eyes widened when he realized what Gale was about to do.

    [ Amber, quickly use your magma element to generate enough heat to vaporise water! Zeke, be prepared to freeze arge amount of water! ] Zn immediatelymanded.

    "Through the smoothest of seas and wildest of oceans, water has killed many. I call upon the wrath of water to show its power here onnd." Gale chanted the words for his spell. "Storm Chaos!"

    Suddenly, an orb of water shot out from his palm and hovered above the area.

    In the blink of an eye, a tsunami erupted from the orb, epassing the entirety of the town with its powerful wave

 Chapter 250 Julians Beginning Strategy

    "Sht, I hate being wet!" Zeke cursed as icicles revolved around his body.

    Before the entire town could be submerged under the waves of tsunami, Zeke immediately used ice magic to freeze the front portion of the tsunami.

    All the icicles around him shot inside the water and froze it from the front before spreading towards the back.

    Normally, the pressure and flow of the water from the orb would have broken the ice. However, Amber was using her fire magic to make sure that the amount of water would stay limited.

    ''These ck mes are amazing. I can control the amount of heat I want certain things to feel. The ice can continue spreading from the front while I evaporate the area from behind.'' Amber observed.

    Her ck mes had spread on top of the water like a secondyer and went as far as the orb to prevent more water froming forth.

    Simultaneously, Zara had met up with Kalie and opened the portal to send forth portions of their army to the battlefield.

    Seeing that the top powerhouses had appeared first, Kalie only sent long range fighters to the battlefield to chip at their enemies from a safe distance.

    "Was that enough time for you to do your job, big sister?" Gale patiently ask as the orb was finally frozen by Zeke''s icicles.

    "Yes, it was. All the traps on the ground are no longer present there. You should have take out the other traps, right?" Briana asked Albus.

    "Yes, mydy. There shouldn''t be any traps left on this field." Albus replied politely.

    Risa, who was the only one able to understand their conversation, had a grim expression on her face.

    She had already anticipated this so she wasn''t shocked. However, she didn''t know how to break this information to the rest of them.

    "All right. We will be seeing all of you soon." Briana waved her hand at the group before vanishing.

    Gale and Albus vanished from their spots as well, leaving no one behind. This left everyone stunned since they hadn''t expected the major warriors to back out so soon.

    "What are they nningбн" Issac murmured as he stared at the blue portal which was still open above the fields.

    Zn on the other hand was trying his best tomunicate with Hiro. Unfortunately, the crown prince was currently stuck with Julian and had no means of talking with Zn.

    Just when everyone was tensed, Julian''s n was finally revealed. Thousands of teenagers appeared all across the field wearing the armor of different kingdoms.

    ? With a single nce, anyone could tell that all these teenagers were there against their will.

    "Oh you fking son of aбн" Risa cursed under her breath.

    There was no way anyone would be able to kill the teenagers without feeling at least a little remorse.

    For all they knew, the teenagers could be extremely weak normal children who had to fight due to a contract.

    Their only job was to lower the moral of the other side in order to lower their guard and make internal conflict rise between the two parties.

    [ Everyone, listen carefully. There is a slight change of ns. Only Jason, Amber, Wade, Issac and me are going to stay on ground while everyone else is going to take care of the other areas. Is that clear? ] Risa asked.

    Everyone nodded and dispersed to the new locations assigned to them. Risa and Issac appeared near the three teenagers and nced down.

    "Do any of you want to kill all of them?" Risa questioned.

    All three shook their heads.

    "Then we are going to try something new. Make sure to only knock them out o gravely injure them. I don''t care how major the wounds are, you just have to make sure that they don''t die instantly." Risa exined before appearing on the battlefield.

    The teenagers started attacking her in a coordinated manner as if they were being controlled by someone else.

    A mixture of spells and skills were being thrown around at Risa yet none of them were aimed at the quartet flying above.

    "They are definitely being controlled by Julian to make sure none of them get out of hand." Issacmented as he saw Risa knocking out one teen after the other. "Do you guys want to help her?"

    Jason was the first one to do that as he jumped down on the battlefield. The scene reminded him of the war he had seen on Earth and how he was just like the teenagers back then.

    He moved through them at the speed of thunder, electrocuting them one by one. Amber simply pulled them under the ground and knocked them unconscious.

    Wade used a slightly more painful method as he knocked them out by sucking the air from their lungs.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Since none of the teenagers were trained warriors, they couldn''t fight well. Julian wasn''t able to control all of them at once either so they were breaking formations left right.

    Five minutester, all of them had been neutralized and sessfully teleported to one safe house Risa had emptied out for this purpose.

    "This was just the first wave. Be prepared for what''s about toe." Risa warned.

    Secondster, the first major wave of warriors appeared out of the portal. They covered the entire field and numbered in thousands.

    "They are all soldiers of the kingdom who are fighting willingly. Go wild and make sure you aren''t hurt yourself." Risa said with an evil grin.

    She disappeared in the form of a ray of light and started shooting through the chests of the warriors. She managed to kill a thousand warriors at once by simply tearing through their chests.

    "I almost forgot how strong and terrifying she could be without any restrictions. I am sure she is storing their hearts to perform some testster on." Issacmented before activating his powers after a long time.

    ck clouds suddenly appeared in the sky and started rumbling loudly. A ck thunderbolt descended from the clouds and hit Issac''s body.

    His entire body shimmered brightly after being covered by ck thunder.

    Jason nk once and saw tens of thousands of dead bodies around. None of them had been present there before and they had instead been surrounded by warriors.

    Issac''s speed was so inhumane that even someone like Jason couldn''t see his movements.

    All he could sense was the ck thunder shooting throughout the battlefield alongside the ray of light.

    The two sometimes came close before diverging again to cover more area. Jason wondered whether he and the others even needed to do anything.

    [ We are able to do this right now because these are very low ranked warriors. Julian was definitely expecting us to use our army as well which is why he sent so many warriors.

    He wanted to reduce our numbers but that won''t happen as long as me and Issac are fighting here. We will easily be able to defeat them and continue doing this for a long time. ] Risa exined to them.

    [ But that was never the n, was it? ] Jason chuckled. [ You never intended to use anyone else to fight. Your only goal was to make it look like everyone was going to participate so that if an insider was there, we will be safe. ]

    [ Exactly. I am happy you obtained the strategical brain as well. ] Risa praised. [ Looks like the next wave ising as well. All three of you go and check whether things are all right around the other parts. Jason, look out for May as well. ]

    Jason nodded and flew away from the ce. He was able to locate May easily as she was fighting some warriors near the eastern side of the town.

    [ Everything all right? ] Jason asked while flying.

    [ Yeah. Can youe here for a few minutes though? There are some young people here who I don''t want to kill due to my bad control. Please knock them out. ]

    Jason agreed and immediately flew out of the portal. Since he was going to go out of the barrier, he quickly activated the special artifact Risa had handed him the very same day.

    ''What does it exactly do?'' Jason asked the system.

    Hended right beside May and observed the teenagers in front of them. Just like those in the field, the teenagers were moving in a forced coordinated pattern.

    [ It prevents you from being pulled away by someone else using a special artifact or trap. Its a passive protection artifact that is constantly active and will save you numerous times. ]

    ''Gotta hand it to her to protect me in advance.''

    [ She has to do it because you are sometimes carefree so its best that she does this to keep you safe. ] The system replied.

    With a sigh, Jason started knocking down teens while May put them on top of Kwinto to transport them.

    While the duo was doing this, Julian was observing them from afar. He and his patron had still not figured out who May was or what powers she had.

    In fact, they didn''t even know her name and were simply seeing her use her powers to fight.

    "Do you think I should go ahead with a major attack?" Julian questioned his patron.

    [ Do it. ]

    "All right. I guess it''s time for Gale to show his true powers."

 Chapter 251 Flames That Keep On Burning [Part 1]

    ''Things seem to be going fine but why do I have a feeling that Julian is nning something bigбн'' Risa fell deep in thought while thinking about Julian''s ns.

    Till then, they had killed and knocked out at least fifty thousand people without losing a single warrior from their side.

    Julian simply kept on sending more warriors to different parts around the city in order to divide all the stronger people across the ce.

    Risa already knew this and only sent the high agility mages to deal with the opposite army. These included Jason, May, Ray, Issac, .Wade and Risa herself.

    ''Julian, who are you going to target first? I know it is going to be one of the children but I still don''t know who it will be.''

    Risa felt anxious thinking about who Julia would focus on. Her initial guess was Jason since he was capable of negating Julian''s aura singlehandedly.

    Her second guess was May since she thought that Julian and Galirius would have already figured out that May was a demigod.

    To prevent them from being the center of attention, Risa had paired up Jason and May together.

    ''He might attack Nora to capture someone to use against us. I should add a small amount of security behind him just in case.''

    Just as Risa was about to proceed, a message echoed inside her head.

    [ Help me! Gale is chasing after me, possibly to capture me! ]

    ***

    "Hmm, this is getting weird." Amber muttered after clearing out another group of warriors.

    She had been roaming around in a small circle for the past few minutes while trying to clear up all of the warriors.

    None of them would try to attack her in a coordinated manner and simply shot towards her with the motive of killing her.

    [ They are far too weak for you. Someone is definitely trying to study your fighting style and techniques. ] meymented.

    ''Well, the joke''s on them since I don''t have any fighting style.''

    [ If only they knew that they were fighting against azy teenage girl. ]

    Amber lightly chuckled before stopping on her spot. She immediately stomped on the ground, creating an earthquake.

    Cracks ran through the ground for several meters before a figure popped up.

    "So you have the sensory skills as well. Considering who your guardian is, I can''t say I am surprised." Gale smiled as he brushed his clothes in front of Amber.

    Amber didn''t respond and simply upped her guard. mey appeared around her shoulders and hissed at Gale.

    "Looks like your pet doesn''t like me. Can you tell it to not re at me like that or I might just cut its tail?" Gale asked in a teasing tone.

    "If you try to cut her tongue, I might just cut out the part that makes you a male." Amber threatened with a humorless smile.

    Gale yawned and simply waved a hand in her direction. A tsunami shot out from the palm of his hand and started advancing towards Amber.

    Thetter took a deep breath before pping her hands together. The ground in front of her immediately rose up in the form of a mountain and blocked the iing water.

    It was formed from burning magma which also evaporated the water when it came in contact with it.

    "I guess you are not all bark." Gale smiled before his expression turned serious.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    He slowly started rising as a cyclone started forming below him. The cyclone soon started raging around and causing destruction.

    [ Amber, I don''t think your magma shield will be enough to block that attackбн ] meymented.

    ''I think the same as well.''

    Whatever skill Gale was using, he wasn''t trying to go lowkey. The sky had started darkening as well due to dark clouds gathering above head.

    The cyclone soon started sucking water out from the clouds and grew twice its original size.

    Amber immediately entered the ground and started running away at maximum speed.

    "You can run but I will capture you. Things would be much simpler if I could just kill you." Galemented while directing the cyclone towards the ground.

    It tore through the cracks and started going after Amber.

    ''mey, tell me how to contact Risa.''

    [ Just think about her and try sending your words in an outwards manner. You should be able to connect with her mind and she will show up. ] mey reminded.

    Amber did as told and hurriedly sent a distress message. The moment she did that, the hair on her back stood up.

    She immediately turned back to see the cyclone barely being a few meters away from her location.

    "Fk!"

    ***

    Risa immediately located Amber outside the barrier and turned into a ray of light.

    She shot towards Amber''s location while remembering the words she had heard in herboratory.

    The voice had belonged to her patron who was definitely watching over the battle.

    ''Theia, if you are watching this, just let me use your powers if ites to that. I won''t let anyonebe taken away from me.'' Risa thought while clenching her fist.

    She could tell that Amber was underground and signaled her toe to the surface.

    Secondster, Amber burst out from the ground before a cyclone cracked it into many pieces.

    Risa rotated her wrist in a circr pattern before flicking it in the cyclone''s direction.

    An arrow made from pure darkness was released from her hand. It easily cut through the cyclone, corroding it to the core.

    "You have the dark element as well?" Amber asked with a surprised expression since she hadn''t expected Risa to use the dark element as well.

    "I have many things that you don''t know of. Now if we want to get rid of Gale, be prepared to use the hottest mes that you can currently control." Risa exined while cracking her knuckles.

    Amber nodded as ck mes danced around her hair. Her eyes started glowing as she summoned the ck demon mes she had received during her travels on the demon continent.

    Gale witnessed this with a smile on his face. He crushed a small blue bead in his palm and muttered a few words.

    "Let''s see whether your mes will keep on burning when you are submerged under water."

 Chapter 252 Flames That Keep On Burning [Part 2]

    "What is this? A scene from an anime?" Jason questioned with wide open eyes.

    In the distance, he could see multiple raging cyclones rotating on their spots. A figure was also present above the cyclone who Jason could decipher as Gale.

    [ Risa and Amber are fighting him together. The others are currently busy fighting others in different spots so there is no one else to help them. ] The system reported.

    It was currently scanning the entire area around Duphia for numerous kilometers, making maximum usage of its sensory abilities.

    ''Do you think me and May will be able to help them?''

    Jason nced down at the battlefield where May was fending off numerous warriors. The two of them had been providing support all around since they didn''t have a fixed spot to fight.

    [ You both can definitely go helpбн The hell?! ] The system cursed. [ Host, take May with you and head towards the north of your house. Albus is currently trying to damage the barrier there. ]

    Jason relied the message to May and the two of them immediately took off. He also sent the message to Issac just in case.

    While this was going on their side, Gale was continuously staring at Risa. He could tell that she wasn''t one bit afraid of the multiple cyclones he had conjured up.

    "Let''s get this started." Risa smiled before pping her hands.

    A red coat suddenly dropped over her shoulder and two golden bracelets appeared on either of both of her arms.

    Her eyes started glowing a deep shade of green as two beams of light shot out from her body. In the blink of an eye, the beams had destroyed more than half of the cyclones before vanishing.

    Gale looked at this with a smile before shooting forward. Divine energy leaked out form his body as he activated the divinity of his patron goddess.

    ? A trident appeared in his right hand, the hilt adorned with solid gold. Strange symbols glowed all over the trident.

    Gale threw the trident in Risa''s direction while summoning multiple dragons made of water. Risa sped her hands together to create a trident of simr size made purely out of dark magic.

    She threw it at the iing trident and watched the sh against each other. Simultaneously, she started shooting projectiles of light at the dragons and started preventing them from formingpletely.

    All of this was having at such a high speed that Amber couldn''tprehend it easily. However, she did notice that Gale was chanting something weird and that the trident''s glow was slowly increasing.

    Amber didn''t take any risks and simply aimed at the trident and shot her ck mes at the trident.

    She let some of her divine energy mix together with the mes in order to allow it to burn the trident or at least deal some damage to it.

    Her mes easily swallowed both the tridents mid air before a burning smell filled the atmosphere.

    "That wasn''t the right thing to do." Gale smiled before snapping the fingers of his right hand.

    Water emerged from within the trident but it wasn''t normal water. Both Risa and Amber could sense that the water contained at least seventy percent or more divine energy.

    Gale started flicking his hands in circles and shot the water towards Risa and Amber. Risa pped her hands together and formed a shield of darkness in front of her and Amber.

    To add some extra protection, Amber added spikes of her ck mes at the front of the shield.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    However, the water passed right through the shields and hit the duo like a tide. Gale summoned the trident in his hands before manipting the water to form a sphere around the duo.

    Amber felt something heavy appear inside her chest as the water started weighing her down. She was immediately pulled towards the ground and was forced to go on her knees.

    ''The hell is thisбн''

    [ Its water charged with divine energy. It has a special density and is especially deadly to those with the fire element. If you stay inside this sphere for more than a minute, you will be knocked out. ]

    Amber''s eyes were starting to get blurry. She looked at Risa who had already broken free from her sphere and was trying to free her as well.

    However, Gale kept her busy using his trident. He kept on summoning tide after tide of water mixed with divine energy in order to push Risa back.

    ''mey, do you think that the mes inside one''s heart can be burnt out?'' Amber questioned suddenly.

    [ Despite the situation, I will give you your answer. No, I don''t think that they can be burnt out. No matter who it is, there is always something or someone the person will contain a spark in their heart for. ]

    A smile slowly appeared on Amber''s face when she heard that. Inside her mind, she was thinking of a certain someone who she carried the sparks for.

    ''mey, I think I am ready to use more of your divinity. Let me use more divine energy.''

    [ Amber, doing this can be extremely dangerous if you are not able to control the divine energy. ] mey warned.

    ''I am sure I will be able to control the power. Just allow me to do it.''

    [ All right. ]

    mey slowly removed the limiter she had put on her divinity to prevent Amber from being hurt.

    Amber calmed her mind and slowly summoned the ck mes,manding them to wrap around her body.

    ''What is thatбн'' A frown appeared on Gale''s face when he noticed something appearing around Amber''s body.

    He was close to knocking her out yet he felt that she was slowly slipping away from his control.

    Amber''s eyes started glowing a dangerous shade of red. ck mes surrounded her bodypletely and evaporated all of the divine water in one go.

    ''If a spark exists, it doesn''t take much effect to turn it into a raging fire.'' Amber immediately vanished from her spot and popped behind Gale.

    He brought his trident back in an instant and saw it sh with Amber''s me covered hand.

    "Howбн" Gale''s jaw dropped as he pulled the trident back.

    A small portion of the trident had melted awayбн

 Chapter 253 Flames That Keep On Burning [Part 3]

    [ Amber, I think you should keep your powers in check. That divine energy feels highly unstable. ]

    [ mey''s divinity isn''t considered an official divinity since she is no longer a goddess. The divine energy provided by it isn''t going to be like the normal divine energy. ] Amber exined. [ Don''t worry, I know of its dangers. ]

    After saying that, Amberunched herself at GAle. Thetter took no risks and started fighting at full power.

    An armor made from water adorned his body while his trident brightly shone with a golden aura. The ground started shaking as multiple cyclones revolved around Gale.

    "You are not the only one who can create cyclones." Amber moved her hands in a circr motion and ended up creating multiple cyclones.

    The cyclones were made from her ck mes but didn''t emit any kind of smoke or hotness. Gale was guarded by his cyclones yet they weren''t able to destroy the ck me cyclones.

    [ Risa, can you deal some damage to him? ] Amber asked as she prevented Gale from making any advances towards them.

    She knew that she wouldn''t be able to control the divine energy for a long time so it was best to get rid of Gale before she ran out of power.

    [ No problem. Also, just call me by my name from now onwards. It feels good to listen you speak that. ] Risa replied and turned into particles of light.

    She moved through the space between the tornadoes and directly aimed for Gale''s head. Thetter struck the ground with his trident, releasing a powerful wave of divine water.

    Risa countered it with a dark pulse attack and hit his forehead. This momentarily threw him off guard and allowed Amber to advance in with her mes.

    But instead of targeting him, she hit his trident with her mes to prevent him from using major attacks.

    Her ck mes shed with the divine aura of the weapon and came out as the superior. However, Amber felt a muscle or two tear inside her arm.

    A pain shot out through both of her arms yet she maximized the power of the ck mes.

    [ Amber, you will end up permanently damaging your arms if you that much energy! ] mey hissed before jumping off Amber''s shoulder.

    She directly went inside the stream of mes and shared half of Amber''s burden. A smile appeared on her face as she pulled on her mes, taking the trident away from Gale.

    "Give that back!" he shouted instinctively, reaching out for his trident.

    "Take it." Amber let it fly back but not without enchanting it with a different rune.

    It was a skill that mey had taught her. Since she was once the goddess of cksmithing and crafting, mey knew how to enchant almost any object with a rune.

    Since the trident had been melted by her mes, the protection on it had also worn off, allowing Amber to easily enchant it.

    The moment Gale''s hand wrapped around the trident, he realized he had fked up.

    ''I should have battled more in the past few years instead of living the luxurious life I had been livingбн''

    Chains made from ck mes wrapped around Gale''s body. They burnt through his water armor and directly wrapped around his skin, causing burn marks to appear on his skin.

    Gale gritted his teeth in pain and tried to destroy the chain. However, his trident was no longer working due to the new runes put on it.

    Furthermore, mey had enchanted the chains herself to make sure Gale wouldn''t be able to use his water magic to break free from them.

    [ Risaбн ]

    [ I know. I am not going to kill him now though. Let me get inside his mind real quick. Protect us in the meantime. ] Risa replied and materialized in front of Gale.

    "You are going to get inside my mind, aren''t you?" Gale asked with a bittersweet smile.

    "Exactly. I believe Julian told you about the exact details of what I can do." Risa smiled back before dislocating majority of Gale''s joints.

    She also used a mixture of dark and life magic to cut of his mana receptors, thus preventing him from casting anyst minute magic.

    "Its going to be quite useless to go in there but I don''t think you care about that. You are going to go inside my brain regardless." Gale sighed and sent his trident away.

    The divinity inside his body deactivated and the remaining parts of his armor vanished. He simply sat crosslegged on the ground and waited for Risa to proceed.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "You must be quite sure about the mind protector you are using. Let''s see if I can crack it." Risa scoffed and tapped Gale''s forehead with her right index finger.

    She sat down in front of him and closed her eyes, entering a trance like state. Gale''s eyes remained wide open and were staring into nothingness.

    His irises had lost their shine and he looked half-dead. Despite that, his body remained firmly in its position.

    Amber powered down and slowly sat on the ground. Her entire body was paining badly yet she couldn''t rx at a crucial moment like that.

    ''At least I kept the mes burning till the end.'' Amber sighed and stared at the chains that were still wrapped around Gale.

    Since they had been created from divine mes and had been enchanted by mey herself, they weren''t going to disappear even if Amberpletely powered down.

    [ You are crazy, girl. Do you know how much trouble you would be in if I didn''t shelter that withdrawal? ] mey asked in an annoyed tone.

    The guardian was secretly proud of Amber for being stubborn. mey herself had been pretty stubborn throughout her life which was the reason for her being there at the moment.

    ''I knew you were going to do that and that is why I continued on. I put my faith in you.'' Amber smiled slightly.

    [ Its not a good thing to trust someone hat much. I think its best if you don''t trust anyone that much. It will help you in lifeter on. ]

    ''If I can''t trust you, someone who stays with me at all times, who can I trust?''

    [ Haбн what will I do with you? ] mey smiled and jumped on to Amber''s neck, wrapping herself firmly around the girl''s neck.

    ''I swear that one day I will die due to suffocation.'' Amber joked and patiently waited for Risa to be done with her work.

    Five minutester, Risa opened her eyes and sighed.

    "Sometimes I think that trusting Hiro is like using a double-edged sword. I do trust Zn and his daughter, Aysel but Hir0 is someone entirely different." She murmured.

    "What did you find out?" Amber asked curiously since she was curious to know more about their supposed ally.

    "I don''t know whether he actually wants us to win or whether he wants Julian to win. For all we know, he is ying both sides to ensure that no matter who wins, he will remain safe." Risa stared at the sky before continuing.

    "But I guess I can''t expect anything less from Julian and Silvia''s son. He inherited both of their qualities and is equally smart. He also hold one of the most powerful relics of the royal family in his possession."

    "But does he value Julian so much that he would risk all this just to help him? If Hiro wanted, he could have leaked many things to Julian and could have gotten away with it." Amber pointed out.

    "As I said, he is likely ying both sides to make sure that no matter which side wins he will be able to get something in the future." Risamented. "Like I said, he inherited his father''s quality. There is no knowing what will happen."

    "I seeбн"

    Both Amber and Risa fell silent as Gale returned back from his trance. He looked at Risa once and realized that his fate was sealed.

    He closed his eyes again and started chanting a prayer.

    "Using that moments before the chains had wrapped around you would have been more useful. A goddess can''t descend into your body so quickly without facing major consequences." Risa reminded and tapped Gale''s forehead.

    Instead of entering a trance like-state like time, Gale''s body simply went limp. While still touching his forehead, Risa sent forth a wave of dark magic that started disintegrating Gale''s entire body.

    In less than ten seconds, his body had turned into dust and vanished.

    "It was an internally painful death but it still couldn''tpare to the nasty things this guy had done. But then, he never had a big role to y in the endgame." Risa muttered and stood up.

    Without saying a word to Amber, she looked at the Northern side of Duphia and narrowed her eyes.

    "Amber, stay away from the Northern side. I will heal you and we will split up to help others in need." Risa instructed.

    "What''s in the north?" Amber asked in a confused tone.

    "Something that we shouldn''t interfere with unless we want to be electrocuted to deathбн

 Chapter 254 Predictions And Trust [Part 1]

    "Gale was eliminated right now." Julianmented before a small smile appeared on his face. "You were right, Hiro. Risa explored his mind by easily breaking the barrier. She will be suspicious of you but the fake n you told Gale will remain in her mind."

    "I predicted this. Its the most natural way for anyone to behave especially when they know that I can be ying both sides." Hiro shrugged.

    The crown prince was calmly sitting on a chair and was drinking some tea to calm himself.

    Julian on the other hand was standing beside the replica of Duphia and was examining the points where his army could receive a breakthrough.

    "What do you think we should do next? Since we already have them in this position, should I ask Albus to cast a spell over the entire town?" Julian asked.

    "Hmmбн from what I know, Albus is currently fighting Jason and Issac. Unless and until he manages to escape from there, he won''t be able to cast any spell."

    "He will die before he has the chance to escape. Issac isn''t going to let Albus run away so easily. After all, he was once on their side." Julian muttered. "What does your patron ha to say about this?"

    "She is currently silent and is likely not willing to give any advice. I will ask her for her insight on thister on." Hiro replied casually and stretched out his body.

    Julian simply nodded and started walking out of the tent.

    "Father, what do you think about Gale?" Hiro suddenly asked, making Julian stop in his tracks.

    "I think he could have at least dealt some life threatening damage to that girl before dying. It was a waste to send him out like that. I should have known he would be useless without any support." Julian replied and walked out.

    "I don''t think you remember that Gale was your childбн" Hiro murmured and exited the tent as well.

    The crown prince could feel a fire burning inside him. However, he soon turned the mes down to prevent them from ruining his n.

    ''Just wait for some more time. Once this battle is over, I will execute the final stage of my n.''

    ***

    "Uh grandpa, why is he dancing in that weird manner?" Jason questioned while pointing at Albus.

    The principal of Vancouver academy was moving on his spot in a weird way while staring at the sky.

    Upon closer inspection, Jason noticed that small runes were appearing all around his feet. More runes continued to appear the more Albus danced.

    "He is trying to chant a high tier spell. Some of them include dancing in this way to use the spell. I think he is trying to take away majority of the poption in one big move." Issac exined.

    "Then we should go and smack his head." Jason smiled and cracked his knuckles.

    "That''s the spirit. You are learning the way to deal with majority of problems." Issac grinned and shot forward with the speed of thunder.

    Jason followed him at a slightly slower speed. Both of them collided with Albus, knocking the principal back by several meters.

    Albus, however, had sensed their presence and had created an air shield in front of him seconds before the impact.

    "Hello, Jason and Issac." Albus greeted. "Should we skip the boring dialogue and directly start the fight?"

    "I thought you wanted to say some words about how your n was supreme and how you will win or something." Issac blinked in surprise.

    "I have realized that doing that is worthless. The result will be same."

    Albus suddenly brought his hand down in a swiping motion as a roaring sound echoed around the entire area.

    "You still have that guy with you? I thought he died during the previous war." Issac groaned when he saw a dragon descending from the sky.

    "He was hurt badly but I took care of him. Now let meplete my spell." Albus stepped back and continued his weird dance.

    The runes from earlier slowly started connecting with each other, forming a magic circle in the process.

    "Jason, we are going to stay airborne for most of the fight so make sure you have good control over your thunder. Don''t try to attack Albus unless and until that dragon is defeated." Issac exined and jumped into the sky.

    Jason followed him before summoning a thunderbolt made from green thunder. It was the type of thunder which he had the most control over.

    The white dragon summoned by Albus was more on the western side of dragons ifpared with Earth''s fantasy dragons.

    Two long white wings wereing out from the dragon''s back while a thorny tail was coiled right below them.

    His irises were split pupiled and were directly ring at Issac. Jason felt a spark of hatred travel between the two before both of them shot forward at the same time.

    Issac turned into a literal thunderbolt while the dragon manipted the wind by using its wings.

    Jason also felt a pressure pushing him and Issac back as his grandfather tried tond a direct hit on the dragon.

    "You are still annoying as ever." Issac turned back into his normal form before turning off the white thunder around him.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    [ You haven''t changed one bit either. Even when you know that you won''t be able to advance forward, you still tried to charge at me. ]

    Jason wasn''t surprised to hear the dragon talk using telepathy. He had already seen too many creatures with this ability to be surprised by it.

    "Why are you still helping him? He is never going to let you go back to your realm even if you follow all of his orders." Issac questioned.

    [ He does let me go back once a month. That''s the only way for me to meet my own family without breaking the contract I have with him. ] The dragon replied in a bittersweet tone.

    "I guess we have no choice except fighting then." Issac sighed as ck thunder suddenly wrapped around his body.

    Jason had seen ck thunder before but he had no idea what was its specialty.

    [ Good luck, Issac. ]

    The dragon opened his wings wide and let the wind carry him higher. Jason suddenly started feeling cold as ice crystals started forming in the air.

    Issac raised his right hand forward and started concentrating the ck thunder. A magic circle appeared in front of the dragon as he too prepared tounch his attack.

    [ Jason, stop them! This fight can be won in mere minutes without actually needing to fight. ] Hestia interrupted.

    ''Couldn''t you have said that before this began?'' Jason facepalmed before opening his mouth.

    "Grandpa, dragon, don''t attack! There is a way for this to be settled without fighting." Jason shouted.

    "What is that?"

    [ First of all, who are you? ]

    "He is my grandson." Issac replied and waited for Jason to further exin what he meant.

    [ Leave it to me. ]

    Hestia suddenly appeared beside Jason and hovered beside him. She was currently in her oldest form which was twice the size of an average full grown wolf.

    Her body was also emitting the aura of a guardian, marking her as someone from an external realm.

    [ Youбн ] The white dragon immediately dispersed his attack and closed his wings. He lowered his head in front of Hestia and stayed in that position.

    [ Your home realm is Animolis, isn''t it? ] Hestia asked. The white dragon simply nodded in response.

    [ Judging from what I heard, that guy ha you bound in a contract that keeps you here. It might have been mutual at first but you are stuck here now. Am I correct? ]

    [ Yes, you are, mydy. ]

    [ All right. Jason, I think you should be able to loosen his contract a bit. I will be able to directly teleport him to Animolis and once he is there, I will get rid of his contract once and for all. ] Hestia exined.

    The white dragon''s eyes began shining when he heard that he would be able to go back home once and for all.

    [ How can I repay this? ]

    [ When yo go back, star searching for clues about the ancient wars as well as my existence. I will be asking you to report things to me from there. ] Hestia replied.

    [ I will spend more than half of my days searching for every bit of information that I can get. ] The dragon replied sincerely.

    Hestia gestured for Jason to move forward as he summoned Sancus''s divinity. He was now familiar with the process of breaking contracts and smoothly did the same with the white dragon.

    "How long have you been here for?" Jason asked with a surprised expression when he noticed the type of contract he had.

    [ I don''t know. I think more than a century or two have passed since I have been on Clover. ]

    "Your contract is a hereditary contract so you must have served Albus''s ancestors. Tell Hestia anything important that you might have heard." Jason put the divinity back and looked at Hestia.

    The guardian advanced forward and touched the dragon''s forehead with her paw.

    Never his life did Jason thought that he would get to see a wolf touching the forehead of a dragon. Some things really were too strange.

    [ Thank you, mydy. I will fulfill the duty given to me by you. ] The dragon replied as his body turned to blue particles of light.

    The particles shot straight upward where a blue portal opened for a split-second before closing.

    The moment the portal closed up, Albus paused his dancing and lifted his head upwards.

    "Shitбн

 Chapter 255 Predictions And Trust [Part 2]

    "Albus is out as well. My guess is Issac was the one who killed him." Julian murmured as he felt his connection with Albus break free.

    [ His dragon was freed by Jason and his guardian. Without that beast''s help, Albus was just a pair of old bones since he was using the dragon''s life energy to sustain himself. ] Galiriusmented.

    "Hiro was correct about everything so far. Sometimes his abilities surpass mine and shock me." Julian sighed before entering a tent situated close to his.

    "Briana, your turn ising up soon. Gale and Albus are both out." Julian instructed.

    "So little brother actually told the truth. Do you trust him though?" Briana asked frankly.

    Being the first princess of the kingdom, she had known her father for quite a long time. Both of them didn''t have a normal rtion and simply thought of the other as a tool to be used.

    "I do trust Hiro since he outright told me that he is helping the other side a bit. But I am not sure whether he is just acting or truly ying both sides." Julian confessed. "As long as his ns work, everything is fine."

    "I seeбн" Briana murmured. "So I just have to go back and activate the spell left behind by Albus?"

    "Yes, that''s all. Once the spell is activated, the entire city with be pressured down by a force field. Its a tier 5 spell and someone like Albus would have never been able toplete it."

    "But isn''t it an air spell?"

    "No, I was the one who handed it to him. It was a dark magic spell but the runes could be created by any mage at a simr level. The spell can only be activated by a wind mage." Julian exined.

    Briana got up from the couch she had been rxing on and stretched her body. She was wearing simple clothes but now that she had to fight, she would have to change into her armor.

    "Give me my weapon if I am going there." Briana demanded.

    "Here." Julian raised his right hand forward to reveal a ck dagger resting on his palm.

    The dagger had a sleek glow and was radiating a dark aura. A long rune was carved on its hilt while golden symbols were etched all over the de.

    It was obvious that the weapon had something special about it.

    Briana took the weapon from Julian''s hands and threw it up. She caught it when it came down and repeated the process several time.

    Her hand wouldnd on the hilt every single time no matter how quick or slow the dagger was.

    "All right, I will go there in about ten minutes. There is something I need to discuss with Hiro." Briana walked out of the tent.

    "He is staying with his mother in her tent. Its the one right beside me." Julian gave the directions and walked out as well.

    ''The conquest on the demon continent is going rather well. Except for the sins and their families, the demons can''t do anything against my army. They are much weaker than anticipated.'' Julian entered another tent.

    This one only had a magic circle drawn in the middle. The magic circle was glowing blue and secondster, a projection appeared in the middle of it.

    "Greetings, my lord." A man in histe forties knelt in front of Julian. He was wearing heavyweight armor alongside a war hammer which was hung on his back.

    "How are things going, d?" Julian asked with a yawn.

    "We have managed to capture twenty percent of the demon kingdom and are converting majority of the captured demons into Lord Galirius''s followers." d suddenly paused as though there was something he didn''t want to say.

    "What happened?" Julian asked with a serious gaze.

    "From what I have heard, one of the sins is about to call down their patron to help fight. The burden will be shared amongst other gods so they will be able toe down easily." d revealed.

    Julian fell deep in thought when he heard that another god would be involved in the fight.

    "Things will be fine as long as the sin of wrath doesn''t summon his patron. Honestly, Wrath and Lust are the only two sins I am wary of." Julianmented. "Keep things going. If a problem arises, I will appear there personally."

    "All right, my lord." d''s projection vanished as the magic circle deactivated.

    Julian stared at the magic circle for a few seconds before walking out of the tent. He looked lost in hi words and was moving without any destination in mind.

    ''I will have to go there soon. Hiro, I hope your n works.''

    ***

    "Hiro, are you sure that your n will work as long as I activate the spell?" Briana questioned Hiro who was currently standing outside his mother''s tent.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "We have gone over this numerous times, sister. As I said, the pressure will weigh all of them and they don''t have a wind mage at hand who can counter it. You should be able to handle things well." Hiro reassured.

    "I will be taking Gon with me as well. Both of us will make sure that the n works or you will be in trouble." Briana red.

    No matter how hard she tried not to, she always got annoyed by Hiro''s existence.

    "I won''t get in trouble either way, big sister." Hiro smiled. "You are a pawn while I am the king here. Father is the yer and he will do everything to protect his king."

    "This isn''t chess, brat." Briana scoffed.

    "It isn''t but you know it as well as I do. Father doesn''t care about any of his children except for me and M." Hiro kept his smile. "Good luck on your quest."

    He entered the tent again and put up a magical barrier to prevent anyone from getting inside.

    Briana red at the tent for a few seconds before walking away to find Gon, another member of the ten suprememanders who was going on the quest with her.

    ''I will show you, Hiro. I might just be a tool but I am more powerful and cunning than you. Just you wait.''

    ***

    "What did she want?" Silvia asked once Hiro returned.

    "The usual stuff about my n. Honestly, I can''t me them for not trusting me. If I was in their situation, I wouldn''t trust myself either." Hiro chuckled andid down on the bed, resting his head on his mother''sp.

    "Your head is more messed up than your father''s head, you know." Silvia chuckled. "But then, this was expected considering you are my child as well."

    "Reminds me that you still haven''t told me how you felt after meeting your parents again." Hiro reminded.

    "I don''t know how to say it but I felt weird. I have been away from them all this time and have been doing many questionable things. My presence made it clear to them that I am staying here on my own ord." Silvia smiled sadly.

    "But they couldn''t have told whether you were under a contract or not."

    "You forgot that your cousin is there as well. Jason''s powers allowed him to tell that I wasn''t under the influence of a contract," Silvia reminded. "He is an interesting fellow."

    "What is your impression of him?" Hiro asked curiously.

    "For starters, I noticed he has Michale''s purple yes. Those were always a mystery since no one in our past few generations ever had those eyes. However, he shares Evelyn''s beauty as well.

    His aura reflected both my parents respective auras. His eyes contained the same fiery passion as Michael as well as the same dangerous calm Evelyn possesses. I never met Evelyn''s parents so I don''t know whether he has their qualities." Silvia exined.

    "I''m still surprised by the amount of information you can know about someone by simply observing them." Hiro said in a amazed tone.

    "I have been doing this my entire life. Observing is the only thing I am good at." Silvia sighed. "That''s the only thing I can currently do after being reincarnated."

    "Aren''t you tired of overseeing other fates and influencing them to get to the final stage?"

    "Aren''t all of us doing the same thing? We observe our surroundings and take decisions based on them. Our life is full of choices and paths and by choosing them, we reach the end goal.

    The only thing I do is observe other fates instead of mine. My patroness is extremely ancient and that was the only ability she granted me before going into a deep slumber." Silvia exined.

    "What a dangerous ability she gaveбн" Hiro sat up and stared into his mother''s eyes. "But are you happy by how things are progressing?"

    "I don''t know. I never really thought of my happiness. Fates are also interlinked and can be influenced by other divinity holders. Even I don''t know everything," she admitted. "But as long as you are safe, everything is fine."

    Silvia lovingly touched Hiro''s cheek before ruffling his hair with affection. Thetter couldn''t help but smile at this.

    "I wish you were a bit more greedy, mother." Hiro sighed in the end.

    He had said this numerous times yet his mother never seemed to listen to him.

    "Its not in my nature. I will just guided things to the best ending I can see." Silvia smiled sadly. "Now go out and do what you have to."

    "I promise I will keep myself safe." He said atst before walking away.

    ''I promise that I will make sure that you gain more trust in yourself and be selfish enough to search for your own happiness. But until then, I will keep myself safe and prevent you from being sadбн''

 Chapter 256 Galirius Maximus!

    "So you both defeated Gale while we dealt with Albus. That''s two major people out of the race." Issacmented. "Wasn''t this kinda easy?''

    Currently, Issac, Risa, Jason and Amber were standing on the same spot where Albus had created the magic circle.

    It was extremely close topletion but now that its creator was gone, it had faded out. However, the magic circle was still present on the ground.

    "Why do I have the feeling that those two were just here for time pass and distraction?" Risa wondered aloud. "I don''t know about you both but me and Amber had to use a bit more of our powers."

    "On our end, Jason handled Albus''s dragon and then I simply killed him so it was fairly easy. Why don''t you use your life magic to recover your as well as Amber''s energy?"

    "I don''t feel safe using life magic on Amber since she is exhausted by too much usage of divine energy. My magic might react inside her body, creating even more problems." Risa exined.

    "I see. Then what about Hiro? Did he tell you anything about what will happen now?" Issac asked with a serious expression.

    "That''s the problem. He isn''t responding to my messages. I asked Zn to contact him but he isn''t responding to Zn either." Risa sighed. "I have a feeling that this is the farthest he will go for us."

    "Hmmбн"

    While Issac and Risa were discussing what else they were going to do to end the war, Jason was hearing Amber''s ount on using divine energy.

    "It felt much superior to my normal magic. It was as if I was using some sort of otherworldly thing to fight." Amber muttered with a dazed expression.

    "Technically, it is an otherworldly thing but meh." Jason shrugged before blinking in confusion.

    Amber was staring at him in a weird way without realizing it. Her eyes were slightly wider than normal and a lost expression was visible on her face.

    [ Damn, they are reminding me of the time when we were in love during school time. ] Risa said to Issac through telepathy.

    [ Except I was more denser than Jason. Look, he already understood what is happening.]

    After talking to the system, it didn''t take long for Jason to figure out what was happening. He coughed lightly and waved his right hand in front of Amber''s eyes.

    "Zone back in, Amber. The fight is not over yet."

    "I wish it would be over soon so we won''t have to deal with it. There are other things that I would rather experience." Amber said with a dazed expression.

    Risa and Issac couldn''t help but chuckle after hearing the duo''s conversation. However, this moment didn''tst for long.

    "ording to what I believe, this war will be over soon." A young shrill voice entered their ears.

    With a sigh, the quartet lifted their heads towards the sky to see a young ten year old grinning at them.

    The ten year old waspletely bald and was wearing red robes covering his body from neck to toe. The royal family''s symbol was etched on the back of the robes.

    "Gonбн" Issac muttered in an irritated tome. "I should have known that Julian would send you here to specifically annoy me."

    "If you knew it beforehand, why didn''t you call me out?" Gon smiled.

    "I take it he is not really ten years old." Jasonmented.

    "He is around the same age as me and your grandpa. Don''t judge people based on their appearances since things can get prettyplicated." Risa exined.

    Without saying a word to the trio, Issac suddenlyunched himself towards Gon. ck thunder wrapped around his body as he punched Gon in the face.

    However, a piece of metal suddenly appeared in front of Gon''s face and blocked Issac''s punch. A smile appeared on Gon''s face as he punched forward.

    Metal wrapped around his fist and covered itpletely. Issac easily dodged it by moving back at a high speed.

    "The reason Issac is annoyed by Gon is because he can perfectly counter Issac. Gon''s magic is considered a mutation of Earth magic, a blessing directly given to him by patron." Risa informed.

    [ A blessing is a special ability or talent handed to a person by a god. Some gods with limited number of divinities to hand out prefer giving blessings instead of divinities. They stay with a person from the moment they are born. ] The system added.

    [ My gift of different forms of thunder to you would have been considered a blessing if I was a goddess. ]

    "This fight will likely end up with Gon getting a slight edge over Issac. I better go and fight alongside him before things get out of hand." Risa sighed andunched upwards.

    She and Issac were blurs in the sky as they directly aimed atnding a physical blow on Gon''s body.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Like a literal child, Gon kept on giggling and blocking their attempts at hitting him. The metals he conjured somehow seemed to block every single hit without breaking.

    "Do you think we should help?" Amber asked.

    "I don''t think there is anything we can do. Judging from how they are fighting, I think there is only one specific way to defeat that guy." Jason shared.

    [ You are correct. Both of you should instead go and help those at the borders. Zn is telling that things are getting out of control. Also, find May again. ]

    "She promised she would only go out for five minutesбн" Jason sighed.

    May had told him that she would go out of the barrier and take a look around Duphia for five minutes.

    "You will know if anything goes wrong with her so there''s no need to worry. Let''s go find her." Amber pointed towards the edge of the barrier.

    The two of them disappeared from their spots and appeared outside the barrier. Jason immediately located May and found her fighting against thousands of men who had been chasing after some archers.

    "She is holding back." Jason observed.

    May was only hitting a few guys at a time and had an expressionless face. Jason could tell that she was actually controlling her anger to make sure she didn''t go on a rampage.

    "Something wrong must have happened to make her that angry." Ambermented.

    She had also gotten to know the basics of May''s nature by staying with her and Jason for this much time.

    "Let me go help her. We will ask her for detailster on." Jason informed and went to help May.

    White thunder was wrapped around his body while he used arrows made of dark element to easily kill numerous warriors at once.

    May blinked in surprise when she saw Jason dropping them so quickly without injuring the archers from their side.

    [ Thank you. ] May said telepathically.

    [ Why were you so angry? ] Jason asked while dropping down more of them.

    [ I sensed a very familiar aura which triggered my memories of the time moments after my birth. I remember it so clearly that it was almost unbelievableбн ] May''s expression turned dejected.

    [ We will talk about thister. ]

    Jason and may together killed all the warriors while Amber helped the archers get to safety.

    Once thest warrior had been killed, Jason and Amber gathered near May and asked her for the details.

    Thetter took a few deep breaths before exining what had triggered her memories.

    "When I was taking a look around Duphia, I sensed a familiar aura. When I went to investigate it, I saw that princess from earlier."

    "Briana." Jason muttered.

    "Yes, I saw her. I thought that I found the aura familiar due to that but I was wrong. Seeing her and sensing her aura for a few seconds triggered my memories of the past. I had sensed that very same aura moments after being bornбн" May''s voice trailed off.

    Jason and Amber exchanged a nce after hearing that. If what May said was true, it meant that Briana had been chasing after May''s mother.

    "The Red-Butt Money king said that your mother was injured when she left you there in the forest. Could it be possible that Julian had sent his men after her to get to you?" Jason wondered aloud.

    His mind was working overtime to figure out whether his theory was correct or not. However, the truth could only be told by Briana or Julian.

    "I don''t know. That''s why I want to capture her and ask her this in person." May stated. "I don''t know why but my blood started boiling the second I remembered this."

    "Iбн" Jason was about to say something when he suddenly felt something weighing him down.

    "Galirius Maximus!" Briana''s voice suddenly echoed around the entire town as a white magic circle expanded over the entire town.

    Standing on top of the magic circle were Briana and Julian. Thetter had a smug expression on his face as he saw everyone below the circle being weighed down by its magic power.

    "I told you I woulde for you. Hello, my ves."

 Chapter 257 Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

    "Great, now we have to deal with this guy as well. Can''t we just face one problem at a time?" Issac groaned as he was being pressed down towards the ground.

    However, Issac still stood straight with his head raised towards the magic circle. His body wanted to lie down on the ground but with sheer force of will, he remained standing.

    "What should be do know? The only way we can win is be countering that magic circle. Wade and Ray are the strongest wind mages at our disposal but I am doubtful whether they can counter that spell. It looks like a customized tier 5 spell.

    As for Briana, I am afraid that we have no choice except leaving her to Jason, May and Amber. I will tell them to go all out and to avoid Julian at all costs. Let''s defeat Gon first." Risa exined the battle n.

    She transmitted the same to Jason and the others. Ray and Wade were specifically told to study the effects of the circle for a few minutes before creating a counter for it.

    "Do you think they can do it?" Issac asked while rotating his wrists.

    "I am not exactly sure. Maybe they seed by using their brains and asking help from the Azure dragon. It depends on their coordination. As for the trio, they should be able to handle things well." Risa exined.

    "Then let''s get rid of this metal guy." Issac grinned.

    "We should use more of our power as well since we haven''t gottenpletely loose for some time." Risa smiled and cracked her knuckles.

    Together, the couple shot forward in the form of a ray of light and a thunderbolt.

    ***

    "So, any idea what we are supposed to do about that?" Ray asked awkwardly while looking at Wade.

    "My spirit says that its a customized tier 5 spell crafted by the god inside Julian''s body," Wade exined. "My spirit says that he will take the spell off if I offer him my arm permanently."

    "Let''s not go into the sacrificial mode yet. The spell doesn''t seem to be doing any harm anywaysбн" Ray facepalmed. "I just jinxed us, didn''t I?"

    "Judging from the glow on the circle, you sure did." Wademented.

    The magic circle was glowing bright silver as Briana chanted something from above. No one could decipher her words but the pressure below the magic circle started increasing.

    It was no longer bearable and even Ray had to bend himself a little. Wade simply summoned his spirit and asked him to protect him from the pressure.

    "If I die here due to high pressure, you will die as well and I don''t think you want to die such a painful and senseless death." Wade reminded the Azure dragon.

    The Azure dragon made a clicking disappointed sound before ring at the magic circle. A counter forcefield appeared on top of Wade''s head which started countering the effects of the circle.

    "He says he is only going to do this for me and not for all of us. He says that if we can figure out the way to use this skill, we will be able to counter the effects of the spell to some certain level." Wade exined while standing straight.

    He moved a bit closer to Ray as thetter felt the pressure slowly vanishing. He looked above them to see the outline of a forcefield countering the pressure.

    "How is this possible though? Is that forcefield making changes in the pressure or deflecting the pressure back?" Ray wondered aloud.

    Wade stared at the forcefield for a few seconds before remembering something that he had learned from his caretakers.

    "Dragons have a way of changing the pressure by controlling the winds. Any above average wind mage can also do it if theypress the air in the right way to fight against the pressure." Wade informed.

    "Let me think about itбн"

    Together, the two wind mages started brainstorming different ways to fight against the high pressure released by the magic circle.

    ***

    "We are the ones who are going to fight them." Jason stated aloud.

    Risa had just informed the three of them about the n and how they were basically going to buy time until Risa and Issac coulde to help.

    [ Where is Karna currently? ] Jason asked curiously.

    [ He is out of town. I sent him on a special mission to make sure that we have a chance at winning this war. ] Risa exined.

    Jason nodded and slowly released the restrictions ced upon him. The first thing he did was to infuse divine energy with his thunder to increase his speed by multiple times.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Amber, who was still feeling tired, didn''t use her divine energy and simply called upon her magma element.

    May, being a demi-god, used divine energy as her main power source instead of mana. She was holding Ruyi Jingu Bang in her hand and was riding on top of Kwinto''s smaller form.

    Her eyes were burning with a rage caused by Briana''s appearances. Jason was sure that if he didn''t make May hold back, she might damage herself by trying to capture Briana.

    [ May, please don'' overexert yourself. You still don''t have the perfect control over your powers and might get hurt. Its best if you use your powers with limits. ] Jason exined telepathically.

    However, May didn''t reply to his exnation, making him sigh. It was pretty obvious that she was going to use everything she had in order to capture Briana and interrogate her.

    The only thing Jason could do was make her job easier so that they would be able to capture Briana without facing many problems.

    "Well, desperate times call for desperate measures." Jason sighed before calling Hestia beside him.

    It was only due to their guardians that Jason and Amber were able to negate the effects of the pressure weighing them down.

    Hestia and mey were taking on the entire pressure by themselves since it was much easier for them to bare the pressure.

    "Jason, Amber, please don''t try to get in my way. I just want to find out how she is rted to my mother." May requested before shooting herself towards the magic circle.

    "Wait, isn''t that the same girl we were discussing about?" Julian asked his patron.

    But before Galirius could reply, May brought her staff down on Briana''s head. Thetter raised her weapon in defense and somehow managed to block the staff.

    "Divine weaponбн" Brianamented in a surprised tone.

    She hadn''t expected to see a divine weapon on the battlefield, especially one as strong as the one she was blocking.

    "How did you get your hands on that divine weapon, child?" Julian asked in a respectful manner.

    For some reason, he felt like if he tried getting the girl in front of him to his side, things will proceed more smoothly.

    "Go fk yourself. Let me deal with your daughter for the time being." May advanced on Kwinto and kicked Briana in the gut.

    Briana was taken by surprise since she hadn''t anticipated May to have such high speed. She was sent flying towards the ground and May went after her.

    Julian looked at this with a weird expression before he decided to go help his daughter. Enving the girl was definitely going to be useful to him.

    "You are not going there." Jason interrupted by appearing in front of Julian.

    With Hestia and mey''s help, Jason and Amber were able to cross to the other side of the magic circle, which was also acting like a barrier.

    "You are annoying. You never fight head on and always manage to avoid being hit. Even your grandfather is a better fighter." Julian said in an irritated voice.

    "Isn''t that your fault that you can''t capture him?" Amber asked while casually tossing a magma ball the size of an elephant at Julian.

    "I like ying balls but not with that kind of balls." Julian raised his right hand and cut the magma ball in two equal halves.

    In the blink of an eye, he reduced the two halves to ashes and left nothing behind. Amber sighed when she saw this.

    ''mey, you are right. He certainly does feel more powerful and judging from that disy, I don''t think I will even be able to damage him. Even if I use divine energy, I won''t be a match to him.''

    [ The only way for you to have a good chance against him is if you trulybine with me. But by doing that, I will vanish for a few days and you won''t be able to ess my powers and the benefits I provide. ] mey reminded.

    ''I know. But can''t we fight like them?'' Amber pointed towards Jason and Hestia.

    Both of them were turning into bolts of thunder and were rapidly striking against Julian''s abdomen. Thetter tried to deflect them or hit them with his hands but their speed far outshone his.

    [ Those two areбн ] mey suddenly trailed off as a realization struck her. [ Oh shtбн]

 Chapter 258 I Am Back In The Game

    ? ''What did you remember?'' Amber asked with an interested expression.

    [ I just remembered that I had left two beauties waiting before disappearingбн ] mey replied in a depressed tone.[ I wish I had at least told them that I would be gone for some time. ]

    ''бн'' Amber had no words for what mey had said. She thought that thetter was about to tell her something important from the past but her guess had beenpletely wrong.

    [ Don''t expect too much from me. Also, watch out! ] mey shouted.

    Amber reacted in time to dodge an iing magma ball thrown her way. Julian had somehow used her own attack against her.

    "It feels good to be able to use more of my abilities here without feeling any withdrawal. Having more followers is definitely better." Galirius spoke through Julian''s body.

    Jason and Hestia on the other hand simply kept on trying to hit Julian. The two remained in their thunderbolt state while using other forms of thunder tobat Galirius who was currently controlling Julian''s body.

    "Let''s  dodgeball. I throw the balls and you dodge. If you are hit by one of them, you die. Sounds good, right?" Galirius grinned before summoning a dozen magma and thunder balls around him.

    "Oh boyбн" Jason grimaced while remembering the horrible days of ying dodgeball. But currently, he had no choice except ying the game.

    ''Hestia, Amber and mey, think of a way to counter him. Till then, I will y this game of dodgeball.'' Jason instructed.

    Once they had finalized the n, Jason closed his eyes and summoned his own set of giant thunder balls.

    It cost him a huge amount of mana and divine energy which were fortunately shared by Hestia.

    "Let''s y." Jason grinned and tossed one ball at Galirius. Thetter sighed and and tossed one of his own thunder balls forward.

    "This isn''t going to get us anywhere." Galirius muttered when he saw the two giant thunder balls shing against each other.

    Neither ball reigned superior since he was basically copying Jason''s abilities. This was something he could do by being the supreme being over others.

    It was also an ability that couldn''t be directly blocked by using Sancus''s divinity.

    ''So that''s why you didn''t allow me to use Sancus''s divinity and instead asked me to simply use the divine energy you provided?'' Jason asked the system.

    [ Yes, that''s the reason I asked you to do that. There''s a chance that Galirius might be nning on draining the power of Sancus''s divinity before using his normal powers to pressure you and the others. ]

    ''You are sometimes a lifesaver. Its like having two brains at once.'' Jason smiled and continued tossing thunder balls at Galirius.

    It turned out that the magma balls Galirius was using were slightly weaker than the ones used by Jason.

    Explosions urred every time the two would collide, making enough smoke appear to prevent either side from seeing the other side.

    ''But we can still use other things to know where the other is. I would have definitely made use of the smoke to attack him.''

    "Change of ns. I want to test your martial arts capabilities." Galirius interrupted and suddenly appeared in front of Jason.

    Without any warning, he punched Jason in the gut and sent him flying towards the ground.

    [ I guess I will be fighting agai. You both try to find some of his weaknesses. ] Hestia said and disappeared.

    She appeared right behind Jason and gave him the support to go back up. Together, the guardian and vessel pair started fighting Galirius.

    Punches and kicks were being thrown at each other and the entire moment was intense, at least to the three people involved.

    ''Are they fighting or doing some weird traditional dance? None of them arending a hit and are simply punching thin airбн'' Amber thought with a confused expression.

    [ Sometimes, high level fights appear likeedy to others due to the level of the people involved. The smallest slip up and the other side will manage tond a hit. ] mey exined.

    At the same time, Jason managed tond a hit on Galirius''s face by exceeding his speed. However, the god wasn''t even fazed and the three once again got locked in a stalemate.

    [ I think we should focus on finding a way to defeat Galirius. This is extremely boring to be honest. ] mey yawned and started brainstorming for ways to defeat Galirius with.

    Amber did the same but there options were limited considering the fact that they were fighting against a god.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Simultaneously, Jason and Hestia realized that Galirius was just ying with them. If he wanted, he could have hit both of them on multiple asions but refrained from doing so.

    Suddenly, Jason and Hestia pulled back and looked at the god with narrowed eyes. A grin was present on Galirius''s face when he saw the duo staring at him.

    "I was waiting for the two of you to realize that what you are doing is worthless. I guess you finally understood it." A repressing aura was suddenly released from Galirius''s body.

    Its effects were so strong that Amber and mey were forced to kneel a bit in front of Julian. Jason and Hestia on the other hand had grim expressions on their faces.

    Jason had already activated Sancus''s divinity but even under the effects of Sancus''s divinity, both of them were feeling a bit repressed.

    It was as though Galirius had achieved a level that could no longer be taken care of by Sancus''s divinity.

    Jason tried using more divine energy from the divinity in order to increase the power of the aura. It somehow worked and the repression waspletely gone.

    ''Hestia, looks like we will be going all out now.'' Jason said as he prepared to unleash all of his stored divine energy at once.

    The amount was quite big thanks to the advance warning given by the system. However, Jason still felt a bit doubtful whether he could do things normally.

    [ Yes, let me remove my limiters as well. ] Hestia slowly stretched her neck and started removing the limiters on her form.

    However, both of them weren''t the stars of the show for the time being.

    "That took longer than expected. Good job keeping him busy until now." Risa''s voice entered their ears.

    A momentter, a beam of light and a golden thunderbolt crashed against Galirius. The god, surprisingly, was pushed back by the impact of the attack.

    His expression suddenly turned serious when he saw Issac and Risa standing in front of the duo.

    "I am much stronger than I was in the past and you guys are much weaker now. You really think you stand a chance against me?" Galirius asked in a calm voice.

    His body continued to erupt the same suppressing aura but neither Issac nor Risa were affected by it. Both of them were radiating simr auras to counter the effects of his aura.

    "We might not be at our peak but we are at least closer to the level we were in the past. Also, I do believe we stand a chance." Risa smiled as a wave of divine energy burst out from her body.

    Both Issac and Galirius were in shock when they saw a small golden object floating in front of Risa.

    The object was radiating twice the amount of divine energy contained inside Galirius''s body. The object rotated on its spot once before shooting towards Risa''s forehead.

    It entered her forehead and stayed inside it, making her eyes glow bright golden. A gentle aura slowly started spreading around.

    In front of Jason''s eyes, a golden cloak of divine energy dropped on the bodies of everyone present there, with the exception of Galirius.

    Jason felt all of his wounds vanishing while his energy waspletely being restored by the golden cloak.

    The same thing happened with Amber and even the divine energy running wildly inside her body got controlled.

    Hestia and mey were also nourished by the golden cloak while Issac felt divine energy moving inside his body through the cloak.

    "Risa, does that mean that?"

    "No, she isn''t back yet and I don''t think she wille back right now. However, she did contact me and I felt my divinity being awoken by fifty percent. I will take this as a sign that she is at least trying." Risa replied.

    Galirius was currently staring at her with narrowed eyes as though he would kill her right at that moment.

    "I don''t want to admit this but you are dangerous if you awaken your divine powers again. Your patron is someone even I don''t want to mess with." Galirius admitted.

    "I know. No one wants to mess with our patrons." Risa replied, including Issac''s name alongside her own.

    Galirius didn''t say anything and simply started cracking his knuckles with a serious expression.

    "I always wanted to say this and I now have the opportunity to do it." Risa grinned. "Ia am back in the game.

 Chapter 259 I Will See You All Soon

    A magic circle suddenly expanded under Risa''s feet. It kept on expanding until it touched Galirius''s feet.

    Suddenly, hundreds of arrows of light shot out from the magic circle and started hitting Galirius.

    The god summoned red colored forcefields to protect himself from the iing arrows. However, the arrows were much more powerful than he had anticipated.

    One of them cracked right through his forcefields and managed to hit his abdomen before vanishing. Galirius was confused by this when all of a sudden, his vision wentpletely white.

    "Issac." Risa gestured for Issac to go ahead and do his job.

    Issac shot out in the form of a ck thunderbolt and directly shed with Galirius''s forcefield. It seemed like the divine energy forcefield would hold on but something weird happened.

    Issac''s ck thunder changed into golden thunder in the blink of an eye. The forcefield broke down into tiny pieces and Issac materialized in front of Galirius.

    The god, who was still blind, using his sensory powers to get away from Issac. Thetter smiled and joined his hands together before punching forward with abined fist.

    A horse made from thunder was released from his fist and charged forward towards Galirius. The god''s vision came back at the end moment and allowed him to seeing attack.

    Galirius raised both of his hands forward, making a bright red shield appear in front of him. The horse shed with the shield before exploding, causing a lot of smoke to appear there.

    Risa didn''t miss this chance and twisted her right hand in Galirius''s direction. The magic circle turned ck as chains made from dark magic shot out from the circle.

    They wrapped around Galirius''s limbs and kept him fixed in one spot. Galirius''s skin started burning the moment it made contact with his skin.

    "Those are some good binding chains." Galirius chuckled as he destroyed the chains with a snap of his finger.

    Red beams of light shot out from his body and made their way towards Risa. Thetter smiled and pped her hands together.

    The magic circle below her summoned an army of warriors created by dark magic. All of them were holding their own pairs of shields and swords and had a magical rune embedded in their forehead.

    ''Necromancy? Jason questioned.

    [ No. Risa is simply manipting those puppets created by dark magic. The runes on their forehead are created with the help of life magic and are most likely there to help them regenerate. ]

    The warriors raised their shields together in a defensive formation and took the beams of red light head on.''

    Their shields started hissing as the beams of light were slowly corroded away. The runes on their foreheads started glowing and a secondter, their shields were as good as new.

    [ One thing that is truly fearsome about your grandmother is her control over her magic. She can create and use the mostplex of magic without breaking a sweat. If you are not careful, she can use your own magic against you. ] Issac informed Jason.

    The magic circle below Risa''s feet changed color again, indicating that a light based attack wasing.

    Galirius''s jaw twitched at this and he summoned his own magic circle below his feet. His circle was bright red and only had a single pattern repeated all over the ce.

    "Gravitation reversal!" Galirius shouted and activated a spell using the magic circle.

    Risa immediately sped her hands into fist before canceling the magic she was about to use. All of her warriors started being pulled in the upwards direction, heading towards space at the speed of sound.

    Risa and the others inside the circle were also being pulled towards space but at a much slower speed.

    "You are bending thews of the world. That will cost you dearly." Risa reminded as she retracted her magic circle, surprising Galirius.

    "You do know that if I put some more force into this magic circle, you will be pulled away to space until you die there?"

    "I know that but you will never be able to do it." Risa chuckled. "Jason, I think this is the right time to use your power."

    Jason nodded and took a deep breath. One more thing that he had learned in the past few months was to create a magic circle using divine energy.

    A magic circle full ofplex symbols and designs spread out below his feet. Galirius''s eyes shrunk a bit when he noticed that the magic circle was made using Sancus''s divine energy was the exact same size as his magic circle.

    "Law equalizer!" Jason pped his hands together and activated the magic circle.

    Sancus''s pen glowed brightly inside his soul and supplied the circle with adequate divine energy.

    The effects of hi magic canceled the effects of Galirius''s magic, making him crack his knuckles in anger.

    ''This is starting to get annoying. The techniques at my disposal can''t deal with all of them at once. I need more followers before I can use stronger techniquesбн''<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Galirius had risked a lot by changing thews of the ce. Something like this would force him to suffer from a severe bacsh.

    Galirius knew that no other god would be ready to face the bacsh caused by changing the naturalws of a world.

    "Fk you all. I sound like a cheap viin saying this but I have no other choice. I will see you all soon." With that, Galirius retracted his magic circle and canceled his magic.

    He immediately felt the bacsh aiming for his body and decided to teleport away. It was at this moment that Issac moved forward while being covered with golden thunder.

    "I have been saving all that divine energy for this moment." Issac grinned and kicked forward with all his might.

    His foot connected with Galirius''s head at thest moment, leaving a footprint before the god teleported away.

    Issac had a grin on his face after seeing this as he came back to stand beside the group.

    "That felt nice." Risamented while powering down. Her eyes returned to normal and the remainder of the warriors that hadn''t been blown away vanished.

    "Risa, how did your patron exactly contact you?" Issac questioned.

    "She didn''t exactly contact me first. She actually sent Jason a vision before wishing me good luck." Risa exined what had happened.

    None of them were focused on the fact that a magic circle was present below their feet and was currently pressuring their side of people below.

    "Wait, where is May?" Jason suddenly questioned as he started looking for May''s aura.

    He was able to sense that her aura was nearby yet his eyes couldn''t see her. Suddenly, something caught his eye near the ground.

    "Is thatбн Briana?" Amber asked slowly.

    Currently Briana was buried deep inside the ground and was surrounded by a pool of her own blood.

    May stood right beside her, a wrathful expression visible on her face. She was about to hit Briana on the hand with her staff when he body suddenly started glowing.

    Her body increased to ten times its size as fur started covering her body. In her rage, May roared loudly, sending chills down the spines of everyone present inside Duphia.

    "Oh for the sake ofбн" Risa sighed. "I wonder what the hell happened now."

    ***

    Once may had kicked Briana towards the ground, she swiftly followed up with a strike from her staff.

    Unfortunately, Briana had already gathered herself together and managed to use her own divine weapon to block the iing attack.

    The two weapons created multiple sparks uponing in contact but May became the victor due to the extra momentum she carried.

    Briananded roughly on the ground, creating a small crater due to the impact. However, she managed to stand back on her feet and red at the May

    "Girl, that''s rude. You should at least let the other side prepare their own divine weapon to fight." Briana grumbled.

    "Thats quite ironic considering how you didn''t let us create countermeasure magic circle," May countered bitterly. "Or how you didn''t let a mother run away with her newborn child."

    Thestment seemed to take Brian by surprise but she didn''t have the time to think more about it.

    May had alreadyunched forward and used her staff to attack her. They exchanged several blows yet neither side came out as the victor.

    Both divine weapons contained equal amounts of power yet May''s was slightly superior since she was a demi-god using a divine weapon.

    However, Briana''s experience and May''sck of experience bnced that gap. Briana had a serious expression on her face since she knew that her current fight was no joke.

    "If you want to fight like that, let''s get serious."

    Briana''s battle armor suddenly shed once as runes appeared on the metal. Her dagger shone the same color as her armor as a divine aura surrounded her body.

    "Let''s get this sht started for real."

 Chapter 260 I Am A Weapon

    May could feel an ominous auraing out of the battle armor as she prepared herself for the fight.

    Kwinto expanded a bit more to provide may more mobility. Her staff remained the same yet May tightened her grip on it.

    She put the staff at its maximum weight and started rotating it in her hands. Briana threw her dagger in the air and caught it by the hilt.

    In the blink of an eye, the two women dashed towards each other and struck forward with their weapons. May''s staff had a bigger reach and managed to reach Briana first.

    Thetter simply ignored the staff and let it hit her abdomen. The staff shed against the metal armor but didn''t deal any damage to Briana.

    In fact, she continued ahead while holding her dagger tightly. May was surprised for a few seconds before expanding her staff.

    Briana was taken away by the expanded staff but not before she managed to throw her dagger towards May.

    A ck mist seemed to be oozing out of the de, giving May a bad feeling. She used Kwinto to get away from the dagger but much to her annoyance, the dagger follower after them.

    Its speed was even faster than her own, making her grit her teeth. May changed her staff back to its original form before making it thicker.

    The staff got too big for her too handle and she had to throw it towards the iing dagger. The two divine weapons shed together, each trying to push the other away.

    "Don''t depend on your weapon." Briana''s voice suddenly entered May''s ears as the princess appeared directly behind her.

    Briana''s arms wrapped around May''s neck and caught her in a choke grip. The armor on Briana''s body started glowing as May felt her divine energy being drained from her body.

    She started struggling to get free yet the more she tried, the harder she got trapped. Kwinto tried to shake off Briana yet her armor was able to absorb Kwinto''s energy as well.

    "Your weapon can''t save you and your little cloud will be drained dry by me. You really think you are the only special person just because you have a divine weapon?" Briana snorted.

    May didn''t reply and instead looked at her arms where Briana''s armor was touching her skin. ck spots of corrosion were appearing on her skin due to the usage of dark magic by Briana.

    ''May, calm down. Remember what Jason told you.'' May took a deep breath and let her body go limp.

    Briana wasn''t surprised by this since she had experienced this before. Many people caught in her grip would let their body go loose before trying to get free.

    "I am not special. I am not even a normal human," May said softly. " I am just a girl done wrong by people because of being different. I guess I was meant to be a weapon for you which was why you chased after my motherбн"

    Briana fell silent after hearing those words. Her mind suddenly remembered something from decades ago.

    "Youбн you are that demi-human woman''s child! We heard the rumors that you were actually a demi-god and were hiding in our territory. That was why me and the rest of suprememanders were sent after your mother." Brianamented.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "So you were the one chasing after her?" May asked in an emotionless voice.

    "I was personally chasing after her alongside the leader of themanders. But when we caught her, she didn''t have the child with her. We interrogated her for a few hours but not a single word escaped her lips.

    However, the godly father of the child suddenly descended when we were about to kill her. I still remember the wrath he had inside him as he ughtered all of us. Its a miracle we were brought back from the dead after what he did to usбн" Briana shivered once.

    "You were the one to torture and kill herбн" May mumbled.

    "Yes, I was alongside the others. If you really are that child, I gotta tell father about you and ask him to help me capture you. You will be a valuable weapon." Briana tightened her grip on may and increased the speed of the energy drain.

    "A weapon, you say?" May raised her voice a pitch. "Let me show you what a real weapon is."

    Suddenly, Kwinto vanished from underneath May and merged together with her. Thunder wrapped her body like an armor before taking the shape of ck robes.

    Ruyi Jingu Bang flew in front of May, followed by Briana''s dagger. However, without any warning, May grabbed her staff and smacked the dagger with it.

    Thunder ran from he hand into the staff and super charged it with divine energy. The smack smashed the dagger into tiny pieces on the spot.

    Briana''s jaw dropped when she saw her divine weapon being destroyed with a simple smack.

    Before she knew it, May had slipped away from her grip, leaving sparks of thunder behind. The demi-god was hovering in front of her with a murderous expression on her face.

    "I am a weapon, a weapon of your creation. I will continue to be a weapon until all of youmanders wouldn''t personally be killed by my own hands." May threatened before shooting forward.

    Before Briana knew it, May''s staff had hither body in the abdomen. Her armor cracked in half and raw thunder ran through her body.

    Her entire body was burnt by the thunder before May smacked her on the head with the staff. She had adjusted the weight so that Briana''s skull wouldn''t be cracked on impact.

    The princess flew downwards and prated the ground. A few bones broke inside her body and she started to bleed heavily.

    Maynded on the ground beside Briana, her eyes glowing brightly. Divine energy rampaged inside her body yet she did nothing to control it.

    She simply clenched her staff and stared at Briana''s head protruding from the ground. The same set of words continued to repeat inside May''s head.

    ''I am simply a weaponбн''

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