Guardian Of The End

'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's company 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 place was too close to the village, 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 explained 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 glanced 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 plants are similar 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 plants.

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 golden laser beam suddenly shot out from her finger and pierced the bushes in the blink of an eye, leaving a huge black 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 glared 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 was coming 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 world…' He thought before examining the goblin's body.

The creature lying on the ground had a similar body structure to that of a human except that its skin was completely 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 soon launched into an explanation.

"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 very common slaves if trained properly."

Risa explained 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 brain completely 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.

"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 his lack of knowledge about other species and creatures.

"Yes, beasts have elemental affinity the same way humans have. They have rankings and stuff that you will learn later on. However, common goblins have a one in a thousand chance of getting an E grade affinity so that doesn't explain how this one was so quick."

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?…" 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 decompose 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 motion…' 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 turned completely 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 in soon and please don't do anything dangerous." Risa explained 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 then lay on the ground and stared at the sky. They had come 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 hours…" 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 playing with the goats would serve as a great distraction for them. Jason had already started forming plans but he was forced to stop his train of thoughts as the system suddenly interrupted.

[ Host, be careful... ]