Guardian Of The End

"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 place too.

His eyes opened up and were greeted with by multiple system screens.

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Congratulations! Your job class <Thunder Mage> has evolved into <Thunder Grandmage>

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<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).

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<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.

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[ 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 population to figure them. ]

'That explains 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 or later. The question is, how do I evolve my main job class?'

[ 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 the command given by Jason.

'Such a high level of control…'

[ Turns out you'll have to wait until you are thirteen to get the evolved form of your main job class. Also, it can't happen here. ] The system explained.

'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 ninety 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?"

"Acceptance 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.

"Remember, don't show too much of your powers," Mila warned. "I know it firsthand that  during such events, the prodigies are chosen to be at the top. But due to being commoners, we will definitely face some small amount of difficulty."

"Have you seen it happen?" Jason questioned curiously.

Since Mila 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." Mila's eyes darkened. "Sometimes the nobility or the royalty aren't spared either."

No one asked her about the meaning of her last 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.

"Welcome 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 have completed this, you can join the academy at the commoner 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 explained.

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 now…" Zeke muttered.

"Same." Jason agreed.

"Now listen carefully. All those who can use something similar 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 almost laughable.

"Well, looks like we pass." Amber shrugged before summoning a bunch of fireballs around herself.

Zeke summoned ice crystals while Mila made two wind blades appeared in her hands. Orion summoned a rectangular 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 declared 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 glance 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 explained 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 familiar…" 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 seconds later.

Amber stepped outside next, followed by Zeke and Orion. At last, only Mia remained.

'Nothing to worry about. We have done this before.' Mila 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, Mila. Don't think about the past. These guys aren't your brothers and cousins. They won't try to feed you off to deadly animals…'

But the moment her food landed 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 place…