Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

In the blink of an eye, Lili appeared, maybe it was the norm for her, but she was still covering her whole body with that robe, and a hood was covering her face. It probably wasn't a noticed another difference that they had, men had silver eyes, and women had golden ones. In any case, Ethan had no intention of asking. The trip would be very long. Ethan concluded that because Lili stared at the cart, where she would stay for the next few days, and then pointed toward Aharis while waiting for an explanation.

"Just in case, you should use this map," Aharis said and then opened the piece of paper he had brought a few seconds ago. "I marked the best route for you to reach the capital. Lili doesn't know much about tactics and navigation, so you should use this whenever possible."

"Don't worry, I'm used to reading maps," Ethan said while accepting the map. "You have my thanks, Aharis. Good luck to you and everyone here."

"I pray for you to find your sister as soon as possible," Aharis smiled.

"Well, shall we get going then?" Ethan said and hoped that his words would make Lili hurry to sit in the cart. "I don't plan to stop anytime soon, so I hope that you will restore my stamina whenever possible."

"… At least try to choose a path that won't make the cart tremble too much," Lili said with an annoyed tone.

There was some straw inside the cart to make things a bit more comfortable for Lili, but Ethan doubted it would help. The very moment she stopped moving inside, Ethan began to pull the cart. The vehicle was like a rickshaw but much lighter, so even Ethan frowned when he reached his max speed much sooner than he had expected. Meanwhile, Ethan saw a loud thud behind him… Lili had hit the back of her head on the back side of the cart and now was out cold.

"… Guess I will use stamina potions for the time being," Ethan said and then opened his shop.

Elf Boots (Common) (+0)

Durability: 45/45

Effects: Increases the effects of Dash by fifty percent.

Decreases the consumption of stamina when Dash is active by fifty percent.

Requirements: 20 SPE

Stamina Potion (Common)

Effect: Restores one point of stamina per second for fifty seconds.

The very moment Ethan equipped the boots, his speed increased, and he felt as free as the wind. It was nothing if compared to the speed he once had when he faced the demon king's army for the last time, but it was much better than before.

Lili only woke up when she felt the smell of smoke getting more intense. However, when she opened her eyes, she only saw the night sky and things shaking a little bit. She suddenly remembered the last things that happened before passing out and then got up, only to see the small cart passing several trees at an astonishing speed and the cold wind of the night hitting against her cheeks.

"You finally woke up," Ethan said. "Sorry to say this so bluntly, but it is time to make yourself useful again. We are approaching a somewhat big town, and it looks like things are even more intense there."

At first, Lili didn't understand what she heard, but she conjured that spell again. It had been probably a waste of time since Ethan pointed to the direction which they were following, and Lili finally saw a huge light in the distance. Despite the darkness of the night, she recognized the fact that a town called Pallin was on fire, at least half of it. Lili felt shivers imagining how many people died there, and things would become even messier since Ethan was approaching without a care.

Lili was a pretty good magician, but she was far too inexperienced. In fact, she had been assigned to offer support on that fortress just a few weeks ago and barely got used to the new routine when that disaster happened.

"I don't know much about the monsters of this world," Ethan said. "So, you know anything that I should learn? Now is the time to tell it."

Since that town was pretty big but not all that much developed, most buildings were made of wood. Maybe it was because of that a swarm of fire spiders was destroying everything along the way while attacking the guards stationed there.

"… Their threads will eat your flesh if you get caught with it," Lili said after a short moment of silence."I know some buffs that can help you, but…"

"No need, save your mana from restoring my energy," Ethan shook his head. "Still, I must say that attacking monsters from behind while they are busy with other opponents it is quite an interesting experience."

For Ethan was always the target of the demon king's army, that was quite something. After all, as a hero, he could feel the hatred and fear of the enemy's army just like he could feel the wind. However, right now, there is no such thing. He wasn't a hero of that world, just a stranger that was getting in their way.

Suddenly, Ethan leaped when the monsters were just a few meters away from them. Lili opened her eyes widely in shock since the cart wasn't slowing down, and he didn't even put her in a safe location. Fortunately, before the cart could get close enough, Ethan landed nearby the few monsters around, and before they could turn around to attack him, Ethan sliced them apart. Lili barely saw his swing, but it was clear that he did it because the monsters got split in half.

You received 120 experience points.

You received 30 coins.

You received 120 experience points.

You received 30 coins.

You received 120 experience points.

You received 30 coins.

…

"I guess the closest we get to the capital, the stronger the monsters will be," Ethan frowned. "I'm pretty sure things were supposed to be the opposite… in a normal scenario."

Lili sighed in relief. Although he was a bit reckless, Lili confirmed that she would be safe with him nearby. After calming down a little by the position of the moon, she recognized that it was around midnight. That was unexpected since she left the fortress just a few minutes after dusk, and Pallin town was like three days away from the fortress while traveling in the fastest carriages. Regardless, before she could think of an explanation, Ethan returned and began to push the cart again. Soon after, he pushed the map Aharis gave him.

"Let's see…" Ethan muttered. "At this pace, we will arrive in the capital in sixty hours. It isn't a bad pace, but things might get slower or faster depending on how much time I waste fighting."

Ethan forgot to consider Dash's leveling-up speed. Still, his calculations were probably correct since he would have to fight here and there. In any case, while he was thinking about that, Lili finally started to recover his stamina. Ethan used that as a signal and sped up toward the center of the city, where the flames were even more intense.