Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

Claymore (Common) (+0)

Attack: 15 – 25

Durability: 45/45

Effects: None

Additional effect: Endurance + 50 (389s)

Requirements: 20 STR

Congratulations! The skill Synthesize has leveled up!

Congratulations! For leveling up the skill you learned by yourself, you obtained ten coins.

Ethan finally learned the rules of synthesis. Rather, it was more accurate to say that he recovered the knowledge. Basically, the effects only increased by fifty percent after the second synthesis. The number of times a weapon could be synthesized was equal to the level of the skill. Also, each level increased the duration of the effect by thirty seconds.

"I wonder if it was because of synthesis that I didn't wear any equipment back then," Ethan frowned. "I had all kinds of weapons with different effects, after all."

In any case, Ethan's fighting speed increased a little bit. Thanks to that, he had enough room to wonder if he could eat the bull's meat. However, after death, they began to smell bad nearly instantaneously, so he gave up on that. Regardless, despite the fact that Ethan managed to level up quite a bit, the fight lasted for three hours. After that, even Ethan was forced to realize that he was getting sloppy.

"It can't be helped," Ethan sighed. "I returned a few days ago from that world and lost my physical strength… Still, I can't change my plans."

Strangely enough, the number of guards in that city was incredibly low. The same could be said about civilians, and Ethan concluded that most of them had abandoned the place a few hours ago. Due to that, Ethan and Lili helped themselves when they found a semi-destroyed bar that still had some food.

"I feel like a thief… eating without asking while the owners of this place are away," Lili said with her head down.

"What do you think happened here?" Ethan asked, ignoring her previous words.

"It is pretty clear that some guards stayed behind to slow down the monsters while the others escorted the civilians to somewhere," Lili replied while munching a small piece of dried meat. "That is one of the things the soldiers and guards of this world always train on in their drills, but it doesn't happen often. Even when the hero was here, something like this seldom happened."

It seems like it makes sense, but not for Ethan. The Hedo kingdom was the only remaining one in the world where he was summoned, so they never trained things like that. Since if they lost, the whole world would belong to demons, and they fought with all their might to win and survive without caring about the cost.

In any case, Ethan and Lili didn't have time to check where and the condition of the inhabitants of that city. After filling their bellies and stocking some food and water, they resumed their journey. Although both of them ate quite a lot, Lili was having a hard time after the meal because the cart was shaking quite a bit. Although people weren't supposed to do heavy exercises after eating, Ethan was fine. In fact, he had recovered his vigor and now was moving at his top speed… perhaps that was why Lili's face was blue as if she was about to throw up.

Things got a bit more difficult along the way. Ethan and Lili had to stop several times to help the places that were being attacked. So, thanks to it, their progress had been slowed quite a bit. Because of it, they only managed to reach the capital, or at least see it in the distance on the night of the next day. Although Ethan lost the bet, he couldn't care less about it. Why? Because he could finally feel Hannah's mana.

"I can't believe we really arrived at the capital in just two days…" Lili said while her head was spinning. "This is insane."

That really was, but Ethan had to pay the price for it. After using the power of his boots for so long, they got damaged and became useless. At the same time, he reached a point where he could barely move his legs. Not even the medicine he obtained along the way was helping. Thanks to it, he couldn't help but see things in the distance with a frown.

"Well, now I can understand why she has been so busy," Ethan said.

Although most of it was completely engulfed by the darkness of the night, Ethan could not only see but feel the presence of millions of monsters around the capital. It became clear that someone was controlling them, given that they were in a proper formation. As if they were in an army. It was quite hard to tell with his eyes alone, but Ethan could feel that the monsters around the capital were an entire league above the ones he had faced until now.

It was quite surprising that the imperial capital hadn't been destroyed yet. The walls around it were pretty tall and sturdy, but those weren't enough to stop such a massive army. What was holding the monster's back was an enormous squad of mages above the walls. Hannah's mana also comes from there.

"My big sis can use teleportation spells," Ethan declared. "So, we just have to make a big scene while attacking this army, and she will teleport us to her side. We have to hurry; I want to finish this before tomorrow night."

Ethan would be more convincing if he could stand in the first place. That being said, Lili was more worried if he was insane while thinking things like that. The imperial capital was the place where most distinguished families lived. Since they were rich, they could hire all kinds of warriors to protect them. So, it was only natural that they would have the most powerful army. Not to mention the royal guards… the history on Earth made Ethan believe that royal guards were essentially useless. However, things change quite a bit in fantasy worlds since only those who had accomplished many deeds would receive their shining armor.

"Make a big scene, you say…" Lili couldn't help but step back since that was like suicide.

Fortunately, in the end, such a thing wasn't necessary. Suddenly, Ethan felt the air around them change. For some reason, his instincts didn't warn him of anything, but eventually, everything became clear. In a moment, Ethan and Lili were hidden in a grove behind the massive monsters' army. Still, in the next moment, they saw themselves above some type of building. Ethan couldn't help but smile, noticing that a familiar presence got even more intense.

"What are you doing here, Ethan?" Hannah asked.