Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

It took him a few minutes, but Ethan cleared the third stage in the end. By using the corpses of the fallen goblins, he protected himself from the bolts of the archers. By kicking the fallen swords of the dead dual-wielders, Ethan also killed them before they could notice. Once half of the archers died, the fight became incredibly easy. Since their corpses and weapons didn't disappear until the stage ended, Ethan used their weapons and bodies to make things easier for him.

Congratulations! You completed the third stage of the VR simulator!

You received 150 coins!

Calculating your score…

Time + 450 points

Solo fight + 1000 points…

Congratulations! You scored 1450 points.

Do you wish to proceed to the next stage? Y/N

"Your fighting style is quite messy," Ian said. "No… perhaps savage is more adequate. One couldn't imagine someone like you could fight like that. Kicking the bodies and the weapons of the dead foes left and right and without a hint of hesitation. You must be really used to the battlefield."

"… You certainly have a lot of free time," Ethan said. "Lyla didn't teach anything to F-rank students today?"

"Hey, it is miss Lyla for you…" Ian said, unexpectedly angry. "She only teaches us on mornings of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

"Thank you for the intel," Ethan said. "Now, I know the days I can come without being bothered by you."

"Come on, man!" Ian said and then protested himself in front of Ethan. "I beg you… I can't bear to look at miss Lyla being so depressed. She will stay like that for an entire week when this kind of thing happens! Please help me out, and I will make sure to help with Emily."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Ethan frowned. "I only saw her two times and I certainly don't have any special feelings toward her. Although she is a bit cute, her personality is a big minus… Why the hell am I following your pace?"

Ethan facepalmed after that. As expected, Ian is a bad influence. If he gets involved with him, he will get sidetracked many times and end up in some stupid situations. Regardless, Ethan decided to stop the simulator because he went too far using his iron sword recklessly.

Although the things that happened inside the simulator were basically an illusion, the mana inside of it could affect physical bodies. That was why Ethan could gain experience and coins. His iron sword was about to break, so it was time to make use of the coins he had just obtained. The problem was Ian. Would he notice a new weapon being created from nothing? In the end, Ethan decides to go home just to obtain a new weapon and leave Ian alone.

"What? Are you already going home?" Ian asked, surprised.

"I need a new weapon…" Ethan sighed and then facepalmed. "Again… why am I answering your questions? Look, I don't have time to help you. I have my own share of problems, so look for others to help you."

"If it were possible, I wouldn't have bothered you so much," Ian said. "Do you think I enjoy being ignored or staying too close to a guy so early in the morning? I have my own share of problems, you know."

Ian was indeed a weird fellow. Although he had the skills of a top-class assassin, he still could act like an average teenager. At the same time, while Ethan was wary of him, he couldn't feel any malicious intent coming from him.

That being said, Ethan didn't have any reason to help someone like him. As weird as that sound, the nature of warriors agreed with Ethan. So, even without any real reason to dislike him, Ethan wanted to stay away from the guy.

"Well, it is a pity," Ian shrugged. "I saw you using some potions yesterday, and those taste like bitter medicine, right? So, I was thinking about introducing you to a great alchemist that I know. With my help, you could even obtain some discounts."

Ian was insistent… since Ethan didn't want help in his love life, he intended to help him in other areas. In any case, that sounded like total bullshit. Why a rank F student would know a famous alchemist?

Even if Ian was another world's hero, he probably couldn't return to that world frequently, even more considering his skills. So, most likely, it was someone from Earth. That being said, Hannah was more amazing than him, so she probably had better contacts.

"I'm not interested," Ethan said.

"Are you sure?" Ian smirked. "She is the best alchemist in the school, people around the world come in droves to buy the potions she can make. Thanks to that, she is filthy rich."

Ethan didn't study things like an alchemist in the other world. Although he learned some skill or other that could help him in the production of such a thing, he never went far with it. On the battlefield, he didn't have time to use potions. So, he focused solely on getting physically strong.

In any case, thanks to that, he wasn't expecting much from someone who couldn't be much older than him. Even if the alchemist was a hero, there are things that can't be solved, even if you have cheat powers. Arts like alchemy needed to be properly studied.

"You know, the best potions you can buy with your wristwatch are the crappiest potions she can make," Ian said. "The real high-quality stuff can only be bought for tens of thousands of dollars."

"Good for you," Ethan said.

"Damn it, Ethan!" Ian shouted. "Do you like to see me beg that much?"

"Not really," Ethan said. "I just don't want to get involved with you."

"Do you want to see me lick your shoes?" Ian asked.

"Holy Freya… You are so insistent," Ethan sighed. "Are you that desperate? If you don't know, women get depressed all the time. In fact, they got over such situations much better than men. So, just wait a few days and stop wasting my time."

"I don't want to just see her back to normal," Ian said. "I want to see her smile of joy after getting a real new student! You leave me no choice… I can only do two things left to convince you. Please, Ethan, don't make me use my trump card."

Ethan had no idea what Ian was talking about, but for the first time, he really looked desperate. He was about to take some drastic measures, but for the time being, Ian only made a call with his wristwatch.

"Hey, I need that right now," Ian said. "Please teleport it to me."

It took a few seconds, but then a single bottle that had some blue liquid appeared and then fell right on Ian's hand. It was a potion, and Ethan could feel an incredible amount of mana inside of it. Despite the small size, it could be compared to an elixir.

"I'm giving this to you," Ian said.

Ethan didn't accept the bottle, but even though he didn't have the skill to appraise the potion, his wristwatch reacted to it and then showed the information of the potion.

Mystical potion (Heroic)

Created by using the parts of several rare beasts.

Effects: restores ten points of your health, mana, and stamina per second for six hundred seconds.

Special effect: increases permanently your health, mana, and stamina by ten points.