Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

By the look of things, Ethan's acting skills improved a lot without him noticing. Although he felt a little bad for it, Ethan slept through the most part of Lyla's class. Since he was in a good mood, she didn't notice, not even for a single moment, that he opened his eyes only a few times. He wanted to sleep more, but unfortunately, his next class was about to start, and much to Ethan's surprise, Ian was heading in the same direction.

"Give me a break." Ethan said.

"You could at least try to hide your displeasure, you know," Ian forced a smile. "I know that warrior types like you have a hard time hiding what you think and feel, but you should be a bit more conscious of your actions. Still, what did you do in the last twelve hours? You got considerably stronger."

"You look the type who would only fool around in a place like this, but it seems you are pretty busy attending many courses," Ethan ignored Ian's previous comment. "Does Lyla is also teaching magic, and you are following her like a stalker would?"

"Well, you already know my goal, so there is no point in hiding that," Ian shrugged. "Lyla teaches students from rank F to B, and I want to attend all her courses. Unfortunately, you need to be more than just strong here to increase your rank."

"You want to bang her, right?" Ethan asked. "It seems going to another world didn't drop the levels of hormones of someone. Anyway, how many tests do you have to pass in order to increase your rank?"

"Hey… don't make me sound as if I were a pervert. I want to properly marry her, you know," Ian whispered. "Regardless, to become a rank E student, you need to at least pass the tests of six courses. It would be easy if we could take the tests we want. Still, in order to graduate, we need to pass two physical tests, two magical and two of those theoretical courses."

"Let me guess, you are not very good at the magic and theoretical courses," Ethan said.

"You talk as if you are better," Ian shrugged. "Even I can tell that you have muscles for brains."

Although that sounded like an insult, Ian would need more to effectively taunt Ethan. Besides, that was more or less true. Ethan didn't like complicated things, and instead of using elaborating plans, he would rather overpower his enemies, be it with brute strength or with his relentless will.

"Well, thanks to you, I won't feel like an idiot in those courses," Ian said. "Not the only one, at least."

It looked like Ian was really bad at magic. It was no surprise since assassins mostly used surprise attacks and poison as their main weapons. Magic would add an unknown factor to their fighting style, and unless you are really good at it, few spells can be faster than assassins. Given that, Ethan began to wonder if he should give Ian a hand. Although it was annoying, he owed him quite a bit, and repaying his debt now was better than letting Ian use it later and make him do something even more annoying. That being said, Ethan, himself was currently learning the basics. So that might prove itself to be quite challenging.

When Ethan and Ian found the class, Ethan frowned when he opened the door and saw Emily sitting in the first row reading a book. That was quite weird… although it was smaller, her presence was similar to Hannah's, so she was supposed to be quite a decent mage. One who should have graduated from that type of class a long time ago. In any case, when Emily saw Ethan and Ian entering the class together, her right eyebrow twitched.

"Your way of saying good morning is interesting as usual, Emily," Ian smiled.

"Shut up," Emily said and then began to read the book again.

Emily returned to her usual self, and since Ethan had no business with her, he didn't think much of her displeasure and just looked for an empty seat. That being said, he had to be led by Ian since he had been attending that course for a long time and know the seats that weren't being used. This time, both of them sat near the last row.

"I guess here you don't have to pretend that you are a good student," Ethan said.

"You are completely right," Ian said. "Regardless, try not to snore too much this time."

As much as Ethan wanted, he wouldn't sleep in this class. Sword dance didn't fit his style, but he wanted to learn by himself some support skills. That way of thought made Ethan recall that he should practice the ice spells he learned as soon as possible.

"The knowledge I obtained from Rivru might give some insight into simple ice magic. Ice Hand and Ice Spear had the same principles, and the only difference was the shape and their speed. Considering that, I should be able to customize those spells and perhaps even learn new ones. The cost to use them is pretty high, after all."

"You seem lost in thought," Ian said. "Are you thinking about Emily? Which reminds me, you gave her a letter this morning. You are really old-fashioned, aren't you? A warrior down to the core…"

"It looks like your information network isn't as efficient as you think," Ethan said. "That much is obvious, considering that whoever informed you that didn't hear the contents of our talk."

"It can't be helped if they try to get too close. You and her would notice," Ian shrugged.

"They, huh," Ethan said. "Even if most people here are kids of our age, I doubt that you would make them accept work for you in doing such pointless things. We are heroes, after all. You don't need to pretend, and I'm fully aware that yourself is keeping an eye on me."

"Really?" Ian frowned. "What makes you think that?"

"Who knows…" Ethan said.

The demon army Ethan faced had many types of soldiers. Mages, archers, warriors, and even assassins. Those who live in the dark are surprisingly good at that kind of thing. Thanks to it, Ethan learned more than a few things about what they could do thanks to Omni Hero. Although that kind of experience was one of the things that made Ethan wary of Ian, his friendly behavior was the most suspicious thing for him. While other kids, with the exception of Emily, paid Ethan no mind, Ian was strangely friendly, just like Natalia.