Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

Chapter 69 Challenge

?As expected, Emily was really studying hard at school. Even though she didn't have to, she took notes of all topics in all the courses she attends to. While the teacher was teaching, Ethan learned much more just by reading her notes.

"Since Thursday is going to be the most boring day, I should make the most of my time."

p?nd?,no??1,?o? Thursdays were going to be boring because the only classes Ethan would have on that day were the theoretical ones. Fortunately, they happened one after the other. So, after 10:00 AM, Ethan will have all the rest of the day to do whatever he wants.

"Now that I think about it," Ethan said. "You just have to pass the tests of the physical lessons, right? Do you have to keep attending this kind of course?"

"No, but since I already started, I will finish," Emily replied. "If my calculations are correct, in one week, I will have enough stamina to pass the tests on the courses that I have problems with, so it is fine."

If Emily tried even harder, Ethan was pretty sure that she would be able to pass them in just a few days. However, there was no need to hurry. Besides, Emily didn't want to focus all her week on only two courses. In any case, now that Ethan thought about it, his stamina was too low. Even lower than his mana, and that was something that had never happened in the past. It was even higher than his health… Although that useful, Ethan couldn't help but feel weird.

Ethan needed the other versions of Meditation that could increase his health and stamina, respectively. He learned those in the past, but it was thanks to his power as an Omni Hero. Thanks to it, he had no idea what was the trigger to learning them. Usually, the trigger would be exhausting his stamina to increase it or getting wounded in the case of health. However, Ethan already did that countless times while he was in Meizibio, but he didn't learn those skills. While Ethan was reading Emily's notes and thinking about how to learn those skills, the classes of that day ended.

"I'm planning to spend the rest of the day training my stamina on the simulator," Emily said. "To save time, could we repeat what we did yesterday?"

"Sure, I was thinking of using the simulator anyway," Ethan said. "However, things won't be as peaceful as yesterday. We are going to use the free mode."

"Are you sure?" Emily frowned. "Can you fight and learn the support spells at the same time?"

"I'm good at multitasking," Ethan replied. "Besides, as far as I can tell, those spells are relatively simple."

"Can I join you guys too?" Ian suddenly appeared and asked. "I'm bored. Don't worry, I'm just going to watch."

Ethan sighed. Again, Ian appeared without him noticing. Things would be different if he tried something different, like even trying to scare him with a feint. However, Ethan was unable to sense his approach since Ian always approached without emitting any ill intentions.

"I don't mind," Ethan said. "I want to develop a resistance to your annoying behavior as fast as possible, after all. The question is: can Emily endure your behavior for a few hours?"

"Of course she can!" Ian said. "Right, Emily? Right? Right? Right?"

"… Let's hope that you are as good much as you think you are at avoiding attacks if I run out of patience," Emily sighed. "Whatever. I gave up on trying to use logic against you a long time ago."

Although that whole situation was weird, it made Ethan recall that he could learn a certain skill. A skill that Ian possessed naturally. That skill was a bit troublesome since it only worked on enemies that had a certain level of intelligence. However, it was highly effective for them.

Without wasting any more time, Ethan, Emily, and Ian entered in one of the free simulators. While Emily was equipping the boots, Ian sat in the grass just like the statue of the sleeping Buddha. As for Ethan, he began to decimate the slimes. Still, they didn't put up much of a fight. After using Explosive Attack a single time, the stage was cleared.

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

You received 100 coins!

Calculating your score…

Flawless Victory + 1000 points.

Time + 950 points

Solo fight + 1000 points…

Congratulations! You scored 2500 points.

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

"Hehehe, now you have done it," Ian smirked. "With this, you put yourself on the radar of some people that can be even more annoying than me."

"Is that really even possible?" Ethan asked. "I thought you had reached the level cap of how annoying someone can be."

Ethan had forgotten about that, but the simulator had a ranking system, and he just took the first place to himself. Although he couldn't care less about it, some kids can be really sensitive about hierarchy. The high-ranked heroes of the school might find it 'troublesome' that someone at the F rank did something better than them.

"You are stronger than I thought," Emily frowned. "It looks like Ian isn't the only one who wants to fool everyone."

"Don't lump us together," Ethan said. "Whatever, I don't really care what some prideful kids might think about this. Well, given this situation, I already know the name I will choose here."

Now the number person in the first stage of the simulator was: Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness… As one would expect, Emily didn't understand that and just frowned. As for Ian, he understood that reference and laughed until his stomach began to hurt. He was laughing too hard for that kind of joke, actually… Still, truth to be told, Ethan liked a lot to joke with that ranking system, and he decided to do it again.

"You didn't do that on purpose, did you?" Emile asked, visibly surprised.

"If you talking about the record, I didn't," Ethan said. "I didn't even remember about this until now."

"I suspected as much," Emily said. "Still, I don't think that explanation will be enough for you to solve the problem you just created."

"What are you talking about?" Ethan frowned.

"You see, the number one student in this place is called Dante," Emily explained. "Although he is pretty famous and has many fans, he doesn't treat well those who challenge him, and you just did."

"So, what?" Ethan shrugged. "He is just another prideful kid. Besides, it is not like this is a problem that can escalate."

"You are wrong," Emily shook her head. "This problem is much bigger than you thought, and Dante is the youngest son of the president."