Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

"If you are scared, you can cover your ears," Ethan said. "You spent five years in another world, right? How come this kind of story scares you?"

"Well, because the creatures I had to fight were just plain monsters," Emily replied. "Their big numbers were the only real issue there."

"No, I don't think I saw or heard of a different devourer," Maerys said. "They didn't need to evolve to completely wipe us out."

"Did they use magic?" Ethan asked.

"I think that legend about them mixing with the darkness is more than a legend," Maerys replied. "Some of my friends suddenly disappeared when we were escaping from the devourers in the past. I guess that is their ability."

Shadow magic, dark magic, illusion magic… there were other possibilities, but the devourers were probably using one of those. It was the type of enemy that Ethan disliked quite a bit since, at night, they could hide for long periods of time.

"What do you think, Emily?" Ethan asked. "Magic is your field of expertise, right?"

"I am pretty confident at my elemental and utility magic, but I avoided learning anything that was too shady," Emily said.

"For obvious reasons, I guess," Ethan shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?" Emily asked, a bit annoyed.

In any case, as usual, when Ethan got some answers, new questions appeared. Fortunately, he was already used to it. While they were talking, Anna finished installing the camera. Few things could surprise Ethan now, but a camera that could detect movement and then move itself like an AI, and it was also powered by magic stones, was one of them.

"That is some technology you have there," Ethan said. "For how long can this work relying solely on magic stones?"

"One month if you have some decent ones," Anna replied. "A single day with the ones you are getting here on this planet."

Ethan was interested in getting that kind of technology, but he already had a better idea. After all, surveillance cameras can't attack invaders… or maybe they can, and Ethan didn't know that yet.

"Let's return," Ethan declared. "I want to have dinner at home. Oh boy… what a crazy life. Spending a few hours as a student and using the remaining daylight to do something that another hero failed at."

Thanks to the crossbows, the mercenaries' mood improved considerably. So, the things at the camp were as good as they could be. That was good? It was, but based on Ethan's experience, that kind of thing was just the calm before the storm. Still, without hesitating, he received his payment from the mercenaries and returned home.

After dinner, since he was at home, Ethan wanted to sleep like a rock on his bed. Still, since he felt that something bothersome was about to happen, he decided to use his free time and use Zen, and he stayed alert. However, nothing happened that night. When he met Ian and Emily on the next day at school, they didn't inform him of anything. Usually, most people would relax at that moment, but not Ethan. Still, even when he and the others returned to their base on the other world, he found nothing out of place. The mercenaries paid him without any fuss, and Ivan didn't report anything usual.

"Perhaps those stories about the devourers spooked me as well…"

It has been a long while since Ethan felt something that he recognized as fear. Perhaps he mixed that and his caution because he thought that something was off. Still, everything in his new life was off in some way or another.

"All groups have been working well," Ian suddenly said. "So, father wants to create our second line of surveillance soon. The first one is twenty kilometers away from our base, so the second one will have to be a bit farther. Although we defeated a large number of enemies, we still will need potions to cover a large distance, so this time, we will have to walk fifty kilometers, install the watchtowers and then go back. Only after that will we be able to return."

Considering that they had just arrived, Ethan and the others would have thirty hours to do that, and it was more than they needed. Still, even though things have proceeded as well as they could, Ian still repeated those same words to Ethan.

"Don't disappoint me, Ethan," Ian said.

"I couldn't care less about your disappointment," Ethan said.

Ethan didn't want to have Ian's trust, but he had a sister. Although Hannah was a bit more dependable than a twelve-year-old girl, he could understand the feelings of worry. Still, that doesn't mean he wasn't getting annoyed by Ian.

Thanks to the previous days of hard work, Ethan and everyone else had to walk quite a bit before they could find any monster. Although that was a good sign, Ethan was quite bored, and he began to wonder if the mercenaries would use that as an excuse later not to pay him. Although he fooled them, it doesn't mean he will forgive them for if they try that. Regardless, such thoughts disappeared from Ethan's mind after they passed their first line of surveillance. It wasn't Ethan's style, but he decided to use Ice Arrows to kill the bomber birds and Fireballs to slay the treants. Although it was quite weird to fight only using magic, Ethan didn't leave Anna's side.

"I thought you didn't like my brother," Anna said.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "I can't say that I am fond of him and his behavior," Ethan shrugged.

"Yet, you are still doing what he asked," Anna said.

"For the good or the worse, this is a job, and he is kind of my superior," Ethan said. "The same applies to you. So, it is only natural that I would be your bodyguard when he is not around."

There were other reasons as to why Ethan was doing his job so seriously. Still, he decided to stay quiet about them since they kind of looked condescending, and in her own right, Anna was troublesome. Regardless, the more they headed north, the more Ethan saw that line of destruction he had seen before. However, strangely enough, the line was pointing toward their base. It was pointing to the West. Of all things Ethan had seen until now, that was the weirdest.

"Emily, can you fly?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Emily frowned.

"Fly as high as possible and see if you notice weird with those signs of destruction," Ethan said while furrowing his eyebrows. "I feel like things here are too out of place."