On the way back to the inn, Jane brought up something unexpected.

"Hey, Michael. You never told me about how you had such a high strength value back then." I thought about it then remembered the scene from over two years ago, back in the village. I'd told Jane my absurd strength value, promising that I would tell her in secret. I never got around to that.

"Alright. If you want to know so badly. Lance, Rose, I'll let you two in on this too." I waved them over and we all went into an alley that was much more private than the open street. After making sure nobody was eavesdropping, I quietly explained to the others what happened in the conversation with Eden and how I got there in the first place.

"That's it? I thought it would be something more complicated." Jane seemed dissatisfied for some odd reason. What could be more fulfilling than striking a deal with a god? I shrugged it off and we kept heading back to the inn.

Arriving, some adventurers came up to us and spoke about how critical we were to the gate's defense. Honestly, it was no big deal. The others had the same idea and we stayed humble, saying that it was everyone's combined effort that pushed the monsters back. Though I will admit I killed quite a couple corrupted.

Heading upstairs, we hung out and had some tea around the small table in our room. I remembered something from the many anime I've watched back on Earth. I placed my hand on Jane's head and starting gently patting and stroking her head. She looked at me confused at first but started enjoying it. I then sat behind her and hugged her from behind while patting her head.

When I tried to pull my hand away, she grabbed it with both of her hands and placed my hand back on her head. 'Greedy girl.' I thought as I kept patting her head. Lance and Rose warmly gazed at the little scene of Jane enjoying her petting session. Eventually, she fell asleep and I tucked her into bed. I then felt a little tug on my shirt, Jane unconsciously grabbed onto the hem of my shirt. I chuckled a little and told the other two I'd be going to bed too and laid down next to Jane, quickly falling asleep.

Waking up, I got out of bed and stood up, equipping all my gear. I'd unequipped it before sitting down at the table. That's when I realized, where did Jane go? Rose was gone too, though Lance was still here.

"Hey, Lance. Get up, where did the other two go?" He woke up after I shook him for a bit. He groggily yawned and got up.

"They went out to purchase some new armor. Didn't want to wait so they just left. I'm sure they'll be back in a bit. We should head over and check the main gate, yeah?" I nodded and headed downstairs to grab a bite while waiting for Lance. I told the innkeeper to tell the two girls Lance and I would be at the main gate if they swung by here.

I sat down and just sat there drinking from my canteen. It's water I swear. After a bit, Lance came down and we headed out to the gate. Along the way, a few people recognized us. We simply waved at them and sped past.

Arriving at the gate, nothing seemed to be happening. Everyone was on guard, still tense from yesterday's battle. I understood their tension, those things could attack at any moment. Lance and I climbed onto the 15 meter high walls and sat down at the top. We would be prepared if anything were to happen.

I decided to nap a little and closed my eyes, sitting up against the rampart. After falling into a deep sleep, I would be woken up by the sound of magic flying and swords clashing. Shouts were heard as someone shook me awake. I saw Jane telling me to get up. I noticed she was wearing a new armor. It had a Mithril plate that only covered her chest, slim Mithril shoulder guards, Mithril bracers, and some Mithril plating for the legs. The rest of her armor was made of flexible, black leather allowing her to move freely.

Modified Assassin's Armor Defense: 350 Durability: 260/260 A former assassin's outfit made of dyed black leather that has been modified to improve protection. At the cost of a higher weight, Mithril plates have been placed on the armor giving it better protection.

Rose was also wearing a new flowing white robe with a maroon-colored segment down the middle. There were a few Mithril armor pieces, including a chest protector and shoulder guards. The maroon segment and Mithril plates had shining yellow runes on them, possibly for offensive or defensive purposes.

Modified Cleric's Robe Defense: 290 Durability: 240/240 Additional Effect: Lightning attacks do 10% more damage. A Cleric's robe strengthened with runes and Mithril. Mithril plates were added to improve the caster's protection while runes were added to bolster lightning-related attacks.

After inspecting their armor's properties, I suddenly felt a little relief after knowing these two would be harder to kill. I do wish my armor had a special effect, though it does have some insane defense. Seeing the monsters approaching, I decided to not use my greatsword for this fight. I wanted to train my unarmed combat skills.

Jumping down to the front of the gate, I got into a stance. Corrupted enemies rushed at me, and I weaved through them, delivering crushing blows with my hands and feet. Once I cleared the area a little, Jane, Lance, Rose, and some other fighters hopped down to support me.

"We have to get to the people trapped in the trenches! Come on, let's go!" I rushed forward and threw out an uppercut, knocking off the head of an insect-like corrupted monster. I then rushed towards a humanoid corrupted, picking it up by the neck and punching it a few times before throwing it into a group of its friends.

Slowly advancing to the trenches, I realized that there weren't that many to push through, maybe these guys were the few that managed to break through. As we reached the trenches, I hopped down and found a mix of mages and fighters in the trenches. I was surprised that some managed to survive being surrounded by that many corrupted. I ducked down right as some magic flew over. Close call.

"Hey, what's the situation down here?" I asked the caster next to me. He looked at me with a grave expression.

"No way will the capital survive this one. We'll have to evacuate and abandon the city. There's too many to count." I instantly felt a little despondent. Ditching this city meant the corrupted would have a place to set up shop. Though I felt frustration, I accepted it and ordered the others to stay here and help defend. I headed back to find Xie Yan.

A monster charged at me and I grabbed it by the neck, snapping it instantly. Another group surrounded me and I blew all their heads off with a roundhouse kick. I felt it. The rush of obliterating the opposition, the feeling of my combat skills making progress. I spotted more some distance away from me and took a breath.

Letting out a warcry, I dashed and instantly arrived in the middle of their group, stomping as hard as I could in the midst of them. A crater was formed and the corrupted got blown away like ragdolls. I continued to carve my way through the corrupted enemies until I reached the wall and climbed up.

Coincidentally, Xie Yan just happened to be standing there watching my rampage. I told her about the grave situation and she nodded. Using magic, she announced the evacuation of Yamasaki to the civilians. The guards protected the populace and kept the pathway clear for us to leave. I was among the people escorting them out of the city.

I regrouped with Lance and we kept the gates clear of monsters. I constantly used my Ice Flechette to keep them at bay and my arm-blade to add some piercing power to my attacks. Eventually, I started using my greatsword to clear them out. That was when my danger sense flared up. Something impacted the ground in front of me. Once the dust cleared, I saw it. A lich. My first time seeing one, my danger sense flared up even more.

Corrupted Undead Elder Lich Level: 173 Health: 5000

It gave me a cold stare then started summoning undead in droves. Soon, around 150 skeletons appeared in front of me and Lance. I'd never seen anything like it. The skeletons charged and I responded in kind. Crushing them was already difficult, as one was summoned for every skeleton either Lance or I killed. It was made worse since the lich was bombarding us with magic. Powerful magic at that.

I barely avoided another barrage of magic but got struck by a mace. My chest plate came out unscathed, but the impact knocked the wind out of me. I retaliated and killed the corrupted skeleton. Taking a very short breather, I rolled to avoid more magic flying my way. Looking in the lich's direction, I saw Lance steadily making his way to it.

Since I was the more dangerous one, it focused on me and left Lance alone, giving him an opportunity to attack it.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME, BASTARD!" I heard a yell from Lance as he pounced toward the lich. It didn't expect him to be there and hurriedly tried to cast some magic, which was canceled when Lance struck it. While he fought with the lich, I decided to go help him and hurried to cut through all the skeletons and undead in my way.

I leaped up and used their heads as footing to get past and jumped even higher once I got close to the lich. Feeling the effects of gravity, I prepared my sword for a strike. I swung downward once I got close, with disastrous results.

I felt a tug as it grabbed my sword and pulled me closer while dodging Lance's spear. Looks like we were the ones underestimating it. By this time my sword had gone past the lich, who used an earth spell to create a spear of rock that jutted out from the ground, impaling me.

Screaming out in pain, I broke the rock spear with my greatsword and fell to the ground while trying put pressure on the new hold I got to my gut. It was a pretty nasty wound, but I could live if we quickly finished off the lich. Lance distracted it while I got a small breather. I put my greatsword into my inventory and got up, sloppily patching up the hole with a bit of gauze.

While Lance fought the thing, I waited for an opportunity. In the middle of a magic barrage, Lance was pushed back far enough to where he couldn't interrupt the next spell. I took the opportunity to retrieve Deliverance from my inventory and charge at it. Seeing this, the lich turned to me and fired off a spike made of rock right into the same area where I was impaled, knocking me back a good 10 or so meters. I barely managed to get up, and the pain fueled my anger and frustration. Soon, I felt my fury take over.

-Lance POV-

Shit! I can't believe I let that happen to him. Michael barely managed to get up. I rushed over and stood in front of him with my spear raised. I wasn't going to let that thing kill him, even if it cost me my life. Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Michael moved me aside. I got a look at his eyes and saw, he was furious.

A small red line trailed behind Michael's eye as he moved even faster than I could track, arriving at the lich almost instantly. For the first time in this fight, I saw something like fear in its movements. It frantically tried to back away but was caught by Michael. He forcefully held it in place as he used the pommel of his sword to bash it repeatedly.

The sickening sound of cracking and fracturing bones rang out against the backdrop of battle. Once he was finished, the lich looked like it could barely even move. Raising a hand to his face, it used a spell to try to push Michael back. It fired a knife made of ice directly into his left eye socket. Unfortunately, it only made Michael angrier.

Letting go, Michael cut it across the ribcage, swept it off its bony feet and shoulder bashed it like a battering ram, breaking it into thousands of bone shards. I stood watching in awe but remembered Michael's grievous injuries. He fell to his knees exhausted and I rushed over to help him up.

-Michael POV-

All I felt was the pain. This fight let me know to never underestimate even a magic caster at that close of a range. That no matter how strong I was, there was always something that could outclass me. I realized that I would have died if Lance wasn't there to distract it. The summoned undead hadn't attacked us throughout the fight, maybe because the lich couldn't bring them closer while we kept it busy at such a close range.

Lance lent me his shoulder and we headed into the forest, the evacuees having been long gone while we fought. I ripped out the spike in my eye, causing more pain to surface. With Lance's help, I slowly walked into the forest where everyone else was.

The forest had a large crowd of refugees, with quite a few noticing both Lance and my condition. Lance had taken a few hits form the lich, most notably a large gash on his chest where the lich had cut straight through his armor with a spell. I was more seriously injured though. Pushing through the crowd were Jane and Rose, who took note of our terrible conditions.

"Michael!" " What happened out there, how did you get these injuries?!" Jane and Rose were panicking, Lance explained what happened with the lich to them.

"I see. Come on, both of you need to get patched up right away. We'll leave you in the carriage. You're going to be fine." I got placed on a stretcher which was loaded into a carriage. Rose climbed in and got straight to using healing magic. The fatigue then took over and I slipped into a deep sleep.

The weeks were long and hard. We had refugee and guard casualties from constant corrupted ambushes. Since everyone had an inventory full of supplies, nobody went hungry. Thank god for that. As we advanced, a vanguard party was formed of our strongest fighters. It consisted of Lance, Rose, Jane, Xie Yan, and a few veteran adventurers. I got included once I was well enough. Rose had some potent healing magic. My left eye was restored and the puncture wound on my side gone with no traces of a scar.

We cleared the way for the refugees to advance. Eventually, I saw a wall representing a kingdom's borders. It seems we made it to the kingdom. Of course, the vanguard party made it first and Xie Yan negotiated for the refugees to be dispersed among the many cities of Aucipis. I decided for us to head to the capital. I couldn't remember the name, though a nearby guard kindly told me.

"You mean Ruwell? Just head West. For you, I think it'll take maybe a week or two." I thanked him and we headed toward the exit gate. On the way, I said goodbye to Xie Yan, who remarked that she would be in Ruwell a little later than us.

After a little less than a week, we arrived at the eastern gates to Ruwell. We pulled out our identification and showed it to the guards, who allowed us into the city. I wanted to visit the blacksmith so we could get Lance's armor repaired. After a bit of asking around, I got directions to a smithy that was a short walk from here. Thanking the adventurer, we headed to the forge.

Arriving, I saw a dwarf in the middle of making a weapon. We waited around until he was done with his work to ask.

"Thanks for waiting, lad. What brings you here?" I told him about Lance's armor and an experimental weapon I wanted to try out. I pulled a scroll from my inventory and made a detailed drawing of a kukri with a serrated spine. The kukri's blade would be 20 centimeters long, with the handle being 10 centimeters long. The entire kukri would be made of Adamantium and the handle wrapped in high-quality boar leather.

"A solid construction, where in Alorah did you come up with that kind of design?" The dwarf asked.

"Just something I got from my previous world is all." The dwarf nodded as if this was normal.

"Well, I've never seen one of you guys produce a design like this. Alright, follow me." Thus we followed him into the shop to negotiate the price.