"I Reincarnated But Have No System? You Must Be Kidding Me!"

Seeing his long time childhood friend inside the merchant's cage, Auren couldn't move.

The world had gone silent, swallowed by the echo of his own heartbeat and boiling rage.

Jaira sat there—chained, bruised, and half-covered in blood-stained cloth. Her once-bright silver hair clung to her face, tangled and dry. Her eyes, those same emerald eyes that used to burn with child like joy and pride, now flickered with exhaustion and fury.

She didn't say a word. Didn't need to.That glare said everything—wariness, confusion, and overwhelming hatred specially to every humans around.

For a moment, Auren forgot where he was. The smell of burnt sand, the shouts of adventurers, the groaning wagons—it all blurred into a distant hum. He took one step forward, his hands twitching to save her right away.

"J-Jaira…" he whispered to himself. his desire to free her is strong but he knew that breaking his cover right now is not a wise decision, especiallty that he is still in the middle of the mission and there is a high risk that he would be facing the entire three parties of adventurer- Blue Bound included.

Jaira flinched trying to summon her strength. Her mana flared for an instant, wild and unstable, before the shackles pulsed red and suppressed it. She turned away, breathing hard, refusing to even look at anyone.

Then the noise returned.

Jonas laughed first. A low, ugly sound that carried across the dunes.

"Well, I'll be damned. A dark elf! Look at that pretty face. Guess the high folk aren't so high anymore now huh."

Another adventurer joined in. "Heard they are one of the strongest race in the continent, they say. Yet here she is, gift-wrapped and delivered by humans."

Their laughter spread like a disease.

Auren's hand twitched, knuckles whitening. Alyssa's glare burned holes into the ground beside him, and even Essel looked disgusted. But Croko stormed past them before anyone could speak.

"You fools!" he barked.

"Do you know what you've done? You couldn't even hold formation! My package was exposed because of your incompetence!"

His hat was gone, hair wild, face red with rage. "If anything had happened to her, I'd have your heads hanging from my wagon!"

He snapped his fingers, and his assistant rushed to drape a heavy cloth over Jaira's cage again. The rune-lights dimmed under the cover, hiding her from view as if she were a shameful secret.

Auren's chest tightened. His heart screamed to act, to break those chains, to burn Croko's entire caravan into the sand. But he forced himself to breathe—slow, steady, cold.

Not now. Not yet.

He'd find a way. Quietly. Cleanly.Without dragging Blue Bound into his mess. Not to mention, he needs a plan to get her away safe. And to do that, he would need the power of Bigbird.

'Just wait Jaira. I will save you.'

By midday, the caravan was repaired and back in motion.

The desert stretched endlessly, gold and cruel. Wheels groaned, sand crunched, and the smell of scorched mana still hung in the air.

Croko rode at the front again, his temper restored and his grin back in place.

"One more day!" he called. "By tomorrow, we'll reach the dwarven border! I can already feel the weight of that ancient artifact in my hands. The trade will be legendary!"

Auren clenched his jaw.

Trade. That's all she was to him—a bargaining chip for power.

He couldn't let that happen.

So, he worked. Harder than anyone else.

When beasts rose from the dunes, Auren was the first to shoot. When wyverns dove from the clouds, bazooka rounds lit up the sky. He made sure everyone saw what Blue Bound's "herbalist" could really do, heaping praises from Croko from time to time.

But Jonas wasn't about to let someone steal his thunder.

The man laughed as he crushed a sandworm's skull barehanded, the shockwave scattering its followers.

"Try and keep up, pretty boy!" he said as he passed by the impressive herbalist.

Auren just smirked. "Not bad."

It was a battle of pride—Jonas showing off his strength, Auren proving his precision. But in the end, Jonas hogged the spotlight, earning cheers and praise while Auren's focus stayed elsewhere.

Every chance he got, his eyes drifted to the covered cage at the back.

'Time is running out. I think I have to do it tonight.'

Night fell fast in the desert. Cold, quiet, and dangerous.

The campfires burned low as adventurers tended their wounds, shared stories or bragged about kills. Croko's men doubled the guard, nervous after the day's attacks.

Alyssa was cleaning her blade when Auren stood up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

He hesitated, then said, perfectly straight-faced, "Gonna take a dump. Wanna come?"

Alyssa rolled her eyes.

Blas snorted from his bedroll. "Try not to blow a hole in the sand while you're at it."

Essel's cheeks flushed. "Blas!"

"Just saying!"

Auren waved a hand, hiding a faint grin as he walked into the dunes. Once far enough, the humor vanished.

He knelt, tapping the metallic bracer on his wrist.

The Trinity Bracer pulsed faintly on his right hand.

"Let's see... How about this one..." he muttered as he channeled mana into it.

Light wrapped around him. His clothes shimmered, armor shifting, his face darkening under a hood of shadow. In seconds, Herbon vanished, replaced by Mace, the level 35 elementalist with a title of Silent Caster.

The simple looking herbalist is now a magician in scholar robe.

Continted with his new identity, Auren smiled.

"It's show time."

The desert wind stilled. The world felt quieter.

He whispered, "First, we need stealth."

[SHADOW STEP]

Auren activated the stealth skill he had learned from Riki himself. Taking advantage of the darkness, his body started turning into a blue as he was covered in invisible mana.

Mana rippled across his body—and he disappeared from sight.

Back at the cage, Jaira stirred in the dark.

Her wrists burned, every breath raw. The cage was cold, her mana sealed tight by runes that thrummed with each heartbeat. She'd been fighting sleep, fighting despair, but the exhaustion was heavier now.

Little did she knew that Auren had scattered sleeping powder towards her area to numb down the guards outside.

Then suddenly she heard a familiar whisper.

"Jaira."

Her head jerked up. A mix of hope and shock in her gaze.

The voice was soft and awfully familiar. She blinked, and through the gaps in the cloth, faint blue light shimmered.

"Auren?" Her voice cracked. "You—why—"

"Quiet," he said gently. "I'll get you out here. Trust me and be patient, okay?"

Her throat tightened. "They'll kill you if they find out. Don't—"

But when she looked again, he was gone.

Only the faint rustle of sand remained.

'Auren... Please be careful...' she whspered weakly.

Outside, Auren moved like a shadow between the wagons. Every sound, every shift of the wind, echoed in his ears. He was almost clear and was about to open the cage when he felt it—A presence.

Someone was following him.

He froze.

Damn it.

He darted sideways, sliding down a dune, his boots barely leaving prints. The presence, who seems to be hiding using a spellas well, followed, fast. Too fast.

He turned, flicking his wrist. A fireball spun into existence, its light cutting through the dark—and revealed a calm figure standing against the flame with his defensive shield up.

It was Samuel, the leader of the second party.

The wind mage didn't look alarmed, just curious.

"Now what do we have here..." he said quietly. "I felt an unusual mana pulse near the prisoner. Thought a beast had wandered too close."

His eyes narrowed. "But instead, I find an invisible rat"

Auren said nothing. He dropped the fireball, shifting his stance. "Bad luck."

Samuel's lips curved. "For you, yes."

He raised his hand, magic gathering in his palm.

The air thickened as he prepared to fight the intruder while sending a signal.

But Auren moved first and fast.

A blur of motion. Sand exploded beneath his boots as he activated hs booster.

'What speed!'

Samuel barely managed to raise another shield before Auren's fist slammed into it.

CRACK.

The barrier shattered like glass. A second punch hit Samuel square in the chest, sending him flying backward, skidding through the sand.

He didn't get up. Or he cant.

'I am pretty sure he is a magician, but why does his fist feels like that from a brawler?'

It was his last rain of thoughts before his eyes closed down, now unconscious.

Auren stood over him, breathing steady, expression calm.

"Was that all you've got?"

He turned and vanished back into the dunes, his cloak dissolving into the night.

When he returned to camp, Herbon was Herbon again—dusty, tired, and pretending to yawn.

Blas glanced up. "Took you long enough. What'd you eat, rocks?"

Auren smirked. "Desert stew hits hard."

"Ugh, you're disgusting," Alyssa muttered, rolling her eyes again.

"Appreciated," Auren said, lying back and closing his eyes.

As the camp settled into silence, his mind didn't. Jaira's face haunted him, that broken glare burned into his thoughts.

'I need to rethink of my plan.'

Tomorrow, they'd reach the dwarves. Tomorrow, she'd be gone forever—unless he moved first.

He just didn't know yet how.

Far away, atop a dune overlooking the camp, another group watched through the night.

Stocky silhouettes. Broad armor. Glinting eyes beneath desert hoods.

Dwarves. Or more accurately, Dwarven Bandits.

Their leader, a one-eyed warrior with a burn scar across his chin, lowered his spyglass and grinned.

"Confirmed the mark," he said. "Elf inside the human caravan. Looks pureblood."

One of his men chuckled darkly. "Then we take her?"

The leader's grin widened.

"We take everything. The humans, the wagons, the girl. The king will pay double for us."

Their laughter rumbled through the desert wind as they vanished into the dunes, leaving only their scent of oil and steel behind.

Below, Auren slept with one hand on his weapon, unaware that the night had already chosen its next chaos.