Reincarnated as the favorite of an obsessive goddess: gave me a system-Chapter 24: Liquid blade.

Kai mounted Valira again and stroked her neck carefully.

"We’re going to approach with caution, alright?"

Valira neighed and began moving toward the carriage at a pace that was fast yet stealthy. As they drew closer, they could hear the cries for help, the fear, and the desperation of the people trapped inside the cages. Kai’s hands tightened firmly on the bridle as he tried to contain the internal rage he felt at the sight. His mind filled with memories of the moment they saved Roshia, remembering how she cried in despair after being torn away from little Elara. He recalled the moment they managed to save everyone and the horrific conditions they were in. All of it only added to the fury burning inside him.

"Stop here, girl," Kai whispered to Valira.

She understood the command instantly and came to a halt among several trees. Kai dismounted and gently stroked behind her ears once more.

"Don’t move from here," he ordered as he positioned himself behind a tree to watch the carriage advance.

He observed the vehicle, there were several men escorting it, approximately seven, not counting the two drivers. He knew doing this alone would be complicated. Although his statistics had risen significantly since the first time he faced traffickers, this time he didn’t have the support of Lyla, Alice, or Roshia.

[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

ENEMY DETECTED.

Type: Human.

Threat Level: Rank C.

Distance: 20 meters and approaching.

The system’s warning made it even clearer to Kai that this was very dangerous and he could easily die, but he knew he couldn’t allow this to happen. Although he didn’t fully remember his past, he was still the hero this world once had, he couldn’t let them down, and even less so, Lyla. When they were close enough, Kai let out one last breath before raising his hands to recite the spell.

"Burning Arrow."

The arrow formed in front of him, transmitting immediate heat to his body before shooting off at great speed. It seemed it would miss the target, but then it curved, piercing the head of one of the two carriage drivers.

"We’re under attack!" the remaining driver exclaimed, stopping immediately in the middle of the road.

Kai had been practicing this technique with Alice to improve it, alongside his constant training to understand his great power as much as possible. That was why he was able to give the arrow a curved trajectory, a way to catch enemies off guard even if it cost a bit more mana. Seeing them halted, he wasted no time and fired two more arrows, finishing off the remaining driver and one of the escorts.

Panic set in as they couldn’t see where the attacks were coming from; some escorts’ hands were even trembling from the uncertainty.

"Ghal, check the surroundings, we’ll cover you," one ordered as he moved into a defensive position.

Hesitantly but out of obligation, Ghal left the formation and walked along the edge of the road, peering through trees and bushes, but found nothing.

"There’s no one here, boss," he said, looking back at the carriage.

"Then check the other si "

Another member of the group interrupted him.

"Behind you!" he screamed in terror while drawing his bow.

But it was too late. Kai, using his daggers, mercilessly slit Ghal’s throat. The eyes of the remaining traffickers filled with fear and rage as the archer fired his arrow. Without hesitation, Kai dropped his left dagger and used the man’s body as a human shield while moving to the right, the arrow meant for him struck the dead man’s chest instead.

"You bastard! Kill him!"

Of the five who remained, two rushed toward Kai with swords in hand. The archer kept firing, trying to find a gap that Ghal’s lifeless body didn’t cover. The leader stayed atop the carriage, defending a mage who raised his hands to cast a spell.

"Gust."

Ghal’s body was pushed by a powerful, high speed blast of air, causing it to fall onto one of the two traffickers moving toward Kai. Kai had ingeniously used a spell he practiced for days with Lyla, knowing the breeze spell he used against Varg would be too weak against more powerful opponents. He took advantage of the distraction to advance at high speed and stabbed one of them in the neck with the dagger in his right hand. He pulled the blade out, ducked, and lunged toward the other to avoid his sword strike. From below, he sliced the man’s ankle, causing him to cry out in pain and lose his balance.

"You bastard!" the man screamed in agony as he dropped to the knee of his injured leg.

Kai used the man’s body for cover to avoid an arrow from the archer, which instead plunged into the eye of the trafficker he was using as a shield.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Even with the arrow in his eye, the man tried to attack Kai again. But Kai finished him off with several stabs to the back, letting his body fall to the ground.

"Liquid Blade," the mage finally recited.

A high-speed blade of water grazed Kai, slicing the fallen trafficker’s body in half. Without hesitation, Kai stood and ran, trying to distance himself to hide again, but one of the mage’s attacks nearly hit him, forcing him to change direction. Before he could disappear among the trees, he heard it again behind him.

"Liquid Blade!"

Kai knew he didn’t have time to dodge, so he took a very risky gamble and spun around, extending his hand.

"Absorption."

The water blade vanished into the air, shocking the remaining traffickers.

"How the hell did he do that?" the leader shouted at the mage.

Kai ran to a position where the three were perfectly aligned. He didn’t know exactly how the spell worked yet, but he raised his hand again.

"Expulsion."

The water blade reappeared and launched toward them at great speed, decapitating all three instantly.

[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ] 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

You have eliminated all enemies.

Level up!

Level: 20 (100/500)

You have earned two points to distribute among your statistics!

[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

Upon reaching level 20, the XP required to continue leveling up has increased to 500.

[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

New skill unlocked!

Inventory: You can store items within the inventory and take them out whenever and wherever you want.

Your skill: Absorption.

It has leveled up to 3/5. You can now use your own mana on an absorbed spell to power it up.

Kai read all the system messages carefully.

"Seems interesting," he murmured, closing the menu. "But I don’t have time for this."

He walked to the dagger he had dropped and picked it up again. The people inside the cages had been in complete, terrified silence since everything began. Kai approached the leader’s body and took the keys, opening the cages one by one to free the prisoners.

Still wearing the chains on their hands and feet, they huddled together.

"Who are you?" an elf asked.

"I’m Kai, an adventurer who was passing by and saw the situation, so I came to help you," he replied calmly.

They looked at each other, and the atmosphere relaxed.

"Please, stay calm. I won’t hurt you. I need you to line up so I can remove your chains one by one."

They all nodded and took their places, waiting for their turn.

"Thank you very much for saving us. You do honor to the name you carry, to the great hero Kai," mentioned a dwarf with a large scar on his face.

"It’s nothing," Kai smiled softly.

"Kai, our village is being attacked by these traffickers. Please, you have to hurry and free us so we can go help," another elf pleaded.

"It’s that small village over there, right?" Kai asked, pointing toward the area where smoke filled the sky.

They all nodded.

"Fine. As soon as I free you, you’ll come with me to help the people of the village. Do you know if there was another carriage?"

The dwarf from before, now freed, stepped forward.

"We were the first to leave the village, but there were many traffickers waiting for more carriages to arrive to keep taking more people away."

Kai sighed with rage and relief as he removed the chains from the last person in line.

"Then everyone will still be there. Good."

He gathered all the chains and put them in the carriage.

"Everyone, get in and go back to the village. I’ll go ahead on my mare. As soon as we arrive, I want everyone who knows magic to attack the traffickers immediately. I’ll kill them with my daggers while taking advantage of the chaos," Kai ordered firmly.

"Understood."

Everyone climbed into the carriage and began heading back. Kai ran toward the forest.

"Valira!"

She appeared from between the trees and approached, neighing and gently nudging Kai’s shoulder.

"Everything’s okay, girl, everything’s okay."

Kai stroked her and mounted again, riding at high speed toward the village. In a few seconds, he reached the carriage and pulled ahead, leading the group.

"Have many people died?" he asked directly, with a noticeable feeling of sorrow.

"Several. Those... bastards killed several people just for fun before capturing the rest."

Kai felt anger surge through his body again.

"We will avenge them and then give them a dignified burial, I promise you," he said as he continued riding.

"Thank you very much, Kai."

After several more minutes of riding at great speed, they finally approached the village. The smell of burning expanded throughout the area, as did the smoke and the cries of people.

"There they are," one of the elves pointed out, getting off the carriage. "Let’s get them, without mercy."

Kai dismounted from Valira.

"I’ll be back in a bit, girl," he said, stroking her with a small smile. When he turned away and walked with the rest toward where the traffickers were, his smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression of contained rage.