After their conversation, the three of them left the inn and headed to a blacksmith to buy a weapon for Kai. Once there, a dwarf with an elegant mustache showed them various options to choose from.

  "I’ll take that sword over there," Kai said, pointing to a greatsword on display.

  "I see... another lad with a sword complex," the dwarf muttered as he approached.

  Kai pressed his lips together in a futile attempt to maintain his dignity, but they curved into a trembling grimace. His eyes, wide open, vibrated with a slight nervous blink, and a blush rushed from his neck to his ears in seconds. Seeing his reaction, the dwarf knew he had hit the mark.

  In the background, Allice and Lyla struggled to keep from bursting into laughter. Still flushed with embarrassment, Kai turned and walked toward some daggers.

  "I’ll take these instead. How much are they?".

  "8 silver coins, they are high quality," the dwarf replied professionally, despite the situation.

  Allice stepped forward and held out the coins. "I’ll pay," she interrupted, trying not to laugh.

  Kai simply grabbed the daggers, and they walked toward the exit. "Thank you very much, we’ll be back soon".

  After that, the three of them headed to the outskirts of the Kingdom of Athelgard so Kai could level up in a dungeon. When they finally arrived, several other groups of adventurers were preparing to enter.

  Once inside, a vast cave expanded before them. The further they ventured, the more they noticed the humidity, the nauseating stench of monsters, and a high concentration of mana in the air. Allice and Lyla stayed behind Kai to advise him during his fights.

  In the first few meters of the cave, the monsters were quite easy. Kai moved with considerable skill, killing several goblins with impressive ease. However, as they went deeper, the monsters became more skillful and stronger.

  At one point, Allice taught Kai various fire magic techniques, such as the arrow she had used the night they met. Lyla didn't stay behind and showed Kai how to use wind magic to enhance his fire attacks. Kai learned remarkably fast thanks to the System, which allowed him to use different types of magic without issue.

  "You’re learning very well, sweetheart," Lyla said, embracing him with pride. "Once you level up more and I recover, I’ll teach you the rest of the magic".

  "Really? Perfect. The only problem is I don't have enough mana for all that yet, I need to keep getting stronger".

  The three continued advancing without much difficulty until they decided to stop and rest at a point in the cave. Several other groups of adventurers were also resting there.

  Suddenly, another group of three people appeared wearing an emblem Kai recognized instantly, the emblem of the god Athel. Kai restrained himself and decided to ignore them, but they began to harass the other adventurers who were eating and resting.

  "Look at you, a disgusting group that doesn't even reach Rank F. What are you? From the religion of Syon?".

  "That’s it, Varg! Show them that the religion of Athel is the one true faith of this world".

  The group led by Varg continued intimidating and bothering everyone they found, fueled by an absurd sense of superiority. Then the inevitable happened, they approached the area where Kai, Allice, and Lyla were eating.

  "And that pendant, girl? Is it the emblem of Goddess Lyla’s 'Eternal Devotion' religion?". "Pff, imagine believing in a religion like that. The only religion that should exist is the 'Pure Filter', the god Athel is the only god there is".

  Allice simply ignored Varg’s words.

  "Hey you! Don't you dare ignore me like that!" Varg snapped, stepping closer with arrogance.

  "Shut up already, trash. Can't you see no one is paying attention to you?" Allice replied, looking him dead in the eye.

  "What did you call me, you little bitch?!" he shouted in a rage.

  At those words, Kai's mana began to overflow little by little, just as it had hours earlier during his memories. Lyla noticed immediately and placed her hand on his thigh to calm him.

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  "I called you trash, you idiotic pig".

  "How dare you!" Varg unsheathed a fairly large sword.

  Kai, now calmer, interrupted, "Here we have another one with a sword complex".

  At that moment, Lyla and Allice burst into laughter. Varg’s face turned as red as a tomato.

  "Repeat what you said, you insolent brat!" Varg screamed, sword held high.

  However, one of his companions stopped him and pulled him away to calm him down. Once they were away from Kai’s group, they whispered among themselves.

  "Calm down, Varg. It’s not worth doing anything here with so many people. Let's do something else instead".

  The third member of the group joined in, "Those two girls might be rude and from another religion, but they are beautiful. We can deal with the boy easily and then take those two with us to have some fun before finishing them off too".

  "Let's see..." Varg looked back at Lyla and Allice. "Truth is, they are two beauties. I don't understand what they’re doing with that pathetic brat".

  "See? Let's set a trap. We’ll split them up, lure the boy away from those two, kill him, and then take the beauties. What do you think?".

  "Sounds good. Let's do it".

  Unaware of the specific plan, Kai, Allice, and Lyla continued their way through the cave, slaying more monsters.

  [ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

  Level Up!

  Mana has increased to 600!

  Level: 10 (10/100)

  You have 12 points to distribute!

  Kai looked at his stat panel for several seconds before deciding.

  STATS

  Strength: 14

  Speed: 17

  Resilience: 13

  Intelligence: 18

  Mana: 600/600

  Perception: 23

  "Ready. We can keep moving," Kai said.

  "You know? After this, we really should go get something to eat. I'm actually hungry," Allice mentioned, following him.

  "We deserve a good meal," Lyla added, leaning on Allice.

  Kai passed through a very narrow path and entered a wide area. "There’s nothing her" A thunderous crash echoed through the cave, and the narrow path behind him was suddenly filled with boulders.

  "Kai! Kai!" Lyla shouted with worry from the other side.

  Kai tried to approach the rocks blocking the path but stopped dead as an arrow whizzed past, nearly grazing him.

  [ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

  Enemy detected

  Type: Human.

  Threat Level: Rank D.

  Distance: By your side.

  He turned toward the direction the arrow came from.

  "Look who we have here. The brat who dared to laugh at me," Varg said. "Doesn't seem like you're laughing much now".

  "What do you want?" Kai asked.

  "Isn't it obvious? To kill you. Then we’ll take those two beauties with us, I'm sure they’ll have a better time than with someone as pathetic as you".

  Kai was filled with rage, but he had no time to react as one of Varg’s companions attacked from the side with a powerful water ball. The impact knocked his daggers away and sent him crashing against a large rock. On the other side of the collapse, Lyla and Allice tried desperately to break through, but they couldn't use full force without risking a total cave in.

  Trying to get up, Kai felt the edge of Varg’s sword against his neck. "You couldn't even defend yourself. You’re pathetic".

  Kai carefully raised his hand and recited, "Breeze". A powerful gust of air pushed Varg far enough back for Kai to stand up. Without wasting a second, Kai extended both hands.

  "Burning Arrow!".

  The area lit up as heat expanded rapidly. An arrow made entirely of fire shot at high speed toward the member who had thrown the water ball. Before he could react, the arrow pierced his chest, killing him instantly.

  Varg lunged at Kai with great speed, but Kai skillfully slid to the side. The sword grazed his cheek, but he didn't flinch, he just ran to his daggers and snatched them up. The archer kept firing at him, but Kai deflected the arrows with his daggers, closing the distance until he plunged both blades into the man's neck. Blood spilled across the floor the moment he pulled the daggers out.

  Varg’s smug look of superiority vanished, replaced by a gaze of utter terror. "How is this... no, who are you?! A guy like you shouldn't have been able to" Varg stopped himself. "It doesn't matter! I’ll kill you and cut off your head to show it to those two girls!".

  Kai didn't answer, he just lunged at Varg. Varg parried the attack with his sword, the sound of clashing metal filling the area. Kai continued attacking with his daggers at a monstrous, terrifying speed. Varg had to reinforce his arm with mana just to match Kai's pace.

  During the exchange, Kai struck Varg in the face with his elbow, breaking his nose. Due to the heavy blow, Varg tried to retreat, leaving an opening Kai didn't forgive, he drove a dagger straight into Varg’s ribs, leaving him gravely wounded.

  Varg reacted by funneling all his mana into his right arm for an all or nothing strike. Because of the immense speed and force, Kai had to back away to avoid being cut in two. But as soon as the attack missed, Kai counterattacked by throwing his other dagger directly into Varg’s dominant arm.

  Varg backed away as far as he could, dropping his sword from the horrific pain, blood splattering the ground. Kai glanced at his mana.

  Mana: 500/600.

  He extended both arms forward with a clear idea. If people in this world breathe, it’s because there is oxygen in the air, without it, they die.

  "Retention," he recited, his face reflecting the great effort.

  Varg gasped, he couldn't breathe. He tried to move forward but collapsed to his knees from his injuries. His hands didn't try to cover the dagger wounds, they clawed at his neck, desperate for a single breath.

  "You deserve this, scum".

  Kai was holding back all the air in the area so there was none where Varg stood, removing the oxygen. After several seconds, Varg finally fell to the ground.

  Kai lowered his hands.

  Mana: 0/600.

  [ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

  All enemies defeated.

  Level Up!