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

Auren hurriedly entered the dark and cold prison labyrinth beneath the Austerra castle with anxious eyes, his breath misting faintly in the stale underground air.

The pitch-black corridors stretched endlessly before him, every step swallowed by silence until the smells reached him- thick, suffocating scents of rotting flesh, human waste, and the metallic tang of rusted iron. The old prison cells whispered of centuries of despair.

He clenched his jaw and whispered, "I am coming, Father."

A fireball flared to life in his hand, its glow pushing back the shadows.

But the moment light touched the walls, silence shattered like glass. Bats shrieked and scattered above him, their leathery wings brushing the ceiling stones.

The fire woke the dungeon's other residents as well- gaunt prisoners stirred, eyes wide and desperate, voices breaking into chaotic uproar.

"Hey! Over here!"

"You're not Jessie… are you here to let us out!?"

"Kind sir, please! I'm innocent! Set me free!"

"Me too! Look at me, do I look like a criminal? Open the f*cking cell, man!"

"Don't trust him! He's a murderer! Let me out instead!"

The shouts layered into a storm, the sound bouncing off the stone and iron until it was a wall of desperation pressing in on Auren. Dozens of hands reached through the bars, bony fingers stretching toward his firelight as if it were salvation itself.

He forced himself to keep moving, jaw tight.

'As much as I want to help them, I can't. I don't know who's truly innocent, and setting them all free will only cause chaos. The guards above would be on us in seconds.'

Auren's eyes hardened as he pressed forward, his firelight briefly illuminating the filth and misery of the dungeon.

At last, he reached the far end of the labyrinth and descended the crumbling staircase into the second level. The deeper he went, the colder the air grew, and the walls closed tighter around him.

'I can't make another mistake with light. Better to rely on my eyes.'

The fireball dissolved into smoke in his hand. Darkness swallowed him whole, but he didn't hesitate. He whispered the command.

FALCON GAZE

His eyes glowed faintly, a bluish hue spreading outward like ripples across his vision. But unlike the Tiger Focus which cost a lot of mana, this one only cost him very small mana which he can easily recover thanks to the magical leather armor he wore with built in passive mana recovery.

In an instant, the blackness melted away in his eyes.

Every surface sharpened- the cracks in the walls, the moisture dripping from the ceiling, even the skittering rats that froze at the sight of his unnatural gaze. To him, it was no longer night but morning.

'Better avoid trouble.'

SHADOW WALK.

The air around his body shimmered as he stepped lightly forward, his form blending into the shadows.

His steps made no sound. Even the rats ignored him now, as if the dungeon itself had forgotten he was there.

He slipped past the cells. Misery surrounded him like a suffocating fog.

Men, women, even children sat hunched or sprawled on the floor, their bodies little more than bones wrapped in skin.

Some clung to life, trembling with shallow breaths. Others stared with hollow eyes that already looked past the living world.

The scraps of moldy bread on the ground were too stale to chew, and the only water was the filthy drips that seeped from the damp walls.

'Just you wait. I will make sure to free you soon.' Auren silently promised to them.

The further he walked, the heavier the air grew. Misery, hopelessness, and death hung on his skin like chains.

Finally, Auren stepped onto the third underground floor.

The change was immediate- the space was smaller, more suffocating, the silence deeper than above.

Only twelve cells lined the walls, but most were empty save for piles of bones. Two alone still held life.

His eyes fixed on the ninth cell, and he knew instantly.

He strode forward without hesitation, his heart pounding.

'Please, be alive... please be alive...'

Behind the bars, slumped in the corner, was a face he knew well despite the time and suffering that had ravaged it.

It was Robert.

"ugh..."

The man's once-proud frame had shriveled.

His arms, once like oak branches, were thin as sticks. His hair and beard had grown wild, covering half his face. He looked nothing like the man Auren had always remembered- strong, dependable, larger than life.

Auren's chest tightened.

He remembered the first time Robert had entered his life.

The Night Stalker's fangs had been inches away, and then- Robert appeared, wielding nothing but a wooden spear, his experience, and the instincts of a warrior.

Despite being only a Herbalist, he had fought like a seasoned fighter.

Since then, he had become more than protector.

To him, he was a teacher, showing Auren how to wield a sword, mix potions, track animals, survive when the world itself was against him.

And with Marissa's guidance in magic, Auren had grown into who he was now.

But overall, it had always been Robert who carried him forward.

Today, it was Auren's turn to carry Robert.

He deactivated the Trinity Bracer. His disguised form dissolved, revealing his true self- along with the absence of a Divine Frame.

"F-father," Auren said softly, voice trembling.

"…A-Auren?" Robert's voice rasped through cracked lips, slow and weak but filled with shock and relief. "Auren… is that really you, my boy?"

Time stood still. Auren stepped closer, his gaze drinking in the truth of his father's suffering- scarred skin, bone-thin arms, hollow eyes, hair matted with filth. Years of torment carved into flesh.

Rage clawed inside Auren's chest, but before it consumed him, Robert gave a faint, defiant smile- as if to say, this is nothing.

"Give me a second."

Auren's magic flared.

With raw force, he tore the door open and rushed inside. He wrapped Robert in his arms, ignoring the smell, the grime, the weakness.

He had found him. Finally.

Auren would love to hug him more but their situation is not that favorable yet.

Quickly, the magical chains around Robert snapped under Auren's mana-enhanced grip.

"H-how did you find me? Why would you come this deep into Austerra?" Robert coughed, his arms trembling as he tried and failed to lift them.

Auren didn't hesitate. "Here, take these."

He pressed two vials into his father's hands- one glowing green with healing, the other golden for rejuvenation.

Robert's eyes widened as he studied them. "You… made these yourself?"

"I did."

As a potion crafter, Robert would love to look at this beautiful potions more but since they are in a hurry, he decided to down them without question.

Warmth spread through his body, and Auren watched color return to his cheeks, watched his chest rise stronger, watched a spark of life flicker back into those eyes.

He was not fully restored, but no longer a shell.

"A-amazing…" Robert whispered as he felt his strength and life increased from within. He could even feel his blood boil with power.

Then his gaze, however, shifted toward another cell at the far side of the chamber.

For the first time, Auren noticed the figure there.

"Do you have more potions?" Robert asked quietly.

"I've got three healing, five mana, and some… special ones," Auren replied.

Robert ignored the rest. "Then… do you mind if we help him too?"

Auren followed his eyes. A man sat chained in the corner, his body wrapped in bindings three times heavier than Robert's.

He appeared to be middle-aged, with long dark-purple hair, he radiated a quiet, oppressive presence even in his weakened state.

The power that clung to him reminded Auren of Vulkris, chained before becoming a beast of chaos.

When Auren's Falcon Gaze scanned the man's Divine Frame, his lips curled into a grin.

It felt like pulling a triple-S summon in a gacha game.

"Absolutely," Auren smirked.

Meanwhile, chaos swallowed the entrance of the dungeon.

SHOOM!

SHOOM!

CLANG! CLANG!

Spears of jagged ice tore through the air, five in rapid succession, whistling like death itself. Jembook hurled them without mercy, his expression as cold as the shards he summoned.

Austaire - hidden in her Angela disguise- darted between the streaking projectiles, her blade flashing like a silver streak as she hacked the remaining spears into glittering shards. Her movements were not just fast, they were inhuman- grace woven with lethal precision.

A few feet away, Jessie stood completely unbothered by the carnage. His eyes glazed, his body unnervingly calm.

The hypnotic potion that Auren had forced into him kept him detached from the reality unfolding around him.

To him, the dungeon wasn't a battlefield, but a hazy dream where chaos did not reach.

Austaire's crimson gaze never left Jembook. She was studying him, watching every twitch of his fingers, every ripple in the mana that surged around his body and then react accordingly.

Shoo-CLANG!~

Her defense was seamless, but she was not content with merely surviving. Whenever an opening appeared, she struck without hesitation, forcing Jembook to break his relentless offense and fall back into a guarded stance.

Still, the rhythm of the battle belonged to him. His control of the field, the pressure of his ice magic, and his calculated precision kept Austaire reacting more than advancing.

She could break free at any moment- her true strength simmered just beneath the surface- but to reveal her real power here would be to risk exposing her true form and identity that might make him call for more back up.

"This is bad…" Austaire gritted her teeth as shards of ice exploded around her.

Jembook's relentless assault filled the hall with spears of frost, but to his shock, she batted them aside like an expert swordswoman.

Every strike, no matter the angle, she anticipated and countered.

It was as if she had eyes everywhere.

Her focus lingered on the glowing symbols of his Divine Frame, her expression hardening.

'That's one of the Dark Fate', Ovan's voice whispered in her mind. 'I remember him- one of the leaders who chased you before you entered Runewood.'

'Good to know,' she replied silently, her grip on the sword tightening from the boiling rage within.

Jembook lowered his hand, smirking with arrogance.

"Impressive. I can't believe you're holding out against me. You've got talent, young lady."

He walked closer, his voice thick with smug confidence.

"Why not join us? With your skill, you'd fit right in. Of course, you'll have to explain what happened to those guards first…"

Austaire raised her sword, glare unyielding.

"Get out of my way before I cut you into pieces and feed you to the pigs."

"Too bad."

Jembook's fingers twitched, his ring glowing as it released his true weapon- a monstrous black whip bristling with jagged, tooth-like blades.

The teasing grin faded, leaving only the cold, lethal eyes of a predator.

"You leave me no choice…"