Ren Isana shook his head under Lefiya's expectant gaze. He said with a hint of regret, "I can't learn it. This magic is too unique. You rely on your bloodline to cast it, and I don't have an Elf bloodline."
Ren threw his hands up, signaling his inability to learn it. Of course, this was a complete lie. If he really wanted to, he could even copy her bloodline.
However, in all the time Ren had been in this world, he had never once felt the desire to copy someone else's bloodline. Transforming into another race was a hard pass.
He much preferred staying a pure-blooded human. Besides, copying bloodlines was boring, and at the end of the day, a bloodline just provided a few extra abilities.
If that was the case, wasn't it better to just copy the abilities directly? Therefore, Ren had no intention of copying bloodlines; he would only replicate their innate talents and skills.
"I see... That's really a shame. It looks like there's no way to teach this magic to Ais," Lefiya said, her face full of disappointment as she looked into Ren's seemingly genuine eyes.
With a sigh, Lefiya put away her magic staff. If he couldn't learn it, then so be it. A Magic Circle flashed in her hand, and her staff vanished into thin air.
*She's already mastered [Weapon Storage]. Her talent really is something else,* Ren thought. *It's just a pity she's a bit of a yuri fanatic. Otherwise, Lefiya would be quite the catch.*
Still, she was an Elf in white pantyhose. The only downside was that the denier of her tights was a bit too high—if they were just a little more sheer, it would be absolutely perfect. But alas, that was just the limit of this world's textile craftsmanship.
*Maybe I'll gift her a few pairs if I get the chance later.* Keeping those thoughts to himself, Ren waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, no need to dwell on it. It's normal that I can't learn it, and besides, I don't really need to anyway."
Lefiya immediately rolled her eyes. *You might not need it, but someone else does!* Still, she couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Perhaps this was just the will of the heavens. Since this route was closed, she would just have to find another way to help Ais.
"In the future, if there's a magic I want to learn, could I ask you to learn it first and then teach it to me?" Lefiya voiced her idea. She had no other choice. This was the only way—have Ren learn it, then she would learn it from him, and finally, she could teach it to others.
Ren instantly saw through her plan. But why would he ever refuse such a good deal? He agreed without hesitation. "Sure, that's not a problem at all."
Hearing his promise, Lefiya beamed with joy. "Great! I might have to trouble you a lot in the future, then. Thank you so much!"
As long as Ren was willing, her plan could be put into action. Feeling incredibly pleased with herself, Lefiya finished her chat with Ren and turned around to find Ais.
She planned to discuss the [Ariel・Wind Spirit Dash] magic with Ais. Now that the two of them could finally talk about magical theories together, life was simply wonderful.
After she left, Yukino Yukinoshita and the others walked over. Asuna said with a hint of regret, "I thought you'd be able to learn that magic too. It would have been great if you could."
Hearing Asuna's words, Ren shook his head and explained, "That's a race-exclusive magic. It's basically an innate talent, so I can't learn it."
No one doubted his explanation. If that was the case, it was truly a pity, but it made sense—he couldn't just copy someone else's innate talent, right? There was nothing to be done about racial traits.
"Does this count as one of the very few magics you actually can't learn, Ren?" Megumi Kato couldn't help but ask. In her memory, ever since she had known him, there was hardly any magic he couldn't master.
"There's actually a lot of magic I can't learn. For example, I can't grasp certain Advanced Magic. Besides, this is a racial magic, so it's only normal that I can't learn it. If I could, I'd end up just like Director Ken..." Ren casually spun a lie.
Director Ken was the perfect cautionary tale. If anyone asked, he just couldn't learn it. If he did, he'd suffer the same fate. Because of this, everyone would easily believe that Ren had simply failed to learn it.
"What happened to the Director?" Yukino asked, slightly confused. Was there some hidden secret behind this?
"Director Ken's talent also allowed him to copy other people's magic. It's just that... he copied the magic of another race, and so..." Ren trailed off intentionally.
Hearing this, the three girls immediately recalled the mandatory regulations every Magician had to memorize. Asuna spoke slowly, "Because of the difference in race, forcibly using magic that doesn't belong to your own race will lead to..."
"Exactly. That's the reason. That mandatory trivia for Magicians only exists because of Director Ken," Ren nodded, confirming Asuna's words.
"I see, no wonder. But wait, Ren, you also learned some of Riveria's magic, didn't you? She's an Elf too!" Yukino suddenly remembered.
Riveria was an Elf, and Ren had learned her magic. Was that safe?
"Hers are fine. Her spells aren't actually considered racial magic, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to learn them so easily," Ren explained with a straight face.
He then continued, "Besides, I just analyzed the logical structure of her magic, and then used the magical logic of our world to cast it. We don't need to chant, after all."
Hearing Ren's explanation, the three girls exchanged glances. *Is that how it works?* But thinking about it, it made sense. Once the magic reached Ren's hands, the casting method became completely different.
"I see... Still, your talent is seriously absurd, Ren. Does it really have no limit?" Asuna looked at him with a complex expression.
Ever since arriving in this world, Ren had been frantically absorbing its knowledge. First, it was Hephaestus's forging techniques, then the God Miach's pharmacological knowledge, and finally, all sorts of magic.
He hadn't even been here that long, yet he had already mastered things that others might not learn in a lifetime. Sending Ren to this world was truly the right choice.
Asuna even suspected that once they returned and the higher-ups realized Ren's true value, they would probably assign him to explore and develop new worlds.
In fact, everyone in their class was benefiting from this. Would their class eventually turn into a dedicated clearing group? A vanguard specialized in conquering newly discovered worlds?
The moment this thought surfaced, Asuna was startled. The feasibility of such a plan was incredibly high. Because as long as Ren was there, he could freely learn all the knowledge that world had to offer...
It was far more reliable than dispatching a massive research team. No one else could learn as fast as Ren; he alone was worth several entire teams.
"The limit will probably show itself once I encounter higher-tier magic. After all, there are times when I find it a bit strenuous to learn, like my foundational knowledge can't quite keep up!" Ren casually threw out another excuse.
Listening to his words, Asuna and the others looked at each other. *Is that so?* Ren actually had such struggles? They honestly hadn't noticed at all.
However, they didn't press the issue. They didn't understand the intricacies of it anyway. If Ren said so, he must have his reasons. It was probably exactly as he described.
Chatting idly, the group returned to the camp and began preparing lunch. The classmates who had gone out for a stroll soon returned, bringing back some ores and other miscellaneous items they had bought.
However, since these guys didn't know much about their purchases, they came to ask Ren. Staring at the stone Kai had bought, Ren fell into deep thought. "I don't recognize this thing. What exactly is it?"
Searching through his memories, Ren couldn't identify the material in Kai's hands. Did such a material even exist?
"That looks like Earth Dragon feces..." Just then, Lefiya and Ais walked over. Lefiya glanced at the object in Kai's hand and revealed its true identity with a rather strange expression.
Hearing this, everyone's faces instantly changed. Leo immediately backed far away from Kai and yelled, "Holy crap, Kai, you bought shit?!"
The moment he said that, the crowd burst into roaring laughter. Kai felt like his soul was leaving his body. After learning what the item actually was, Ren's expression turned odd, and he muttered gratefully, "Thank God I didn't reach out to take it!"
Kai instantly hurled the thing as far away as possible, then sprinted to the water source and scrubbed his hands furiously, cursing up a storm. "That damn dwarf! If I ever see him again, I'm gonna beat the living daylights out of him!"
This was absolutely soul-crushing. Who could have guessed that he had actually bought a literal piece of shit? And why did this kind of thing even exist in the Dungeon? Weren't the monsters here spawned by the Dungeon itself?
Why would they leave droppings? It wasn't scientific at all! After all, in his eyes, the Dungeon was just a massive gaming arena, and the monsters that spawned were nothing more than clusters of data.
He had never once considered that these monsters would eat, drink, and defecate. And now Lefiya was telling him it was poop? This was just toxic.
"The deeper you go, the more monsters there are, and they do prey on each other. On top of that, these monsters also eat adventurers. If you guys are going to buy materials in the future, you'd better be careful," Ren chimed in.
Many people in the class viewed this Dungeon through the lens of an online game, assuming the monsters wouldn't do such realistic things. But the reality was far different.
Listening to Ren, Kai hurriedly promised, "I swear I'm never buying random junk again! This is just f*cked up!!"
He swore to never buy anything he didn't recognize again. He had been completely scammed this time, and it had cost him over ten thousand Valis. He thought he had found a hidden treasure, but he had literally picked up a piece of shit.
"A lot of people in the Dungeon love to scam rookies like you," Lefiya said, her expression turning incredibly strange as she watched the guy furiously washing his hands.
She had to admit, this was actually quite hilarious. Thinking about it, the corners of her mouth twitched upward, unable to suppress a smile. If word of this got out, it would be absolutely explosive gossip.
"Dammit!!" What a humiliation! This was an absolute disgrace! Kai felt incredibly aggrieved. After washing his hands, he grabbed his weapon, ready to go hunt down the guy who sold it to him.
"Alright, don't cause a scene. Just treat it as paying for a lesson. Besides, do you really think the guy is still waiting there for you?" Ren immediately stopped him. He wasn't about to let him cause trouble.
Even if Kai went back, he probably wouldn't find anyone. The swindlers who preyed on rookies in a place like this would never stick around to give their victims a chance for revenge. The guy had likely vanished without a trace long ago.
For people like that, it was all about scamming whoever they could and running off immediately. They could just lay low for a while and come back later. With the massive flow of people in the Dungeon, a simple disguise was all it took to ensure no one would ever recognize them again.
Kai was suffocating with frustration, but he knew Ren was right. As pissed off as he was, he had no choice but to pinch his nose and accept the loss.
Ren didn't dwell on the matter. He simply told them to be careful in the future before calling everyone over to start making lunch. The ingredients had already been prepped by some of their classmates.
Those who were good at cooking stepped forward and got busy. Meals in the Dungeon were always cooked in large communal pots. Since it was just the students cooking, the taste was neither amazing nor terrible.
After all, how delicious could a massive pot of stew really be? But in an environment like this, just having a hot meal was already pretty fantastic. At the very least, Ais and Lefiya thoroughly enjoyed it.
For them, the number of times they had eaten a hot meal inside the Dungeon could be counted on one hand, so they had absolutely no complaints.
After everyone finished their simple lunch, Ren spoke up. "Ais, Lefiya, you two form a squad. As for the five-man squad over there, discuss it among yourselves and have one person step out to team up with Ais and Lefiya."
Ren began organizing the formations right after eating. With the addition of these two, the two oversized squads could each spare one person to form a new team with them.
This way, it worked out perfectly—every squad would have exactly four members. Hearing Ren's instructions, the members of the five-man squads discussed it briefly before two female students stepped forward to team up with Ais.
"Please take care of us!" Ais said. Seeing the two girls who were going to team up with her, she felt a bit surprised. Usually, when they were in the Dungeon, they moved together as one massive group.
They didn't operate in small four-man squads like Ren's class did. Of course... maybe that was just because she was always sticking close to Riveria and the main force?
"Excuse me, do you have any specific tactics?" Lefiya asked, looking at her two new teammates, and then at the rest of the class who were already geared up and ready to move out.
She wanted to get things straight beforehand; it would be disastrous if they ended up scrambling in a panic later. Her question caused the two female students to shake their heads.
"We don't really have any tactics. When the time comes, the four of us will just stick together and cover each other while fighting the monsters. We just operate as a squad," one of them quickly explained.
What tactics could they possibly have? They just grabbed their weapons and went at it. There was no hesitation—whoever was in danger got helped. That was pretty much it.
However, teaming up with Ais this time meant the two of them were basically just here to get carried. This was someone who could fight back and forth with Ren! Even though she lost, she was still leagues stronger than them.
After all, Ais was a Lv.5 adventurer, and Lefiya was Lv.4. Both of them were vastly superior in strength, so the two students were fully prepared to just slack off and ride their coattails.
"I see. Then how do you handle collecting Magic Stones? Are there any specific rules for that?" Lefiya nodded, getting the gist of it. They were just splitting up to operate as independent squads.
"Collect all of them and put them in the Spatial Backpacks later. We take everything, no matter what it is. Your squad doesn't have a Spatial Backpack, so just gather them up and we'll store them all together later," Ren interjected.
There were no special rules—they just wanted everything. After all, every little bit counts, and Ren wouldn't turn down any loot. Having explained this to her, Ren grabbed his weapon and headed outside.
Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit. Everyone traveled light. Aside from a small backpack that wouldn't hinder their combat movements, all their other luggage was left behind at the camp.
Ais and Lefiya hurriedly followed them out. Once everyone was outside, Ren activated the Magic Circle in the camp. In an instant, a [Spatial Barrier] materialized, completely locking down the entire campsite.