Ren Isana stored all the materials into his Spatial Ring. The group began to rest and recover on the spot—some used [Meditation], while others drank potions.
Ais and Lefiya also received their share of supplies from their two teammates. As they drank the orange-flavored potions crafted by Ren, their faces filled with astonishment. *This tastes way too good, doesn't it?*
These potions were infinitely better than the ones they usually carried. Their standard potions always had a bitter, herbal taste, unlike the ones Ren's group handed out, which actually tasted like fresh fruit.
*Is this what Ren brewed earlier?* The taste was absolutely fantastic, and both girls loved it. No wonder the others would occasionally take one out to sip on—they were delicious enough to drink as regular beverages.
Once everyone had mostly recovered, Ren had Yukino Yukinoshita begin a new round of summoning. The battle resumed across the plains.
For the rest of the morning, the group didn't stop for a single moment. It wasn't until noon that Ren finally called a halt so they could start cooking.
At this point, the hand Asuna used to grip her sword was trembling. Heaven only knew how many monsters they had slaughtered today. From start to finish, aside from the brief moments spent clearing the battlefield, they hadn't taken a single break.
Many of them were even sporting minor injuries. Looking at his classmates' condition, Ren felt quite satisfied. They were practically radiating a thick, murderous aura now.
"Take a break. I'll go make lunch," Ren told his classmates before getting to work. That was enough for the morning; they would continue in the afternoon.
Hearing Ren's words, everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief. If they had kept going, they genuinely wouldn't have been able to hold their weapons steady. God knows how many monsters they had hacked down all morning.
Their bodies had gone completely numb, and their sword hands were shaking. Now that they could finally rest, everyone collapsed onto the ground, hastily pulling out Red Potions and Blue Potions and chugging them down.
After downing their potions, they closed their eyes and entered [Meditation]. Once they had recovered a bit, they got up to help prepare lunch, while those with injuries received [Healing Magic].
Today's lunch was simply rice and curry. It was the most abundant item in their supplies—quick, easy, and filling. All it took was tossing everything into a single pot to stew.
Once lunch was ready, Ren called out to the group, telling the exhausted students to hurry up and eat. Already starving, everyone rushed over at his call and eagerly dug into their meal.
Perhaps because they had slaughtered so many monsters that morning, no new ones spawned to interrupt their lunch break. Instead, they were able to finish their meal in complete peace.
After eating and drinking their fill, they pulled out more Red Potions, sipping on them like after-dinner desserts. As their stamina gradually returned, they sat around chatting.
They also took the time to inspect their weapons. Sora looked at the sword in her hand and said happily, "This is amazing! There's not a single scratch on it. Class Rep, what materials should we gather next to keep upgrading them?"
Over the course of the morning, she had gained a profound appreciation for her weapon. It was simply too good.
"Monster drops, naturally. Just keep collecting them. I'll let you know when we have enough to use," Ren said, glancing at her before packing away the pots and pans his classmates had already washed.
Hearing this, everyone immediately perked up. Monster drops? In that case, they just needed to work harder and kill even more monsters.
Ren let them rest for another half hour. Once he felt they were ready, he spoke up again. "Let's continue. We'll summon a few more waves of monsters, and once we clear them out, it'll be time to head back up."
At his words, everyone stood up and scattered, getting into their combat formations. Seeing this, Ren turned his gaze toward Yukino.
Yukino Yukinoshita nodded and sprang into action. She was already used to this routine. As a ruthless summoning machine, all she had to do was condense the divine blood.
As the scent of divine blood spread, monsters began popping up one after another. The group immediately charged forward, clashing with the incoming horde.
Their combat experience was growing more refined by the minute. Combined with their fully recovered stamina, their killing speed had noticeably increased, making the battles feel much easier.
If they kept this up, the entire class would undoubtedly become qualified warriors. It wasn't until the final wave of monsters was wiped out in the late afternoon that Ren had everyone sweep the battlefield for loot. Afterward, they quickly took the passageway back to the 18th Floor.
Upon returning to camp, the group barely managed a quick wash before diving straight into their tents and falling fast asleep. A full day of high-intensity combat had left everyone completely exhausted.
The only ones who still looked perfectly fine were Ren and Ais. Even Lefiya was looking rather drained; after all, she had been incredibly busy today, constantly casting buffs and [Healing Magic] on everyone.
"Go get some rest. Barring any surprises, this is how we'll be spending the next few days. I hope you don't mind," Ren said, glancing at Ais.
Hearing Ren's words, Ais shook her head. With an incredibly serious expression, she replied, "I don't mind at all. In fact, this is better. I really like this fulfilling feeling!"
The endless waves of monsters were intoxicating to her. She was completely immersed in the sheer thrill of battle. *If I keep this up, I'll definitely become even stronger, won't I?*
If possible, she actually hoped Ren would summon even more monsters to push her into a crisis. Only in the face of true danger could she achieve greater growth.
"Is that so? Well, get some sleep early," Ren replied. Seeing her genuine enthusiasm, he didn't say anything more. He simply returned to his own tent and immediately went to sleep.
Ais glanced over the quiet camp before heading into her own tent to rest. The night passed without incident. The next day, everyone headed straight back down to the 23rd Floor to resume their grind.
For the next several days, Ren and the others maintained this exact routine. Every morning, they would charge down to the 23rd Floor, and every afternoon, they would return. Through these days of relentless slaughter, every single person in the class had transformed into a capable warrior.
As expected, only real combat could force people to grow quickly. Now, the group was undeniably qualified, and careless injuries were a thing of the past.
While Ren and the others were frantically grinding monsters every day, Hestia wasn't sitting idle back in Orario. She hadn't forgotten the task Ren had given her, so she spent every day wandering around the city with Shizuka Hiratsuka.
They were keeping an eye out for any new adventurers arriving in Orario from the outside world. If she spotted a suitable candidate, she would approach them with an invitation.
As the city housing the Dungeon, Orario saw plenty of new adventurers arriving every single day. However, not a single one of them met Hestia's standards.
Right now, Hestia and Shizuka Hiratsuka were sitting at an open-air restaurant. Shizuka was sipping on some of this world's beer, quietly watching the bustling crowds pass by.
Hestia, on the other hand, was constantly scanning the area, looking for anyone suitable to invite into her Familia. They had been coming here for three days straight, but Hestia still hadn't found anyone she was satisfied with.
This spot was close to one of the main roads leading to the outside world, so foot traffic was heavy. Yet, to Hestia's immense frustration, she just couldn't find a single decent prospect.
"I'm just saying, maybe you should lower your standards a bit. If we bring some people in, we can always train them," Shizuka Hiratsuka said, looking at Hestia with a helpless expression.
She had been keeping the goddess company these past few days. She fully supported the idea of scouting new blood for the Familia, but Hestia's standards were simply too high. After days of searching, she hadn't approved of a single person.
The beer was great and all, but they couldn't just keep doing this forever. Shizuka felt it would be better to lower the bar and just recruit anyone who looked halfway decent.
It wasn't like these new recruits were going to be their main fighting force anyway, so there was no need to set the bar so ridiculously high. Judging mortals through the discerning eyes of a goddess was just making things unnecessarily difficult. How many people like that could possibly exist?
"No way! At the very least, they need to be on par with everyone else, right? I'm not expecting them to match Ren, but they can't be worse than the rest of the class!" Hestia refused flatly.
While she wasn't using Ren as the baseline, she absolutely refused to let subpar individuals join. She was determined to stick to an elite-only route.
Hestia knew perfectly well that finding another shining existence like Ren was practically impossible, so she was using his classmates as the benchmark for her selection.
Unfortunately, even people of that caliber were incredibly rare. Over the past few days, she hadn't spotted a single one, which left her feeling incredibly depressed. Even when she did spot someone promising, they already belonged to another Familia.
Hestia had no interest in poaching from other Familias. Ren had specifically told her to look for fresh rookies who had just arrived in Orario.
Now, it seemed like completing this task was going to be far too difficult. Feeling a wave of disappointment, Hestia sighed and went back to scanning the crowd.
Seeing this, Shizuka Hiratsuka was left utterly speechless. For a moment, she didn't even know what to say. With a sigh of her own, what else could she do? Keep drinking, of course.
Since the goddess was dead set on using the class as her standard, Shizuka decided to just let her be. If she actually managed to find someone like that, it would be great. The only problem was that it was a monumental task.
After all, the students in the special class had been meticulously handpicked before being brought together. Finding people of that caliber out in the wild was absurdly difficult. It wasn't even guaranteed that anyone in this world met those standards.
Even if they did exist, they had probably already been snatched up by other Familias. People like Ais and Lefiya fit the criteria perfectly, but unfortunately, they already had their own Familia.
Just as Shizuka was pondering this while sipping her beer, Hestia's eyes suddenly lit up. "Finally found one!!" she exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
Hearing Hestia's shout, Shizuka's interest was piqued. She followed the goddess's gaze and spotted a young boy with white hair and red eyes. *Is he human?* Shizuka wondered to herself.
The boy didn't look very old—maybe fourteen or fifteen at most. He had the distinct look of a country bumpkin, looking around in wide-eyed wonder the moment he stepped into Orario.
Hestia immediately jumped up and ran over. Seeing this, Shizuka hurriedly followed. As soon as she got close, Hestia blocked the boy's path and declared, "Young man! Are you interested in joining the Hestia Familia? We offer free room and board, plus full combat training and magic instruction!"
Hestia had marched right up to him and rattled off her pitch without missing a beat. Hearing this, the boy looked completely bewildered. He looked up at Hestia and Shizuka in confusion.
"Me?" The boy pointed at himself, scarcely able to believe that he was being invited to join a Familia the moment he arrived. But his surprise quickly turned into wariness. His grandfather had warned him to be careful of scammers in Orario.
Especially for a tender young boy like him—there were plenty of weirdos who were into that sort of thing. Were these two human traffickers? Were they trying to trick him so they could sell him off?
"That's right, you! We're from the Hestia Familia, and we're currently recruiting promising rookies. So, are you interested?" Hestia reiterated her identity, confirming that he hadn't misheard. And indeed, the boy standing before them was none other than Bell Cranel, fresh off the boat to Orario!
"The Hestia Familia...?" Bell, having just arrived from the countryside, was completely lost. He had never heard of this Familia before. Was it some small, unknown group? Just as he was about to say something, he heard the other woman speak up.
"Hestia, are you sure this is the one you want? Then there's no need to waste words on him. Let's just tie him up and take him back first!" Shizuka Hiratsuka's voice rang out, leaving Bell utterly dumbfounded.
The next second, his vision went black, and he instantly lost consciousness. Shizuka grabbed Bell by the back of his collar with one hand, keeping him from collapsing onto the ground.
"Once he understands our Familia's situation, I'm sure he won't refuse. And if he does, we'll just force a Falna onto him first," Shizuka said nonchalantly.
Since he was someone Hestia had set her sights on, his potential had to be excellent. If that was the case, what was there to hesitate about? Knock him out, drag him back, and figure out the rest later.
Shizuka's sudden strike gave Hestia a massive fright. *Is this really okay?!* Quite a few people in the surrounding crowd were already staring at them.
Kidnapping someone right in the middle of the street was an incredibly bold move. Some of the out-of-towners were absolutely terrified by the sight. *Are the locals here really this barbaric? They just kidnap people in broad daylight?!*
"I-Isn't this a bit bad?" Hestia asked guiltily. The stares from the onlookers were making her scalp tingle. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to find a hole to crawl into.
"There's nothing bad about it. You finally found one—do you really want to let him run away? Let's go, we're heading back!" After saying that, Shizuka grabbed Hestia with her free hand, hoisted Bell up with the other, and vanished from the spot in a flash.
The onlookers were left staring at each other in shock. *Good heavens, someone actually committed a kidnapping in broad daylight! Is there no law and order here?! Will no one do anything?!* But the kidnappers had already made a clean getaway.
This left many of the new arrivals trembling in fear. They began eyeing everyone around them warily, terrified that someone might suddenly pop out and abduct them too.
However, there were quite a few people who knew better. In their eyes, only a delicate little pretty boy like Bell would get kidnapped. As for the rest of them, they didn't have to worry. And honestly, if they were going to be kidnapped by women that beautiful, they'd be more than happy to oblige.
When Shizuka brought Bell and Hestia back to the Familia headquarters, she paused in surprise at the sight in the main hall. There was a new beastman here?
Yor Forger and Natsuki Minamiya were sipping tea, and sitting nervously across from them was a blonde fox-girl. Seeing this beastman, Shizuka was quite taken aback.
"Professor Natsuki, did you kidnap a girl too?" Shizuka asked casually as she dumped Bell onto the floor. He wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon anyway.
Hearing Shizuka's words, Natsuki and Yor glanced at the unconscious boy on the floor, then back at Shizuka. Natsuki couldn't help but reply, "I didn't kidnap her. I robbed her from someone else."
Natsuki's words left Shizuka surprised, while Hestia instantly grew vigilant. Looking at the fox-girl in confusion, the goddess asked, "Which Familia does she belong to? How could you just steal someone else's Familia member?"
"The Ishtar Familia," Natsuki replied slowly, noting Hestia's wariness. But the moment Hestia heard that name, all her concern vanished.
"Oh, then it's fine. But what's the situation? Why did you steal her? And Ishtar actually agreed to let her go?" Hestia asked, thoroughly puzzled. Did Natsuki take Yor over there and threaten them at knifepoint? And why did the two of them go there to snatch someone in the first place?