The special monster on the 27th Floor, the Juggernaut, was a unique existence born solely to annihilate intruders.
It possessed ultra-hard metallic claws, armor capable of reflecting magic, and incredibly high mobility. This thing's very creation was meant for the large-scale slaughter of adventurers.
Most importantly, its entire body was made of a Magic Stone. Once born, the only way for it to disappear was to wait until it had killed every single adventurer present.
The method to summon it was also simple: directly destroy the Dungeon's structure. As long as the scale of destruction was large enough, this monster would be born.
This was the result of tests conducted by the Evils. Ren Isana was well aware of this fact; that monster was the exact same entity that had annihilated Ryuu's Astraea Familia.
Ren Isana's words prompted Mia to walk over. Seeing that Ren and the others had completely demolished all the delicious food on the table, she immediately let out a hearty laugh. "Looks like my cooking suits everyone's tastes!"
Seeing customers eat their food cleanly was the greatest praise for a chef. Even though it was Ren Isana and his group's first time here, they had polished off every last bite. How could she not be happy?
"The taste was quite excellent. If we have the chance in the future, we'll definitely come again," Ren Isana couldn't help but praise. While eating, he had already analyzed the recipes. If he ever craved it later, he could just make it himself.
Hearing Ren Isana say this, Mia became even happier. After the two chatted for a bit, she even gave Ren a discount. After all, she had just gained another regular customer, so her mood couldn't be better.
Ren Isana chatted with her for a while longer, settled the bill, and then left with Hestia and the others. Stepping out of the restaurant, the group wandered around for a bit before returning to the Familia headquarters.
On the way back, Hestia hesitated for a moment before she couldn't help but ask Ren Isana, "Ren, I want to form an alliance with the Hephaestus Familia. Is that okay?"
She suddenly brought this up to Ren Isana. This idea had sprouted when Ren decided to ally with the Loki Familia.
Hephaestus was her best friend. There was no reason for her to ally with Loki but not with Hephaestus. However, she needed to discuss this with Ren Isana first, as she didn't know if he would agree.
"No problem. If you want to form an alliance, go ahead. You can add the Miach Familia while you're at it," Ren Isana replied, having no objections to Hestia bringing this up. In fact, he was more than eager for her to do so.
It would be best to bring the Miach Familia along. After all, the Miach Familia had done him a huge favor, and Ren Isana remembered that clearly. Being able to bring them along would be quite nice.
Hearing Ren Isana say this, Hestia immediately broke into a joyful smile. "Alright! Then I'll go find Hephaestus and Miach tomorrow and talk to them about it!!"
It was truly wonderful that Ren Isana agreed. Hestia was fully aware of the reason the Loki Familia allied with them, so she wanted to bring her best friend along for the ride.
On the way back, Hestia's mood was noticeably much more cheerful. She chattered non-stop beside Ren Isana like a chirping lark.
"When the time comes, just go talk to Ms. Minamiya about this. In the future, whoever you want to ally with, just discuss it directly with Ms. Minamiya. I'll support whatever you decide." Ren Isana looked at Hestia, handing all decision-making power regarding this matter over to Natsuki Minamiya.
After all, this wasn't something he should be doing himself; it was Natsuki Minamiya's responsibility. Leaving it to her was undoubtedly the best choice.
Hestia nodded. She knew what she had to do now—she would just consult Natsuki Minamiya from now on.
"I know! I'll tell Natsuki. She definitely won't refuse. Hephaestus's skills are quite excellent, and so are Miach's!" She even felt that allying with Hephaestus would be better than with Loki.
As they chatted, the group arrived back at the Familia headquarters. Upon returning, Hestia immediately went to find Natsuki Minamiya, while Ren Isana led everyone to the workshop and had them take out their materials.
Once everything was settled, Ren Isana spoke up, "You guys go study magic first. I'll notify you when I'm ready. For now, I'm going to forge weapons for Bell and Haruhime."
Ren Isana looked at the materials and then told Asuna and the others to go study first.
Hearing Ren Isana's arrangement, everyone naturally had no objections. After greeting him, they left, leaving only Haruhime and Bell behind.
"Come, tell me what kind of weapons you want. Haruhime, you go first," Ren Isana called out to the two, asking them to describe their desired weapons.
Hearing Ren Isana say this, Haruhime couldn't help but hesitate. "Can it be any kind of weapon?"
Ren Isana nodded and smiled. "Just say the word. Any weapon is fine; it doesn't make much of a difference anyway."
Confirming this, Haruhime nodded and then voiced her request. "Lord Ren, do you know what a Kagura Suzu is? If possible, I would like a magical focus like that."
Hearing her request, Ren Isana replied thoughtfully, "A Kagura Suzu, huh? We have those where I'm from too. Are you sure you want this? It's a bit troublesome to make, but it's not a big problem."
Ren Isana instantly understood what she was talking about. It was that thing shrine maidens held in anime when they danced—it looked like a club, but was actually a cluster of bells.
That thing was called a Kagura Suzu. Turning it into a magic staff wouldn't be difficult for Ren Isana. A magic staff was nothing more than a tool to channel and amplify Magic Power. Making one for Haruhime would be a breeze.
Seeing that Ren Isana understood what it was, Haruhime's eyes immediately lit up. She hurriedly nodded, confirming that she wanted this as her weapon.
"And what about you, Bell?" Having confirmed Haruhime's desired weapon, Ren Isana turned his gaze to Bell, wondering if this kid still wanted a dagger like in the anime.
Hearing Ren Isana's words, Bell quickly spoke up, "If possible, please forge a dagger for me, Lord Ren."
His frame was quite small, and he wasn't used to wielding long weapons, so a dagger was better. This weapon would better complement his movements.
"Understood. Then you two go out and study. I'll call you when the forging is done." Ren Isana agreed upon hearing this. *Sure enough, he wants a dagger.*
Since that was the case, things were simple. He could just forge a weapon exactly like the one in the anime, though it wouldn't have those dense runes—it would only have the attributes of sturdiness and sharpness.
Hearing Ren Isana say this, the two hurriedly bowed and then left, leaving Ren alone to busy himself.
Once they were gone, Ren Isana got to work. He decided to forge their weapons first. The Kagura Suzu was more complicated, so Ren forged Bell's dagger first, saving the Kagura Suzu for last so he could take his time with it.
He also took the time to process some materials and enhance their weapons along the way, since it was convenient to do so.
While Ren Isana was busy, Asuna and the others rejoined the group and began studying under Natsuki Minamiya.
At this moment, Natsuki Minamiya was teaching everyone Ren Isana's [Piercing Magic Bullet]. The group had returned at just the right time, so they hadn't missed anything. After listening to Natsuki Minamiya's explanation from the beginning, everyone present fell silent.
"It feels a bit difficult? Even though it looked so easy when the Class Rep used it." Sora felt stumped for the first time. There were many parts of this magic created by Ren Isana that she couldn't understand.
Was this the difficulty of Intermediate Magic? It was a bit ridiculous. They had clearly seen Ren Isana use it with extreme ease, but when it came time for them to learn it, they found it incredibly difficult.
"When does Ren ever struggle to use magic?" Asuna felt a bit helpless hearing this and could only retort with that. You couldn't compare people, especially that guy Ren Isana—his learning ability was simply terrifying.
"That's true. The Class Rep does learn things really easily." Sora nodded in strong agreement. There was no flaw in that logic.
"You few, step out for a moment. Put this magic aside for now. The rest of you, study on your own for a bit. I'm going to give these girls a makeup lesson." At this moment, Natsuki Minamiya called Asuna and the others out.
The girls were taken aback for a moment, but quickly understood. Natsuki Minamiya was planning to catch them up on the lessons they had missed while they were out that morning.
They hurriedly walked over. Seeing this, Natsuki Minamiya immediately said, "While you were out, I taught them [Weapon Storage]. Now, I'll explain it to you separately."
Hearing that it was this magic, everyone's interest was piqued. After all, this magic was truly convenient. They immediately grew serious. This magic was actually relatively simple.
Natsuki Minamiya only had to explain it in detail once for everyone to understand how to use it. Asuna even succeeded on her first try, quickly mastering the magic.
It couldn't be helped; she had a deep impression of this magic. When Jin-sensei taught it to Ren Isana, she had been listening on the side and remembered a fair bit of it. It was just that after realizing she couldn't use it at the time, she had temporarily set it aside.
Now that Natsuki Minamiya had explained it in detail, Asuna remembered everything, and using it was a breeze. Yukino Yukinoshita was the same; after all, she had also listened back then and remembered it all.
"Wait, why did you guys learn it so fast?!" Sora couldn't hold back her shock as she looked at these two cheaters. Had they been infected by Ren Isana? Why could they learn this magic so quickly too?
Hearing Sora's words, Asuna giggled and immediately explained, "When Jin-sensei taught Ren this magic, we were actually right next to them and absorbed some of it. Now that Ms. Minamiya explained it again, we remembered everything."
She didn't hide anything and told the truth. Hearing this, Sora completely lost it. *Good heavens, you guys memorized this magic back when you were at Tier 3?!*
Damn it, why hadn't she memorized it back then? After all, she had been in the car too. It was just that because Jin-sensei said it was Intermediate Magic and required Tier 4 to learn, she hadn't listened carefully.
Looking back now, she had missed out on a lot. The thought made Sora incredibly depressed. Left with no choice, she could only continue working hard to learn it from scratch.
Natsuki Minamiya looked at Asuna and Yukino Yukinoshita and nodded approvingly. "Not bad. Go back and think about the [Piercing Magic] I just explained."
Hearing Natsuki Minamiya's words, the two nodded and turned to leave, leaving only Sora and the others who had gone out earlier to bitterly study the magic.
Fortunately, Sora and the others had good aptitude as well. It only took them a little over half an hour to learn the magic, which was much better than some of the people in the Familia.
Once she confirmed that they had all learned it, Natsuki Minamiya continued explaining [Piercing Magic] to everyone. She then led the group out of the Familia headquarters to the place where Ren Isana had previously learned from Riveria.
They couldn't exactly cast [Piercing Magic] inside the Familia headquarters, could they? So this nearby area was perfect for practice. Over the course of the afternoon, a series of explosions and exclamations began to ring out continuously.
It was all caused by the students practicing. Ren Isana, who was forging, also heard these sounds, but they didn't affect him much.
It wasn't until the sun went down that everyone gradually returned to the headquarters. At this moment, everyone looked as if they had been completely drained. They had spent the entire afternoon practicing [Piercing Magic], which had utterly exhausted them.
The Magic Power in their bodies had been squeezed dry, not a single drop left. Furthermore, Natsuki Minamiya hadn't allowed them to drink potions, forcing them to recover naturally. In her words, there wouldn't always be such ideal conditions for them to replenish themselves.
She wanted everyone to get used to the feeling of recovering without potions. Always relying on Blue Potions wouldn't do.
This was also because Natsuki Minamiya had noticed these guys liked to drink those Red Potions and Blue Potions like beverages, which prompted her warning. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered to care.
Every single one of these guys was a potion-popping god of war, fighting while chugging potions. It was simply too ridiculous. Things couldn't go on like this. She had to give them a stern warning and train up their natural recovery abilities.
When everyone returned exhausted, Ren Isana happened to walk out of the workshop. Seeing everyone in this state, Ren felt a bit confused and couldn't help but ask, "What's going on? Why do you all look so drained?"
Their legs were weak, their faces were pale, and their eyes were somewhat vacant. Anyone who didn't know better would think they had encountered a succubus. This was very strange. With their Magic Power depleted so severely, why hadn't they popped any potions?
Hearing Ren Isana's words, everyone felt a bit depressed. At this moment, Natsuki Minamiya walked over and said, "I forbade them from drinking Blue Potions. I realized that you guys rely way too much on those potions. You treat them like drinks."
Speaking of this, Natsuki Minamiya shot Ren Isana a glance. She had never seen such a ridiculous guy, directly producing a pile of potions for his classmates to drink like fruit juice.
If Ren Isana hadn't made them, who knows how much money this group would have spent. Although Ren's intentions were good, things couldn't continue like this. It was better to correct some habits early on.
Natsuki Minamiya's words instantly made Ren Isana understand. Looking at his classmates, he couldn't help but say, "You guys should listen to Ms. Minamiya. Stop using potions for a while. It's not a bad idea to improve everyone's natural recovery speed."
He knew exactly what Natsuki Minamiya meant. After all, he had concocted the potions himself; how could he not know the situation? Although the potions had no side effects, if they kept drinking them constantly, their natural recovery speed would never be trained.
So it was better to let these guys train a bit. This would only bring them benefits, not harm. Everyone would experience times when they ran out of potions, and in those moments, one's own recovery ability was crucial.
Fortunately, Ren Isana didn't have this problem. He possessed Goliath's talent, so the Magic Power in his body was practically inexhaustible. Therefore, he wasn't panicked at all; his recovery ability was terrifyingly strong.
Although everyone was a bit unaccustomed to it, they would slowly get used to it. Everyone has a first time, after all. It was normal to be unaccustomed at first, but they would get more and more used to it later on. After all, it was just like crossdressing—there was only zero times, or countless times.
"Go eat. After eating, go back to your rooms and use [Meditation]." Natsuki Minamiya glanced at the students, then strode toward the dining hall. Hearing this, the others could only obediently follow.
Ren Isana walked alongside his classmates. Seeing their exhausted appearances, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Work hard and learn all my magic. You won't be needing your weapons tomorrow, so send them all over to the workshop for me. I'll give them an upgrade."
Ren Isana announced this as they walked. Hearing his words, everyone nodded woodenly, indicating they understood. Right now, they couldn't muster up any energy at all.
They felt like they were floating. The feeling of having their Magic Power squeezed dry was truly unbearable. This was especially true for the male comrades—even though they were all virgins, they were experiencing the sensation of having their bodies hollowed out. It was truly quite amusing.
Ren Isana walked into the dining hall and saw Bell and Haruhime helping out inside. He immediately walked over and called out, "Bell, Haruhime, come here."
Hearing Ren Isana's words, Bell hurriedly set down the dish he had just brought out from the kitchen and rushed over. Haruhime similarly put down what she was holding and followed.
When they arrived in front of him, Ren Isana directly pulled a Kagura Suzu and a dagger out of his Spatial Ring and handed them to the two. "Here are the weapons you asked for."
Bell and Haruhime's eyes lit up as they looked at the weapons Ren Isana handed them. This was especially true for Bell; his eyes sparkled as he stared at the dagger, his heart filled with indescribable joy.
At the same time, he was well aware of the dagger's value. If he had to save up money to buy it, who knew how long it would take? But now, by a twist of fate, he had joined the Hestia Familia and received such a dagger for free.
Thinking of this, Bell secretly made a resolution. In the future, he would definitely work hard to become stronger, striving to be of help to Captain Ren as soon as possible!