Hearing Shizuka Hiratsuka's words, Natsuki Minamiya spoke thoughtfully, "I heard his talent is learning-oriented. He can basically master anything just by being taught once?"
Since Natsuki Minamiya brought it up out of nowhere, Shizuka Hiratsuka nodded. "That's right. Are you planning to teach him a few tricks, Minamiya-sensei?"
Saying this, Shizuka looked at Natsuki. Why would she ask that? Did she have some plans for Ren Isana? Was she going to teach him something?
"I do have that intention. Let me test him first," Natsuki nodded, then took large strides over to where Ren was standing.
Shizuka was momentarily stunned, while Yor Forger immediately followed, highly intrigued by this student's legendary learning talent.
Natsuki walked up to Ren, leaving him slightly puzzled, but that confusion vanished the moment she spoke. "I'm going to teach you a spell. Let's see if you can learn it."
Ren's interest was instantly piqued. "Please do, Minamiya-sensei! Teach me!"
*Saying no would be a blatant disrespect to Spatial Magic.* This was the noble spatial element! If someone was willing to teach it, you didn't waste a single second.
"Then watch closely. Spatial magic is actually quite simple. As long as you have a good sense of space, you can learn it. First, you need to construct a Magic Circle..." Natsuki began to explain step by step.
Truthfully, Ren already knew this knowledge even without her explanation, but to avoid being too shocking, he pretended to listen with absolute seriousness.
Natsuki's lecture left Asuna and the others, who had just roused from their meditation, with question marks floating above their heads. They couldn't understand a single word; it sounded like absolute gibberish to them.
"Did you understand?" Natsuki asked after explaining the operational logic of spatial magic. If he couldn't even grasp this, there was no point in continuing.
"Understood!" Ren nodded, confirming he had absorbed it all. Seeing this, a flash of satisfaction crossed Natsuki's eyes, and she continued her instruction.
Natsuki cast a purple Magic Circle beneath her feet and said, "This Magic Circle is cast like this... Once it's formed, you connect it to another location and initiate the teleportation."
The spell she was teaching him this time was just [Intermediate Blink]. The moment she cast it, her figure vanished and reappeared on the other side of the area.
The distance was calculated based on how far one could perceive, which required the assistance of [Perception Magic]. Of course, if the caster possessed innate spatial perception, that was even better.
Natsuki blinked away and then blinked right back. She looked at Ren. "How was it? How much did you catch? If there's anything you don't understand, ask me anytime."
Ren nodded. "I think I've got it? Let me try it first."
With that, under Natsuki's astonished gaze, Ren began his attempt. A purple Magic Circle slowly took shape beneath his feet. Watching this, a flicker of profound shock crossed Natsuki's eyes.
*He actually cast it?* At this moment, Natsuki finally understood why Shizuka had called this guy absurd. This level of talent... it was simply terrifying.
Once the Magic Circle was fully formed, Ren used his perception to instantly appear on the other side. He didn't teleport too far—after all, he had to put on a convincing show and not appear *too* world-shattering.
He teleported there, then instantly teleported back. Natsuki slowly recovered from her daze and immediately declared, "I'll teach you other spatial spells!"
Without a second of hesitation, Natsuki began explaining all the intermediate spatial spells Ren could currently handle at his stage.
There weren't actually that many skills. Aside from spatial teleportation, there was only [Spatial Lockdown] and [Spatial Barrier].
The rest were advanced magic, which Ren couldn't learn yet. This was exactly why spatial magic was so notoriously difficult to master—the absolute baseline starting point was the intermediate level.
Natsuki taught all three spatial spells to Ren in one go. Seeing him genuinely master all of them, she couldn't help but sigh, "What an absurd talent."
She had always considered her own talent to be excellent, but compared to the guy in front of her, it paled in comparison. Back in the day, it had taken her several grueling months to learn these exact spells.
And Ren? He learned them after being shown just once. If he didn't look a bit rusty using them, she would have suspected he had secretly practiced them beforehand. It was just too ridiculous.
"Alright, that's it for now. Once you reach Tier 5 and can cast Advanced Magic, I'll teach you the rest." Natsuki suppressed the shock in her heart and walked over to call the others to gather.
It was time to hit the road. She had nothing left to teach Ren for now; the rest would have to wait until his strength caught up.
Honestly, with Ren's current strength and loadout, he was already beyond overpowered. What Tier 4 had ever mastered so many spells?
"Everyone get ready, we're moving out," Natsuki called out to the students. Now that everyone had mostly recovered, it was time to head to Orario.
Hearing her, the students quickly packed up and gathered together. Natsuki did a quick headcount, and finding no issues, she said, "You guys head out. See that tall tower? Go there yourselves!"
She turned and pointed at the towering structure in the distance, indicating their destination. Clearly, the teachers were not going to accompany them any further.
"Sensei, aren't you coming with us?" Sora asked, catching the underlying meaning in Natsuki's words. Were they really being left to go by themselves?
"Correct. You need to walk the rest of the path yourselves. That includes how to form a Familia and how to survive in that city. Our mission was solely to drop you off here. The rest is entirely up to you," Natsuki stated ruthlessly.
They weren't babysitters, so they had no obligation to escort everyone inside and help them establish a foothold. From here on out, it was Ren and the students' own responsibility.
Hearing Natsuki's words, the students looked at each other in dismay, unsure of what to do. Natsuki didn't bother explaining further. Having said her piece, she cast a spatial spell and vanished from the spot along with the other teachers.
Only the students and Hestia were left behind. Everyone exchanged glances before turning their eyes to Ren. After all, it had been established beforehand that Ren was their leader in this world.
"Let's head into the city first. Then... Hestia, we'll have to trouble you with registering our Familia. You know this world much better than we do," Ren decided instantly.
Hearing Ren's words, Hestia patted her ample chest and promised, "Leave it to me! We'll enter the city, I'll go register the Familia, and then I'll go find my friend!"
She was finally back on her own turf. With so many people following her, she naturally had to treat them well. This was what a Goddess ought to do!
With the plan set, Hestia took the lead. Ren and the others followed close behind, marching toward the city under her guidance.
The group moved at a brisk pace, taking just over an hour to reach the outskirts of Orario. Entering through the city wall gates, the first thing that greeted their eyes was a sprawl of dilapidated houses.
Seeing the state of the area, everyone turned to look at Hestia. Sora bluntly complained, "This is the other world? Why does it look like a slum?"
Seriously, wasn't this place a bit too rundown? Hearing this, Hestia immediately defended it, "This is just the outer perimeter! Basically, no one lives here."
"So it *is* a slum!" If it was a place where no one lived, what else could it be? Hestia couldn't even refute that.
It really did look like one. Who told them to take this specific route? But it didn't matter; once they got further inside, everyone would see the real Orario.
Hestia led the group forward. Passing through the cluster of rundown houses, silhouettes of people finally began to appear around them. Naturally, Ren's group drew an incredible amount of attention.
Many locals stared at them in sheer surprise. The group's attire was simply too conspicuous, completely clashing with this world's aesthetic. In the eyes of the locals, the clothes Ren and the others wore looked incredibly expensive.
As they ventured deeper, the crowds thickened. The group looked around with wide, curious eyes, fascinated by everything. The architecture here consisted mostly of flat houses.
The tallest structure was the Babel Tower; the rest were merely two- or three-story buildings. Some of the alleyways were incredibly narrow. As the population density increased, a pungent, sour smell began to permeate the air.
A mixture of various foul odors assaulted their noses, causing the modern-day students to grimace. Everyone instinctively quickened their pace to escape the area.
This world was stuck in a medieval era, so the hygiene conditions were exactly as one would expect. In a place resembling a slum, it would be a miracle if it smelled good. The stench was truly overwhelming.
Once they left that district, the air cleared up significantly, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As they continued toward the towering Babel Tower, the streets grew even more bustling.
Various animal-eared girls and other demi-humans began to appear before them. Seeing them, the students' eyes widened in awe. There were so many different races in this world!
"So many animal-eared girls! Are those elves?" The group whispered among themselves as they walked. The sheer variety of races here was enough to satisfy all their fantasy expectations.
They even spotted some wearing black pantyhose... and overheard passing mentions of a red-light district, which instantly riled up the pubescent boys in the group.
*Wow, this world actually has such great things? Isn't this a bit too awesome?* The boys' excited chatter naturally drew looks of disgust from the girls. Was that really the only thing these guys cared about?
Asuna's gaze fell upon Ren. Seeing that he showed absolutely no interest in such things, she breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Ren was different from those idiots.
Ren's group was far too eye-catching, forcing Hestia to speed up her pace. She even put on a cold, aloof expression to maintain her divine majesty.
Seeing Hestia leading such a massive group, the onlookers quickly realized she was a Goddess. This sparked whispers and speculation about whether a new deity had just descended to the lower world.
And she had brought her own Familia? Was Orario about to welcome a massive, powerful new faction? Many couldn't help but wonder.
"Huh? Shorty?" Just as Hestia was acting aloof and leading the group forward, a voice suddenly called out. Hearing that familiar tone, veins popped on Hestia's forehead.
She stopped in her tracks and glared in the direction of the voice. Spotting that obnoxious figure, Hestia snapped back mercilessly, "Flat-chest! I knew it was you, you annoying jerk!"
The one who had called Hestia 'Shorty' was a red-haired, squinty-eyed, flat-chested woman—Hestia's mortal enemy, Loki. Confirming that it was indeed Hestia, a flash of surprise crossed the depths of Loki's eyes.
She truly hadn't expected Hestia to descend to the lower world, let alone already have a Familia assembled. How interesting. Though she thought this, she would never admit it out loud.
"I was wondering who was being so flashy. Turns out it's just you, Shorty. Couldn't survive in Heaven anymore, so you came down?" Loki smiled, strolling over to Hestia.
Behind Loki stood two girls: a brown-haired elf girl in white tights, and a blonde, stoic girl wearing armor.
*Lefiya and Ais-tan?* Ren instantly recognized their identities. While Ren observed them, the two girls were also observing Ren's group.
As a battle-hardened swordswoman, Ais could naturally sense the general strength of the group before her. Everyone seemed to be roughly around Lefiya's level?
The man leading them seemed even stronger? Ais even felt a faint sense of threat from him. How strange...
Aside from him, the only other person who caught her eye was Asuna. Asuna gave off a vibe similar to her own, and she was also wielding a rapier... Were they the same? She really wanted to spar with her.
Ren observed Ais for a moment and gauged her strength. *Tier 5, which corresponds to Lv.5?* It seemed their status panels really did scale accurately with their actual combat strength.
While both sides were busy sizing each other up, Megumi Kato suddenly tugged at Ren's sleeve. "Aren't you going to stop them? They're about to fight."
Hearing Megumi, Ren retracted his gaze and looked back at Hestia. Hestia and Loki were already locking horns, practically growling at each other.
Speechless at the sight of the two, Ren stepped forward and grabbed Hestia by the back of her collar. "Hurry up and lead the way. We need to finish our business and find a place to stay. Now is not the time for you to bicker. Once we're done, you can argue all you want."
Hearing Ren's words, Hestia snorted coldly and dropped a harsh threat to Loki, "I'll let you off today! Just wait, once I'm done with my business, I'll come back and deal with you!"
Hestia glared viciously at the red-haired Goddess. Ren was right; they had things to do. This wasn't the time to mess around with this jerk.
She wriggled out of Ren's grip and continued marching toward the Babel Tower. Before leaving, Hestia even turned and spat a loud "Tui!" in Loki's direction.
This infuriated Loki so much that she wanted to charge forward and brawl with Hestia, but she was held back by Ais and Lefiya. Still, she yelled after her, "Hestia, if you have the guts, come to the Denatus in three days!"
Hearing this, Hestia snorted again and replied without looking back, "I'll be there! Just you wait, I'll deal with you then!"
With that, Hestia led Ren and the others away without a backward glance. Deep down, however, she was actually quite happy. She had run into someone she knew right after coming back... even if it was an annoying jerk!