Hearing Megumi Kato say that, Ren Isana was instantly amused. He immediately joked, "How about you lie down and I give you a massage? I can learn how to do it real quick just by swiping through some videos!"
Megumi burst into laughter. Looking at the classmate she had just met today, she smiled sweetly and said, "No way!"
*If I actually did that, wouldn't I die of embarrassment? Besides, no matter how you look at it, that kind of massage seems more like a reward for Ren!*
She definitely wasn't going to do it. They weren't nearly close enough for that yet. Megumi averted her gaze, looking elsewhere.
Seeing this, Ren just smiled and didn't push the issue. He lowered his head and went back to studying the True Qi inside his body.
Beside him, Megumi was also trying to condense her own True Qi. Neither of them spoke again.
The quiet atmosphere around them formed a stark contrast with the students who were actively sparring. Before long, Yukino Yukinoshita even walked over.
She sat down directly next to Megumi and began whispering to her, occasionally glancing over at Ren.
Ren heard every word of their conversation. He looked up at the two girls and deadpanned, "If you're going to gossip about someone, could you at least not do it right in front of their face?"
The two of them were discussing teaming up for the next combat class. Yukino didn't want to team up with Ren anymore, so she had come to find Megumi.
And yet, these two had the nerve to start gossiping about him right to his face. Was it his fault he was too strong?
"Ren, if you want to find a partner in the future, it's probably going to be a bit difficult. Trust me, no one in the class wants to fight you!" Yukino looked at Ren with utmost seriousness.
With his freakish learning talent, fighting Ren only meant becoming his nourishment. He would instantly master everything you knew.
Then, he would take those newly acquired moves, enhance them, and use them against you. She knew all too well just how agonizing it was to fight him.
"Sorry for being too strong!" Ren looked at Yukino, utterly speechless. If no one wanted to team up with him, so be it. Didn't he still have their lovely Shizuka-sensei?
Besides, rumor had it that not all the students in their class had arrived yet, so Ren wasn't panicking. What if someone with an even more freakish talent showed up later?
Wouldn't he have a worthy opponent then? Therefore, Ren wasn't worried about this issue in the slightest.
The three of them sat together, chatting casually. Time passed quickly, and the bell signaling the end of class rang.
Seeing this, the rest of the class stopped what they were doing and unceremoniously collapsed onto the floor.
Fighting for an entire period had left everyone quite exhausted. Fortunately, the remaining two periods weren't combat classes, but rather sessions dedicated to condensing True Qi.
At the same time, Ren and the others finally understood what their future curriculum would look like. From now on, there would basically be no more academic classes; it would strictly be various forms of combat training and technique instruction.
Furthermore, the schedule combined morning and afternoon sessions. A single class could easily span an entire morning or afternoon, leaving very little time for rest.
The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye. Shizuka Hiratsuka paid no mind to students like Ren who had already condensed their True Qi, instead focusing her attention entirely on those who hadn't.
Thus, Ren spent the entire afternoon silently refining his True Qi, steadily making himself stronger.
When the afternoon dismissal bell rang, Shizuka stopped her instruction and said, "That's all for today. Starting tomorrow, those who didn't bring their combat uniforms, remember to bring them."
Having delivered her reminder, Shizuka left the classroom without looking back. The students dispersed—those who needed to change clothes went to do so, while those who didn't returned to the classroom to grab their bags and head home.
Ren was no exception. After returning to the classroom to grab his bag, he headed straight out of the school to do some shopping.
As he left the campus, Ren took stock of his finances, only to discover that he had a little over 5,000 Valis to his name.
This was all left behind by his predecessor. For an orphan to have saved up 5,000 Valis was already quite an impressive feat.
According to his memories, the previous owner of this body would go out and work part-time jobs during every holiday, slowly scraping this money together bit by bit.
In other words, if he spent all 5,000 Valis, he would have to figure out a way to make more money himself...
What a headache. To think that the very first problem he encountered after transmigrating to this world was figuring out how to make a buck.
*I'd better spend this 5,000 carefully,* Ren thought to himself as he made his way toward the commercial district.
While passing by a weapon shop, Ren suddenly stopped in his tracks. His gaze was instantly drawn to the interior of the store.
According to his memories, his predecessor used to work part-time at this very shop. Come to think of it, he didn't have a weapon yet. Since he was already here, why not take this opportunity to buy one?
With that thought in mind, Ren walked right in. He figured he would check the prices and buy something cheap to use for now.
Plus, since his predecessor had worked here before, he could probably haggle the price down quite a bit. Save where you can, spend where you must.
"Welcome to... Ren?" As soon as Ren entered, the person inside instinctively called out a greeting, but upon seeing who it was, immediately blurted out his name.
"Maya," Ren said, looking toward the person who had called his name. It was a young woman. According to his memory, she was the manager of this shop.
"You brat, did your talent awaken? What class did you get assigned to?" Seeing Ren, the manager's tone softened considerably.
When Ren worked at her shop, he had been incredibly diligent. Though a bit quiet and reserved, he was a hard-working kid. Especially after finding out he was an orphan, Maya had taken good care of him.
"Yeah, it awakened. I got assigned to the Special Class," Ren nodded, answering Maya's question.
"The Special Class? Not bad at all! Looks like you've got some pretty impressive talent. Did you come by today to buy a weapon? Pick whichever one catches your eye—consider it a gift from me." Maya's eyes lit up at his answer.
She was quite well-informed and knew exactly what was happening at Ren's school. That principal had essentially scooped up all the genius students from several neighboring schools.
They had even transferred a bunch of teachers over, all for the sake of creating this Special Class. She hadn't expected Ren to be assigned to it as well.
This was a huge deal. It seemed Ren had awakened an incredible talent. The kid had finally caught a break.
"No, no, no, Maya, I'd rather pay for it. Running a business isn't easy for you either!" Hearing her offer, Ren hastily declined.
Favors were a difficult debt to repay. It was best to avoid owing them whenever possible. Besides, he wasn't planning on buying a top-tier weapon anyway; anything usable would do.
"What do you mean 'not easy'? It's not like you don't know I have several apartment buildings I collect rent from. Listen to me, pick whatever weapon you like. It's my gift to you!" However, Maya was dead set on giving him a weapon.
Saying that, she grabbed Ren and started pulling him around the shop, telling him to take his pick. Furthermore, she dragged him straight to the premium section, where any random weapon easily cost thousands or even tens of thousands of Valis.