In Ren Isana's eyes, these were walking talents rushing toward him. The moment these guys picked up their weapons, their entire aura changed.
Everyone had killed quite a few monsters in the Dungeon before, so they remembered what that felt like. Now, they were locking onto Ren as if he were a Floor Boss.
The group swarmed him all at once, looking like a bunch of street thugs in a brawl from years ago. This left Ren utterly speechless. *Could you guys at least organize your attack?*
While complaining inwardly, Ren coated his entire body in energy and charged forward. The one leading the pack was still that guy, Leo. Raising his training sword, he slashed right at Ren.
The energy wrapping Ren's hands materialized, clinging to his skin like a gauntlet of armor. Ren reached out and directly blocked the incoming strike.
The training sword struck Ren's left hand as if hitting a solid rock, emitting the sharp clang of clashing steel. With a loud *clang*, the recoil instantly numbed the webbing of Leo's hand.
*Hiss... Is he really this tough? So this is the external manifestation of Tier 4 True Qi?* Leo finally got to witness it firsthand. But in the very next second, a sharp pain erupted in his stomach, and he was sent flying.
Ren had blocked the attack with his left hand and immediately drove his right fist straight into Leo's gut, launching him through the air. That single punch was enough to make the guy want to puke up his stomach acid.
After swatting away the unlucky Leo, Ren turned his attention to the rest of the incoming attacks. Now that these guys were armed, they were actually somewhat troublesome, especially since they were swarming him all at once.
Ren continuously fended off his classmates, pushing his perception to the absolute limit to dodge the sneak attacks popping up from all sides. Fighting armed opponents versus unarmed ones was truly a completely different concept.
He noticed that quite a few people had invested their talents into weapon proficiency. Mid-battle, Ren had already copied several weapon-related talents using his [Jianjigu].
*If I integrate these talents a bit, I could probably create an [Omni-Weapon Mastery]...* At that thought, Ren's eyes lit up. *Hey, that actually sounds doable.*
Fusing so many talents together would essentially result in [Omni-Weapon Mastery], right? Plus, if he copied similar talents in the future, he could just merge them straight into it. Otherwise, managing that many individual talents would be a massive headache.
He could even fuse other similar talents together. With this idea in mind, Ren began merging them while simultaneously copying his classmates' talents and techniques.
At this moment, Ren was like a phantom dancing gracefully through a battlefield. Asuna, Yukino Yukinoshita, and the others didn't rush their attack; instead, they hung back and observed.
"Have you guys noticed? That guy is constantly getting stronger... And isn't his perception way too ridiculous? He instantly notices whenever someone tries to sneak attack him from behind!" Asuna stared at Ren in utter disbelief.
She was genuinely terrified by Ren's rate of improvement. She originally thought that arming everyone would at least pose a slight threat to him.
But as she watched him, she realized he was continuously growing stronger by learning from the very classmates he was fighting. She had a sinking feeling that this wasn't a training session for the class at all.
Instead... they were just feeding EXP to Ren. Watching him grow increasingly formidable, Asuna felt completely numb. At this rate, Ren's individual strength would equal the combined power of the entire class...
"Beat him up!" Yukino gritted her teeth upon hearing this. She decisively chose to strike. If he was constantly learning, they couldn't afford to wait any longer!
If they didn't beat him up now, they wouldn't get another chance. Heaven knows what kind of monster they'd be nurturing by the end of the day. With that thought, Yukino charged straight in.
Seeing this, Asuna quickly called for Megumi Kato to follow. With the help of Megumi's talent, the three girls silently closed in for the kill. At least, they thought it was silent.
While the surrounding classmates hadn't noticed them, they stood out like sore thumbs in Ren's eyes. However, Ren simply pretended not to see them, waiting for them to get closer.
The trio abruptly joined the fray. Asuna and Yukino struck swiftly, aiming their blades at Ren's arms, intending to cripple his upper limbs.
As long as Ren's arms were injured, his combat prowess would definitely take a hit. The two had seized a rather perfect opportunity. Just as they thought they were going to succeed...
Ren's figure suddenly vanished, causing their attacks to hit nothing but empty air. Asuna and Yukino froze for a second. *What kind of explosive speed is that?*
"Behind you!" Before the two could process it, they heard Megumi's voice. They immediately swung their swords backward in unison. With a sharp *clang*, the two quickly retreated.
They knew full well that Ren had blocked their strike. They couldn't break through his defense at all. As they fell back, the others instantly filled the gap.
Seeing this, Ren had no choice but to drop his pursuit of Asuna and Yukino, focusing instead on the classmates rushing him. After fighting for a while, everyone was gradually starting to coordinate.
When a classmate fell here, another immediately stepped up there, keeping Ren busy. The class naturally took it upon themselves to protect the stronger students from being taken out immediately.
They let those top students act as the main DPS to attack Ren. Under this coordinated effort, their attacks grew smoother and smoother. Watching the students gradually develop teamwork, Shizuka Hiratsuka nodded in satisfaction from the sidelines.
She was especially pleased to see several students break through their limits under Ren's oppressive pressure. After all, the main goal of this class was to force those who hadn't digested their potions to break through to Tier 3.
Ren was well aware of this too, so he held back against the Tier 2 students. Otherwise, those guys would have been laid out flat on the ground the moment they made contact with him.
By the end of the brawl, the entire class was bruised and battered, but the results were fantastic. Everyone who needed to break through had done so, and the class had fostered a sense of camaraderie. Moreover, Ren had successfully copied a portion of his classmates' talents.
"Alright, stop! Everyone take a break. Good job!" Seeing that it was about enough, Shizuka called a halt. She told everyone to rest, get treated if needed, and prepare to continue later.
Hearing this, many let out a massive sigh of relief. Some simply collapsed onto the ground. Not a single student in the class was unscathed; they all looked like they had just been rolling around in the dirt.
The girls' hair was a mess, and their faces were covered in black and blue bruises. Even Asuna and the others weren't spared, their delicate faces bearing the marks of battle.
The boys had it even worse. Several of them had their teeth knocked out by Ren and were currently clutching their swollen, pig-like faces while using True Qi to heal themselves. What a miserable sight!
As for Ren, he only had a few extra marks on him—courtesy of Asuna and Yukino slashing him from behind—but they hadn't caused any substantial damage.
Everyone couldn't help but wince as they looked at Ren, who seemed completely fine. This was just too exaggerated. They were all classmates, yet Ren had left them completely in the dust. They weren't even on the same level anymore.
What stung the most was that even when they used their talents, it was completely useless against this guy. Sora, in particular, was feeling incredibly lost. What was the point of her talent?
"Ren, I feel so lost!" Looking at the perfectly fine Ren, she couldn't help but blurt out.
Hearing her words, Ren looked over with a confused expression. "I didn't even hit you in the head, how did it break? What the heck are you lost about?"
Ren was baffled. He was pretty sure he hadn't knocked her on the head, so why was she suddenly malfunctioning? Or did he beat the emo into her?
"How should I put this... I feel like my talent is useless. Look... even when I use it, I still can't catch up to your speed!" Sora sighed. That was what frustrated her the most.
She had tried to sneak attack him several times, but Ren easily dodged every attempt and then beat her up. The explosive speed she gained from her talent wasn't even as fast as Ren's base speed.
How could she not be depressed? Because of this, she was starting to doubt if her talent was actually useful. It was just too demoralizing.
"Oh, that's it? Well, what can I say, I'm just that strong. As the saying goes, the stronger the power, the stronger the talent. Believe in yourself! One day, you'll become a woman of light!" Ren offered this 'comforting' remark before turning and walking away.
"What do you mean 'woman of light'? Do you think I haven't watched Ultraman?! Damn it!!" Hearing Ren's so-called comfort, Sora couldn't help but retort, though she quickly got up to recover her stamina.
Still, her mood had improved significantly. Ren was right; the stronger the power, the stronger the talent. Just wait! One day, she'd make sure Ren couldn't even catch her tail!
Shizuka took out her phone and called the school infirmary. Before long, several doctors in white coats arrived. They were school doctors specially hired by the academy.
Their sole job was to treat the students. Shizuka couldn't be bothered to make the students walk all the way there, so she just had the medics come to the field. The Special Class had that kind of authority, after all.
The two school doctors immediately got to work. The boys went to the male doctor, and the girls went to the female doctor. In just over ten minutes, all the students' injuries were fully healed.
All they needed now was some rest to recover their stamina. However, the doctors didn't handle things like knocked-out teeth; the students would have to go off-campus to get those fixed themselves.
Several of the boys were still grimacing after being healed, completely unaware that air was whistling through their teeth when they spoke. This made quite a few people want to laugh, though they felt too bad to actually do it.
"You guys can train on your own for now. Or, if you want to spar with me, that's fine too. Of course, you can also keep challenging Ren!" Shizuka announced, seeing that everyone had recovered.
Hearing this, the crowd collectively pretended they were deaf. Sparring with Shizuka was out of the question, and challenging Ren was even more impossible. Not in this lifetime. They had no desire to get beaten up again.
"What a shame. It seems no one wants to fight me. In that case, Ren, you fight me!" Shizuka felt a pang of regret as she watched the students avert their gazes.
But that was fine. There was still one excellent candidate in the class. Watching Ren beat up the students had made her hands itch. Since she couldn't beat up the whole class, she'd just beat up Ren instead.
Hearing this sudden declaration, everyone immediately turned their attention back. Shizuka-sensei fighting Ren? Oh, they were *all* for this. This was absolutely perfect. Everyone desperately wanted to see Ren get a taste of his own medicine.
All eyes fell on Ren. What would he choose? Shizuka-sensei was a Tier 6 powerhouse.
Ren was only Tier 4. That was a two-tier gap. Would he agree? The answer was... Ren agreed, and his eyes even lit up. Previously, he couldn't win even if he went all out.
This time, Ren wanted to see if going all out would be enough to secure a victory. With that in mind, Ren spoke up directly, "Sure, I'm down."
Seeing Ren agree so readily, Shizuka's eyes sparkled. After a moment of thought, she added, "Since that's the case, I'll suppress my strength to Tier 4 to fight you. How about that?"
The corners of Shizuka's mouth curled up slightly. She wasn't going to bully him; suppressing her strength to Tier 4 should make it fair, right?
But she severely underestimated Ren. Hearing her offer, Ren flatly refused. "Let's skip Tier 4. I feel like if you stay at Tier 4, Shizuka-sensei, you might not actually be able to beat me. How about Tier 5? If that doesn't work, you can just go all out! I want to test where my limits are!"
Sometimes, level didn't equate to true combat power. Besides, Ren had mastered so many talents now. If he still couldn't inflict any damage on Shizuka with all of that, he might as well go home and farm sweet potatoes!
"Good boy, I like the confidence. In that case, I'll suppress it to Tier 5." Instead of getting angry at Ren's response, Shizuka grew even more excited.
She had watched Ren's entire battle just now. To be honest, she was quite curious to see how far he could push her if he went all out. With that thought, she readily agreed.
"Shall we begin?" Ren cracked his knuckles, a series of sharp *pops* echoing in the air. His fighting spirit was already burning.
"Hold on a second. You guys, go watch from the second floor. This area is no longer safe for you!" Shizuka didn't rush to start. Instead, she shooed the students back to the second floor of the teaching building.
A battle at Tier 5, with both sides going all out, was terrifying. She didn't want her students suddenly dying to some stray AoE damage. At Shizuka's command, the students quickly moved out.
The crowd ran to the base of the teaching building and directly leaped up to the second floor, leaning against the railings to watch. Everyone was highly anticipating the clash between Ren and Shizuka.
Once everyone was safely away, Shizuka waved Ren over. "Let's move a bit further away. I don't want us tearing down the teaching building by accident. My salary won't cover the damages!"
Saying that, she walked to the center of the sports field. There was no one else on the field right now, and this entire area belonged to their Special Class anyway. Normally, no other students would come here to train.
However, this spot was visible from several teaching buildings. Unsurprisingly, the commotion from their upcoming battle would instantly attract the attention of many students.
Even though classes were in session, that wouldn't stop the students' desire to watch the drama. By the time Shizuka and Ren took their positions in the center of the field, people were already watching.
Or rather, many had been watching ever since Ren started brutally beating up his classmates. The sight of Ren single-handedly taking on an entire class had caught the eyes of quite a few onlookers.
Seeing the two figures down below, many students were confused. What were they doing? But the moment the thought arose, they realized—it was a battle between a teacher and a student!