Many students noted down what Rina-sensei said. When the class dismissal bell rang, Sora immediately ran over to Ren Isana and asked, "Ren, are you making potions?"
Hearing her words, Ren looked at her strangely. He was currently checking the supplies in his Spatial Ring, so Sora's sudden question caught him off guard.
"Red and Blue Potions? Can't you just buy those directly from Baoshutang? They've already started selling them." Ren had previously reached a cooperation agreement with them and hadn't paid much attention to it since.
However, as someone who frequently surfed the web, Ren knew that Baoshutang had recently launched two types of Red and Blue Potions, using the exact formulas he had created.
"It's cheaper to buy from you! If you're still selling, I want to buy some. Once we go to the other world, I'll probably have to rely on your potions to survive." Sora shuddered at the thought of living in a medieval environment.
There would be no snacks and no drinks. Plus, she couldn't just fill her entire Spatial Backpack with junk food; she needed to pack medicines too. Since that was the case, she figured she might as well buy a large batch of potions from Ren.
Drinking them like fruit juice wouldn't be a bad way to enjoy herself over there. That was why she wanted to order a batch of Red and Blue Potions from Ren—buying directly from the creator meant a better discount!
Listening to Sora, Ren glanced at the batch of gold Director Ken had given him and decisively refused. "No thanks. You guys should just go buy them together at Baoshutang. Buying in bulk will definitely get you a discount. Count me out of making them."
*You've got to be kidding me.* He didn't want to spend the next two days cooped up in his apartment brewing potions. He had other things to do. Since everyone else needed to buy them anyway, they might as well go stock up at Baoshutang together.
Sora's face instantly filled with disappointment upon hearing this. However, after thinking it over, she didn't press the issue. If Ren refused, there was nothing she could do; she would just have to buy them from Baoshutang.
Ren's rejection of Sora left quite a few classmates feeling disappointed. If he had agreed, the entire class probably would have ordered from him.
How could they not be disappointed now that he had refused? Still, everyone accepted Ren's suggestion to go stock up at Baoshutang together. They definitely needed to bring plenty of potions for this trip.
When the afternoon dismissal bell rang, Ren turned to Asuna and the others. "I'm planning to drop by Maya's place. Do you guys want to come? If not, you can head home first."
Hearing his words, the group decided to tag along. Yukino Yukinoshita spoke up, "I'll go. I need to see if my Spatial Backpack has arrived. If it has, I can start using it."
She had ordered a Spatial Backpack, after all. Having one for their trip to the other world would make things much easier for her. Otherwise, she would have to rely on Asuna to carry some of her belongings.
Some of the students who were just about to leave overheard Ren. Specifically, the few who had also ordered Spatial Backpacks suddenly remembered their own purchases.
Just like that, what was originally just Ren's small group instantly expanded. The crowd teamed up and headed to Maya's weapon shop together. Ren was going there to pick up his magic staff.
The moment he stepped into the shop, Maya's eyes immediately landed on the Spatial Ring on Ren's hand. She looked at him in surprise and asked, "Did you strike it rich, Ren? You actually got your hands on a Spatial Ring?"
With her discerning eye, it wasn't hard to tell that the ring Ren was wearing was indeed a Spatial Ring. She even noticed the fake one he wore alongside it, though she didn't point it out.
She simply assumed it was a smokescreen Ren had set up to confuse people about which ring was real and which was fake. After all, losing a Spatial Ring would be a massive headache.
At the same time, she cast a curious glance at Hestia, who was looking around the shop in awe. This was a new face. Was she a new classmate of Ren and the others?
The doubt flashed through her mind but quickly faded. She didn't dwell on it. Whether she was a new classmate or not had little to do with her; she would just treat her as a new customer Ren had brought in.
"I created some things, so the school applied for this as a reward for me. Maya, is my weapon ready?" Ren explained casually before asking about his gear.
Maya nodded thoughtfully at his explanation. She immediately reached under the counter and pulled out a wrapped magic staff. "Here, it's all done. I was actually planning to have you come over on Saturday, but you showed up on your own."
As she spoke, her gaze shifted to the classmates who had followed Ren. "The Spatial Backpacks you all ordered have arrived as well. You're in luck this time; they were all delivered together."
At these words, the faces of those who had ordered Spatial Backpacks instantly lit up with joy. That was fantastic news! To think they all arrived at once. Now they could definitely use them for their trip to the other world.
Maya asked everyone to wait a moment before turning and heading into the back room to retrieve their orders. Meanwhile, Ren had already unwrapped the bag containing his magic staff.
A magic staff roughly 1.5 meters long was revealed. It retained the misty white color of its original material, but the shaft had been carved with special patterns and inlaid with mithril, adding an air of mystery to it.
The inlaid mithril extended all the way to the top of the staff, culminating in a crescent moon shape that cradled a special prismatic crystal.
Seeing the staff, Ren was quite surprised. *The little bit of money I paid actually produced something of this caliber? It's almost too gorgeous. Did Maya whip her husband to force him to add extra materials?*
Muttering to himself internally, Ren silently channeled some Magic Power into it to release a Healing Magic Circle. In an instant, the energy he injected was amplified, and a [Healing Magic] spell larger than his usual ones materialized at the tip of the staff.
The speed of the Magic Power transmission and the resulting amplification confirmed it—extra materials had definitely been added. Otherwise, it would be absolutely impossible to achieve such an effect. Based on the amount of Magic Power he had channeled, the Magic Circle should have been at least half that size.
"Whoa!" the crowd couldn't help but gasp in awe when they saw Ren's staff. It looked incredibly impressive. In no time, everyone gathered around him.
The few students who specialized in magic were practically drooling over the staff in Ren's hands. It just looked way too amazing!
"That's a fantastic staff! The person who forged it is quite skilled!" Hestia's eyes sparkled as she looked at the magic staff in Ren's grip.
As the best friend of the Goddess of Forging, she had a decent eye for these things. She could naturally tell that a lot of heart had gone into crafting this staff. Otherwise, it would be impossible to forge a weapon of this quality using such base materials.
The crowd was amazed to hear such praise from a deity like Hestia. It seemed this weapon was even more incredible than they had imagined if it could earn a god's compliment!
"Not bad, right? I had my husband add quite a few extra materials to it. Consider it my way of thanking you for bringing me so much business, Ren!" Maya walked out carrying several Spatial Backpacks. Seeing the students huddled together, she explained with a wide smile.
At the same time, she was highly surprised by Hestia's evaluation. This further convinced her that the new customer Ren had brought in might be a wealthy lady; otherwise, she wouldn't have such a discerning eye.
While the others only spouted things like "Holy crap" and "Whoa," this young girl specifically noted the dedication of the staff's forger. The difference in their insight was obvious.
Hearing Maya's explanation confirmed Ren's suspicions. Just as he thought, extra materials had been added. Dispelling the magic on the staff, Ren thanked her, "Thanks, Maya!"
"You're welcome, it's nothing. Come on, here are your Spatial Backpacks. Everyone, check them over. If there are no issues, we'll proceed with the binding process." Maya smiled at Ren before calling over the students who had ordered the backpacks.
She let them each pick one out. Once they confirmed there were no problems, they would bind the items to themselves and complete the final transaction, as they had only paid a deposit so far.
Hearing this, the crowd eagerly stepped up to make their selections. After a brief inspection to ensure everything was in order, they transferred the remaining funds on the spot.
With Maya's help, they began the binding process. Only after completing this step would the Spatial Backpacks truly belong to them. The students who couldn't afford one could only watch in envy.
However, even though they didn't have the money for Spatial Backpacks, they could still afford to upgrade their weapons. As for armor, they weren't considering it for the time being.
In this world, many people didn't bother with armor because it rarely saw any use. When you could just envelop your entire body in True Qi and charge in, what need was there for armor? That stuff would only slow you down.
True Qi itself acted as a form of armor, which made the armor market in this world pitifully small. Even the students in Ren's class hadn't given much thought to buying defensive gear.
If they ended up needing it, they could just get some in the other world. Rina-sensei had mentioned that they could prepare gold and similar valuables to exchange for the local currency over there, which they could then use to buy gear.
Therefore, everyone opted to pick out a few weapons to keep as spares, ready to swap out if their current ones broke. The group of students began picking and choosing right there in Maya's shop.
Hestia was invited by the students to act as an appraiser, asking her for advice on which weapons offered the best value. As long as Hestia deemed a weapon viable, these guys bought it without hesitation.
Some guys even prepared several weapons at once, then stuffed them into the Spatial Backpacks of the wealthy guys and girls in their parties who had bought them.
This sudden shopping spree ended up clearing out more than half of Maya's inventory. The sight left Maya not knowing whether to laugh or cry; for a moment, she didn't even know how to react. At the same time, she learned that Ren and the others were preparing to head out on another journey.
As for where they were going, everyone tacitly avoided mentioning it. It wasn't that they didn't trust Maya, but rather that there was no need to broadcast certain things to the public.
Once everyone finished their shopping, Ren placed his mark on his new magic staff and stored it away. Having wrapped everything up, Ren bid Maya farewell.
"We'll be taking off now, Maya. We still have a lot of things to buy. We'll come see you again when we get back." Ren waved goodbye to Maya, unsure of how long it would be before his next visit.
"Mhm, stay safe. No matter where you are, sometimes human hearts are far more sinister than monsters!" Before they left, Maya offered Ren and the others a piece of advice.
She truly hoped these kids, who had yet to step into society, wouldn't get scammed. They needed to be wary of the malicious intentions of strangers. She genuinely wished to see them grow up safely.
"We'll be careful!" Ren completely understood the weight of Maya's words. Silently committing them to memory, he walked straight out of the shop. Outside, he parted ways with the rest of his classmates, while he, Asuna, and the others continued on to other places to purchase the supplies they needed.
Yukino, in particular, was already itching to fill up her new Spatial Backpack. This time, she was absolutely determined to be fully prepared before heading to the other world.
Ren shared the same sentiment. He glanced at Megumi Kato, thought for a moment, and said, "Megumi, if there's anything you want to buy, feel free to get it. You can store it with me; I still have plenty of space."
Hearing Ren's offer, Megumi nodded without refusing. Right now, out of the four people in their party, three had spatial equipment. She was the only one without any.
So, she had no choice but to temporarily store her things with Ren or Asuna and the others. After all, Spatial Backpacks were far too expensive for her to afford; they were clearly out of her price range.
Seeing this, Yukino pulled Megumi aside and whispered a few words to her. Megumi nodded in response, having no objections to whatever was suggested.
With so many storage items at their disposal, the amount of gear they could bring increased significantly. Ren first led Asuna and the others to a pharmacy to buy various emergency medical supplies.
Next, they bought all sorts of ingredients and food, stuffing everything into Ren's Spatial Ring. Once that was done, they finally went to buy various tools and utility items that could be used in the Dungeon.
After a long shopping spree, evening had unknowingly crept up on them. Ren's Spatial Ring was packed with countless items, including both his own and Megumi's.
However, Ren had directly stuffed his personal belongings into the separate spatial dimension he had opened up himself, leaving Megumi's items isolated within the Spatial Ring. This made it easy to tell them apart. Who told Ren to have two separate spatial storages? He was just that extravagant.
"It's getting late. Let's just find a restaurant to eat at, and then we can all head home." Ren checked the time. He was too lazy to go back and cook, so he suggested they just eat out.
None of them had any objections. The group found a restaurant with good online reviews to settle their dinner for the day. After eating and drinking their fill, they finally parted ways and returned to their respective apartments to rest.
The next day, Ren hit the streets alone once again. This time, he went out to purchase some personal necessities. He had only remembered to do this after seeing Asuna and the girls discussing it in their group chat.
After all, girls had more troublesome needs to attend to. They had made plans to go out today to buy some private items. Since they would be over there for quite a long time, they needed to prepare clothes and other intimate necessities.
Because of this, Ren didn't join them today. Instead, he went out by himself and bought a ton of clothes—winter wear, summer wear, and all sorts of things he might or might not need, stuffing them all into his spatial storage.
Once he finished all of that, Ren took the opportunity to get his hair sorted out. For a while now, his hair had been getting quite long. Since he was heading to another world, it was only natural to get it trimmed. Otherwise, if it kept growing, he'd end up with long, straight black hair and could sit at the same table as Yukino.
He found a barbershop, got his hair cut short and layered, and instantly looked much more refreshed. Especially when he saw himself in the mirror, the corners of Ren's mouth curled up slightly. *Is the word "handsome" even enough to describe this? I can only say, as expected of me.*
He wondered how those people who transmigrated into other people's bodies felt when they saw a stranger in the mirror. What was it like to date someone you liked, or do other *interesting* things, while wearing someone else's skin?
Thinking about this, Ren continuously thanked the alternate version of himself whom he had only met once. If it weren't for his talent, even if Ren had transmigrated and taken over his body, he probably would have felt incredibly awkward, right? *Thank goodness... I'm not a Gundam pilot!*