Ren Isana immediately activated the [Spatial Barrier], trapping all the intruders inside. He struck first, and his words instantly spurred his classmates into action.
Everyone leaped down from the upper floor, charging straight at the nearest enemies. The strongest among this group of intruders was merely Tier 2. Facing a unified front of Tier 3 students, they had absolutely no power to resist.
The students really did treat these people like wild monster mobs. Ren hovered in the sky, keeping his [Perception Magic] active to monitor everything happening below.
Asuna and the others had thrown on their clothes and jumped down. She soon encountered a rat-faced man wearing a black cloak and a mask. Seeing him, Asuna furrowed her brow.
The next moment, the rapier in her hand was drawn. Like a flash of silver light in the night, it instantly pierced the man through. Yukino Yukinoshita's approach was even more straightforward and brutal. She had already locked onto an enemy from her room.
Swiftly vaulting out the window, she dashed forward, concentrated her strength into her fist, and blew the intruder's head off with a single punch. Watching this scene made Ren's eyelids twitch.
*Good lord, that's brutal,* he thought. However, seeing her turn deathly pale and immediately vomit after the attack, Ren felt a wave of understanding. She probably hadn't expected her punch to literally explode a human head.
"Megumi, head straight to the back. There are more over there," Ren called out, mapping the entire battlefield in his mind. Seeing Megumi Kato about to join the frontline, he quickly redirected her.
The intruders weren't just in the front; they had slipped into the rear as well. His warning prompted the students who hadn't engaged yet to react swiftly, fanning out to search the premises.
There were only a dozen or so intruders, which wasn't nearly enough to go around. Ren had already taken out several in the first wave, leaving the rest to be dispatched with barely one strike per student.
Hearing Ren's instruction, Megumi swiftly bounded toward the backyard. Thanks to her innate talent, her movements went completely unnoticed. Besides, the intruders were already scared out of their wits.
They were frantically trying to flee, but with the entire manor locked down, where could they go? Megumi easily slipped up beside an intruder who was desperately searching for an exit.
Seeing his panicked attempts to escape, Megumi let out a soft sigh. The next second, her dagger left its sheath and plunged into the man's neck without a shred of hesitation.
Ren had given the order to eliminate them all, and Megumi understood his underlying intention. He wanted everyone to experience drawing blood. Since these thugs dared to invade, they had to be prepared to be killed.
The intruders were easily wiped out, but the students who struck the fatal blows didn't look too good. At the end of the day, they were still young. If they had taken lives back in their original world, they would have been arrested on the spot.
Ren descended from the sky. Naturally, the commotion within the manor had awakened the sleeping members of the Hestia Familia.
Although they hadn't been branded with Ren's magic mark, they could still hear the noise. In an instant, the entire manor was brightly lit. The newly hired cooks and maids rushed out, clutching brooms and whatever makeshift weapons they could find.
When they saw the corpses, their faces turned pale with fright. Hestia ran up to Ren and hurriedly asked, "Is everything okay?"
Ren shook his head. He glanced at the bodies and said, "It's fine. Just a pack of reckless hyenas. Girls, head back inside. Boys, stay behind and help me dispose of these bodies."
Hearing Ren's instructions, the girls nodded with slightly sickly expressions. Yukino, in particular, had her hands covered in blood; she had been dying to go wash up for a while now.
His words brought a collective sigh of relief, and they hurriedly returned to their rooms. Everyone had taken action tonight; they had all landed at least a strike or two.
In other words, they were all killers now. But no one cared about that at the moment. They just wanted to get this over with and go back to adjust their mindsets.
After the girls left, the remaining boys sprang into action. Under Ren's lead, they dragged the corpses to a nearby field, dug a rough pit, and buried them.
Once the grim task was finished, everyone returned to their rooms to cool down. For many of the students, the shock was simply too overwhelming.
Everything Ren and the students did was observed by Natsuki Minamiya and the other teachers. Natsuki was extremely satisfied with Ren's performance. He had done exceptionally well!
*If you aren't ruthless, you can't stand firm.* Furthermore, Natsuki and the others fully supported letting the students experience bloodshed. To the teachers, these intruders were just a bunch of scum. If they died, they died.
Which of the teachers present hadn't gotten blood on their hands? After all, when adventuring in other dimensions, human hearts were sometimes far more terrifying than monsters. They didn't think there was anything wrong with Ren's actions; in fact, they thought he handled it beautifully.
After casually disposing of the bodies, Ren and the others went back to their rooms to rest. Seeing this, Hestia hurriedly ran upstairs and asked, "Are we being targeted?"
Hestia was a bit nervous. She truly hadn't expected something like this to happen tonight; it was completely out of her expectations.
"Just a bunch of petty thieves. Come on, let's go back to sleep!" Ren shook his head, not taking the matter to heart. After casually reassuring Hestia, he turned and headed upstairs to his own room.
He needed to calm down as well. After all, it was his first time too. Feeling a little tense afterward was perfectly normal.
Returning to his room, Ren locked the door and went to wash his hands. Once done, he lay on his bed and entered a meditative state.
His mind instantly emptied. The lingering sensation of his first kill completely detached from him, and he meditated straight through until dawn.
The others were in a similar boat. After returning to their rooms and washing up, they immediately entered a meditative state, using this method to mitigate the psychological impact of taking a life for the first time.
The night passed silently. In the blink of an eye, it was the next day. Everyone woke up full of energy and began eating breakfast. Ren glanced at the group and noticed that they had adjusted their emotions quite rapidly.
After just one night, everyone's mental state had recovered. This was a very good sign; it seemed no one was deeply affected by last night's events.
Today, everyone was fully geared up, wearing the armor they had purchased previously. Seeing Ren arrive, they all greeted him.
"We'll head out right after breakfast. Make sure you double-check that you have all your gear," Ren said as he grabbed a portion of breakfast and sat down near the group to give his final reminders.
Hearing Ren's words, everyone nodded, indicating they understood. They were all quite looking forward to this three-day expedition down into the Dungeon.
By unspoken agreement, no one brought up what had happened the previous night. Instead, they enthusiastically discussed this world's Dungeon, brimming with anticipation for the upcoming adventure.
Not long after Ren sat down, Asuna and the others walked over. They got their food and sat beside him. The three girls were also clad in armor, fully prepared for the journey.
"Yukino, are you alright?" Ren observed the three of them and noticed the exhaustion in her eyes. Had she not slept well last night?
Hearing Ren's question, Yukino shook her head. She set down her tray and began to eat. After taking a sip of porridge, she said, "I had trouble sleeping last night."
Speaking of this made her incredibly frustrated. Last night, she had tried to use meditation to forget the fact that she had literally blown someone's head off with a single punch, but no matter what she did, she couldn't enter the right state of mind.
As a result, she barely slept at all. It was only when dawn broke that she managed to catch a brief, shallow nap, and she still hadn't managed to meditate.
"Who told you to hit so hard? You literally exploded the guy's head with one punch," Ren couldn't help but quip.
She probably saw that exploding head every time she closed her eyes. Looking at her, Ren said thoughtfully, "Drink a Blue Potion later. We can't have you getting traumatized."
Ren's last comment was a genuine warning. He was worried that in future battles, she would be too afraid to aim for the head, terrified of accidentally popping another one like a melon!
"Do you think I'll be too scared to aim for the head in the future? Relax, I won't be traumatized. I'm just a little unaccustomed to it since it was my first time." Yukino raised a delicate eyebrow, instantly grasping Ren's underlying meaning.
"Oh, so you know? Looks like you'll be fine then!" Seeing that she understood, Ren didn't press the issue. She knew her own limits best. Hopefully, she really was fine!
Ren didn't dwell on the matter. After finishing his breakfast, he began his own preparations. While the others were already wearing their armor, he hadn't put his on yet.
Letting Asuna and the others know, Ren returned to his room to equip his set of soft armor, throwing a set of casual clothes over it.
Wearing the soft armor didn't feel uncomfortable at all; in fact, it felt quite nice. After confirming everything was in order, Ren retrieved his Tang Dao.
With his preparations complete, Ren slowly made his way downstairs. The others were already waiting. Hestia and the teachers had also come down to see them off.
Seeing Ren descend, Natsuki Minamiya spoke up. "Leave the manor to us. Focus on your training in the Dungeon. Remember, if you encounter something you can't beat, run away immediately!"
Hearing Natsuki's advice, Ren smiled and nodded. "Understood. Don't worry, we value our lives very much."
Natsuki nodded and said no more. Seeing this, Hestia couldn't help but chime in with her own instructions. "Stay safe out there! And if any other Familia tries to cause trouble for you, don't be afraid—just hit them right back!!"
As she said this, Hestia wore an adorably fierce expression. She wasn't afraid of any god right now. With Natsuki and the other teachers backing them up, who would they fear? If trouble came knocking, they would just punch it in the face.
At worst, it would just escalate into a War Game. Loser weeps! Hestia wasn't scared in the slightest; she was brimming with confidence!
Ren glanced at Hestia. He didn't say anything, simply nodding before walking out to join the others, who were now fully assembled.
Stepping outside and seeing that everyone had their backpacks and weapons ready, he didn't hesitate. He waved his hand and declared, "Let's move out."
With that, Ren strode forward, leading the way out of the manor. The rest followed closely behind as the group marched toward the Dungeon.
"Ren, does the communication function of this Guild mark still work outside?" Not long after they set out, Sora jogged up beside Ren and asked about the mark on her hand.
Last night, Ren had suddenly contacted everyone through the mark, which had given them quite a scare. She wondered if this thing could be used out in the field. If it could, it would be incredibly convenient.
"It can!" Ren replied after a moment of thought. Even though they had left the manor, he could still issue commands to everyone through the mark.
However, it had a range limit, much like a walkie-talkie. If they were too far apart, the Magic Power wouldn't be able to transmit the signal. Within a certain radius, it was definitely fine.
Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up. Sora eagerly pestered Ren, "Then hurry up and teach us how to use it! I studied it yesterday but couldn't figure out how to transmit my voice."
Ren shook his head. Looking at Sora, he explained, "To do that, you need to be able to externalize your Magic Power. In other words, you can only learn it once you reach Tier 4."
Transmitting voice through Magic Power was something these guys simply couldn't do right now. They would only be able to utilize this function after breaking through to Tier 4.
Sora was instantly disappointed. So they couldn't learn it yet. *Damn it...* Her thirst for strength grew even stronger. Only at Tier 4 could they learn to fly and master all sorts of new techniques.
Right now, everyone was still at Tier 3, making it impossible to use the communication function. It seemed that for the time being, they could only passively receive messages from Ren through the mark.
"I should be able to do it, right? My talent should make it possible," Yukino spoke up just then. She had experimented last night, using her talent to control the Magic Power within her body, and had already managed to shrink a Magic Circle just like Ren had done previously.
If this long-distance communication method required the control of a Tier 4 mage, she should theoretically be able to pull it off, right?
"Want to give it a try? Here's how: first, activate the mark. Then, try to sense the locations of the other marks. Finally, speak and use your Magic Power to transmit the sound," Ren instructed upon hearing her claim.
Following Ren's explanation, Yukino began her attempt. However, she got stuck on the second step—she couldn't sense the existence of the other marks at all!!
"I can't sense the other marks. Do I need to use a perception spell?" Yukino asked, slightly puzzled. She had hit a wall at just the second step...
No, wait, it was more like the first real step. After all, anyone could activate the mark!
Hearing this, Ren thought for a moment before replying, "I don't need to, but you can try. It might be because I'm the one who applied the marks, so I can sense them easily."
Ren hadn't really thought about that aspect in detail. Now that Yukino mentioned it, he realized that since they were his Magic Power marks, he could sense them effortlessly, but the same wouldn't necessarily apply to her.
Taking Ren's advice, Yukino didn't hesitate and decisively cast [Perception Magic]. This time, with the spell active, she could indeed sense the marks. She then resumed her attempt.
She successfully transmitted her voice through the mark. As long as the marks were within her perception range, she could send her voice to them. However, anything beyond that range was unreachable.
In other words, there was a hard limit based on her perception distance. Realizing this, Yukino said with a hint of regret, "This method is too restrictive. It becomes useless if we're too far apart. I think you should modify it."
Yukino voiced her suggestion. The technique was great, and she felt that if they researched it deeply enough, they could absolutely invent a dedicated communication spell.
In an alternate world like this where cell phones were useless, having a communication spell would make staying in touch much easier.
Hearing Yukino's words, Ren fell into deep thought. As he walked, he began refining the magic in his mind. It was true—with a few modifications, it would be perfectly viable. He could directly use these marks to form a network.