Ren Isana seemed to understand something in that moment. Was this meant to acquire Divinity? Someone of that caliber shouldn't have a hard time seeing the issue with his body—his True Qi and Magic Power had already merged together. Now, the only thing he lacked was Divinity.
"What a pity!" Ren Isana said with a sigh after figuring everything out. His words instantly left Hestia's face covered in question marks.
"What's a pity?" A sudden, ominous premonition welled up in her heart. *Don't tell me Ren Isana actually wants to become a God Slayer? Please no, that's way too terrifying!*
"It's a pity I narrowly missed becoming a God Slayer. If I could have become one, my strength would have skyrocketed." *So what if I get cursed by the gods?*
*Public enemy of the gods? Hilarious. If I've already slain a god, who cares about being a public enemy?* To someone like him, being cursed by the gods was just like being marked with a beacon—one that would deliver an endless stream of prey right to his doorstep.
It was basically a permanent buff that automatically aggroed deities. As long as he killed enough of them, no god would dare come looking for trouble. At that point, it would be up in the air who was actually making trouble for whom.
"Hey, hey, hey! That kind of thinking is way too dangerous! Do you have any idea how troublesome it is to be cursed by a god? Other deities will come after you the moment they see you!" Hestia simply couldn't understand why Ren Isana felt it was a pity.
But Ren Isana's next words completely broke her. He looked at Hestia with a strange expression and said, "Isn't that a good thing? I'd have an endless supply of gods delivering themselves to my door to be bled dry."
There was absolutely no way to respond to that. Hestia felt like her brain was about to overload. *Do you even hear the terrifying things coming out of your mouth?!*
Hestia stared at Ren Isana as if she were looking at a ghost. *Good grief, are people from your world seriously not afraid of this kind of stuff?!*
"Alright, go back and get some rest. I have to head out tomorrow to upgrade everyone's gear. You can update everyone's Falna then," Ren Isana said, patting Hestia on the head. He then grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around, and shooed her out the door.
A thoroughly bewildered Hestia was unceremoniously kicked out. Ren Isana shut the door behind her and retreated into his room to rest.
Hestia stared blankly at the closed door. Feeling a bit depressed, she silently trudged upstairs to her own room, completely unable to comprehend Ren Isana's thought process.
*Why would anyone think being targeted by the gods is a good thing? That's not good at all! The people in this world are just too weird!!*
Ren Isana couldn't care less about what Hestia was thinking. Lying on his bed, he directly entered a state of [Meditation] to rest. He had a busy day ahead of him tomorrow.
The night passed without incident. In the blink of an eye, it was the next day. After Ren Isana woke up and brushed his teeth, he sent a message to Maya, letting her know that his group would be heading over to process materials and that the quantity would be quite large.
Upon receiving the message, Maya told Ren Isana to head straight to the factory. She wasn't at the shop right now as she had other matters to attend to, so she instructed him to just look for Jimmy to handle it.
Reading Maya's reply, Ren Isana didn't mind. If he had to guess, she was probably busy dealing with the new branch opening near the Dungeon entrance.
After finishing his conversation with Maya, Ren Isana tagged everyone in their group chat, telling them to gather directly at Jimmy's factory. With that sorted, he finally got ready to head out.
When Ren Isana opened his door, Asuna, Ais, and the others were already waiting outside. Seeing them, he didn't say much; he simply locked his door and headed toward the elevator.
Once they were downstairs, Asuna leaned in close to Ren Isana and whispered, "What did you say to Hestia? She specifically came to me this morning and asked if I wanted to become a God Slayer or something..."
Asuna felt a bit exasperated. The moment Hestia saw her that morning, she had blurted out that bizarre question, leaving Asuna completely baffled. Hestia had even asked if she would be scared if she became a God Slayer.
*Joke's on her. Scared? What is there to be scared of? Am I supposed to be afraid of running out of gods to kill?* If she actually became a God Slayer, then gods would be nothing more than prey. There was no such thing as fear—in fact, she was actually quite eager to try it out.
"It's nothing. We were just chatting about some things last night and Apollo got brought up," Ren Isana explained casually. He didn't mention anything about Divinity to Asuna.
Hearing his explanation, Asuna gave him a strange look. *So that's it. No wonder she asked that.* It seemed perfectly normal for someone from another world not to understand their mindset. Thinking this, Asuna didn't dwell on the topic any further.
Instead, she asked, "Ren Isana, can you design a new set of armor for me? Something that's more convenient for combat. I feel like my current set is starting to fall behind, and it really clashes with the aesthetic over here."
Faced with Asuna's request, Ren Isana thought for a moment before holding out his hand. "As long as you pay up, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
He figured he could just recreate her Knights of the Blood Oath outfit. It wouldn't be too difficult, and he was certain she would love it.
Asuna immediately smiled upon hearing this. "Make sure it's good! Just tell me how much it costs when it's done. As long as the product is up to standard, I promise I'll pay."
She really wanted a suitable set of defensive gear right now. A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she couldn't help but ask, "Ren Isana, can you create a one-click [Equip Magic]? Like when you summon a weapon, but it instantly equips the armor onto your body?"
She looked at Ren Isana with expectant eyes. Faced with Asuna's idea, Ren Isana gave her a very weird look and said, "Do you want it censored? Because if it's not censored, using that magic will be in high-definition and completely uncensored!"
Asuna was instantly dumbfounded. Her mind supplied an image of that exact scenario, and she violently shuddered. "Pretend I never asked!!" she hastily cried out.
*Are you kidding me?! If it's like that, I absolutely don't want it! That kind of magic is cursed! I'm never touching it!!*
"[Equip Magic] is theoretically possible. But think about it—when you change clothes, your original outfit has to be stored away, right? During the split second it takes to swap out your original clothes for the new ones, that transition period... you'd literally be going commando." He left it at that; Asuna was smart enough to understand.
"Okay, okay, I get it! Pretend I never said anything!!" Asuna shook her head, refusing to discuss the topic any further. It was an absolute *no*. Or perhaps... this magic already existed, but it just wasn't popularized for that exact reason?
Just thinking about it made Asuna want to break down. *That is way too awful! Thank goodness it never caught on!*
"For the armor you want, what's your budget? Give me a baseline, and I'll make you a set that's guaranteed to satisfy," Ren Isana said, dropping the previous topic and getting down to business.
After all, when it came to gear, the price ceiling was theoretically limitless depending on the materials used. As long as she was willing to fork over the cash, Ren Isana could instantly craft her a top-tier set.
"Twenty mil... No, two hundred million Valis! I can accept anything under two hundred million!" Asuna had originally been about to say twenty million, but she quickly changed her tune. If she was going to get a custom set, she might as well get the best.
"It must be nice being rich. Alright, I'll see what materials Jimmy has in stock later." Ren Isana couldn't help but sigh in admiration at her budget. A rich girl was a rich girl—dropping two hundred million Valis without batting an eye.
"I'm not rich at all. This is just the money my father gave me last time when I bought the Spatial Ring. He's cut me off now, so I have to rely on myself from here on out," Asuna said, sounding a bit helpless at the mention of it.
While she still had a considerable amount of funds left, asking her family for more was out of the question. She had to earn her own keep now. After all, even though her family was wealthy, they didn't own a money printer.
Not to mention, she was now fully capable of earning money herself. Her parents weren't going to keep handing her massive sums of cash. If they kept funding her Dungeon expenditures, she'd end up draining the family dry.
"Understandable. You are an adult now, after all." Ren Isana nodded. It wasn't hard to grasp. Just thinking about how much money Asuna had already spent was enough to realize that if her family kept paying, they really wouldn't be able to handle it.
"So, let's settle on that price. Make sure it's good quality—I'm trusting you." She wasn't just trusting Ren Isana's craftsmanship, but also his aesthetic sense. There was no way he'd make her an ugly set of armor, right?
Judging by the rapier he had crafted for her, his aesthetic tastes were definitely on point. If she let him design her clothes... he would probably tailor them to look as flattering on her as possible.
"Yeah, I already have some ideas. I guarantee it'll be both beautiful and powerful. I'll even throw in some enchantments like [Auto-Clean], [Auto-Repair], and some magic resistance." Two hundred million Valis could accomplish a lot.
Since that was the case, Ren Isana decided he would only take a one-third profit margin from Asuna. He already had a good idea of what materials to use; some of the drops from the Floor Bosses they had fought recently would be perfect.
He just needed to buy a few extra materials from Jimmy later. As the two chatted, Ais and the others listened in. Hearing Asuna commission custom gear from Ren Isana actually tempted Ais quite a bit.
But thinking about her current armor, she decided to hold off for now. Her gear was still in perfect condition, and she was already used to it. There was no immediate need for a replacement.
Not to mention, the Loki Familia still had many areas that required funding right now. She couldn't just casually throw around such massive sums of money, could she? Because of this, she could only suppress the thought.
She would wait until the Loki Familia firmly established their footing here. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future anyway; she wasn't in a rush.
The group bought breakfast from a roadside stall and ate as they walked toward Jimmy's factory. When Ren Isana and the others arrived, the security guard immediately opened the gate for them, remembering who they were.
They were VIP guests of the boss and the lady boss, so there was no need for them to register. Ren Isana's group strolled right in.
They were the first batch to arrive. As soon as they entered, Ren Isana ran into Tsubaki and the other members of the Hephaestus Familia. Tsubaki's eyes lit up the moment she saw him.
She hurried over to greet them. "Are you guys back from the Dungeon? Did you farm any good materials this time? Any special magic materials? I've been wanting to forge a batch of magic swords recently, and I need a ton of materials."
Hearing Tsubaki's words, Ren Isana looked at her curiously. "Are you guys just living here now?"
Didn't Tsubaki and her group return to the apartment complex yesterday? Ren Isana was a bit puzzled. *Are these guys planning to fully partner up with Maya's side?*
"We've been busy here lately, so we've just been eating and sleeping on-site. We've officially reached a partnership with Maya. I teach Jimmy's crew our forging techniques, and they use their distribution channels to sell our weapons." Tsubaki chuckled, explaining their current situation to Ren Isana.
"Tsubaki's first batch of weapons has already gone on sale, and it seems they're receiving rave reviews," Hestia chimed in. As the goddess of her best friend's Familia, she naturally kept an eye on their progress.
Hestia was very clear on their current situation. It was going incredibly smoothly, and the partnership was mutually beneficial. In fact, the cooperation agreement had been signed with her acting as a witness.
Hearing this, Ren Isana nodded and said, "We definitely have a lot of materials. I'll hand them all over to Jimmy to process later. It's great that you're here, actually. Help my classmates upgrade their weapons later. I managed to bag the Juggernaut's corpse."
Tsubaki had helped Ren Isana out once before, and he highly approved of her craftsmanship. With their help, everyone's weapons could be upgraded today. Free labor was the best kind of labor, after all.
Tsubaki's eyes instantly lit up at his request. When she heard he had the Juggernaut's corpse, she grew even more excited. "Is the body intact?" she asked in pleasant surprise. "If it is, can you give me the tail?"
That was top-tier material! If she could get her hands on its tail, she could forge an incredibly powerful weapon. It would be perfect for establishing the Hephaestus Familia's reputation in this world.
"No problem. Consider it payment for your hard work," Ren Isana agreed generously. *Once you take my materials, don't even think about slacking off when upgrading our weapons.*
With that thought in mind, Ren Isana reached into his Spatial Ring and pulled out the tail he had severed earlier. The tail alone was nearly two meters long.
The members of the Hephaestus Familia immediately revealed fanatical expressions upon seeing the tail. Tsubaki was practically vibrating with excitement. "What a beauty! With just a little forging, this could be used as a weapon right off the bat!!"
"Hey, Ren, did you score some good loot?" Jimmy walked out just in time to see the tail Ren Isana had produced. His eyes immediately began to shine.
"Jimmy." Seeing him, Ren Isana greeted him and proceeded to dump out all the materials and Magic Stones he had gathered this time. He couldn't be bothered to haul it all inside, so he just decided to sort it out right there in the yard!
Looking at the massive pile of loot, Jimmy couldn't help but click his tongue. "No wonder you told Maya to stop buying Magic Stones. The Dungeon really pumps these things out. Hold on, let me call some guys over to sort this out."
Saying that, Jimmy pulled out his phone and made a call. It looked like they were going to be swamped today. After all, this was just Ren Isana's personal haul; the rest of his classmates were still on their way.
After arranging for some workers, Jimmy walked back over to Ren Isana. "Do you have any more of that material you gave Tsubaki? If you do, sell some to me! I promise I'll give you a good price!"
He really wanted that material too. For any blacksmith, such high-quality loot was simply irresistible.
"I do, but I was hoping we could trade for some materials instead. This rich lady here commissioned a custom set of gear from me, and I'm missing a few components that I'd like to get from you," Ren Isana said, glancing at Asuna before stating his request.
Hearing this, Jimmy looked at Asuna, then back at Ren Isana. A strange look flashed through his eyes, but he didn't refuse. "What kind of materials do you need? Let me see if I have them in stock. If not, I can source them from elsewhere."
Ren Isana immediately listed off the names of several materials. After listening to his requirements, Jimmy stroked his chin and said, "I don't have the Meteor Thread you're asking for, only fabric woven from it. As for the other materials, I can scrape them together for you."
No thread, only fabric. Hearing this, Ren Isana's eyes lit up. "Having the fabric is even better! Just trade me the finished cloth. Here's the boss's corpse—take a look and tell me which part you want, Jimmy!"
Without hesitation, Ren Isana pulled out the Juggernaut's corpse. As the massive three-to-four-meter body materialized, Jimmy's gaze was instantly drawn to it. *Good lord, this whole thing is basically one giant crafting material!!*
"Jimmy, ask for the claws. Its claws can be forged into several daggers, and they even possess magic-breaking properties," Tsubaki chimed in, directly advising Jimmy on what to choose.
Hearing this, Jimmy looked at Ren Isana and said, "Well, you heard Master Tsubaki's recommendation. I guess I'll have to take the claws. Is that alright with you?"
He was very willing to listen to Tsubaki's advice. She was the authority here, after all. Her forging skills were the best in the entire factory. If she said the claws were good, then he was taking the claws.
"The claws are definitely a solid choice. In that case, I'll give you both front claws. We won't be needing them for our weapon upgrades anyway." Saying this, Ren Isana drew his weapon, cleanly severed the two front claws, and handed them over to Jimmy.
With the deal struck, Jimmy led Ren Isana to his personal collection room while the others continued inventorying the materials, gathering everything Ren Isana needed for his crafting.
By the time Ren Isana had collected all the materials required for Asuna's gear and returned to the yard, the rest of his classmates had begun to arrive one after another. Seeing him, everyone immediately started calling out their greetings.