**Chapter 05: One Year**
Spring left and autumn came; time flew by in a hurry. In the blink of an eye, Ren had been in this world for a year.
Over the past year, he had long since mingled with everyone in the guild, becoming a thorough member of Fairy Tail.
Regarding missions, Ren almost always went alone and did not form a team with others.
The main reason was that he had certain things that were inconvenient to show in front of others.
Mirajane frequently sought Ren out for duels, and every time, she was defeated by him.
After each defeat, she would challenge Ren again about a week or two later, showing indomitable perseverance.
By defeating Mirajane time and time again, Ren left a very deep impression on her.
Erza also sparred with Ren in swordsmanship.
From being completely suppressed by Erza's swordsmanship at the beginning, to fighting on par with her, and then faintly surpassing her—the entire process took only three days.
This made everyone feel it was inconceivable, calling Ren a monster.
Only Ren knew that it wasn't just genius; during combat, his body instinctively made those changes.
Ren guessed it was likely due to fusing with the Ulquiorra template.
Ren also asked Erza for instruction in spear techniques. Although he currently used a sword, after releasing his Resurrección, his weapon would become a lance.
Ren was equally fast in learning the spear.
The three of them often sparred and learned from each other, and unknowingly, some inexplicable feelings began to emerge between them.
Mirajane and Erza were both at the age where love was just beginning to bloom. Meeting a handsome boy like Ren, who was powerful and knew how to take care of others, it was inevitable that their hearts would flutter.
Ren had always liked Mirajane and Erza, and after truly spending time with them, he found he liked them even more.
As for the others in the guild who were younger than him, Ren treated them as his younger brothers and sisters.
During this year, Natsu, who loved to compete with others, naturally did not fail to challenge Ren.
Ren fought Natsu with his bare hands.
Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic was a magic that transformed the human constitution into a Dragon's constitution; his physical fitness was strong enough to withstand bullets.
But Ren's Hierro was no joke either. in the anime, Ulquiorra blocked Kisuke Urahara's Shikai attack with a wave of his hand.
He also only suffered minor injuries when blocking the Getsuga Tenshō of Ichigo Kurosaki in his Hollowfied state.
So even though Natsu used Dragon Slayer Magic, he was still beaten into a pig's head by Ren.
Ren loved the Fairy Tail guild and treated it as his true home.
His guildmates were his family.
He also fell in love with the life of adventure.
Although this world had no computers and no internet, he knew this was the life he wanted.
---
"Wahhhhh!"
*Splurt!* A jet of fresh blood sprayed out.
*Thud!* A person fell to the ground.
"No! Don't!"
"Where are the people?" Ren asked coldly.
"They... they are all in the basement!"
"Take me there."
"Yes!"
Ren arrived at the basement of the building and saw many people, emaciated from hunger, locked in iron cages like dogs. Seeing Ren and the man, they were terrified.
"Everyone... everyone is here..."
*Splurt!*
Just as the man finished speaking, he felt a pain in his neck. Immediately after, he realized his vision had toppled over. He saw his own body, but it had no head. Then, his consciousness faded completely.
With a wave of his hand, Ren slashed the iron cages open.
"Alright! You are free."
The people in the cages were initially frightened by Ren killing the man with a wave of his hand, but hearing Ren say they were free, they immediately understood that this person had come to save them.
"Thank you! Thank you, benefactor!"
"Thank you for saving our lives!"
With expressions of endless gratitude on their faces, these people quickly thanked him and ran outside, fleeing the place.
After everyone had left, Ren opened his right hand.
"Soul Consumption!"
A small black hole appeared in Ren's right hand.
Souls that were invisible to others were swallowed up by the black hole.
**[Ding! Successfully absorbed 47 ordinary souls! Fusion rate increased by 0.47%!]**
**[Current Template Fusion Rate: 20.02%]**
Soul Consumption. This skill was the reason Ren had always traveled alone and never formed a team.
After accidentally discovering that Soul Consumption could increase his fusion rate, he began to specifically look for subjugation missions, using Soul Consumption to improve his template fusion.
Although others couldn't see the souls at all, Ren chose to do these subjugation missions alone just to be safe.
This time, he had annihilated a Dark Guild of human traffickers. Ren showed no mercy to human traffickers; these people all deserved to die.
**[Detected Host fusion rate has exceeded 20%.]**
**[First Stage Resurrección successfully activated!]**
**[Resurrección Command: Enclose, Murciélago!]**
Ren was pleasantly surprised to hear this system prompt. He could finally use Resurrección.
Resurrección was like a Shinigami's Bankai; his strength would receive a massive boost.
Ren was a bit impatient to test the power of his Resurrección right now, but he decided against it. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future. For now, he should head back to the guild.
Ren glanced at the Dark Guild, then raised his right hand.
*Hum!*
Spiritual pressure became highly concentrated, compressing into a small emerald-green ball of energy.
"Cero!"
*Shoooom————!!*
*BOOM!!!*