Reno and Chett glanced at each other before Chett ran up to try to attack Marlene. Reno followed right behind him.

[Combat Art: Ape Smash]

Chett’s entire arm became covered with blue-colored energy as he punched at Marlene.

Marlene didn’t know how strong Chett was so she used the base of her spear to redirect his attack to the right, before attempting to counterattack.

She thrusted her spear with great force attempting to put Chett out of commission but was stopped by Reno.

[Parry]

“Again… that wall-like feeling”

Reno charged in and tanked Marlene’s hit again, pushing both him and Chett some inches away like before.

Marlene charged at the two, not giving them any time to rest, specifically Reno.

[Hound’s Mystic Spear Technique: Hunter’s Thrust]

“Grhh” Taking the thrust this time, Reno flew some distance away and into some of the cafeteria’s tables.

Marlene let out some air through her nose. ‘Looks like it is a skill. The cool-down should be higher than 5 seconds too.’

Chett didn’t waste any time and made sure to engage Marlene so Reno could get time to get up.

[Combat Art: Turbulence]

Chett stomped down on the ground and howling winds engulfed the cafeteria.

Marlene didn’t have any way to redirect or dodge the winds, especially at point-blank range.

As such, she took the attack which caused her to be thrown some distance into the air.

Chett didn’t stop this momentum and took up some cafeteria tables and threw them at Marlene.

Marlene sliced the tables into halves. Then while she was still in the air, Chett made sure to continue his attack.

He jumped up on a table and then charged back his fist.

[Denver’s Enchanting Fist Technique: Boar Smash]

His energy that was around his entire arm surged towards his fist.

Seeing this, Marlene’s face turned serious. “If I take this blow, I’m not sure if I’ll come out unharmed. Going By their uniforms they’re supposed to be a first year and a second-year, are all underclassmen this strong now?”

The uniform of Aligning Academy made it easy to differentiate superiority.

First years had one white stroke on their tie, second years had two, and third years had three.

When Chett’s fist collided with Marlene’s spear, it didn’t break in half like usual.

Cracks started to form all around it from the force of the impact before it shattered into pieces

From the hit, Not only was Marlene launched backward toward the ground.

She also collided with many cafeteria tables on the way down.

Seeing the entire situation, Surprise was all over Buggi's face.

'I thought Rosa Lina was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime talent but it seems her brother is also up there. Good to know

“I wanna try gauging both Reno and him some more now, hehe, this is truly the time to be alive. So many talents and interesting people!”

Buggi was about to get up when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Buggi, was it? I think you’ve had enough fun now, remember the bounty on Reno’s head isn’t some type of joke. Maybe some other time when it’s sorted out, you can play around but not now”

Turning around, Buggi’s face went from gleeful to annoyed in a matter of seconds. “Sure, whatever you say Mrs Student Council member”

It was Rosa Lina who had stopped him from joining the battle and allowing it to get any more out of hand.

Rosa knew that Marlene wasn’t going all out, barely even trying so she preferred to stop the battle as soon as possible.

Buggi put up his arms as if showing defeat. “Whatever, whatever. Can’t even have a little fun nowadays huh?”

“Marlene! Come on, we’re leaving”

Marlene leaped out of the rubble that she was in and reached the table that Buggi was at in almost an instant.

She then started to brush some of the table debris out of her hair. “Alright."

She then took up the three unconscious people that were on the table and walked to one of the cafeteria’s exists, much to the bewilderment of Chett.

‘Crazy… Here I thought I was talented but there are always bigger fish it seems.'

'The strike I hit her had to have been on the level of D- rank at the least.'

'I used up all my energy and I feel like I could collapse at any moment but she seems to be fine.’

While Marlene and Buggi were leaving, Reno picked himself out of the rubble.

He then went over to help Chett who seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.

Watching the duo leave, Rosa’s assumptions were confirmed. 'It is them..."

‘Marlene, unknown by most but considered one of the strongest third years by the student council.'

'She rarely participates in competitions and as such, doesn’t have many friends that are known by even the student council.'

We only know that most of the time she always hangs around with one student

‘Buggi… his family, the Farrels are the leaders in energy innovation and technology.'

'With his grades and combat strength, he could have chosen to go to an academy on earth but chose to come here for some reason, considered an oddball’

‘Buggi loves to fight and also acts as a tutor on the side while Marlene follows him around most times, like an attendant’

‘Marlene’s rank is estimatedly somewhere in D while Buggi’s own is unknown.’

Rosa then looked at the injured Reno who had blood running from his head and cuts all around his body.

‘Why is Reno being watched by those two? what bet was he talking about?’

She then let out a sigh. ‘I need to stop being so damn nosy.’

Rosa then took Chett from Reno and gave him a bottle of green liquid. “Take this, I need to carry Chett back so he can rest up after that battle.”

“If any bounty hunters are brave enough to challenge you after the student council stood up for you."

"Along with Buggi and Marlene in the mix then they most likely don’t value their life anymore”

“You should be fine by yourself on the way back to your dorm”

Reno then drank the potion and recovered from his injuries.

After making sure he was alright, Rosa waved goodbye to him and walked back the way they came.

Reno then started walking to his dorm while thinking back on the battle.

‘I can’t believe it! I didn’t get slapped around like a rag-doll!’

He was impressed by himself. All his efforts over the past three days seemed to mean something.

‘I was acting a bit tough on the outside though.'

'The first strike didn’t cause much outward damage but I felt like some of my organs were misplaced.

'The feeling got worse with the second and third strikes, I'm glad the fight finished when it did’

‘That healing potion from Rosa was a lifesaver too.'

'If it wasn't for it, I’d have to go all the way to the academy infirmary, and having to explain the situation would be a bother’

Reno then continued to walk to his dorm with a bit of glee in his steps.

He seemed to forget that he still had a bounty that would make even some teachers feel tempted.

Speaking of teachers, the reason that teachers themselves did not try to kill Reno for his bounty was because of one person, Mae.

When the teachers that were interested in the bounty saw that Rosa and Chett were escorting Reno they gave up the thought of even trying.

The two of them escorting Reno meant that the student council was watching over him.

If you were to ask any academy teacher who they would never want to try fighting.

One might think the obvious answer would be the principal or his secretary due to them being S rank but you’d be wrong.

Almost all teachers would tell you Mae is the one they would never want to trifle with.

15 minutes later, Reno reached his dorm room and did the security measures.

Upon entering he didn’t see anything out of place, so he did his usual routine.

Then he made sure to get some sleep after everything that had happened to him in the day.

Buggi and Marlene had dropped off the three bounty hunters at the student council

After going through the procedures they were on their way back to their rooms.

Buggi didn’t even need to say anything as Marlene started to report what he had asked of her.

“The Reno guy who you’re curious about is stronger than you made him out to be. His overall strength seems to be weak but he seems to have some intriguing skills.”

“Of the three times I struck him, two of them felt as if I was hitting a wall before I hit him.”

“Sadly, other than that I don’t have much else as the other guy stopped me and kept me in check whenever he could”

“I would say that Reno guy is around rank G to F-“

“Not anyone special to be honest, why are you so curious about him?”

Buggi smiled before putting his hands on the back of his head. “Haha! He is fascinating.”

Marlene was confused.

Buggi was only usually interested in the talented or strong so it was weird for him to be interested in Reno who seemed to be neither of those.

Seeing that Marlene was confused, Buggi explained why he found Reno so interesting.

“For someone with no energy, I’d say he’s pretty strong.”

Hearing this, Marlene’s face turned to pure shock. “What do you mean!?”

Buggi chuckled. “As I said, he has no energy, the first time I met him during the spar, he didn’t have any core filled with energy like usual”

“The thing is, if he had no energy, the strike from Cassia should have killed him, not just seriously injured him”

“Seeing him again, I’ve confirmed it."

"He doesn’t have any energy but surprisingly enough he's gotten much stronger than last time.

So much so that he could come out unharmed against your attacks even though you were holding back.”

Marlene also became somewhat interested in Reno after hearing Buggi’s thoughts.

The strikes that she hit Reno with were imbued with energy which meant they were enhanced.

Even if she held back, the fact that Reno wasn’t dead would be considered surprising by anyone.

The two then continued walking back to their respective rooms.