Without needing anyone to give the order, Ren and Shizuka were simultaneously enveloped in a white aura. The next moment, Ren vanished from his spot, launching a direct assault on Shizuka.
This instantaneous burst of speed made Shizuka's eyes light up. She said with a hint of excitement, "Heh, you really weren't taking it seriously earlier, kid. Is this your true strength?"
"Bang!" As Shizuka's words fell, she threw a punch that collided directly with Ren's, sending a loud boom echoing across the sports field.
The students heard Shizuka's words, and many exchanged bewildered glances. Ren hadn't used his full strength when he beat them up? Was this a joke?
Was the gap between them really that massive? Many asked themselves this question. They considered themselves geniuses, didn't they?
But in front of a guy like Ren, why was the disparity so huge?
However, there was no time for everyone to dwell on it. Their gazes were instantly drawn to the battle below. After his punch was blocked, Ren swiftly retreated.
The next moment, his speed turned him into a blur as he charged forward again. Shizuka did the same. The two continuously clashed at an absolutely terrifying speed.
The students watching from the second floor of the teaching building were shocked by the sight. They could no longer keep up with the speed of the battle, only able to see two afterimages constantly colliding.
"How strange. Why does it feel like Ren's explosive speed suddenly increased so much? It's exactly like my talent!" Sora watched the battle below. Her dynamic vision was excellent, so she could roughly make out their movements.
But precisely because of that, she was confused. It felt as if Ren was using her talent. Was it an illusion? Talents were supposed to be unique to the individual, right?
It wasn't like Ren could have learned her talent too. If that were true, then what was the point? No matter who came, they wouldn't be able to beat him.
Sora's words left everyone stunned. Asuna thought for a moment and couldn't help but say, "Perhaps this has to do with Ren's talent. He can always see things we can't. Maybe when you activate your talent, there are some details you overlook yourself, and he managed to learn from them."
Asuna also recalled that Ren's sword-drawing speed was incredibly fast, almost as if he were using her talent. However, she hadn't thought too much about it at the time, purely assuming he was just faster because his overall strength was higher.
"Hiss, if you put it that way, does that mean I can ask Ren for advice regarding my talent?" Hearing Asuna's theory, Sora's eyes immediately lit up.
If that were true, it would be amazing. To develop her own talent, couldn't she just go straight to Ren? Maybe he really could give her some pointers.
Asuna blinked. Would that actually work? But it did sound very reasonable. Perhaps they really could seek Ren out? After all, that guy's learning talent might truly allow him to see things they normally didn't notice.
Sora's words tempted many of the classmates. Ren really was a good teacher. It was decided—they would go ask him later and see if he had any advice.
But for now, everyone continued to watch the battle. Their gazes instantly returned to the field. The two were still clashing relentlessly. Shizuka had said she would suppress her strength, and she had genuinely done so.
However, Tier 5 combat power didn't seem to pose much of a threat to Ren. Shizuka was controlling her strength while fighting him, and her conventional methods actually couldn't take this guy down.
Every punch she threw was easily blocked by Ren, who would then launch a counterattack. This was simply absurd. Was his reaction speed really that fast?
In that case, she had no choice but to use some special methods. She would let Ren witness the true power of Tier 5.
With this thought in mind, Shizuka swiftly retreated after clashing with Ren and said, "You'd better be careful now, kid. I'm going to use some real tricks!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the True Qi in her hands suddenly condensed over her fist. She then threw a punch through the air. A violent current of air violently erupted. Ren instinctively closed his eyes and raised both arms in front of him to block.
"Bang!" The terrifying impact felt like a heavy truck crashing into him. Ren stabilized his lower body but was still forcefully pushed back several meters by the massive shockwave.
By the time Ren opened his eyes, Shizuka had already charged forward. Facing her instantaneous surprise attack, Ren could only rapidly channel the energy in his body to form a barrier in front of him.
"Boom!" A loud explosion rang out, and Ren was blasted straight into the air. It was a good thing his reactions were quick; otherwise, that single punch would have been more than enough to make him suffer.
Shizuka was also somewhat surprised by Ren's reaction. He had actually managed to instantly project his True Qi forward as a shield? Watching Ren stabilize himself in mid-air and land on the ground, she couldn't help but praise him, "Not bad at all. You actually managed to block that."
Hearing her words, Ren wanted to curse. Although he had condensed his energy into a shield, the shield had been shattered instantly. That kind of explosive power was just ridiculous.
Was this the power of someone above Tier 5? No... it should be Shizuka's talent, right? That instantaneous explosive force was simply too terrifying. Their previous exchanges had made Ren understand exactly how strong Tier 5 power was.
He could still handle that, but Shizuka's instantaneous burst was absolutely not something Tier 5 strength could compare to. He shook his slightly numb arms.
Ren used his True Qi to recover a bit, then asked, "Was that explosive force just now your talent, Hiratsuka-sensei?"
Facing Ren's question, Shizuka nodded and looked at him with a smile. "That's right, it's my talent. A normal Tier 5 can't take you down anymore, kid, so you don't mind, right?"
Shizuka had to marvel at the fact that this kid was truly a monster. If she didn't use her talent, she really might not be able to defeat him, unless she resorted to her Tier 6 strength.
"I don't mind. Let's continue!" An instantaneous burst talent? Ren was taking it. Yukino Yukinoshita's talent could also achieve something similar, though he didn't know the exact specifics of hers.
It didn't matter. He would just study it slowly after he learned it. Yukino's body domination ability could also allow for instantaneous bursts, but it seemed a bit lacking compared to what Shizuka could do.
His thoughts racing, Ren launched another attack. It wasn't like he lacked ranged methods; he could just hurl his energy out. In an instant, an idea formed in his mind.
As he charged forward, Ren condensed a ball of True Qi in his hands and hurled it directly like a weapon. Seeing his maneuver, a flash of surprise crossed Shizuka's eyes, and she similarly threw out two streaks of True Qi.
The two streams of True Qi collided, instantly creating an explosion. Immediately after, Shizuka's voice rang out, "After reaching Tier 4, you can project your True Qi outwardly, and you can also throw it as a ranged attack. If you compress the True Qi a bit more, the effect will be even better!"
As she spoke, she kicked Ren away. Then, she began to demonstrate it to him. The compressed True Qi took shape and blasted toward Ren at an even more terrifying speed.
However, it wasn't aimed at Ren, but at the empty space beside him. The moment the True Qi hit the ground, it generated an even more horrifying explosion, blasting a crater one meter in diameter and over ten centimeters deep directly into the sports field.
Shizuka was teaching him. After listening to her instruction, Ren nodded. His mind had already automatically learned it—or rather, the moment she released it, his [Jianjigu] had already mastered it.
"Learned it. Let's continue then!" Several new applications instantly appeared in Ren's mind. Could some moves from anime also be unleashed using True Qi?
With this thought, Ren didn't charge forward this time. Instead, he raised his right hand, forming a finger gun aimed at Shizuka. She watched this scene with great interest.
She wanted to see what this guy was going to come up with next. The moment the thought crossed her mind, streaks of True Qi poured out of Ren's hand like bullets, shooting straight toward her. Seeing this, Shizuka cursed out loud, "Holy shit!"
Immediately after, Shizuka began to dodge rapidly. But Ren's True Qi blasted toward her relentlessly, as if it cost him nothing, leaving a series of craters on the ground.
This was the [Shigan・Finger Pistol] from a certain pirate anime, just a True Qi version. The power of the compressed True Qi exploding on the ground was not to be underestimated; every shot was like a small hand grenade.
While dodging Ren's [Shigan・Finger Pistol], Shizuka charged toward him and yelled, "Don't get cocky, brat! Who taught you to play like this?!"
As she spoke, Shizuka had already closed the distance. Ren quickly retracted his finger gun, then swiftly raised his leg, sweeping it in an arc. The next moment, a half-moon-shaped blade of True Qi shot out from his foot, flying directly at Shizuka.
Shizuka frowned. *This brat has more? I only taught you how to compress True Qi, and you instantly whipped up two new moves in the blink of an eye?*
*But this thing actually seems pretty useful. It can totally be used as a new technique. I'll have him teach me later.* With this thought, Shizuka quickly condensed a ball of True Qi in her hand and blasted it directly at the half-moon-shaped True Qi.
"Boom!" A loud explosion echoed across the sports field. Shizuka used her own raw power to forcefully shatter the [Rankyaku・Tempest Kick] Ren had unleashed. The explosion of True Qi also forced her back a few meters.
Looking at Shizuka, who seemed completely unfazed, Ren couldn't help but say, "You really are a freak, Hiratsuka-sensei. Did you put all your stat points into defense?"
*Damn it, she tanked an explosion like that head-on and is completely fine? Then what's the point of fighting? My other methods probably won't do much against her either, right?*
"You should be satisfied, kid. I just used my Tier 6 strength. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to take that head-on!" Shizuka rolled her eyes in exasperation.
*If anyone is a freak, it's you.* She had truly never seen such an absurd guy before, but today was an eye-opener. If she had still been using Tier 5 strength, taking Ren's attack head-on would have definitely injured her!
The power that erupted in that instant even gave Shizuka the illusion that this guy had another hidden talent. After all, the explosive might of the True Qi Ren had just unleashed really didn't seem like something a Tier 4 could produce!
In fact, Shizuka's perception wasn't wrong. Ren had already acquired her talent and used it just now. Otherwise, it wouldn't have possessed such destructive power.
The two stopped by mutual, unspoken agreement. There was no need to continue. The sports field had been blown full of craters by the two of them. If they kept going, the principal would probably come over and yell at them.
The many students standing upstairs, who had watched the entire battle between Ren and Shizuka, couldn't help but gulp. Sora couldn't help but mutter, "Why do I feel like if Ren had been serious earlier, he could have just slaughtered us all?"
"That's not a feeling, it's a fact. He really could have slaughtered us all, and it would have been one-shot kills." Yukino Yukinoshita looked calm, but if her fists hadn't been clenched so tightly...
To be honest, she was truly shocked by the battle between Ren and Shizuka today. When would she ever be able to get her revenge? Moreover, being in the same era as a freak like him... it was truly a tragic thing.
After exhaling a long breath of stale air, Asuna also couldn't help but speak up, "Those moves Ren just used... he learned them instantly, right? The teacher taught him for a second, and then... he whipped up techniques like that."
Witnessing the combat power Ren displayed with her own eyes truly made her blood boil. At the same time, she wanted to learn it too. After reaching Tier 4, would she be able to do what Ren did?
Hearing Asuna's words, everyone fell even more silent. They had once again witnessed the terror of Ren's learning talent. He could actually master something and immediately innovate upon it?
"Do you guys think Ren's talent evolved?" someone suddenly asked. These words instantly made the classmates realize—it seemed... that really was the case.
As one's strength grew, their talent could also become stronger. Since Ren was now Tier 4, it wasn't impossible for his talent to have grown stronger as well. Perhaps this was the reason he could instantly innovate upon what he learned?
Good heavens!! If this continued, what kind of monster would Ren eventually grow into? This forced them to think seriously. He was already this terrifying now... what would happen in the future?
Ren's classmates were shocked, and the other students who had run out to watch the battle between Shizuka and Ren were equally astounded. They had truly witnessed the terror of the special class.
After the fight between Shizuka and Ren started, many people had skipped class entirely, leaning over the classroom balconies to watch. The teachers hadn't stopped them, because many of the teachers were just as curious.
Now that they had seen it with their own eyes, many were shocked silly. Was the gap between people really that massive?
Even some of the underclassmen who hadn't awakened their talents yet were fantasizing right now. Would they also awaken a super-strong talent in the future and fight teachers like Ren did?
"Let's head back to the classroom!" Shizuka glanced at the students in the surrounding teaching buildings. She tossed a sentence to Ren before walking toward the building.
Ren nodded without saying anything, turning around to follow Shizuka to the teaching building. Seeing this, the students upstairs also filed back into their classrooms and returned to their seats.
When Ren returned to the classroom, everyone turned to look at him. Ren had really stolen the spotlight today, but the general sentiment among the class was mostly happiness.
Their class would probably have a lot of practical combat lessons, especially things like exploring the Dungeon. With Ren around, everyone would feel much more at ease.
Ren returned to his seat and sat down. At that moment, Shizuka tapped on the podium, drawing everyone's attention before speaking, "You all saw the battle just now. What are your thoughts?"
*Here it comes, the post-battle summary every teacher loves to ask for!!* It was just that the classmates really didn't know how to answer this question. They couldn't exactly just say, "That was totally badass," right?
This was incredibly frustrating. Why did they have to write a battle summary after a fight? Was this normal? It was extremely abnormal!!