The Carnage fell and crashed into nearby buildings, but no civilians were injured thanks to the evacuation efforts led by Platoon 6, who had taken down the Type 5 lower grade Carnage. The cleaning crew of the Hunters Defense Force was already on its way to dismantle and collect the Carnage corpse for experiments and weapon conversion. Roderick Dalunhay, the leader of Platoon 6, ordered his team to return to the Philippine Defense Force facility for gear repairs and mission debriefing.
Unbeknownst to them, a humanoid Carnage, blending in with the shadows atop a distant building, observed them with its four eyes. After finishing its watch, it stood and vanished in an instant, sensing a greater threat looming elsewhere—a different type of Carnage, still unknown to everyone.
Back at the Hunters Academy, the Class 5 students returned to the gym court to change clothes. Mark Coloma headed to the men's changing room, where he met Raffy Lagrada, a non-gifted student of Class 5 Grade 7, a higher grade than Mark.
"Hi, Coloma, nice to meet you," Raffy said with a smile.
Mark replied with a stoic yet inviting expression, "Hey."
Raffy then commented on Mark's performance and skills. "You were very skilled back there. Too bad you got defeated. I mean, that woman is strong and talented, but you were strong enough to stop her tackle. I probably couldn't do it on my own."
Mark looked at Raffy and said, "I was just holding back. I can't fight seriously if it's a woman. Not to mention she was unconscious for a short period of time using the most common technique, so I let her win. Not that I care about winning or losing. Those who participated get 50 points."
Raffy thought for a moment before replying, "So you only did it for the points?"
Mark, now finished changing his clothes, replied with a stoic expression, "Yeah."
Raffy said, "Ah, okay. I just thought you were cool back there."
Mark replied, "I've never been cool in my life. I just do what I have to do."
Both Mark and Raffy walked out of the gym and into the halls filled with Class 5 students. Raffy asked, "What grade are you?"
"Grade 10. You?" Mark replied.
"I'm Grade 7. I guess you're a newbie. Every month there are new students applying. I guess you're one of them," Raffy said.
"Yeah, I guess so," Mark replied, looking ahead.
Raffy finally reached his classroom. "Farewell, my friend. See you tomorrow."
Mark gave him a goodbye gesture before continuing to walk until he reached his own classroom.
Mark finally reached his classroom when someone poked his shoulder. He turned to see Mariana Flores with a tiny smile on her face.
"Hi Mark, you did great back there," Mariana said.
With his stoic expression, Mark replied, "Yeah, you too. So, what do you want?"
Mariana responded, "I'm here just to compliment you. Why, am I not allowed?"
Mark clarified, "No, I mean, do you need anything or something? But since you only wanted to compliment, then I'll compliment back. You were tough to defeat back there, and my thoughts were correct when we first met. Your body doesn't match your strength."
Mariana, feeling slightly chilled, replied, "Wait, you were observing me? That's kind of scary."
Mark closed his eyes and replied, "No, I'm not. That's just a way to know if someone or my opponent is strong. I have to observe."
Mariana's expression shifted to one of annoyance. "You could have asked, and I would have shown you my body," she said.
Mark thought for a moment and simply replied, "No."
Mariana laughed and smiled. "So you're not one of those guys, huh? I like you. Bye-bye, see you tomorrow at the training field."
She walked to her classroom, waving goodbye until she disappeared inside. Since their classrooms were close, Mark could easily spot her from his own room. After Mariana entered her classroom, Mark opened the sliding door and stepped into his.
The room was filled with chaos and loud talking. Mark slowly navigated to his chair and noticed Maria Ushiromiya with her face down on her desk. He thought she was sleeping, so he sat down quietly, unaware that Maria was waiting for him.
Maria lifted her head and smiled at Mark. "Took you long enough," she said playfully.
Mark, surprised, responded, "Oh, I thought you were sleeping."
"Nope, just waiting for you," Maria said, her eyes twinkling with curiosity. "So, what did Mariana want?".
"Just to compliment me and chat a bit," Mark replied, his stoic demeanor softening slightly. Then he added, "How did you notice Mariana talking to me outside the classroom? And how do you know her?"
Maria leaned back in her chair. "I saw you and Mariana when I was about to go out and find you, but when I did I was scared to talk to you while Mariana was around talking you, and Mariana lives next door to me, but we rarely talk since I don't go outside much."
Mark raised an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't know that."
Maria shrugged. "Yeah, she's pretty cool though. We just haven't had many chances to interact, specially today I was to shy to interact with her, but I find her amazing and I want to talk to her one day, and become friends." With her eyes slowly drifting.
"I see, you'll eventually talk to her one day, and I'll help you if you need me." Mark said, Maria being a little sleepy smile softly, her eyes slowly closing while looking at Mark's face, And Mark with his eyes slowly gaze in the window looking at the dusk sky, unbeknownst a to Mark that a new threat will arrive and still yet to be known.