After the weekend came and went, Ian and the others got into full drive. They were going to show just how determined they were.
The first few days were fairly easygoing for everyone. They all slowly got into the rhythm of things, getting to know people and learning some new things.
After the first week, things started to pick up a bit. They all started to grab more attention as the weeks went on.
It was normal for Leonardo, Kai, Gavin, and Amanda to get attention. They were all nobility. But as for Ian and the others, they too gain a bit of a following.
Even though no one knew who Zoey was at first, students soon began to learn her name. She was an amazingly fast learner and was able to keep up with most students who were taking cooking and culinary classes. The fact that she was Emmett's girlfriend also made her stand out a bit more. She was still a bit shy and only talked to new people when Emmett was around. However, she was completely different when it came to cooking. She was a merciless cook, berating those who didn't fall in line.
Even Emmett wasn't safe at times. Thankfully, if it weren't for him, Zoey would have gone nuclear. He was usually the one who took the hits for others and calmed Zoey down. His reputation grew because of this.
Emmett wasn't the best at studying and learning new and complex things. However, he was a hard worker. If he didn't get it the first time, he would do it again. He wouldn't give up easily. Having Zoey's support also helped him greatly.
Students soon began to understand that those two were quite formidable together. They were seen as an almost unstoppable power couple.
Kevin couldn't help but admire how well Emmett and Zoey were doing. But he wasn't going to let himself fall behind. He put a lot of effort into his studies. Soon, even he started to shine bright, in more ways than one.
His academic prowess seemed weak at first. He wasn't as knowledgeable as most of the students. Most of them had already studied some of the material they were learning. This gave them an advantage over Kevin.
But it wouldn't take long for Kevin to outmatch them. He was able to grasp new things fairly quickly. His mind would absorb knowledge unlike anyone else in his classes. Only Amanda was able to compete with him in the classes they shared. Kevin would eventually be known for his intelligence and far above-average looks, attracting him a lot of attention.
Ellie watched how Kevin was growing and gaining attention, and it annoyed her. She couldn't stand him being better than her in many ways and she couldn't stand how bright he was shining.
She focused herself on her studies and training to catch up to everyone else. Soon, she would realize that she didn't have to push so hard. Her skill began to shine almost immediately.
She was already really good with a sword and was able to easily outmatch anyone of the same level. The skills Erik had taught her made her one of the most fearsome foes anyone could face in copper rank. She was seen as a prodigy when it came to using a sword. Not only that, but she was fairly good at her academics. The discipline she learned from Erik allowed her to push through and rise high.
However, out of all of them, Ian was the one who gained the most attention. From the start, both students and instructors had an eye on him. His silver-level power alongside his copper ranking was more than enough to gain him a lot of attention. However, the power score he received after removing his gauntlets drastically increased the impact he had on everyone.
On day one of classes, Ian was bombarded by students wanting to know more about him and his power. Due to Ian's nature though, he had trouble interacting with most of them. He would try to avoid interactions if possible and mostly kept to himself. This earned him a reputation for being quiet and shy. Even so, this didn't deter students from talking to him and trying to befriend him.
Ian's first week of classes was filled with people asking him questions about his powers, skills, and about his life. Male students wanted to befriend him and learn about his power, while female students wanted to get to know him better.
All of the attention he was getting was driving him up the wall. Thankfully, after the first week of classes, the attention died down a bit as the courses went into full swing. Ian could now focus on other things to distract himself from all the eyes on him. Little did Ian know, this would make things worse for him.
Just like the others, Ian excelled in most aspects. He was a fantastic learner. Ian grasped new information and concepts fairly quickly. He may not have been on the same level as Kevin or Amanda but he was still able to place in the top of his classes.
However, students and instructors were a bit confused about how he was able to do so well. His grades were very high and he never missed any assignments. But, whenever someone looked at him in class, it always looked like his attention was somewhere else. His face looked unfocused as if his mind was elsewhere.
Eventually, they all just accepted that he was like that. His grades were always excellent so no one questioned him. He was just known as a quiet genius.
Even though he was great in his academics, that wasn't what gained him the most popularity and attention. Outside of the lectures and in the more physical classes, Ian gained a different reputation.
The normal lecture and indoor classes were drastically different from the outdoor classes. The normal indoor classes were separated by difficulty. Most students would start by taking beginner classes and then move on to the next tier once completed. Students can skip tiers by simply passing a test relating to the class that went over everything taught in it.
Outdoor classes, however, were not just separated by tier. Instead, they were also separated by ranks. This was to ensure that students were paired with those of the same rank. It would be unfair for copper-ranked students to be placed in silver classes and vice versa.
But Ian was an exception to this rule. Due to his silver-level strength, he was placed in silver-level classes. This has never been heard of before. There was a bit of backlash because of this.
Some students and instructors didn't think he should be in silver-rank classes. They didn't think it was fair for him. Meanwhile, the copper-ranked classes argued that he should stay in the silver-ranked classes since it wouldn't be fair for the other weaker copper-ranked students.
Eventually, Ian was just kept in the silver-ranked classes. At first, people were unhappy but they soon changed their minds.
During simple training exercises, Ian was able to keep up if not surpass a good amount of students. He may not have been the fastest or the strongest but he was very resilient. Even when he started to slow down, he did not stop. He pushed through until the very end of the exercises.
This surprised most people. They didn't expect him to be able to keep up with the training. But after a few weeks, they all realized why he was able to do so.
With people wanting to know more about him, some began to stock him. Soon, it became known that Ian had a personal daily training routine outside of class. Most students didn't believe he would push himself so hard so they wanted to see it for themselves.
Ian enjoyed his quiet mornings when he went out to workout at the training grounds. He would greet Tim every morning and have a small chat with him. They would sometimes sit down and drink tea or lemonade. But that would change one month into the school year.
Ian greeted Tim as usual, having a small chat. But at the end of it, Tim said, "I shouldn't keep you long. It seems you have a few visitors."
Ian gave Tim a confused look, wondering what he meant but Time didn't elaborate. He simply walked past Ian, patting his shoulder before getting back to work.
Ian was confused by what he meant. He brushed it off, not letting it linger in his mind as he walked to the training grounds. But as soon as he reached it, he saw what Tim meant.
On the bleachers, Ian spotted ten students sitting around talking to each other. The moment one of them spotted Ian, they said, "Oh my god, they weren't lying. Ian actually showed up."
Ian looked at them with confusion, unsure what they were doing there so early. He heard them call out to him, most of them being girls. He gave them an awkward smile, waving at them slightly. Ian thought to himself, "Crap, it seems I'm starting to gain a following. This isn't good. But I can't let them get in my way. I will continue with my training. So long as they don't bother me, I'll leave them be."
After Ian waved at them, he got ready to start his workout. As Ian did his workouts, the students couldn't help but stare at him. One guy who was in Ian's class was thoroughly surprised. The workouts Ian was doing were more intense than the ones in their class. He couldn't help but be amazed.
Then he had a realization. If Ian did these workouts every day, then that meant he was doing the class workouts and training exercises on top of that. That meant Ian was far better than he thought. After watching Ian do his daily workout, he saw Ian in a new light.
The word of Ian's intense training soon spread throughout the school. Day after day, more students showed up to watch Ian's workout, especially the female students.
Ian hated the attention. He saw it as a distraction and an annoyance. It became worse when Emmett, Ellie, Kevin, Zoey, and Amanda showed up to observe him. They would playfully taunt him and cheer him on.
Ian was getting more and more annoyed as more students showed up. At one point, there were around a hundred students sitting on the bleachers to watch Ian's two-hour-long workout session. This was enough to gather the attention of a few instructors. One of them was the intermediate and advanced level combat and physical education instructor, Sett.
He was a fairly tall and muscular man with reddish hair. His hair was wild with a matching beard. It almost looked like he had a lion's mane. His arms and chest were also covered in hair, making him look more like a beast than a person. But even with those appearances, he was a kind and enthusiastic man.
When he showed up to observe Ian, he was met with shock. He had recognized what type of training Ian was doing, his eyes opening wide with a smile plastered on his face. He knew it was an old version of the training the royal guards did. However, it seemed to be altered a bit.
Sett didn't care though. He was extremely happy and excited to see someone training so hard. He couldn't help but walk onto the training grounds towards Ian.
Everyone watched as Sett made his way towards Ian. Some of the students seemed worried as he stepped closer. Even the other instructors looked concerned but they didn't step in.
Ian was partway through his handstand push-ups when he noticed Sett approaching. He quickly paused his workout and stood up to meet Sett. However, before Ian could say anything, Sett grabbed his shoulders and with a big smile said, "Young man, I'm going to transfer you to my intermediate classes."