The week following Sett's evaluations of his students, everyone was placed into pairs. Each student was partnered with someone of the same level. They were meant to cover each other's weaknesses. Only Ian was partnered differently.
For the first classes with the new setup, Ian was paired with the weakest student. Sett thought this would level the playing field since Ian didn't have any elemental powers yet. However, he was soon proven wrong.
Ian was easily able to blitz the student. He was a weaker silver rank who had a low power score of around 150. With Ian's power, he was faster and stronger than his partner.
The student tried to use his elemental powers of earth against Ian, but it didn't work. Ian was able to break through his defenses and shatter nearly any attack thrown at him. Not only that, but Ian was also much faster than the student. He barely gave him a chance to react.
Sett wasn't happy with what he saw. He didn't expect Ian to overwhelm his opponent. After only two days of the new setup, Sett swapped things around, partnering Ian with a slightly stronger opponent.
This student had water abilities and a power score of slightly over 200. Sett thought this would be enough to challenge Ian. But once again, Ian proved him wrong.
Ian did struggle a bit with the new opponent at the beginning. He could barely keep up with the relentless attacks. Blast after blast of water was thrown at him, keeping him on his toes. It wasn't until he began to use two daggers at the same time that everything changed.
His movements became more offensive and defensive. He didn't evade as many attacks as before. Instead, he blocked and parried them, breaking through his opponent's onslaught of attacks.
Once he got close enough, Ian would overwhelm the student, not giving them a chance to counterattack. It only took Ian three classes to outmatch his second partner.
Sett became increasingly annoyed with Ian's performance. He needed to find a proper partner for him to train with.
Ian's fighting style was very aggressive most of the time. His attacks were fast and calculated. They were only enhanced by the power he put behind them.
Sett observed all of the pairings, trying to find a suitable partner for Ian. he needed someone who wasn't too powerful, who could react to Ian's attacks, and who had a very defensive fighting style.
Eventually, Sett landed on a student named Annie, who was a bit stronger than Ian, having a power score of slightly over 250. She was a very timid student who didn't like to fight very much. Because of this, her wind powers were very defensive.
Once Ian was paired with her, things seemed to change drastically. At first, he was very aggressive with attacks, pushing through most of her defenses. But whenever he got too close, Annie would put up a wind barrier to protect herself. No matter how fast or how strong his attacks were, he could not pierce through it. He would always get blasted away.
After two weeks of failing to pierce the barrier, Ian gave up on fighting her. He instead started to talk to her. He knew he couldn't beat her, so he wanted to get to know her better.
At first, Annie wasn't buying it. She thought Ian was trying to trick her. Even when Ian put his weapons down, she didn't trust him. But he didn't stop trying to talk to her.
Sett was confused by this sudden change in Ian's demeanor. He hadn't expected him to give up attacking Annie and start talking to her. He got a bit frustrated at this, thinking it was a waste of training time. He was going to stop them after three classes of no fighting, but he stopped himself. He knew Ian wasn't someone to just give up on fighting, to just talk with someone. Ian was a man of focus and opportunity, and Sett knew this, so he chose to wait it out.
Ian would continuously try to talk to Annie, but nothing seemed to work. She was always skeptical and cautious, never putting down her barrier on the off chance Ian would attack. However, he never did.
Even when she ran out of energy and couldn't keep up her barrier, Ian did not attack. He just continued trying to talk to her.
He would always be sitting on the ground, looking harmless with his weapons put away. He never moved from his spot and just looked at her, asking her different questions that she never answered.
However, Ian didn't give up. He would continue to try and befriend her, even trying to talk to her outside of class. This caught the attention of many students, especially his group.
Ellie and Emmett were the first to say anything to him. They were curious about why he was so insistent on trying to talk and befriend her.
He gave them the truth, explaining how they were sparring partners in Sett's class and how he couldn't beat her, so he wanted to talk to her.
Ellie and Emmett weren't convinced and thought he was into her, but they didn't say anything, wanting to let it play out. However, Kevin wasn't so quiet about his thoughts.
He would blatantly tease and taunt Ian about him having a crush. Even when Ian kept insisting he wasn't developing any feelings for her, Kevin would continue with his teasing.
Ian ignored Everyone's comments and continued trying to talk to her. However, after almost two weeks of trying, he gave up.
It was around this time that Ian finally received word about Lucky. It had been almost three months since he started school without hearing anything from the main office. One day, he got a letter at his dorm room with all of the approved documents for Lucky. There were even some instructions he would have to follow once Lucky arrived and was handed to him.
The instructions were very simple. Ian would be solely responsible for Lucky. He would have to take Lucky everywhere with him. So long as Lucky wasn't too much of a disturbance and didn't step out of line, Ian would be free to keep him on campus.
After receiving the approved documents, it would take Ian a few days before getting summoned to the main office. There he was met by Liam and Lucky.
Upon seeing him, Lucky ran to Ian, jumping into his arms. Ian happily caught Lucky, lifting him in pure joy. Lucky barked joyfully as he licked Ian's face.
Liam and the other staff members chuckled at the sight. It was rare to see Ian so naturally happy.
Not long after Ian and Lucky were reunited, Headmaster Isaac came walking out of his office. Seeing Ian and Lucky together placed a smile on his face. He turned back to his office, where he saw Mr. Whiskers sleeping on his cat tower.
"Why can't you be as affectionate as that puppy out there?" Isaac asked in a pouting tone.
Mr. Whisker gave Isaac an annoyed side eye before returning to sleep.
After Ian received Lucky and talked to Liam and some of the staff members, he left the main office. He made his way down the halls with Lucky walking next to him. As the pair walked, many students stopped to look at them.
The male students seemed intrigued to see Lucky and to see Ian smiling. The female students couldn't help but smile and stare at Lucky. His small size and chipper walk made them want to pet him.
Lucky looked at all of the new faces with curious joy. His tongue was out, flopping with each bouncy step he took. His shiny black fur swayed along as well.
Eventually, Ian and Lucky walked out of the main building, standing just outside the entrance. Ian looked down at Lucky with a smile as he said, "It's been a while, buddy. What do you say we go for a nice run around the academy so I can show you around?"
Lucky barked happily at Ian, his tail wagging away in excitement. He tapped his paws in a little dance, ready to go.
Ian smiled at this and took a running stance. He turned his head to look at Lucky, who was also ready to go. After a brief moment, the two bolted forward. Since Lucky was still a null rank, he couldn't go very fast. Ian had to slow down to match his pace, but he didn't mind. He was just happy to have his little buddy back.
The two of them ran across the academy grounds using the paths. They checked out every location available to them. Along the way, they met up with Ellie, Emmett, Zoey, Kevin, and even Amanda.
Their little adventure drew the attention of many people. Some even stopped to watch them run past. One of these individuals was Annie.
Seeing Ian running in her direction, she panicked slightly. At first, she thought he was heading her way to try and talk to her, but upon seeing the joy in his eyes and Lucky, she changed her mind.
The pair ran past Annie, leaving her a bit stunned. She turned around to look at them, a curious look appearing on her face.
Ian and Lucky continued running around the academy until they reached the training ground. There, they found Tim tending to the grass.
He stopped cutting the grass when he noticed the two approaching. Turning to them, Tim said, "Why, hello Ian. How are you today? And who might this little fella be?"
"I'm doing great, Tim. This is Lucky. He's my little pal." Ian sat down on the ground to pet Lucky.
"It's nice to meet you, Lucky." Tim looked down at Lucky with a soft smile.
Ian stuck around for a bit to chat with Tim, letting Lucky play around on the field for a bit. After their chat, Ian called over Lucky before heading to his room.
The next few days were more eventful for Ian. Students would approach him again to ask about Lucky. Many of them wanted to pet Lucky and play with him. Ian would allow it so long as Lucky was fine with it.
The pup loved the attention. He couldn't get enough of it. Everywhere the pair went, someone wanted to pet Lucky. The only time no one bothered them was during class and when they were training together.
Ian had mixed feelings about the new attention. He still didn't like people coming up to him, but he was happy they were asking him personal questions. Instead, they just asked to pet Lucky or simple questions about him. It still bothered him a bit, but he preferred this more.
Whenever Ian was with his group, Lucky would behave differently. He was always happy to see Ellie, Emmett, and Zoey. But when he saw Kevin, he always looked uninterested. This made Ellie happy, making her shower Lucky with lots of love.
However, everything changed when Amanda was around. For some reason, whenever Lucky saw Amanda, he would run towards her and jump into her arms.
Amanda was surprised by this the first few times, but after a while, she grew used to it. Lucky just seemed to like Amanda more than others. Even more than Ian.
Ian didn't like this, cursing Lucky for being a traitor. If he wanted to get Lucky back, he would have to interact with Amanda more than he was comfortable with. People took notice of this and began whispering again.
Ian tried his best to ignore the gossip and whispers, but he could only do so much. There were so many rumors about him that it made his head spin. He couldn't bear so much attention. Thankfully, Lucky was there to help him get his mind off things. That little pup was one of the few things that brought him true joy.
With Lucky around, Ian became happier and more approachable. His serious face was replaced with one of joy. Now he was shining more than before, and everyone noticed. Even Annie.
During their class together, Ian would sit down and play with Lucky. Annie would just watch from a distance, no longer having her wind barrier up at all. However, she would slowly get closer with each class.
At first, she was around ten meters away, more than enough distance for her to react to any possible attack from Ian. That distance would slowly shrink each day. Nine meters, eight meters, seven meters, she would get closer and closer. Once she was only three meters away, she stopped getting closer. She stayed at that distance and watched Ian and Lucky have fun.
One day, while Ian and Lucky were playing fetch, Lucky stopped and turned to look at Annie. He held a stick in his mouth as he stared at her. Eventually, he made his way over to her, wagging his tail happily. He brought Annie the stick, placing it in front of her. He sat down happily, waiting for her to throw the stick.
Annie looked a bit confused. She hadn't expected Lucky to bring her the stick. She reached down, grabbing the stick gently. She watched as Lucky stood up excitedly, waiting for her to throw it. After a brief pause, Annie finally chucked the stick.
Lucky immediately chased after it, barking happily as he ran. Seeing this, Annie smiled. She laughed lightly at the sight of Lucky running.
As Lucky ran to grab the stick, Ian finally said something. "I guess Lucky likes you."
Annie jumped at the sound of Ian's voice and was about to put up her wind barrier. However, she stopped herself as she saw Ian raise his hands defensively.
"Woah, sorry, didn't mean to scare ya," Ian said as he lowered his hands.
"I'm just surprised myself. Lucky doesn't normally go up to people without my permission, so it surprised me." Ian tried to sound non-threatening and calm.
"Oh, I-I see. I'm sorry." Annie lowered her guard for the first time. She looked away from Ian, feeling a bit silly and embarrassed.
"You don't need to apologize for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. If I were in your position, I would have put my guard up, too." Ian tried to sound casual.
Annie smiled at Ian's words as she watched Lucky return with the stick. She grabbed it out of his mouth and started petting him. She seemed calmer now.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you all this time. I'm just not a fan of talking to people," Annie said while petting Lucky.
"I know what you mean. I don't like interacting with people I don't know, either. However, since we're sparring partners, I thought it'd be a good idea to get to know you better. I mean, I can't beat you in a fight, but you never try to win. Why is that?" Ian scooted a bit closer as he asked his question
Still not looking at Ian, Annie said, "I'm not very good at fighting. I only know how to protect myself with my abilities."
"I can tell. Your defensive power is incredible. I can't even dent your shield." Ian scooted a bit closer but focused his attention on Lucky, who was on his back, enjoying belly rubs.
Annie blushed lightly at Ian's comment. She didn't say anything in return, opting to just pet Lucky.
Ian waited a moment before saying, "Howsa 'bout we start over and get to know each other? Then we can help each other improve our skills. I'll help you improve your offensive capabilities, and you can help me improve my attack power and reaction time. What do you say?"
Annie stops petting Lucky, thinking for a moment. After a few seconds, she says, "That would be nice." She turned her head to finally look at Ian.
Ian smiled at her. He stood up so he could sit closer to her. Reaching out his hand, he said, "Let's work hard to improve."
"Yeah, let's work hard together." Annie reached out to shake Ian's hand.
"Great, but first…" Ian tightened his grip enough so Annie couldn't escape, but not enough to hurt her. He then pulled out one of the training daggers and gently poked Annie's side. "And with that, we have our first winner."
Annie's eyes opened wide at what had just happened. She never saw this coming. After a few seconds of shock, Annie started laughing softly.
"I guess you're right. You finally managed to beat me," Annie spoke with a soft smile.
It had taken Ian nearly two months to finally beat and befriend Annie, but he finally did it.