The next day the fame of Eini and Shiba skyrocketed.
Eini's crazy breakthroughs to reach level 17 directly were enough to make her extremely famous, but in fact, more people spoke about Shiba than her.
Eini's talent was monstrous, but that was all. The others just could blame themselves for not being lucky enough to be born with that talent.
Even if they cursed the world for being unfair, there was nothing they could do.
On the other hand, no one thought that Shiba was that talented. They considered that he was as talented as others in the genius grade, but that was all.
However, despite that, he managed to kill someone with a strength comparable to someone who reached Rank 2.
In the eyes of the other students, that was pure hard work to supply his lack of talent compared to Eini, so many students were motivated by him.
Moreover, rumors had already spread, and the version was slightly off.
The rumors told that Shiba aimed patiently to his target while concentrating strength to deal with a single devastating shot, a guaranteed kill.
The rumors put him as a merciless experienced assassin that didn't hesitate to kill others if he was offended.
Of course, Shiba wasn't like that. In front of beasts maybe, but that didn't apply to humans. That berserk guy was the first he killed, and it was difficult for him to surpass that mental block.
However, no one knew of his inner struggles when he was about to shot, and since the arrow turned far stronger after a while, everyone thought that he was concentrating his energy to kill the target in one hit.
Still, if someone like that berserk guy appeared again, Shiba wouldn't show mercy.
He didn't like to kill other people, but he would do it if there was no other way.
No one of Rank 1 or inferior had the guts to speak with Eini or Shiba after the feats of both were spread but for different reasons.
They feared Shiba and respected him, so they didn't want to anger him, which included not speaking to Eini.
They feared that Shiba would kill them if they tried to speak with her, so they didn't try at all. After all, the berserk guy had started a fight with Shiba due to being interested in Eini.
Moreover, Eini was so monstrously talented that they had no confidence in woo her anyway.
The girls didn't have reasons to not approach Eini since they doubted that Shiba would be jealous, but most of them were so jealous of Eini that they decided to avoid her.
As for approaching Shiba, many of them were interested in him after they saw the battle or heard the rumors, but each time they tried to go close to Shiba, they received an icy glare from Eini that made them step back.
Eini knew how innocent Shiba was, so she didn't want to give those girls a chance to trick him.
She could see that a lot of girls were interested in Shiba since what happened the previous day. Once Shiba explained it to her at night, she had been wary of other girls developing an interest in Shiba.
In fact, although people felt that Shiba might kill them if they wooed Eini, Shiba wouldn't kill for that reason, but Eini herself might do it if someone tried to woo her or Shiba.
If someone just wanted to be friendly with them, she wouldn't care, but she wouldn't allow those with second intentions to approach them.
Although those on Rank 1 didn't dare to approach them, those of higher Ranks did.
They didn't have second intentions because, to them, Shiba and Eini were far too young. They saw them as talented juniors, but that was all.
Until Rank 1, there were others of their age, so it was natural that some were attracted, but those at Rank 2 were all at least on their thirties even if they looked younger due to the effects of advancing in Rank. Being on the thirties was the minimum, some were even in their sixties. The oldest at Rank 2 in the academy was currently eighty-five that year, but usually, those at that age that remained at Rank 2 would have already abandoned the academy.
Thus, there was no way they could see Eini or Shiba in a romantic light.
Shiba was quite happy to meet those seniors that had a good impression of him, and he was respectful towards them. Eini was just barely polite, but given her talent, no one was expecting more. They believed that in a couple of years, Eini might reach their level or even surpass them at her pace.
As for those on higher Rank, they mostly didn't care about Shiba and Eini.
Those students were incredibly proud, and although some were quite surprised by their feats, that was all.
There was only one exception. Someone at Rank 4 went to meet Shiba and Eini after all the lessons of the day had finished.
"So, you are the two of the rumors. My name is Beike, I am one of the top hundred among the students at Rank 4."
Shiba and Eini had already heard that name.
It couldn0t be said that Beike was particularly powerful among the top hundred on the Rank 4, he was about the bottom.
However, he was by far the most popular student of the academy due to his personality.
Others at Rank 4, and even more those in the top hundred, were too aloof and ignored other students.
On the other hand, Beike was always willing to help his juniors and liked to make friends, so the rest of the students admired him.
All of those at Rank 4 on the academy were all geniuses among geniuses. In fact, a lot of them weren't that much older than those at Rank 2.
Beike was almost forty, while the strongest student at Rank 4 was still in her twenties.
The reason no one was under thirty at Rank 2 was that there wasn't anyone exceptionally talented that had yet to advance to Rank 3 or Rank 4.
Those without enough talent usually left the academy far before reaching Rank 4, some left even before reaching Rank 3.
"Greetings, senior Beike."
Shiba and Eini bowed respectfully.
They were quite strong for their level, but they were far from being at Beike's level of power.
Moreover, those at Rank 4 all had a lot of real battle experience, they weren't like those at Rank 1 or Rank 2 that had yet to truly experience the danger of battle.
Thus, their battle prowess at a completely different level even if the pure difference in power was ignored.
There weren't any students at Rank 5. At that level, they graduated and left or became teachers. All the teachers in the academy had been previous students there since getting the work as a teacher on the academy provided them with a good status and protection.
However, most of those who reached Rank5 chose to graduate and leave because they didn't like dealing with weaklings.
It was those with Beike's personality that used to end up remaining as a teacher, and in fact, Beike had already announced that he intended to remain as a teacher after reaching Rank 5, but he was still quite far from advancing.
"If you two have any problems in the future, come and ask for my help. I will do my best to help you."
Beike had also heard the rumors, but he didn't completely believe the part about Shiba, so he decided to meet him.
Once meeting him, he was sure that Shiba wasn't a crazy assassin who killed whoever offended him.
He had met that kind of people in the past, and they had a different aura. It was possible for those inexperienced to mistake Shiba for one of them, but no one at Rank 4 on the academy would have such thought if they met Shiba in person.
If Shiba was someone so dangerous, Beike decided that he would try to help him return to the proper way because he would be a danger for the academy, but since he saw that the rumors were false, he decided to support him.
After all, he knew that others would avoid him for fear due to the misunderstanding and trying to explain it wouldn't work enough. Rumors were hard to erase, especially due to the fact that someone was really killed by Shiba, even if that were to protect others.
For Beike, it made far more sense that Shiba was forced to kill to protect the other students than because he was offended.
Of course, those who saw Shiba knew it too, but once the story passed from one person to another, it became quite distorted.
"Thank you, senior."
Eini and Shiba were surprised that the famous senior Beike had gone to personally offer his help for anything they needed, but it wouldn't be polite to refuse, and he was famous for like to make friends with others, so his behavior wasn't that strange.
After that, Beike left, but the fact that he went to speak with Eini and Shiba just made the rumors about them to increase.
Usually, the weaker student went to speak with senior Beike, and then Beike helped them, it wasn't normal that Beike in person went to offer help.