Ray hadn't realized how much of an impact his fight with Eric had caused. Eric had originally been ranked 9th among the first years, while Ray had been far behind at rank 280.
Usually, after basic training, students were forced to duel the person ranked directly above them. A win or loss would simply result in a swap in ranking positions. When Ray had beaten Eric, he had taken the number nine spot, pushing Eric down to rank ten. This meant everyone below rank nine had also been pushed one position lower.
Normally, within the top ten, ranks shifted slowly, with students challenging those above them or gradually working their way up, like Monk had done. But for someone to suddenly appear in the top ten—with no known duel? It was a shock to everyone.
