Somehow, their conversation had been interrupted, and Rena could no longer finish her statement. They both turned to the group that quickly approached them.
"At least if you want death, you can just ask for a quick way to die, instead of lurking around the valley all night waiting for a monster to rip you apart. Trust me, the monsters in this part of the valley are very friendly," the man who appeared to be the leader of the group said as he approached them.
"No one here wanted to die," Roman said.
"I didn't ask you to speak, weakling. We all know your Academic Standard, and I'm sure you would have died the very moment you entered the valley if not for this young lady here. I'm sure she's been the one covering for you," the leader said, turning to Rena.
"I won't tolerate you insulting him."
The response came from Rena, and it was clearly one that stood in Roman's favour.
"Why? Because he is a pathetic weakling?" The leader asked, his face twisting with rage.
But Rena only shook her head. "No." She turned to Roman. "Because he is my friend."
At that point, the only reaction the leader could manage was to laugh out loud. Not only in contempt, but in sheer disbelief as well.
Her? A potentially outstanding Entrant making a Fourth Class nobody her friend? None of them could digest that at all.
"Do you even know what you are saying, Rena? Master Norman posted the standard board in the middle of town today, and guess what, he was last on the ranking. You were first, Rena. First," another guy spoke up.
"So?" Rena furrowed her brows.
"Let me spell it out for you. He isn't even average like us. He is well below average. A Fourth Class standard. Is that who you want to be friends with? Do you think you would ever progress?"
"There are people like Karl, Jordan, Octavia, and Arnold. They are as good as you. Those are the kinds of people you should be with. Hunt with. Be friends with," another guy stepped forward.
"This guy right here would only weigh you down. He would only keep relying on you for growth and survival, and that would affect you massively."
After their rants, they all waited for Rena to consider it. They smiled amongst themselves, confident that she would come around to seeing what they were pointing out.
And the truth was that she did understand what they were highlighting.
But understanding it didn't make them right.
They were underestimating him because they had never seen him in action. That was exactly the mistake she herself had made when she first encountered him tonight, and now that she had seen what he was truly capable of, there was no version of this where she walked away from him.
"Well, thank you for the advice, seniors. But as I said, Roman is still my friend. My one and only friend."
She turned to Roman and offered him a look of complete sincerity, and Roman, who had been quietly observing the whole exchange, was finding it more entertaining than he expected.
The fact that Rena had shifted her entire perspective toward him was something he was still processing, but regardless, he was curious about where all of this was heading.
The seniors' jaws dropped the moment she turned their advice down a second time.
Some of them had begun to suspect that Roman had somehow bewitched her, because there was simply no rational explanation for why she would choose to partner with someone who had no prospects.
"Are you done, seniors?" she then asked.
The leader hesitated before giving a reluctant nod, and that was all Rena needed.
"Well then. My friend and I will excuse you," Rena said and walked away.
Roman didn't waste the moment, letting his smile linger long enough for the seniors to catch it as he followed her.
"Where are you going? Master Norman asked us to bring you back to the outpost!" One of them called out after them.
"That is exactly where we are heading!" Rena responded, not bothering to look back.
They disappeared from sight, and behind them, the leader stood watching until they were gone.
"Unbelievable," he muttered.
...
On the walk back to the outpost, Rena opened a conversation, though it hadn't drifted back to what they had been discussing before the seniors interrupted them.
"Thank you for following along when I left. Saved me from an embarrassing situation," Rena said, smiling at him.
"I wasn't going to stand back there and let them bully me into the ground, was I?" Roman shrugged.
Rena chuckled and nodded.
"Your family. Your life before the Badlands. How the Red Zenith went for you. I want to know," she said, her expression open and direct.
Roman glanced at her. "What if I don't want to tell?"
"Then I'd be sad," Rena said, her jaw tightening slightly.
Roman figured she deserved that much, especially after what she had done standing up for him against the seniors.
"Well, I come from a family that has never made it into the Badlands. My dad was broken after he couldn't get in, and my grandfather, well, he didn't even put in the effort once he knew he wouldn't succeed.
My life before the Badlands? I had a friend. Someone I considered a best friend, practically family. Turns out he showed his true colours after the Ceremony. Called me a loser. Said I was nothing but a bag of bad luck."
Rena blinked. That was what anyone would expect for someone of his standard, wasn't it? Almost everyone would have written him off, and she imagined it would have been even worse before the Red Zenith when the Summoning hadn't yet begun.
She was sure that no one would have expected him to be summoned at all.
But here he was anyway.
Roman had no intention of bringing up Tessa. He wanted that as far from his mind as possible.
"I'll be honest. I gave up after the announcements. I thought I never stood a chance. My mother too. I was about to go to bed when I suddenly..." Roman paused.
*Should I tell her about the system?*
He held the thought for a moment, then let it go. They hadn't been close long enough for that kind of secret.
"Then suddenly I was at the Teleport Station," he concluded.
"Wow," Rena exhaled quietly. "That's no small experience."
"Yeah. But it's nothing to dwell on," Roman nodded.
"What about you? How were things before you got here? You must be from a prestigious family."
"No. Our stories are actually similar. None of my family have ever been to the Badlands either. I just happened to get a decent standard, and I wasn't fortunate enough to be picked up by one of the better communities," Rena responded.
Roman nodded, though he found it genuinely difficult to believe. He filed it away without pushing it.
"Well, congratulations on topping the board. That's impressive," Roman said.
"Oh, forget that," Rena waved it off.
"Why?"
"Because I just realised that not everyone who starts at the bottom stays there. There can be a massive uprising from the most unexpected places," she said, her eyes settling directly on his.
Roman didn't respond. He held her gaze for a moment, then looked away.
The outpost gate came into view ahead, and with it the quiet understanding that they were nearly back.
Rena decided to make use of the remaining time.
"That's why I needed to make this proposal, Roman."
She stopped walking, turned to face him, and reached out to take both of his hands in hers.
"Roman."
"I want you to be my boyfriend."