What Leonel didn't know was that his action of holding Aina's hand alone was more than enough to be looked at in this way.
During her time on Hero Peak, Aina hadn't just been learning a new profession, she spent just as much time training her body as she always did. She completely engrossed herself in improving, which was why she actually didn't notice how much time had passed until she realized she had missed a call from Leonel.
In the span of that time, Aina broke no small number of freshmen records, even those Raylion had held had been obliterated. If it wasn't for the fact Hero Peak was such a closed off community of elites, Aina would have caused an uproar that swept through the entirety of Valiant Heart.
That said, an uproar did happen. It was just that this commotion was concentrated between the walls of Hero Peak.
The main issue was that Aina seemed to be completely closed off from everyone else, especially men. There were rumors that she had come to Valiant Heart with a boyfriend, but after observing her for a while, many of them had concluded that that was bullshit.
Now, though, running into Aina after she had disappeared for more than a week, only to find her holding the hand of a man they didn't even recognize… how could they not be shocked?
It seemed that Hero Peak was even more closed off than they knew. Even as freshmen, they actually had no idea about Leo the Cuck.
But, if one knew anything about the culture of ultra elite circles, this made sense.
In the past, white belt exams had to be taken within one's Peak. One can easily guess, then, that different Peaks had different standards. Becoming a white belt from Hero Peak was far more difficult.
Due to this, an intense competitive environment was brewed. Most freshmen of Hero Peak spent years keeping their head buried in their training before they could burst out with all their potential at once.
The freshmen of Hero Peak were much like the elders of Valiant Heart in that way, having no idea about such petty squabbles.
Leonel smiled and looked toward Aina. "Are these your friends?"
Aina opened her mouth to respond but didn't quite know how to. Friends? They were at most acquaintances.
The young woman with the odd nose contraption hopped forward and grabbed Aina's arm between her hands and breasts.
"Aina, why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend? Are you hiding all the good men to yourself? This is too unfair!"
Aina was speechless. She couldn't even think of a response before the young lady continued.
"You wouldn't mind sharing right?" The young lady fluttered her lashes, taking long, sweeping glances at Leonel. "You can't keep such a boytoy to yourself."
Leonel didn't know whether he should laugh or not. Clearly, these few had misunderstood their relationship. But, in their minds, this was the only thing that made sense.
A member of Hero Peak picking someone who hadn't even joined a Peak yet was quite ridiculous. What else could Leonel be if not a boytoy to relieve some stress?
Though there was a stigma around it, there were no shortage of women who simply didn't care about the opinions of others, and this was especially so if these women were very strong. Aina happened to have both the uncaring personality and the strength, so this seemed like the logical conclusion.
Unfortunately…
"Yes. I mind." Aina said coldly, slipping out of the young lady's embrace and grabbing Leonel's hand to walk away.
The group was stunned for a moment before one of the boys burst out into a fit of laughter.
"Gretta, it seems you won't be getting a taste."
Gretta's expression warped. She hadn't really wanted a taste of Leonel, she cared too much about her reputation. In truth, she only wanted to ingratiate herself with Aina a bit. Who wouldn't want a relationship with such a genius?
But, she hadn't expected it to backfire like this.
"Whatever. I would much rather focus on my strength than whoring myself out." She ground her teeth in spite.
"It seems like he's taking the white belt exam too?" One of the boys said curiously.
Upon hearing this, they froze for a moment. They had never heard of someone taking the white belt exam before even joining a Peak.
At that moment, a light ding noise sounded.
"The exam will begin now. All those who have registered, please proceed to room 2-A."
Among the group of four, the young man who originally called out to Aina remained silent, his eyes never leaving Leonel's back.
"Edmorn, snap out of it. If we're late, it'll count as a fail and we'll have to wait another six months."
The young man seemed to awaken at these words. "Right…"
Soon, the group had entered the spacious room. Looking around, aside from the six of them, there were about ten others, leaving the total number of participants at just under 20.
The room was bland. The floors, walls and ceiling were all covered by large one by one meter black grey tiles. There didn't seem to be anything special about it to a layman. But, to one with sharp senses, it was possible to feel a subtle and unique flow of energy.
"The exam requirements are more stringent than they have been in the past." A lazy voice suddenly played and completely filled their surroundings. "Now, more than ever, what is most important is your strength. In addition, the requirements for passing are no longer summarized into a single line. Rather, you will be graded on a curve. Of the 18 of you here, only four will be allowed to pass regardless of your performance."
The crowd was stunned.
What Leonel and Aina didn't know was that they had happened to stumble into just the third white belt exam that had taken place. These new rules had thus yet to become public knowledge.
It seemed that Valiant Heart was doing its best to increase the quality of its students.
"Now, we will begin the first round."