Scarlett and Arlo flashed before the castle at the center of the capital city, Nightingale.

She put Arlo down before patting him on the head, "I will come back for you in a couple of hours. Quickly make your preparations."

Arlo hesitated before asking, "Can I take Joe with me?"

Even though he knew he would be at Scarlett's resting abode, he still didn't feel at rest leaving him with vampires.

Scarlett gave him an amused smile, "Someone already asked before you."

Arlo was dumbfounded before realization dawned on him.

'Arianne?'

At this time, the front gate to the tall castle suddenly flung open before Joe ran out.

"Arlo! Save me!"

Arlo turned around and saw Joe run toward him.

The corner of his mouth twitched when he saw Joe look like a pig.

That is right.

His head was swollen like a pig's head.

It must be known that Joe was a magical beast and not an ordinary one at that.

So his physical body was strong.

'For him to be beaten to that point...' Arlo shivered.

Joe jumped into Arlo's embrace, but because he was a head taller than the latter, he had to kneel.

His snort drenched Arlo's clothes.

Arlo's eyes twitched upon seeing how familiar this situation was.

It was like when they first met.

"You must avenge me!" Joe suddenly said.

Arlo looked down to see his eyes that had swollen into small gaps.

Rising to allow his mouth to reach Arlo's ears, Joe whispered, his voice laced with fear:

"She is a demon."

*Tap.*

*Tap.*

The sound of footsteps resounded from behind him causing Joe's body to stiffen.

Turning his head slowly like a robot, Joe saw Arianne walk out of the castle with slow but graceful steps.

"Did you just call me a demon?"

Seeing the calm way Arianne asked such a question, Arlo couldn't help but re-evaluate the little princess.

'So scary.'

Turning around, he noticed Scarlett had already disappeared at some point.

.....

While the castle was huge, only a few lived in it.

The King, Queen, Arianne, and her brother.

Only when there was a meeting or an important occasion would visitors come.

The three little kids had almost the entire castle to themselves.

The maids and servants they encountered at all times treated them with respect.

Arlo wasn't sure whether it was because Scarlett ordered it or because Arianne was with them.

What left him a bit disappointed was that he had yet to meet the king and Queen.

After playing around for almost four hours, Arlo was beginning to wonder when Scarlett would come to take them.

What surprised him was after a few minutes someone did come to take them, but it wasn't Scarlett.

It was Arianne's elder brother.

"Hello. I am Arianne's elegant elder brother, Stefan. It is nice to meet you."

While he had already met Arlo, the same couldn't be said for Joe.

Looking at his outstretched hand, Joe shook it after a moment of disbelief, "I can't believe you are the demon's brother. Truly, blood works in mysterious ways."

Arianne's elder brother strangely looked at him.

To think he was still standing after making such a comment.

Looking to the side from the corner of his eye, he could see Arianne glaring at him but she made no effort to reprimand him.

Thankfully, Arlo tried to diffuse the situation,

"When are we going?"

"Right now."

"I trust you are all prepared."

"Yes." the trio exclaimed in unison.

Well, Arlo and Joe didn't really have anything to prepare. They were in a foreign land, and they had nothing to bring with them.

"Let's go then."

A carriage left the castle.

In the carriage sat Arlo, Joe, Arianne, and Stefan, Arianne's brother.

Arlo finally got to see the capital city of the vampires through the window.

The streets were lined up with tall buildings.

There were numerous shops and stalls and the streets were bustling.

But the surprising thing was that the place was quiet.

Eerily quiet in fact.

Apart from the sounds of muffled footsteps and the moving carriages, no voices could be heard.

Feeling the constant spiritual fluctuations in the air, Arlo figured out the vampires were communicating using their spiritual energy.

The journey took hours.

They had already left the capital city and were in an endless plain.

Suddenly a massive portal appeared in the middle of the endless plain.

The carriage stopped in front of it.

Arlo and the rest came down from the carriage.

Within the portal was nothing but chaotic space. Sitting in front of the portal was an old man.

He had white hair and a beard. His beard was plaited and reached his upper chest.

The old man seemed to be immersed in a book, and beside him was a table on which was a teapot and cup.

"Greetings, Elder." Stefan approached the old man and bowed respectfully.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Young prince, I have told you there is no need for such pleasantries."

Stefan remained bowing. This was one of the few elders who treated him with no contempt for his impure bloodline, so he respected him.

"These are?" The elder looked behind Stefan.

Stefan straightened his body, "They are here to enroll in the Academy."

The Elder scrutinized Joe before his gaze fell on Arlo.

A strange light flashed within his eyes briefly.

Looking away, he nodded respectfully at Arianne, "Princess."

"Greetings, Elder." Arianne also bowed upon seeing her brother's respectful attitude.

A smile of satisfaction flashed on the old man's face.

Waving his hand, some unknown stones fell into a square-shaped hole a few distance at his side.

Immediately the ground around them lit up.

Arlo marvelled at the strange runes that flashed brightly on the ground forming a massive rectangular formation with the portal at the center.

Immediately after, the chaotic space within the portal suddenly twirled before forming a whirlpool.

"You are in luck. The first year's classes will be starting tomorrow." he waved them toward the portal.

Stefan thanked the old man, before taking Arlo, Joe, and Arianne into the portal.

Arlo felt the space around him distort for just a second before everything returned to normal.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in a dark hall.

"Oh! I am surprised you didn't throw up." Stefan's voice attracted him.

Looking at Arianne and Joe, he noticed there was no change in their expression too.

"Why would I?"

Joe and Arianne looked at him strangely.

Arianne was a princess so she was familiar with Teleportation formations.

The same could be said for Joe. He was previously a royal beast, so he wasn't ignorant of such things.

But what about Arlo?

"No matter." Stefan waved the matter away as the sounds of footsteps approached them.

"Oh! If it isn't Stefan?"

"Argon!" Stefan said calmly.

"Are they new freshmen?" he asked as he looked at Arlo and the others.

"Yes!"

"Okay, you can go. No need to go through the process."

"Thank you," Stefan said gratefully. He didn't want to waste his time on unnecessary checkups.

But these were the rules of the academy.

Thankfully, the student supervising the formation this time was an acquaintance.

Arlo and the other followed behind Stefan and eventually, they walked out of the hall.

Seeing the outside world, Arlo's eyes widened like saucers as his mouth stretched open.

Who could blame him?

This world was completely different from the northern continent.

There was a scorching sun up in the sky, while the sky was its usual blue.

Looking around him, Arlo saw several huge buildings, especially one ten floors high some distance in front of him.

Surrounding the building were other smaller buildings, but they were all big in their rights.

"Welcome to the southern region of the Darkblood Academy," Stefan said.

A look of appreciation also appeared on Arianne's face.

This wasn't her first time here, but she still couldn't help but marvel at how grand the academy was.

Standing high some distance away behind them were high-rise walls that rose hundreds of meters into the air.

The wall surrounded the whole academy which stretched for tens of miles into the distance.

Even with the height of the walls, Arlo could see the massive trees that rose into the sky.

The academy seemed to be surrounded by a forest and beyond the forest were high-rise mountains.

*Roar!*

*Roar!*

The roars of beasts echoed from deep within the forest but Arlo noticed those around them walking with no care for them.

It didn't take him long to find out why.

The whole academy seemed to be protected by a hemispherical barrier that covered the sky and stretched far into the distance.

It would seem that there were two layers of defense.

The barrier first and then the wall.

Arlo finally regained his composure.

"Awesome, right?" Stefan asked with a chuckle.

"How are you able to walk under the sun? I thought you would be affected."

"Haha. The sun doesn't really affect us. It just makes us uncomfortable, like several ants crawling on our bodies. The older vampires have already learned to adapt to it but we young ones are yet too. So the academy programmed this minor world to follow the normal human world system so we can train and adapt."

Arlo nodded in understanding.

Seemed the northern continent was just dark for preference not because it was a need.

Looking around him, Arlo's eyes flashed with excitement.

'This is where I will be till I awaken.'

"Time to introduce you guys to the Principal of the first year."

.....

AN: Sorry the chapter came later than expected. The rest of this volume will be centered on Arlo. I would love to know your honest opinions about the story so far. Thanks.