A knock on my door disturbed me from my peaceful reading session. What the—? But the knock didn't stop there, continuing until it grated on my nerves.

“Alright, alright, I'm coming." I muttered in annoyance. These people are such a nag. It felt like everyone around me was determined to drag me out of this hellish place. Well, congratulations to them—they were right.

I hated this place.

"Madam, the car awaits you," a voice called from downstairs. I rolled my eyes. I could see the car parked at the back of the house through my window. Why state the obvious?

"Humans are getting dumber each day." I thought as I made my way down. I didn’t wait for my parents to send me off—they didn’t care about me, and the feeling was mutual.

The ride was excruciatingly slow. The driver kept to a steady 80 kph, making it feel like forever to reach our destination.

"What is he, a turtle?" I grumbled, watching the tall trees that passed our way.

"We've reached the port, ma'am." the driver finally announced, snapping me out of my frustrated tantrums. I stepped out of the car to see a helicopter waiting. A helicopter after a car ride? Why not just a helicopter from the start? Clearly, there was something I wasn’t being told.

As I walked closer, I noticed a few familiar faces, though I couldn’t figure out who they were.

"Climb aboard, ma'am." the chaperone said, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Where are we really going?" I wondered, making my way through the helicopter. The helicopter ride was so unsatisfying. I kept my eyes on our direction, trying to memorize the path for future reference. Flying low offered no thrill.

"Boring" I muttered as the smooth landing failed to excite me. The chaperone collected our bags, so I didn’t bother with my luggage. I could live without my things, though it was an inconvenience.

Arriving at the gate, instead of excitement, I felt a dark aura envelop the premises. It was so strong that I could sense eyes watching us.

"Okay, that’s a warm welcome" I remarked dryly to myself, choosing to ignore the unsettling feeling. Pressing forward, I refrained from showing that I could feel their presence.

We continued walking until we reached a narrow gate that only two people could pass through at a time. Did this school lack proper driveways? They could have at least built a bigger door. We were halted at the entrance, so I edged closer to overhear what was happening.

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"Welcome to Drakonscreach Institute, students. I'm Amy, and I'll be in charge of assigning students to their families" said the lady with fair hair, light skin, and a smile that captivated people.

She seemed friendly, but her eyes told otherwise. It was like looking into the abyss and struggling to get out. I shrugged off my observations and focused on what Amy was saying.

"Families?" I thought, confusion mounting. All I knew was that I was being sent to a school that trained future heirs and heiresses, but it seemed there was more to this story.

"There has to be a reason." I mused quietly. Amy instructed us to form a line. As the line moved forward, it soon became my turn. She asked me to turn the raffle drum, which contained stacks of paper. I hoped to pick something promising.

Or else I'm out of here. I selected a paper and unfolded it, revealing a peculiar name.

"Shadowveil."

What did it mean? Was this a family name, a house, or something else entirely? The mystery deepened, and I realized there was more to this institute than met the eye. It was confusing. My mind raced with questions as Amy led me and a group of other students through the winding paths of the institute grounds.

Shadowveil. The name echoed in my thoughts. It sounded so secretive. The air grew colder as we approached a cluster of ancient buildings, their darkened windows casting eerie shadows. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched.

"So this is not the main entrance. The main entrance is locked, so the only way out is the door that you entered a while ago," Amy informed us. If that's the case, then there must be a regulation in exiting and entering the premises, but for what reason?

"On the left, you'll see the Gymnasium of the Viperclaw Family." Amy continued.

Viperclaw sounds nice. It sounded so feisty.

Amy continued explaining the parts of the premises. I was half-listening while my other attention was on the bulletin board. I was quite interested in the pictures of people that graduated from the institute. They looked so well-mannered and confident. They looked powerful.

"Raiden Grayson." I mumbled the name of the person with the biggest tarpaulin among others.

I knew this person, he was one of the youngest bachelors to ever make billions of dollars in two weeks with his business and connections. So he graduated here. Looking at his face, he was really confident in himself as he smirked in the picture with a tagline below that read, "Looks like I've won."

Won what, huh? And as I scanned the whole information, it looks like he was part of the Shadowveil family too.

Now this is interesting.

Walking further, I saw a list of students' names that indicated their ranking in the institute. At the top was the name "Lawrence Grayson." Well, he must be Raiden's brother then. It looked like ability ran in their blood. And next to it was the name of the person I doted on the most.

Kendrick Ashford.

What on earth is this guy doing here? Is this for real?

But my thoughts were shattered when Amy, along with the other students, started walking again.

Thinking of that person was a waste of time anyway, so I better be off.

Amy continued explaining about the facilities, which together create a comprehensive environment to develop physical strength, mental awareness, critical thinking, and observational skills in students.

The tour was getting boring, and the words that Amy said came to my right ear and out of my left ear.

Silly me, I guess.

Looking around, there were tall buildings and a lot of benches around. A place to hang out. But what caught my attention was the blood that was lying in the middle of a grassy place. Well, I wasn't sure it was blood, but the texture said it all. I could even smell the infuriating odor that came with it. I just turned my head in the other direction.

As we continued along the path Amy was leading, I suddenly felt that something was going to hit me.

My senses are sharp, as well as my other senses, so I shouldn't be mistaken about what I was feeling. I looked around to find something to protect myself, but I found nothing. When I did find something, the person who threw it would question me on how I managed to avoid such a move and have their eyes on me and get targeted by their family. I had to think fast, or else I'd be toasted.

Finding nothing, I crouched down to fix the lace of my shoes. Even though they were actually fixed, I tightened them even more while simply looking at the person in front of me. Then, I witnessed a shuriken pass through the person ahead, knocking him off on the spot.

My eyes widened as blood splattered around. Luckily, I was a bit far from the victim's position. Ms. Amy stopped in her tracks and looked in the direction of the fallen guy while I was still quite shocked about what had just happened.

On my first day of school, I was sent to the office right away.