Entrance

The trees were a mixture of darker reds and lighter yellows as the warmer months have been gone for a while. With even the slightest of winds, the leaves would unnestle themselves and float away.

Some were carried a large distance by the winds while some ended their journey short. The street was littered with these colorful leaves and made the autumn experience quiet.

Many of the leaves sat by the sidewalk, disturbed only by the [assign of cars or the occasional breeze. Other leaves sat right in the middle of the walkways and would be trampled by the feet of busy children and teens who were leisurely taking a walk to school.

Nina saw all this from the inside of her car. She stared at the children walking happily alongside each other and wondered what she had done to deserve having that kind of life taken away from her.

She wanted to bawl her eyes out one day and resolve all her inner turmoil but now was the right time.

'Toughen up Nina. It's your first day at an actual school. Don't let those hours of studying and lessons go to waste.'

Nina thought about how much effort she put into preparing herself for school.

She had successfully grasped all of the academic knowledge she had previously lacked.

Tina also spent most of her free time teaching Nina about common sense and how middle school works. She was taught how people act in these school environments.

What displeases and how they get appeased. Nina had started to understand how the social structure within a middle school classroom was formed on day one.

Nina asked Tina if she could have a normal school life. Tina's answer was unexpected.

"What defines a normal school life. Normal is something different for everyone because everyone is different. For a person who thinks of themselves to be above others, they would expect t to be normal for everyone to bow down to them.

While for someone who is not confident and feels inferior, they might feel it's normal for them to bow down.

There might also be people who feel superior but don't expect others to bow down because they might feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Just like that, everyone expects the world to be a different way since everyone looks at it differently. Now tell me, what kind of world do you want."

...

When Nina heard this, she felt herself beginning to crack once more. Even though Tina knew that Nina is someone with a fragile soul, she laid it out heavy for her.

This is because Tina believes that the best way for one to heal is to accept their past. Forgetting about such trauma completely is nearly impossible but by accepting it, she could at least attempt to live how she wanted.

Children shouldn't be encouraged to hide their problems as it would only make the tears in their hearts larger over time.

Nina lacked EQ but she also understood that she needed to accept herself and pasts sooner but it was her choice at the end of the day. Nina's choice was to wait as her lingering attachment to her old world is not something that can be solved within a week.

She wanted to find the slowly absolve those memories and heal her wounds with time. For now, she would strive to find out what normal meant for her.

At the towering black iron gates of a massive, luxury estate stood many kids. Some had their parents with them and seemed quite nervous. All the children wore a variety of clothing and there seemed to be no uniform.

You would expect a prestigious school with a Flashy name 'Vulcan Academy' to have one but this is America. A country that is not only known for its diversity and freedom but also how lazy its people are.

American children hate wearing any sort of uniform as feels tiring and frustrates them mentally to wear the same thing every day.

For the past 72 years, there was not a single school n the nations that had uniforms as they wanted their students to be comfortable as possible. Mental health is taken quite seriously now and a little bit of change in clothes helps one stay refreshed.

The guard behind the gates wore simple black pants and a white t dress shirt. He seemed to be quite you, no more than 25.

As his brown hair swayed in the light autumn breeze, he looked towards the school and scrutinized every aspect of it. Today was his first day on the job and he was given the responsibility to open the gates on time.

Ronald McBeth looked at his watch and saw the time as 7:29 AM.

"One more minute and they can go in." Ronald wasn't too stressed about his assignment today since all he had to do was stand in front of the door for 4 hours and then someone would switch with him.

"Alright, it's time." Ronald proceeded to press a red icon on his holographic watch and this caused the gates to open.

"CREAAK!" The gates of the academy are quite old and are maintained often rather than displaced. The principal liked how the gate creaked as it gave him a sense of nostalgia so he didn't replace it.

The 2nd and 3rd year students were already used to the ominous noise the gate made so they directly ignored it and went in.

However, the first year students and their parents were startled at the noise. They all knew that Vulcan Academy is the lowest level of hell out of all the American intermediate schools and the creaking of the gate gave them chills.

Still, seeing how the older students were talking cheerfully to their friends and classmates, they understood that it probably isn't as bad as the rumors depict it as.

None of the senior students seem to be distressed or uncomfortable going to class.

Unbeknownst to them, their children would beg their parents to take them out of school. Unfortunately for them, it would already be too late.

"ALL STUDENTS MAY ENTER THEIR YEAR"S ASSIGNED AUDITORIUM FOR THE OPENING CEREMONY. 1ST YEARS MAY USE THE DIGITAL MAPS FOR GUIDANCE."

After one enters through the front gates of the schools and pears behind its concrete walls, they will see the campus is as beautiful as the best universities.

Multiple decadent buildings range from those with a modern, glass embellished structure to more ancient halls that are representative of the nation's white house. There were slews of architectural magnificence from all over the world and eras.

There was also natural grass everywhere except for the marble flooring that formed pathways towards the buildings.

This entire academy's purpose is to not only train the future generation of dungeon running elites but also academic ones.

There were special entry tests taken if people wanted to get in on academic ability but only certified geniuses could enter through that way. Only children who made a wave in the national or global community of academics would be given that special entry pass.

"Hey, hey Amy! Wait up for me." said a young girl while panting. She was chasing and had caught up to another girl in her class.

A caucasian girl with golden eyes and brown hair looked back at the yelling girl and was smiling brilliantly. She twirled around in her cute red dress and greeted her friend.

"Leila! Why didn't you meet up at the cafe?" asked the girl in the red dress.

"You know me. My dad drank too much again last night so I slightly overslept." There might be a smile on this girl's face but there was a deep sadness in her voice.

Leila, the girl who was running, has hazel-colored eyes and auburn hair with tinges of orange at the end. Her open hair only reaches her shoulder, unlike Amy who has hers tied up in twin ponytails. Leila wore a pair of light blue jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt.

She paled in comparison to the bright Amy whose clothes seemed to be made from high-quality fabric.

"Do you want to go to our usual spot after class then? It's always a half-day." Amy wanted to console her friend and help her eat well today. She did not lack money and was always willing to stuff her friend to the brim.

"I know what you are trying to do. You're just going to say I like some sort of hamster or something and then take a hundred photos of me eating." rebuked Lelia as she pouted.

"I plan to make my collection of you eating reach 50,000 images today. Heehhehe." Amy let out a sweet laugh as her face was brightened up by the morning sun.

"Alright then. Since my dear friend has asked so nicely, I am willing to become a hamster for today. They are cute after all." said Leila as she sighed. She made it seem like she was making a sacrifice.

Amy snorted and then said "Hey! You would accept it regardless of what I do. You are the school's biggest glutton after all. You proved that when you beat the infamous, CHONKY ETHAN."

Leila just stared at any in shock as she did not expect this girl to bring up her dark past.

"2 summer months is enough for me to change." declared Leila as she looked at Amy proudly.

"We will see about that." Amy snorted once again. Then the two friends start laughing at their childishness, even though they are still children.

ZWEEE!

The sound of a vehicle hitting its brake abruptly breaks the laughter of the two as they see a luxury sedan park itself in front of the auditorium assigned to second years like them.

The front door of the right side opens and an old man with a cold expression exits calmly. He was wearing a butler suit. The butter then went around to the other side and opened the passenger seat door.

Out from it came a beautiful young girl with fiery red hair and vibrant orange eyes. Her figure seemed healthy as she wore an exquisitely knitted wool sweater of the color orange and a pair of black jeans that fit her long legs perfectly.

She also wore black boots that gave her an extra 2 inches in height.

The girl ignored everyone around her that stared at her with eyes full of admiration from the boys and jealousy from the girls.

She was already used to the gazes she received from flaunting her beauty and wealth.

"There she is. I was wondering when the rich bitch of our grade would show up," said Leila with animosity. Her twisted expression showed that she held a deep grudge towards the girl.

Amy just looked at her friend and gave out a tired sigh.

"Leila, you should forget about competing with Ashley and just focus on optimizing your own growth. That girl has the entire Ashton family's wealth at her disposal," said Amy as she was trying to calm her friend down.

"I want to do that too but I can't control myself every time I look at her smug face."

"I know that it was all her fault in that incident but she wasn't spared by the school either. She was punished as harshly as the school could. She even paid 300 million to Yue as compensation." There was a slight feeling of regret on both of the girl's faces when the name Yue was muttered.

"I just hope I don't share the same class as her this year or I don't know if I can hold back."

"Yeah, we can only pray."

VWOOM! VWOOM! VWOOM!

As the luxury sedan belonging to Ashley drove away, another vehicle entered the sight of the lingering student and two girls could only stare in awe.

A bright orange sports car with a streamlined chassis and sexy design slowly rolled up to the auditorium entrance. Its engines made a soothing yet vigorous hum that mesmerized everyone with clarity and uniqueness.

"Oh my god! That's McLaren KN950!" yelled a random boy who was a car enthusiast.

"Doesn't that car cost over 2.9 Billion dollars?"

"Yeah. There's only 30 of those in the world."

"Even our president could not get one."

"Look at that design. It just screams 'I'm rich, get out of the way peasants!"

"I know what you mean friend. we all wish we could ride one of these."

When Ashley had first arrived, there was a couple of conversations about her but she didn't get much of a reaction out of them as they were used to her since last year.

With the arrival of an exclusive car that only people who were elites on the global scale could get their hands on, Ashley could only furrow her brows.

Even though there are kids richer than her at this school none of them could afford to own something as flashy as this.

She was now curious who was in this car.

Unlike, Ahsley's loud and abrupt arrival, McLaren entered the scene with grace and patience. It stopped without making a noise as if it knew that it did not need to announce its presence.

Everyone was now anticipating who would step out from this car. Was it a student from last year who was hiding their identity or someone was capable enough of transferring in?

Since this car was a two-seater, it only had two butterfly doors. The doors to the driver's seat went up as an adult lady with blond hair tied in a bun stepped out. Her blue eyes filled with vigor and

She had the regal and intimating air of a ruler around as she scanned the groups of children in front of her. Most of them felt like ants when they met her gaze.

Some of the students noticed her clothing and realized that it was a limited edition knee-length dress from this year's Chanel collection. The dress accentuates her perfect hourglass figure. They could tell that the dress was custom-made for the lady as it fit her perfectly.

Then the passenger seat opened and the students gasped when they saw the marvelous beauty that stepped.

Nina, with her silky black hair that went down to her waist and covered her forehead with nicely done bangs, stepped out and gazed at everyone with her own blue eyes that were filled with the energy of youth.

The sharp outline of her gorgeous face and wondrously bright skin left people in a daze.

'How could a girl look so pure and cute!' they all exclaimed in their heads. Just like Tina, many had fallen to the young Nina's charms.

"Looks like we're going to have one more princess join us this year." snorted Leila. Her childish hate was not only reserved for Ashley but for all pampered rich kids.

"Let's not just a book by its cover okay," said Amy nicely as she was taught not to discriminate based on looks alone.

"Hmph!" Leila did not seem to want to speak further so Amy just quit as she knew that Leila had a deep trauma relating to the rich so ended up being very prejudiced. The rich kids at school did not make it any better.

"Let's go in, the speech is in 5 minutes." Amy then grabbed Leila s the two ran to the building.

A little distance away from the movie-like scene, a pair of twins with black hair and red yes were snacking on some onigiri.

The female twin looked at Nina who was walking in as well and said "So that's the newest Rothcinth princess?"

"Yup, that's her. Nina Rothcinth." said the male twin. Both of them seemed to talk emotionlessly.

"Does father know her class?" asked the girl.

"Everyone in high society knows that she has an SS-Ranked mage class."

"That's great then. We might actually have some amusing sights to see this year."

"I hope so. Especially if she is anything like her older sister."

"Let's get going, big brother. We don't want to miss this opening speech."

"I wanted to skip it but I can't say no to my little sister. Let's go."

The two then walked off while holding hands.

Authors Note: About the prices in this novel. The dungeon practically just spews out money when you kill things so there is constant inflation going on. The prices of things sound kind of insane because of that.