Under The Veil of Night

"I doubt it," Alice smiled wryly.

"You’re right," Misae sighed. "There are a lot of people skipping school today."

Alice nodded her head. The teacher also mentioned this as in the first-years alone there were already more than five students skipping class: Jay, Tommy, and Kanae included. From the second and third-years there were also more students skipping class.

"If it’s about Jay, I heard that he has some matter to deal with in his clan," Alice said timidly.

Misae nodded her head. She had heard the news from her mother. The clans were fighting to claim the territory that previously belonged to the Zone Clan. Although the leader of the clan was still trying his best to hold on to his position, so far the situation seemed grim.

At first, only the small and local gangs tried to create trouble, but later on, the Souhon Clan started to make a move. It was rumored that the two clans clashed a lot and that the small clans were expanding their territory little by little from the previously Zone Clan’s territory.

"Those clans are still very annoying," Misae sighed lightly. "I just want to have a normal high school life, fall in love like in the novels, and have fun participating in various school events."

Alice giggled slightly. She watched as her friend opened the book again unwillingly. Her eyes dropped down to her own hands as she slowly took out her own book. For the civilians, they only wanted peace without the clans. As for the clans’ members, they had to live with the fact that they could never escape from the underworld.

...

Jason’s Private Training Villa

"You woke up, Kanae," Jason greeted when he saw Kanae walk out from her room in training clothes. "You seem to be in high spirits."

"Yeah, I want to train and get stronger," Kanae nodded her head. She remembered her previous encounter with the elite from the Zone Clan and felt ashamed whenever she thought about that. The two of them were clearly not at the top level, but they managed to hurt her quite badly, so she needed to train hard.

Jason nodded his head. "You should eat first."

Kanae saw that the table was filled with various foods and her mouth started to water. There were plenty of carbs and protein: pork, rice, soup, eggs, and many others. She immediately sat down and grabbed a plate to eat.

"Did you cook, Brother Jason?"

"Yep, do you think the food can just appear by itself? But you’re not allowed to touch the cooking utensils, Kanae. You’re here to train martial arts and not your cooking skill."

"I understand."

In their previous training session, she almost burned down the residence with her cooking. Jason had to remind her a lot of times about how to cook correctly or it would be a disaster.

Tommy and Shiro appeared not long after. Compared with Jason and Kanae who were used to waking up early, these two were slightly lazier. Shiro already woke up a long time ago, but he rested on his bed because he was lazy. As for Tommy, he truly had just woken up.

"Shiro, it’s your turn to cook tomorrow," Jason reminded.

Shiro nodded his head. "Don’t forget to occasionally buy some takeout. It’s tiring to cook for these gluttons."

The gluttons were obviously the four of them, but Shiro never admitted that he was part of them.

"I will, don’t worry. For now, this is our breakfast."

"It’s time to eat!"

Tommy and Shiro ate speedily as they snatched each other’s foods. The table became a mess, but Kanae and Jason had already moved to the training room. The room was located underground, but it was incredibly spacious and Jason had already prepared a lot of equipment.

"There’s another gym above here, but it’s better to use the one over here if you want intense training," Jason moved to the side and picked up a vest before handing it to Kanae.

Looking at the seemingly ordinary vest, Kanae took it. Her hand nearly dropped down if not for her quick reflexes. The vest was incredibly heavy. It seemed like it was at least 50 kg.

"Brother Jason, you don’t intend for me to wear this vest, right?" Kanae looked towards the man warily.

Jason nodded his head. "You’re already not in your growing period anymore, so I don’t think there’s any need to worry that you’re going to become short again. This vest will help you to move at critical times even when you are not at your peak condition."

Kanae looked towards the vest resignedly. She knew that it was impossible for her to avoid it anymore. In the past, she gave the excuse that she was still in her growing period, so she shouldn’t wear it.

"What’s our training today?" Kanae asked. She saw that Jason also wore the same vest.

"We’re going to dodge Shiro’s paint bullet," Jason answered.

Hearing that, Kanae’s face darkened. Shiro was the best shooter on their team, and evading his shots was going to be very difficult. If it was normally, she was confident that she could perform very well, but with this vest, her confidence wavered.

"There’s another one for Tommy as well. We’re going to train our senses and reaction speed."

Tommy and Shiro came into the room not long after that. Upon seeing the vest that these two wore, Tommy groaned hard. He knew what was going to happen from these two’s expression.

"I guess I get the easy one today," Shiro smiled gleefully.

Jason handed a pair of weights. "Wear this in your arm and don’t use the gun stand. You have to keep on shooting for three hours straight at each of us."

Shiro smirked. "Not a problem."

He picked up the weights and wrapped them around his wrists. Although his hands felt heavier, he was confident that he could shoot very well.

"Who’s going first?"

Kanae raised her hand. "Tommy and Brother Jason can spar with each other. I want to test my speed and senses."

"Sure."

Jason and Tommy moved to the other side while Shiro started to shoot towards Kanae. It was only a paint gun, but the pain was still there. Compared to real bullets, the paint was not that painful, but at close range it was still hell.*

Kanae saw the trajectory and moved to the side easily. The extra weight made her unable to move too much, so she could only evade slightly. As long as she didn’t get hit, it was enough.

Shiro started slowly as he was trying to get used to Kanae’s speed. After shooting several times, his speed increased, and he tried to block Kanae’s path with his paint bullets. Seeing his wicked move, Kanae forced herself to move much more. She was going to drop dead tired if this continued, but the man didn’t stop.

With a dark face, Tommy watched as Kanae was forced to run. "Can I not wear the vest?"

It was going to be very painful when he forced himself to run at that speed for three hours straight, especially with the vest on.

"Good luck, Tommy."

Hearing that, Tommy could only pray that he would be able to do it well.