TALIA: shocking entry
1860 Words
The gates of the Mafia Academy had never opened for a student with that much attention surrounding her.
It was early morning, and the enormous academy grounds were already crowded. Black luxury cars lined the entrance as students from powerful families arrived for their first day. Some came with bodyguards. Others arrived in armored vehicles. A few were escorted by private security teams.
Nobody thought they were unusual.
At the Mafia Academy, wealth and power were normal.
Then the security gates opened again.
A vehicle slowly entered.
The conversations stopped one by one.
It was a car so rare that even some of the academy instructors immediately recognized it. Its body was completely black, with a smooth finish that reflected the morning sunlight like glass. Every detail had been custom-designed, from the wheels to the interior. The windows were reinforced, the doors were electronically secured, and the famous Valentino family crest was engraved into the side.
Only two of those cars existed in the entire world.
One belonged to the Valentino family.
The other belonged to a private collection whose owner was almost never mentioned.
The car moved silently toward the main entrance.
A student lowered his sunglasses.
“Wait…isn't that the Valentino limited edition?”
His friend stared.
“There are only two.”
“Exactly.”
“So why is one here?”
Nobody answered.
The car stopped directly in front of the academy's main entrance.
The driver stepped out first.
Then the rear door opened.
Talia Valentino stepped outside.
The entire courtyard became silent.
For a moment, nobody seemed to remember that they were supposed to breathe.
Talia was breathtaking.
She wasn't beautiful in the ordinary way that made people glance at someone and move on. There was something unusually striking about her presence. Her features were delicate, her eyes calm and expressive, and her long hair fell naturally around her shoulders. Her beauty was made even more noticeable by the fact that she didn't appear to be trying to attract attention.
She simply stood there.
Calm.
Elegant.
Almost completely unaware of the hundreds of eyes watching her.
Her academy uniform had also been custom-made.
While the other students wore the standard black uniform issued by the academy, Talia's uniform fitted her perfectly. The material was noticeably different, with subtle silver stitching around the collar and sleeves. A small Valentino crest was embroidered over her chest.
Her shoes were custom-made as well.
Even her school bag carried a tiny silver version of the Valentino crest.
One girl whispered, “She's unbelievably beautiful.”
Another student replied, “Forget beautiful. Look at what she's wearing.”
A boy stared at the car behind her.
“Forget what she's wearing. Look at the car.”
Someone behind them muttered, “That's a Valentino.”
The name alone changed the atmosphere.
The Valentino family wasn't merely wealthy.
They were one of the Ten Great Mafioso Families.
Their influence reached across continents, and even the most powerful Mafia families understood that provoking a Valentino was rarely a wise decision.
Talia looked around the courtyard.
She noticed everyone staring.
She tilted her head slightly.
“Is something wrong?”
The student closest to her immediately looked away.
“N-No.”
Talia smiled politely.
“Okay.”
That tiny smile somehow made several students even more nervous.
The head instructor approached.
He was a large, intimidating man who had spent decades training Mafia heirs. Students normally became nervous whenever he walked toward them.
But even he seemed unusually careful as he approached Talia.
“Miss Valentino.”
Talia turned toward him.
“Yes, sir?”
“Welcome to the Mafia Academy.”
“Thank you.”
The instructor glanced toward the extraordinary car.
“Your family has certainly made an entrance.”
Talia looked at the car.
“Oh.”
She smiled.
“They said I should use it.”
The instructor didn't know how to respond.
Behind him, several students were silently thinking the same thing.
They said I should use it.
As though she had been told to take an ordinary taxi.
Then an academy administrator hurried over.
“Miss Valentino, everything has been prepared.”
Talia nodded.
“Thank you.”
The instructor looked confused.
“Prepared where?”
The administrator hesitated.
“Her accommodation.”
“She'll be staying in the first-year dormitory.”
The administrator's face became awkward.
“No, sir.”
The instructor frowned.
“No?”
“The Valentino family requested the private executive suite.”
Silence.
The instructor slowly turned.
“The executive suite?”
“Yes.”
Several students who overheard the conversation immediately began whispering.
“That suite?”
“The one reserved for Mafia heads?”
“That's not a student room.”
“Apparently it is now.”
Talia seemed confused by everyone's reaction.
“Is there a problem?”
“No,” the administrator quickly answered. “Not at all.”
He led her toward the private section of the academy.
The students couldn't resist following at a distance.
When the doors opened, their jaws nearly dropped.
Talia's accommodation was not a dormitory room.
It was practically a luxury penthouse.
There was a spacious bedroom, a private sitting room, a study filled with books, a dressing room, a marble bathroom, a private kitchen, a balcony overlooking the academy's training grounds, and a private security system.
The furniture looked as though it belonged in a five-star presidential residence.
Talia walked inside.
She looked around quietly.
“This is my room?”
“Yes.”
She stared at the enormous bed.
Then at the sitting room.
Then at the private study.
“It's very large.”
One of the students outside almost laughed.
Very large?
Their dormitory had four students sharing one room.
Talia had an entire luxury suite.
The administrator smiled nervously.
“Your family wanted you to be comfortable.”
Talia nodded.
“That's kind of them.”
She put her bag down.
She had barely been inside for ten minutes when the academy bell rang.
Her first combat class was about to begin.
The students gathered on the enormous training field.
The combat instructor stood before them.
“Today is your first physical assessment.”
Some students smiled confidently.
Others stretched their arms.
The instructor continued.
“You will carry a weighted frame and complete two miles.”
A mechanical platform was brought onto the field.
The students stared at it.
The instructor pointed to the equipment.
“Your assigned weights will vary according to your physical assessment.”
Several students looked relieved.
Then the instructor looked at Talia.
“Valentino.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Come forward.”
Talia stepped out.
The instructor looked at the technician.
“Her weight?”
The technician entered her assessment into the system.
The machine beeped.
The display changed.
300 KG
The entire class went silent.
The instructor frowned.
“Three hundred?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That is the maximum training weight.”
“Yes, sir.”
He looked at Talia.
“You don't have to carry that.”
Talia looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because three hundred kilograms is an extreme load.”
“I can try.”
The instructor studied her expression.
“You understand what you're asking?”
“Yes.”
She walked toward the equipment.
The students watched carefully.
One boy whispered, “She's going to hurt herself.”
Another answered, “There's no way she can lift that.”
The machine lowered the weight.
Talia positioned herself underneath it.
The instructor gave the command.
“Lift.”
Talia bent her knees.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then she pushed upward.
The enormous weight rose.
Her legs trembled slightly.
But she stood.
The laughter that had been building among some students disappeared instantly.
Talia had lifted three hundred kilograms.
The instructor's eyes widened.
“Begin the run.”
Talia started moving.
The first hundred meters were slow.
Then she found her rhythm.
Her footsteps became steady.
One hundred meters.
Three hundred.
Five hundred.
The other students began struggling with their own weights.
At the half-mile mark, one student collapsed.
Then another.
The medical team rushed toward them.
Talia kept running.
The instructor watched her breathing.
Controlled.
Her posture remained straight.
She wasn't sprinting.
She was simply moving forward.
At one mile, several students had already fainted.
The academy doctors were running across the field.
The students who remained standing were staring at Talia as though they were witnessing something impossible.
Then representatives of the Ten Great Mafioso Families, who were visiting the academy that morning, heard about the assessment.
They came to the observation area.
One representative laughed in disbelief.
“A first-year student carrying three hundred kilograms?”
Another shook his head.
“Impossible.”
A third said, “Unless the machine is malfunctioning.”
The instructor checked it himself.
“It isn't.”
The representatives stopped talking.
Talia was approaching the final half-mile.
Two miles.
Three hundred kilograms.
And she was still moving.
One of the representatives narrowed his eyes.
“Who trained her?”
Nobody answered.
At the final corner, the entire academy had gathered around the track.
Students stood beside instructors.
Senior teachers watched from the balcony.
The representatives of the Ten Great Mafioso Families stood together.
Everyone waited.
Talia entered the final straight.
Her breathing was heavier now.
Her hair had become slightly messy.
Sweat glistened on her forehead.
But her eyes remained focused.
Ten meters.
Five.
Three.
One.
She crossed the finish line.
The weight hit the ground.
BOOM.
The sound echoed across the academy.
Talia stood still for several seconds.
The instructor stared at the stopwatch.
“Two miles.”
Nobody spoke.
Then he looked at her.
“How do you feel?”
Talia wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Tired.”
The instructor blinked.
“Tired?”
She nodded.
“But not exhausted.”
Several students looked at each other.
One boy simply sat down.
“I can't believe this.”
A girl whispered, “She's a monster.”
Another corrected her quietly.
“No.”
She looked toward Talia.
“She just hasn't realized what she is yet.”
The representatives of the Ten Great Mafioso Families were stunned.
They had expected privilege.
They had expected an arrogant heiress arriving in a priceless car and receiving special treatment.
They had not expected this.
But across the field, the Valentino representatives were smiling.
They weren't shocked.
They were proud.
One of them folded his arms.
“That is our young lady.”
Another smiled.
“She carried the Valentino name into the academy this morning.”
He looked at Talia.
“And now everyone knows why.”
Talia glanced around at the silent crowd.
She had no idea that her first morning had already become legendary.
She had only come to attend school.
She had only wanted to learn.
But the Mafia Academy had just witnessed the arrival of someone who could completely change its hierarchy.
And Talia Valentino had no idea that before the week was over, the Ten Great Mafioso Families would begin asking the same dangerous question:
Who exactly is Talia Valentino?
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