Chapter 29: Gates Of Aurelius

Morales stepped down from the sleek, dark luxury car, his boots landing firmly on the polished stone of the Aurelius Academy concourse.

He carried no luggage, no bags, and no visible belongings, a stark contrast to the surrounding heirs who were accompanied by personal retinues lugging trunks of high-grade equipment, but he didn’t have to go to his room now.

Before he could even take two steps, two familiar figures broke away from their family escorts and rushed straight toward him.

"Look who finally decided to show up," Chloe teased, a stunning smirk on her face as she naturally slid her arm through his left.

"And without a single piece of luggage," Sophia added with a light chuckle, wrapping her arm around his right. "Did you leave your entire life behind, Morales?"

"Something like that," Morales replied smoothly, his eyes sweeping across the breathtaking expanse before them.

This was the real Aurelius Academy. It wasn’t merely an educational institution; it was a sovereign mega-city disguised as a school.

The entire ecosystem ran on bloodthirsty economic dynamic, you either earned fortune and authority, earn every credit to your name, or ended up crushed under the heels of the elite.

In the distance, towering penthouses and private luxury estates dominated the skyline, reserved exclusively for the Imperial Class.

Further down lay the sprawling mansions of the Prestige Class, strictly divided between male and female quarters with ironclad academy rules prohibiting unauthorized entry to either male of female room by the opposite gender fir each, punishable by immediate expulsion or worse.

Of course, to Morales, those rules were completely laughable. Rules were created by the strong to control the weak. Since he intended to sit at the absolute apex of this world, the concept of obeying someone else’s law was a non-factor.

"The three tier classes operate in entirely separate departments," Sophia explained, guiding him through the VIP concourse. "Imperial gets their own private sector, while Prestige shares the central core."

As they walked, Morales’ sharp gaze caught a figure standing on a raised marble balcony above the courtyard.

It was a girl with long, shimmering silver hair, framed by a retinue of upperclassmen boys standing respectfully behind her. Her cold, piercing eyes were locked directly onto Morales, pouring sheer disdain and silent malice toward them.

"Who’s that?" Morales asked casually.

"Who’s who?" Chloe asked, following his line of sight.

The moment Sophia’s eyes landed on the silver-haired girl, she let out a small, involuntary gasp. "That’s... Adeline Grey."

"Adeline Grey?" Morales repeated, his eyes meeting the silver-haired girl’s icy stare without flinching.

"She’s the undisputed Rank 1 titan of the prestige Class," Sophia whispered, her voice laced with genuine caution. "She even surpasses Haley, who’s a senior. Those two alternate between the 3rd and 4th overall spots in the entire academy hierarchy.

They’re called the Prestige Queens, but well....they are Imperial queens who surpass even the male faction kings of our class, so Haley or Adeline can never get to that spot maybe."

’Interesting,’ Morales thought to himself, a dark smirk tugging at the edge of his lips. ’So much hatred in those eyes. She doesn’t even know me yet or does she?’

Before they could probe further, the chime of the central bell signaled the mandatory freshman orientation. Thousands of newly arrived students poured into the Grand Registration Hall to claim their official academy identification credentials.

The division of power was instantly obvious. Imperial Class candidates received glowing Diamond Badges, Prestige Class candidates received solid Gold Badges, and the Foundation Class received simple Silver Badges.

After collecting their gold credentials, the crowd dispersed toward their respective departmental halls. Morales separated from Chloe and Sophia, assuming they had been funneled into different lecture tracks for the opening hour.

He navigated the sleek, glass-paneled corridors of the Prestige Department, stepping into his assigned lecture hall.

The room was mostly vacant, save for a few quiet early arrivals scattered in the far corners. Morales scanned the rows and walked toward a pristine seat in the middle section.

Just as he was about to sit down, a shadow fell over him.

BANG!

A heavy, leather-bound boot slammed violently onto the seat of Morales’ chair, blocking him completely.

Morales slowly tilted his head, his soulless, electric-blue eyes locking onto a towering, muscle-bound freshman standing over him with a sneering grin.

"Clean the damn chair," Morales said, his voice terrifyingly calm, devoid of a single trace of warmth.

Seeing that the classroom was still relatively empty, the bulky student puffed out his chest, his face twisting into a mocking snarl. "Clean it? Do you have any idea who the fuck I am?! My father is the head of the..."

Before the fool could finish his sentence, Morales hand shot forward like a striking cobra.

His fingers clamped around the guy’s throat like a vice of solid steel. With a brutal, fluid motion, Morales yanked him downward, shoving his neck straight toward the chair while slamming his heavy knee into the student’s spine.

CRACK!

The guy let out a choked, desperate gasp as his head was pinned face-down onto the very seat he had just dirtied. He tried desperately to jerk his body backward, but it felt as if an invisible, gravitational weight was crushing his torso into the iron.

The sheer, inhuman physical strength radiating from Morales sent a wave of absolute terror through his veins.

"Open your tongue and speak again," Morales growled, his voice a dark, suffocating whisper right beside the student’s ear.

"M-My father... the Sterling subsidiary... you can’t—!" the guy choked out, his eyes wide with horror as he realized his physical power was completely useless. ’What the hell is this guy?! How is he this strong?! I’ll try my absolute best to get him out of prestige class or furthermore this school.’

Just as Morales considered breaking the fool’s back entirely, the double doors of the lecture hall swung wide open. A massive wave of incoming Prestige Class freshmen began flooding into the room.

Sitting quietly near the front row was a sharp-eyed girl who had been watching the entire interaction from the shadows.

Morales released his grip on the guy’s throat.

The moment the pressure vanished, the bulky student reacted out of pure, embarrassed rage.

Shoving his elbow backward, he swung wildly, striking Morales in the stomach.

Instead of countering, Morales deliberately let his body fly backward, crashing dramatically into a row of empty desks with a loud, resounding CLANGER!

The entire room fell dead silent before bursting into a wave of cruel, loud laughter.l, well they only saw the part where the bulky guy hit him not how it started.

"Look at that loser!" a student near the door jeered. "Is that the guy who got into Prestige Class through a system glitch?"

"Yeah! That’s Morales Brown!" another mocked, pointing at him. "I heard his family lives in a decaying cottage in the gutter sector! He couldn’t even afford luggage, he showed up on campus with literally nothing!"

As the laughter reverberated through the hall, the bulky student straightened his collar, smirking arrogantly as if he had just won a grand victory.

Down on the floor, amidst the scattered desks, Morales slowly pushed himself up. He brushed the dust off his jacket, his face completely devoid of emotion, while a terrifying, dark promise flickered deep within his eyes.

They thought he was a poor, helpless rat. And Morales was going to make every single one of them pay for that mistake in blood and credits.