BLEEDING UNIVERSE (The warrior in two worlds)

Chapter 9

"Leo!" the two stocky lackeys screamed, their faces turning completely white with terror.

They looked at Leo groaning in the mud, then looked up at Baron. Baron hadn't even moved from his spot.

He was just standing there, casually adjusting the strap of his backpack, looking down at them with those cold, empty eyes.

The sheer pressure radiating from Baron was so intense that the two lackeys felt their knees shaking.

"You want some too?" Baron asked, his voice completely calm.

"N-No! No way!" one of the lackeys stuttered, his high-society pride completely vanishing into thin air.

Without wasting another second, the two lackeys grabbed Leo by his wet arms, dragging him out of the mud like a heavy sack of potatoes.

They scrambled backward, fleeing into the campus gates in absolute terror, not even daring to look back at the skinny kid who had just dismantled their leader in two seconds.

The surrounding crowd of students stood frozen, their mouths open in pure amazement. They looked at Baron like he was a ghost.

Nobody had ever seen anyone handle the Vance family's lackeys with such effortless, terrifying ease.

Baron ignored the whispers. He calmly bent down, his knees clicking slightly, and picked up the remaining dry notebooks and a stray pen from the concrete. He turned and extended his hand to the freshman on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Baron asked, his tone softening just a little bit.

Luke blinked through his dirty glasses, staring at Baron’s hand like it belonged to a god. He quickly took it, allowing Baron to pull him up effortlessly. "I... I'm okay. Thank you so much. I've never seen anyone do that before."

Baron handed him the dry books. "Make sure you check your admission forms. Some of them might still be readable."

Luke quickly hugged the books to his chest, his hands shaking. "My name is Luke. Luke Vance—well, from the minor branch of the family. That's why Leo hates me.

Listen, you need to leave the campus right now. Leo is deeply connected to the main Vance family line, and they have huge ties to the premium martial arts clubs in Tuntadel City. They will come after you with real fighters!"

Baron just shrugged his shoulders, a look of total indifference on his face.

To a man who used to shatter entire planets, a local martial arts club was nothing more than a group of ants playing in the dirt.

"Let them come," Baron said simply, his voice carrying an unshakeable confidence. "Go register, Luke. Don't let them ruin your first day."

Before Luke could say another word, Baron turned around and walked through the grand stone gates, heading straight toward the student dormitories, completely unbothered by the storm he had just created.

By the time Baron located his assigned dorm room, the sun had already set, dipping beneath the jagged peaks of the northern mountain range that bordered the campus.

The dorm room was small, cheap, and cramped, containing nothing more than a simple wooden bed, a metal desk, and a small window that looked out toward the dark forest behind the university grounds.

Outside in the hallway, the loud, chaotic sounds of wealthy students partying, drinking, and blasting music echoed through the thin walls.

Baron completely ignored the noise. He locked his door, tossed his faded blue backpack onto the floor, and sat down cross-legged on the hard mattress.

He pulled out his scratched smartphone. The digital clock read: 8:30 PM.

Three and a half hours until midnight, Baron thought, closing his eyes to rest his mind. ‘I need to be patient. In this life, absolute secrecy is my greatest weapon. Until my foundation is completely unbreakable, the elite houses must believe I am just an ordinary, broke teenager from a small town.’

He cleared his mind, entering a state of deep, quiet meditation, waiting for the clock to spin.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

When his phone screen silently lit up to read 11:45 PM, Baron’s eyes snapped open. The loud music in the hallway had finally died down to a low murmur. The campus was asleep.

Moving like a shadow, Baron slipped out of his bed. He didn't put on shoes; he didn't want to make a single sound against the floor tiles. He opened his window, slid through the narrow opening with fluid ease, and dropped softly onto the damp grass outside.

The night air was freezing cold, just as his mother had warned him on the phone.

A heavy mist was rolling down from the mountains, blanketed by a dense canopy of ancient pine trees that grew right behind the dormitory buildings. This area was an abandoned, overgrown park that the university had stopped maintaining decades ago. Perfect for what he needed.