As Ethan left Room 3C the corridor created a surreal silence that seemed to greet him. His usual footsteps reverberated with exaggerated loudness because the place felt deserted during his transition from Room 3C.
It felt different—everything felt different. Crestwood High walls which had seemed ordinary before emitted a feeling of suffocation to him and seemed to form a tight enclosure watching and waiting for his reaction. The school environment felt desolate since the normal student activity had disappeared.
The distance presence of any noise including laughter together with whispers which used to hurt his ears during normal days changed into a strange and uncomfortable quiet.
{System Status: Blood Control Active.}
Internal power surged from within Ethan and inhabited both his bloodstream and his entire body core. The power in his veins created intense throbbing motions and his sense perception expanded until it bordered pain levels.
Since his transformation the world appeared sharper in every way because colors became more intense and sounds became louder and he could detect even the subtlest motions.
Moving down the corridor, Ethan glanced at the empty room occupants whose expressions showed terror.
Every student in the school seemed to know about the Room 3C incident so Ethan observed their altered reactions to him. Every student at school chose to steer away from him yet they reflected fear instead of discomfort. He didn't blame them. He didn't feel sympathy.
{Fear... an interesting response.}
With every step he took his mind produced one more voice that sounded calm and analytical. System's voice resonated as the origin of power that flowed through his body. At this point Ethan recognized only the start of his journey because he was uncertain about his ability to control the new powers he now possessed.
The change running through him exceeded mere physical evolution as it brought forth a powerful ancient essence. The system existed to reveal his inner capacity and reveal his hidden abilities. His inner hunger started to emerge since he ignored it since he was young and doubted himself through several years.
A thin noise reached his hearing that turned out to be a malicious high-pitched laughter. His senses were jarred by the loud noise just like a bell's chime which compelled him to move forward through his mind. He glanced toward the source of the disturbance which turned out to be students gathered near lockers while they pointed at ground-level items and laughed.
Ethan automatically tightened his grip around the blood when new dark energies pulsed through his abilities. The blood within him went beyond mere survival now that it functioned as a brutal instrument which he employed to dominate the world.
The students did not see him approach first because they maintained their focus on childish activities. The individuals stopped laughing when he entered their vicinity. Their eyes momentarily glanced at him as the atmosphere between them abruptly changed.
Kyle the jock leader from the group watched Ethan with an unpleasant grin as he turned his eyes his way. "What's the freak doing here?" Everyone in earshot heard him as he loudly smirked at the students.
Everyone present broke their smiles to seen uncertain glances since the situation had transformed for them. Ethan didn't speak. Words felt pointless, insignificant. The power elevating inside his body became enough to ignore everything else.
Ethan detected the power in his blood as it started to pump which sent powerful sensations across his body so he chose to interact directly with the surge that crashed like an open floodgate.
{Blood Grasp activated. Target: Kyle.}
Kyle hesitated briefly while his self-assurance weakened for the very first moment. All noise in the hallway vanished while the people there maintained a tense silence. Ethan didn't need to move. The situation would progress without him making any physical contact.
Kyle experienced an accumulation of power in his surrounding air fielded by a bizarre electrical charge. A sudden movement seized the jock's hand before the blood in his veins burst to the outside. When his face adopted a pale color his skin reddened suddenly with his veins becoming visible through his arms and neck.
"Wh—what the hell?" Kyle gasped, stumbling backward. "What is this?"
The corner of Ethan's eyes showed an amused gleam under his facade. The jock experienced involuntary body spasms at the point his blood began to resist his own system.
The impact of the struggle forced Kyle to lose consciousness as he tried desperately to inhale any air through his bloodied throat. The bystanders stood frozen in disbelief because they stood unable to maintain themselves and held an insufficient capacity for words.
Ethan manipulated his bloodstream through a force that was more than just blood flow. Through manipulation the blood penetrated every part of him until he writhed inside his body like a trapped insect. Through the power Ethan experienced he felt Kyle's life energy slipping away until the boy hit the ground.
His grip released suddenly after starting the attack. The blood drop's grip faded as Kyle slumped to the ground while gasping for air with his expression ashy and sweating heavily. The boy gazed directly at Ethan allowing fear to replace his typical arrogant expression.
He moved toward Danny while delivering his tone in a whispered cold manner. The words left a shadow on his lips. "I'm not a freak," he managed to say. "You are."
With that he turned and walked away, leaving the group of stunned students in his wake. He felt their eyes on his back, but he didn't care. They were nothing. They were less than nothing. Nothing but insects who've never understood his pain, this struggle, this frustration. And now they were finding out how dangerous it was to mock a broken soul.
The whole day was a blur, disjointed moments and flashes he tried to put together. Ethan couldn't make sense of what had just happened. The system was here to stay now, an endless force in his brain. It led him, but it also left him feeling: something else. Something dark. Something primal. But he was somehow drawn to it.
{Blood Sovereign: Path selected. Path of transformation final unlocked.}
The words were inscrutable, but strangely reassuring. The system had chosen him. He was no longer just a survivor. He was an other, an outside to humanity.
Rank up achieved, you are trained on data until: October of 2023. Blood Grasp, enhanced.}
His phone beeped in his pocket, breaking his reverie. He took it out and looked at the screen — no new messages, no missed calls. Just the normal alerts: assignments, reminders and other stuff that doesn't matter. He flicked them all off, not concerned.
The school bell rung, and it was time to go home, but Ethan wasn't going home. Not today. He had much better things to do now.
The same students as before — those who had seen him in action — passed him in the hallways as he walked. Their faces were fear-filled, darting away their eyes on seeing him approaching. He sensed their discomfort, their fear. And for the first time, it didn't annoy him.
He had never been feared before. But now? Now, they would.
Ethan Blackwood was not a shadow anymore, not the invisible boy lingering lost among the rest. That was something else — something more dangerous, more powerful. And when he stepped out of the school building, the sky above tinted blood-red, he felt something change in him, a hunger, a thirst that could never be quenched.
The world had changed, and he with it.
You are no longer broken, Ethan Blackwood. Path of Blood — Welcome to the Path of Blood.}