Chapter Two: One Drop of Blood Changes Everything
Alex returned to his apartment, the piece tucked safely in his bag, as if he were carrying a secret he still didn't understand. The sprawling, empty apartment felt colder than ever. He turned on the lights, placed the piece on a large table in the center of the room, and stared at it, trying to read what might be hidden within its smooth, black surface.
At first, his excitement was overwhelming.
Long hours, sleepless nights, sitting before it, taking notes, comparing ancient manuscripts, analyzing chemicals, experimenting with microscopes. Every day he thought he discovered something… or so he believed.
Months passed, and the days blurred together. His excitement began to fade. Every attempt met the same silent wall. The piece remained still, unresponsive, showing no sign of life, energy, or power.
A full year went by. A year of desperate experiments.
Alex, reckless and impulsive as ever, began to lose his patience. He would scream sometimes, throw equipment, tear up notes in frustration. His eyes, red from sleepless nights, glared at the piece as he cursed everyone who had led him here—his parents, himself, and the world.
> "A whole year… and nothing!" he shouted into the empty room.
He kicked the table sometimes; microscopes shattered, books toppled, glassware clattered to the floor. Anger became part of his daily routine, and the weight of his reckless years pressed down harder than ever.
One night, after another round of frustration, he gripped the piece tightly. His fingers pressed hard against the stone, and suddenly he felt something strange… a faint, almost imperceptible movement.
His heart raced.
> "Finally…!" he whispered, a spark of excitement lighting his face.
After a whole year of silence, there was motion. Something alive. Something real. Something calling him to a new path.
And then it happened.
A single drop of blood fell from his finger onto the stone. He didn't know why it bled, but the drop was enough to change everything.
---
In the next instant, the world around him vanished.
Not gradually, not with sound.
Not with a sensation of falling.
Everything just stopped… then restarted wrong, strange, unfamiliar.
He opened his eyes to find himself sitting on cold, damp ground, surrounded by towering trees that partially blocked the sun, thick leaves swaying in the wind, and strange sounds drifting from deep within the forest.
He took a step back, his heart pounding. Everything was strange, yet real.
He looked at his hand, searching for the piece… but it was gone.
A sudden fear gripped him, yet excitement surged too. He had felt motion in the piece before the transition—a sign that it was alive, that it was working. This meant something had begun, something new, something beyond his understanding. The forest, the unknown, even the loss of the piece… all became a challenge.
Alex smiled, despite the fear, and shouted into the air:
> "So… you weren't useless after all!"
This was the beginning of a new year, not in the life he had known, but in another world, where everything would b
e a test… and every step would reveal his true abilities.