Chapter 3: The Final Lunch

The cafeteria was full, as always, of the same cliques, the same groups, the same routine. The usual din rose, students talking about homework, sports, whatever petty drama had happened that morning.

But for Ethan, the sounds were nothing more than a distant hum, too far away to have any significance. He had become accustomed to the unreality of high school life, the sensation of being a ghost in a universe that never fully acknowledged his presence. But today was different, all the felt different.

He was standing just outside the cafeteria doors, his heart pounding in his chest — not from fear, but from something much darker. The raw, primal power thrumming in his veins, the power he'd experienced for the first time in Room 3C, didn't leave him. It burned like flame in his blood, infecting his every thought, every breath. He felt it gnawing at him, prodding him to move, to take the next step out, to enter the next phase of his metamorphosis.

{11:Blood Sovereign Path Level 1 Unlocked and Upgraded} Blood Control Improvements Available.}

Ethan dismissed the system's prompt. He was used to it by now, the messages rattling in his brain like background noise. This constant iteration of a lost world was a cruel reminder of how drastically things had shifted for him, however, and also an indication that he now possessed a raw form of power that he could never have begun to dream of.

The cafeteria his stage, he walked in and everyone knew. The clink of trays and the hum of conversing crowds appeared to still when he came in. Students looked up, their mouths agape when they saw him. The terror was underneath it—deep in their gaze, below the surface. They knew what had happened. They had seen Room 3C. They knew what he had turned into.

Ethan didn't care. He didn't need to care. They were nothing to him.

He stepped into the dining room and walked between rows of tables, scanning the familiar faces. He saw all of them — his classmates, his former friends, the people who had laughed at him, made fun of him, drove him to the brink. He felt their fear now, and it tasted better than anything he'd ever known. It was all the validation he needed.

Ethan's gaze settled on a girl at the far end of the cafeteria, with the golden light of the sun pouring in from the window behind her: Mia, the girl who had always been there for him, who had asked to speak in gentle tones when others addressed him as weak, who had given him the only blanket of warmth here in a world of cold, and hardship, and darkness.

She was seated with a couple of friends, her head down as she nibbled at her lunch. Her friends were laughing, but Mia was silent — her customary smile missing. Ethan did not know why, but something flickered to life in him when he looked at her. Something human. A feeling he hadn't had in years.

He inhaled deeply, his fingers balled at his side. The system vibrated in his head, telling him what to do. To assert his dominance. To make them all bow to him.

{Blood Bond: Mia detected. Potential ally.}

He saw the words flash in his mind, and felt something inside him falter. Ally? Was that what he wanted? To trust someone again? No. He had no money to spare on trust. Not after everything. Not after what had been done to him.

But nonetheless he found himself walking to her table. Ignoring the whispers and the stares that followed him, his eyes didn't leave Mia's face as he walked.

He did stop at her table, towering over the huddle. Mia glanced up at him, their eyes locking for the shortest second and she recognized him. She recognized him — the old Ethan, the one who had sat in the back of the classroom, not spoken up, who never fought back. But now, that boy was gone.

"Ethan," Mia said softly, her voice a bit unsure, "Are you… okay?"

Her voice, though soft and caring, stabbed him. He wasn't okay. He was far from it.

{Update In System: Emotionless Detachment Mode activated. Trait Detected: Cold Calculation.}

Ethan ignored the prompt. His eyes turned steely, and his lips curled up into a weak sort of smile — more like a snarl, really. "No, Mia. I'm far from okay."

The others at the table shrank back expectantly. One of them, a lanky kid with scraggly blond hair, laughed derisively. "What, you think you're better now, or something? Because you're not a nobody anymore?" he exclaimed, rising to his feet to look at Ethan. "You're still the same weirdo."

Ethan's blood surged with the insult, his hand twitching. The feeling was unmistakable — the rise, the hunger, the rage. He felt the potency of his blood waiting to rip through the boy, to make him regret ever speaking. But something stopped him. Something held him back.

{System Alert: Application of Blood Control on targets with no immediate threat may result in instability. Proceed with caution.}

Ethan recalled the murmurs of words from the system, the persistent message that utilizing his powers on those too weak to compromise would result in unrecoverable instability. He could not afford to make mistakes — not yet.

Mia's voice pierced his thoughts. "Please, Ethan. Don't. This isn't you." She reached out toward him and he recoiled before she could touch him.

"Stop pretending you understand, Mia," he growled, voice low and cold. "You don't know what it's like to be broken, to be driven to the edge. To feel like you're nothing."

He hesitated, his chest tightening with anger and something deeper. For an instant his sight dimmed, the hunger in him kicking again. It was an insatiable beast, digging into him, encouraging him to strike.

But then, Mia stood up. She didn't flinch, didn't retreat. And she met his gaze with something he'd never anticipated — compassion.

"You're correct," she said gently. "I don't know what it is like to be you, to experience what you have experienced. But I do know you're not alone. "You don't have to do this alone."

Ethan's mind spun. He didn't want to hear this. He wanted to avoid feeling weak again. But deep down, he knew Mia's words were the truth. He knew, in his gut, that the road he was now walking didn't have to be one of total isolation.

{Warning: Blood Bound: Unforseen consequence detected. Do you want to continue with this alliance?}

The system's warning flashed in his mind. His blood pumped, the urge to master, to dominate almost too strong. But for the first time since he had awakened, he hesitated.

Maybe Mia was right. He didn't have to walk alone, perhaps.