Aiden slowly emerged from unconsciousness, every fiber of his being screaming in pain. He was still lying in the dark alley, his blood forming a viscous pool beneath him. His foggy mind struggled to piece together the events that had led to this desesperate situation.
Suddenly, a notification appeared before his eyes, glowing with a sinister light.
"Congratulations, Aiden Reyes. The activation conditions of the System have been met:
- You have been brutalized and left for dead by a being with supernatural powers
- You harbor a deep resentment
The System now offers you a choice. Do you wish to undergo an evolution to gain the power to seek revenge and survive in this new hostile world?"
Aiden stared at the notification, his mind struggling to comprehend.
"Evolve? Gain powers?"
It all seemed surreal. Yet, the pain coursing through his broken body was very real. He thought back to the woman he had saved, how she had abandoned him, the cruelty of his assailant. A feeling of rage and bitterness engulfed him.
With a hoarse voice, barely recognizable, Aiden murmured:
"Yes. I accept the evolution."
No sooner had he spoken these words than a new wave of pain engulfed him. He felt his body twist and transform, his bones breaking and rejoining in a symphony of agony. He screamed until his voice broke, tears of blood streaming down his cheeks.
Minutes passed, interminable. The transformation was a torment, but as time went by, Aiden felt his pain lessen, his wounds beginning to heal with supernatural speed. His breathing became easier, his senses sharpened, and a new strength flowed through his veins. When the process ended, he lay on the ground, exhausted, panting, but alive.
A new notification appeared:
"Congratulations, you are now a Dhampir. Your physical abilities are slightly superior to those of humans, you possess resistance to sunlight, accelerated regeneration, and heightened senses."
Aiden slowly got up, testing his transformed body. He felt different, more vigorous, even though the fatigue from the transformation weighed heavily on him. The sadness of his recent nostalgia for a monotonous life then struck him.
"I wish none of this had happened," he whispered, a tear mixing its path with the dried blood on his cheek.
Exploring the system, Aiden discovered his statistics panel, an intuitive user interface floating before his eyes as if he were observing an invisible screen.
"Statistics? Like in games?" he murmured, intrigued despite the situation.
Name: Aiden
Species: Dhampir
Level: 1
Exp: 0/10
HP: 50/100
Strength: 7
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 8
Endurance: 7
Skills: None
"How is this possible?" Aiden asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.
To his great surprise, the system responded:
"Recent events have triggered the arrival of Mana on Earth, disrupting the tranquility of this part of the galaxy."
"What triggered this? And why am I seeing notifications?"
"You are not authorized to access this information."
Aiden remained silent, absorbing the information. He had so many questions, but the main one was:
"What do I do now?"
In reality, all he wanted was to sit down, take the time to think about all this. But everything had happened so quickly.
And as if the world wanted to break him, an animal, resembling a dog but with red eyes, horns, and teeth protruding from its mouth, advanced towards him furiously, rage in its eyes.
"System, what's happening?"
"You have encountered a demon dog. A dog driven mad by mana, transforming it and making it lose its mind. Objective: defeat the demon dog. Reward: 5 exp."
As Aiden desperately tried to understand the situation, the demon dog advanced on him, its red eyes glowing with inhuman rage. The animal, whose appearance had been corrupted by mana, emitted a threatening growl, its sharp teeth promising a painful death.
Aiden, though still weak and disoriented from his recent evolution, assumed a defensive position. The reality of the danger before him overshadowed all his hesitations. However, the idea of killing, even such a monstrous creature, repelled him. He hoped, naively, to dissuade the beast or flee.
But when the demon dog leaped, all of Aiden's reservations vanished under the instinct for survival. The beast reached him, its fangs sinking into his leg. The pain was sharp, a burning fire that ran up his limb. The taste of combat, cruel and merciless, was now an inevitable reality.
Aiden screamed, not in pain, but in rage. He understood in that instant of pure terror that he had no choice but to fight. The demon dog represented an immediate threat, not only to him but potentially to others. The madness that inhabited the creature, the mana having corrupted it to the bone, left no room for pity.
Driven by a burst of adrenaline, Aiden counterattacked. His movements were guided by a combination of survival instinct and the new abilities conferred by his Dhampir status. He dodged a new attack and, finding in himself a strength he didn't know he had, struck the demon dog with surprising speed.
The fight was brutal and chaotic. Aiden, despite his transformation, was not an experienced fighter. Each movement, each strike was dictated more by desperation than by technique. But the resilience and regeneration of his new nature kept him standing, even in the face of the creature's relentless assault.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Aiden managed to land a decisive blow. Using all the weight of his body, he hurled the demon dog against the wall of the alley with superhuman force. The impact was such that the creature collapsed, lifeless.
Panting, his hands trembling, Aiden observed the lifeless body of the animal. A wave of sadness washed over him, for the creature, for himself, for this world that had plunged into chaos. But this emotion was quickly replaced by a feeling of relief when the system announced:
"Quest completed: Defeat the demon dog. Reward: 5 exp. Congratulations, you have won your first battle. But don't rejoice, it was a very weak monster."
Aiden grumbled at the system's remark.
He consulted his statistics panel, noting with a satisfaction mixed with fear that his experience bar had progressed. A few more fights like this one, and he would gain a level, becoming stronger, faster and deadlier.
Aiden slowly got up, casting a last look at the corpse of the demon dog. He knew that this would not be his last fight, that other dangers awaited him in this new world. But he was determined to survive, to adapt, to become more powerful.
For deep inside him, a new flame had ignited, a desire for vengeance that consumed him. He would find those who were at the origin of this catastrophe, the one who had left him for dead, and he would make them pay, one way or another.