The Blood Engineer – Chapter 1: The Blood That Awakened
Reden didn't know when the world he knew disappeared. One moment he was walking down a familiar street, and the next he found himself in a place he had never seen before.
The sky here was a dull red, and the air was heavy, carrying a strange smell, as if everything around him had stopped breathing. The buildings were destroyed, the ruins of an ancient city covered in dust, every shadow moving slowly as if watching him.
His heart's reaction was mixed: fear, surprise, curiosity. Every step forward made the earth feel his presence, as if he were nothing more than a visitor in a world not created for him.
Reden advanced cautiously, every movement calculated, every breath heavy. The sounds of the wind passed between the broken columns, carrying whispers of the past. He did not know that these sounds were, in fact, veiled warnings, as if the world itself was testing him.
Suddenly, he felt a strange warmth in his right hand. Blood was flowing, but it did not fall to the ground. Instead, a drop gathered in the air, spun around itself, and gradually formed into a small bloody cleaver.
Reden gasped:
"What is this...?"
Before the strange shadow could approach him, the bloody cleaver flew out automatically, intercepting it and pushing it away from Reden. He didn't understand how, but he felt a power he had never known before, a power that came from within him.
As he tried to comprehend what had happened, he heard footsteps. A tall man in a long black coat, his eyes glowing a faint red, emerged from the ruins.
He spoke in a calm, heavy voice, as if each word weighed heavily on him:
"Finally... the blood shaper has appeared."
Reden trembled, his heart pounding:
"Blood shaper? What does that mean?"
The man took a step forward, fixing his gaze on Reden:
"If you are able to shape your blood... then you are the last hope for this world."
Reden felt the weight of the words, a sense of responsibility, danger, and something much greater than himself.
He stepped forward, completely unaware of the level of challenge that awaited him. Deep in the shadows, something larger moved, Ravencourt Sentinel, a strange, enormous creature, watching him silently.
The creature did not attack immediately, but sent out a wave of energy around it, a feeling of pressure on Riden's chest. Every breath became difficult, every step heavier than the last.
Riden tried to focus, controlling his blood, and formed his first complete weapon of blood: a larger, more stable cleaver.
The creature's first attack was swift, but it was met with the cleaver. Reden's first lesson: strength alone is not enough; focus and control are more important.
After a short, inconclusive battle, Reden stepped back a little, catching his breath, the feeling of fear turning to excitement. It was a strange feeling of power, but he knew this was only the beginning.
In a moment of calm, the first Blood Essence fell near him, glistening in the dust, giving him a glimpse of the power he could possess if he learned to control it.
Riden looked at the distant shadow of the creature, then at the red sky, and understood one thing:
Here, every step, every blow, and every drop of blood has a price... and the road will never be easy.
And so it all began... blood, power, destiny.
Blood Architect – Chapter 2: The First Test
Reden sat among the ruins of Valerian, his heart still pounding after his first encounter with the mysterious shadow at the end of last night.
He couldn't believe what had happened, but the blood that had responded to him for the first time still glowed in his hand, shining faintly, as if the world itself acknowledged its existence.
He swallowed slowly, trying to understand what he could do. Every movement of the blood was sometimes unstable, and his small scythe formed spontaneously, but crumbled before it could fully defend him.
"This is just the beginning... I must learn to control this power," he said to himself in a low voice.
Suddenly, the air around him shifted. A heavy feeling pressed down on his chest, as if every part of his body was being tested. From among the ruins emerged the Crimson Warden, a small but fierce guardian of the shadow world, walking on its tiptoes, its eyes glowing a deep red.
Riden grabbed the bloody cleaver, which had become a little more stable after his first attempt. His heart was pounding, but he felt something strange: the blood itself was reacting to his will.
"This is the first real confrontation... There's no room for error!" he muttered to himself.
The Crimson Warden attacked quickly, his blows rapid and successive. Reden tried to block them, but he felt the weight of each blow, each movement requiring his full concentration.
Then he realized something important: every attack he directed at the beast caused the blood around him to respond.
He focused all his strength, and little by little, a fluctuating shield of blood formed around him. It wasn't strong enough to protect him completely, but it gave him a chance to dodge at least one attack.
He took another step forward and focused his blood even more, making the cleaver bigger and more stable. He began to feel control growing within him, despite the fear that still lingered in his heart.
The creature's final attack was fierce, but Riden used his focus to parry it with his bloody cleaver, then attacked with a double strike that knocked the Crimson Warden to the ground.
The beast wasn't completely dead, but it retreated into the shadows, leaving behind a small Blood Essence glistening among the rubble. Riden picked it up and felt a slight increase in his strength.
He looked at the ruins of Valerian around him, the reddish sun illuminating the abandoned city, then raised his gaze toward the distant shadow:
> Ravencourt Sentinel... still watching.