BLOOD MOON SYSTEM

System Awakening

'Fifty-four minutes,' Theo thought. 'I can make it home in forty if I take the back streets.'

He started walking, his body moving with an ease that felt strange. Every step felt lighter and more controlled than the last. His legs didn't ache from his long shift at the convenience store. His ribs didn't scream in pain with each breath.

Because they weren't broken anymore.

Theo paused at the mouth of the alley, looking back at where he'd been lying just minutes ago. His blood was on the concrete but no sign of the massive wolf that had bitten him.

'Did that really happen?' He wondered. 'Or am I going insane?'

The screen floating in his vision suggested he wasn't crazy. Or maybe it proved he was. He honestly couldn't tell anymore.

Theo shook his head and started moving. He could figure out what was happening after he got home. Right now, he needed to complete this quest before the timer ran out.

  Early in the morning, Riverside City streets were mostly empty. A few delivery trucks rumbled past, and the occasional jogger crossed his path, but no one gave Theo more than a passing glance. His blood-stained appearance probably made him look like a homeless kid or someone coming down from a rough night.

In this part of town, that wasn't exactly unusual.

Theo kept to the shadows anyway, moving quickly through the familiar back alleys and side streets of the Dockside District. This was his neighborhood, the forgotten part of Riverside where the rent was cheap and the cops didn't patrol unless someone was already dead.

He knew every shortcut, every abandoned building, every place to avoid.

'What did that wolf do to me?' He thought.

The system screen flickered, drawing his attention.

[Status Window Available]

[You previously accessed this function. Think or say Status to view again]

Right, he'd seen his stats right after waking up. But he'd been too shocked to really process what they meant.

'Status,' Theo thought.

The screen changed immediately:

STATUS WINDOW

Name: Theodore Cross  

Age: 17  

Level: 1  

Race: Human (Werewolf Bloodline Dormant)  

Title: None  

STATS:

Strength: 15

Agility: 18

Endurance: 14

Senses: 25

Bloodlust: 15/100

ABILITIES:

 Enhanced Physiology (Passive) - LV1

 Night Vision (Passive) - LV1

Partial Transformation (Locked - Reach Level 5)

Full Moon Transformation (Uncontrolled)

Pack Sense (Locked - Reach Level 10)

SKILLS: None

BLOODLINE SKILLS:

 ??? (Locked - Requirements Unknown)

??? (Locked - Requirements Unknown)

??? (Locked - Requirements Unknown)

EXP: 0/100

Theo focused on his Senses stat (25). That was the highest of all his attributes. No wonder everything felt so sharp and clear. His hearing, smell, and vision had more than doubled from what the system indicated they'd been before.

He tried focusing on Enhanced Physiology to see if it would give him more information.

A new text box appeared:

[Enhanced Physiology - LV1]**

Type:Passive Ability

Description: Your body has been fundamentally altered by the werewolf bloodline. All physical capabilities are permanently increased. Healing factor active. Requires less food and sleep than normal humans. Resistance to common diseases and poisons.

Current Effects:

 Healing Speed: 3x normal human

 Stamina: 2x normal human  

 Physical Capability: 2x normal human baseline

Note: This ability will grow stronger as you level up.

Three times faster healing. That explained how his broken ribs had fixed themselves overnight.

Theo dismissed the window and kept walking, his mind racing. If this was all real and the evidence was getting harder to ignore then he wasn't human anymore.

The system had listed his race as "Human (Werewolf Bloodline - Dormant)."

Dormant? As in, not fully active yet?

'What happens when it's not dormant anymore?' Theo wondered.

He thought about the wolf from last night. The massive creature that had been the size of a small car, with glowing amber eyes and black fur that seemed to absorb light.

Was that what he could become?

The thought should have terrified him. Instead, Theo felt a strange anticipation building in his chest. For the first time in years, he had real power. Not the pathetic kind that came from being rich or connected, but actual physical strength.

Blake and his crew wouldn't be able to touch him anymore.

The Crimson Fang gang couldn't push him around.

He could protect his mother. Pay off the debts. Maybe even afford to get her the treatment she needed.

Theo's hands clenched into fists as he walked. He could feel the strength in them now, the way his fingers could probably crush a beer can without effort.

'Blake,' he thought, his jaw tightening. 'Marcus. All of them. They're going to regret ever laying a hand on me.'

The system screen flashed:

[Warning: Bloodlust +5]

[Current Bloodlust: 20/100]

Theo blinked at the notification. His bloodlust had increased just from thinking about revenge?

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Whatever this bloodlust meter was, it seemed like a bad idea to let it fill up.

Twenty minutes later, Theo reached his apartment building. A run-down five-story complex with peeling paint and a broken elevator. He climbed the stairs to the third floor, relieved when he didn't run into any neighbors.

The timer on his quest showed eight minutes remaining.

He unlocked the door to apartment 3C as quietly as possible. The lights were off inside, which meant his mother was still asleep. He didn't want to explain why he looked like he'd been in a war.

Theo crept to his room and shut the door. He stripped off his ruined clothes and examined himself in the small mirror hanging on the wall.

No bruises, no cuts, no marks at all except for a faint scar on his shoulder where the wolf had bitten him.

He touched the scar, feeling the slightly raised skin. It was the only physical proof that last night had actually happened.

The quest timer hit zero.

[Quest Complete: Return Home Safely]

[Reward: 10 EXP]

[Basic System Functions Unlocked]

[Current EXP: 10/100]

A new notification appeared:

[Tutorial Complete]

[Welcome to the Blood Moon System, Theodore Cross]

[As a newly awakened werewolf, you must learn to control your abilities and survive in the hidden supernatural world. Complete quests to grow stronger, unlock new abilities, and master your bloodline.]

[New Function Unlocked: Daily Quests]

[New Function Unlocked: System Store (Unlocks at Level 5)]

[New Function Unlocked: Skill Training]

[First Daily Quest will be available in: 23:47:15]

Theo sat on his bed, reading through the notifications. Daily quests would help him get stronger. The System Store would let him buy abilities or items once he reached Level 5. And Skill Training probably meant he could learn new techniques.

This was like a video game. A really messed up, real-life video game where the stakes were his actual survival.

But he could work with that. He'd spent years gaming during the few hours he had free from work and school. He understood experience points, leveling up, and character progression.

If this system followed similar rules, then all he had to do was complete quests, gain experience, and get stronger.

Theo pulled on clean clothes and looked at himself in the mirror again.

He looked the same. Still skinny. Still tired-looking. Still the kid everyone underestimated.

But he could feel the difference. The strength beneath his skin. The sharpness of his senses. The knowledge that he wasn't prey anymore.

A soft knock on his door made him turn.

"Theo?" His mother's voice was weak, strained. "Are you home?"

"Yeah, Mom," he called back. "Just got in."

"Can you... can you help me to the bathroom?"

Theo's chest tightened. His mother had good days and bad days. Today sounded like it was starting as a bad one.

He opened his door and found her leaning against the wall in the hallway, her face was pale. She'd lost weight over the past few months, her body slowly being consumed by the illness the doctors couldn't afford to properly treat.

"I've got you," Theo said, moving to support her.

She leaned on him heavily, and he was shocked by how light she felt. Before last night, helping her walk had been a struggle. Now, it was effortless.

His mother didn't seem to notice the difference. "Thank you, baby," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I know you worked late. You should be sleeping."

"It's fine," Theo said, helping her to the bathroom. "I'm not tired."

That was true. Despite being up all night, he felt more energized than he had in months.

 The system said he needed less sleep now.

After helping his mother back to her room and making sure she was comfortable, Theo returned to his own room. He needed to figure out what came next.

The system had mentioned a hidden supernatural world. If there were other werewolves out there, and apparently there were, then he needed to learn about them.

He needed information and understanding of what he'd become.

But who could he ask? Who even knew about these things?

Theo thought back to the moments before the wolf bit him. The creature had been wounded, bleeding silver liquid that hissed when it hit the ground. Someone had been hunting it.

Which meant there were people who knew about werewolves. People who hunted them.

'I need to be careful,' Theo realized. 'If I transform at the wrong time or let someone see what I can do, I could end up dead in an alley like that wolf.'

A new notification appeared:

[Hidden Quest Discovered: Learn About the Supernatural World]

Objective: Find information about werewolves and the hidden supernatural society

Reward: 25 EXP, ??? 

Time Limit: None

Difficulty: Medium

Theo smiled. 

The system was pushing him to learn, which meant it wanted him to survive.

Good, because he had no intention of dying anytime soon.

He had debts to pay off, a mother to save, and a whole list of people who needed to learn that Theodore Cross was done being their victim.

Theo pulled out his phone and opened a search browser. He'd start with research. The internet had to have something about werewolves, even if most of it was fiction.

Somewhere in all that noise, there might be truth.

And he would find it.