Alen Ryce had always been an ordinary high school student. He had nothing special about him, and that was good. Or so he thought, as he liked to live a peaceful, normal life.
Alen was around 170cm tall, had blonde, messy hair and a scar on his cheek. He had gotten the scar when he was a little kid, and he didnt have much memories of getting it.
Now Alen was just walking down the hallway of the school.
"ALEN!"
It was Milo Virel, Alen's friend. Milo was... well, impulsive, but a fun guy with a lot of crazy ideas.
Milo was slightly taller than Alen. He had brown, curly hair and brown eyes.
"Yo, Alen! You coming to the club meeting later today?"
Alen was a part of an archeology/exploration club, that he and Milo had started with a couple of their friends.
"Ah, yeah... about that. I have to go help my grandparents at the farm later, so i cant."
"Aw. I have something that you would have wanted to see."
Milo dug a small wooden box from his pocket. It looked a bit old, but not more than 50 years. He opened the box, and inside there was a small piece of metal. It looked like a shard of a broken object, and it reflected light in colors of blue and yellow.
"Where did you find this?"
"I was digging in the forest."
Alen turned back to the box.
"You can take this shard to the club meeting, the other members will probably want to see it too. However, i'd like to take a closer look at that box."
Milo shrugged his shoulders and gave the wooden box to Alen.
"Right. But why are you not interested in this shard?"
"I am... just show it to the other club members too. I will take a look at it later. First, i want to look at this box so we dont miss anything."
"Right."
Later that day, Alen is walking home fron school and looking at the box in his hands. He couldn't really explain it, but something in both the shard and the box felt off.
"Eh, its probably just my imagination."
*****
When Alen arrived home, his mom was waiting for him in the living room.
"You're late again, young man."
"Come on, mom-"
"Where have you been? Show me your bag."
She took his back and after going through it, pulled out the wooden box.
"And what is this?!"
"My friend found it in the-"
Before Alen could even finish his sentence, his mom had already opened the box. She was frozen in place, with a look of pure terror and fear on her face.
"Uh- mom?"
She fell to the ground, her expression still not changing.
"MOM?!"
Alen looked at the box, but it was still empty. Then he turned quickly to his mom and tried to shake her.
"WAKE UP, MOM!"
With trembling hands, he pulled out his phone and dialed 9-1-1.
*****
And right now, at the hospital, Alen is sitting next to her mom who is laying on the bed, still unconscious. The nurse turns to Alen.
"She is alive, but it looks like she fell into some kind of a coma."
Alen nods, his eyes glistening with tears.
"So will she be alright?"
"Most likely, yes."
"I see."
Alen walks into the empty hallway and takes a deep breath, before kicking the box through the hallway.
"F*CK THIS BOX! THIS IS BULLSH*T!"
He walks back to the box to pick it up. But as he turns back to the hallway, a man is standing there. The man is not much taller than him, and he is wearing a hooded robe.
"Come with me."
"Huh-? Who are you-"
The man extends his hand forward, and a dark blob of matter glows in front of his palm. The shapeless blob shapes into a pistol, and the man grabs it in his hand, pointing it at Alen.
"You heard me. Come with me."
"What the- who- how-?!"
Alen was confused and scared, but he decided to follow the man outside, since he didnt have much of a choice.
Outside, the man takes his hood off, revealing his face. He is bald, one of his eyes is yellow and the other is purple. His facial features look rough, and his right ear is torn in half.
"Now. Give the shard to me."
"The shard? I dont have a shard-"
"That box. Give it to me."
Alen hands out the box to the man. The man opens it.
"Wha- WHERE IS THE SHARD?!"
"I told you i dont have it."
"Then, you are useless."
Both of the mans eyes glow purple, and a faint, dark aura glows around his fist.
"Cursed art: shadow strike."
The man dashes forward and punches Alen into the chest. The impact is powerful. Inhumanly powerful. Alen flies backwards, into the wall. He throws up blood as he feels how the bones in his body break while he falls down to the ground.
"Huff.... puff...."
"Seems like its your lucky day. You survived."
The man turns to walk away, and soon he disappears.
Alen tries to crawl forward, but he cant move his arms at all. He felt blood dripping down from his nose and mouth. The pain in every single part of his body was so intense, he could have passed out.
"Am i... really... gonna die here..."
End of chapter 1.