Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

The Sanguis Stylus touched the next blank.

But Atlas could not write.

The Hybrid Muxical moved before the number formed.

The monster lunged through the Codex’s faint light with its red eyes fixed on him. Its jaws were still stained with his flesh, and Atlas understood the situation immediately. The creature had already shown its speed once. If he stood still and tried to write now, it would reach his throat before the number settled on the page.

Atlas pulled his hand away and threw himself sideways.

Strength 9 made the movement stronger than he expected. His body shot farther than intended, hit the stone floor, and rolled across the rough ground. Pain rushed through his wounded shoulder again, but the movement saved him. The Hybrid Muxical’s jaws snapped shut where his neck had been a moment earlier.

Atlas hit the ground hard.

”Ghh—!”

His injured shoulder struck the stone, and the pain became sharper. His hand pressed against the wound automatically, but that only made the damage clearer. The bite had cut deep, and the bleeding had not stopped. Every movement pulled the wound open again.

Atlas forced himself up.

His legs nearly failed but he still forced up and moved. The Codex floated beside him, and the Sanguis Stylus remained in his hand. He had wanted to write the next attribute, but the monster’s attack had shown the problem clearly.

He could not write while standing still.

He had to create distance first.

’I have to run.’

Atlas turned and moved.

It was not a clean run. His wounded shoulder ruined his balance, blood loss made his vision unstable, and Strength 9 made each step heavier than he expected. He could push against the ground harder now, but that did not mean he could move properly. His body did not understand this new force yet, and without Agility, most of his movement wasted power.

The Codex moved with him.

It floated at his side without slowing down, while the Sanguis Stylus stayed gripped in his hand. Blood from his wound still moved into it in thin strands whenever fresh blood slipped out. The answer was right there in front of him, but he could not stop long enough to use it.

Atlas glanced back.

The Hybrid Muxical was chasing him.

It was not rushing blindly. Its body moved low through the darkness, and its four tails flowed behind it with separate rhythms. The distance between them was shrinking quickly, and the creature still did not look like it was using all its speed.

Atlas’s pupils tightened.

”No—”

He pushed harder with his legs, but his body did not become faster in the way he needed. Strength increased the force behind each step, but his balance, footwork, reaction, and coordination were still poor. He had power now, but not speed.

His breath broke apart, steps became heavier, shoulder burned with each movement.

The Sanguis Stylus kept pulling blood from him, not much at once, but enough to make the drain constant. Every second spent running made him weaker.

Then his legs gave out.

Atlas collapsed onto the stone floor.

His hands failed to catch him properly, and his injured shoulder took part of the impact. A broken sound left his throat as pain shot through him again.

”Khh...!”

He rolled slightly and clutched his shoulder. His chest rose and fell quickly, but his breaths were not helping enough. His fingers trembled around the Sanguis Stylus.

A thought passed through his mind.

’Am I going to die again?’

The black monster had killed him once. The fall had broken him, The Codex had somehow made him come back to life, he didn’t know how but he knew this Relic was the one what saved him. And now, after all of that, a B-Rank monster from the lower ruin was walking toward him like a predator chasing it’s food.

A step sounded behind him.

The Hybrid Muxical was no longer rushing.

Atlas turned his head slightly. The creature entered the Codex’s light again, its large frame casting a long shadow across the stone. It walked toward him with steady steps, as if it had already understood that he could not escape.

Atlas forced his mind to work.

He did not have enough strength to stand and run again. He did not have the speed to dodge properly. Strength 9 could hurt something if he landed a hit, but the monster had no reason to let him hit it.

Then his gaze shifted to the Codex.

The open page.

The Sanguis Stylus.

His blood inside it.

Atlas’s fingers tightened.

’Agility.’

The answer was obvious now.

If he could not move properly, every other attribute was wasted. He did not need another extreme number like Strength 9. That had nearly torn him apart and drained too much blood. He needed a smaller increase, just enough to create a chance.

His hand loosened from his shoulder.

Pain surged when he stopped pressing the wound, but he ignored it and reached toward the Codex. The book floated closer, and the first page opened fully in front of him.

[ PROFILE ]

[ Name: Atlas Mariorett ]

[ STATS ]

Strength: 9 [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Stamina: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Agility: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Spirit: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Atlas locked his gaze on the third line.

Agility: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

The Hybrid Muxical took another step behind him.

Its breathing was clear now. Heavy, controlled, and close enough that Atlas knew one more lunge could finish him.

His hand trembled as he lifted the Sanguis Stylus. He could not make it steady, but perfect was not needed. He only needed to write one number.

”Move... damn it...”

His body did not answer properly.

But his hand moved.

The stylus touched the blank beside Agility.

The blood inside the crystal body surged toward the tip. Atlas felt another pull through his veins, but it was weaker than what happened with Strength 9. It still hurt, and it still drained him, but the resistance was lower because the number was lower.

He forced the stylus to move.

The moment the number formed, the page glitched.

The line twisted for a second, resisting the change, but not with the same pressure as Strength 9. The locked fields beside Agility flickered before stabilizing again. The Codex did not accept the number smoothly, but it did not reject it either.

Then the line settled.

Agility: 5 [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Atlas felt the change immediately.

His heart slammed hard inside his chest.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

His body seized for a second, and his breath stopped. This was different from Strength. It spread through his nerves, joints, eyes, spine, and legs. His balance shifted. His limbs felt lighter. His body began changing the way it carried weight.

His shoulder wound tightened slightly.

Blood slowed around the bite mark as torn flesh closed in a rough way. It was not medicine and not real healing. The Codex was forcing his body into a state where the written attribute could function.

Atlas’s fingers twitched.

Faster than before.

His legs moved under him.

This time, they responded.

”...What the hell...”

His voice came out low.

He was not safe, he wasn’t stronger than the Hybrid Muxical, but his body had become faster, sharper, and easier to control.

Behind him, the Hybrid Muxical stopped.

For the first time, the monster hesitated.

Its raised paw hovered above the stone. Its red eyes narrowed slightly, and its four tails moved more cautiously than before. The creature had sensed the change. Its prey had changed during the hunt.

Atlas pressed his hands against the ground.

The stone cracked beneath his fingers.

Strength: 9.

His legs bent.

Agility: 5.

His shoulder still burned, but the bleeding had slowed enough for him to move. That was enough for now.

The Hybrid Muxical growled and lunged.

This time, Atlas saw more.

He saw the creature’s front leg shift. He saw its shoulder lower; He saw the jaw open before the bite reached him. The motion was still fast, but it was no longer unreadable.

Atlas threw himself sideways.

The movement was too sharp, and his body nearly lost balance at once, but he moved. The Hybrid Muxical’s jaws snapped shut beside his face, close enough that its breath touched his cheek. One fang grazed his skin and drew blood, but it did not catch him.

Atlas rolled hard across the ground.

His new Agility made his body move faster than his mind expected, and he slammed shoulder-first into the stone before scrambling up with a broken gasp.

The Muxical turned immediately.

It was still faster.

But the difference was no longer not that large now.

His eyes sharpened.

”Come on...”

The words slipped out through gritted teeth.

The Sanguis Stylus pulsed in his hand, and the Codex hovered beside him with the remaining blanks still waiting.

Stamina: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Spirit: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Atlas looked at the monster again.

Agility had given him movement, but his breath was already breaking. His body was damaged, his blood loss had not vanished, and his endurance was the next weakness. If the fight dragged on for more than a few exchanges, he would collapse even if he could dodge.

The Hybrid Muxical lunged again.

Atlas moved.

This time, it was not enough.

A claw tore across his side, ripping through cloth and skin as he twisted away. Blood sprayed into the air, and the Sanguis Stylus pulled several strands before they touched the ground.

Atlas hissed in pain, but he did not fall.

His foot struck the ground too hard, and the stone cracked beneath him. His body shot backward farther than expected, forcing him to stumble as Strength and Agility failed to match properly. He nearly collapsed again.

The monster followed.

Atlas clenched his teeth.

’It’s still not enough?’

His gaze dropped to the page floating beside him.

Stamina: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

Spirit: _ [ LOCKED ][ LOCKED ]

The Hybrid Muxical’s red eyes glowed brighter.

Its body lowered again.

Atlas’s chest rose and fell rapidly.

The next strike might tear his throat out.

His fingers tightened around the Sanguis Stylus.

Atlas looked at the blank beside Stamina.

Then at the monster.

His eyes hardened.

”If speed lets me move faster, then...”

His voice trembled, but his grip did not.

The Hybrid Muxical lunged.

”Stamina should increase endurance... Kheuk... let’s do it.”

Atlas drove the stylus toward the page again.