Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas left Lumivale through the western gate after confirming the mission route on his Guild Card.

The city behind him continued moving normally even though he had just received his first Hollow-Class Ruin mission. Spirit Jets crossed between the white towers, winged guards moved along patrol lines, and travelers entered and exited through different gates without too much delay.

That alone showed how different Lumivale was from Ormolio.

In Ormolio, even a small ruin mission could make low-ranked explorers tense because resources were limited, information was restricted, and most people had to risk their lives for small rewards. But here, Hollow-Class Ruins were treated as beginner-level work for qualified explorers.

That did not mean they were safe. It only meant Lumivale’s standard was higher.

Atlas walked along the western road with his bag over one shoulder and his hood covering most of his face. The Guild Card inside his clothes contained the mission direction, and whenever he released a small amount of Spirit into it, a faint mark pointed toward the ruin’s location.

He did not use the card too often because he still disliked using Spirit openly.

The assessment had confirmed what he already suspected. His Spirit density and reserves were enough to pass C-Rank, but his control was low. If he used Spirit too often in public, someone with better senses might notice that his foundation was strange.

The Codex had raised his numbers, but it had not given him training.

That difference mattered.

Atlas continued walking for several hours. The road gradually became quieter as he moved farther away from Lumivale’s outer traffic. Spirit carriages passed him twice, both heading back toward the city. A small group of Angelic explorers also flew overhead, but they did not descend or bother him.

The western outer zone soon changed into a wide forest region with old stone roads partly covered by grass and roots. Several broken pillars stood along the path, likely remnants of an old settlement or religious structure from before Lumivale expanded its territory.

Atlas checked the mission information again.

[ Low-Risk Hollow-Class Ruin ]

[ Name: Abandoned Wind Chapel ]

[ Location: Western Outer Zone ]

[ Recommended Rank: C-Rank Party / C-Rank Solo With Permission ]

[ Main Objective: Survey inner structure and retrieve any remaining relic fragments ]

[ Monster Record: Wind Imps, Hollow Crows, possible Chapel Wraith ]

[ Reward: 35 Gold Base / Extra Payment For Materials ]

The listed monsters were useful information.

Wind Imps likely relied on speed and wind-based movement. Hollow Crows probably attacked from above or interfered with vision. Chapel Wraith was the uncertain part.

The receptionist had said Chapel Wraiths interfered with Spirit perception. For ordinary explorers, that meant danger. For Atlas, it meant opportunity. A ruin that disrupted Spirit perception could give him a safer place to test the Codex without outside detection.

Of course, that was only useful if he survived whatever was inside.

Atlas’s fingers brushed against his chest.

The Bloodbound Codex remained quiet.

The reaction was different from before.

Inside Ormolio, after Velgrath’s blood entered the Codex, it had pulsed like something hungry and difficult to suppress. Now it stayed hidden, as if waiting for the right environment before responding again.

Atlas did not trust that calmness.

A relic that drank blood, stored Traits, changed attributes, and hid inside his body was not something he could treat like a simple tool. It was useful, but dangerous.

After another hour of walking, Atlas finally reached the ruin.

The Abandoned Wind Chapel stood at the edge of a sloped forest clearing.

It was not large compared to the Eternal Ruin or even some structures near Lumivale, but it had a strange design. The building was made of pale gray stone, with broken arches, cracked columns, and a half-collapsed roof. Thin wind currents moved through the openings continuously, making old hanging ornaments inside the chapel sway even though the surrounding forest had almost no wind.

Several faint runes glowed across the entrance.

They were not strong, but they were active.

Atlas observed the surroundings first.

There were no other explorers, caravans, or patrols nearby.

He walked toward the chapel entrance.

The closer he got, the clearer the difference between Hollow-Class and Veil-Class became. The Spirit density around the ruin was heavier, and the wind moving from inside carried a faint cutting sensation against his skin. It was not enough to injure him, but it proved the environment itself contained unstable Spirit.

Atlas stopped before the entrance and looked at the doorway.

A cracked stone frame surrounded it, and the inside led downward instead of straight into the chapel. That meant the visible building was only the upper structure. The real ruin was likely underground.

He placed his palm against the entrance rune.

The Guild Card inside his clothes reacted faintly.

Several lines of Spirit moved from the card into the ruin’s entrance seal.

Then the doorway opened.

The wind covering the entrance split apart, creating a passage wide enough for one person.

Atlas stepped through.

The moment he entered, the outside forest sounds weakened immediately.

The ruin separated itself from the outer world.

That was exactly what Atlas wanted.

The passage inside was narrow, with old stone steps leading downward. Cracked wall carvings showed winged figures holding long instruments, but many of the faces had been scratched away. Faint wind moved through the corridor continuously, carrying dust and small pieces of broken stone.

Atlas walked down carefully.

His movements were better now after thirty days of travel, but he still did not trust his body completely. Spirit Tails had improved his balance, and raising every Attribute to 9 had strengthened his foundation, yet control required repetition, not only numbers.

After several minutes, he reached the lower section of the chapel.

The underground area was wider than expected. It looked like a prayer hall built below the surface, with broken benches, cracked statues, and circular wind runes carved into the floor. Several corridors extended from the main hall, and the wind moved differently through each one.

Atlas did not move deeper immediately.

First, he checked the environment.

There were no voices, footsteps, or immediate monster presence. Only wind pressure and faint Spirit interference spread through the hall.

The interference was noticeable.

His senses did not extend properly inside this place. Every time he tried to push Spirit outward, the wind currents twisted the flow and broke it apart before it traveled far. If another Spirit User tried to sense him from outside, this ruin would likely distort the signal.

That was useful.

Atlas stepped toward the center of the underground hall.

He did not plan to clear the ruin immediately.

His first goal here was the Codex.

His current stats had already reached 9, and the second spaces were open on every line. The next step was 10. If he only increased one Attribute at a time, he would suffer backlash four separate times. That would waste time, drain his focus, and maybe leave him vulnerable if monsters appeared between attempts.

So the better choice was to do it all at once.

Atlas did not like pain, but he understood something after everything that had happened since the Eternal Ruin. Pain was not the problem, being weak afterward was the problem.

He looked around one more time and chose a section behind a broken stone statue where the wind pressure was lower. From that position, he could see three entrances clearly, and if something came from the remaining side, the sound would reach him through the wind.

Atlas lowered his bag, then spoke quietly.

”Originate.”

Crimson light surfaced from his chest.

The Bloodbound Codex emerged slowly, followed by the Sangius Stylus. The moment both appeared, the wind currents inside the hall shifted slightly, as if the ruin itself had noticed something foreign.

Atlas watched the surroundings.

Nothing attacked.

So he opened the Codex.

The first page appeared.

[ PROFILE ]

[ Name: Atlas Mariorett ]

[ STATS ]

Strength: 9 _ [ Locked ]

Stamina: 9 _ [ Locked ]

Agility: 9 _ [ Locked ]

Spirit: 9 _ [ Locked ]

Atlas stared at the four lines.

The empty spaces after each number waited.

This was the next threshold.

He did not know whether 10 would simply increase his stats or unlock the next digit properly. He also did not know whether the locks after the second space would react immediately. But the Codex had not rejected the existence of the new blanks, which meant the possibility was there.

The Bloodbound Codex never gave him full explanations. It gave him openings, then forced him to pay the cost.

Atlas took the Sangius Stylus.

The liquid inside it moved slowly.

After Velgrath, the Qield’s Watchers, and the other absorbed monsters, the blood inside the stylus had become far heavier than before. It no longer looked like ordinary red liquid. It was darker, thicker, and sometimes faint traces of gold or black moved within it for a brief moment before disappearing again.

Atlas placed the stylus over the blank after Strength.

He paused.

Then moved it away.

Writing one by one would defeat the purpose. He needed all four numbers written before the full reaction completed.

Atlas inhaled once and steadied his hand.

Then he wrote quickly.

Strength: 10 [ Locked ]

The moment the number formed, the page resisted.

Atlas did not wait for the full backlash.

He moved immediately to the next line.

Stamina: 10 [ Locked ]

The Codex glitched harder.

The wind inside the hall began moving faster.

Atlas’s jaw tightened, but his hand continued.

Agility: 10 [ Locked ]

The page trembled beneath the stylus.

The crimson lines across the Codex brightened.

Atlas felt pressure gathering inside his body already, but he forced his hand toward the final line before it could erupt.

Spirit: 10 [ Locked ]

The moment the last number completed, the entire page froze.

For one short moment, nothing happened.

Atlas stared at the four lines now written in blood.

Strength: 10 [ Locked ]

Stamina: 10 [ Locked ]

Agility: 10 [ Locked ]

Spirit: 10 [ Locked ]

Then the Codex pulsed.

Four times.

Each pulse struck a different part of his body.

Muscles.

Lungs.

Nerves.

Spirit veins.

Atlas’s fingers tightened around the Sangius Stylus.

His teeth clenched.

The pain had not fully started yet, but he could feel it gathering from all four directions at once.

His plan had worked.

The backlash was coming together as one combined reaction instead of four separate ones.

Atlas lowered one knee against the cracked stone floor and forced himself to stay upright.

”Ugh! Fine then...”

His voice came out low as the Codex’s crimson light spread across the underground hall.

”Do it at once.”

Then the four numbers sank into the page at the same time.