Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Seraphiel Rosaria returned to the Rosaria Household not long after leaving Solaris’s private chamber.

The carriage stopped before the main entrance of the estate, and the household guards immediately lowered their heads when she stepped down. The Rosaria estate stood in one of Lumivale’s higher districts, built with clean white stone, wide pathways, and defensive Spirit formations placed across the outer boundary. It was not decorated in a loud way, but every part of it showed order, wealth, and function.

Seraphiel walked through the entrance path with her wings folded behind her.

Her thoughts were not on Ronan Doophleshate.

The communication message had already told her what happened. Ronan had blocked the eastern route and taken the Moonveil Relic under the excuse of researching it because of the chaos on that side. It was annoying, but it was not something that needed Solaris to get involved.

The Moonveil Relic was valuable.

But not valuable enough for the Queen of Celestara to personally move.

More importantly, Seraphiel had already expected Ronan to do something foolish when the eastern route became unstable. He always targeted Rosaria goods whenever he saw a chance, so this was not a surprise to her.

When she entered the main hall, Horliax was already waiting.

He was the steward of the Rosaria Household, dressed neatly as always, with calm eyes and a faint smile that made it hard for most people to guess what he was thinking.

”Lady Seraphiel.”

Seraphiel looked at him.

”You already received the report?”

Horliax nodded.

”Yes, Lady Seraphiel. Ronan Doophleshate blocked the eastern route and took the Moonveil Relic. He used Her Majesty’s name as an excuse and claimed it was needed for research regarding the eastern route chaos.”

Several servants nearby became tense when they heard that, but Seraphiel’s expression barely changed.

Ronan Doophleshate was the only heir of the Doophleshate Household. His status gave him enough confidence to act arrogantly, and Luxas Grovelias being with him made the carriage guards unable to resist. That was all there was to it.

Seraphiel removed her gloves and placed them on the nearby table.

”So he used Luxas again.”

”Yes, Lady Seraphiel.”

”That explains why the guards returned without resisting.”

Horliax lowered his head slightly.

”Their decision was reasonable. Two A-Ranks cannot oppose an S-Rank just because the order sounds unfair.”

Seraphiel nodded.

”I know.”

She did not blame the carriage guards. Fighting Luxas over a relic would have been stupid. They would lose the relic and their lives at the same time. Returning and reporting the matter was the correct choice.

Ronan could enjoy the feeling of winning for a short while.

That did not mean he had actually won.

Seraphiel looked at Horliax.

”Horliax, you know what I told you before going to Solaris, right?”

Horliax’s smile deepened slightly.

”Yes, Lady Seraphiel. I will then excuse myself.”

Seraphiel nodded.

Horliax bowed once and left the hall.

The servants did not ask anything. They only lowered their heads and continued their work, because everyone in the Rosaria Household knew Horliax did not move for small errands. If Seraphiel had already given him instructions before leaving for Solaris, then Ronan’s matter had already been prepared for before it happened.

Seraphiel turned away from that issue almost immediately.

The Moonveil Relic would be handled.

Ronan would be handled.

Now her main matter was Solaris’s request.

Five Abyss-Rank Ruins.

That was much more troublesome than Ronan.

Abyss-Rank Ruins were not something she could clear with random people. Even in Lumivale, where the average level of explorers was higher than in Ormolio, Abyss-Rank missions required proper teams, high-level discipline, and people who would not panic once the ruin shifted internally.

If she moved only with Rosaria Household knights, other noble houses would ask questions.

So the best option was the Guild.

Through the Guild, she could recruit capable explorers openly, assign proper mission contracts, and make the clears look like a high-level ruin operation rather than a private Rosaria movement connected to Solaris.

Seraphiel adjusted her sleeve and spoke to a nearby maid.

”Prepare the carriage. I am going to the Lumivale Guild.”

”Yes, Lady Seraphiel.”

Seraphiel walked out of the hall soon after.

As she stepped outside the Rosaria Household, her thoughts moved toward the difficulty of finding the right explorers.

’Now, for the Five Abyss-Rank Ruins...’

- - -

At the same time, far away in the western outer zone of Lumivale, Atlas had already entered the Abandoned Wind Chapel.

And the monsters inside had started coming out because of his scream.

Inside the lower prayer hall of the Abandoned Wind Chapel, Atlas stood with the Bloodbound Codex floating beside him.

His throat still hurt from screaming, and his body still ached from raising every Attribute to 10, but the change was already obvious. His foundation had become more stable than before.

Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Spirit had all reached the same base.

Before this, his body had always felt uneven. Strength made him hit too hard, Agility made him move farther than intended, Stamina could not support long fights properly, and Spirit was present but rough because he had never trained it like ordinary Spirit Users.

Now, all four had touched 10.

It did not mean Atlas had proper mastery.

It only meant the foundation was no longer pulling in different directions.

The first Wind Imp rushed at him from the left corridor.

Its body was small and thin, with gray-blue skin and wings made from moving wind currents instead of flesh. It did not move in a straight line. It used the ruin’s wind to shift direction twice before coming toward Atlas’s neck.

Atlas stepped aside.

He only meant to avoid it by a small distance.

Instead, his foot cracked the stone floor, and his body moved farther than planned. Spirit Tails reacted behind him for a brief moment, correcting his balance before he hit the broken pillar nearby.

The Wind Imp passed beside him.

Atlas raised his hand and tried to push it away.

BOOM

His palm struck its chest, and the monster burst apart against the wall.

Atlas looked at the remains.

”Still too much.”

The second Wind Imp came from above.

This time, Atlas reduced his movement and only lifted two fingers.

His fingers brushed against its wing.

CRACK

The wind-made wing collapsed, and the creature fell to the floor with its neck twisted.

Atlas frowned slightly.

The monsters were weak, but that was not the issue. If he killed everything with too much force, then he would only confirm that his power had increased, not learn how to use it properly.

Several Hollow Crows landed on the broken beams above him.

Their bodies looked like black crows, but their eyes were hollow, and wind moved through their feathers as if their bodies were partly made of Spirit. They opened their beaks, and several wind blades shot downward at once.

Atlas raised his forearm and let the first few wind blades strike him.

Small cuts opened across his sleeve and skin.

He looked at the wounds for a moment.

The attacks could injure him, but they were not deep. With his current body, low-ranked Hollow-Class monsters could still cut him, but they could not threaten him unless he stood still, let them hit weak points, or became careless against numbers.

That was useful information.

But taking attacks just to test durability was not a habit he wanted.

Stronger monsters would not give him time to regret it.

Atlas moved.

His body blurred forward faster than he intended again. His foot cracked the stone beneath him, and he nearly passed the first Hollow Crow entirely before Spirit Tails corrected his direction.

He struck upward.

BOOM

The Hollow Crow burst apart into black feathers and scattered Spirit wind.

Another Hollow Crow flew behind him.

Atlas turned and activated Spirit Horn.

A horn-like structure of Spirit formed above his hand instead of his head. The shape was unstable because his control was still rough, but the function activated properly.

A narrow Spirit blast shot forward.

It pierced the Hollow Crow, continued through the broken beam, and struck the wall behind it.

Atlas immediately stopped the flow.

”Too much Spirit again.”

The Trait was only Rank-E, but his Spirit had reached 10 now. The base supporting the Trait had changed. Even a lower-ranked Trait became stronger when his Attribute foundation increased.

That meant he could not treat assimilated Traits as fixed abilities.

Every major Attribute increase would change their output.

Two Wind Imps rushed toward him from opposite sides.

Atlas used Spirit Poison next.

Dark Spirit gathered faintly around his fingers. Instead of releasing it into the air, he forced it into a thin layer around his palm. One Wind Imp scratched his arm, and the poison entered through contact.

The creature dropped after three seconds.

Its wind current broke apart first.

Then its body followed.

Atlas watched the result carefully.

Spirit Poison did not only damage flesh.

It interfered with the energy supporting the monster’s movement.

Against creatures relying on Spirit flow, it would be useful.

The second Wind Imp reached his neck.

Atlas caught it by the head.

CRACK

It died instantly.

Again, too much force.

But better than before.

He was adjusting.

More monsters came out after that.

Wind Imps.

Hollow Crows.

A few larger crow-like monsters with sharper feathers and stronger wind pressure.

Atlas fought without a weapon.

At first, every movement was excessive. A short step cracked the floor. A light strike killed a monster outright. A simple block sent an Imp crashing into a wall. But with every exchange, his body learned the new standard a little more.

He reduced the length of each step.

He stopped moving his whole body when only his arm was needed instead, he used Spirit Tails to correct balance instead of relying only on Agility, released Spirit Horn in smaller bursts, applied Spirit Poison only through contact.

Then he tested Spirit Claw.

Pale Spirit condensed across his fingers and formed claw-like edges. The first slash cut through three Hollow Crows and carved a long mark across the wall behind them.

Atlas stopped immediately.

”That is not for wide use.”

He tried again with less Spirit.

This time, the claw only extended across two fingers.

SHHK

A Wind Imp’s wing separated cleanly.

Better.

Then he tested Spirit Fang.

The Trait tried to form near his jaw first, but Atlas guided the function toward his hand instead. It felt strange, but it worked. The Trait had come from a monster, but after assimilation it had become part of him. That meant he did not need to copy the monster’s body completely if he understood the function.

A Hollow Crow charged toward him with wind wrapped around its beak.

Atlas used Spirit Fang through his hand.

CRUNCH

A short Spirit projection closed around the crow and crushed its head.

Atlas looked at his hand.

”So Traits can be redirected.”

That was important.

The Codex did not simply give him monster body parts to imitate. It gave him functions that could be adapted if his control was good enough.

Traits were not only additions.

They were materials.

The fight continued for nearly half an hour.

The lower prayer hall gradually filled with monster corpses, broken feathers, scattered Spirit residue, and pieces of cracked stone. Atlas’s clothes gained several new cuts, and shallow wounds marked his arms and shoulder, but none of them were serious.

More importantly, his body no longer felt as difficult to control as it had right after reaching 10.

The difference was clear.

Fighting immediately after the Attribute increase forced his body to adapt faster. The monsters were not strong enough to threaten him directly, but they were good enough to train timing, output, restraint, and Trait activation.

Atlas lowered his hand and looked across the hall.

Wind Imp bodies.

Hollow Crow remains.

Spirit residue.

Blood.

The Bloodbound Codex pulsed beside him.

The Sanguis Stylus floated forward and began absorbing blood from the nearest corpse without needing his order. Thin crimson strands rose from the dead monsters and entered the stylus one after another.

Atlas watched quietly.

The blood from these monsters could not compare to Velgrath, the Qield’s Watchers, or even some of the stronger monsters he had killed before. But blood was still blood. If the Codex found anything useful, it would record it.

After a few minutes, the last corpse dried.

The Codex flipped open by itself.

Atlas stepped closer.

The Trait page appeared.

Some new lines flickered faintly from the monsters he had killed, but he did not focus on them yet.

His attention moved lower.

To the Traits he had delayed since Ormolio.

[ Qield’s Horn - Rank A ]

[ Regenerative Hide - Rank A ]

[ Crowbeast Wings - Rank S ]

[ Velgrath’s Spirit Sphere - Rank S ]

And at the bottom, the unknown Trait still remained distorted.

[ ??? - Rank ??? ]

Atlas stared at them for several seconds.

He had waited because Ormolio was unsafe as Mark and several Explorers were nearby.

Now, he was inside a ruin that interfered with Spirit perception. His four Attributes had reached 10. His control had improved through battle. The lower-ranked monsters were dead, and for now, nothing else was approaching.

This was the best chance he had.

Atlas reached toward the Sanguis Stylus.

His fingers closed around it.

Then he looked at the Trait page and slowly exhaled.

’Now, let’s assimilate the long-waited Traits...’