Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

The lines slowly formed on the Third Page.

Atlas stared at them without blinking.

At the top of the page, a single word appeared.

[ BLOODLINE ]

Atlas’s brows furrowed.

’Bloodline...?’

This was different from the Trait Page.

Traits were abilities the Codex recorded from monsters, like claws, poison, horns, wings, regeneration, Spirit attacks, or special body functions. Atlas had not known about Traits either before the Codex showed them to him, so this Bloodline Page was another unknown thing, but he could still guess one part from the word itself.

Bloodline felt more connected to the origin of the monsters.

The page continued showing more as lines appeared beneath the heading.

[ Hybrid Muxical Core Bloodline - Rank B ]

Atlas’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The Hybrid Muxical.

The first B-Rank monster he had fought inside the lower section of the Eternal Ruin. That monster had almost killed him when he was still barely learning how the Codex worked. At that time, Atlas had only Strength written high, then Agility and Stamina came after because his body could not keep up with the monster’s speed.

That monster’s blood had been absorbed by the Sanguis Stylus a long time ago.

Atlas had already used it for growth.

But now, its Core Bloodline had appeared here too.

Then another line formed beneath it.

[ Horn Bull Core Bloodline - Rank C ]

Atlas recognized this one too.

It was from one of the monsters he had killed in the Veil-Rank Ruin in Ormolio. At that time, he had not understood much about how the Codex stored things. He had only thought that blood was useful for writing Attributes and that certain monsters could leave behind Traits.

Now, looking at the Third Page, he understood that the Codex had been collecting more than what it showed him before.

More and more names appeared one after another as Atlas recognized each of them to be from the ruins he had cleared and the monsters he had killed. Some were from Ormolio, some were from the Hollow-Rank Ruins around Lumivale, and some were from monsters whose Traits had not even appeared properly on the second page. But now, their names were surfacing with their Core Bloodlines written on the Codex.

Most of them were low-ranked.

[ Wind Imp Core Bloodline - Rank E ]

[ Hollow Crow Core Bloodline - Rank E ]

[ Windbone Hound Core Bloodline - Rank D ]

[ Hollow Gale Crow Core Bloodline - Rank D ]

[ Chapel Wraith Core Bloodline - Rank C ]

Atlas read them one by one.

Wind Imp, Hollow Crow, Windbone Hound, Hollow Gale Crow, Chapel Wraith.

These were all monsters he had fought after coming to Lumivale. Some had given useful combat practice, some had given blood, some had given Spirit residue, and some had not given anything directly useful on the Trait Page. Yet their Bloodlines were still recorded here.

That meant the Codex did not only judge whether a monster had a useful Trait.

Even if the Trait was weak, repeated, or not recorded properly, the blood and Spirit residue still carried something the Codex could store.

Atlas’s gaze moved across the page again.

The Codex had been gathering something deeper from every monster’s blood and Spirit residue. Even when it did not record a useful Trait, it had still taken the structure behind that monster’s existence and stored it somewhere until this page opened.

Then the next line appeared.

[ Qield’s Watcher Core Bloodline - Rank A ]

Atlas’s gaze sharpened.

’The Qield’s Watchers...’

Those A-Rank monsters had stood near Velgrath during the Outbreak in Ormolio. Their pressure had been far above the monsters Atlas was currently fighting inside Hollow-Rank Ruins. Even wounded, they had moved with enough strength to crush ordinary explorers.

Their Traits had already given him Qield’s Horn and Regenerative Hide.

Now their Core Bloodline had also appeared on the Third Page.

Atlas looked at the line carefully.

A-Rank Core Bloodline.

If a Trait could give him one ability from a monster, then this Core Bloodline might have something to do with the monster’s origin. Maybe it could strengthen related Traits, Maybe it could help his body understand monster abilities better. Maybe it could be used for something else entirely.

He did not know yet.

Before Atlas could fully process it, the lower part of the page darkened.

A faint black-red and pale-gold glow moved across the next forming line.

Atlas’s fingers tightened slightly.

[ Velgrath’s Core Bloodline - Rank S ]

The S-Rank Boss that had nearly destroyed Ormolio’s northern defense.

Atlas still remembered Velgrath’s attack clearly. Its Spirit Sphere had broken the defense formation in one release and killed people who had stood far above the level of ordinary explorers. He had taken its blood secretly from the Guild storeroom later, and the Codex had recorded two S-Rank Traits from it.

Crowbeast Wings.

Velgrath’s Spirit Sphere.

Those were already valuable enough.

But now even Velgrath’s Core Bloodline was written here.

Atlas’s eyes remained on that line for several seconds.

He did not know what this page allowed him to do yet, but one thing was clear.

A Trait gave him a monster’s ability.

A Core Bloodline might affect the source behind that ability.

That was the only explanation he could form for now.

Before Atlas could think further, one final line appeared at the bottom of the page.

The letters were unstable.

The words flickered several times before stopping in a broken form.

[ Osmo ??? - Rank ??? ]

Atlas’s eyes narrowed.

”Osmo what...?”

The name was incomplete, but this was the first time the unknown entry had shown even this much. Before this, it had only appeared as unreadable marks or a distorted unknown line. It had reacted to Velgrath’s blood. It had reacted when the S-Rank Traits appeared. It had reacted again when the S-Rank Traits were assimilated.

And now, on the Bloodline Page, it finally showed part of a name.

Osmo.

Atlas did not know what that meant.

But before he could dwell more on it, the page glitched violently.

Especially the name.

[ Osmo ??? - Rank ??? ]

Atlas’s eyes widened as the glitching grew stronger. Small sparks of crimson-black lightning scattered around the Third Page, then spread across the edges of the Codex. The Sanguis Stylus also trembled in the air beside it, as if the same force was passing through both relics.

Then the other Bloodline names started to shake.

One by one, the lines on the page trembled as if an invisible force was pulling them toward the bottom.

Atlas frowned seeing this.

”What is happening?”

The Hybrid Muxical line shook.

The Horn Bull line shook.

The Wind Imp, Hollow Crow, Windbone Hound, Hollow Gale Crow and Chapel Wraith Bloodlines trembled in place.

Even the Qield’s Watcher line and Velgrath’s Core Bloodline were not stable anymore.

Atlas immediately grabbed the Sanguis Stylus that was floating beside the Codex.

He did not know if he could stop it, but the Codex worked through writing. If something was changing on the page, then maybe the Stylus could interfere with it.

He moved the Stylus toward the page and tried to write forcefully.

But the moment the tip touched the surface—

A sharp spark burst from the point of contact.

An invisible pushing force spread outward from the Codex.

Atlas’s whole body was thrown backward.

He flew almost a meter away before falling on the black stone floor of the ruin. The back of his head struck the ground, and his body rolled once before stopping.

”Ugh!”

Atlas slowly sat up and scratched the back of his head.

He did not feel much pain because of his current body and Regenerative Hide, but the sudden force had still startled him.

”What was that?”

He looked back toward the Codex.

The book was still floating in the air, scattering crimson-black sparks around itself. The Third Page remained open, and the lines on the page were still moving.

Atlas stood up and walked closer again, though this time he did not touch it immediately.

Then he saw what was happening properly.

His eyes widened, and his face changed.

The [ Osmo ??? - Rank ??? ] line was eating the other Bloodlines.

No, maybe eating was not the right word, but that was the closest thing Atlas could understand. The unknown line was pulling all the other Core Bloodlines toward itself one by one. The names distorted, broke apart into crimson letters, and sank into the bottom line.

First, the lower-ranked Bloodlines disappeared.

Wind Imp.

Hollow Crow.

Windbone Hound.

Hollow Gale Crow.

Chapel Wraith.

Then the Ormolio Bloodlines followed.

Horn Bull.

Hybrid Muxical.

The page continued pulling everything.

Atlas clenched his fists.

”Stop...”

The Codex did not listen.

The [ Qield’s Watcher Core Bloodline - Rank A ] line shook violently before collapsing into crimson fragments and sinking into the unknown Bloodline.

Then the page trembled harder.

The [ Velgrath’s Core Bloodline - Rank S ] line resisted longer than the others.

Its black-red and pale-gold glow spread across the Third Page, but the force from [ Osmo ??? - Rank ??? ] continued pulling. After a few seconds, even the S-Rank Bloodline cracked apart into distorted letters and moved downward.

Atlas could only watch with wide eyes.

He had just unlocked the Third Page.

He had just seen all those Core Bloodlines appear.

And now, before he could understand or use them, the unknown Bloodline was devouring every one of them.

After several more seconds, the page became still.

All the Bloodlines were gone.

Only one line remained.

[ Osmo ??? - Rank ??? {1% Unlocked} ]

Atlas stared at it.

”What? What just happened...?”

His voice came out low with confusion.

He had thought the Third Page would allow him to use the monster Bloodlines somehow. Maybe assimilate them, maybe strengthen Traits, maybe unlock something related to the monsters he had killed. But the moment the page opened, the unknown Bloodline absorbed all of them and changed to 1% unlocked.

That meant those Bloodlines had not vanished for no reason.

They had become progress for this unknown thing.

But what was it?

Atlas kept staring at the line.

Then his eyes shifted as new words appeared beneath that name.

[ Note: Bloodline Assimilation begins when user’s body is capable. No blood required for Assimilation. User must touch the Bloodline with Sanguis Stylus to Assimilate/Activate permanently. ]

Atlas read it once.

Then the next line formed.

[ Activate: If it is user’s own Bloodline, it will Activate, not Assimilate. ]

Atlas’s expression changed slightly.

His own Bloodline?

Before he could form a full thought, another line appeared.

[ Capability: User must reach at least 50 in all Attributes to Activate this Bloodline. ]

Atlas lowered his eyes to the last sentence.

For a moment, his mind went blank.

Then the realization dawned upon him.

If it was someone else’s Bloodline, it would be Assimilated and...If it was his own, it would ’Activate’.

The page was saying this Bloodline needed activation.

It also said he needed 50 in all Attributes to activate this Bloodline.

Atlas looked back at the unknown line.

[ Osmo ??? - Rank ??? {1% Unlocked} ]

His throat moved slightly.

Then he spoke in a low voice.

”It’s... my own Bloodline?”