Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”It’s... my own Bloodline?”

Atlas spoke while staring at the Codex’s Third Page for several long seconds.

Those seconds slowly turned into minutes as he remained standing inside the cleared ruin, absorbing the strange phenomenon that had just happened in front of him. All the Core Bloodlines that had appeared on the Third Page had been swallowed by the unknown line, and after everything ended, only one broken name remained on the page.

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

Atlas could understand the result in a simple way, but he could not understand the meaning behind it.

The monster Bloodlines had not disappeared for no reason. The Codex had clearly used them as progress for this unknown Bloodline, and now it showed one percent unlocked. But why did those monster Bloodlines become progress for this one? Why did the Codex call it activation instead of assimilation? And why did the note say ”user’s own Bloodline”?

Those questions moved through his mind one after another, but none of them had a clear answer.

Atlas stared at the line for a while before speaking again.

”Hmm? Does that mean human blood is named Osmo something?... I don’t understand this thing at all.”

He spoke like that because he did not know these terms properly. He did not have knowledge about the word Osmo, bloodline theory, race origin, ancient species, or anything like that. He was not someone who had studied in noble academies, and he was not from a background where anyone would teach him these deeper things. To him, the most natural assumption was simple.

He was human.

So maybe the Human race had some kind of ’Bloodline’ that he had never heard before.

Maybe humans were not simply called humans in the Codex’s terms.

Maybe all races had another deeper origin name written differently from what people used normally.

Or maybe this was not related to humanity at all and was only connected to him.

That last thought made Atlas silent for a moment.

He did not like thinking too much without information. Guessing was useful when he needed to survive quickly, but if he guessed wrong and acted based on that wrong idea, it could become dangerous later. The Codex had already shown that every page had rules, limits, and hidden conditions. It was better to check what the Codex showed first instead of building conclusions from nothing.

So he turned the page.

The Fourth Page appeared.

[ LOCKED ]

Atlas narrowed his eyes slightly, then turned to the next page.

Again, it was locked.

He turned more pages one after another, but every page after the Third Page remained locked. There was no explanation, no condition, and no small note showing what would open them. The Codex only allowed him to use the First Page, the Trait Page, and now the Bloodline Page.

That meant the Third Page was important, but it was also incomplete.

It had opened, but it still did not give him full answers.

After confirming that, Atlas returned to the Third Page again and looked at the unknown Bloodline.

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

The note was still below it.

[ 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. ]

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

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

Atlas read the last line again.

Then he sighed.

”Hah, it’s useless for now. I have to get to fifty in all the Attributes first, then I can activate it.”

That was the current condition.

Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Spirit all had to reach 50 before this Bloodline could be activated. His Attributes were still at 21, so there was a large gap. Even if he increased them daily, it would still take time unless he forced the numbers higher.

And after seeing how the Codex behaved, Atlas was no longer sure he should treat each increase casually.

The Codex had accepted gradual increases until now. It had accepted +1 each day without much backlash, and his body had grown smoother as his Attributes rose together. But large jumps were different. The first time he had written Strength to 9, the pain had almost crushed him, and that was when he had been weaker, injured, and desperate.

Atlas turned to the First Page again and looked at his Attributes.

He had increased them just a few hours ago when he entered the ruin. At first, he had only planned to check them after clearing the ruin and then assimilate the remaining Traits he had been storing from Ormolio and the Hollow-Rank Ruins. But after seeing the Bloodline Page and the activation condition, his mind moved in another direction.

A thought passed through his mind.

’What if I increase them to thirty?’

He had not tried making a bigger jump after that first attempt when he had directly increased Strength to 9. Back then, his body had been weak, he was heavily injured, and the Codex’s resistance had almost crushed him. But now his situation was completely different compared to that time.

His Attributes were balanced, his body had adapted and Spirit reserves had grown.

He also had Regenerative Hide now.

And from what he had seen, the possible next real limit might be 100 instead of 20 or 30.

Atlas looked at the Attribute numbers on the page and continued thinking.

’The limit this time must be hundred, so if I increase it to thirty... let’s see.’

It was not a careless thought.

He was not planning to jump directly to 50 just because the Bloodline Page required it. That would be too risky. If 30 caused backlash, he could stop. If 30 worked, then it would prove that his body and the Codex could currently handle bigger increases within the double-digit range.

Atlas grabbed the Sanguis Stylus again.

The stylus felt warm in his hand, as if it had already accepted what he wanted to do. Atlas moved it toward the Attribute lines. This time, he did not plan to increase one Attribute slowly and wait for the result. If he increased them one by one, the changes might happen separately and create imbalance for a short time.

Strength rising first could make his body too forceful again.

Agility rising alone could make his movement harder to control.

Spirit rising too much without the others might create pressure inside his Spirit veins.

So he decided to do it all at once.

Just like he had done before when he wanted to endure the pain together instead of spreading it out.

Atlas’s hand moved fast.

The Sanguis Stylus touched the page, and he began changing the numbers with quick strokes. Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Spirit were all rewritten one after another. While writing, Atlas closed his eyes and clenched his teeth because he expected backlash or pain to come again.

He remembered the pain from reaching 10.

That kind of pain was not easy to forget.

But as he finished writing the numbers forcefully with his current strength, Atlas frowned.

There was no resistance while writing.

The Codex did not push back.

The locks did not flicker violently.

Atlas kept his eyes closed for another few seconds and waited for the pain to arrive.

But nothing happened.

No pain.

None at all.

This made Atlas slowly open his eyes.