Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas could be seen inside his Inn room, he had come directly here after exiting the Guild, bathed and changed into a decent set of clothes from the wardrobe the room provided, he needed to purchase a proper exploration set eventually but for now he wore a comfortable loose shirt and pants that fit his new physique well enough.

He stood in front of the mirror and looked at himself, after the Bloodline activation his physique had changed noticeably, his body had filled out and refined itself in a way that was hard to miss, his face had matured as well, though he was still somewhere in his twenties as far as he could tell, he had never known his exact age since he had grown up in Ormolio’s outer slums without anyone around to tell him, so he had always just guessed from context.

He looked at the mirror for a long moment with distant eyes, and after that clearing of his mind in Harleks’ office he could feel the difference in how his thoughts were sitting, lighter than they had been over the past few days of constantly thinking about ruins, Traits, and attribute numbers, now his thinking had shifted toward how to speed that process up more efficiently rather than just repeating the same cycle, he had already noticed that some ruins carried the same types of monsters and gave the same Traits which were useless after the first assimilation, so he had been thinking about how to get different types of Traits instead, though that plan was already formed and would be handled later.

His attention shifted to his right hand.

It looked the most different out of everything the Bloodline activation had changed, black markings covered it like carvings beneath the skin, signs and patterns he didn’t fully understand, with a bold [+] sign at the back of his palm and four bold black straight lines stretching outward from the edges of that sign, none of the lines actually touching it, each one slightly parted from it as if deliberately kept separate.

He had kept the whole arm wrapped with torn black attire since the activation happened, which was why neither the people in the Guild nor the Guildmaster had been able to see it.

Atlas spoke, ”環魂零 — Reiden.”

The moment the words left his mouth the [+] sign glowed faintly and the four lines began glowing slightly as well, and Atlas felt the connection again, it was different from talking to a person but it carried a similar quality to it, like something was responding to him in a language that wasn’t spoken out loud.

”I don’t know exactly when these markings formed on my hand but...I can feel why they formed, it was you taking that shape according to Fuzai-jū, wasn’t it?” Atlas asked, and the markings hummed faintly.

He nodded at that as if confirming a yes, then shifted his eyes toward the window and stepped toward it slowly, ”Hmm, let’s go buy some clothes and then meet the Guildmaster for those books...”

He wasn’t particularly skilled at reading or writing but he had picked up enough from watching Explorers and nobles pass through Ormolio over the years, just enough to get by, and he had also noticed something else — every time his Spirit attribute increased, his thinking seemed to sharpen alongside it, his comprehension becoming cleaner and faster, he had concluded that if Spirit could enhance physical strength multiple times over then it likely enhanced the brain’s function as well, it was a straightforward enough conclusion to make.

Night came and Atlas slept well for the first time in a while.

Morning arrived.

A few hours later Atlas was on his way to the Guild again, wearing a completely new set of attire, the same black and hood but this one carried the kind of quality that high rank Explorers naturally gave off, expensive without being decorated, clean without being flashy, he still wore his mask, even though he had decided not to hide himself after reaching S-rank, that point hadn’t come yet so the mask stayed.

He also wore two long fingerless gloves on both hands that stretched from his palms to his elbows, tightly fitted but light enough for movement, covering the markings and the [+] sign completely, the whole set of clothes had cost him a single Platinum coin from the most expensive shop in the area, which he could afford now because of the money from Seraphiel and the reward Bella had handed him just as he was leaving the Guild yesterday — a thousand gold total, five hundred for the ruin clearance and five hundred for the claw alone, which had made him realize exactly how much value that monster carried.

He entered the Guild, saw Bella at the counter working through papers, and told her he was here to meet the Guildmaster, to which she nodded and told him he was already expected, Harleks had told her the day before, so he just had to go up.

Atlas went upstairs, knocked once at the same door, got the permission to enter and stepped inside, Harleks was sitting behind his desk going through paperwork as he saw Atlas come in and spoke, ”Sit, I will take the books out in a moment...”

Atlas sat on the couch and then Harleks snapped his fingers.

Four books came out of the bookshelf on their own, floating across the room and landing softly on the couch beside Atlas one after the other, Atlas watched this without saying anything behind his mask, then Harleks spoke, ”Though I have no use of them now they are still way too valuable, so I will charge a hundred gold each, it might seem like a high price—”

He hadn’t finished before Atlas reached into the small bag hanging behind him, opened a pouch, counted five hundred gold coins and placed them on the desk in front of Harleks without a word.

”I am purchasing them regardless, so just confirm their originality for me...” Atlas said plainly, he still didn’t trust Harleks, giving someone useful information didn’t make them trustworthy, and he was paying money for these books on top of that.

Harleks looked at those eyes that made it clear they didn’t trust anyone and sighed quietly, then snapped again and the books appeared on the desk between them, he pointed at the uppermost one, ”Look at this circular carving in the middle, it’s filled with Spirit and a rare grade relic is embedded inside it, the books only open when you channel a certain amount of Spirit into that carving, and only peak A-ranks carry the quality of Spirit needed to open them, test it right now if you want.”

Atlas nodded and touched the circular carving, channeling Spirit into it, for a few seconds nothing happened, then the carving moved, CLICK CLACK sounds echoing from it as the metal sections shifted back and forth in sequence.

Then CLOCK.

The front of the book opened on its own, and Atlas looked at the first page.

GRAVITY — written in clear bold text as the heading, he turned to the next page and scanned through it once, the book was thin, only around twenty pages total, but it was enough for him to decide, he trusted it.

”I will take them.” Atlas said with a nod.

Harleks took the pouch of coins and sighed as he spoke ”Don’t you think you are forgetting something important?”

Atlas frowned and thought for a moment ’Hmm? What’s he talking about?’

Just then as he looked at the books, it clicked and he asked ”Oh...The next steps after reading through this...I forgot about that, what do I have to do next?”

Harleks nodded and spoke as he leaned back on his chair ”After you understand and comprehend at least one of the Fundamental Forces, collect the Cores, then go inside a Ruin and absorb those cores while you try to use your spirit to make that Fundamental Forces act upon the objects or space surrounding you, it’s difficult at first and will put you on a strain so heavy that it will be unbearable but...”

”Don’t lose focus and continue nonetheless and when you feel a ’Threshold’, breach it with all the strength you have, that’s the easiest way to understand this.” Harleks finished his sentence as he looked at the books again.

Atlas nodded as he understood what he was referring to, though he couldn’t quite put this ’Threshold’ word into understanding, he vaguely guessed he would come to know when the moment actually came.

The Harleks spoke again ”About the cores though, The guild does not have Ruin cores nor it sells out any of them, my best guide for you would be ask the Rosaria Household that contacted you that day.”

Atlas arched an eyebrow for a moment then Nodded ’Of course he knows, we talked under this same roof where an S-rank was sitting...’

Then he picked up the books and put them inside his small bag and exited the Guild.

Atlas came back to the Inn quickly, his curiosity had picked up the moment he left the Guild and he wasn’t interested in slowing down, how long reaching S-rank would take could only be answered after he read through these books and understood what this Fundamental Forces were and how they even worked.

It was finally time that Atlas stepped onto the truly powerful stages of the World...he finally opened the book.

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[A/N: This Author is really sad...who would give this Author a Gift or Supergift to cheer him up?...]