Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas picked up the first book he had opened in front of Harleks, turned past the heading page and looked at the actual text on the second page.

His eyes brushed over the whole page once before he started reading slowly, he wasn’t skilled at reading and writing after all, he had picked up just enough over the years from watching others do it, so he went through it carefully.

The more he read the clearer it became, and what struck him first was that the book didn’t explain how gravity existed in nature, it explained how to grasp the understanding of ’Gravity’ through Spirit energy alone, such as making the ’space’ where he wanted to apply it feel lighter by making the natural pull of the world itself feel reduced in that area — the Spirit had to become like a ’vacuum domain’ where the Spirit Energy acted as a ’mass reducer’ of that specific space, after which he had to control the Spirit outside the domain to forcibly shape it into whatever form he wanted.

It was difficult to understand at first, but when he linked it to how he already viewed his Null and Active Vector, he started grasping it bit by bit, and when the understanding came it arrived with a surge through his mind, a kind of fascination he hadn’t expected to feel while reading.

How he viewed his Null and Active Vector was straightforward after the knowledge had been assimilated directly into his mind — the ’Null’ pressure worked as a medium, the Attribute itself remained separate but to execute the Active Vector he needed that pressure, and that pressure made the ’space’ around the [+] slash get erased entirely, which was what he had seen happen in that ruin.

Now, Gravity felt somehow connected to that same logic.

He thought, ’Hmm, Null let me erase ’space’ around the slash, and now this force is talking about removing ’mass’ from a specific area?...Not exactly erasing it though, the book is saying to remove it from just that area and store it somewhere else, it’s almost like the Active Vector, just that the Vector erases ’space’ around the slash instead of removing and storing it...’

Then another thought formed, ’But where can I even store ’mass’? If ’mass’ here is described as the very thing that gives space its weight, removing it from the domain means it has to go somewhere right?’

His questions were answered in the next few paragraphs, the ’mass’ had to go just outside the ’vacuum domain’, the Spirit Energy forming the domain itself could handle the burden of containing that displaced ’mass’ in the surrounding area, which was also why the Spirit Energy quality needed was so high, it wasn’t just creating the domain, it was actively bearing the weight of everything removed from inside it.

After that he continued reading and came to the mechanic Harleks had used on him — Gravity Multiplication — and it was actually simpler than the first mechanic, because instead of removing ’mass’ from an area, one simply pushed the ’mass’ of a chosen area onto a specific target or location, concentrating it all in one point, which was exactly what had crushed him into the floor in that sealed chamber.

Hours passed as he kept reading, he was slow with it and he read only internally, his thoughts churning each time he deciphered something new, the book was fifty pages and he finished it over ten full hours, so immersed in it that he hadn’t eaten anything the entire time.

If Harleks had been present he would have been speechless, because what Atlas was doing had never happened before in any record either of them would know about — no one in history, not even the Royals of each continent, had ever read through a Fundamental Force text and understood it fully in a single sitting, Harleks himself came from a noble house named Scarses, he was the second son of that house and his talent had been recognized as exceptional even among noble children, and even he had taken several years to finish understanding Gravity properly.

There was a restriction though, the book made it clear that understanding the concepts was one thing, but actually executing any of the implications written inside required S-rank Spirit Energy quality at minimum, understanding without that was like holding a tool you couldn’t yet lift.

Atlas exhaled when he closed the last page, ”Hah...is this what reading feels like?...or is it just this book that makes curiosity burn with each line?”

He didn’t know which one it was, but what he did know was that he had absorbed everything written inside it, only the execution remained and that depended on reaching S-rank first.

He looked at the other three books beside him, one white with the same circular carving on the front, one blue and one red, and his curiosity did pull at him to open them immediately, but he stopped himself, he was hungry and he had been sitting for ten hours straight, and more importantly he needed to visit Seraphiel tomorrow about the Cores, if she had access to them or could arrange them it would cut the time to S-rank significantly, and given how much influence the Rosaria household carried he didn’t think that would be a problem.

He went down to the Inn’s dining area and ate, then returned and slept.

- - -

Tomorrow came as quickly as it always did for Atlas.

He walked through the market, through the Noble district route and reached the Rosaria Household, the gateman recognised him and opened the gate without asking anything, he went inside and saw a maid standing near the door in a position that made it clear she was more than just a maid, he could sense she was B-rank, and when he got close she spoke, ”You must be here to meet Lady Seraphiel, Sir Atlas?”

Atlas nodded, ”Yes, I had some business with her, is she not available?”

The maid answered, ”She is at home, but...her father is currently present Sir Atlas, it may take a while for her to finish with him.”

Atlas felt a quiet disappointment at the timing, he turned and was about to walk away when a voice came from behind, a male adult voice with an even and composed tone, ”Mr. Atlas, the Patriarch of the Rosaria Household wishes to see you, would you have time to spare?”

He turned and saw a butler standing in a respectful posture, well dressed and calm, he wasn’t threatening Atlas in any way, this was Horliax, Seraphiel’s most trusted butler of the household.

While outwardly staying still Atlas was thinking quickly, ’Huh? Why would the Patriarch of a Noble Household want to see a commoner?...it must be because Seraphiel told him something, or he sensed me when I entered, or both...’

’And my Instincts are telling me this Patriarch is at least S-rank or higher...damn it, trouble after trouble...’ then the contract terms clicked into place in his mind — no member of the Rosaria Household could harm him, that was one of the conditions signed and sealed.

His expression settled as he thought, ’...He can’t harm me in any way then, and I have business here anyway, let’s just get it done.’

”Will Lady Seraphiel also be present? I wanted to speak with her today about something important.” Atlas said.

Horliax nodded with a slight smile, ”Of course, Lady Seraphiel is with her father, you can have a conversation with her there without any issues, please follow me Mr.Atlas.”

Atlas stepped forward and followed him inside.

- - -

[A/N: I tried my best to write the explanation for the terms in the most simple way I could, if any of you don’t understand please comment and let me know...

Don’t forget the GT guys...]