Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas followed Horliax quietly through the corridor, looking around as he walked, this one was different from the corridor that had led to the reception room he had visited before, it was on an upper floor they had reached through stairs, and it was noticeably grander and wider than anything else he had seen inside the Rosaria Household so far.

He also sensed Horliax’s rank as they walked, Peak A-rank, and a thought formed in his mind that he couldn’t help, ’First was Flora and now this butler, how many Peak A-ranks do they have just working as staff?’

After a long walk to the end of the corridor, Horliax stopped and turned, but Atlas wasn’t looking at him anymore, his gaze had gone upward toward the massive double door at the end of the hall, it was bigger than the entrance doors of any Abyss-rank Ruin he had entered, and carved from top to bottom with golden-lined sigils that ran in continuous patterns across the entire surface of both doors, intricate and dense, the kind of detail that took time to even look at properly, Atlas’s mouth had opened slightly behind his mask without him realising it.

Horliax noticed the expression in Atlas’s eyes even with the mask covering his face and smiled slightly.

Atlas pulled himself together and asked the question that had been sitting in his mind since Horliax had approached him outside, ”Can I know why the Patriarch of the Rosaria Household wants to see me?”

Horliax shook his head, ”I have not been informed of that Mr. Atlas, it is something only the Patriarch can tell you himself.”

Then he added, ”You may enter now, I would suggest keeping that expression contained while inside, or the Patriarch may feel disappointed...”

Atlas turned at those words and his eyes narrowed, he thought, ’Disappointed? I am not here to be judged by anyone...I knew it, Nobles are still Nobles no matter how things look on the surface...’

He didn’t say it out loud, there was no point creating friction here when he still needed something from this household, and per the contract terms no member of the Rosaria Household could harm him regardless, so the meeting itself carried no real danger, just inconvenience.

He could also have refused the meeting even before entering here and no one could’ve done anything to him...but he didn’t, because he needed the Cores as quickly as possible, he had to become strong very quickly.

Those Assasins had shown him what he lacked and he was going to cover that Area of fighting a person especially Human, and as he could not do it in his situation - he had only one choice and that was Overwhelming strength...strength to kill anyone without relying on those tricks such as he had used.

Before stepping forward though he paused and turned back to Horliax, ”Before I go in, I would like to know the Patriarch’s name, it would be appropriate for the greeting.”

He said it calmly and with a measured tone, he had watched enough noble interactions in Ormolio to know that maintaining some level of etiquette was the smarter approach here, entering a room and addressing someone of this level without knowing their name would be a bad start.

Horliax arched an eyebrow slightly, ’A Human commoner who knows about proper greetings?...he must have been around nobles more than once.’

”Of course, knowing before entering makes for a more respectful exchange from both sides,” Horliax said, then continued, ”The Patriarch of the Rosaria Household is Dravenson Rosaria, the tenth SS-rank out of fifty in the whole of Celestara Continent.”

Atlas’s eyes widened slightly, not at the name itself but at the rank and the position it carried, tenth SS-rank in the entire continent, he hadn’t expected that, and a question surfaced in his mind immediately, ’Tenth SS-rank? How do they even measure who is tenth and who is eleventh?’

His thoughts were interrupted as Horliax stepped forward and placed both hands on the massive double door, pushing it open with no visible effort, if it had been a normal person or even a B-rank Explorer they would have struggled with the sheer weight of it, but Horliax was Peak A-rank and his physical strength made it a straightforward task.

Horliax held the door open and turned sideways, gesturing inside with his right hand as he gave a slight bow, ”Please enter Mr. Atlas, the Patriarch is waiting.”

Atlas nodded and stepped forward, crossing the threshold with his right foot first.

The moment he stepped inside the room a pressure descended on him that he had never felt before in his life, his whole body shook from the inside, not the crushing Gravity Multiplication Harleks had applied, not Spirit energy pressing down on him from above, not any physical force he could identify or name, this was something entirely different and it carried no Spirit in it at all, no energy of any form he had encountered, it was something that existed in a category he had no reference for.

He was still standing on his feet, his limbs hadn’t been pushed down or restricted by any external force, but his Instincts were screaming at him from the inside to turn around and leave immediately, to get as far from this room as possible, and alongside that something else had frozen him in place, not time, not technique, actual fear, the kind that came from something deep inside a person recognizing a level of existence they had no way to measure or counter.

His face under the hood and mask had gone pale, his legs trembled, his hands trembled, every part of him was reacting the same way except one, his right hand, the one where Reiden’s markings sat, that hand was completely steady and capable of moving while the rest of him was locked in that involuntary response, though he did not move it.

Instead he narrowed his eyes and forced his breathing to slow, pushing against the fear from the inside, and as he did he finally took in the room properly, it was large and the far end of it seemed further away than it should have been from where the door was, and at that far end sat a man.

His figure was broad but his shoulders were lean and refined, the kind of build that came from something beyond physical training, he sat with a stillness that made the room feel quieter just by his presence being in it.

Then his lips parted and his voice came through the whole room without him raising it, ”You...why do you carry such hatred inside you?”

The moment those words reached Atlas his eyes went wide and one thought formed before anything else could.

’...How?’