Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”Yes, I knew something like that was possible but...this Ex-rank Monster wasn’t in my least bit of expectation, we need to prepare fast, something big is coming and that Azarion is the one behind it all,” Eliana finished as she lowered her head slightly, her expression becoming more serious while her thoughts started moving through everything she had already discovered.

The appearance of an Ex-rank Monster had changed the situation far more than she had expected because the S-rank Monsters were already something she had considered possible, but an Ex-rank appearing this early meant that whatever Azarion was doing had either progressed much further than she had imagined or something had caused him to change his plans completely

”What do you mean? We have to prepare fast? Elaborate what you are trying to say, Eliana,” Solaris spoke as she frowned slightly, her eyes narrowing while she tried to connect the words Eliana had just said with everything she already knew, ’The Ex-rank Monster wasn’t in her expectations, that means the S-rank Monsters were, and it also means Azarion may be moving things faster than expected, but that still isn’t confirmed until she explains everything properly’

Eliana slowly came out of her thoughts after hearing Solaris, she looked toward her friend for a brief moment before releasing a small sigh and speaking, ”Sigh, I really didn’t think something like this would happen, especially this early, it might be because something triggered Azarion and made him take action earlier than he planned, but we also can’t dismiss another possibility, he may have already completed parts of his plans without us noticing, and that is the possibility that concerns me the most because if that’s true then we need to prepare fast.”

”To tell you the truth and make you understand what is actually happening, I have to start from the beginning, I first came to know about this plan through the same attacks of those S-rank Monsters which had that strange energy or substance inside them, if I didn’t have the World Tree’s powers, I wouldn’t have been able to trace their origin properly, because the Monsters were appearing across different locations and there was no obvious connection between them from the outside”

Eliana paused for a moment before continuing, ”When those Monsters attacked, I traced the Spirit Energy mixed with that strange substance back toward the Human Continent, and when I reached the source I felt Azarion’s special eyes watching everything through those Monsters, I could have shut his eyes at that moment and made him realize that I had discovered him, but I didn’t do that, instead I let him continue believing that none of us had noticed his involvement, because if he thinks we haven’t discovered anything then he will also think that we are unprepared for whatever he is planning”

Solaris remained silent while listening, she already understood why Eliana had chosen not to expose Azarion immediately, because revealing that his method of observation had been discovered would only make him more careful and possibly force him to change the way he was moving, while keeping him unaware gave them the chance to observe him for longer without allowing him to realize that someone was already watching him in return

”Just after I discovered that, I killed all those Monsters throughout the entire Elven Continent,” Eliana continued, her expression becoming slightly colder as she remembered what had happened, ”I didn’t leave any of them alive because I wanted Azarion to understand something as well, we Elves are not nearly as weak as he may think, if he was watching through those Monsters then he should have also seen how quickly we dealt with them, and perhaps he would understand that attacking the Elven Continent directly wouldn’t be as simple as he expected”

She paused again before continuing, ”After killing them, the World Tree showed me something else through its consciousness, it wasn’t only our Elven Continent that had been attacked by those Monsters, they appeared across almost every other Continent as well, and when I say almost all of them, there are exceptions, one is the Dragon Continent and the other is the Human Continent”

”Those two are understandable, and I think you can already understand why he didn’t attack them directly, but...” Eliana’s voice became quieter as her eyes narrowed, ”There was one place that made me question the entire situation, those Monsters attacked the Holy Church of Eluminad”

The moment those words left her mouth, Solaris’s expression changed, ”What?! They attacked the Church of Eluminad?” Her voice became louder as she stared directly at Eliana, because the Holy Church wasn’t located inside any of the known Continents, it existed in a completely separate region, and although it belonged to the Humans, its location alone made it different from the Human Continent itself

”Yes, they did,” Eliana nodded, her expression also carrying some seriousness as she continued, ”I was shocked when I saw it as well, but through the World Tree’s consciousness I was able to observe what happened, those Monsters tried to breach the unbreakable barrier protecting the Holy Church, and surprisingly they managed to break through it with almost no difficulty, considering what that barrier represents, that alone was enough to make me understand that the Monsters were not simply wandering creatures produced by normal Ruins”

Eliana then reached toward the cup of tea resting on the wooden table between them and took a slow sip, her eyes closing for a brief moment before she continued, ”But you already know the strength of the Individuals inside that Church, so the moment those Monsters entered, only one person came out, and that single person destroyed nearly a thousand of them without even needing to move seriously, they aren’t called the Ancients for no reason, and that is exactly what made me think about something else afterward”

She placed the cup back onto the table and looked at Solaris again, ”If the Ancientshave already surpassed the cultivation rank of Special Ex-rank, unlike us, then most of what Azarion is preparing may become useless against them, even if he continues increasing the strength of those Monsters, the difference between their level and ours may be far greater than what we currently understand.”

Silence filled the chamber after Eliana finished explaining, Solaris remained seated with her thoughts occupied by everything she had just heard while Eliana calmly took another sip from her tea, yet even she was thinking about something completely different at the same time,

’If what Solaris investigated is true, then that strange substance really is dangerous, it can forcefully increase someone’s cultivation by one major rank, and even after extracting it the same strength and rank can apparently remain, if that information spreads, then greed would eventually make countless Individuals start searching for it, this could become a total disaster.’

After a long moment, Solaris finally spoke, ”Hmm, what you said explains most of the questions I had, but what about the preparation you mentioned earlier? That Ex-rank Monster...what exactly does it mean to you?”

Eliana finished the tea in her cup before placing it down on the wooden platform, then she took a slow breath and replied, ”I was going to explain that after you thought through everything clearly, that Ex-rank Monster means that whatever Experiment Azarion is conducting is either progressing much faster than expected, or something or someone has triggered him to send that Monster into your Central City, both possibilities are bad for us because either way it means he has moved before we were prepared”

Solaris listened with her hands crossed and one leg placed over the other, her expression remaining calm while her thoughts continued moving through the two possibilities, ’If something triggered him, then what could it have been? We can’t search blindly for something we don’t even know, so unless Eliana has information about a trigger, the former possibility is the one we have to consider, unless there is some way to directly find out what he is experimenting with those Monsters’

Her eyes slowly shifted toward Eliana as another possibility came to her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more certain she became that Eliana wouldn’t have spoken about preparing this quickly without already having something in mind, ”You...you already have a way to find out what he is experimenting with, right? Your Ability doesn’t work like that, it only lets you know things after certain conditions are fulfilled, so I am guessing you have another method?”

Eliana remained silent for a brief moment after hearing that, then she shook her head slightly with a small sigh, ”Sigh, I really can’t hide anything from you, can I? Yes, I already found a way, and it’s none other than my pervert Disciple, tch, I don’t even want to mention him right now, but he will be useful for the operation I am going to attempt.”

Her words made Solaris look at her with a slightly confused expression, because she had never heard Eliana mention any Disciple before, and the fact that Eliana was now saying this so casually only made the matter more suspicious, while Eliana simply looked back at her without explaining anything more yet, leaving Solaris to process that one new piece of information.