Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

’Orivian... preparations for the ritual are finished, the activation is now in your hands.’

The moment Orivian heard Eliomor’s words, his grim expression suddenly changed into a grin. Atlas immediately noticed the change and frowned, unable to understand why Orivian would suddenly smile in a situation like this.

Before he could figure out what had caused that reaction, Orivian looked toward everyone and spoke in a calm voice, ”Play time is over...” His grin widened slightly as he continued.

”Shrine of the Eternals.”

The moment those words left his mouth, his already crumbling Domain completely disappeared. At the same time, the Halo above his head returned to its original position, hovering directly above him once again.

It began rotating at such an incredible speed that none of the people present could even perceive it as moving anymore, making it appear as though it had become completely stationary. Zaakrax narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Halo, his mind immediately focusing on Orivian’s words and the strange name he had just mentioned.

Orivian suddenly vanished from his position. Atlas frowned immediately because, judging from the condition Orivian had been in moments ago, he was certain that Orivian shouldn’t have been capable of moving at that speed anymore.

’Is this another ability?’ Atlas questioned internally as he immediately began interfering with the Logic of Presence Concealment. The interference itself did not put much strain on him, but despite using it, he couldn’t sense Orivian’s presence anywhere.

Not willing to stop there, Atlas immediately began searching for him through every method he could think of. He interfered with the Logic of Searching across the entire world and even interfered with the Logic of Sensing, attempting to find even the smallest trace of Orivian’s existence. Yet no matter what he did, there was nothing.

Orivian was nowhere to be found, as if he had completely disappeared from the world itself. Atlas’s expression gradually became more serious as he realized that whatever Orivian had done was far beyond ordinary concealment.

The rings surrounding everyone had also disappeared, allowing them to move freely once again. Without consciously discussing it among themselves, they all began moving toward Atlas, gathering around him because they had already witnessed what he was capable of.

Seeing Atlas fight against that Monster and interfere with the very Logic of the world had subconsciously made them believe that he would be capable of saving them and the world from Orivian. Atlas didn’t mind them approaching him, but he didn’t even have the time to pay attention to them because his entire focus remained on finding Orivian.

Kael soon approached from behind, stopping a few meters away from Atlas before speaking, ”Atlas Mariorett, should I introduce myself first, or should I help you first?” Atlas turned his head after hearing the Elven boy call his name and stared at him for a moment.

He didn’t recognize the boy, but there was no hostility in Kael’s voice, so Atlas simply answered, ”State your name first.” Kael nodded before calmly replying, ”I am Kael Mortisano. Nice to meet you and... thank you for your help.”

Atlas only nodded in response. Kael continued speaking immediately afterward, ”Although there are a lot of things I want to talk to you about, this is not the time for that.” He extended one hand, and the space directly in front of his palm suddenly began rippling violently as something emerged from the empty space.

Atlas raised an eyebrow as he watched the strange ability, already trying to figure out what kind of power Kael had used. A moment later, Kael threw the object toward him, and Atlas caught it before realizing that it was nothing more than a small pill.

Atlas looked at the pill for a moment before asking, ”What is this?”

Kael smiled and answered, ”That is a Pill of Experience. It contains experience of battles and combat styles, with the experience of about two hundred years stored inside it.” He paused briefly before continuing, ”If you gulp it down, all of that experience will become yours.”

Atlas’s eyes narrowed slightly as he continued examining the pill while Kael calmly explained its purpose.

”Earlier, from your fights, I saw that you don’t have that much combat experience, neither with hand-to-hand combat nor with weapons,” Kael said while looking at Atlas’s wary expression. ”So I wanted to repay your help with this as a Thanks.”

His tone remained casual as he continued, ”Although I know it is hard to trust me with something like this, you could simply alter the Logic of gulping something poisonous down your throat, couldn’t you? Or even erase the very thing inside you, so why not do it? I guarantee that you won’t regret it.”

Kael watched as Atlas’s hand suddenly began moving toward his mouth. He arched an eyebrow in confusion as Atlas placed the pill between his lips without hesitation. ’???, System, wasn’t it too easy?’ Atlas questioned internally, wondering why Kael had been so confident that he would accept it. The System responded immediately.

[Host, for your information, he doesn’t even need to use those abilities you mentioned. Nothing poisonous will ever be able to kill him, any kind of poison in existence at all.]

’Fuck, I knew it, he is a walking cheat! Tch!’ Kael cursed internally as he looked at Atlas, He then closed his eyes and swallowed the pill, immediately feeling the effects begin to spread through his body. ’Well, he is going to become even more monstrous now...’

[Yes, Host. That pill was customized from your commands of giving all the experience all the legendary fictional characters possess in that single pill.]

’Haha, I guess making two of them came in handy after all.’

With that final thought, Atlas focused on himself and immediately began feeling the change. The aura he had been giving off earlier slowly transformed into something resembling a sharp blade, even though he wasn’t releasing any Killing Intent.

His entire body was undergoing a change at the same time, with the vast amount of combat experience beginning to integrate directly into his muscles and mind. Experience with swords, spears, fists, scythes, gauntlets, and countless other weapons was being woven into his body, while his mind rapidly processed techniques and combat possibilities he had never experienced before.

Inside his mind, Atlas immediately projected Orivian’s figure in front of himself. He didn’t know exactly how much strength Orivian possessed, but from everything he had witnessed, he already understood that the difference between them was enormous.

Atlas continuously fought against the projection despite that difference, attempting to test the newly acquired combat experience against an opponent he already knew was far stronger than himself. Yet every time the battle began, he was killed within milliseconds.

Another battle began.

He died again.

And another one began immediately afterward.

The same result followed every single time.

Atlas continued fighting the projection inside his mind, using swords, spears, fists, scythes, gauntlets, and every other weapon he could think of. He combined different techniques and combat styles while constantly adjusting his movements based on the experiences being engraved into his mind and body.

However, no matter how much he learned, the projection of Orivian continued overwhelming him within milliseconds, making it clear that experience alone could not completely bridge the difference between their strengths.

A minute passed before Atlas finally opened his eyes. He slowly clenched his fist and looked forward with a serious expression. ’That Bastard is still too strong...’

Even after engraving two hundred years of Martial Arts, techniques, and combat experience into his body and mind, he still couldn’t defeat that projection. Atlas found it difficult to believe that he could still lose after gaining so much experience, but he quickly dismissed the thought because he already had another explanation.

Orivian had most likely accumulated an even greater amount of experience throughout his existence, and his overwhelming strength was another factor Atlas couldn’t ignore.

Atlas turned toward Kael and spoke, ”Thanks for that pill.” Kael smiled before shaking his head. ”As I said, I repaid the help. Don’t mention it.” The moment those words left his mouth, however, everyone suddenly felt something change beneath their feet.

The ground began shaking violently.

At first, the tremors were small, but they quickly intensified until the entire area began trembling. Something was emerging from beneath them, forcing the ground itself to split apart as enormous cracks spread outward like a spiderweb. Within only a few moments, those cracks had already extended across hundreds of Kilometers, causing everyone present to look toward the ground in alarm.

DRRR... DRRR... DRRR...

The sound of something enormous moving beneath the earth continued echoing throughout the area. Everyone looked downward as the ground continued splitting apart, but only Kael immediately recognized what was emerging. His eyes widened as he stared at the structure slowly rising from beneath the broken ground.

’A Japanese shrine?!’