Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

While Atlas had been in seclusion, Eliomor and its rulers, including the Ancients, had changed significantly, as they had all been outside taking in the Aether Energy for all that time.

They had spent those days focusing entirely on absorbing the energy and using it to strengthen themselves, making considerable progress compared to their previous state. Among all of them, Kael was the first to finish with the process.

He was done taking in all the energy required to step into Special Ex-rank and cross even that threshold, eventually stepping into the Astral World rank by forming a core in his abdomen. The entire process had been accomplished in about three days since he had started, allowing him to reach a level that would have otherwise taken an extremely long time if he had remained connected to Spirit Energy.

After Kael, Zaakrax was the next one to finish, and he was the most naturally talented among them, despite having neither a system nor a Codex like Atlas or Kael.

His Unique Ability helped him even in moments like these, with Creation making the time required for his advancement much shorter. Once he had naturally reached Special Ex-rank, he could create a timeline for himself where time ran extremely slowly compared to the outside, giving him enough time to completely cross the threshold without having to wait for the same amount of time in the outside world.

After completing the process inside that timeline, Zaakrax was able to step back into the Astral World rank as well.

Then, one after another, Sylvaris and the other rulers also stepped into the Astral World rank. The amount of time required for them to accomplish the same thing would have been hundreds of years or even thousands if they had remained connected to Spirit Energy and progressed through the usual method.

However, the opportunity they had received through the Aether Energy allowed them to advance much faster, and within those ten days, they were all done reaching their strongest state.

After completing their advancements, they all returned to Eliomor and began discussing more of the matter that had brought them together in the first place.

At the same time, they also spent time calming down all the people of the world, as everything that had happened had naturally caused concern among them. The rulers had their own responsibilities toward their people, so they couldn’t simply focus on their own advancement and ignore everything else happening around them.

After they were all done with their work and had spent their moments with their own people, Eliomor once again called the rulers for another small meeting. The time for the Veil’s disappearance was now only about one and a half months away, meaning they didn’t have an unlimited amount of time to prepare for what would happen afterward.

There were still many things they needed to understand, especially regarding the strength that existed beyond what they currently knew.

…

A day later…

Inside the Realm of Astraya, the same place where the previous meeting had taken place, every ruler could be seen sitting in their respective positions from before. The arrangement had not changed, and Atlas was also sitting in his respective position with Seraphiel beside him.

Everyone had once again gathered in the same place to hear what Eliomor had to say about the next matter.

Atlas had already spent some time with Seraphiel the previous day, asking her about how her training was going while she asked him about how his appearance had changed so much.

Both of them had conversed and spent their time together without any disturbance, as Aurelis had given Seraphiel some free time for the day. After spending several hours together, Seraphiel had eventually gone back to her training again.

Before exiting the realm, Eliomor had asked Atlas to come to today’s meeting once again, as it was about to explain some things about the ranks above the Astral World rank. From that, Atlas had become even more certain about his suspicion, ‘I knew it, Eliomor already knows about the ranks and the conditions needed to step into those ranks. It is highly likely that it came to know about them through Luberion, the first Human King.’

He remained silent as he looked at Eliomor’s floating spherical orb with an indifferent expression before shifting his attention toward the others, ‘They have become strong, way stronger than they previously were.’

Atlas noticed the changes immediately, with Zaakrax being the first one to take his attention. Somehow, he looked younger and more vigorous than he had previously been, making the change in him quite noticeable.

Then came Kael, who seemed to be in absolute control of his strength. He gave off an eerie feeling because his strength was completely concealed to the extreme, making it difficult for Atlas to properly judge just how powerful he had become, ‘Why do I feel like he is stronger than the Dragon Emperor suddenly?’ Atlas questioned internally before shaking his head with a sigh, ‘Others’ matters are not mine, I shouldn’t overthink it.’

With that, Atlas shifted his attention back to Eliomor, who finally began speaking, “Now that all of you have gathered once again, you all already seem several times stronger than your previous selves. However… this is still not enough to stand against a single one of those outsiders.”

The rulers didn’t react to that statement, as they themselves were already well aware of that fact. None of them needed to be reminded of the difference in strength between themselves and those outsiders, especially Solaris, who had personally seen Melina and had even tried to fight her. Despite her own strength, she had been played with like nothing but a child, making the difference between them clear enough.

They remained silent and waited for Eliomor to continue with the main matter and the solution to their current situation. Eliomor had gathered them once again for a reason, and they knew that the next thing it was going to explain would be important for their future, “You all now need to step into the true Galactical Rankings beyond my power hierarchy.”

Everyone still remained silent, as they seemed to have been expecting something like this as well. It was not because they already knew which ranks existed beyond the Astral World rank or because they had previously learned the information somewhere.

Instead, it was because they could themselves feel it, even without knowing its exact name or method.

They could feel a threshold that they were touching, and they were aware that they needed to breach that threshold in order to step into the next rank. Their current strength had allowed them to reach that point, but understanding how to actually cross it was what remained unknown to them.

That lack of understanding was essentially what stopped them from advancing further.

Eliomor continued again, “The Galactical Rankings are slightly more mysterious in their mechanisms, starting from Emperor rank, then Sovereign, Transcendent, and Nexus.” It paused briefly before continuing, “Although there is another rank above all of these which is known as Awakening, that one is completely shrouded in mystery, as the individuals stepping into that rank have never discussed or explained it.”

Everyone nodded at the explanation as they finally understood which ranks came after the Astral World rank. They had already sensed that something existed beyond their current level, but now they finally had names for those higher stages. The explanation also made it clear that even among these ranks, there was one that remained unknown to them.

“For now, let me explain how one steps into the Emperor rank.” Eliomor paused for a brief moment as it looked toward Mostleon. Mostleon nodded as if agreeing that it should finally reveal that information to everyone.

‘Do not worry, Eliomor. Even if all of them suspect you because of their personal circumstances, they each are good from the heart.’

‘It is time you trust them completely. After all, Luberion had also trusted you only because you had trusted him back then, right?’ Eliomor nodded slowly with its spherical conscious orb body and shifted to the others, for a moment it remained silent as if reminiscing about a past era which was similar to the current situation.

Meanwhile, Kael was grinning ear to ear as he lowered his head slightly, ‘System, Can I copy one of Atlas’s abilities now?’ His eyes fixed on the reward he had received after completing the mission.

[Authority: Copy]

[Copy: Allows the Host to copy the properties, abilities, authorities, concepts, and fundamental characteristics of a designated target.]