Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas stared at the name for a moment before narrowing his eyes slightly as he tried to understand its meaning, ’Avatar? Some type of incarnation?’ he wondered, recalling the two beings he had encountered earlier.

Based on the name of the title, it seemed that both of them had been some kind of incarnation belonging to someone else’s original being, rather than their actual forms. However, he couldn’t be certain about that yet, as he had never encountered the term Avatar before and had no proper understanding of what distinguished one from an ordinary incarnation.

From everything he had experienced until now, Atlas had gained some understanding of Incarnations and how they worked, at least to a certain extent. Orivian himself was an example of one as the Ancient Pope had explained the matter to him during one of their previous meetings.

The original being possessed someone else’s body as a vessel and then execute his deeds. Although Avatar and the possession he knew were entirely different, he could still compare it to that for now as he was unaware of what an Avatar actually was.

The Codex had already assimilated the title, and its fourth page displayed the newly acquired information in a clear manner. Atlas focused on the text as he began reading through the entries one by one, hoping to understand what the title actually offered him. The first line showed the name and rank of the title, followed by a brief explanation of how its abilities could be used.

[Avatar Slayer - Rank: Undesignated]

[Acquired title through meeting certain conditions, user will be able to use the derived abilities of the Title]

[Avatar Perception: Allows the user to instantly perceive whether a being is an Avatar simply by looking at it, regardless of its appearance or the method used to conceal its identity.]

[Avatar Severance: Allows the user to sever any connection between an Avatar and the source of its existence, preventing the Avatar from drawing any power or strength from its source.]

[Avatar Execution: When facing an Avatar of a higher being, the user’s every attribute will be temporarily increased a thousandfold. Executing an Avatar will permanently increase the user’s resistance against the power of its source.]

Atlas could only stare at each ability speechlessly, as every single one of them felt absurd, just as the Codex’s other rewards had in the past.

The first ability allowed him to identify Avatars without needing any additional information, while the second could cut off their connection to the original beings they received power from.

The third was even more unusual, as it offered a thousandfold increase to every attribute when facing an Avatar of a higher being, along with a permanent increase in resistance to the power of its source upon executing one, ’If my already maxed out attributes multiply thousand-fold then...’

He didn’t continue that thought as he felt himself being nothing more than a monster under Human skin if that situation ever comes again.

However, Atlas couldn’t help noticing a few terms that were both familiar and unfamiliar to him, ’A higher being...’ he thought, focusing on those words as he tried to connect them with the information he already possessed, ’Is it the same as the power governing the worlds that Melina mentioned?’

He recalled what he had heard from her before, but the information available to him wasn’t sufficient to establish whether the two terms referred to the same thing. After considering it for a moment, Atlas dismissed the thought, as he couldn’t be certain about the answer yet.

Instead, he returned to the matter that concerned him most and began reconsidering what had happened in the outer space, ’So an Avatar isn’t the real body of the being? It has a source, meaning the actual being exists somewhere else?’ He thought about the possibility for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly, ’That must be why I didn’t feel like I had erased them completely, Tch.’

Irritation rose within him as he recalled how those beings had dared to target Seraphiel, only for him to discover that he might not have actually erased their existence in its entirety.

Just then, another thought crossed his mind, causing his expression to become serious, ’If they are higher beings and sent Avatars here, their real forms must be strong.’ Atlas recalled the strength displayed by the two Avatars and compared it with the power of the three beings from Frostars.

Even the Avatars themselves had approached their level, which meant that the beings behind them could be considerably stronger than anything he had encountered so far.

’Strong beyond anything I have ever faced...’ Atlas thought as he swallowed hard, finally acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, ’What if the real one comes after detecting that its Avatar is dead?’ Even with the three abilities he had just acquired, he doubted that he could kill beings of that level if they appeared before him in their true forms.

The title was certainly useful, but it didn’t remove the difference in strength between him and the beings who had sent those Avatars.

’I need to grow stronger now, there is no other way to avoid them. There might come a day when they decide to avenge their Avatars’ deaths.’ Atlas exhaled a long breath as he realized that taking his time off had cost him more than he had expected. He couldn’t afford to remain at his current level while beings capable of having such powerful Avatars existed somewhere beyond his reach.

’First, I should reach the Emperor rank as quickly as possible. From then on, things can escalate smoothly.’ With that decision made, Atlas closed the Codex and spoke, ”Terminate.”

As always, the Codex immediately floated toward his chest before entering the deepest part of his being, disappearing from his immediate surroundings.

Atlas glanced around the Divine-rank Ruin one last time, making sure that there was nothing else he needed to take care of before leaving the place. He then looked toward the relic resting on the pedestal and took it with a snap of his fingers.

With that same snap, Atlas vanished from the Ruin entirely, leaving behind the corpses and monster materials for the Guild to collect. The relic was now in his possession, and he had no reason to remain there any longer. His attention had already shifted toward the next stage of his cultivation, as reaching Emperor rank had become more important than ever.