Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

The moment Atlas opened the second page, he saw it. The Unknown Trait - [ ??? - Rank ??? ] reacted for the first time. It glitched violently for a brief moment before a name slowly started appearing through the distortion.

TZZZTTTZZ

Atlas stared at it as tiny bolts of lightning snapped around the page, emerging together with the constant glitching sound. Even after the name began surfacing, the distortion didn’t stop and continued flickering without pause. Atlas only watched the strange phenomenon with narrowed eyes. He had no way of stopping it, nor did he know whether it was even supposed to happen.

Finally, the name surfaced.

[ Metadata ??? - Rank ??? ]

Atlas’s lips twitched slightly in irritation. The name was still incomplete. Only one part had been revealed—’Metadata’—a word he didn’t even understand, while everything after it still remained as ’???’. Seeing that, he couldn’t help but mutter, ”What’s with this book? It always seems to hide things...or is it that it can’t show me properly at all?”

The questions were genuine. He still didn’t know where these names even came from, and every time the Codex revealed something, it only answered one question while creating several more. The incompleteness of everything inside it was becoming increasingly irritating.

’Tch...this book itself is completely unknown, so I guess the things inside it being unknown shouldn’t be surprising either.’

As Atlas thought that, he saw new words beginning to write themselves beneath the Trait name. He immediately recognized it as another ’Note’ section just like before, and his guess was right. Even while the words were appearing, the entire section continued glitching constantly.

TTTZZTTZZ

[ Note: User must reach 100 in all Attributes before Assimilating this Trait. To Assimilate, the same rules follow. Tap the name with the Sangius Stylus, Blood isn’t needed for Assimilation. ]

That wasn’t all, Atlas also noticed around seven newly acquired Traits listed at the bottom of the page one after another, though he planned to assimilate them later as his eyes returned to the still-glitching note, and after reading it twice, he let out a quiet sigh.

”Another thing like that Bloodline...Tch. I have to reach 100 in all Attributes. It will take time...but I don’t have much of a choice anyway.”

After that, he flipped to the Bloodline page, one he hadn’t opened in quite a while. As he remembered the moment, he had assimilated the Bloodline and awakened Rei-Kokuin, along with everything that happened afterwards throughout his journey, another memory suddenly surfaced in his mind, making him click his tongue in annoyance.

’Damn it! that Monster carrying Null pressure, I shouldn’t have vaporized it with a Blank range. attack like that, shit! A Monster that could move like that must have had some really good Traits...’

The irritation stayed for only a moment before Atlas forced himself to think rationally. At that time he had only been an A-rank, and defeating an S-rank itself had been something unbelievable. Looking at it from that perspective, vaporizing it had been the safest decision. The regret of losing its Bloodline and Traits still lingered for a few moments, but he eventually dismissed it. There would be stronger monsters in the future, and sooner or later, he would obtain Traits even better than that one.

As the Bloodline page opened, Atlas saw the same process happening again. Around seven newly acquired Bloodlines were being devoured by the Osmo ??? Bloodline, and as the last one disappeared into it, the Unlocked percentage finally increased, it went from 1% directly to 2%.

Seeing that progress, Atlas smiled faintly beneath his mask and muttered, ”At least this is something understandable...and useful.”

After that, he turned to the fourth and final page, there were no changes at all. The Title ”Shadow Explorer” remained exactly the same, and every derived Ability beneath it was also unchanged. Atlas simply nodded before closing the Codex and speaking, ”Terminate.”

The Sangius Stylus immediately attached itself back to the side of the Codex, and the entire book returned to Atlas’s chest as usual before disappearing completely.

Only after that did Atlas turn his attention toward the entrance of the third chamber. Beyond it was the Boss Gate, but standing guard before that gate were three A-rank Monsters. Just from their spirit fluctuations alone, Atlas could tell they were noticeably stronger than the A-rank Monsters from the previous chamber.

Even so, Atlas didn’t pay much attention to them. As far as he was concerned, this Ruin was already cleared. His current strength had already surpassed the level required for a Cataclysm-rank Ruin by a considerable margin. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any choice other than this, the next rank after this was a Divine-class Ruin with an SSS-rank Boss. There was no way the Guild would allow an S-rank Explorer to enter such a Ruin alone. If he made that request now, the entire Guild would probably laugh at him.

Looking toward the third chamber entrance that led to the Boss Gate, Atlas spoke calmly, ”I would like to test the Abilities from the Title...but I think only the Boss can endure even a single attack from them. Though...I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of it dying in one attack either.”

With that, he stepped forward and crossed into the third chamber...The moment he passed the entrance, the three A-rank Monsters suddenly felt an overwhelming spirit pressure washing over them, their hearts pounded heavily.

Thump...Thump...Thump...

Atlas had deliberately released only a small amount of his spirit pressure, it was nowhere near even half his full strength, yet the reaction before him was exactly what he wanted to confirm.

The three Monsters, who had been casually patrolling from one side of the Boss Gate to the other, froze in place as their instincts screamed at them. Their eyes widened in horror as they hurriedly turned toward the source of that pressure, but before they could even complete the movement, the world around them suddenly flipped upside down.

In the final moment before their consciousness started fading, all three saw the same scene—a hooded person appearing with a Blur as he stood before the massive Boss Gate, his right hand wrapped in white Spirit Energy that had taken the shape of a sharp blade.

The next instant—

THUD...THUD...THUD...

One after another their heads rolled on the ground, their eyes closed before any struggle at all, they knew it by Instinct and... the veil of death, that covered their consciousness...it took them without hesitation.

Atlas, on the other hand, lowered his eyes toward his own right hand. A straight, transparent white blade formed entirely from Spirit Energy extended from his wrist for roughly twelve inches outward, both edges sharpened like a real sword. Anyone who had witnessed the battle in Ormolio would immediately recognize its resemblance to the Spirit Blade Mark had used against Velgrath, the Crowbeast.

Yes...Atlas was using Spirit Shape Weaver to mimic what he had seen Mark do in Ormolio, in that incident where an A-rank Guildmaster had died and Mark had come to save the city.

Atlas had formed the blade the instant he entered the chamber. It wasn’t something he thought of midway through the fight, he had planned to test it from the beginning. He wanted to understand how another person’s fighting style felt in practice and whether he could learn something useful from it. And after trying it himself, he had indeed learned something.

He observed the Spirit Blade for a few moments before speaking, ”It’s still different from the one Mark used...mine feels much more ruthless, It’s closer to Reiden’s nature than a normal Spirit Blade.”

The moment he finished speaking, the carvings around Reiden glowed faintly as if responding to his words. Seeing that reaction, Atlas gave a small nod.

”Hmm...I know your power is far greater than this Spirit Blade, what I meant is...this blade was formed from my own Spirit Energy, and I constantly carry killing intent toward Monsters and people alike, maybe that’s why it naturally became more ruthless?”

Then Reiden glowed once again, as if it had finally understood what Atlas was trying to convey. After a brief moment, the glow faded away on its own. Atlas gave a slight nod in response before deactivating Spirit Shape Weaver, causing the transparent Spirit Blade extending from his wrist to disappear completely.

Only then did Atlas shift his attention toward the Boss Monster’s massive gate. It was even larger than the double doors outside the Ruin itself, but Atlas didn’t spend time observing its size. He simply walked up to it and placed his palm against its surface. Unlike the entrance gate, this time he didn’t channel any Spirit Energy into it. Instead, he relied purely on his physical strength and pushed forward.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

A deafening explosion echoed throughout the entire Ruin as the enormous gate was forced open by Atlas’s raw strength alone. The sound spread through every chamber, making the stone walls tremble slightly as the gate slowly moved apart under the overwhelming force.

At that exact moment, an overwhelming Spirit Pressure burst out from beyond the shattered gate and descended directly upon Atlas. The pressure was several times greater than anything he had felt from any monsters till now...except that Null carrying Monster, carrying the presence of the Cataclysm-rank Boss itself.

Atlas, however, didn’t widen his eyes or become the slightest bit flustered. Instead, a grin slowly formed beneath his mask as he welcomed the pressure head-on.