Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Solaris stared at Eliana in silence, her expression remaining calm but the atmosphere inside the chamber had become noticeably colder without her intentionally doing anything, her eyes stayed fixed on her friend as she tried to understand why Eliana needed five Greater Runes when she had already said that the formation could be completed with the ones they possessed, ’Does she need the Greater Runes for something else? Or is the requirement for each continent so high that even with their numbers the formation cannot be activated?’

After a brief moment, Eliana finally answered, ”It’s nothing too serious, Solaris, I need five Greater Runes for something else, and I need all five elemental ones, I need them for my Disciple in the future when he advances to SSS-rank, though we have more than a thousand Greater Runes stored within the Elven Continent, all of them are Wood Element, but...my Disciple has an aptitude for all five Elements.”

The moment she heard the last part, Solaris’s eyes widened again, her expression changing from confusion to complete disbelief as she stared at Eliana, ”Are you taking me for a fool or what? This is unbelievable, having an aptitude for all five Elements is either a complete lie or something is wrong with the Aptitude Measuring Relic.”

”Pfffttt! Hahahahahah!” Eliana suddenly laughed, clearly amused by Solaris’s reaction, ”I was exactly the same when I first saw the Relic showing the result of his Aptitude, but we checked it ten times and it gave the exact same result every single time, and when I directly asked the World Tree, even the World Tree gave me the same answer, so it is no wonder you are this shocked after hearing it.”

Her laughter slowly faded as she continued explaining, while Solaris’s expression remained serious, ”As you know, to break through to SSS-rank, a Cultivator needs to awaken their Element, normally a Cultivator awakens one Element while some extremely rare individuals can awaken two at most, but he...he has an aptitude for all five, and that is exactly why I want those Greater Runes, they will give him two things at once, the required amount of Spirit Energy from the Runes and the distinct Elemental Spirit Energy he needs to awaken all five Elements.”

Solaris continued staring at her friend without saying anything, her mind already trying to understand what kind of existence could possess such an absurd aptitude, ’To awaken all five Elements, wouldn’t that completely change the balance of strength if he reached our level? If anyone else were to hear about this, they would immediately try to kill such a threat without even thinking twice, they wouldn’t care whether he was Eliana’s Disciple or not.’

That thought made Solaris’s expression become slightly more serious, because she knew exactly how dangerous information like this could become once it spread, ’Maybe that’s exactly why she never mentioned him to me, otherwise she sends letters every year or at least once in a while, usually rambling about important things while mixing them with completely unnecessary things.’

She lowered her head and looked at the tea placed before her, but the tea had already become cold after so much time had passed during their conversation, and while looking at it, another thought slowly appeared in her mind, ’If...just if there is someone in this world capable of balancing this kind of ridiculous talent, then I have to do everything in my power to take him or her as my Disciple, only then can I finally beat her at something.’

After thinking for another moment, Solaris finally raised her head and spoke, ”I see, if that’s the case then I will provide those five Greater Runes and that extracted Substance, now explain how we are going to complete this Formation in my Continent as well.”

Eliana smiled after hearing her answer, clearly satisfied that Solaris had agreed without making the matter more troublesome, before replying in her usual calm tone, ”To start off, this Formation is quite different from the basic ones where a user specifically doesn’t have to inject Spirit Energy into it, it can be activated with Runes, Runes which will be arranged inside each small circle at seven different positions to complete the Formation Circle itself across the entire Continent.”

She continued without giving Solaris much time to interrupt, ”Meaning, we will arrange them at the end of each direction around the whole Continent, for our Elven Continent I have already completed the entire process beforehand for safety, I only needed that Substance you spoke of, which I originally planned to obtain myself, but now that you already have it, I wouldn’t want to bother myself with obtaining another sample.”

Solaris remained silent while listening carefully, mentally arranging every piece of information Eliana had given her, the plan sounded simple when explained like this, but she understood that creating something capable of covering an entire Continent could never be as simple as placing a few Runes in different locations, especially when the Formation needed to detect a specific signature and react to it.

After going through the explanation in her mind, Solaris lifted one hand and snapped her fingers, and the moment she did, the cold tea cup sitting in front of her suddenly became warm again, thin wisps of smoke once again rising from its surface as if the tea had only been poured moments ago, she picked up the cup by its small handle, took a small sip and then spoke, ”Hmm, and how can we draw it? I assume you drew it in the air instead of the ground, as there are buildings spread across the entire Continent, right?”

Eliana nodded, already expecting that question, and replied, ”Of course, drawing something like that directly on the ground would be troublesome, especially when the Formation has to cover such a massive area, but before I go into more information, I think you have already guessed where the ’Another Designated Formation’ is located, right Solaris?”

Solaris nodded slowly, a small understanding appearing in her eyes before she replied, ”If I am to say anything about this, then I would say you took quite the clever step this time, Eliana, because not only are you able to get out of whatever Azarion is planning, you are also forcing those ’Ancients’ to reveal themselves by giving them an unexpected incident.”

Her expression became more serious as she continued, ”But...I would be careful if I were you, we don’t know whether they have the ability to investigate this matter after everything settles down, they are too powerful after all, and we also need to investigate Azarion more thoroughly before starting any type of war, otherwise all these preparations will become meaningless if he somehow discovers what we are doing or changes his plans entirely.”

Eliana remained calm even after hearing the warning, as though she had already considered the same possibility long before Solaris mentioned it, ”Hmm, I have taken that matter into account as well, why do you think I sent Alberion into your Continent and asked him to roam around the world? Huhu~ I will let you realize it yourself, and we can discuss that later, for now, let me explain how the Formation will be made in your Continent.”

With that, Eliana returned to explaining the remaining parts of the Formation, while Solaris listened without interrupting, neither of them realizing that the preparations they were discussing would soon become connected to something far more dangerous than either of them currently expected.