Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”N-Nothing.” Seraphiel immediately raised her head and changed the subject, not wanting to repeat what she had just said. ”Anyways, what did you need for you to come to me? Is it about the Ruins of Eclipse?”

”It is about that, as I had said, I would like to see the Ruins of Eclipse with my own eyes before entering, but before that...I would like some information, and a lot of information at once. Like about Eliomor itself, how every continent works, what the Cultivation Ranks that are not made public are, and all of that.” Atlas spoke with the same calm expression, making Seraphiel nod as she understood his situation. After all, she already knew that he was a commoner from the Human Continent.

The problem was that commoners in the Human Continent weren’t even allowed to know information like this. They were treated almost like slaves, forced to work to their limits for the Nobles and Royals without having much freedom to oppose them. Remembering this, Seraphiel’s jaw tightened slightly. This kind of behaviour was exactly what the Angels despised, and the rules of their continent were completely different from those of the Human Continent and most other continents.

After a brief silence, Seraphiel replied, ”I would suggest you visit one of the libraries in our city, Solara, and read about everything starting from this world’s History to the present. The Cultivation Ranks and how to progress through each rank are also available in the books there, so it will help you a lot.”

Atlas frowned when he heard about the library for the first time in his entire life and asked, ”Library? What’s that?”

Seraphiel could only sigh inwardly as she knew he would ask something like this. Without wasting time, she started explaining what a Library was and how everything worked there. Each explanation made Atlas arch an eyebrow as he listened, and eventually his expression became slightly complicated.

’I was this ignorant of the world? I didn’t even know that something this simple existed...damn bastards of Nobles hid even this from us.’

”For your information, our Continent doesn’t hide anything related to common knowledge from commoners. They are allowed to learn all kinds of basic information, and there are even Academies for children to attend where they can learn different subjects to gain Knowledge about any sorts of topic and train under the best of the best.” Seraphiel spoke with the same smile on her face as she explained the difference.

Atlas nodded after hearing that and asked about the Academies next, which Seraphiel explained without hesitation. Starting from the age of ten, a child could attend one of these Academies and remain there until the age of twenty, giving them ten years to gain knowledge, experience and proper training while also making friends with people their own age. Those relationships could later become another way for them to grow stronger, depending on who they met during those years.

’There are even things like this? An Academy, huh? At the age of ten...I was getting beaten at that age most of the time.’ Atlas lowered his head for a moment before lifting it again and speaking in his usual calm tone. ”Hmm, I understand these two things to a certain extent. Thank you for the information...”

Hearing the gratitude from him made Seraphiel feel somewhat awkward but also pleased at the same time. Before she could think about it any further, Atlas continued, ”But where can I find this Library you spoke of?”

”You can find one in each district of Solara,” Seraphiel answered immediately. ”For example, the one in this Eastern District is just behind our Villa, while the one in the Central District is directly in front of the Palace. The other districts have their own Libraries in specific locations as well.”

Atlas nodded as he thought, ’I will just go to the one behind this Villa then, going to some other one will just waste time for me.’ Just as he finished that thought, however, he remembered something else he wanted to know, something that might not be written in the Library Seraphiel had mentioned. ”On that note, I had a question regarding that strange light that lit up around the whole city two days ago. I think you also saw it, thousands of those same monsters tried to invade, but suddenly they all disappeared.”

He paused briefly before continuing, ”That light was anything but ordinary. It contained so much Spirit Energy that I doubt any single Individual, or even multiple Individuals, could have created it. From that, I could only conclude that it was either some kind of Relic or a completely different mechanism. If you happen to know something about it, then I would like to ask for that Information, although you can deny it if it is some kind of secret Information.”

After finishing his question and explaining his own conclusion, Atlas waited for her answer. Seraphiel’s expression became slightly more serious as her mind returned to the events of that day, when the monsters had appeared above Solara and the scale of the invasion had become clear.

Even Seraphiel had been shocked when she saw the number of monsters approaching the city. Dravenson, her father, had also found it difficult to believe what they were seeing. If Solaris had not arrived and informed every Angel throughout Celestara not to worry because she had already prepared something beforehand, the sight of that enormous horde would have caused widespread panic among the population.

Just as Eliana, the Queen of the Elves, was capable of communicating with every Elf across the world, Solaris, the Queen of Celestara, possessed the same ability with the Angels of her Continent. The same principle applied to the Dwarven King and the Dragon Emperor, allowing each of them to communicate with the members of their respective races regardless of distance. The exact reason behind this ability could be discussed later.

”If you are talking about that strange light and the carvings in the sky, then even I do not know what they were. Even my father doesn’t know anything about them, Maybe only the Royals are aware of the truth, but I think your assumption about it being some kind of mechanism is correct.” She paused for a moment as she thought ’I will have to ask Solaris after this...’, but most of all she remembered the monsters again before continuing, ”But what concerns me the most are those monsters. They were the same type of monsters that appeared above the Palace.”

Atlas nodded at her concern. He already knew that this was not some simple incident. Thousands of monsters had attempted to invade an entire city, and the fact that they carried Null made the situation even more dangerous. If something went wrong and he was somehow forced to reveal his own Null, he could also become involved in whatever was happening.

’Tch! Which bastard is even behind all of this?’ Irritation briefly appeared across Atlas’s expression before he shook his head and released a slow breath. He had no way of finding the answer at this moment, and wasting time thinking about something he could not investigate would not help him. ”We can’t do anything about it though. For now, I would like you to take me to this ”Ruins of Eclipse”, Will that be possible?”