Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Kael read the message carefully before finally relaxing. He slowly shook his head before narrowing his eyes behind the mask, forcing himself to put the matter aside because there was no benefit in wasting his attention on something that the System had already assured him would not become an obstacle.

’The System explicitly says for me to listen to the Dragon Emperor. That means he somehow has the knowledge of all these events...but how?’ The question immediately caught his attention because Zaakrax’s knowledge was becoming stranger with every passing moment. The Dragon Emperor had already shown that he understood things that the other rulers, hell even the ancient pope had never even learnt about, and now the System itself was indirectly telling Kael to pay close attention to what he had to say.

It was one thing for the Dragon Emperor to know about Azarion’s plans, but he apparently also knew about the history of the races and the existence of Ascension beyond Eliomor. How was that possible?

Kael could not help but wonder how someone from this world had obtained such precise knowledge about matters like these, especially when even his own System had refused to provide him with further information because of his current mental limitations. If Zaakrax truly knew all of this through his own means, then there had to be something unusual about his origin or the source of his knowledge.

Before he could question it any further, he turned his attention back toward the Dragon Emperor, who had already begun speaking again, ”First thing first, all of you should know that all these races—Angels, Elves, us Dragons, Humans and Dwarves—were a single race, not divided like this, and the very first person born of that race was the progenitor.”

The effect of those words was immediate.

Eliana, Solaris, Thorsin, and even Sylvaris widened their eyes in shock as they stared at Zaakrax. None of them had ever heard such a statement before, and the sheer absurdity of it made it difficult to immediately determine how seriously they should take it.

Their races had completely different histories, cultures, bloodlines, physical characteristics, and origins as far as their recorded knowledge was concerned. Every race had grown around its own civilization and developed its own understanding of how it came into existence, so the idea that all of them had once belonged to a single race directly contradicted everything they had ever been taught.

Yet...Zaakrax was standing there and claiming that all of them had once been a single race.

Was that even believable?

No one questioned him as they were still trying to process the statement. Even though the information sounded impossible, Zaakrax had no reason to casually make a claim of this magnitude in front of several of the strongest beings in Eliomor. If he was lying, there was no guarantee that they would simply accept his words, and if he was telling the truth, then the implications were way more serious than anyone could imagine.

For a long moment, everyone remained frozen as they processed the statement.

This was no longer a simple explanation concerning Azarion’s experiment. If Zaakrax was telling the truth, then the history they had inherited from their ancestors was incomplete on a scale they could barely comprehend.

The existence of a single original race from which all of them had eventually emerged would mean that maybe the real reason for the separation between their Continents and civilizations had happened for a reason that none of them had any knowledge about. It would also mean that the differences between their races were not something that had existed since the beginning of their history, but something that had appeared later.

Sylvaris was the first to finally speak.

”You know how absurd and unbelievable that statement sounds, right?” Her expression remained serious as she looked directly at Zaakrax, but she did not dismiss his words outright because the situation itself had already proven that things existed beyond their previous understanding.

She had lived for an incredibly long time and had witnessed countless changes throughout Eliomor, yet even she had never encountered information suggesting that all the races had once been one. ”But the important thing is, if that statement is true, how do you know about it?”

All of the rulers turned toward her, and Eliana immediately nodded in agreement. She clearly shared the same doubt, but more importantly, she wanted to know the source of Zaakrax’s information because his answer could determine how much of what he was saying they could trust.

”I was just about to ask the same thing, how do you know about it and...” She paused briefly before continuing, her eyes narrowing as another question came to mind. ”How does Azarion know about being a progenitor?” Zaakrax turned toward Eliana and let out a quiet chuckle. He clearly understood that the question was reasonable, but his expression showed that he had no intention of revealing everything he knew.

”Haha, I knew you were sharp, but you will be disappointed to know that I won’t be sharing my method of obtaining this information, as it is not my obligation to tell you these things. And how he knows about it can come later.” His eyes shifted toward Eliana for a moment before he added, ”You should stop using the World Tree’s power to see if I am lying or not.”

Eliana instantly arched an eyebrow.

She had indeed been using the World Tree’s power to verify Zaakrax’s words, but she had done so without announcing it to anyone or anyone even noticing it. The fact that he had noticed immediately was what caught her attention more than his refusal to explain his source of information.

She had expected the World Tree’s power to remain unnoticed while she quietly verified whether Zaakrax was telling the truth, yet he had apparently sensed it without even needing to look at her directly. After a brief moment of silence, she cut off the connection with the World Tree while continuing to stare at him, clearly wondering how he had detected something that should have been difficult to notice.

Zaakrax’s expression became slightly amused, ”Well, one thing is good, you now know that all this is true, right? Eliana, the Queen of Elves and...” He paused deliberately before finishing, ”the ’Chosen One’ by the World Tree.”

The last sentence immediately made Eliana grit her teeth.

Solaris and the others looked toward her without saying anything because they all understood what Zaakrax was doing. The statement was clearly a taunt, but it was not entirely unreasonable either.

Zaakrax had just provided them with information of immense value without asking for anything in exchange, yet Eliana had still attempted to verify whether he was lying. From his perspective, returning that attempt with a taunt was still forgiving enough, especially when she had been trying to confirm whether his words could be trusted while he was openly sharing information with them.

Eliana did not respond to the taunt, choosing instead to remain silent and focus on the information itself. There was no point in arguing with Zaakrax over something so minor when the conversation had already reached matters that could potentially change their understanding of the entire world.

”Anyways, as I was saying, progenitor simply means the origin of all races in Eliomor. There is nothing such as a progenitor of each race. Keep that in mind.”

The rulers slowly nodded as they absorbed the clarification, but their expressions remained serious because the explanation only made the implications more important. The word did not refer to a title that belonged to one particular race. It referred to the individual who stood at the beginning of all of them, meaning that if Zaakrax’s words were true, then the progenitor was not merely an ancient figure from one civilization but the earliest known existence connected to every major race currently living in Eliomor.

Zaakrax then continued, ”Then comes Ascension, which is nothing other than...ascending past this planet known as Eliomor and rising in cultivation in an upper plane of existence.”

The moment he explained this, everyone’s eyes widened once again.

Kael’s reaction, however, was different.

His eyes were also wide, but not because he had just learned what Ascension meant. He already understood the concept from the novels he had read, and the System had already confirmed that such a process existed.

What truly disturbed him was the accuracy of Zaakrax’s explanation. The Dragon Emperor was not simply using a vague term or describing Ascension as some mysterious phenomenon. He had explained it in almost exactly the way Kael understood it from the stories he had read on Earth.

’I get that he knows about progenitor but...how does he know about Ascension so accurately?’