Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Born... with an Ultimate Ability?

The question struck Orivian’s mind as if it were the most absurd thing he had ever heard. For the first time since the conversation began, his composure completely disappeared.

He knew exactly how difficult it was to reach the level of an Ultimate Ability. He himself had spent an immeasurable amount of time evolving both his and Azarion’s abilities before finally creating Event Absorption. An Ultimate Ability wasn’t something that should simply exist from birth. Yet Eliomor had just told him that Luberion possessed one from the moment he was born.

Orivian stared at the translucent orb without saying anything for several seconds.

’Impossible...’

He thought in disbelief, but he couldn’t simply dismiss those words. If they were true, then Luberion Ashenworth wasn’t merely a being who had reached an extraordinary level of strength. His very existence had violated something Orivian had always considered a fundamental limitation placed upon all beings in Eliomor by its Laws.

”Then are you saying I will be able to wield two Ultimate Abilities at once if I consume his soul? Would that not lead to my own death? Every Ability has its own individual ’Force’ separate from every other force in existence. If I were to wield two Ultimate ’Forces’, that would surely lead to my own death.” He spoke with complete seriousness because he knew the fundamental rules governing Abilities better than anyone.

He had researched them throughout his entire existence for a reason. The knowledge he had obtained about Abilities was something that very few beings could even comprehend, and he knew exactly what kind of disaster could occur if he were to consume a soul containing an Ultimate Ability.

If it were a Unique Ability, he would have consumed it without a second thought. His Ultimate Ability would have been capable of suppressing and subjugating it by force. But two Ultimate Abilities were different. Their Forces existed on an entirely different level, and if they were allowed to clash inside the same body, the result could be disastrous enough to erase Orivian himself or even consume his entire existence.

He wasn’t going to take that risk.

However, just as Orivian was about to dismiss the idea completely, Eliomor spoke again.

”Do not worry, you are not going to consume his soul like that. I have discovered something, and from that discovery, I have turned his soul into a ’Soul Pill’ which acts as the accumulation of all the experiences he went through throughout his entire lifetime.”

”Thus, giving you the Ultimate Ability while also allowing you to learn how to control it without clashing it against your own.”

Eliomor paused briefly before continuing, ”When you keep that Ultimate Ability within that separate soul and consume it, the soul will become a complete ’You’ inside your own body. You can then simply control both Abilities separately and use them to their fullest.”

Orivian furrowed his eyebrows as he carefully comprehended what Eliomor was saying. He was still somewhat skeptical about the exact method, but the explanation itself was logical. If he could make that soul part of himself while keeping it separated from his original soul, then it could theoretically prevent the two Ultimate Forces from directly clashing against each other.

After thinking about it for a long moment, Orivian finally nodded. ”Alright, I understand. Now, where is this ’Soul Pill’?”

Immediately after he asked, a tiny pill materialized in front of both of them. Its surface possessed a complete rainbow-like coloration, while an intense glow radiated from its small body.

”After you consume it, we can begin the ’Ritual of Sacrifice’ immediately, and every living being in Eliomor will have their souls come toward you. So, be prepared for that,” Eliomor explained.

Orivian grinned as his hand reached toward the pill almost instinctively, ”Oh, I will be prepared. Now... let’s see what his ’Extraction’ can do for me.”

He held the pill between his ashen fingers, his eyes gleaming with a hint of interest and excitement. Without a second thought, he placed it into his mouth and swallowed it.

One might wonder how a being like Orivian could trust Eliomor, especially when Eliomor itself had betrayed the beings born within its own embrace?

The answer was simple.

The distinct energy Orivian could sense from Eliomor belonged to ’them’, making it completely obvious to him that Eliomor had no choice but to join ’them’. In Orivian’s mind, that meant Eliomor had been forced into this situation, and if it were to betray him now, the consequences would be devastating. There was therefore no reason for Orivian to suspect that Eliomor would turn against him.

”Gulp...”

The pill went down his throat.

The moment it entered his body, an unbelievable amount of Soul Force erupted from within him, most of it clearly not his own. At the same time, countless memories and experiences began flooding into his mind at an incredible rate. Orivian’s body remained completely still as he processed the information, while Eliomor continued watching him without saying a single word.

The darkness surrounding them began to illuminate as the Soul Force spread farther and farther through Orivian’s body.

”Hahahahah! This power... it is truly overwhelming! It’s a shame he wasn’t from the Progenitor race. If he had been, he would have been even stronger with a physique like ours!”

Orivian began laughing as he felt his strength surge through his body in waves. If his previous strength could be counted as one unit, then his current strength was multiplying rapidly. Twice, thrice, four times, five times... the increase continued until it finally stopped at eight times his original strength.

His raw strength and speed had both increased dramatically, but that wasn’t the only change. The Ultimate Ability had also integrated into the separate portion of his soul exactly as Eliomor had explained. Orivian immediately separated that portion from his own soul, keeping Extraction isolated from Event Absorption so the two Ultimate Forces would not clash with one another.

Orivian’s body slowly began floating upward.

This time, there was no transformation. His skin didn’t change, his flesh didn’t distort, and his body didn’t develop any new features. Nothing about his physical appearance seemed different from before.

Yet something had changed.

The presence radiating from Orivian was now completely different. It was detached from emotion, and although it was difficult to describe exactly what had changed, anyone who saw him would immediately notice that...the slightest traces of arrogance and amusement that had always remained within him were gone.