Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

A day later, after Atlas and Seraphiel had spent the entire day together, the two eventually decided to return and rest. Before they parted ways, Seraphiel had insisted that Atlas come to her villa and sleep beside her, but he rejected the idea.

He understood what she meant behind those words, but he didn’t want their relationship to progress in that way just yet. He wanted the things between them to grow naturally, and he didn’t want to rush something that had only recently begun to change. Seraphiel, after hearing his reasoning, agreed with his decision without much thought. With that, the two eventually parted ways around nighttime.

Although Seraphiel was still worried about where Atlas was going to sleep, she didn’t want him to stay in an inn, even if it was an expensive one. Atlas reassured her that he would arrange something for himself, and after seeing how confident he was, Seraphiel eventually stopped worrying about it.

And that was exactly what Atlas did.

He immediately went out and purchased a small mansion for himself using three Platinum Coins. He had no reason to worry about money, considering how much he had accumulated during his days of entering Ruin after Ruin and collecting everything valuable he came across.

After completing the purchase, Atlas simply entered the mansion, found a suitable room, and went to sleep without giving the matter any further thought.

...

Atlas could now be seen standing in front of the Ruins of Eclipse’s ”Door”, the same place he had once visited with Kaelion to see the mysterious Ruin from the outside. However, the supposed door wasn’t actually a door at all. It was the same strange swirl of space he had seen before, constantly twisting in place as though the space itself had been distorted.

’Now it’s time to see what this mysterious place really is.’

Solaris and Seraphiel were standing slightly farther behind him. Seraphiel was still worried about Atlas, especially after seeing how strange the Ruins of Eclipse appeared to be, but she also understood that stopping him wouldn’t accomplish anything.

Atlas turned around and looked toward her for a moment before giving her a small nod.

He then turned back toward the swirling space and finally stepped forward.

The moment he crossed the threshold, Atlas felt his body being pulled forward as though he were being sucked directly into space itself. His figure disappeared almost instantly, leaving no trace behind. Solaris and Seraphiel watched the scene in silence for a moment before Solaris finally spoke.

”That’s the same way the last person went inside, so let’s not worry.” Seraphiel turned toward Solaris and nodded, although a slight trace of worry remained in her expression.

On the other hand, Atlas appeared somewhere completely different.

The first thing he noticed was the barren landscape surrounding him. There was nothing in sight for kilometers upon kilometers, with the empty field stretching all the way toward the horizon in every direction.

There were no mountains, forests, structures, or signs of civilization anywhere around him. Atlas slowly turned around and noticed that the swirl of space he had entered through was still present in the exact same location behind him.

He nodded slightly, ’Hmm, I guess the exit doesn’t disappear like the doors close in normal Ruins.’ Atlas then looked around once more, but the strange thing wasn’t the empty landscape. It was the complete absence of any living presence.

’Wasn’t there supposed to be Monsters coming wave after wave?’ He questioned internally as he continued searching the area, but there was still nothing. The strange emptiness made him wonder if this place was even a Ruin in the first place, ’Is this even a Ruin? It feels like an entire world and...what is this energy in the air?’

Atlas then altered the Logic of his senses and began extending his perception across the entirety of the ”Ruin.” His senses continued spreading farther and farther through the barren field, yet he couldn’t find anything that indicated where the Ruin ended. He continued extending them for a while, but even after reaching an enormous distance, there was still no boundary in sight.

Atlas frowned slightly, ’Even Eliomor is not this big, what the hell is this?’

He continued extending his senses until he finally detected several presences scattered throughout the barren ”Ruin.” The moment he sensed them, his eyes widened slightly as he immediately focused on their strength.

’Huh? Those are not S-ranks...they are even stronger than Orivian!’

The thought had barely formed in his mind when Atlas immediately altered the Logic of Space around himself. His figure entered a separate space that existed apart from the rest of the ”Ruin,” and once he was inside, he altered the Logic of Detection, Senses, and Sight within that space, deleting their connection to him.

Atlas remained there while observing the surrounding area.

Just as he finished making the alterations, a figure suddenly appeared at the exact position where he had been standing moments earlier. Atlas looked toward the figure from within the separate space and carefully observed her appearance.

It was a woman.

She possessed the upper body of a beautiful young woman, with long blue hair flowing freely around her shoulders as though it were weightless beneath the water. Her skin carried a faint sheen under the hazy light surrounding the area, while delicate scales covered parts of her arms, shoulders, and sides of her body.

From her waist downward, her human legs were replaced by a long, powerful fish tail covered in overlapping scales, ending in a broad fin.

Atlas narrowed his eyes as he noticed that she was speaking in a language he didn’t understand. The symbols within his eyes immediately began to flow as he activated his ability and altered the Logic of Language. The moment he completed the alteration, he could understand the meaning behind her words.

”I definitely sensed someone trying to pry into us, where did he go?”

Atlas continued watching her from the separate space. He could sense the immense power within her body, and it was even greater than Orivian’s. More importantly, the energy she possessed felt completely different from what he had encountered before.

’She is dangerous, those records were all either false or something is wrong with this ”Ruins of Eclipse”.’ Just as Atlas was thinking about that, the woman suddenly looked toward the swirl of space behind her. She stared at it for a moment before speaking.

”Hmm? What is this? A portal...and it’s giving off an unknown energy from the other side, let’s see...” The woman then floated toward the swirl of space and slowly approached it. Atlas immediately understood where the other side of the portal led.

The moment she was about to enter the portal, Atlas moved. He cut open the space in front of himself and appeared directly before the woman, positioning himself between her and the swirl of space.

”You aren’t allowed to go inside that.”

The woman immediately retreated back after seeing someone suddenly appear in front of her. She moved away from him while Atlas remained floating in front of the portal, his eyes staying on her as he observed her reaction.

He simply looked at her for a moment before thinking, ’’If she enters Eliomor through this portal she might kill Seraphiel, Let’s get some answers from this person first.’