Chapter 24: The Second Page
The room remained silent beneath the dim moonlight.
Only the Bloodbound Codex illuminated the darkness.
Its crimson light spread across the wooden table and painted faint shadows against the walls of the small inn room. Atlas sat before it without moving, his eyes fixed on the newly revealed second page.
Even after everything he had experienced, the Codex still unsettled him.
Not because it looked strange.
Because it never felt like an object.
It reacted, listened and it hid inside him.
It opened pages only after certain conditions were met.
That made it more dangerous than any normal relic. A relic could have functions. The Codex felt like it had intentions.
Atlas lowered his gaze toward the top of the page.
[ Trait ]
The letters looked different from the profile page. Sharper, less stable, and slightly distorted around the edges. The Codex seemed to treat this section differently from ordinary attribute information.
Atlas silently observed the title for a few seconds before reading downward.
His eyes stopped on the first entry.
[ Spirit Tails — Rank-B ]
A faint crimson pulse spread beneath the words. For a brief moment, blurry shadows resembling moving tails flickered across the page before fading.
Atlas immediately understood where it came from.
"...The Hybrid Muxical."
Among all the monsters whose blood the Codex had absorbed, only one had been B-Rank.
The Hybrid Muxical.
The four-tailed monster from the lower section of the Eternal Ruin.
Atlas still remembered the fight clearly. Its speed, its bite, the way it chewed his flesh while watching him like prey. If the Codex had not allowed him to write Agility and Stamina during that battle, he would have died there.
Now one of its traits had been recorded.
But there was no explanation.
No description.
No instruction.
Only the name and rank.
Atlas frowned faintly.
"...That’s all?"
The Codex gave no answer.
Atlas shifted his gaze lower.
[ Spirit Horn — Rank-E ]
This time, faint distortions spread beneath the page, and blurry shapes resembling curved horns appeared behind the text for a moment.
The Horned Bulls.
The near E-Rank monsters from the Veil-Class Ruin.
Their horns had gathered Spirit and released compressed beams. The ability had not threatened him much after his current growth, but for beginner explorers, it was dangerous enough to kill quickly.
Again, no explanation appeared.
Only the recorded trait.
Atlas continued reading.
[ Spirit Poison — Rank-D ]
The page darkened slightly around this entry. Thin crimson distortions moved outward from the words like flowing corruption before fading.
Atlas remembered the Crolled Jefrox.
Four mouths on one oversized face.
D-Rank monsters.
Their screams affected balance, and their bites carried something unpleasant that had lingered in his wounds longer than expected. If Spirit Poison came from them, then it was probably connected to that effect.
Probably.
The Codex still did not explain.
Atlas leaned back slightly and stared at the page.
So this was not a complete instruction manual.
The Codex had recorded traits from absorbed monster blood, but it did not automatically tell him everything. Either details would appear after assimilation, or he was expected to test them himself.
Considering how the Codex had worked until now, the second option felt more likely.
Nothing it gave him had been free of risk.
Then his gaze moved toward the bottom of the page.
He stopped.
[ ??? — Rank-??? ]
The text distorted continuously. The characters flickered, vanished, and reappeared like corrupted ink trying to stabilize. Unlike the other traits, this one had no name, no rank, and no visible shape behind it.
Atlas narrowed his eyes.
"... What does ??? mean? Incomplete?"
[A/N: Atlas is not from Earth remember?]
That was the first explanation that came to mind.
Maybe the Codex had absorbed something it could not identify properly. Maybe the blood source had been too strange. Maybe the trait was not complete enough to display. Or maybe it came from something inside the Eternal Ruin that even the Codex had not fully processed yet.
Atlas observed it for several more seconds.
Then dismissed it for now.
Without a name, rank, or function, it had no immediate use.
Below the trait list, crimson letters slowly formed one line at a time.
[ Note: User must tap a Trait with the Sanguis Stylus to assimilate it permanently. ]
Atlas’s eyes narrowed.
Another line appeared.
[ Blood is not needed for Assimilation. ]
The room became quiet again.
Atlas leaned back against the chair and stared at the note.
Permanently.
That word mattered.
These traits were not temporary effects.
If he assimilated one, it would become part of him.
Atlas exhaled slowly.
"...This seems dangerous."
The conclusion was simple.
Assimilation meant change. Permanent change. If the Codex altered his body, affected his Spirit, or caused another physical reaction like attribute writing, doing it inside a crowded city would be stupid.
The inn was not safe for experimentation.
Ormolio still moved outside the window. Lanterns lit the streets below. Voices drifted upward from the night roads. Carriages rolled across stone. Explorers, merchants, guards, and possibly nobles were all nearby.
If abnormal Spirit pressure leaked from this room, someone might notice.
Atlas did not know enough yet.
He did not know how advanced Spirit users sensed energy, he did not know whether relic detectors existed nearby.
He did not know if powerful Revenants could feel strange fluctuations from across the city.
That was enough reason to stop.
Atlas closed the Trait page slowly.
"For now..."
His voice remained calm.
"...I’ll leave it alone."
The Codex pulsed once.
Almost as if acknowledging the decision.
Then Atlas spoke the familiar command.
"Terminate."
The Codex reacted immediately.
The crimson pages folded shut. The Sanguis Stylus dissolved into particles beside it, and both relics collapsed inward before vanishing into Atlas’s chest.
The crimson glow disappeared.
Moonlight reclaimed the room.
Atlas lowered his gaze toward his chest.
The command still felt strange.
Natural.
Too natural.
He had not learned the word from anyone. The Codex had somehow placed it inside him through their connection. That meant the bond between them was deeper than a normal relic contract, and Atlas did not like not knowing the full cost.
Before he could continue thinking about it, his gaze shifted toward the small silver locket resting near the edge of the table.
Condor’s Locket.
A Rare-grade relic.
Worth one hundred gold.
Atlas picked it up carefully.
Immediately, he felt the difference.
The Spirit Energy inside the locket felt nothing like the Codex. The Codex felt ancient, predatory, and difficult to define. This relic felt controlled and stable, like Spirit had been refined into a tool with a specific purpose.
That difference taught him something.
Most relics were probably structured.
The Codex was not.
Atlas held the locket beneath the moonlight and focused slightly.
A faint trace of Spirit moved under his skin.
It was still difficult to control.
But when that small fluctuation touched the relic—
the Condor’s Locket reacted.
Fwoom.
A pale translucent barrier expanded across the room.
Atlas’s eyes sharpened.
The dome-shaped barrier spread quickly and surrounded the room with faint silver Spirit Energy. The wooden walls vibrated lightly, and ripples moved across the transparent surface around him.
Atlas stood immediately.
Alerted by the sudden phenomenon.
The barrier hummed quietly, illuminating the room with pale light. Its radius covered most of the room, matching the receptionist’s explanation. A ten-meter defensive dome.
More importantly, the noise from outside weakened.
Atlas narrowed his eyes.
"...It blocks sound too?"
Not completely, but it was enough.
That made the relic more useful than he expected. It could defend, but it could also create a private space for short periods. If used carefully, it might hide minor sounds from training, emergency movements, or sudden attacks.
Atlas stepped closer and extended one hand toward the barrier.
The moment his fingers touched its surface, ripples spread outward.
Solid and Stable.
But at the same time, the Spirit inside the locket weakened slightly.
Atlas noticed it immediately.
"...So it consumes stored Spirit."
That confirmed the basic rule.
The locket did not create defense endlessly. It used stored Spirit as fuel. Three uses probably meant three full activations under normal conditions, but sustaining the barrier, taking damage, or expanding under pressure would likely drain it faster.
Relics had limits.
That was important.
The Codex felt abnormal because its limits were hidden, but normal relics had clear conditions. Stored Spirit, activation trigger, duration, usage count, durability, and possibly overload risk.
Atlas continued touching the barrier for a few seconds.
The surface held firm, but the drain continued slowly.
He withdrew his hand.
The ripples faded.
Then he focused on the locket again.
The barrier collapsed quietly, folding back into the relic until only the small silver locket remained in his palm.
The room returned to darkness.
Atlas looked at the relic carefully.
"One use should be reduced now."
He did not know by how much, but the energy inside had clearly weakened. That meant careless testing could waste the relic. From now on, he would only use it when necessary.
Still, the test had been worth it.
He now understood three things.
First, Rare-grade relics could contain stable Spirit functions.
Second, relics operated through stored energy and had measurable limits.
Third, defensive relics could also create temporary privacy if used correctly.
Atlas placed the Condor’s Locket beside the table.
Then he sat down again.
His thoughts returned to the Trait page.
Spirit Tails.
Spirit Horn.
Spirit Poison.
???
Each one represented a possible permanent change.
If he assimilated Spirit Horn, could he release compressed Spirit attacks?
If he assimilated Spirit Poison, would his attacks carry poison?
If he assimilated Spirit Tails, would his body grow tails, or would it create a Spirit-based movement ability related to the Hybrid Muxical?
Atlas’s expression darkened slightly.
Physical mutation was possible.
That was another reason not to test inside the city.
He needed an isolated place.
A ruin, a forest, or somewhere far from people.
And before that, he needed more control over Spirit.
Assimilating traits without understanding his own Spirit would be like throwing oil into fire and hoping the flame listened.
Atlas leaned back in the chair and looked toward the window.
Ormolio’s lights spread beneath the night.
For most people in the city, one Rare-grade relic would be the biggest fortune of their lives.
For Atlas, it had become a tool.
A useful tool.
The true danger remained inside his chest.
The Bloodbound Codex had opened a second page.
Attributes were only the first function.
Traits were the second.
And if the second page had opened after he merely absorbed a handful of monster blood, then the later pages would be far more dangerous.
Atlas slowly closed his eyes.
He had one week in Ormolio.
During that week, he needed to do three things.
Gather information.
Learn basic Spirit control.
And find a safe place outside the city to test assimilation.
After that, he would leave.
No matter what.
Atlas opened his eyes again.
His gaze was calm.
The decision had not changed.
Ormolio was only a temporary stop now.
The Codex had given him power, but every new function also increased the danger around him. If he remained in one place too long, someone would notice the pattern eventually.
A rookie Explorer.
Rare relic discovery.
Unusual materials.
Fast improvement.
Too many coincidences could become a trail.
Atlas quietly picked up the locket and placed it beneath his clothes.
Then he moved toward the bed.
For the first time since entering the Eternal Ruin, he had a room, food in his stomach, money in his pouch, and a defensive relic in his possession.
That should have felt safe.
It did not.
Atlas lay down while keeping one hand near his chest.
The Codex rested there silently.
Waiting.
And beneath the quiet moonlight of Ormolio, Atlas finally closed his eyes.
Not because he trusted the city.
Because tomorrow, he would need to move again.
