Free Web NovelChapter 25: Rumours...
Morning sunlight spilled through the wooden window of the inn room.
Golden light spread across the floor while the sounds of Ormolio rose faintly from outside. Merchants had already begun opening their shops. Carriage wheels rolled across the stone roads. Voices moved through the streets below as the city returned to its usual rhythm.
Life continued normally.
Atlas sat at the edge of the bed.
His eyes stayed fixed toward the window, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
Spirit.
Ruins.
Relics.
Ranks.
Those were the main things he had learned so far.
Or more accurately, those were the only things he had managed to understand at a basic level. The Guild clearly held far more information, but deeper records required rank, trust, and active status inside the Explorer system. Atlas had none of those yet.
Still, what he had already learned was enough.
Ruins had danger ranks.
Relics had value ranks.
Spirit was the foundation behind everything powerful in Eliomor.
And the Bloodbound Codex did not fit properly into any of those categories.
Atlas slowly lowered his gaze.
His fingers brushed against his chest.
The warmth remained there, silent and hidden.
The Codex could increase his attributes. It could store monster blood. It could open pages based on conditions. It could record traits from spiritual monsters. Every new function made it more useful, but also more dangerous.
Atlas exhaled quietly and stood from the bed.
"...Power first."
His voice was calm.
That conclusion had not changed.
Without power, nothing mattered.
Atlas adjusted the black hood over his head and left the room.
The Golden Inn was already lively.
Several explorers sat around the dining area eating breakfast, while servants moved between the tables with trays of food and drinks. The smell of roasted meat filled the air, mixing with fresh bread, soup, and cheap alcohol.
Atlas walked toward an empty table and ordered a simple meal.
Bread.
Soup.
Roasted meat.
Nothing excessive.
Just enough.
Several minutes later, he ate quietly beneath his hood while listening to the conversations around him. Most of the talk was ordinary Guild chatter. Ruins. Relics. Monster hunts. Failed requests. Material prices. Complaints about low pay and high risk.
Nothing useful.
Then a loud voice came from a nearby corner.
"Hey! Did you hear?"
Atlas’s gaze shifted faintly without moving his head.
Four explorers sat around a large wooden table with oversized beer glasses, despite the early hour. One of them leaned forward with an excited expression.
"His Majesty apparently sent the Royal Revenants into the Eternal-Class Ruin that appeared after a thousand years!"
Another explorer nearly choked on his drink.
"What?!"
The first man laughed loudly.
"And guess what?"
He slammed the table.
"They succeeded!"
The surrounding atmosphere changed at once.
Several explorers turned toward the conversation. Even those pretending not to listen lowered their voices. Eternal-Class Ruins were not ordinary news. Most explorers would never see one in their lifetime, and even hearing about one being cleared was enough to shift the mood of a room.
Another man lifted his beer glass with a grin.
"Oho! Then the Human Continent should stay safe for another century, right?"
He laughed, then continued.
"If they succeeded, they definitely retrieved the relic inside."
His expression turned greedy.
"And if I had to guess..."
He whistled.
"...it is probably Cataclysm-Class at minimum."
Another explorer shook his head immediately.
"Idiot."
His voice lowered slightly.
"If an Eternal-Class Ruin appeared after a thousand years..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...then the relic might even be Divine-Class."
A brief silence spread across the nearby tables.
Even Atlas’s fingers paused faintly.
’Divine-Class?’
He had heard the relic classification yesterday. Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Ancient, Cataclysm, and Divine. The receptionist had said Divine-grade relics were treated as myths by most people. Yet now these explorers were casually guessing that the Eternal Ruin could have contained one.
Atlas did not react visibly.
He continued eating.
Outwardly, nothing changed.
But inwardly, his thoughts darkened.
So, the Royal Revenants had not just survived, they even cleared it.
He had expected that outcome. People like them were not weak. The Royal Family had not sent ordinary soldiers into that ruin. They had sent true elites after using a commoner to trigger the first danger.
The weak one had been him.
The bait.
The disposable body thrown inside first so the important people could enter with less risk.
Atlas lowered his gaze toward the bowl before him.
Then continued eating calmly.
Hatred stirred quietly inside his chest.
Cold.
Controlled.
Not loud enough to affect his expression.
But present.
Several hours later, Atlas left Ormolio again.
The massive city walls gradually disappeared behind him as the forest road stretched forward beneath the afternoon sunlight. Cold wind brushed against his black hood, and fallen leaves crunched faintly beneath his footsteps.
The Guild permission paper remained hidden beneath his attire.
His movements stayed calm and controlled.
But his thoughts remained on the conversation from the inn.
’So they cleared it.’
No surprise.
Only confirmation.
The Royal Family had never expected him to survive. He had been the test body. The first sacrifice. The commoner sent forward so the true forces could follow afterward.
Atlas’s fingers tightened faintly.
’Those bastards...’
His expression darkened beneath the hood.
’Just wait.’
The forest wind shifted around him.
For the first time since escaping the Eternal Ruin, true killing intent surfaced in his eyes.
’When I become stronger...’
His steps continued through the forest.
’I’ll take every single one of your heads.’
The thought remained steady.
Atlas meant it.
Time passed quietly after that.
Eventually, the forest around him changed. The trees became denser, the air grew colder, and faint Spirit fluctuations drifted through the surroundings. Atlas recognized the signs immediately.
The ruin was nearby.
Several minutes later, he saw it.
A massive stone structure stood ahead, half-buried inside the forest.
Ancient and it felt as if it was decaying slowly.
Unlike the Eternal Ruin, this place felt smaller. It was not harmless, but it did not carry that suffocating pressure that made the air feel like it belonged to something alive. Thick roots wrapped around portions of the outer walls. Faded runes glowed weakly beneath moss and cracks. The double doors at the entrance were already partially damaged.
Atlas stopped several meters away and observed the structure.
This was not the same Veil-Class Ruin he had cleared yesterday.
The Guild had several low-ranked ruins marked near Ormolio. Atlas had chosen another one today for a different purpose. He was not here mainly for materials or relics.
He was here to test assimilation.
Inside a ruin, where abnormal Spirit fluctuations would be harder to detect from outside.
Atlas approached slowly.
The closer he moved, the heavier the surrounding Spirit fluctuations became. Faint fog drifted near the entrance, and cold air flowed outward from the darkness beyond the cracked doors.
He stopped before entering.
Then spoke quietly.
"Originate."
Crimson light surfaced from his chest.
The Bloodbound Codex emerged through distorted crimson particles, and the Sanguis Stylus materialized beside it. Atlas caught the Codex calmly and opened it to the second page.
The crimson title flickered.
[ Trait ]
The list appeared beneath it.
[ Spirit Tails — Rank-B ]
[ Spirit Horn — Rank-E ]
[ Spirit Poison — Rank-D ]
[ ??? — Rank-??? ]
The unknown trait continued flickering unnaturally at the bottom. The letters distorted, vanished, and reappeared without stabilizing. Atlas looked at it for a moment, then ignored it.
It had no current use. freёwebnovel.com
His gaze returned to the first trait.
[ Spirit Tails — Rank-B ]
The strongest trait currently available.
The one recorded from the Hybrid Muxical.
Atlas stared at it silently.
Assimilation meant permanent change.
That was the issue.
He did not know whether the trait would create physical tails, Spirit-based appendages, movement enhancement, balance improvement, or something else entirely. He did not know whether assimilation would hurt. He did not know whether it would release a visible burst of Spirit. He did not know whether his body would reject it.
That was exactly why he had come here.
If something went wrong, the ruin would hide most of it and if monsters came, he could kill them.
If the process injured him, he could still use the Codex.
Atlas exhaled slowly.
"...Power."
The word was simple.
Assimilating monster traits into his own body was not normal. No ordinary human would willingly merge with monster abilities without understanding the consequences.
But ordinary humans died first.
Commoners died earlier than that.
Atlas had learned that lesson long before the Eternal Ruin. Hunger taught it. The slums taught it. The Royal Family confirmed it.
Weakness meant being used and thrown away.
Atlas refused to remain weak again.
His grip tightened around the Sanguis Stylus.
Then he entered the ruin.
The moment he stepped past the entrance, the outside world disappeared behind him. Cold darkness spread through the interior. Faint Spirit fluctuations drifted through the air, and cracked pillars lined the ancient stone pathway ahead. freewebnøvel.coɱ
The ruin was quiet.
Atlas walked deeper until the entrance light faded behind him. Then he stopped inside a wide chamber where broken pillars circled the walls and old runes glowed faintly beneath layers of dust.
The space was open enough.
Suitable for testing.
Atlas lifted the Codex.
The Trait page remained open.
[ Spirit Tails — Rank-B ]
The words pulsed faintly.
And Atlas raised the Sanguis Stylus.
