Chapter 322: The Threshold

"Originate."

Atlas called out the Codex after a long time since his battle against Orivian. The familiar book appeared as always, but before it could even fully emerge, Atlas once again formed the isolated spatial dimension around himself.

He wanted to make absolutely certain that neither the Codex nor anything related to it could be seen or sensed by anyone outside. He couldn’t allow anyone else to discover its existence even by accident.

Only after confirming that the surrounding space had been completely isolated did Atlas open the first page of the Codex.

Just as he had suspected, the Spirit Energy attribute was completely gone, replaced by the Aether attribute.

Atlas stared at the page for a few seconds before a faint look of understanding appeared in his eyes, ’I knew it. The Codex seems to know exactly what I need.’

He shook his head shortly after and dismissed the suspicious thoughts that had begun appearing in his mind. Trying to understand the Codex had always given him more headache than answers.

For now, he would simply use what it had given him.

Atlas reached toward the side of the Codex and removed the Sanguis Stylus, holding the crystal-like pen between his fingers as he examined the strange substance inside it. He immediately noticed that it didn’t look much like blood anymore, ’Hmm... It’s less like blood and more like whatever it absorbed from that SSS-rank Monster’s spherical object.’

His thoughts then returned to the battles against Orivian and Azarion, ’Something similar must have happened after I killed Orivian and Azarion, but the Codex hadn’t even appeared at that time.’ Atlas frowned slightly as he tried to connect the pieces, but once again, he couldn’t find an answer.

He could only sigh as he looked at the Stylus. ’It may be that the Codex can take something other than blood as well, and it can probably do it without even coming out.’ Atlas remembered how his Bloodline had increased to twenty-three percent even after Orivian’s entire existence had been erased by the Flames of Nothingness.

The Codex hadn’t even appeared during that moment, yet something had clearly been absorbed, ’I don’t know how this book and Stylus work, but there is clearly more to them than I understand.’ He eventually stopped thinking about it and moved the tip of the Sanguis Stylus toward the Aether attribute.

This time, there were no locks on the three blanks.

The previous restrictions had already disappeared along with the Spirit Energy attribute, leaving Aether in its place without forcing him to start from the beginning again.

Atlas stared at the page for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face, "Now’s the time to do what I have been planning for a while." Before writing anything, however, Atlas immediately prepared his body and Soul for the consequences.

He altered the logic of pain within both of them, reducing its effect until it became almost negligible, and then used Event Absorption to absorb the event of that strain reaching his mind. Only after completing these preparations did Atlas place the Sanguis Stylus against the page.

He wrote every number in one go.

The Stylus moved as quickly as Atlas could possibly make it move, filling the page with the same number across every attribute. He wasn’t writing only the Aether attribute, he was increasing everything he possessed at once.

Within a single instant, the process was complete, and Atlas stared at the result as the numbers appeared beneath his profile.

[ PROFILE ]

[ Name: Atlas Mariorett ]

[ STATS ]

Strength: 999

Stamina: 999

Agility: 999

Aether: 999

Null: 999

The moment every attribute reached 999, the Codex page suddenly began glitching again. The letters and numbers flickered rapidly across the page, exactly like the first time Atlas had reached that number, and he immediately focused on his own body while waiting for the effect to appear.

For several seconds, nothing seemed to happen. Atlas almost began thinking that the process had somehow failed this time, ’Nothing seems to have happened to my body—’

His thought suddenly stopped.

His entire being went numb.

Atlas’s eyes remained fixed on the Codex page, yet he couldn’t move his head or even react properly to what was happening. There was no pain in his body and no pain in his Soul because of the preparations he had made beforehand.

Instead, every part of his existence simply became numb, as though his body and Soul had temporarily lost the ability to respond to outside stimuli. Atlas could still think, but everything else seemed distant and disconnected from his consciousness.

Then...Aether began flooding into his body and the amount was enormous.

His veins immediately bulged as if they were about to burst under the pressure, but before they could be damaged, they expanded and healed at the same time. Aether poured through every part of his body, spreading through his organs, muscles, bones, and even the smallest parts of his physical structure.

The sheer amount of energy entering him was so immense that Atlas couldn’t help but wonder whether his body could still be considered normal. Yet...instead of destroying him, the Aether was being absorbed and converted into the new foundation of his existence.

Atlas suddenly felt intense heat pressing down on his body.

Then, in the next moment, it disappeared completely.

Another wave of heat appeared somewhere else as his muscles, flesh, bones, and even cells began changing according to the numbers he had written. His raw physical strength increased rapidly, first by a hundredfold and then by a thousandfold, while his entire body adapted to the new level of power.

The changes weren’t limited to his muscles either. His internal structure was being reconstructed from the cellular level once again, allowing his body to contain the enormous amount of Aether and physical strength that had suddenly appeared within him.

Despite the massive increase in Strength, Atlas’s body didn’t become bulky.

Instead, it became even leaner and more refined.

His cells themselves were changing the foundation of his body from within, making his physical structure denser without increasing its outward size. Atlas could feel the transformation happening throughout every part of him, but he couldn’t move an inch to see it from external view.

’If not for the logic alteration, I would have gone unconscious in an instant.’

Atlas continued feeling the process through his consciousness as the transformation moved through his body. His legs became leaner and more compact as his Agility increased, while the rest of his physical structure continued adjusting to the new values.

Then he felt something different.

It came from his Null attribute.

Atlas suddenly sensed a small swirl of Null forming somewhere deep inside his existence. It wasn’t simply the Null already flowing through his body. This felt different, almost as though the increase in his attribute had caused something new to begin forming inside him. Atlas’s thoughts immediately focused on it, ’What’s this?’

He wanted to investigate it, but his consciousness was still occupied with the ongoing transformation. He couldn’t move his body, and even focusing entirely on that strange swirl was difficult while every part of his body continued changing around it.

Atlas could only remember the sensation and wait for the process to finish.

The transformation continued for minutes.

Then those minutes became hours.

...

Only after nearly two hours did the process finally begin to slow down.

The flow of Aether gradually stabilized, and the numbness that had spread throughout Atlas’s body slowly disappeared. His consciousness finally felt connected to his body again, and after another moment, he could move his fingers.

Atlas slowly lowered his gaze toward himself and immediately noticed the difference. His face had remained completely unchanged, but his body had become noticeably leaner than before, to the point that his clothes were now slightly loose around his frame.

Atlas slowly raised one hand and looked at it.

He clenched his fist.

CRACK!

The space directly in front of his fist suddenly fractured.

Atlas’s eyes widened as he stared at the cracks spreading across the surrounding space like broken glass. He hadn’t released any attack or intentionally used his abilities. He had simply clenched his hand, yet the space itself had been unable to withstand the force produced by that ordinary movement.

’What the hell?’

Atlas immediately released his fist and remained still. However, the problem became even clearer when he accidentally moved his body backward. The space behind him cracked again, forcing Atlas to stop moving completely. He stared at the damaged space for several moments before his expression became serious.

’Fuck... I am losing control again?’ Atlas had assumed that, just like before, increasing his attributes would simply make his body stronger while his control over that strength also increased. This time, however, something was clearly different.

His strength had reached a level where even a simple movement was beginning to affect the surrounding space, ’Must be because I increased them to the threshold.’

Atlas immediately altered the logic of space around himself and created a spatial dimension around his body.

Then he added another layer.

And another.

Three separate layers of isolated spatial dimensions formed around him, completely separating his current state from the outside world.

Atlas finally relaxed slightly after confirming that the surrounding space was secure, knowing that he could now begin practicing his control without risking anyone nearby. Atlas thought as he considered meeting Seraphiel after all this.

’At this condition, I can’t even meet Seraphiel.’