Chapter 101: Mythbloom Codex
Having glanced at each and stalled and eliminated other participants long enough, Silvie resumed her descent, catching up with Kei Y. Globules of water surrounded her like a heavy, dense mist—one that others made sure to avoid after witnessing firsthand how dangerous those beads of water were.
When she got close enough, Olly reached out playfully to her, which made her giggle as she reached out to grab the cub that nestled itself in her robes. She made sure Olly was safe from the water, careful not to accidentally injure him. Once she confirmed his safety, she looked over to Kei Y, who had been staring downwards at the Chinese participant falling quickly and racking up eliminations.
Kei Y glanced at her and realized they both had the same intention for the Chinese participant. And so, without saying much, he opened his status screen and showed her his Unique Skill.
Unique Skill: [Bond]
Effect: Can form a living connection with any individual or creature that consumes your blood. Once bonded, you gain access to that entity’s force alignment, allowing you to wield it at an elevated progression level due to your Pristine Aether. In return, those bonded gain passive benefits through the Favor of Aether, accelerating their growth and evolving their force potential.
Core Ability Part 1 – Force Conduction:
Once a bond is formed, you can channel and utilize the target’s unique force alignment at a heightened tier of performance. Your Pristine Aether naturally purifies, sharpens, and adapts the force to suit your style—often surpassing the capabilities of the original wielder.
Passive Trait – Prismatic Adaptation:
You can fluidly switch between all bonded force alignments without internal instability or elemental rejection. Techniques can be freely blended, force properties layered, or tactics shifted based on situational needs.
Aether Feedback Loop:
When you improve or evolve a bonded force through battle or insight, the original wielder or creature receives a reflected surge in growth. This can enhance control, deepen force resonance, or, in rare cases, catalyze a force evolution—transforming it into a higher-grade alignment unique to that bond.
Favor of Aether (Creature & Ally Benefit):
Any creature or individual that consumes your blood gains the Favor of Aether. This passive blessing grants them:
- Draw Environmental Aether: Natural ability to siphon ambient aether, reducing reliance on personal reserves.
- Aether Projection: Can manifest raw or shaped aether forms—blades, barriers, pulses, or healing—without needing formal techniques.
- Aether Affinity Amplification: Their force control becomes smoother and more potent, with lower casting strain and heightened responsiveness.
System Notes:
- You can maintain multiple bonds at once.
- Mastery over more exotic or unstable forces requires internal calibration.
- Some force types may resist feedback evolution unless emotional alignment or combat synergy is achieved.
But now, with the Chinese participant catching both their eyes, he figured it was time.
Before confirming his intent to go after the rising powerhouse, Kei Y shared his status screen—specifically, the first part of his Unique Skill.
Silvie studied the skill in silence. Her eyes widened slightly beneath the mask.
Then came the second part.
A sub-screen opened, revealing a brief scroll of names.
- Zeph – Zephyr Force
A swift, sharp wind-based force specializing in rapid movement and slicing gusts.
- Hachi – ???
Unknown alignment. Latent force still developing.
- Wooloo – Ebb & Flow Force
A dual-tide force rooted in lunar and tidal rhythms. Shifts between regeneration and crushing pressure.
- Verdant Volt Hare – Verdant Volt
A green lightning force combining wind directionality with shock disruption.
- Fellhorn Stormbringer – Storm Wind
An aerial juggernaut force that merges tempests and pressure currents.
- Frost Tyrant Fellhorn – Glacial Force
Slow, crushing ice infused with absolute stillness and entropy.
- Seth – Healing Force
Focused on restorative projection, now enhanced through the Favor of Aether.
- ???? – Creation Force
A rare, unstable bond. Force origin remains undetermined, but traces to a god-tier artisan creature.
It wasn’t some technique.
It was his own blood. His own connections.
And now, she understood.
He wasn’t just borrowing power.
He was cultivating it—refining it—and giving it back stronger than before.
Seeing his Unique Skill, Silvie couldn’t help but be amazed. Any curiosity about why he would reveal something so significant so casually vanished when she realized—she’d been eyeing the Chinese cultivator for the same reason. And that was not solely because of the first part of his Bond skill: Force Conduction. But the second part… that left her even more shocked than anything else.
“There’s so many powerful people around here,” she said quietly, eyes still flicking across the battlefield. “So many myths gathered in one place—each one with a force you could acquire. Why not try them?”
“I’m already bloated enough as it is,” Kei Y replied with a sigh. “I don’t think I can handle any more.”
“And Master?” Silvie asked with a small smile.
“I tried already,” Kei Y muttered, visibly annoyed. “Didn’t work for some reason.”
“Is there a reason you’re so upset about not getting Water Force?” she asked.
“I already have Wind and Fire, and I’m training Earth Force,” Kei Y said, his voice growing animated. “If I got my hands on Water Force too, then wouldn’t I basically be the Avatar? Master of all elements?”
He raised his hand dramatically. “My eyes even glow too, so I could make it look like I’m going into the Avatar State. That’d be so cool.”
His eyes shone under the mask, pure childlike excitement radiating off him like heat.
That made Silvie laugh.
“So how exactly does the second part of your skill work with humans?” she asked, genuinely curious now.
“I’m not even sure it does, to be honest,” Kei Y admitted. “I’ve only seen it manifest clearly with creatures. I don’t even want to imagine how it would work on humans.”
He visibly shuddered at the thought.
“So that’s how you’re able to use Creation Force,” Silvie said, nodding in realization. “Still… don’t you think having such a creature is a little cliché for the second part of your Unique Skill?”
“Meh,” Kei Y shrugged. “It’s like… a trope that existence commands to exist.”
At that moment, the [He Who Denies Fate] title in his status blinked aggressively, almost as if protesting his words.
Kei Y rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, I take it back.”
Once his title calmed down, he glanced over at Silvie.
“So… why are you so interested in him?” he asked, gesturing toward the Chinese contestant below.
Silvie didn’t answer right away. After a moment of thought, she raised one hand and summoned a codex—an ancient tome seemingly woven from roots, leaves, and pulsing strands of natural energy. She held it up toward him and revealed her status screen.
Unique Skill: [Mythbloom Codex]
Effect: You can activate one “Myth Page” at a time. Each page draws from a botanical manifestation of a myth or archetype, transforming your combat style, battlefield presence, and abilities for a short period. Pages are limited to 3–5 minutes of activation, with cooldowns and resonance-based restrictions.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Unlike Kei Y’s Bond, her skill wasn’t split into sections—it was organized more like a living book, each entry a transformation of its own. Four pages had already been filled in, each one unique, powerful, and reflective of some legend or concept from Earth’s lost past.
Kei Y didn’t need to ask.
It was clear from the way her gaze returned to the Chinese contestant—calculating, composed, curious.
She planned to add him as a new page.
Kei Y couldn’t help but be fascinated by her Unique Skill. When she mentioned she was being trained to become Earth’s sole protector, it now made perfect sense. With a skill like that—and the pages she already had—she truly could live up to that title. If she ever used her full strength, it was hard to imagine anyone other than another pristine aether user even standing a chance.
“In all fairness, your skill is way more broken than mine,” Kei Y muttered. “Why don’t you just smack him with your book and get it over with?”
“I’m thinking about it,” Silvie replied, “but getting a new page isn’t as simple as smacking people with it. I have to understand the mythology on a deeper level. My comprehension gives birth to new pages. My nature force just… makes them real.”
Kei Y blinked, unimpressed. “I can smack him with your book if you like.”
Without hesitation, she tossed the living codex his way. “Be my guest. I’ll hang back and eliminate a few more.”
“Oooh…” Kei Y grinned wickedly as he caught the tome. “First thing’s first though. You heard too much.”
He looked down at the body beneath him—his unconscious sled. The Greek participant had begun stirring earlier just before their conversation, twitching slightly, maybe regaining awareness.
Without pause, Kei Y pulled out a thin, handcrafted needle. It resembled his Windpiercer needles but was more surgical.
In one smooth motion, he stabbed it directly into the base of the skull, directly into his Hippocampus.
A short electric pulse flashed from the needle.
The result was immediate. The participant’s eyes rolled back. Foaming at the mouth. Limbs slackened. Brain activity flatlined—temporarily.
“I hit the hippocampus. Quick, clean, memory’s gone. No idea what he heard, but I’m not taking chances,” Kei Y explained calmly, voice completely detached from the action.
Silvie froze, halfway turning away. Her mask didn’t hide the unease radiating from her.
“Kei…” she began slowly, clearly disturbed. “What the hell was that?”
“I’ve done worse in operating rooms,” he said casually. “Don’t worry. Precision’s everything.”
Silvie didn’t look reassured. “If you ever have to do that to me… just use Healing Force. Or—actually—just let me die.”
She hugged Olly tighter.
Across the arena, a shriek suddenly erupted—one that echoed loud enough to make birds scatter from the tournament platform.
The Queen of Greece had stood up, food flying everywhere as her stress-eating binge was violently interrupted. Pastries, olives, and gold-gilded grapes soared through the air.
Her scream was loud enough to echo through the stadium and reach the pyramid.
All heads turned.
Kei Y raised his hand, carved a few glowing strokes into the air with aether, and let the message hover clearly in glowing script for her and everyone to read:
“No wonder you’re so fat.”
Silvie stared blankly.
“...You’re going to get us all assassinated.”
“She started it,” Kei Y muttered, already kicking his sled back into motion. “I’m just riding the wave.”
And as if to prove Silvie right, every single Greece participant suddenly barreled toward them—rage in their eyes, weapons drawn, aether blazing.
Especially one.
Kei Y turned around just in time to meet the gaze of their Recruit Class leader—a young woman whose features bore a suspiciously strong resemblance to Queen Thalia.
Her eyes burned with fury.
“Oh,” Kei Y said, blinking. “You’re actually pretty attractive. I’m guessing Hippopotamus is your mother?”
She stopped mid-flight, her expression unreadable for a moment.
“You really think you’re funny, huh?” she asked coldly, cracking her knuckles.
“I don’t think,” Kei Y replied, completely serious. “I know. In the words of a poet—Real eyes realize real lies. So it’s not my fault you can’t see your mother’s… abhorrent appearance.”
He paused, tilted his head slightly, and continued as if giving genuine life advice.
“Just be careful not to eat too much. It would be a real shame if you ended up looking like her. Would ruin the whole 'attractiveness' vibe you've got going on.”
He didn’t wait for a reply. He handed his sled over to Silve for safekeeping to ensure he wasn't eliminated and took off.
With a faint shimmer of healing force surging beneath his feet, Kei Y vanished, shooting downward in a burst of speed—leaving behind only the echo of his words and the stunned rage of the Greek recruit leader.
But before the others could follow after him—
Swoosh.
Water burst from the air, and Silvie appeared directly in the leader’s path.
She moved fast.
Too fast.
Her presence alone halted the entire charge of Greece’s recruit class, as her dense mist of water globules began to swirl again—radiating pressure that made even the more confident participants hesitate.
“You’re fighting me,” she said calmly.
The Greek leader gritted her teeth. “That boy—”
“Isn’t your concern anymore,” Silvie said, her tone final.
Behind her, Olly peeked out from her robes, blinked at the rising standoff, and quietly retreated into the fabric.
As if sensing a sudden presence behind him, the Chinese participant turned his head—only to see a masked figure barreling toward him at absurd speed, a codex of some kind clenched tightly in both hands.
Despite the mask obscuring his face, the Chinese cultivator could feel the deranged gleam in the attacker’s eyes. It radiated off him like heat. A crazed, manic energy. Excitement. Expectation.
He felt uncomfortable.
“What the—?”
He instinctively lashed out with a strike—but it passed through thin air.
Kei Y didn’t even flinch.
Because he wasn’t there.
The attack had hit an afterimage—an echo left behind by Whispering Breeze, his presence manipulation technique.
Before the Chinese participant could react again—SMACK.
A hardcover book slammed against the back of his head.
“Huh?” he muttered, more confused than hurt.
THWACK.
Another strike from a different angle. He stumbled mid-air.
THUNK.
A third blow.
It wasn’t until the fourth time the codex came down on him that he finally realized—he was being assaulted with a book.
Meanwhile, high above, Silvie received a flurry of system alerts—each one more irritated than the last:
[Unable to add Myth to the Mythbloom Codex]
[Unable to add Myth...]
[Myth not compatible...]
[Entry denied...]
[Would you stop?!]
[Seriously, STOP.]
[No means NO.]
Silvie stared blankly at the floating messages, her face deadpan behind the mask as she sighed and flicked one last globule of water to knock the Greek recruit leader off her path—sending her spiraling back up the pyramid to avoid a finishing blow.
“…I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that,” she muttered to herself.
Moments later, Kei Y floated lazily back toward her, once again planting his feet on his sled, holding the codex out like a disappointed librarian.
“I checked after every hit,” he said, sounding genuinely dejected. “Still no new pages. Maybe it’s broken?”
Silvie snatched it back without a word.
Far below, the Chinese participant hovered midair, dazed, a slight bruise forming on his forehead. He looked around as if he was the crazy one—trying to process the fact that he had just been repeatedly beaten with a book… by someone who didn’t even introduce himself.
Even the Queen of Greece, in the middle of an frantic screech about her ruined snack table and Kei Y's public insult aimed towards her, paused mid-yell. She blinked twice. Then leaned forward, confused.
“…Did that masked boy just… assault another participant with a book?”
The crowd was too stunned to answer.
Because yes.
Yes, he absolutely did.
And Kei Y didn’t even look guilty.
Auserre and the Vendor, for the most part, ignored all the tournament chaos and continued selling food. Their stall had become extremely popular—largely because Kei Y had prepared a huge variety of dishes for them to sell ahead of time.
“That kid’s a cash pig,” Auserre muttered, tallying another pouch of coins. “Forget his cultivation. His true purpose is making me rich.”
“Making us rich,” the Vendor corrected, though he was already chewing on a skewer. “Too bad he didn’t cook more.”
“You have Creation Force,” Auserre replied, mouth half-full. “Just replicate what he made. It’ll be fine.”
“You know how draining Creation Force is,” the Vendor complained, even as he reached for another dumpling. “If you keep eating at this rate, I’ll be empty by sundown.”
“You fought an entire galaxy on your own for weeks. Don’t act soft now,” Auserre said, waving him off. “You should’ve asked him to make more varieties in bulk. I’m starting to think we should make him take a chef profession.”
“What about crafting? He’s really good at that too,” the Vendor asked. “And there’s also alchemy, this elixir he showed me is really something.”
The Vendor showed Auserre the elixir Kei Y made back in the Expanse but never really used and just kept in his inventory.
“He can also be a healing profession too,” he added.
She paused, watching the food disappear off the stall faster than they could restock.
“I’ll just have to find him the necessary scrolls so he can take on as many professions as he wants,” Auserre said, though the last part came out a little tense. Even for her, those scrolls were hard to come by—but her student seemed truly talented in multiple fields, and she couldn’t afford to let that potential go to waste. “If anything, I’ll just make him work under me for free for the rest of his life,” she added, eyes gleaming.
“You’re really evil,” the Vendor said in response.
“You can use him too.”
“He’s already used to that sort of life anyway. The rest of his life wouldn’t make a difference.”
Taking a glance at her students, Auserre watched as Kei Y and Silvie eliminate a good number of the Greece participants, even forcing their leader to disengage to avoid being eliminated.
Afterward, they regrouped with Kei M, Mia, and Inpu.
Silvie took a moment to glance toward the Soldier Class and Specialist Class sides. “Should we help them out?” she asked.
The way the tournament was structured, participants from the Soldier and Specialist Classes weren’t allowed to interfere with the Recruit Class—mainly due to the sheer difference in strength. However, the reverse wasn’t true. Despite having their own challenges, the Recruit Class participants could affect the higher tiers. Their attacks could interfere with both the Soldier and Specialist sides, if executed with enough force and precision.
That said, very few recruits had the capability to pull it off. Most lacked the control, the range, or the power to make their interference meaningful.
But Kei Y was not like most.
“The Soldier Class side should be fine with my brother present,” Kei M said thoughtfully. “The Specialist Class side might need support, but it’s difficult for us to redirect our attacks over there while still conserving enough strength to make any real impact.”
“I can give it a shot,” Kei Y said, pulling out two projectiles. “If I can get them to ricochet properly, they should still carry enough force to be a nuisance—maybe even take one or two of them out.”
He threw both into the air. One bounced off the other mid-flight, sharply redirecting its path with a loud crack.
“That’s a cool trick. How’d you even come up with that?” Inpu asked, visibly impressed.
“I’m a genius. It’s easy to come up with these things,” Kei Y said proudly, puffing out his chest as Inpu stared in awe.
Silvie, for her part, stared at him flatly.
“You really watch too much anime,” she muttered under her breath, just low enough that the others couldn’t hear. “You’re really out here trying to be Itachi?”
“Hey, if it works...” Kei Y scratched the back of his head awkwardly, trying—and failing—not to grin.
After a few practice shots, Kei Y’s Basic Projectile Mastery skill advanced to Advanced Projectile Mastery, unlocking once again his ricochet capabilities—just in time. Along with it, another segment of Shima Edgecraft stirred to life within him, as if the technique had been waiting for this specific kind of growth.
With his timing sharp and angles recalculated mid-air, Kei Y tested his new control—launching a pair of projectiles that clashed mid-flight with pinpoint precision. The impact caused both to ricochet sharply in opposite directions, their spin and force amplified by the collision.
One curved wide, then veered in sharply to strike a Specialist Class participant square in the temple.
The second careened off the first and arced unpredictably before smashing into another Specialist’s lower back just as they turned.
[Eliminated]
[Eliminated]
[Amunar Kingdom – Recruit Class +6 Points]
A moment later, the floating scoreboard shifted—andAmunar’s Recruit Class climbed into first place.
“Hehe… easy,” Kei Y muttered proudly, riding his unconscious, lobotomized sled like it was a royal parade float.
Silvie didn’t even look at him.
Inpu gave a low whistle.
Mia clapped.
And somewhere far above, the Queen of Greece was once again frothing with rage, as the two eliminated were from Greece.