Codex
As soon as Roland disappeared down the corridor, Adam let out a breath, rolling his shoulders to shake off the weird tension settling in his chest. Now that he was alone, the weight of the situation hit him harder.
His eyes dropped to the object in his hands. It was sleek, obsidian black, with glowing neon-blue lines running along its surface in shifting, intricate patterns. There were no seams, no hinges, no keyholes, nothing that even hinted at how it was supposed to open. Just smooth, solid weight.
At the sight of this, Adam frowned.
"Alright… how the hell do you even open this thing?"
Naturally, the one to speak up at his call was of course the System, as she said.
『Simple! A drop of blood will establish a bond between you and the Codex, by doing that a blood pact will be formed』
At these words, Adam looked at the Cube; the System's instructions clear.
"...A blood pact ha?!"
"Well I guess Occult things, require Occult means... that aside though, could it not have been through a more simpler way to bond with this thing?"
Adam asked himself. and the System responded.
『Incorrect. Pandora's Box does not operate on conventional mechanisms. Only through direct synchronization with the hosts via a blood pac...
But before she could finish, Adam shrugged her off by saying.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it... Blood it is."
Said Adam, and moments later.
His fingers tightened around the cube as he shot a quick glance down the hallway. The last thing he needed was Priscilla walking by and seeing him standing there, looking like an idiot, about to make a literal blood offering.
She'd never let him live it down. And if Minerva caught him? Oh, she'd definitely encourage him. Probably with a crazy grin, saying, "Come on, Adam! Do it! What's the worst that could happen?" Minerva was that free-spirited of a person.
But Adam was not a fool.
'Nope!... Not taking that risk.'
He said to himself.
On the other hand, making sure the coast was clear, he quickly slipped into the nearest bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. The quiet hum of the mansion faded into the background as he placed the cube on the marble counter. The neon-blue glow reflected faintly against the polished surface, casting eerie patterns along the bathroom's wooden walls, like one of those fancy LED night lights.
From there, he took a steady breath, flexing his fingers, and gazing down on the Codex.
"Alright… just a little cut. Nothing crazy."
Bringing his thumb to his mouth, he bit down... not too hard, and just enough to break the skin. Naturally, a sharp sting followed, then a bead of crimson pooled at the tip of his finger.
"Alright, now then, unto the next step."
Moving his hand above the code, he squeezes down from the bottom using his other fingers, causing a drop of blood to drip and fall downwards onto the cube.
DRIPPPP!!
For a second, nothing happened.
But only for a second, because in the next instance.
A pulse was seen, like a faint heartbeat in a body of water, causing ripples to expand outwards in all directions.
But those ripples did not expand normally, rather they ripple to form around his being.
A deep, resonating vibration traveled up his arms, into his chest, settling somewhere in his spine, or rather his entire spine. The neon-blue lines flared violently, shifting and twisting like living circuitry as they expanded from the box exterior itself, and spread on reality itself, like painting a picture on the fabric of space.
The weight of the box then increased, cracking the counter from which it was laid, anchoring it downwards as if it had suddenly become ten times heavier.
Adam took a step back at the sight of it, his heartbeat picking up.
"…It doesn't take a genius to see that's not normal."
Before he could even think about what to do next, the glow exploded outward.
The space in the bathroom then began to warp.
The sink, the walls, even his own reflection in the mirror... all of it stretched and distorted, colors bleeding together into a swirling vortex of abyssal blue the point of attraction being from the box itself.
A powerful force yanked him forward like a hook had lodged into his very soul and pulled.
His stomach lurched.
"H-Hey! Wait a damn...
His words never finished.
The force swallowed him whole.
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"Aghhh... For Christ's sake... what the hell was that?"
Adam groaned, pushing himself off the cold wooden floor beneath him. His head throbbed slightly, but that was the least of his worries right now. Blinking a few times, he slowly got to his feet, his eyes scanning the dimly lit room around him.
It wasn't... what he expected.
His brows knitted together.
"What the hell is this place?"
He glanced around, taking in the small 12-by-12 room. The walls were made of aged, cracked wood, the faint scent of damp earth lingering in the air. The only furniture inside was a single wooden chair and an old table, the kind you would only find in some kind of forgotten shack deep in the woods. Resting on the table were six thick books, bound in worn leather, their covers warped with age.
But that wasn't what caught his attention.
It was the miasma around the books themselves.
Thick, suffocating, and pitch black was the best way to put it, the Miasma around them was pouring off each book as if the book themselves was a living monster. The sheer density of it made his skin crawl. He could see the corruption in the air, twisting around the books like oily smoke.
Adam could not help but swallow hard at the sight of it.
"...Creepy as hell."
He said to himself.
His hand instinctively rested on his chest, feeling the faint, irregular beat of his heart in that moment, but when he did that out of gesture to the creepiness of the book he saw seeing, he was shocked.
His eyes widened.
"...What the...?
Nothing.
For some reason, he accidently found out that his heart was not beating.
Not even a single thump.
And before he completely freaked out, the System began to explain, as she said.
Said Adam and then he continued.
『You're inside the Codex's personal sub-space. A dimension that exists outside the flow of time and space, so your body for all intended purposes is frozen in time, as this space sees you as a part of the place it suspending, and also the owner of this place. You see in this place, time does not exist. Meanwhile, cause and effect from your home Astrum Field have been completely suspended when you cross over to this plane, made from Dreams of Typhon. When you leave... you'll return to the exact moment you entered. No time will have passed』
The System's voice echoed calmly in his mind like this was the most normal thing in the world.
Adam's eyes twitched at these words, and he instantly replied back.
"Outside time and space... huh. So basically... I'm in some cosmic storage room."
『Correct』
Adam let out a dry laugh, scratching the back of his head.
"Heh... I used to read about shit like this back on Earth. Manga, visual novels, those long-ass web novels... but living through it firsthand... well I gotta say, quite the experience."
He glanced around again, his lips forming a smile, he was clearly interested in this whole situation.
"This is... kinda sick. Not gonna lie."
But the excitement didn't last long. His gaze drifted back to the books on the table... the swirling black miasma still clinging to them like parasites.
Of course, he had to ask what these things were.
"System, what exactly are those books?"
『This room is the First Chamber of the Codex. Each of the nine rooms holds Typhon's powers, converted into spells for the inheritor. This chamber contains the weakest of his abilities, sealed within those tomes. The other seven chambers can only be accessed through the seven remaining keys... which have been lost to time』
The System's voice paused for a moment before adding:
『Echidna provided the first two keys... but the rest will need to be found by you. Unfortunately, my Archive doesn't contain their locations. When Lady Beatrice designed me, she gave me just enough information to make your journey possible in this AU... but not too easy』
At these words, Adam snorted.
"Figures... I did agree to become a TV show for her... well not like I am complaining."
Still...
His eyes drifted back to the books.
'Typhon's powers, huh?'
This was the same monster whose power literally split the entire human world timeline into three separate worlds. If this was only his weakest stuff... then weak for a being that strong must be some really overpowered shit.
Or that was the logic he was hoping for of course.
What might be weak for Typhon could be utterly broken for others, whose power can not even come close.
"Still though, I really need to find those other 7 keys."
Adam said aloud, and the system responded.
『You should be grateful the first two doors were unlocked. Without them, you'd be starting with nothing』
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
Said Adam, as he began to walk toward the table, his footsteps echoing faintly across the room's wooden floors. And as he walked he glanced at the lone wooden door in the room, its frame warped, with a rusty key still lodged inside the lock.
"I presume that is next door."
『Yes』
"I see... and stronger spells can be found just behind that door right?"
『Correct. Each chamber scales in power... but without the other seven keys, only these two doors are available to you. The rest are lost across the Astrum Field. Tracking them down will likely take... quite some time』
When these words were said, Adam chuckled dryly.
"Good thing I've got all the time in the world then... literally."
As he recalls his longevity.
But that aside, as he walks and reaches the table with the books station on it, he picks up a random one and reads the title.
"Intro to Primordial Necromancy, Book One."