Odyssey of the Blind God

With only three months left, and merely two weeks before they could be challenged by other participants of the military camp, there was a lot for them to do.

Miranda had some time ago but the three friends were not even aware of the same as they were busy taking a look at the Ciran taria manual.

"It doesn't look that difficult, but why do I feel that it is even more expensive than I initially thought?"

Bella smiled weirdly while thinking about the huge fortune they would have to pay to absorb enough mana to enlarge their mana core.

"But the mana absorption process is four times faster than usual. Of course, some other techniques can achieve the same result, but they're exceedingly rare and usually difficult to master."

This time, it was Mathias, who shared his knowledge. He knew quite a bit about certain techniques mankind had found because his father did not only trade in Cursed crystals but other rare treasures as well, including manuals found in ancient ruins!

"I'll probably have to focus on the Ciran taria technique because I want to reach the 5th, possibly the 6th Origin rank before the training period of three months is over.

The only issue is that I already need more mana than an ordinary 7th Origin rank to enlarge my mana core, so I will have to spend quite some time using that technique…"

Nial was a little bit frustrated about that. He wanted to divide his focus and pay adequate attention to improving his mana control with the Control of the Ancient Monarch technique, the Ciran taria manual, and the Elementus Mylee technique.

There were also all the books about runic armaments they had found, which Nial would have loved to read as his interest in runic armaments had increased drastically. This was mostly owed to the time they had spent inside the ancient ruin's palace, where they had to face all kinds of runic armaments.

Miranda would help them improve their ability control and combat experience, and there was the private tutelage they would receive from the Instructors due to all of them entering the Top 10.

'Maybe we shouldn't have been ranked in the Top 10? Will it make sense if I forfeit to the first challenger so that I have more time to spend with other stuff?'

Nial was seriously considering ignoring the Teradan military camp's most important training session, just to focus on other things.

However, that was only obvious because Bella and Mathias had the same idea.

'Miranda is one of the strongest Originals…so is there truly a need for us to receive private tutelage?'

If Miranda were to hear this, she would merely frown before slapping the back of their heads.

She was not a combat-focused Original and her strength originated from the usage of her abilities, not her physical capabilities.

Miranda could teach them a lot, but she was not adept at close combat which was what all three youths had to learn so as to survive all types of dungeons and face all kinds of dungeon beasts.

Even Mathias had to be fully prepared for all of this, meaning that he could not only rely on his Innate ability and Earth affinity!

Learning the Ciran taria technique was not difficult and once the three young Originals had imprinted the technique's first phase in their mind, they started to practice it.

Nial's control over mana was the best among the three which was why he was slightly faster than the other two and shortly began absorbing mana in the described way.

At first, it felt weird to allow the pure mana that was stored inside the Origin crystal to enter his body in ways they had never seen before.

Usually, one would circulate mana around one's mana core to annex it faster. That was also why one would usually absorb mana through one's upper body first while focusing on the chest area.

However, in the Ciran taria technique, one would absorb mana through the legs first! It would accumulate in the legs first and would slowly fill in before traveling upwards in the upper body.

Nial was not sure how this could be faster than the ordinary mana absorption process but he quickly realized that there were certain ways that could be utilized in order to allow one's lower body to absorb mana at a rapid speed.

It felt quite weird but only the result mattered, which was why Nial was quite satisfied with himself as he noticed that his mana absorption speed reached twice the usual after practicing the technique for less than an hour.

'The technique is truly easy to learn. There are not many complicated steps.'

Several hours passed by, in which the young Originals focused on absorbing more mana.

They continued to do it uninterruptedly but their biggest and only issue was the annexing process of the absorbed mana.

But it was because of Nial's precise control of mana that he could annex the mana within his body quite fast as well.

Thus, his mana core was quickly being filled.

'If I focus on practicing Ciran taria for an entire day, I should have stored up enough mana to enlarge my mana core!'

Nial smiled when he stopped practicing Ciran taria as he had already used up his entire stockpile of Origin crystals.

He would purchase a huge batch the following day but now he had to focus on other things.

Miranda had still not returned, which was why he accessed his spatial ring to take a look at its contents.

"Should we split up the books amongst each other, or shall we hold on for now?"  He asked when the others finished absorbing mana from their batch of Origin crystals as well.

"I don't mind either way. If we need a book or something else we can simply ask each other. It's not like we will part ways in the next few days."

Bella shrugged her shoulders, not feeling inclined to make a hassle out of the huge gains they made as a group. She might like money but Bella was also aware of the fact that she would have never been able to procure anything from within the ancient ruin's palace without Mathias or Nial.

Mathias nodded his head, agreeing to what Bella said before he picked up the Elementus Mylee manual.

"I will have to learn close combat as well, right? I've no idea what weapon to choose though…"

As long as no stranger was around Mathias, he could talk freely to Bella and Nial. There were still a few things that bothered him but they could be fixed later.

"I think Miranda or the other Instructors will help you pick your most suitable weapon, but I guess they'll consider you as a tank. You're not exactly swift, or an assassin, who's good at walking around stealthily.

I guess they'll tell you to take a longsword, and a shield. Or a maze, a battle-ax or something like that."

Nial blurted out a few things while approaching Mathias to read the Elementus Mylee manual along with him.

It was actually not necessary for him to approach Mathias for that because he could focus his range of perception on the manual to read it.

However, the closer he was to the manual, the easier it was for Nial to be truly focused on the content that he tried to process and understand.

Nial sat down next to Mathias and started to 'read' the Elementus Mylee manual, while Mathais did the same.

A book had appeared in Bella's hand as well and she started to read it.

They didn't have much time to become stronger because the dungeon's danger would increase drastically in the following years.

That was, at least, what they presumed to happen. Thus, the three young Originals had given their best to plunder the ancient ruin's dungeon. It was also the reason why they were giving 150% now.

They felt too powerless in the face of the upcoming dangers.

This was why they were fully focused on the content of the books they were reading, and the three young Originals didn't even notice when Miranda returned.

Her hair was disheveled and she seemed to have aged several years in the last 12 hours.

Miranda's expression was far from good but this was only obvious.

'Why are they so stubborn?! Is it so hard to believe that mankind's situation will get even worse?'

The military didn't trust the thesis Miranda had shown them. They also didn't believe that their situation could worsen further or that they had to fortify their defenses.

Only 9 human shelters were left, and even they were always under the threat of being found by powerful beasts roaming through the wilderness.

As such, there was no way that things could become more dangerous…but that was their naivety.

However, Miranda was of a different opinion, which was why she spent half a day forcing the military within the Teradan military camp to notch up their training intensity and to relay her information to the government in the other shelters.

It was a hassle for Commander Ullyr to keep hearing her and only her status as one of the strongest Originals was barely enough to force him to do as she said.

If Nial and the others would have told Miranda everything they knew, she would have been even more worried.

After all, there were certain facts Nial had left out while explaining the situation to her.

But what he didn't leave out was the potential and imminent threat of mass-produced runic armaments, and the nourishment their mana fluctuation provided to the environment.

Miranda was still aggravated when she left the Commander's office, but the moment she saw Nial, Bella, and Mathias, she calmed down.

A faint smile appeared on her face and the tension in her body eased up slightly.

'At least, they're giving their best. I should have beaten up Ullyr to make him follow my commands…'

She sighed in frustration before her eyes flitted towards the youths, and stayed on Nial in particular.

'He said that mass-produced runic armaments could hasten up the mana awakening process of a planet. I guess true terror will only descend on Jundra from then onward.

But in order to mass-produce even Tierless runic armaments, quite some time will have to pass, at least to have enough quantity for everyone to make use of and afford them.

By then, someone will probably be able to produce Tier-1 runic armaments, I guess it should be possible as long as everyone works hard

Miranda's gaze fell on the cape Nial had been wearing ever since he came out of the ancient ruin's dungeon. He was also wearing an earring she had never seen before.

Both Bella and Mathias were also wearing some accessories she had never seen before.

Releasing her mana fluctuations in a subtle manner, she tried to figure out what kind of runic armaments each of them wore.

She didn't believe that any of the three Originals liked wearing luxurious accessories.

However, upon attempting to find out some intel about the runic armaments the young Originals were wearing, Miranda could quickly tell that she was unable to perceive anything properly.

This was because of the fact that Miranda was a bit distracted by all the thoughts in her head which made her not release her entire mana fluctuations in a focused state. But even then, she couldn't help but feel a little bit baffled.

'I cannot perceive them, at all? Are those Tier-1 runic armaments?'

Miranda had already seen, touched, perceived, and even dissembled a few Tier-0 in order to research them.

So far her research had not been fruitful because she hadn't been able to spend much time experimenting but by now Miranda could easily tell if she saw something powerful, valuable, or extremely terrifying.

And the runic armaments the three youths were wearing were all three factors together! Yet, she sensed nothing which shocked her.

'Was that their reason to enter the palace from the top? To procure Tier-1 runic armaments?'

However, what Miranda didn't know was that Nial and his friends were perfectly prepared and ready to become the strongest…and that they had not only prepared Tier-1 runic armaments to unleash their entire potential but that they had also a few Tier-2 runic armaments up their sleeves!

**

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