Odyssey of the Blind God

More than two months passed in the blink of an eye.

365 days had elapsed since Nial awoke his origin.

It was just a day like every other. The shopping alleys were overflowing with customers, and window shoppers while Originals were conquering the dungeons inside the shelters, and trying to make a fortune with the loot they would amass that would be dropped by the dungeon monsters.

Many were trying to become stronger, gain the respect of the powerful, and protect their loved ones.

At this seemingly ordinary day, Nial had finally accumulated enough mana to initiate his final mana core enlarging.

With an unbending will and the relentless pursuit of his goal which he achieved by working hard every single day, without taking even the slightest break, Nial was slowly yet steadily breaking down the wall that obstructed him from reaching the 10th Origin rank.

Slowly and without any pressure on his mind, Nial finally broke down his mana core's walls before enlarging his mana core.

It had already been large, to begin with, and exceeded the normal limits a mana core ought to have. However, that didn't obstruct Nial in any possible way.

Instead, it allowed him to have far more mana than anyone else and to achieve things others could only dream of while being at the 10th Origin rank.

When he had enlarged his mana core for the last time, Nial was satisfied with the result. He didn't run into any roadblocks while enlarging and the empty core was slowly being filled with mana.

It was completely dried up and Nial continued to actively support the filling process of his mana core.

However, owing to its huge size, absorbing and annexing enough mana to fill his mana core would take quite a while.

But it was not as long as others would require because he had numerous high-quality Origin crystals, the Ciran taria technique, and a perfect mastery of the Control of the Ancient Monarch technique at his disposal.

Nial took the longest to attain a perfect mastery of the Control of the Ancient Monarch technique, however, it was definitely worth the efforts he had put in.

Thanks to it, Nial's control over mana was even better than most Seclon ranked Originals. Even Miranda would often doubt if Nial's mana control had surpassed hers or not.

Of course, this was merely a doubt she occasionally had when she saw Nial's terrifying talent.

Others might envy Nial for his talent but not Miranda. She was quite happy that Nial had this terrifying talent and the potential to become one of the strongest Originals in the future.

He had a good personality as well which made him a perfect candidate which others would look up to in the future.

There was no reason for someone like her, who had long since passed the age where one's growth was the fastest, and where one could still improve rapidly to envy him.

It was not impossible for Miranda to become stronger but she would need far more time and potentially more money to keep advancing than someone around Nial's age.

Nial was a good boy and supporting him whenever it was possible was certainly something Miranda would never regret doing.

Meanwhile, Mathias' comprehension talent might not be as frightening as Nial's, but it was also on par with the comprehension of prodigies his age.

If one were to add his potential, his Innate ability, and the fact that he was bound to become an exceptional individual in mankind's rows as long as he was nurtured properly, he was no less important to Miranda than Nial.

Mathias had reached a major profound mastery of the mana circulation technique he had been learning. This and the massive amounts of funds he had were what had allowed Mathias to finish the first step of creating his first Advanced Origin ring.

As long as he kept striving, it wouldn't even require him another six months to finish the creation of his first Advanced Origin ring.

By then, he wouldn't even be 19 years old.

Mathias had awoken his Origin five months earlier than Nial. However, at the same time, Mathias was an entire year younger than Nial as well.

Nial was unlikely to reach the Prym rank before the age of 20, but Mathias would! This was something the young man was extremely proud of as he looked up to Nial.

Nial was more talented than he was, and his strength was also much higher. Nial's understanding of most incidents that had happened was much deeper than anyone else's, and he was able to escape tricky situations by thinking rationally and not letting emotions affect him.

Furthermore, his personality was good and he had an unbending will.

How could Mathias not feel like idolizing Nial?

Thus, upon having surpassed his idol in something, it was only obvious for Mathias to be elated!

Nial didn't even feel the competitiveness of his friend.

He was focused on something completely different almost all the time.

When he reached the 10th Origin rank, there were quite a few things Nial wanted to do.

However, the first one was to break the seal of the Control of the Ancient Monarch technique's hidden page.

This required lots of mana, and his mana control was extremely accurate. He needed to have a perfect mastery of the Control of the Ancient Monarch technique.

Now that he had achieved this, Nial tried to break the seal that was extremely complex.

"Wait…is that also a runic constellation? So is that a seal and a runic constellation that is hidden from the eyes of those who don't meet the requirements?"

Nial's knowledge about runic constellations had improved during the last two months. He was much more proficient with engraving runic constellations, learned a few more runic constellations to engrave and the knowledge of all the books he and Mathias still possessed which they had collected from the ancient ruin's dungeon was slowly imprinted in his mind.

That was why he couldn't help but feel excited upon perceiving the double-layered runic constellation. It was connected perfectly and performed two tasks at the same time; to hide and seal the hidden page.

As he was interested in the runic constellations, Nial imprinted them in his mind, spending nearly an entire day, so as to not miss even the slightest detail.

Afterward, he was ready to break the seal, only to be interfered with by Mathias, who rushed into his room without even thinking about knocking.

"Nial, you have to come down! Miranda has just returned from a general meeting of the eight shelters, and…eh…something is weird…"

Nial frowned upon hearing Mathias, but he got up from the ground nonetheless. Mathias sounded worried and considering that Nial had sensed Miranda's presence, the general meeting of the eight shelters seemed to have some troublesome news for them.

'Living a peaceful life for a few months is the most I can get, is that it?'

The last few months had passed without trouble. The Dryx had been defeated, even those that were camping near the shelters in the wilderness.

None of them was said to have survived and there hadn't been a new Abyssal ranked dungeon's sudden appearance near their shelters as well.

Other than that, the Sacred Knights organization had been laying low for the last few months and nothing serious seemed to have happened.

Nial knew that the peaceful time wouldn't last forever. However, he had hoped that they would have a bit more time to become stronger.

At least he hoped this to be the case until he would unseal the hidden page of the Control of the Ancient Monarch technique and create his first Superior Origin ring.

By then, he wouldn't fear conquering any Expert dungeon, fighting Peak Prym ranked Originals and beasts, and so on.

Unfortunately, he was not given the time, which Nial clearly realized when both he and Mathias arrived in front of Miranda.

"It looks like the eight shelters, the military, and several organizations are ready to reclaim the third shelter, Juna."

Miranda sighed after speaking before looking at Mathias and Nial, her frustration clearly visible on her face.

'Well, it's great if they want to reclaim the shelter. I guess, they should do that if their confidence is high enough.' Nial thought.

However, he didn't state his doubts out loud because he felt that there was more behind Miranda's frustration than both he and Mathias could tell.

"The Heaven's Gates Organization said that they will take care of the Abyssal dungeon, and the Peak Hell dungeons in Juna.

As for the rest, they've to be taken care of by the government, the other organizations and the military.

Unfortunately, due to the incident that happened in the 10th Military camps, there seems to be a lack of disciplined Prym ranked soldiers.

I actually don't believe that this is true, but let's forget about that for a moment.

Explaining everything will probably take too long, so I should summarize the most important point of the virtual meeting with the other shelters…

There are some Rookie ranked dungeons that can only be entered by Originals at the Origin rank…so you guys and many other Originals have been drafted by the military…what a joke…"

Miranda seemed visibly agitated, and Nial could clearly understand her.

'Drafted? That is really a big joke. Why bother spouting nonsense about voluntarily joining the military, gaining huge benefits during the last 19 years, just to draft people out of nowhere.'

Miranda was also right that the military wasn't lacking Prym ranked Elite Soldiers.

They weren't even short of prodigious Junior Soldiers at the Origin rank. There shouldn't be the need for Mathias and Nial, two disciples of a powerhouse, to step in, let alone to be drafted into the military.

If they would have been asked by the military in a formal way to join, it would be polite and according to the common rules set up by mankind's shelters.

However, by drafting them all of a sudden and without even giving them a prior intimation, it was almost as if the military was openly trying to humiliate Miranda.

During the last few decades, there had never been anyone who had been drafted. The military had too many applicants, ranging from ordinary citizens to young Originals, who had the talent but were lacking the necessary background to grow strong.

That was why it was even weirder for them to get drafted.

"Did someone else belonging to an influential background get drafted? I guess some heirs of influential families have been asked to join the conquest of reclaiming Juna, but I doubt that they've been drafted"

Nial sensed that something was off, and Miranda could only nod her head.

"I have yet to investigate the situation but you and Mathias have been mentioned explicitly when they spoke about drafting people to join the conquest.

Some of the Generals I've known for quite some time looked at me apologetically when the two of you were mentioned.

It was almost as if they didn't actually want to force you two but that they had to ensure that you two joined the conquest."

Miranda was deep in thoughts, and speaking out loudly, aware that Nial and Mathias stood in front of her.

"That simply means they need us. They need to make sure we are there because someone probably demanded us to be there. And they have enough power to command the military."

Nial didn't know that they were important enough to be drafted. It wouldn't be necessary for them to be there, in his opinion.

At least, he couldn't imagine that to be the case.

However, there was one point he was confused about.

'Who would want them to be there? For what reason?'

"Influential enough to command the government or military… The Heaven's Gates organization?" Nial guessed.

'Is that it? But why?' Miranda thought, not sure if that was the correct answer.

**

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