Odyssey of the Blind God

Surrounded by darkness, a young man disappeared in the shadows of a huge tree when a huge Sabertooth tiger appeared at the exact location the young man had disappeared from.

In a single slash, the sabertooth tiger's claws cut through the huge tree that fell over moments later.

"So that's the strength of a monster with four Superior Origin rings…that's definitely frightening!" Nial spoke out loud as he appeared above the sabertooth tiger's head. Darkness engulfed Nial tightly as he thrust the pitch-black blade deep into the sabertooth tiger's skull.

The pitch-black blade was paper-thin and it broke into pieces upon colliding with the sabertooth tiger's thick skull. However, instead of feeling a deep sensation of fright surfacing in Nial's mind, he began to smile.

All the runic constellations that had been engraved on the blade had been activated upon colliding with the hard surface of the sabertooth tiger's skull. The energy stored inside the blade was released at once, causing it to shatter.

"This is even better than I expected," Nial mumbled when he disappeared inside the darkness once again.

The entire place around him was enveloped in his dark miasma. He had learned how to jump through the darkness using some of the Darkness Essence. Without the Darkness Essence, it was still not feasible for him to jump through the darkness but that was fine.

For now, he didn't need to be able to wield his dark energy perfectly. Nial did not fight the 4th Superior Mirae ranked sabertooth tiger for the sake of improving his control over his dark energy, either way.

The Skullbreaker blade that had just shattered was planned to be a consumable item from the beginning, and testing it out had been Nial's mission.

"The [Penetration] runic constellation worked pretty well when used in combination with the [Tiny Mana Storage] runic constellation. Overdrafting the [Penetration] runic constellation with a surplus of mana, followed by the usage of [Shatter] and [Vibration] is definitely the best way to use a cheaply produced Tier-1 runic armament," Old Elf Crevian suddenly added when Nial had appeared next to him.

They were currently located in a rather permanent Dungeon that had emerged not too long ago. Valvian and several high-ranked Elves guarded Crevian, who were eager to see Nial's progress firsthand.

He didn't know when Nial had learned to jump through darkness and space without leaving behind any of his traces but it was certainly something that would help Nial in the future.

However, the most important factor was still the consumable weapon Nial had just shattered. The sabertooth tiger was still alive but it was severely injured because its skull had burst open. It wouldn't be difficult for anyone to kill the beast in its current state.

But Nial was not out for the sabertooth tiger's life, not right now. He was more interested in staying by Crevian's side and listening intently to his evaluation.

"This is already a Tier-1 runic armament? But it only has two Intermediate runic constellations engraved on it?" Nial was a bit confused, which was why he didn't realize that everyone else threw him disappointed looks.

"Nial, I think you forgot that a single Intermediate runic constellation is already enough to create a Tier-1 runic armament…I mean even a complex combination of several perfect Basic runic constellations creates a Tier-1 runic armament. But all of that is something you should know by now…" Master Crevian was not sure how Nial was doing it, but he had surprised him way too often in the last few months.

This was not only because he studied harder and longer than anyone else but also because he had absorbed knowledge like a sponge, soaking in every piece of information he could lay his hands on. Unfortunately, Nial lacked the common sense of an ordinary Runicier, especially because he was such an anomaly.

"Is that so…?" Nial could only mumble quietly, feeling a bit disappointed. He had expected it to be a lot more difficult to become a full-fledged Runicier, especially since Meryl was always showing off that she was officially a Runicier and could engrave Tier-1 runic armaments easily.

His talent in the ways of becoming a Runicier had been fully unleashed throughout the last 13 months and his common sense was starting to lag behind.

Nial never stopped conquering dungeons, training his combat techniques, and both collecting and annexing mana. He advanced in the ranks, which resulted in his talent as a Runicier growing beyond the expected levels of someone of his age.

Every single day, it seemed like Nial was improving and had become a different person. His control of mana had increased drastically and ever since he had created the secondary Ancient Origin ring, his Innate ability [Mana Sense] and his natural perception had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Nial was not surprised by this but everyone else was shocked that Nial could detect the tiniest mistakes in his own runic constellations. There were even certain flaws Nial was able to point out that not even Veteran Runiciers such as Meryl and other Elves' trained eye missed on finding.

Master Crevian never pointed out certain mistakes because one would have to perceive them in order to know what could be improved. Others were not able to do that because their experience was too shallow but Master Crevian could tell that Nial's 'sight' was a cut above the rest.

Not being able to see was basically the biggest advantage Nial gained as it allowed him to perceive what others couldn't because they solely relied on their eyes to detect something that couldn't be seen!

Others were not of that opinion but Nial actually agreed with Master Crevian's point of view. Not being able to see had opened several doors for him that would have otherwise stayed hidden if he were to be distracted by the ability to see. This didn't mean that Nial wouldn't love to be able to see but the reality was different.

He would never be able to see and making use of the abilities and capabilities of his body to overcome that disability was something he had to do.

Nial knew that his [Mana Sense] would keep growing as long as his mana core's rank would increase. His range of perception would become more detail-oriented and enhanced as well, which in turn would provide Nial with the necessary means to find the flaws in runic constellations. As long as he managed to imprint a perfect runic constellation in his mind, it was only a matter of time before he would reproduce it.

Nial had the necessary understanding of runic constellations and he kept improving his knowledge to make sure that he wouldn't make any stupid mistakes.

"You've long since become a full-fledged Runicier," Master Crevian said while trying to hide his proud smile. Nial may not be the youngest Tier-1 Runicier but he was certainly the first Runicier, who was able to engrave Tier-1 runic armaments after being self-taught for half a year before receiving proper tutelage for only 14 months.

The time Nial had required to improve was ridiculously short and everyone around Nial was fully aware of this. Only Nial was oblivious to the truth because his hands were already reaching for the stars.

He was greedy to improve and become stronger. The secondary Ancient Origin ring had been created by Nial with ease and Nial knew that it wouldn't be a problem for him to create the following Ancient Origin rings either as long as he kept improving his proficiency as a Runicier.

There were many things he had to learn and Nial felt that he still had to learn and do a lot, even after all the books he read through. Unfortunately, it was a curse that the more knowledge one procured, the more questions would form in the mind of those, who were greedy for more.

Nial was one of them, especially since he had started to attempt to create his own weapons. He was not a good blacksmith himself which was why he asked for the help of proper blacksmiths to forge the weapons and devices he wanted but that was no problem since he only needed to engrave the runic constellations on the freshly forged weapons and other goods.

"Do you want to test the other runic armaments you've experimented with?" Master Crevian suddenly asked, dragging Nial out of his deep thoughts.

He had been thinking about various new things he would love to test out. Master Crevian's question reminded Nial that there were still a bunch of runic weapons he had yet to test.

"That should be the best. I will go hunt a bit then!" Nial nodded his head and the corners of his lips curled upward as he dashed off.

He merged with the darkness of the night as darkness engulfed his entire body.

Master Crevian was left behind with the bodyguards around him.

"Do you really think that it's fine for him to fight 4th Superior Mirae ranked beasts on his own? A single mistake and he'll die…he is only at the 2nd Superior Mirae rank, after all…" The Midnight Elf Valvian suddenly said in a worried tone.

He looked at the Old Elf, who had a mysterious expression on his face.

"By now you should have realized that Nial's dark energy is not ordinary. He doesn't possess ordinary Superior Origin rings either…even if he were to do a mistake, he won't die…not against beasts at the Mirae rank…" Master Crevian stated with a lot of conviction.

He turned his head to one of his guards, and pointed at the shattered black blade before motioning him to pick up the shards.

"You mean he was able to create a unique type of Origin ring? But…that would require enormous amounts of mana, far more than someone can collect in 10 months. Even if we're in the Forest of Life, the mana here is ridiculously low when compared to Yggdrasil's mana density… If Nial really owes a unique Origin ring, he would require much longer to create his Origin rings than anyone else!" Valvian was not stupid. He knew enough to tell that Master Crevian's words didn't make any sense right now.

However, Master Crevian was not known for making jokes about something as serious as one's mana core's rank which made the Old Elf feel confused.

"His aptitude toward mana is exceptional, and it keeps increasing. If Nial wanted to, he could expand his range of perception and absorb the entire mana which the Forest of Life releases. The amount of mana that the Forest of Life can release has decreased dramatically since the Dryx's attack but you can still tell that not many individuals would be capable of absorbing all the mana of the Forest of Life.

Nial is one of these gifted individuals and I still feel that this is not enough. You may have not noticed this but the amount of Origin crystals Nial uses every single day is enough to supply someone at his rank with mana for more than a month," Master Crevian didn't have to go into details but he felt that it would help Valvian to accept reality.

"Nial has definitely created a unique Origin ring and he is not the slightest bit slower than others. In fact, he can improve much faster if he had only more time to spare absorbing mana!"