Odyssey of the Blind God

While lying on the ground, Nial breathed heavily.

He wanted to move, but his body rejected his plea, and Nial was barely able to look at Junades, who gave him a faint smile.

However, instead of giving up now that he lay on the ground, Nial didn't want to accept his defeat.

His mind was still working relentlessly telling him to not give up. There was a reason that his origin had suddenly awoken, and giving up just because his body didn't want to move anymore was not something he would accept easily!

It was at that moment, when Odyssey seed pulsated for the very first time in Nial's life, shaking his conscience.

His body flinched, and despite its unwillingness to move, Nial's mind was forcefully taking over control of his body, urging it to exceed his body's limits.

At first, he thought that he had already exceeded the limits of his body, but that was not entirely correct because more uncontrollable strength was hidden behind a second limiting factor that prevented his body from breaking apart.

"I..can still go on!" Nial grumbled while gritting his teeth in order to bear with the sudden pain that coursed through his body that could barely move owing to the removed restriction.

Even though he didn't know where exactly the pain he felt originated from, he knew that the Odyssey seed had something to do with everything that had just happened, and was about to happen.

Not only was he able to move, but also his [Mana Perception] ability seemed to have become stronger just now, and the fact that the surrounding mana was being pulled towards him listening to his every command.

It was almost as if he was in full control of everything within the range of the [Mana Perception] ability!

Unable to accept being defeated so easily, even if his opponent was countless times mightier than him, Nial overcame his limits, creating a forced reaction of the Odyssey seed that finally listened to his plea and gave him the chance to retaliate.

It was this unwillingness and his desire to win and to be strong that he was feeling for the first time in his life that allowed Nial to meet the first requirement of becoming the true holder of the Odyssey seed and break through his mortal limits with his sheer willpower.

Even if it looked like he was only sparring, the fact that he was not even able to deflect a single attack clearly showed how powerless he truly was, how insignificant, and useless his entire existence was.

For the first time in his life, Nial was sincerely seeking strength as he tightly grasped the Viper spear that began to vibrate lightly as if it was awaiting Nial.

Both Nial and his spear were ready to give their all in order to fight Master Junades, who stared at him with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"Kiddo, you are...amazing!!"

Swinging the rod around his body, Junades' increased the speed of his movements which further improved when he was unable to suppress his excitement anymore.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be that excited to fight against a late bloomer Original, but given the fact that Nial was still standing on his feet after more than half an hour of being beaten into a pulp, he couldn't help but be amazed at his resilience.

When he had first fought Melvin, it had been astonished that the young brat had managed to hold his ground for 15 minutes, which was a record in itself.

As such, Nial was setting a new record that was way farther than Melvin's old record.

Yet, even after Junades had dealt the finishing blow, the young man was still standing on his feet.

Even though he was blind, Originals with disability were not to be taken lightly. That was because disabled Originals would either wallow in self-pity, or their determination would allow them to become monstrous existences.

It was due to this fact that Junades hadn't even considered sparring with Nial lightly in order to give him leverage.

Instead, if he were to compare his first spar with Melvin and Nial, the current one was something Junades took much more seriously.

That was something he would have never expected to happen because Melvin had had years of training before they first met.

Yet, it was obvious that Nial was just a greenhorn, a pure rookie, but his determination and tenacity made him several times more threatening than Melvin had been then!

Because of that, Junades couldn't help but feel excited as he thought that he might be witnessing a real monster and future prodigy right now.

Nial was lacking a lot, but his determination and unbending will allowed him to stand his ground, and swing the Viper spear around.

His movements were shaky, but the change in atmosphere Nial was currently causing was something that seemed to attract the surrounding mana, and pull it towards Nial.

At first glance, this didn't change anything, and it looked like a wasted tactic, but upon using a faint thread of mana, and breaking the rules he had enforced just to satiate his curiosity, he couldn't help but feel astonished.

'Is he controlling the mana in his body to forcefully move?..Is he awakening an Innate ability?...No that cannot be, this would force him to consistently activate his ability until his mana core is dried… or maybe he is learning how to access his ability.'

By using more Mana to envelop Nial with it, he investigated the young man intently.

Melvin noticed that Master Junades was going against his own rules, but he was unable to say a single word.

His eyes were glued to Nial and the fact that he was exceeding his limits over and over again.

The moment Nial had been defeated earlier and thrown to the ground, Melvin had sighed in relief, thinking that neither Nial was abnormal, nor he himself was too weak.

Yet, when Nial got up from the ground despite his entire body being covered in blue and purple bruises, Melvin couldn't help himself anymore, and his entire being was utterly shocked about what he was just witnessing.

Nial moved the Viper spear with much more precision than earlier, and the danger emanating from him had increased drastically.

Nial's entire mind was clear, yet, his head was aching heavily similar to the rest of his body that was moving owing to the supply of mana it got from the surrounding.

He was not sure how or what he was doing, but what he was clearly aware of was the fact that the duration for which he would be able to move his body, was short, extremely short.

If his assumption was correct, he had barely half a minute to make a move.

Right now, Nial had discarded the idea of hitting Master Junades three times. Instead, one hit was more than enough in order to accept his defeat a bit gracefully.

Winning was not an option anymore, and that was something Nial was fully aware of, but his desire and determination to not lose without having been able to retaliate fueled him with energy.

That being said, and the short span of time that was left, Nial pushed his feet from the ground, catapulting himself towards Master Junades, who had been awaiting his attack.

While staring intently at Nial, he quickly retracted his mana before concealing it in order to prevent him from accidentally using it again.

In the short moment in which he had to avert his focus, Nial's movements started to confuse Junades because it felt like Nial was barely moving a muscle.

Yet, Master Junades knew that this was not the case. Instead, it was the crude control of mana that made it seem like Nial's body was a puppet whose strings were being pulled by a skilled puppet master.

Nonetheless, instead of moving slower owing to the restricting factor of his movements, Nial grew much faster than before.

His movements were sharp and the way he wielded the Viper spear was more lethal than before.

It was almost as if Nial was mimicking Junades' moves, and both Junades and Melvin were able to see this, while Nial was completely unaware of anything he did.

By thrusting the Viper spear in the direction of Junades, Nial attacked but Junades easily deflected it, while continuing to swing the rod, and trying to hit Nial with the lower end.

However, contrary to before, Nial had instinctively repeated the same process, causing the lower ends of their weapons to collide.

Suddenly, a faint smile emerged on Nial's face as he inserted the much-needed mana into the Viper spear that began to vibrate lightly.

A fraction of a second later, the lower end of the Viper spear that was still in touch with Junades's rod, moved as a blade was suddenly released, pushing away Junades' rod, before it was retracted again.

The Viper spear had only blades at the tip, thus, the current lower end, was in fact, the tip, which Nial had turned while swinging it upside down earlier before their clash..

Owing to this, Nial was able to make use of the small gap the released and retracted blade gave him, allowing him to use the fraction of a second Junades would need to realize what happened in order to take a swing after Master Junades' upper body.

At that moment, Melvin's hand quivered, seeing his friend barely a few centimeters away from achieving something he was not even able to do after years of training.

Yet, there was no envy in his eyes, but only joy, as he subconsciously blurted out.

"GO FOR IT, NIAL!!!"

Unfortunately, just as Melvin shouted out his excitement about his friend's achievement, Master Junades decided to show Nial and his disciple what it meant to be a Unique Original!

Within an instant, the entire room was shaking owing to the pressure his sheer excitement to fight and defeat the opponent in front of him emanated.

Even though this was just a demonstration, Junades wanted to clearly show how dangerous and ruthless some Originals were.

As such, making use of just the pressure he released, he forcefully halted Nial's attack that was just about to hit him in his chest.

With all his might, Nial tried to push through the invisible layer of pressure he was not even able to perceive, only to sense that Junades was smiling as he loosened his grasp over the rod he was holding.

"Good job, kiddo, but now, sleep!"

Saying so, he used the flat of his hand as a means to slash at Nial's neck before taking a step back.

It was just a moment later that everything returned back to normalcy, including the eerie pressure that simply disappeared as he lost his consciousness.

Slumping to the ground, the battle that was just supposed to be a spar finally ended, leaving behind a flabbergasted Melvin, who stared at his unconscious friend, and Master Julandes, who stared at Nial with a bright smile.

On that day, a true monster, in the form of a blind young man was born, taking the first of the many steps towards Godhood.

**

Far away from the blue planet, at a place filled with nothing but endless darkness, a being noticed something that had caused it to awaken from a deep slumber lasting eons. Holding a small crystal in his hand he injecting energy into it, mumbling a single line before quieting down, re-merging with the darkness that enveloped him greedily.

"Initiate the second phase on Jundra...but don't allow the others to find out!"