Extra

by Stayrr

Third

45. Odyssey Of The Blind God 1-32

In a desolate world where humans are on the brink of extinction, conquering countless dungeons, fighting against ferocious beasts, what happens to someone blind and powerless? Nial's glorious fate was taken from him when he was only three, leaving him blind and without a trace of mana. 15 years later he was still enduring the humiliation of a rotten society that favored the mighty. Society nearly took away his innocence and brightness, forcing him to mature, giving him an unbending will. However, everything changed the moment he awoke his Origin. He devoured Ancient Curses and slaughtered Gods and Devils! Angels? He will make them kneel! Devils and the such? All will be in his grasp * Even though I'm blind, I see more than anyone else! I devour Curses and take control over darkness. Mark my words… [It will be all of you that will have to kneel in front of me!] Just come at me Dragons, Angels, Devils, and Gods…if you dare to! Otherwise, my ascend will be your doom! Follow the odyssey of an ordinary, blind youth towards godhood as his fate that had once been taken from him shall be returned. Witness his pain, and growth to an existence feared even by Ancient Gods and Fiends from primordial times!

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Odyssey of the Blind God #Chapter 1 Dream - Read Odyssey of the Blind God Chapter 1 Dream Online - All Page - FREEWN

"Is it time already…?" A young man in his late teens mumbled in a low voice, knowing that nobody was around to hear him.

In front of him was the breathtaking view of a divine palace that was shining in bright, holy light. The tranquility surrounding him made the young teen feel extremely calm.

He was familiar with this place, after all.historical

The white light infiltrated his pores, seeping into every single cell within his body, invigorating him.

"As always...it feels real…" He mumbled yet again as he opened his eyes, revealing bright silver irises.

They were overflowing with vigor, but what others would see by looking into them was nothing but sadness and despair.

'Why am I even opening my eyes... It's just a dream, either way.' He thought dejectedly. A deep sigh escaped his lips that exposed his longing as he took his first step toward the divine palace.

His entire body was invigorated, and brimming with energy, yet, with every single step, he felt as if the burden weighing him down was increasing substantially.

Not even four steps later, he was sweating profusely.

Thick drops of sweat trickled down his back as his shirt was plastered to his skin. Exhaustion swept through his body, slowly but steadily replacing the vigor that had filled him with hope minutes ago as if a parasite would slowly suck away the life of its host.

With his entire body quivering under the tremendous pressure, the young man found it difficult to even take another step.

'As usual…'

It was the same as always, and he had been experiencing this for the last few years. So far, nothing seemed to have changed.

Clenching his fist, the young man tried to fight the losing battle.

Under normal circumstances, he would have given up by now and succumbed to his fate.

However, too many events had happened in the last few days, making him desperate enough to ignore his body's pain and exhaustion.

'It's just a dream... Once you wake up, everything will be fine... Just endure it!' He kept repeating it to himself like a mantra.

All he could, for now, was gritting his teeth, and wait for it to be over. His body as well as his mind knew that everything he said was, in fact, bound to happen.

At the tender age of three, when he had been a toddler, an unforeseen incident had occurred, changing his entire life forever. Since that fateful day, his life had never been the same.

Ever since that incident, he had had a recurring dream on the first day of every month.

At first, the overly realistic dream had confused him, but somehow after all these years, he had learned to live with it.

The same incident that made him dream about the divine palace was also the cause for him to turn blind, losing his eyesight.

In an era that was filled with ferocious beasts, dungeons, hostile otherworldly beings, and humans that were forced to rely on their own strength to survive, being blind was an absolute nightmare.

And fate seemed to be awfully cruel in making this misery afflict a small child who had barely started to walk.

After all, his entire future had been a blank sheet and full of potential…before!

The young child's dreams had been shattered as he was forced to mature well before other kids around his age would.

What was left behind was a broken shell that was treated harshly by the society that worshipped the talented, and discarded the weak like used tissues.

However, the young man had never complained about his situation because he was loved by his family.

He didn't need anything else but his parents and sister, all of whom doted on him.

In fact, he was not even required to fight other beasts if it was not necessary!

His life had been hard and filled with humiliation, but despite that, he had learned to find happiness in the smallest things.

To his misery and rotten luck, even that happiness was snatched away from him when it was discovered that his little sister was terminally ill!

She had been diagnosed with a rare disease, and the medicine was simply too expensive for middle-class families.

As such, their happiness turned into desperation, making him and his parents search for a cure.

They were forced to procure origin crystals by killing wild beasts that inhabited mystical, isolated places, also called dungeons.

Those places were not only prone to various environmental hazards but were also filled with powerful beasts that would kill without any mercy, tearing apart anyone who would dare step in their territory.

Despite the dangers, his parents would toil and risk their lives day in and day out for the sake of their daughter.

Even then, they were unable to cure his little sister's disease, and could barely delay her death.

Fueled by the desperation to help his family, the young man was fiercely trying to enter the divine palace in hopes of finding something that could help his family in any way.

Having been nothing but a burden to his family, he was determined to change his fate which made him give his utmost efforts to do something that might help, somehow.

One of these things was to enter the divine palace that appeared in his dream, because his instincts told him that it was not just a magnificent structure, at all!

Fifteen years ago, on a warm summer afternoon just like any other, a dungeon portal manifested in the middle of a playground.

The dungeon portal disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving nothing behind.

This made it seem as if the portal had never existed, in the first place!

However, there was just one problem…

One of the many children that had been happily playing on the ground had disappeared inside the dungeon portal!

It was only a week later that the child had magically reappeared, at the exact same spot he had disappeared from...with dead, bleeding eyes.

Somehow, the child lived despite the harrowing incident. However, since then, the child had never been able to perceive the mythic energy, mana, ever again!

This child was Nial, the young man who was currently straining himself as he roared out, taking his fifth step towards the divine palace.

Sweat was now flowing in rivulets down his forehead, plastering his hair to his temples.

But, now was not the time to give up. As such, he kept pushing himself while he grit his teeth as his silver eyes shone brightly.

After breaking through his limit, the subsequent steps didn't feel as burdensome as the previous one, even though the gravitational force continued to increase exponentially.

Using his sheer willpower, and the thought of his bedridden sister and dead-tired parents who were risking their lives every single day, he groaned out again before continuing to advance.

Nial knew that he couldn't take life as lightly as he had been doing before, giving him the necessary strength to advance the marble staircase.

Clouds enveloped the staircase, making him feel as if he was walking in the air.

Thus to prevent feeling dizzy, he forced himself to focus on the palace.

Oblivious to the time he had taken to ascend the stairs, Nial arrived on top of them while gasping for air.

It made him wonder how his body had survived the task as he felt like it would stop working at any moment.

Yet, just as both of his feet reached the final stair, the pressure dispersed.

This gave him the necessary time to calm down and breathe.

He took a moment to collect himself, taking lungfuls of air.

With an unbreakable will, he kept walking ahead, one step at a time.

Nial only stopped when he reached the outer area of the vast palace hall as his feet passed through the gigantic open door.

'I…did it!!' That was all he could think as an exhausted smile appeared on his lips.

'"Finally, you have arrived, Nial! It took you quite a while!"

Out of nowhere, Nial heard the seducing voice of a mature woman.

It resounded through the entire hall, as it bounced off the large walls, startling him.

Raising his head, Nial stared straight ahead at the elevated throne that he could see through his blurry eyes.

Focussing on the scene in front of him, he was able to see a mature woman seated on the magnificent throne.

She had fair and flawless skin and a seemingly perfect physique that complemented her surreal beauty.

The silky white dress that she was wearing tightly clung to her voluptuous body, highlighting her black silky hair and dark brown eyes that stared right into the depths of his soul.

He had no idea how the woman who resembled a goddess knew his name.

But even if Nial wanted to, it was impossible for him to utter a single word.

It was almost as if his mouth had been sewn shut.

Without uttering another word, the god-like existence got up from her throne.

Her simple move caused the entire palace to tremble owing to the tremendous energy her body released naturally.

"So, that's how our little anomaly looks like. I had high hopes for nothing… It's quite...disappointing."

The words spoken by the Goddess didn't hurt Nial a tiny bit.

After all, he was already accustomed to being treated worse and called weird names.

As such, his eyes didn't show even the faintest trace of anger. Instead, they were gleaming in determination.

The Goddess noticed this, which caused her first impression of Nial to change a little bit.

'Maybe…? No, probably not… I'm expecting too much.'

Without giving it another thought, she flicked her wrist in an imperceptible move, pulling him closer without touching a strand of his hair.

Nial's breath got caught in his throat as the Goddess' holy light enveloped him gently.

"You are...unfamiliar with those eyes of yours, but you've seen before…" She muttered without lifting her gaze from Nial as she mused,

"Maybe you are more interesting than I thought!"

Still unable to say anything, Nial could only stare at her.

He made no attempts to avoid her soul-piercing eyes as he tried his utmost to speak.

'If I could wield mana, or even better...see once again, then… I could help my family!' He thought deperately while trying to speak with all his might.

"So you want to help your family?" She suddenly asked, reading his thoughts like an open book.

She could even hear and see the images of his bedridden sister and exhausted parents that flashed through his mind.

Thus, on a whim, she decided to do something that she, the Divine Goddess, had never done before.

"Anomaly Nial, are you willing to owe me a favor in exchange for regaining your eyesight?"

Hearing her words, made him feel as if his dream had just come true. Nial didn't even need a single second to react.

Nodding his head vigorously, even the natural suppression of the Goddess' holy aura was unable to hold him back from moving as he smiled brightly.

'Will he be useful enough though?' She asked herself, only to remember the reason for allowing the mortal anomaly to enter the divine palace in the first place.

As such, she set her doubts aside and lifted her hand to touch his forehead, right in the center of his eyebrows with her forefinger.

A moment later, the Goddess inserted a small trace of her divine energy into Nialas it seeped into his skin where her finger touched his forehead.

He suddenly grew hopeful and nervous about the future, but only a few seconds passed before he noticed a deep frown on the Goddess' face that caused his smile to vanish in an instant.

"I...cannot reverse your eyesight? Is the amount of divine energy I used too little? That cannot be... Using more would kill even the strongest of mortals..." She mumbled to herself, but Nial heard her clearly. Her words confused him but he didn't dare make a move.

He knew that the divine energy that entered his body was doing something, but weirdly enough, it was unable to reach his eyes.

It was almost as if something was blocking it, preventing it from healing his vision

At that moment, something that had been sealed in the depths of his conscience trembled wildly, erupting with tremendous power that spread through Nial's body, nearly tearing him apart.

His skin burst open and fountains of blood spurted out of him but oddly enough, he felt no pain, at all.

Rather, what Nial felt was something completely different, tracing back to the days before the incident, belonging to the first few years of his life before it had changed to the worst possible!

A tremendous amount of divine energy swept through his body, reaching every cell within the young man. The sudden influx of energy made him feel stunned as he heard a shrill outcry.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! WHO ARE YOU?!? IS THAT YOU R-..." The Goddess shouted, flabbergasted.

Fear shone in her eyes, replacing her earlier confusion. The entire divine palace began to tremble violently owing to the energy she released, all of which was used to push Nial away with her entire might.

Catapulted through the air, Nial was hurled like a piece of paper. The sheer strength that had been used to push Nial was enough to kill him on the spot.

As such, he didn't even notice that his body smashed into the divine palace's wall, before disintegrating into countless particles of light... and darkness.

Waking up from his dream with a start, Nial took deep breaths as he felt that his back was drenched in cold sweat. Sniffing a little, he sensed a putrid smell permeating the air around him.

A moment later, Nial opened his white eyes that were without any vigor, and void of the faintest trace of life!

Once again, he was unable to see anything, exactly like before…

However, at that moment, Nial noticed that one thing had changed.

'I...can sense mana?'

'I… can sense mana!' Nial realized with a radiant smile on his face.

Through the tiny bit of mana particles that were slowly entering his body, Nial could sense his surroundings precisely!

This was miraculous, and something he had never expected to happen.

His hands began to tremble as he clenched his fingers into a fist.

A single tear that was filled with all the frustration, humiliation, and anger accumulated from the last 15 years trickled down his cheek.

Mana, also known as Mythic energy, was one kind of energy that permeated the ground, air, and empowered the majority of living beings within specific areas.

It had first emerged centuries ago as the primal dungeon portal had materialized, releasing mana into the untainted world.

When the first dungeons had appeared in the form of portals, they weren't deemed as dangerous.

Mankind had been curious about the first portals that appeared to be straight out of a science-fiction movie.

However, at the same time, everyone had been anxious about possible and unknown dangers that could be lurking behind, recalling the nightmarish scenarios that were often described in novels.

Unfortunately, it was even worse than what the authors had imagined in their books, and chaos had descended upon the large blue planet.

The majority of humans succumbed to their ill-fated destiny and died a painful death.

Their worries and hardships ended with their life but those who were left behind lived a life of guilt. Despite having survived the dangers, they were neither happy nor relieved as the burden of not being able to save their loved ones weighed them down.

Mankind was on the brink of extinction until the first Originals, that is humans who could absorb and control mana, emerged.

They were able to make use of the mana that permeated the environment and strengthen themselves.

They made use of this strength to kill the beasts that were capable of deflecting bullets, rocket launchers, and in some cases, even nuclear bombs.

By killing beasts that had emerged from dungeons, the Originals were able to reap all kinds of benefits, further strengthening their prowess.

Though later, the tides changed.

From being thrown to the bottom of the food chain, they began to fight desperately to climb back to the top.

Their goal was not only to survive but also to overcome every hurdle that obstructed them from regaining their sovereignty, to be at the top of the food pyramid in the new era!

Through their relentless efforts, they were able to build many shelters in a duration of over three hundred years.

To prevent occurrence of any untoward incident, the number of dungeon portals was strictly regulated inside these shelters.

Or at least that was what mankind had assumed to have achieved until the fateful day when Nial had suddenly disappeared from the face of the planet.

The incident was an anomaly, but it instilled fear in the hearts of every human, nonetheless.

It spoke volumes about the so-called safety that had been reduced to a mere farce, an illusion, after all!

In fact, Nial didn't remember anything that had happened during the incident 15 years ago.

He had only been three years old, after all!

Despite that, there should have been snippets of memories, lodged in the deepest parts of his subconscious.

But, no matter how many times he tried to reach that, he always returned empty-handed.

Because of that, Nial always felt as if something had happened, and a certain blockage had sealed off the specific memories pertaining to that incident in his mind.

At least, that was the only thing that would make sense, considering that he had lost his eyesight and the ability to sense mana through the incident.

It had scarred him for life and left a repetitive, overly realistic dream that had tortured him every month until he had met the Goddess.

Thinking about the repetitive dream, Nial believed that he would never have it again.

At least, that was what his subconscious told him.

Rubbing the area where the Goddess had hit him, Nial couldn't help but feel weird because his body felt sore at that area, making him feel as if his insides had been twisted.

'Was it really just a dream?' he wondered, not sure about the answer.

Yet, given the fact that he was able to sense mana after more than a decade had passed, something about the dream had to be a reality.

At least it had influenced him somehow though he had no idea what the Goddess had done!

'Even if I'm still blind, as long as I can wield mana, it shouldn't be too difficult to learn how to perceive my surroundings with it, replacing my non-existent eyesight…somewhat!'

Nial had never actually been a pessimist.

Despite their family's social standard, he had always been happy, even if he didn't have many things.

The love and security provided by his family more than made up for material belongings, which he had no interest in either way.

As such, he was glad to have obtained the ability to sense mana once again.

That was much better than anything he could wish for- except regaining his eyesight.

In fact, even if he would have regained his eyesight without being able to sense mana, this wouldn't have been as useful as the other way around!

That was because Nial had researched for a way to replicate his lost eyesight to a certain extent.

Unfortunately, without mana, it was near impossible to achieve this.

Thus, he felt as if he had won the jackpot when he could finally make use of mana and his joy knew no bounds.

'I'll return the favor if anything about my dreams was real!'

He vowed to the Goddess, not knowing what consequences this seemingly nonchalant promise would bring forth.

The Goddess had injured him, but that was not something he could care about right now.

He focussed on the positive aspect where she had tried to heal his eyes, allowing Nial to regain his eyesight.

But something had gone terribly wrong in the process.

This made Nial conscious about something within his body, about which he had been ignorant all this time!

Ignoring the particles of mana he was able to sense in his surroundings, Nial touched his chest, feeling his wildly beating heart.

At that moment, he noticed something else that shocked him greatly.

"Did I awaken my origin?" He shouted out, not realizing how loud his voice had been.

As the realization sunk in, his hand began to tremble in excitement.

Suddenly, he felt hyper-aware of everything in his body along with his shirt that clung to his back that was slick with sweat.

Nial couldn't move as he sensed the grain-sized mana core inside his body.

Every Original had to awaken their origin before they could start absorbing mana to strengthen themselves, wield elements and utilize all kinds of abilities.

Before awakening, one was barely able to sense the mana that swept through one's body.

It would simply pass through the body without doing anything.

Only those that had the necessary innate talent would be able to subconsciously absorb a minuscule amount of the dungeons' mana. This involuntary act would repeat itself, slowly preparing the individuals for a natural awakening of their origin.

This would strengthen them, and turn them into supernatural existences that were a cut above ordinary humans.

Since the emergence of the first dungeons, governments had been toppled, and there was only one permanent rule that applied everywhere- The strong reigns, while the weak obey!

Nial was aware of this, and it was also why his parents, who had never cared about becoming stronger, remained poor for their entire life.

They had to take responsibility of Nial and Sabrina, his sister, who were their priorities and their precious little children.

As such, they were unable to spend their time on becoming stronger even if they wanted to, let alone spending their whole time fighting and killing beasts inhabiting more dangerous dungeons to accumulate wealth.

Everything turned even worse when Nial had been involved in an unforeseen incident that had caused severe mental trauma to Maline, Nial's mother.

After the incident, she became overly protective of him and stayed by his side for several years.

It was only when she saw that his previous joyous personality had returned that she decided to give him some freedom.

They had been in a dire need of money, and Miles, their father, was unable to earn enough to feed everyone.

The medical expenses Sabrina had already seared a giant hole in his pocket, yet he was trying to set aside some funds to look for ways to heal Nial.

However, even the strongest healers they had met during the last 15 years had been unable to help them, leaving them with nothing but overpriced medical bills.

Nial was thankful for the family he had, and he knew that they wouldn't give up on him, no matter what.

Because of that, Nial told them that he had already adapted to being blind, that he was happy, and that they should rather save up to help his sister to awaken her origin instead.

Unexpectedly, before that could even happen, she had been diagnosed with a rare disease, throwing their entire family, which had just recovered from the setback of Nial's incident, a fresh set of obstacles once again.

Even Nial was not sure how to be optimistic in that situation.

Fortunately, Sabrina's situation had been fine for a very long time, and the medicine they were able to procure seemed to prevent her condition from worsening.

However, after a few years passed, her condition began to gradually worsen.

The cheap medicine stopped working and the price they had to pay for the medicine that merely worked as a painkiller for his little sister, skyrocketed.

Because of that Nial had grown desperate, just like his parents, while his little sister was always trying to smile brightly, and try to ease their worry.

Owing to his desire to support his family, Nial had ended up in the current situation, overcoming the pressure of the divine stairs, the encounter with the divine Goddess, and having his origin awakened!

The Divine Goddess was responsible for the recuperation of his malfunction that had prevented him from sensing mana.

At the same time, her intervention seemed to have awakened something that had been sealed deep within him.

This had also served as a catalyst to awaken his origin, the creation of his mana veins, and a small mana core.

Yet, at the same time, Nial was able to sense that something that didn't belong to him was inside him!

It was located between his heart and the mana core that was right in the center of his lower chest.

Even if Nial was not sure what exactly it was, through his perception he was able to tell that it was… a seed!?

'Was that sealed inside me?' He wondered, not quite sure what to do with this recently acquired information.

Nial attempted to perceive more about the mysterious seed within his body, but it was to no avail.

All of a sudden, just as he decided to divert his attention to something else, a weird sensation jolted through Nial's body.

He felt as if his nerves were electrocuted for a short moment when mana within him accidentally came in touch with the seed.

'This...is that the divine energy of the Goddess...and..what even is that?'historical

Nial was not sure what exactly had happened to his body in that short moment.

He felt invigorated and all too powerful as if he could lift an Ox all by himself.

This made him question his existence, but he was dragged out of his train of thoughts when he heard the loud sound of footsteps rushing toward him.

At that moment his mother stormed inside his room, flinging open the door as her worried voice resounded through the entire house.

"Nial, what's wrong, did you have a nightmare again? Does something hurt??"

Hearing his overprotective mother's tired, but also worried voice, Nial couldn't help but bite on his lower lip.

Soon, his expression transformed as he gave her a radiant smile, the first one he had shown in the past 15 years.

"I think I…just awoke my origin!!"

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Nial's mother was not sure if her ears were deceiving her.

This lead her to stare at her son with a stupefied expression.

"You...did what?!"

Her tiredness was washed away in the blink of an eye and Nial was able to hear the sound of footsteps that rushed straight toward him.

Only a moment later did he feel the soft caress of her mother as she touched his forehead.

A soothing sensation entered his mind making him feel instantly refreshed.

This sensation was owing to the mana that entered his body.

His mother had instinctively inserted traces of her mana into him, thinking that he was in pain.

But, she retracted it a moment later before he heard her collapse to the ground with a soft thud.

Her legs suddenly gave in and he heard her sobbing bitterly, her muffled voice piercing straight in his ears.

"How did you...no..since when are you able to sense mana again?? Why didn't you tell us?"

Her emotions and confusion were clearly noticeable, and Nial could only smile apologetically as he tried to figure out what to tell his mother.

"I just had the same nightmare as before...only to wake up being able to sense mana. And it was not long after that I had awoken my origin as well…"

He didn't want to lie to his mother which was the reason Nial stated the truth.

Though, he left out a few things intentionally which made him feel guilty.

Nial had never told anyone about the exact details of his dream including the divine palace, and what exactly happened in the repetitive dream.

Somehow, it didn't feel right to do so.

In the end, he even believed that it might be a disadvantage for others if they were to hear the entire truth from him.

There was no proof about this assumption, and neither did he require one.

Nial simply followed his instincts and perception, just like he always did.

Getting up from the bed, his feet touched the rough wooden planks that served as the floor of the house. Leaning forward, he reached for his mother and hugged her tightly.

He could roughly gauge how his mother was feeling right now.

Thus he didn't have to say anything, at all.

On one side his mother was overjoyed that Nial had awoken his origin, elevating his status in the society.

However, on the other hand, crippled Originals were, in rare cases, treated harsher than citizens of the lower class.

That was because Originals were recognized as the protectors of mankind, while only a few cared about those who didn't awaken their origin.

As such, Nial would attract some attention with his unique condition.

Nevertheless, Maline was overjoyed, knowing that Nial would be able to perceive his surroundings much better from now on.

This would allow him to become more independent and she wouldn't have to worry about leaving him alone for long.

Now, it was possible for him to do much more, go out alone without the need to rely on his white cane or special signs for blind people to find his way through bustling streets.

It was even possible for him to live alone in the future, and learn to protect himself from ferocious beasts!

One could say that the origin awakening allowed Nial to be able to live an almost normal life in an era that was filled with death, fear, and dungeon portals.

This lifted a huge burden from his parents' minds as well as boosted his confidence to a whole new level.

The same could be said about the guilt that his mother had been harboring for 15 years.

She had been unable to be there for him when he truly needed her.

Ever since the day he had disappeared, Maline had regretted having allowed him to play alone on the playground.

Had she not left him on his own, she would have rescued him in time when the dungeon incident had occurred.

Even if it was not her fault for doing something perfectly normal, it was the thought that she could have just changed Nial's fate by making him play somewhere else that tormented her for over a decade.

All the memories and guilt that had been weighing her down finally found their release in the form of sad yet happy tears that streamed down her face.historical

He didn't utter a single word as her tears began to soak his shirt.

He simply hugged her, only to hear another pair of footsteps entering his room.

Lifting his head in an instinctive manner, Nial sensed an all too familiar presence. A small smile appeared on his face as he said,

"Hey, Dad!"

Miles, his father, was standing in the doorframe, looking at the mother-son duo in confusion.

Maline was crying her eyes out, while Nial looked happier and more energetic than ever before.

It was almost as if they had traveled back to the past and their life 15 years ago. Maybe, he was even happier than in his early childhood days right now!

However, that didn't explain why his wife was currently crying rivers. As he stared at them in confusion, Nial explained the situation with a bright smile on his face.

A moment later, Miles confusion was replaced by relief as he rushed to his wife and son.

He leaned towards them and fell on his knees as he embraced both of them tightly, with a vibrant smile and tears trickling down his cheeks.

The three of them were overjoyed, and the sound of laughter intermingled with sobs echoed through the small room.

Now, with the awakening of his origin, Nial's future was not as bleak as his parents had feared it to become.

Nial couldn't help but be exhilarated as well. After all, it was only one night since his entire life had begun to change!

Last night when he had dreaded waking up breathlessly after seeing the same dream, he could have never hoped a situation similar to what had actually happened to occur.

However, it was exactly because of this that he felt a little bit anxious.

'Just what is this seed? It devoured the Goddess's divine energy as if it was a mere appetizer…It won't cause any harm to my body, right?'

Not knowing anything about the black seed was disturbing, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong about it.

At least for now, Nial was unable to sense that anything was off.

Rather, the black seed seemed to be in direct connection with his mana veins, just like his mana core.

But this was something Nial didn't understand either.

Thinking about the changes in his body, he was not sure how much time had passed.

But he was dragged out of his thoughts when his father let go of him and his mother as he hesitantly said,

"We have some funds... it might be enough for a gradeless ability crystal if you want...it would be better than nothing, after all…"

Upon hearing his father's proposal, Nial was shocked and immediately shook his head.

"I don't need anything. You had saved these funds for Sabrina's medicine. I don't want to take anything just because I awoke my origin!"

By awakening their origin, Originals were able to absorb the knowledge stored in specific crystals that could be procured inside dungeons.

These ability crystals were comparable to powers that would be bound to the mana core of an Original.

Through the binding process, one could gain all kinds of abilities such as being able to wield elements, attain superhuman strength, or even defy nature's law to fly around.

Everything seemed to become possible with the use of ability crystals!

The awakening of the Origin initiated the creation of mana veins and a small mana core inside the body.

This allowed a seemingly normal human being to turn into a superhuman existence whose social status was elevated overnight, just because they were able to actively absorb and store mana.

That was exactly what happened with his parents.

Despite being poor, they were categorized as a middle-class family just because they had awakened as Originals.

Unfortunately, awakening would not immediately bring forth great wealth.

Talent, strength, and one's persistence were what would allow one to accumulate wealth and gain respect from others.

After all, if one was blessed with the necessary talent, strength would soon follow suit.

That was also why his father was embarrassed about their overall situation.

He wished to provide his children with a better future, but this was simply not possible because of their economic situation.

Their funds were meager which made it impossible for him to provide his son with his first ability crystal, which would have been a great honor for him.

"I'm sorry that we cannot support you financially…"

He sounded genuinely regretful, and embarrassed, and Nial's sharp ears picked the faint noise of his father clenching his fist.

However, Miles understood that even a weak ability wouldn't actually help his son.

In fact, it might even restrict Nial in the future.

p The stronger one's first ability was, the easier it would be to survive a dungeon conquest and gain more benefits.

This would allow anyone with a powerful ability to advance further and faster without the need to rely on others.

At the same time, weak abilities were barely of any use.

As a newly awakened Original one could only bind a single ability at first.

The number of abilities one could possess only increased with the Original's strength!

Owing to this, the Originals would have to keep getting stronger to gain more abilities, which would, in turn, further strengthen them.

This simple fact made it even more important to have a perfect start with a powerful first ability that opens pathways for the Original to obtain more powerful abilities, and strength!

"We can just work more, you know… You don't have to worry about our financial situation!" His father tried to reassure him, but Nial's serious expression caused him to quiet down, realizing that Nial could easily call his bluff.

Both of Nial's parents were already entering low-ranked dungeons and stayed in them to kill beasts and accumulate wealth, toiling for more than 12 hours a day.

After that, they would return and tend to Sabrina, whose condition had reached the worst state since she had been diagnosed with the disease nobody seemed to know much about.

Knowing this, Nial made himself as self-reliant as possible, lessening the burden on his parents in his own small way.

He would often spend most of his time in their small backyard, where he had built a small training place to practice and play a little.

Despite having been unable to sense mana, Nial didn't feel like giving up on himself.

He knew that he had to be responsible, if his parents were to be out hunting, leaving him in charge of his sister.

Under the rather bleak possibility that an astray monster would escape a newly manifested dungeon, Nial would have to protect his sister with all his might!

Such a situation was highly unlikely because the government took great care of dungeons that had materialized inside the shelter, controlling everything properly.

However, even then, it was still possible!

As such, he trained his body as well as he could, allowing him to wield the present that he had received on his 18th birthday!

His present had been a white cane, a special one that had a unique feature- it could be used as a spear!

It was cheap and made of a material that could not hold even a single trace of mana, but Nial didn't care about this at all.

That was because he had been unable to sense mana back then.

Hence, at that time, it was more than enough for him to have a weapon to fight with.

And thanks to his curiosity about blind spearmanship he was already able to wield it with a little mastery over it.

Because of this 'little mastery', Nial somehow assumed that he could fight some weaker dungeon beasts.

At least, that was what he believed to be possible upon learning how to use mana properly.

Mana should allow him to perceive his surroundings better, giving him a new sense of the things around him along with enhancing his mana perception.

His parents knew nothing about the reckless idea he had in mind because Nial was fully aware that it was extremely stupid.

Nevertheless, he couldn't let his sister die right in front of him, while his parents worked themselves to death, just to prolong his sister's death sentence one day at a time.

Allowing the current situation to go on was something Nial would never accept.

As such, he would rather endanger his own life, and even sacrifice himself, if it would guarantee the safety of those he loved!

That was just who he was. His family had always tried to make the best out of their situation, and they had never treated him wrongly.

His parents would not hesitate to sacrifice their life or limb for him or his sister if it was necessary.

They had been his role models, and thus he wanted to be like them.

Despite that, the seemingly heroic trait of being willing to sacrifice himself was something Nial reserved for those he loved.

He didn't care a tiny bit about others because most people he had come in contact with in his life had treated him worse than trash, just because he was blind and not awakened.

Since that night, a few days had passed by, and many things had changed.

First, his sister's condition had worsened, replacing the joy that had filled their small house with fear.

The desperation of their family reached a dangerous level because it looked like the funds they had were not enough to hold on for much longer.

Because of that, Nial had reduced his sleep to less than four hours in total.

He focused on trying to grasp how mana worked, and what he was supposed to do to become stronger, and perceive his surroundings.

This was extremely difficult, but Nial had never expected it to be easy, to begin with.

As such, time was running out and he felt like he had to shift his focus on improving his spearmanship.

Nial attempted to get his hands on the essence of wielding the spear to fight without mana, or the ability to perceive his surroundings with mana.

However, that was not everything that had happened.

On the third day since he had awoken his origin something miraculous, but also dangerous had happened.

It made Nial believe that everything that occurred during the last few days had been fate, and his good luck had returned after abandoning him for 15 years.

A dungeon portal had manifested in the backyard of their house!

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"Extremely weak fluctuations… That should be a low-Rookie ranked dungeon. A very small and weak one, if I'm not wrong…" Nial mumbled as he spent several minutes sensing the mana fluctuations of the dungeon.

During the last few days, he had learned how to use mana. This allowed him to perceive a few things in his surroundings.

His control was extremely crude, but the most basic aspects of learning to control were something that Nial, a blind person with extraordinary senses, was able to get the hang of, in just a few days.

Because he was not distracted by the additional burden of suddenly being able to see as well, it didn't take long for him to understand how to perceive his surroundings.

This also included the thin, unstable, and liquefied membrane of the portal that had manifested in their backyard.

When he first sensed the dungeon portal, it caused his entire body to stiffen.

Nial had subconsciously stepped back several meters as the blurry memories of the incident 15 years ago started to flash through his mind.

Fortunately, the mana fluctuations of the dungeon portal were extremely weak, and a beast had yet to emerge from it.

This confused him a little bit.

However, Nial knew that he was even more clueless about dungeons and their various types than mankind in general.

Through countless experiments, humanity was able to find out a few things about the existence of dungeons.

Among the few pieces of information they had acquired, one of them was the fact that the strength and the number of beasts inhabiting a dungeon portal could be easily assessed.

For that one had to simply observe the mana fluctuations of the said portal. The stronger the fluctuation, the stronger the beasts residing in it.

Through this, they learned how to categorize Dungeons into several grades that were further divided into sub-ranks, which made things much easier.

The weakest grade for a dungeon was called 'Rookie' and the sub-ranks ranged from Low, Mid, to High. These were a rough indicator of the beasts that harbored the realm, planet, or a separate space that was connected to the portals.

Nobody knew what one would find on the other side as it could vary a lot.

But in most cases, Originals entered a small mystic space that harbored one specific kind of beast.

Once all hostile living beings were killed, the dungeon would disappear, and never reappear again.

At least that was what happened in most cases.

There were also special dungeons with various unique features, but that was not something Nial could bother thinking about right now.

His mind was filled with doubts and his thoughts were one giant mess that he tried to unravel while thinking of a plan or something.

'What am I even supposed to do now?' He asked himself.

Right now, he was completely overwhelmed by the situation.

His parents were out, conquering dungeons, and his sister was bedridden, kept alive through the expensive medicine and life-support machines.

As such, he was alone…as always.

However, now it was different. His life had changed and a dungeon had emerged in their backyard!

Because of that, he did the only logical thing he could think of- he called the Originals association.

Others might think that he was stupid for not entering the dungeon before doing anything else.

After all, he had initially believed to be able to fight some weaker beasts.historical

Under normal circumstances, he wasn't even supposed to think about the association that governed the majority of dungeons inside all human shelters.

At least, not considering their financial situation!

However, Nial didn't care about that as he heard the ringtone of his phone that he had picked up from the table near his training spot.

Nial was not a big fan of using his phone, but that was also not something he could bother about.

Using the seemingly ancient phone that still had keys, Nial punched in the number of the Originals association.

The line connected as he entered a waiting queue made him frown deeply.

"Great 'emergency' hotline…" He mumbled quietly while trying to not be annoyed.

Having nothing else to do, he decided to divert his focus and tried sensing every single change in the dungeon portal.

It made him uncomfortable to be around a newly emerged dungeon portal, and it was only the extremely weak mana fluctuations that allowed him to remain relatively calm.

Despite that, he should feel much more desperate than he was actually feeling right now.

After all, beasts could suddenly emerge from the portal at any moment, and he would not have even the faintest idea of their numbers and actual strength.

His current reaction was weird and different from how he would usually behave.

All of a sudden, Nial heard the voice of a young woman introducing herself, breaking his chain of thoughts.

"Welcome to the Emergency hotline of the Originals association. This is Rebecca Karls on the phone. How may I help you?"

Weirdly enough, Nial felt that his heartbeat which had been eerily calm began to beat at a much faster rate the moment he heard the female's voice over the phone.

It forced him to be caught in a trance for a moment, only to shake his head before he explained the situation in their backyard in as simple words as possible.

"Hello Ms. Karls, I want to report the manifestation of a low-Rookie ranked dungeon in our backyard, it happened just…five minutes ago!"

Carefully listening to every single noise he could hear through the phone, Nial expected to be told that someone would come over to clear it.

However, the young woman's next words were definitely not what he had hoped to hear.

"Ok, Sir. So there is still some time left...great! Is the backyard your private property or did you, or your family lease it?"

When he heard this, Nial couldn't help but feel speechless as his mind began to run wild.

'How the hell is our backyard important, girl??'

"The entire area we are living in belonged to our late grandparents...and we inherited it...but how does that even relevant...right now?"

He was not quite sure what to say anymore, so he preferred to stay silent while patiently awaiting the next words of the young woman who seemed to be extremely calm.

It was as if she didn't care about his situation or predicament, at all.

"If the dungeon is located on private property, the landowner is allowed to decide whether he or she wants to use the dungeon for personal use. In that case, the association won't enter the dungeon, or intervene in any kind of way.

Meanwhile, the landowner takes full responsibility for everything that will happen on his property.

If someone dies because of a dungeon breakout, or astray beasts that emerged from the dungeon, the crime will be considered to have been committed by the owner of the dungeon!

As for the other choices you have- You can either sell the dungeon to the Originals association, other possible interested organizations, families, or interested individuals.

In that case, the responsibility of anything that will happen transfers over to them."

After listening to this, Nial felt that it sounded somewhat familiar as if he had already heard this before.

Maybe that was the case, but he couldn't really recall it.

Either way, the information he had received was extremely important right now.

But even then, he was not the rightful owner of the property, so he shouldn't be supposed to make a decision.

However, at that moment, he recalled a certain law that granted him some liberty.

It was about a similar situation to what was just happening with him.

As such, Nial was able to take up the responsibility to make a choice!

"If Sir wants to sell the dungeon, please inform me now itself. We will immediately send someone over to take the necessary precautions."

Upon hearing the reassuring voice of the young woman, Nial was almost inclined to sell the dungeon without even knowing how much they could gain from it.

Dungeons were worth a fortune because every single thing that could be procured within it could be sold for a high price!

Yet, somehow, despite not receiving any further intel, Nial felt that he should accept the deal because something kept nagging at him.

And that was not only because of the fact that he couldn't afford to endanger his ill sister.

They were also in a dire need of money.

However, even before he could say anything, the dungeon had completely manifested.

This was much faster than it was supposed to happen and now he was worried that a dangerous existence could simply emerge out of the portal.

If that were to happen, it would be a disaster for Nial and his sister.

And if the person who was supposed to come over would not reach in time, the beast would tear them apart to pieces.

But this disaster turned into a rollercoaster of emotions for Nial, shocking him in a good way.

A beast had emerged from the portal!

Through his acute sense of sound, smell, and crude perception of the surroundings' mana currents, Nial was able to figure out more about the beast.

With the use of the mana currents, it was even possible for him to roughly imagine the beast's outline.

It was inaccurate, but Nial was still able to tell what kind of beast had emerged from the Dungeon portal.

Because he now had the faintest idea of what existence he would supposedly fight, Nial's worry disappeared in an instant.

In a split second, he made his decision as he replied,

"I'm sorry, but we want to keep the Dungeon for personal use. I will call back later...maybe."

After that, Nial hung up, not even bothering to hear Rebecca's reply.

He stared ahead as excitement spread through his entire body.

This was a weird sensation which he hadn't felt since...he did not remember the exact time. M

Maybe, he had never felt like that, or he couldn't recall it.

Yet, what Nial didn't notice was that he had hung up on a flabbergasted woman, who couldn't help but look at the holographic screen in front of her as if it was broken.

"Did he just...hang up? How could my ability not work? Was he completely unfazed? Maybe he is...gay...or a eunuch?! That has to be it!"

She muttered furiously but it was of no use.

What Nial didn't know was that the young woman had used a charm type of ability that would normally cause men to react and act the way she wanted.

This ability worked through the phone too as long as she was the one who was talking to the other party.

This was the reason she was tasked with receiving the majority of calls for the emergency hotline that was flooded with doubts similar to Nial's.

In the end, Nial had only been distracted by her ability for a short moment.

Afterward, he was unaffected, as if he had gained immunity against it.

While perceiving the beast in front of him, Nial couldn't help but feel intrigued because it was, in fact, a slime!

'Is it a basic slime dungeon? That would at least explain the low amount of mana fluctuations...they're amongst the weakest existing beasts, after all…'

When the dungeon portal had emerged, he had been afraid for a second.

But Nial didn't even notice that this sensation had long since dispersed.

He had always been easily afraid of the unknown.

But somehow, his outlook and behavior had started to change since the awakening of his origin.

'Is it the influence of the seed?' Nial asked himself, only to shake his head.

There was no time for him to think about it.

He had to focus on perceiving the slime that was only a meter away from him.

It was advancing towards him at a shockingly slow pace that even a crawling baby could surpass easily.

This astonished Nial, who didn't expect slimes to be that slow.

While perceiving the slime, Nial tried to use his mana to figure out more about the beast.

Subconsciously, he pressed the button that transformed the white cane he had been clutching tightly to.

It turned into a poorly crafted spear which Nial thrust forward.

Nial didn't even notice that he had moved instinctively.

It was only after the spear had easily pierced through the slime's body that he grasped what happened.

The tip of his spear had penetrated the slime's core in a single strike.

Through this, the unknown, sticky liquid that had been held together by the core spilled over the ground before seeping into it.

With that seemingly simple strike, Nial had killed the slime, shocking him greatly.

He was not exactly fond of violence, let alone killing, but oddly enough, Nial felt nothing as he killed the small slime.

'Is it because I don't think of a slime as a living being?' He wondered, confused about why he didn't feel anything.

Only a moment later, Nial was dragged out of his thoughts as something odd happened.

All of a sudden, he heard weird sounds stemming from the slime. and Nial sensed how the corpse of the dead beast was being torn apart.

His mana perceived how it disintegrated into millions of tiny particles before they began to float in the air.

Slowly and steadily, they surrounded the destroyed mana core and the particles that began to merge with it.

Through his mana, he could sense the creation of something that made Nial smile vibrantly, dispersing the shock he had felt just a moment ago.

"An Origin crystal!!"

The mysterious seed inside Nial was slowly beginning to transform, pushing out some of the traits he hated the most about himself.

Amongst this was his fear of the unknown.

Though he was not the only person to have this fear.

Almost everyone had this deep-rooted fear and it was extremely common.

However, for him, almost everything fell under the unknown category as he was blind.

Thus, he would always prefer staying at home and seldom dared to venture out alone earlier.

He might be deemed as an optimist by his family, and would always portray his happy self in front of them.

But, in reality, he had faced too many ugly incidents owing to his condition his family didn't know about.

In the past, his trust had been broken and his confidence shattered.

Yet, right now, his entire baggage of emotions and cruel experiences of the past seemed to become less significant. They felt nothing more than distant and fleeting memories.

Through the repulsive energies that seemed to be stored within the mysterious seed, it seemed to gradually transform.

One of the energies seemed to be the Divine energy he had taken from the goddess.

But that wasn't the only energy stored in it. He could sense the presence of another unknown energy that seemed to alter Nial's entire being, including his mindset and specific traits about his personality.

This was scary, but at the same time oddly reassuring because it made him feel much better and comfortable in his own body.

'Maybe if I wouldn't have become blind, I would be different, like what the changes are doing with me? Braver and without that many worries?' He wondered. Though, he quickly discarded the thought only a moment later.

What could have been or what he could have done was not important anymore.

In the end, Nial became who he was through everything he endured and overcame.

As such, Nial would never forget his past and how he had been treated.

Though painful, he would retain these memories to serve as a glaring reminder of how far he had come and from where had he started.

He was of the belief that while aiming for the sky one should never lose sight of the ground below

With a mysterious smile on his face masking the complex emotions he was currently feeling, Nial pocketed his phone.

Leaning towards the ground, he picked up the origin crystal, picking it up without any hesitation.

There was no definite reason as to why it happened, but all kinds of beasts that emerged from dungeons had a small chance to leave behind origin crystals moments after being killed.

Some researchers said that these crystals were the accumulated energy of the deceased beast's origin.

Meanwhile, others were of the opinion that the dungeons had been sent over by something unfathomable to nurture mankind.

This mysterious existence wanted to make them stronger, and prepare them for something terrifying they couldn't even imagine.

And then, there were those people who genuinely believed that everything was nothing but a game!

However the number of people who believed so was low, and only a handful to be precise.

Mankind had suffered a lot, and the dungeons' dangers seemed to be endless.

As such, nobody sane would even think that the dungeons were used as some sort of a game, and mere toys designed for the entertainment of higher existences.

Yet, there were also otherworldly beings that made everything even more difficult than it already was.

In the end, Nial felt as if he didn't know anything. Everything seemed new to him and he was thoroughly confused to have seen and met a true goddess.

And the worst was that her face had been filled with fright at the end of their encounter!

Recalling the look on her face, the moment something within his conscience had deprived her of a part of her divine energy made him shiver involuntarily.

Nial could only shake his head as discomfort surfaced from the depth of his mind.

It was something unforgettable, but at the same time, unbelievable, which caused him to tightly clench his fist around the origin crystal.

However, at this moment he felt that something was weird.

'There is no mana inside it?'

Confused, he frowned deeply, only for realization to strike Nial as a bright smile appeared on his face.

Without a single moment of hesitation, he inserted some of his mana in the crystal, and felt a stream of information entering his mind.

[Mana perception(Poorest)]

"An ability crystal?!" Nial exclaimed in shock as he brushed his fingers on the crystal carefully.

He knew that the first beast one killed had a higher chance to drop an origin crystal.

However, the fact that the origin crystal he held in his hand was, in fact, an ability crystal shocked him greatly.

After all the chance to get an ability crystal was extremely rare and only 5 in 1000 origin crystals!

He almost felt giddy at his fortune and felt that somehow someone was trying to help him end his misery.

Perceiving the words that seemed to be engraved on his mind, Nial was overjoyed.

Because of the high probability of receiving an origin crystal for someone who was killing dungeon beasts for the first time in their life, many people were exploited. Some were even forced to kill beasts, despite not even being Originals.

However, that was a different topic.

In the end, it was odd.

Mana perception was exactly what Nial required because it would indirectly help him sense his surroundings much easier.

Yet, the 'Poorest' tag was what caused Nial to hesitate in his pursuit to bind the ability to his mana core.

'I won't be able to bind another ability for a very long time...should I really choose this one?' He asked himself, not sure whether it was better to sell the ability or bind it.

The price for ability crystals was massive and would go up to 50,000$ for the poorest quality of common ranked ones.

Even if the ability crystal he held in his hand was useless for most people, the lowest possible price he could get was likely to be at 10,000$!

While Origin crystals were very expensive because powerful weapons, potent potions, endurable armors and all kinds of unique devices were produced by them, ability crystals had only one use- they strengthened all the Originals who made use of them!

Originals were the wealthiest, but also the pickiest about the choice of their abilities because they could only pick a few in their entire lifetime.

As such, Nial knew that 10,000$ was what he would most likely receive in exchange for the crystal, even though most abilities were more expensive.

However, 10,000$ was already enough to purchase medicines worth two months for his sister!!

Torn between the choice he had to take, Nial didn't even notice that he was grasping the ability crystal so tightly that its sharp edges had cut into his palm.

This caused fresh droplets of blood to trickle on the ability crystal which began to glow faintly.

At that moment, something in the depths of Nial's conscience began to rumble. It dragged him out of his thoughts as he realised what was going on.

"The...seed is showing signs to be willing to bind the ability to it...are they compatible?..Wait, is the seed possibly...an empty innate ability?!"

He was confused, but his hand was trembling in excitement.

Nial's mind was bombarding him with a lot of thoughts and a moment later, he forgot about every single worry he had just a moment earlier.

Shaking his head, he focused on the opportunity in front of him which was worth so much more than a few thousand dollars.

'If this is really what I think it is...I…'

Yet, before Nial could even finish his train of thoughts, his body began to creak, while the ability crystal shattered into thousands of tiny fragments.

Almost instantaneously, tremendous pieces of information flooded his mind, only to pave their way to the seed that had fully transformed.

It almost looked like the seed had finally merged with Nial.

From its initial black color, it was now dyed into a multitude of colors that seemed to repulse each other.

While the seed's base color was crimson-black, it was intertwined with white-silverish strand-like veins, creating a huge contrast.

The seed felt weird, but the binding process of the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability was even more uncomfortable.

In the end, he assumed that the black seed was something Originals usually called 'empty innate ability' which would mean that Nial was an anomaly.

He had not only awoken as an Original but he had two free ability slots to bind to him, instead of one.

There was only one distinct difference in empty innate abilities when compared to normal abilities; one had to search for a compatible ability to bind it to the empty slot!

Originals that had awoken an Innate ability were extremely rare because innate abilities would grow according to the Original's strength.historical

This made them much stronger in comparison to others.

And as of today, Nial seemed to have transformed into someone like that...an Original with an Innate ability!

It would take some time before the ability settled down, but Nial could already notice a change.

'It is both..a passive and an active ability?'

While passive abilities were constantly activated, active abilities required a specific amount of mana in order to be activated first.

However, he felt that his perception of mana increased without him doing anything, which confused him at first.

Not even the faintest traces of mana within him were consumed to achieve this, either!

Only after several minutes passed did the enhancing process stagnate, leaving Nial with a significant increment in his mana perception!

With a few quick tests, he had easily figured out that his perception of mana had increased, including his control and accuracy over it.

It was only then that Nial realized how strong abilities and Originals truly were!

Before, it had been hard for him to grasp the difference between Originals and unawakened humans, but now, he understood it better.

As such, he couldn't help but gulp nervously, only to insert a little bit of mana into the Odyssey seed, which was the name he gave to the mysterious seed.

In the end, the Odyssey seed was what caused his biggest misfortune.

But at the same time, Nial felt as if it was also the start of a journey that would be filled with adventures, joy, but also pain, sadness, and numerous life-threatening dangers.

Because he felt that this seed was an embodiment of all the above things, he simply called it 'Odyssey', even if it might sound big for a seed.

However, that didn't bother Nial, who had inspected his surroundings with a newfound interest.

Feeling how everything around him was vibrant and full of life force, Nial subconsciously smiled as he turned towards the small training area his father had set up for him.

With the crude spear still in his hand, Nial took slow but confident steps in a specific direction as he carefully picked up the pouch he always carried along. Attaching it to his belt, he turned his attention back to the dungeon portal.

After that, he took a deep breath.

"I didn't make a mistake, right?" He mumbled to himself as his insecurity began to resurface.

However, only a moment later, Nial was overwhelmed by a weird sensation.

All of a sudden, he got a feeling that his decision had been correct and he shouldn't doubt himself about it.

Thus, by telling himself that he had just 'wasted' 10,000$, Nial knew that he had to at least earn the same amount in the following days and weeks.

And the best way to earn such a fortune, in the shortest amount of time, was either gambling, selling his organs in the black market, or conquering dungeons!

Of all the choices available, only the latter sounded rational to him.

With that thought in mind, Nial used the passive effect of the mana perception to observe the slime dungeon before giving his family a quick heads-up.

They would be away for a few more hours and return home quite late from their dungeon trips.

Only after leaving the dungeons would his parents be able to use their phones as there would be no signal inside.

Thus, he had more than enough time to prove it to his parents that his choice to take responsibility for the dungeon and to bind the ability crystal to him had not been a mistake.

It was also enough time to prove himself, and show everyone that the blind person they made fun of was not as useless as everyone believed!

With that in mind, and recalling the humiliation he had to endure from his former classmates, old relatives, and everyone else, who was not his closest family, Nial's resolve turned firm.

He grasped the crude spear with both hands, ignoring the slight pain in his hand that was still bleeding as he stepped through the dungeon portal.

There was not a single trace of hesitation left within Nial.

Just a moment later, he felt as if his surroundings were twisted.

It felt as if he was being pulled through something at a tremendous speed before his senses recognized that his entire surrounding had changed all of a sudden.

As he tried to understand where he had been suddenly dragged to by making use of his extraordinary senses and mana perception, Nial couldn't help but smile weirdly.

"Is...that a cave? Quite ironic, isn't it? Neither I nor the slimes can see...so why do we need light to begin with!"

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Without making a single sound, Nial tried to hear and smell if there were any immediate dangers around him.

At the same time, he used the few mana particles inside his body to figure out more about his surroundings.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be able to sense much even with the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability consistently activated.

However, what Nial didn't know was that the Odyssey seed would further enhance the ability that was bound to it, making it more potent.

This was extremely helpful and gave Nial the necessary push to allow him to sense everything in the radius of slightly more than a meter.

It was, by no means, a lot, but after adding his other senses to the mix, he was only required to visualize what was immediately around him.

Because of that, he could 'see' the bushes of grass he had stepped on.

Everything was visualized in his mind, moments after his mana swept past it.

As such, for Nial, mana worked like a tool to scan his surroundings and transmit the data to his mind, where the information would be quickly digested and made use of.

Owing to this, Nial didn't feel that his blindness was a major hindrance anymore.

In the end, this was but a lie that he told himself to feel even better about his ability.

After all, a sight limited to the radius of one meter in comparison to tens, if not a hundred meters made a devastating difference.historical

Even a single arrow shot at him from a distance would be enough to kill Nial after all!

However, Nial knew this quite well, and he was already thinking of a way to counter such seemingly normal scenarios that could occur at any time.

It was common to encounter dungeon beasts that had the capabilities to attack over a long-range, and Nial would certainly die if he had no countermeasures to deflect or tackle such attacks.

With that in mind, he couldn't help but feel glad that slimes were relatively harmless beasts he didn't have to be afraid of.

Given enough time, and slimes as his opponents, Nial first wanted to improve his spearmanship, the utilization of the [Mana Perception] ability.

But more than that he had to pay special attention to his control over mana which had improved drastically.

Nial had yet to assess the potential of his mana vein and mana core, let alone register his awakening at the Originals association.

But that could wait for now.

First, he wanted to be able to understand the changes in his entire being, including his physique, and most importantly, his behavior!

After that, he would face the government, knowing that they wouldn't really care about him, even after his awakening.

Crippled Originals were mostly seen as demolished and unwanted goods, after all…

Wielding the crudely forged spear, Nial tried to distract himself, preventing anxiety and other negative emotions from influencing his mind.

Silently sneaking in the cave, he took small steps, while he had his ears perked up to not miss even the faintest noise.

At the same time, his acute sense of smell pointed out where he would find something.

Beasts had their own unique smell which would usually make things easier for him.

However, he was unfortunate that it was not exactly easy to find traceless slimes in a cave full of moisture.

Despite that, Nial quickly found his first target that approached him at a slow pace, making weird squelching noises.

Piercing out with the crude spear, he penetrated the slime's liquid jelly-like outer layer without much resistance.

However, Nial noticed only a moment later that he had missed its core. But, he had managed to severely injure it.

Because of that he had to retract the spear before taking a small step forward.

Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he aimed for the core and thrust forward the spear once again.

This time, he hit the slime's core, and the spear's pointed tip penetrated it without any issue, ending the beast's life.

All he heard was a squelch as the body of the slime fell apart.

Even if there was no blood splattering through the surrounding, or painful screams bouncing off the walls of the cave, there was no denying the fact that he had just ended a life.

As such, he should feel remorse, guilt, or at least a little bit sad for killing an innocent being.

Yet, despite being a first-timer and a rookie Nial felt nothing, which could only be described as abnormal.

But without minding it too much, he simply continued to walk ahead.

Through the [Mana perception] ability, most of his initial problems had lost their meaning.

It was not perfect, by any means, and still needed work and polishing.

But, as he was already in an unknown and dangerous territory, he had to make use of this opportunity.

It would serve as a live tutorial for him to train his combat prowess, and improve his combat experience, spearmanship, mana control, and his perception.

The dungeon's dangers were not life-threatening because even mutated slimes wouldn't be much stronger than the two he had already encountered.

As such, Nial was able to challenge himself by fighting multiple slimes at once.

At the same time, he stayed focused on the remaining things that had to be improved.

'Please let it be a large-sized dungeon!' He thought, hoping to encounter hundreds of slimes in the next few hours.

Money was a necessity and the bare minimum everyone required in the modern era, and Nial was desperate to earn it, more so for his sister than for himself.

With his sick sister in mind, he grasped the spear's shaft tightly after wiping his sweaty palm on his shirt. Determination flickered in his eyes as he advanced towards the next batch of slimes he heard ahead.

A batch of seven slimes was ahead of him.

Sensing all of them through his mana perception, Nial was able to gauge their position, the speed of their advancement, and the path they were likely to take.

His mind was processing everything at a rapid pace.

It was fast enough for Nial to get a headache and make him feel dizzy but he shook his head once and aimed at the slimes, thrusting the spear into their mucus-filled bodies.

Hearing the familiar sound of the spear piercing in their slimy bodies, he pulled out his makeshift weapon before stabbing them over and over again.

While training in his backyard for years, Nial had worked on improving his attacks by using a simple, yet heavy and long metal pipe to train.

After all, they didn't have the money to provide him with a proper weapon.

Using the crude spear after he turned 18 was different. But even then, the difference was not enough to make him miss every single attack.

Many things had changed now once he was able to perceive mana. The biggest change was probably the vast amount of information he received.

As he was still learning how to use mana efficiently, his mind was unable to process attacking while simultaneously digesting the influx of information he received.

However, what astonished Nial was the fact that the Odyssey seed didn't even budge. It simply stayed as it was, unmoving and stationary.

After the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability was bound to it, the seed went completely silent.

However, that was not really something Nial felt like complaining about.

A single misstep would cost him his life!

That was also the reason his parents had told him not to go looking for dungeons, even after the awakening of his origin.

His parents were too worried that something would happen to him, and Nial could understand their concern.

From a rational point of view, he shouldn't even enter the slime dungeon because he could accidentally encounter a Large slime.

This kind of beast was probably the Boss monster of the cavern dungeon he had entered!

Every single dungeon had a boss, and what made them special were the rewards one would receive upon killing them.

The chance for the boss of a dungeon to drop one origin crystal was 100%. That meant that he would kill a boss monster, and he would definitely receive an origin crystal.

What made him more excited was the fact that it was likely to drop not just one but multiple origin crystals at once! This thought made a faint trace of greed flicker in his eyes.

Other than that, the dungeon's boss beast was also more likely to drop unique crystals such as ability crystals.

Despite that, Nial couldn't get carried away. There was an obvious reason why boss monsters dropped more rewards which were their enormous strength!

Normally, a Boss monster's strength was around five to ten times greater than the average strength of beasts inside the dungeon.

Thus, Nial didn't want to encounter a boss before increasing his combat prowess a little bit further.

He might not be much weaker in terms of physical strength, but his control over mana was most certainly weaker than the Slime Boss's!

In the worst-case scenario, the beast might even be faster, and devour him, as if he was a stalk of grass.

That was not something anyone would ever want to encounter.

While thinking about the possible scenarios, Nial finished off the batch of seven slimes.

It had been much easier than expected, and a bright smile emerged on his face as the last slime he killed turned into an origin crystal.

Picking it up, he felt the concentrated mana swirling inside it.

Through this sensation, Nial's hand began to pulsate as his veins grew desperate to devour it.

He was eager to absorb it to strengthen his body, mind, and vessel.

Draining it of its mana would leave it like a hollow shell. Unfortunately, this would empty the crystal, render it useless, and be valueless which was not something he wanted.

In order to become stronger, one had to absorb and annex mana.

To achieve this, there were two ways.

One could absorb mana directly from the dungeons or do the same with the use of origin crystals that had the most compressed, and purest mana of the same quality and rank.

An origin crystal was tens of times better than absorbing the mana from the surrounding, but at the same time, it was horrifyingly expensive.

There were also ways to improve the absorption speed of mana, which would further accelerate the speed at which one would grow stronger, using either of the two ways.

Despite that, Nial wouldn't be able to make use of either of these methods because they required even more wealth, connections, and talent.

Simply purchasing origin crystals would not necessarily make someone stronger if they didn't have the tenacity to do it!

Storing away the origin crystal that was of the poorest quality, Nial continued walking through the cave that was permeated with faint mana currents.

The further he went, the more slimes he encountered and the denser the mana currents in his surroundings became.

Through this, the amount of mana his mana veins passively absorbed increased, indicating that they had far higher potential than Nial thought.

At the same time, the extremely rich and dense mana around him made it possible for Nial to perceive more of his surroundings. It was also how he was able to visualize the massive number of slimes in front of him.

"That has to be a joke!"

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historical

If his mana perception was not faulty, there were more than 30 slimes in his immediate surroundings.

But that was not all!

He could hear the sounds of many more slimes beyond the radius he was able to perceive with his mana.

As such, Nial instinctively backed off, changing his stance the moment he felt that he had retreated far enough.

Listening intently, he heard that a few slimes had toppled to the ground when they had attempted to charge at him and almost squashed each other.

A few of them smacked their slimy bodies on the ground, the sounds ricocheting off the cave walls, causing Nial's ears to twitch.

Yet, only a moment later, all the other noises got drowned as all he could hear was his wild thumping heart that sounded like mini-explosions.

At the same time, Nial grasped his spear tightly as he gathered his courage and tried steadying his heartbeat.

Taking brisk steps, he charged forward before piercing out, only to retreat a moment later.

Penetrating the core of the closest slime, Nial instantly killed it even before he had stepped back.

Since setting foot in the cave, he had already defeated more than 20 slimes.

As such, Nial's senses were on high alert as he listened intently. It allowed him to gauge the distance between him and the slimes based on how far or how near the sounds he could hear were.

This was something he had already learned to do during the last few years in order to avoid running into people when he was forced to leave his home.

It had only been a handful of instances, but when his sister was still well, she had always wanted to play outside with him.

With time Nial had learned to adapt to most situations, and it was only when he was in a very busy and noisy area that problems would occur.

However, with the [Mana Perception] ability, the disadvantage of being forced to rely on the noises around him was nullified.

His biggest limitation had now been removed, and the stronger he would become, the less his dependency on the restriction would be.

Maybe, it was possible for the burden of being unable to see to disappear in its entirety.

That was something Nial couldn't imagine in his current circumstances. Though, now that he had killed some slimes, he realized that it was not impossible to fight, despite being unable to see!

The slimes might not be a threat to him, or even unawakened people, but that did not matter right now!

It all boiled down to how effectively he could visualize what he perceived through the surrounding mana!

He was still learning so his mastery over it was extremely crude, and inaccurate, but oddly enough, Nial had quickly adapted to his new state.

This was quite fast, considering that it had only been three days since he had awoken his origin, and regained the ability to sense mana.

As such, it was evident how fortunate Nial was, even more so because it was a slime dungeon that had manifested in their backyard, and not something more dangerous, like a dungeon filled with goblins.

They were more ferocious and would have attacked him with a much higher speed than the slimes, without any hesitation.

This would have certainly endangered him, and had this dungeon been infested with goblins, he would have died long ago.

He was deep in thoughts and didn't even notice that he was attacking instinctively, using the simple advance-thrust-retreat movement sequence he had trained for years.

There were not many movement sequences Nial had trained in, but the one he knew was amongst the simplest of all.

But even then, it was extremely efficient.

Adding his exceptional senses and mana perception to the movement made him aim with perfect accuracy, hitting the target with most of the thrusts.

Only a few hits missed their target, but that was not a problem because Nial acted quickly enough to avoid being attacked.

This was not exactly difficult, thanks to his opponents' speed.

Nonetheless, Nial wouldn't dare to give the slimes a chance to come even close to him.

Because of that, he would rather react too quickly and prevent any kind of tricky situation before it occurred.

In the end, this was the best he could do, and it worked perfectly fine.

However, that was only the case because the slimes he faced were the most common ones. They were extremely slow had a weak membrane around their body, and had no intention to attack him, to begin with.

As such, Nial had it quite easy to kill the masses of slimes that were slowly moving towards him.

Though they appeared harmless, the visualization of their collective mass was terrifying. Despite the nervousness, Nial had a vibrant smile on his face as he couldn't help but feel happy.

It was not the fact that multiple origin crystals were scattered across the ground, providing him a small fortune, or the adrenaline that surged through his veins that excited him.

Rather, it was the simple fact that he didn't feel useless anymore.

The more he moved using the passive effect of the [Mana Perception] ability, the easier it was for Nial to move without feeling restricted.

During the last few years, he was always forced to pay attention to where he stepped, and avoid bumping into everyone else, who was in a hurry.

While being outside the house with his family, Nial had to be extra careful and focus on his senses to perceive what was going on in his surroundings.

He would always fear getting lost and never being able to find them if he were to get distracted.

All of these burdens were now slowly dispersing, and the accumulated tension in his body was gradually being released.

His stiff movements were now more fluidic while his attacks got swifter and more accurate.

This gave Nial the opportunity to focus on the surrounding mana with a free mind.

Now, he could sense things around him much better and his mind was fast in processing the data it was gathering from the surroundings.

Excitement was coursing through his body, while his entire body was sweating profusely. And despite the exhaustion, Nial felt truly happy!

It was the first time in what seemed like an eternity that he felt like this.

Nial's arms began to hurt because he strained his muscles to deliver the multitude of spear thrusts, and the fat drops of sweat that trickled down his back were a clear sign of his hard work.

Yet, all of this didn't matter anymore, as he smiled brightly while fighting the sheer and supposedly endless number of slimes that were slowly reaching Nial.

Forced to retreat a little, he had to focus fully on every single step, but that didn't seem to be an issue anymore.

Cutting through the air while clutching the crude spear tightly in his hand, he sometimes slashed out with it, killing several slimes at once.

Afterward, he immediately advanced ahead, forcing his way through the slimes.

Increasing his pace with every step, he hacked, slashed, and pierced at the slimes making him realize that all the hours spent in training in his backyard with the heavy stick, and afterward, with the crude spear had not been in vain.

It was now paying off and every kill gave him a renewed sense of confidence- of not being useless, of being strong enough to support his family financially, and of curing his sister.

Being a fast learner, Nial had adjusted to the given situation as quickly as possible.

He moved around, tried to search for the paths with the fewest slimes, only to suddenly retreat.

This confused the unintelligent beasts that were solely following their instincts, giving Nial the chance to finish off the small army of slimes in a matter of half an hour.

Afterward, his arms felt like they were on fire because of the hundreds of thrusts he made in a short amount of time.

They were sore and it was almost as if they would fall off at any moment.

There had been two cases when he had almost slipped on the wet ground, that was covered in the slimy and gooey remains of his opponents.

Thus, his entire body quivered from the immense pressure that weighed down on him while his heart palpated wildly.

Once the battle was over and he had killed all the slimes, Nial just wanted to collapse on the ground and stay there. But, he forced himself to move ahead.

His rewards were lying on the ground, waiting to be picked by him. Thus, after taking lungfuls of air, he decided to pick up the origin crystals that dropped from the masses of slimes he had slaughtered as if they were lifeless objects.

It was still hard for his mind to digest that he had gone on a rampage and killed living beings for the selfish cause of earning money, but at the same time, he told himself that everything had a reason.

The stronger would always exploit the weaker, and Nial was, in fact, the stronger party in the current circumstance.

In the end, the dungeon had manifested in their backyard, and had he not done anything, his parents would have cleared the dungeon anyway.

That was just an excuse, but everyone had to come to a consensus with themselves before killing beasts.

As such, Nial was trying to do this, only to ask himself if the slimes would have spared him had they been stronger than him.

In the worst-case scenario, if nobody would have cleared the dungeon, the slimes would have broken out of the dungeon and emerged inside the shelter.

With dangerous beasts, a dungeon outbreak would be a ticking time bomb and an absolute disaster.

And even if that was not the case for ordinary slimes, it would change once they would mutate, or evolve!

However, that was not something Nial was worried about.

Instead, he bent down on the slippery ground, picking up the first of many origin crystals as he smiled lightly.

'Was I really an optimist all these years, or had I just been forcing myself to be happy enough to make myself feel that I was actually happy?' Nial suddenly asked himself as he realized what true happiness and joy felt like.

It was hard to explain, but he had always felt happy around his family, but at the same time, he couldn't help but question whether this happiness had been real, or just a portion of true happiness?

Nial knew for sure that he loved his family and that he would do everything for them.

Yet, he had always hated himself for having been a burden, useless, and weak.

'Just what had I been doing during the last few years?' He asked himself, his fingers curling tightly around the origin crystal he had just picked up.

On this day Nial changed in his entirety, writing a new chapter in his meaningless life that was about to become meaningful for others, and most importantly, for himself!

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Freed of the shackles he had put on himself in the past, Nial was able to ignore his blindness for the first time in a very long time.

While carefully walking over the slippery ground, he collected all the origin crystals from the ground before storing them away.

He noticed that his small pouch was almost filled to the brim which caused him to smile wryly.

Having enough origin crystals to fill the pouch was good, but he was running out of storage space.

There were several more crystals but he had nothing to store them in.

And, he had just begun clearing the large cave that had yet to end.

Stretching his exhausted body, Nial decided not to think much about it and rest for some time instead.

The last traces of adrenaline that had been coursing through his body vanished, leaving him in an even more tired state.

'Let me sleep for an entire week!' He thought while stifling a yawn, knowing that this was not how his body worked.

Leaning against one of the cave's walls, Nial rested for a while though he still clutched his spear tightly.

There could always be beasts roaming through dungeons, or lurking in the dark which was why Nial remained vigilant.

It was unlikely for something to happen in the slime dungeon.

Nonetheless, he had heard many cruel stories, which made him believe that it was better to be careful than too full of himself.

Time seemed to pass slowly, and he had no idea how long had he been in the cave.

So, once he felt a bit more invigorated, he decided to end his short rest.

Moving the crude spear around his body made his muscles groan.

It was not difficult for him to figure out that his body was not accustomed to the arduous movements he had repeated more than a hundred times.

Practicing spearmanship and fighting against beasts was vastly different, and Nial had yet to adapt himself to everything perfectly.

Fortunately, his mind had already adapted to the change, which was mostly owed to the Odyssey seed.

Feeling much better than he had initially thought, Nial assumed that his stamina had replenished much faster than usual as well.

'Is that another perk of being an Original?'

Nial had heard many rumors about Originals and their superhuman capabilities, but until now, he had never truly believed them.

After all, he had never witnessed any superhuman fights.

Meanwhile to him, his parents were just ordinary people who overworked themselves to provide for their children.

They had never looked like superhumans to him, but just any other ordinary parents who would sacrifice everything for their children, even if they would have to walk on a path filled with pain and blood.

Having sensed their hardships all his life, he had been under the impression that mana was just a means to activate abilities, but that was wrong.

Not only did Nial feel much stronger than before, but all of his extraordinary senses had been enhanced.

To put it simply, his entire being had become stronger because mana coursed through his body.

Nial took a long time to realize this, and it was only inside the dungeon that he truly grasped everything.

As such, he was slowly understanding why many Originals felt that the sensation of cultivating mana was addictive.

It made them stronger, and unique amongst ordinary people. Being able to sense mana allowed them to become powerhouses who could earn huge fortunes without too much effort.

Many dangers were involved in procuring wealth, but if one paid attention to the dungeons they entered, it was difficult to die or be fatally injured.

Nial was an exception because he had simply entered the slime dungeon without actually testing its rank.

Additionally, he had just awoken his origin.

With a newly awoken origin, one would, under normal circumstances, accumulate some mana in order to enlarge their mana core before entering even the lowest ranked dungeon.

However, Nial did no such thing.

He was still at the 1st rank of the Origin stage, and his tiny mana core was almost as empty as a hollow shell!

As such, he was far away from the first breakthrough that would allow him to reach the 2nd Origin rank, which would in turn, enlarge his mana core by using the gathered mana as energy supply.

Nial hadn't even thought about absorbing mana yet, and it was only his mana vein that had subconsciously gathered some of the mana around him.

Because of that, he was able to actively use the [Mana Perception] ability.

There were also other things Originals were able to do with their mana such as circulating it through their body to reinforce it, but Nial had yet to learn how to do this.

He was still a beginner and a late-bloomer at that.

Under normal circumstances, if nothing went wrong, those with the necessary talent would awaken their origin at the age of 10.

There were also prodigies, or those belonging to an influential family who could awaken their origin earlier.

However, the norm to awaken the origin was at the age of 10!

Thus, he was late, which was why he was labeled a late bloomer, but that didn't worry Nial.

In the end, he was glad because it was still countless times better to awaken his origin late than never.

Nial had many things to learn in order to catch up to his peers. Sadly, that had always been the case since the day he had lost his eyesight.

His blindness made him the bullies favorite pick and he would often be harassed and made fun of by the other Originals.

Yet, now that he recalled those days again, Nial was able to remain oddly calm.

His thoughts averted to his sister as he faintly touched the origin crystals in his pouch.

This caused a rattling noise, and Nial smiled faintly in response, sensing that there were more than 15 crystals inside.

These 15 poorest quality, common grade origin crystals were the cheapest one could find, but each of them was worth 30$, nonetheless.

As such, he had earned 450$ without the need to deduct even a dime to the dungeon owner, let alone the fee the Originals association demanded from everyone who entered their dungeons.

The slime dungeon was theirs, after all.

Secretly, Nial hoped that the slime dungeon was one of the few permanent dungeons that had manifested in their small shelter.

It would make many things easier for himself, and his parents, who could save a lot on fees, and time to travel.

However, the most important fact would be that the slime dungeon was less dangerous and perfectly suitable for a single, slightly stronger individual to conquer without issues.

Unfortunately, the probability for a permanent dungeon to appear was small, and the odds that the slime dungeon that had appeared in their backyard to be a permanent dungeon were minuscule.

In the end, Nial thought that a permanent slime dungeon would only be an additional bonus on top of everything he had already been rewarded with.

That's why he wanted to focus on clearing the dungeon first before anything else.

Nial was confident of defeating large numbers of slimes without getting himself into trouble.

As such, he slowly got more confident in his capabilities, which included defeating the slime boss that should be a larger version of the ordinary slimes.

As such, it would be slightly more dangerous, but that was not really something he was worried about anymore.

With a danger level that was almost non-existent in his previous kills, Nial had been way too worried about sustaining injuries.historical

This had been an unfounded worry of his which ended up being a great training course for him and a foundational level to help him assess his strengths and weaknesses.

Because of that, Nial couldn't complain.

Feeling prepared to fight more beasts, Nial actively attacked the smaller and larger slime groups he encountered, killing them quickly.

His aim had improved over the last few hours and the spear thrusts pierced accurately. Nial's precision in both attacking and sensing the exact position of the slimes' cores had increased drastically.

This would be useful for the future too as every living being had vital spots.

Accurately sensing and targeting them was something Nial wanted to be able to do at any time.

Though he had no idea about the exact time, he assumed that his parents would soon return from their trips into different dungeons.

Maybe they had already returned, which was something he didn't hope for.

p After all, he could already imagine how his mother would react when she would realise that he had really entered the dungeon that manifested in their backyard.

Visualizing her reaction was dreadful, and Nial didn't really want to encounter that.

Nevertheless, he had already reached the end of the cave that was, in fact, a single but lengthy pathway.

He couldn't be certain if he had reached a dead-end, but something in front of him blocked the sound.

Thus, Nial simply assumed that there was a wall and the end of the dungeon.

Entering a combat stance, he held the spear in front of him while his senses were on high alert so as to not miss even the slightest noise or movement around him.

Through this, he figured out that there were still a few batches of slimes within the radius of a few meters.

However, the loudest noise seemed to come from the front as something approached him at a pace ten times faster than the ordinary slimes could reach.

This caused a vibrant smile to emerge on Nial's face, without him even realizing it. Determination flickered in his eyes as he swung around his spear, wielding it as if it was the extension of his arm.

Now, he would be facing the first of numerous challenges that awaited him on his thorny path.

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If his senses weren't failing, there should be more than 30 ordinary slimes left.

Additionally, there was also the Slime Boss that was approaching him from the deepest parts of the cave at a fast pace.

Nial concluded that the Slime Boss would arrive in front of him before he could defeat the remaining slimes.

As such, he entered a defensive stance, with the spearhead pointing towards the Boss, awaiting its arrival.

Only a moment later, Nial's mana perception recognized the fast approach of the large slime that was at least ten times the mass of the common slimes.

Thus, without hesitation, he adjusted his stance once again, before thrusting out with the crude spear the moment the Boss Monster was close enough.

There was still a meter of distance between them, but with a short step, and the spear thrust, Nial crossed the distance in the blink of an eye.

He hit the target, which was confirmed when he heard the squelching sound of his spear piercing through the slime.

A moment later, he wanted to instinctively retract the spear but strangely he met some resistance.

The moment the spear pierced through the thick membrane of the slime, it clung to the spear in an attempt to prevent it from being pulled out.

Only by using his entire accumulated strength was it possible for him to retract the spear.

Its resistance gave Nial an idea about the Slime Boss's strength, forcing Nial to retreat with fast steps.

Through this short encounter, Nial understood some of the Slime Boss's traits.

Though it was stronger than the other slimes, it was not a life-threatening opponent.

First, it was slightly slower than him, and slightly weaker, if one were to compare the strength it used to cling onto the spearhead with physical strength.

At the same time, its defenses were extremely strong and much higher than Nial had expected.

It was obvious that the Slime Boss was stronger, and he already knew that it wouldn't be that easy.

However, to think that his spear thrust had been rendered useless made him feel a bit disappointed.

Fortunately, that feeling dispersed only a moment later because he had no time to waste thinking about his failure.

Instead, he had to find a way out of the predicament.

Just as he wanted to try slicing out parts of the Slime Boss's membrane, and slowly close the distance between the spear tip and the core through this tactic, Nial perceived several sounds from behind him.

They were ordinary slimes that were gearing up to attack him from behind.

Yet, rather than being a formidable force, they were more like annoying obstructions, and without minding them too much, he swiftly pierced out with his spear, killing them one after another.

Afterward, he moved around the corpses, while trying to find the best spot to start the onslaught of attacks on the Slime Boss.

However, just as he raised his spear, the Slime Boss jiggled over the corpses of its now dead comrades and devoured them.

As Nial watched in a daze, its size increased by a small margin. His face turned ashen white as he gave it a disbelieving look.

'It can devour its brethren and grow?! What kind of cheat is that…?'

Gritting his teeth, Nial now realized that he shouldn't kill the remaining ordinary slimes first, even if they were to attack him.

This was annoying, but also something Nial couldn't risk after he had witnessed the Slime Boss's ability.

His mind rattled while trying to think of a solution to attack the best, but there was not really an opening for him.

As such, Nial gave up on attempting a perfect attack.

Halting his retreat, he switched to attacking with slashes in order to overwhelm the Slime Boss. Using the sharp tip of his spear, he sliced at the Slime Boss's outermost membrane, cutting out small and uneven pieces.

This seemed to work, and the small parts wriggled on the ground for a bit before spilling over the floor a moment later.

Nial had already noticed that Slimes were comparable to jellyfishes, and it was their core that held their form together.

As such, their entire body was made of an unknown liquid that enveloped the slime's core like multiple layers of a membrane.

Nevertheless, as every individual layer was relative weak, Nial's spear was not strongly resisted.

Thus, he was able to swiftly slash out, using multiple approaches to cut at its big, slimy body so as to easily reach the core.

This seemed to work in the beginning, but once a certain mass had been cut off, the liquid membrane became firmer and stronger, resisting his attacks more and more.

It was still possible to cut through the membrane, but it took him a lot more energy than before. And, the short fraction in which he was forced to halt his movement gave the Slime Boss enough time to counterattack.

That was bad, and when it happened for the first time, Nial had almost been overwhelmed.historical

After the first time, he became more careful, knowing that a single mistake would be his death.

If the Slime Boss reached him, it would try to gobble him up in its liquid, devouring him in his entirety.

No way would he want to end up like that which made Nial try harder to kill the Slime Boss.

They had been fighting only for the last ten minutes, yet Nial's back was drenched in cold sweat.

Though it was disappointing, he did not let himself be overwhelmed by the inability to kill the Slime Boss within that duration. Nial's body which had grown tired was moving to inflict more damage and have fewer wasted movements than hours before.

When Nial noticed this, he was astonished, and it gave him enough motivation to exceed the limits of his body, which he thought to have already surpassed, once again.

The moment Nial made this decision, he moved subconsciously as he lashed out with his spear once again.

However, this time he targeted the slime's large core without hesitation as faint currents of mana enveloped the spear tip.

Nial had attempted to use faint traces of mana within his body to lead it through his body towards the spear.

Unfortunately, that hadn't been useful enough as it barely strengthened him.

Thus, Nial inserted the last ounce of his strength and mana in this seemingly simple spear thrust that would also be his last attack.

After he had inserted his mana, the spear began to vibrate wildly making Nial almost lose his grip. He was barely able to hold it as faint cracks began to spread out from the blade.

The spear was not equipped to make use of mana, but Nial had ignored this, knowing that he had only one last chance to attack before he would be forced to retreat.

As such, the moment the mana inserted spear tip pierced through the slime's membrane, Nial heard faint crackling sounds as a cobweb-like pattern spread over it.

Yet, instead of breaking apart, the mana enriched blade seemed to ignore the highly resistant liquid that enveloped the slime. It swiftly pierced into the slime's core, shattering it, followed by the spear tip that broke apart as well.

A second later, the liquid that had been held together was released, splattering on the ground.

The Slime Boss's body exploded throwing a sticky liquid all around which made Nial slip and lose his balance.

His body was on the verge of breaking apart, and he fell to the ground. While gasping for air, he sensed that the large slime's body was disintegrating into countless particles.

Following this, he could hear the clinking noise of origin crystals falling to the ground.

However, even after hearing this sound, he didn't move because his body didn't want him to. He simply lay on the rocky, uneven cave floor that suddenly felt like a bed made of the softest feathers.

At that moment, the passive effect of his [Mana Perception(poorest)] ability allowed Nial to perceive something. It caused him to feel like his tiredness had been washed away as he mumbled,

"It really is a permanent dungeon...what a surprise...was about time for our family to have some luck, after all…''

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An hourglass filled with mana manifested above the spot the Slime Boss's corpse had been lying before, hovering in the air.

It had yet to be turned around, starting the countdown indicating the respawn of monsters. But, he had no reason to worry right now because Nial knew that it was the sign of a dungeon being permanent.

Permanent dungeons required a specific amount of time to be accessible again after they had been cleared.

However, in order to reset the timer, the Boss beast had to be dead, and no Original was allowed to remain inside the dungeon.

The dungeon's reset timer just gave him an additional boost, making him gather the will to get up again.

Thus, Nial rolled over to his side and placed his hands to push himself up.

Swaying a little, he managed to get back on his feet, and quickly killed the remaining slimes that would devour him, if he were to collapse on the ground.

This took him quite some time, but after every possible threat had been eliminated, Nial began to collect the origin crystals that were scattered over the ground.

He hoped that one of the Slime Boss's drops was an ability crystal, but the chance was extremely low.

As such, he was not further astonished that all of the crystals were ordinary origin crystals.

However, Nial was not disappointed with that.

Instead, he was happy that the number of origin crystals the Slime Boss had dropped were a total of 10, further enriching his wealth.

'I should have more than 30 poorest common origin crystals now!' He made a quick mental calculation with a faint smile on his face.

Because his pouch was filled to the brim, Nial had to carry his broken spear in one hand, while his other hand, or to be precise, his entire arm was carrying around several origin crystals.

There was nothing else for him to do inside the dungeon.

As such, left the dungeon through the portal with a faint smile on his lips that turned even wider because he clearly understood that the slime dungeon was a permanent one.

This was exceptional, and he was even happier to not have sold the dungeon than he was before.

The current situation was simply too perfect, which made him forget the aftermath of his decision to enter the dungeon- his mother's wrath!

However, the moment Nial stepped through the dungeon portal, he recalled his parents.

His hope that they were not home yet, also quickly shattered into smithereens as he heard them the moment he emerged in their backyard.

"NIAL ORIN!!" The loud booming voice rang in his ears and Nial flinched instinctively.

A few origin crystals fell to the ground, and before he could even think about picking them up, he sensed two beings appear in front of him.

A moment later, he felt two hands grasp his shoulders and shake him wildly.

This made his grasp around the broken spear loosen, while the remaining origin crystals fell to the ground with a loud clank.

However, just a moment later, he felt another pair of hands brushing all over his face and clothes as he was scanned through.

"Are you okay? Does something hurt? Tell me immediately!" His mother blurted out in concern, while his father simply continued to check for any possible injuries on his precious son.

Even before he could answer her questions, his mother intervened again.

"Why did you enter a dungeon alone?! You do know that you are still too weak, right? Don't you know how dangerous dungeons are? How could you do this to me??"

Not sure of an answer, Nial simply closed his mouth that he had opened and hung his head a bit low.

His father sighed in relief as he stepped back, only to mumble,

"No external injury...that's good…"

His voice sounded concerned just like his mother's, and it was because of their concern that Nial fumbled before muttering an apology.

"I'm sorry...I just wanted to share your burdens…"

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Nial had aimed to calm his mother with these words, but instead of achieving the wanted effect, it seemed to work in the exact opposite way, as he heard the anger in her trembling voice.

"NIAL!! So you wanted to share our burdens by making us even more worried?! If that is the case, you perfectly executed your plan!! Entering an unknown and unverified dungeon after just having awoken your origin, without an ability…while being blind at that…

I cannot believe this!! How foolish and irresponsible!!"

Hearing his mother's quivering voice that was filled with anger and worries, Nial clearly understood that he had made a mistake.

He fell silent again and waited for her to scold him but his father intervened.

Placing his hand on Nial's shoulder reassuringly, he tried to calm his wife.

"Maline, calm down, please. Nial is unscathed, right? And look, he even brought back origin crystals!"

Maline was just about to retort that nothing was fine, only to see the number of origin crystals that were scattered on the ground.

Under normal circumstances, this would impress her, but Maline quickly noticed the broken spearhead.

She peered at it intently before asking in a low, yet eerie voice,

"How...did the spear break?"

Nial felt as if a sudden cold washed over him to hear his mother's pointed question, and goosebumps sprang up all over his body.

Somehow he felt that the current situation was more pressuring than the fight against the Slime Boss, but there was no way to escape!

Not even his tired body paid any heed to his commands, and Nial simply accepted his fate as he revealed the truth.

As he recounted his adventurous escapade right from the start, his mother gasped and her breath hitched in her throat.

His words made her instantly forget about her anger, as shock replaced it, while his father nodded his head.

He was much calmer than his mother right now, yet, Nial noticed that even Miles would have loved to lecture him thoroughly.

Fortunately, this feeling disappeared after Nial finished summarising everything that had happened.

"I thought you didn't conquer the entire dungeon...but to think that it's a permanent one...amazing!" Miles remarked, noticeably overjoyed about the revelation, only to turn quiet the moment he saw his wife's eyes.

They seemed to pierce through his entire being, and tear him apart.

Because of that, he quickly averted his attention as he tried to correct himself.

"I'll report that the dungeon is a permanent one and is accessible to only one Original at a time."

Leaving him behind, Miles turned around to report to the association before mumbling "Good luck…" and vanished inside the house.

However, Nial didn't even hear this because something confused him as he shouted out loud.

"Why restricted?"

Maline heard this, and Nial only heard her taking a deep breath as if she wanted to stop herself from exploding again.

"You idiot! Did you really believe we would stay idle in front of the dungeon, and patiently wait for you to return, if not for a restriction? If the dungeon wouldn't have been restricted to being accessed by one Original at a time, we would have entered it, obviously!!"

Nial only muttered an "Oh" afterward, only to quickly add "Sorry…" barely a moment later.

Sighing deeply, Maline shook her head, not sure what to think about her son.

In the end, she was just glad that he was safe and sound.

Deep inside her, she was also proud that Nial had been able to conquer the slime dungeon on his first try.

But, that was not something she would tell him, not right now, at least!

"What was that about the seed within you again? The first slime you killed dropped an ability crystal, and you bound it to the empty innate ability, which is in fact your seed? Is that correct?"

This was something that had confused her, and Nial was not less confused either.

However, he just nodded his head as he decided to distract himself by picking up the origin crystals that had fallen to the ground.

Seeing what her son was doing, Maline frowned, before she helped him out.

Afterward, they got up from the ground and Nial thrust all the crystals into his mother's arms while saying,

"Take them Mom...it's not much, but it should make up for a portion of the money we need for Sabrina's medicine!"

Tiredness washed over him once again when he recalled that he had just finished a lengthy ordeal and that his body was begging for rest.

The entire tension that had accumulated in his mind and body while fighting the slimes all by himself, disappeared as he sagged in relief.

His shoulders dropped a little, revealing how exhausting conquering the dungeon was to him.

His mother saw all of this and worry gleamed in her eyes.

A moment later, Nial's left leg gave in and he would have fallen if not for his mother who broke his fall and grabbed him by the shoulders.

Helping him straighten up again, she admonished him, not for the first time since he had appeared out of the dungeon.

"Before caring about your sister, you should first take care of yourself. If you want to make her even more worried than she already is, continue with what you're doing!"

Hearing this, Nial flinched, and he immediately bit his lower lip.

"She knows about it?"

But rather than receiving an answer directed at him, he heard his mother mumbling to herself.

"Of course, she knows...it's not like Sabrina is deaf…or lacking behind.."

Nodding his head, Nial fell silent as his fingers reached for the spear, trying to assess the damage.

Maline saw this, and after pondering about something for a moment, she thrust the origin crystals she was holding back into his arms.

"Take the origin crystals and buy a new spear. You cannot use that one anymore!"

Hearing his mother caused Nial to lift his head before his lifeless eyes stared at her.

"You don't want me to believe that you won't enter the slime dungeon ever again, right? Just purchase a proper spear with the money you'll get in exchange for the origin crystals!

Do that while registering at the Originals association too!"

His mother's attitude seemed to have completely changed after scolding him heartily.

It was as if she had accepted something and Nial somehow believed that she was taking him more seriously now.

Conquering a dungeon alone was not a feat everyone could do, let alone someone with a disability.

It was only a slime dungeon, but Nial had just awoken his origin.

As such, he was barely comparable to a slightly stronger ordinary person.

Giving him a quick look-over, Maline sensed that he had given his all just to conquer the dungeon and earn a small fortune.

It was a lot of money that he had earned in a span of a few hours, but at the same time, it was not nearly enough to purchase the medicine for his sister.

Because Nial loved his sister dearly, Maline realized that he would definitely keep entering dungeons, now that he had awoken his origin.

He already possessed an ability that allowed him to perceive his surroundings much better as well.

As such, Maline was forced to accept that Nial was growing up too, that he was not her little kid anymore, and that he would give his best to support them by conquering dungeons, even if she was against it.

Knowing this, she decided to support his decision, even if her heart was against it, and not willing to accept that her little baby should never encounter anything dangerous.

Unfortunately, parents were not able to protect their children in every situation for their entire life.

They had to become independent, learn how to take care of themselves, and protect themselves and those they loved!

Thus, Nial had already learned the first lesson- taking responsibility of his family, even if it would mean that he had to face countless dangers.

However, how could they have known that the dangers looming over their entire family were far more horrifying and threatening than they could have ever imagined?

In comparison, their current life could be considered to be a walk in the park!

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It was already afternoon, and Nial was dead-tired due to his first dungeon trip that had been rather exhausting.

Thus, he could barely take a shower before he fell into his bed.

After sleeping for almost 20 hours, he woke up with a sore body, but a clear mind and felt fully energized.

Getting up from the bed, he decides to take a shower once again so as to wash his sleep and drowsiness away. He then put some clothes on before leaving his room.

Initially, Nial wanted to meet his father and have a talk about the permanent slime dungeon.

However, when he walked past his sister's room, his mana perception allowed him to perceive her for the first time.

He could visualize her room in his mind, and Nial gently pressed on the door handle he had subconsciously grasped before walking inside.

Approaching her bed slowly, Nial bit his lower lip as various emotions swept through him the moment he visualized his sister's malnourished face through the faint currents of mana he released.

They lightly grazed her face, and it didn't take long before his attention turned to the oxygen mask, and the IV drop that was filled with the medicine she required to weaken the life-threatening effects her illness caused.

Nial sensed that the medicine was mostly composed of pure mana which made him realize why it was so expensive.

The purest mana was required to allow her to barely stay alive!

Nial tried to hold back his tears upon seeing his sister for the first time in more than a decade.

Recalling the little optimistic and energetic girl who always wanted to play around, the tears began to trickle down his cheek.

'And I told myself that I'm an optimist, who am I to fool?...' He lamented before lightly caressing his sister's hair as he mumbled,

"I will come back soon, with more medicine...just endure it a little bit longer….just a little!"

Saying so, he turned around and left the room with a dead-serious expression.

Walking down the stairs, Nial entered the living room, where he heard his mother's voice from the kitchen.

This surprised him a little bit as he didn't expect her to have time to cook, not after the tiring day followed by the shocker he gave her.

Yet, the moment he took another step he heard her voice.

"Nial, you're already awake? That's earlier than expected. Your dad is in the slime dungeon, so don't even think about entering it right now!"

Even before Nial was able to say anything, the plan he was beginning to think of was already shattered.

Unable to say anything in response, he grumbled incomprehensible words before deciding to help his mother to cook.

Though he was blind, his taste and smelling senses had been sharpened for over a decade making him become pretty good at seasoning as well.

Once dinner was ready, they all gathered around the dining table, and his mother told Nial what had happened during the last 20 hours in which he had been asleep.

In the end, this was not much.

His father had reported everything necessary to the Originals association that had attempted to purchase the permanent dungeon because of its exceptional value.

Not only could Originals that had just awoken their origin enter and conquer one the weakest existing dungeons, but there were many other advantages as well.

For example, a permanent dungeon had an abundance of fortune they could earn in a single day.

Additionally, newly awakened Originals could train and absorb mana inside the dungeon, and that too without the need to put in any effort.

Even his father, who was barely at the 3rd Origin stage, required only 10 minutes to clear the entire dungeon!

That was pretty fast, but not even close to the speed of Originals who were able to enlarge their mana core even more than his father could, let alone those who had already reached a higher rank!

His father's talent was not that high, which was the reason why he was unable to enlarge his mana core any further.

There were two types of talents that had to be tested at the Originals association when one awoke their origin.

First, the Original's mana core would be tested in order to figure out how many enlarging procedures their mana core could undergo without possibly breaking apart.

For example, someone with an ordinary talent could reach the 4th Origin rank and undergo a total of three enlargements.

Meanwhile, those with higher talent were able to withstand more enlarging processes, increasing the size of their mana core beyond that of their peers.

The second innate talent that could be tested revolved around the mana vein one had awoken.

The higher one's talent was the faster one could circulate mana through the mana veins.

At the same time, one's mana control, accuracy, perception, and most importantly, the absorption speed of mana depended on the mana vein's potential as well!

In the end, both rankings were important for someone to be considered a talented Original, or possibly even a prodigy with the talent to become truly powerful and scale new heights.

That was also why his mother was nagging his father to let his talent be tested as quickly as possible.

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"Because the slime dungeon is so large, we can earn a small fortune every single time one of us enters it. We only have to wait four hours before the slimes within are respawned, and then we can enter it again!

If we carefully divide our shifts during the day and night, we can earn more than usual, and one of us will always be here to take care of Sabrina.

But before you get your hopes high and ask us for chances, you should go out and let your potential be tested. You will have to be registered, either way.

And when you're out, you can also purchase a new spear!"

Advising Nial on the next steps, she got up and walked to the living room.

A minute later, she returned with a small backpack, whose content rattled.

"I have kept the 32 origin crystals you farmed for yourself in this! Use them well!"

Nial only looked at her mother wide-eyed.

He was currently holding the spoon in his hand and was about to continue eating when he realized what was just happening.

"Wait, I want to enter the slime dungeon too! Don't let me out of your plans!!"

Jumping up from the chair, he accidentally tossed it over, only to quiet down and pull the chair up again after seeing his mother shake her head.

Maline saw this with a faint smile on her face, only to add further,

"We are more than enough to enter the slime dungeon. You should focus on strengthening yourself first! Afterward, we can come up with a proper way to create a schedule of who will enter the dungeon at what time, alright?"

Nial had not expected his mother to agree so readily, which caused him to remain silent.

At least, she was not arguing about how dangerous it was for him.

He wanted to say something and remind her of how he had cleared the dungeon on his first try without any experience. But just like it had always been, his mother was one step ahead of him.

This was frustrating, and he would love to find a way to retort to her.

At that moment, Nial got an idea, which he immediately initiated as he replied in a low voice.

"Okay, Mom. You're totally right!"

Grasping the backpack, he acted as if he wanted to leave.

Turning his back to her, a faint smile emerged on his face as he added in a mumbling tone as if he was talking to himself.

"There was a permanent goblin dungeon in the next district, right? Maybe I should try to get an appointment to enter it... I will injure myself a little bit, but the drop rate for origin crystals is said to be quite good there…"

Sighing deeply as if he was contemplating his choices, he kept fiddling with the backpack. At the same time, he perceived his mother's reaction and movement through his mana perception as she already appeared in front of him.

"Are you insane?! Why would you enter the goblin dungeon while being at the 1st Origin rank?! You cannot even properly fight yet!!"

The moment his mother appeared in front of him, Nial hid his smile and asked her with an innocent expression.

"Does that mean I can enter the Slime dungeon, at least once a day? It will help me gain practical combat experience after all!"

With a hopeful expression, Nial stared at his mother, who bit her lower lip. It took her a minute to, realize that she had just jumped straight into her son's trap.

"You little weasel!!" She blurted out and sighed deeply as she further added in a stern voice.

"Yes, you can enter the dungeon but only once a day. And, the moment you get injured by the Slime Boss, I'll tie you to your training dummy, and wait until you naturally accumulate enough mana to undergo your first enlarging!!"

Smiling brightly the moment he heard that his mother had agreed, Nial rushed outside the house, following the way he always used to. He did not want to give her time to change her opinion and hence zoomed out of the house through the backyard as he shouted.

"Hehehe...Love you Mom, bye!!"

Shaking her head, Maline couldn't help but mumble.

"What am I supposed to do with my little weasel...why can't he be a little bit calmer?..."

However, just a moment later, the other weasel she knew returned to the house as a loud exclamation resounded in their backyard.

"HONEY, look what I got here!!!

Blinking her eyes, Maline was momentarily startled at the voice as a single thought flashed through her mind. Grinning faintly, she thought to herself.

'I guess, even someone blind won't question if they are father and son…'

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Using the tram, Nial was able to find his way into the most crowded area of the shelter in a mere half an hour.

It had been a long time since he had visited the central of the district, but upon entering, he recalled why that had been the case.

The large open area was bustling with a lot of people who were going about their usual business.

A cacophony of noises of talking, yelling, and laughing of hundreds of people made him feel momentarily dizzy.

They all were roaming through the tightly packed streets which made it impossible for him to hear anything clearly.

There was not even the possibility to use his senses to pave a way through the crowd to find the route to the Originals association.

Fortunately, he didn't have to rely on his normal senses anymore.

Nial could use his mana to visualize the people around him and evade them if necessary without the need to change his direction.

Because nobody usually cared about others walking through the center district, many bumped into each other, and Nial recalled several past instances when he had been lost due to being pushed around.

Shaking his head, he tried to accept that it had been a matter of the past and that things were different now.

As such, he walked through the crowd of people, only to notice that others were retreating at the mere sight of him.

This astonished Nial for a moment, only to sense that the people who were giving him a wide berth weren't Originals.

The mana Nial released was directly perceived by them, even if they couldn't do anything with it.

One could easily figure out whether someone was an Original or not, and the ordinary citizens immediately realized that Nial was one of them.

Because of that, they made space for him and ensured that they did not bump into him.

They only eyed him warily and did not dare offend him even if he was blind.

At least that was what most citizens were doing, thinking that it was better to maintain a low profile.

In the end, it was just too much of a hassle to offend even a blind, newly awakened Original.

Even a disabled Original was stronger and had more importance than ordinary citizens.

Having a clear path before him, Nial found his way to the Originals association without issues.

Initially, he hadn't known where the association was but finding it wasn't a problem.

When he reached his destination, he saw a large crowd of Originals who had gathered around the Originals association. The surrounding buildings were also used by Originals, in order to train all the young and newly awakened, sell items, or purchase corpses and all kinds of devices.

There were even a few blacksmithing and alchemy shops around which Nial wanted to visit later.

Due to his heightened mana perception, Nial could visualize the surrounding in the radius of two meters after he used his [Mana Perception(poorest)] ability.

However, if he didn't focus on visualizing anything, the range at which he could perceive things was much higher.

Thus, he could clearly sense the masterpieces of metalwork and pure mana harbored within some medicinal solutions that were put on the display panels of the shop windows.

Ever since he had awoken his origin, and the Odyssey seed, Nial felt much more joyous and relaxed.

As such, he didn't feel uncomfortable in the central district as it was usually the case.

Now that he could perceive his surroundings better, he found roaming around the streets relatively easy, and intriguing.

However, what shocked Nial, was that he could even see letters by using his mana perception.

That was amazing and made him smile vibrantly, with the sole issue being that he was not able to read.

He had only learned the alphabet of the blind, and even that had been useless.

The government didn't really support blind people as they were deemed as useless and an unnecessary burden on society.

They discriminated against most of the disabled citizens, and Nial couldn't even describe how angering this was.

Yet, in the end, he was unable to do anything against the government's unfair behavior because he was powerless and a weakling.

Even after he had awoken his origin, Nial had yet to perceive anything that allowed him to live easily with his blindness.

That was if one excluded his mana perception that was innately already exceptional. And it received another boost when it was further enhanced by his [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability!

'Mother said that they don't even have a dungeon guide for the blind or the visually impaired...what kind of bullshit is that…?'

His good mood worsened at the thought of the government's behavior and attitude towards the disabled.

Fortunately, he reached the Originals association not long after, distracting him from the depressing thoughts that flashed through his mind.

As he had seldom stepped into the association before, Nial was not aware of the large number of Originals that he could now see.

He had thus believed that his parents were special even if their talent was considered below average.

However, this belief changed over the short period he had been inside the central district.

Less than 15 minutes had passed, yet, Nial assumed that he had encountered more than a thousand Originals already!

That shocked him a little bit if he were to be honest.

Upon taking his first step while entering the Originals association, he couldn't help but stiffen.

It was a huge and magnificent structure that was so wide that he could not even see its ends that seemed to stretch for miles.

The moment Nial stepped through the automatically opening door, the world around him changed completely.

If the central district was considered to be densely packed with mana then the Originals association was overflowing with it!

The open areas and wide streets of the district held ample mana that originated from the surrounding dungeons and permeated the air around the entire district.

Though the mana he could feel inside seemed to be more invigorating.

Just by standing in the doorframe, Nial was already able to feel how his mana veins were craving for the mana inside the entrance hall.

Greedily absorbing everything, his body seemed to have acquired a mind of its own, and Nial felt unable to move for a moment.

Suddenly, this sensation disappeared as he was distracted by someone who had appeared behind him.

"Don't block the door, kiddo!" A deep voice spoke to him, resounding in his ears as he felt a large hand gently pushing him forward.

"You have to pay more attention to where you're standing, kid.

Otherwise, some Originals who have experienced bad luck in their dungeon conquests might vent their anger on you!"

Without turning around, Nial sensed a small, middle-aged man with a bulky physique and a long beard walk past him, followed by the rest of his group.

Bowing lightly, he thanked the man, who simply nodded his head.

This encounter made Nial feel that not everyone was as selfish and bad as many Originals were rumored to be.

At this moment, Nial noticed something through his mana perception.

He could tell that the entire group around the dwarf-sized middle-aged man was much stronger than his parents, or many other Originals he could see around him

However, he was unable to tell how strong they truly were which was disheartening.

Nial's eyes kept flitting to the dwarf-like leader because he felt that there was something unique about him that made Nial curious.

Shaking his head, Nial dragged himself out of his thoughts.

He had arrived here for a different task and meddling in others' business or bothering them needlessly, just because they had been kind to him was not the best way forward.

,m Thus, Nial turned towards the likely direction of the reception and activated his [Mana Perception] ability once again.

This in turn helped him increase the range at which he could perceive everything to a large extent.

Without the necessary mana to keep his ability activated for a long time, Nial could barely perceive where he had to go before the range of his perception returned to its usual once again.

After that, he was able to take the direct path to the reception.

Sadly, every single counter was occupied so he had to wait for more than 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the queue was quite long.

Nial noticed this, but he didn't know whether it was normal, or if something had happened.

But after listening to the discussions around him, he realized that there was nothing special going on anywhere.

His timing to enter the Originals associations just seemed to have been extremely bad.

When it was finally his turn, the receptionist introduced herself, while storing away the origin crystals she had received in exchange to money that she had handed to the previous Original.

"I want to be registered and tested as a newly awakened Original. Furthermore, I want to sell a few poorest quality common grade origin crystals, please!"

Without looking up, the receptionist pointed at a box Nial sensed right next to a magic device before she replied,

"Put all origin crystals inside the big box, and please scan your ID at the card reader right in front of you!"

Doing as instructed, not even a minute had passed before Nial heard her announce,

"32 poorest common origin crystal, each worth 30$. That would be a total of 960$.

Do you want to receive cash, or should I transfer the 960$ to the bank account that will be created after your Innate talent has been tested? You will receive a special Originals ID with which you can also do transactions.

There are also several other kinds of functions, but you can read the guide for that!"

After she said so, the situation turned a little bit odd.

The receptionist next to the young woman exclaimed and tapped on her shoulder while trying to tell her something.historical

On the other hand, Nial just smiled, because even the Originals around him had turned quiet, becoming very interested in what would happen next.

They wanted to see how he would react, but instead of throwing a fit or doing anything odd, Nial just answered her.

"Please transfer everything to my Originals bank account once it has been created!"

Nodding her head to indicate that she had understood him, the female receptionist kept doing her work while her head was still bent.

She was fully focused on her task, and without lifting her head, she simply pointed at a feeble-looking young man, who was standing next to a small door.

It almost looked like he was guarding it.

"Alright. It has been done. Now, please follow my colleague. He will test your Innate talent!"

The situation had already become awkward, the moment the receptionist said that Nial should just read the guide about Originals and their ID.

However, it was only when she pointed toward her colleague that she lifted her head to see Nial staring at her with his white, lifeless eyes.

"Eh…I…I'm sorry…I..w-will...take you to my colleague, plea-..."

Embarrassed about her mishap, she wanted to make up for her blunder. But before the receptionist's colleagues could approach Nial, and try to pacify him, Nial lifted his hand.

"Alright, thank you for your help, have a nice day!"

Afterward, he turned in the young man's direction, and approached him, walking around the counter as if he could see it.

'Didn't he say that he is newly awakened? How can he use his mana to visualize his surroundings...or is he just barely sensing that there is an obstruction?...He might have lied about the time of his awakening too… well whatever.'

Shaking her head, the receptionist tried to forget about the incident and Nial as quickly as possible.

Thus, she stubbornly continued her work as the next Original who was already waiting to get his origin crystals exchanged approached her desk.

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The young man Nial was supposed to follow didn't say anything.

Instead, he lightly pulled him through the door, by holding his arm. His touch confused Nial a little bit as he could sense the young man's feeble and soft hand.

'Is he a baby, or what?!' He nearly blurted out but held himself back.

Sensing a railing through his mana perception, Nial's hand instinctively reached out for it so as to support himself.

When the young man saw this, he nodded his head before slowly walking through the hallway that was void of people.

It didn't take long before the young man stopped as a feminine-sounding voice echoed through his ears.

"We are there. If you can perceive me with mana, just follow me. If not please tell me beforehand, otherwise, the evaluation will take longer!"

Nial's brows furrowed to hear the feminine voice yet again because based on the outer appearance he clearly sensed that there was a young man in front of him.

But, after a moment he just shook his head.

'It's not my business!' Nial quickly told himself before answering his doubt.

"I can sense you!"

Nodding his head at Nial's answer yet again, the young man with a feminine voice entered a particular room followed by Nial, who tried to perceive everything around him.

Unfortunately, this made him stumble backward because the mana he perceived suddenly repelled him as it was drawn to someplace else.

This astonished him, and he could barely sense the young man, who was already walking ahead, without looking back to see whether Nial was keeping up with him or not.

"What is wrong with the mana in here? It seems to repel me?" Nial mumbled to himself.

When the young man heard this, he slowed down as he answered Nial's doubt.

"It's nothing special, just the Original association's automatic protection mechanism.

In specific rooms, you won't be able to sense mana properly, and absorbing it would actually harm you.

To put it simply, it's transmuted mana that repels Originals, or to be precise, all kinds of animate lifeforms."

Nial thought that he understood what the young man said, but at the same time, it was quite confusing. He had barely started to sense mana so he didn't know that something like repelling mana existed, let alone for what reason.

However, before he could ask another question, the young man had already stopped in his tracks. Nial would have almost bumped into him, if not for the fact that he barely stopped himself a few centimeters away from him.

Turning around, the young man looked straight into Nial's white and lifeless eyes. It made him instinctively take a step back, while Nial caught the unmistakable scent of conditioner lingering in the air.

Nial only smiled at this, before he heard the young man clearing his throat.

"There are a total of three tests you have to take. One of them is optional but recommended by the Originals association. You only have to take it if you have a Unique trait such as an Innate ability, something similar, or completely different.

Most newly awakened Originals take several weeks, months, and some even take years to find out if they have an Innate ability.

As such, I would recommend you to take the optional test as well. It's free of charge too, so you don't have to be bothered about additional expenses.

As for the other two tests, they're compulsory if you want to be registered at the Originals association, and to get the government's support funding and other benefits.

First, we will test your mana core's limit. That will check the number of times your mana core can undergo the enlarging process in a natural manner.

To put it simply, it tells you how much mana you will be able to store once you reach your mana core's limit.

This limit, most people call talent or potential, will determine what kind of rank you will be able to reach in the future.

The average talent is around three enlarging processes which would allow you to reach the 4th rank of the Origin stage. With hard work, you might be able to gather enough mana to create an Origin ring, but it's difficult.

As for the second test, we will evaluate your mana veins by circulating different types of mana through your veins. Afterward, you will be requested to do a variety of things, like trying to manipulate unannexed mana, and so on.

This will give us enough data to assess how fast your mana vein absorbs mana passively, how high your mana perception is, and all kinds of other properties of your mana vein.

With common, or normal mana veins and a normal mana core limit, you will need around six years before you reach your maximum capacities.

After that, you will have to start exceeding your natural limits, if you want to strive for more strength.

But, to be honest, I don't recommend doing this if you have a weak will or a low pain tolerance!"

While saying the last sentence, the young man seemed to become a little emotional, as his feminine-sounding voice seemed to fluctuate in frequency a lot.

At the same time, his mana was fluctuating wildly as well. After sensing both the things, Nial felt that the young man was on a roller coaster of emotions.

So...now back to the question I wanted to ask. Do you want to take the optional test as well? Some people know that they have an innate talent, but they don't want to reveal it to others. That's why I have to ask you beforehand."

The young man's intel was very informative, and his voice sounded very kind and pleasing. It might be a little bit feminine for a boy, but Nial was not someone who bothered about something as trivial as that.

However, he was more astonished that the young man spoke so much at once and shared the information eagerly.

At first glance, he appeared to be more of an introvert.

"Please test me for unique traits too. I would like to know if I have a special trait or Innate ability!"

Before, Nial had pondered about what he should do.

However, the answer had been quite simple.

He didn't know anything about the Odyssey seed, and his memories of the dungeon incident from 15 years ago were bleak and hazy.

Living the life of a blind person for more than a decade had washed them away.

As such, Nial wanted to find out more about the Odyssey seed, even if that meant he had to expose it to the government.

Unfortunately, he felt that it wouldn't be as easy as he hoped.

Having received Nial's consent the young man immediately got to work before instructing him,

"If that's the case, please lie down on the examination table and take off your shirt!"

Not sure if Nial could perceive what he wanted him to do, the young man gently pulled him towards a table that was placed next to a small pillar.

On top of the pillar was a cushion on which an orb was placed.

Right next to it, one could also see a large machine that looked just like a capsule.

Lying down on the table as instructed, the young man attached more than a dozen electrodes to Nial's naked torso.

Barely a moment later, small streams of mana coursed through him.

There was also something different within the mana that seemed to examine him from the inside, making him feel extremely uncomfortable as it touched his mana core.

While he was trying to endure the discomfort, the young man pushed a button.

As a reaction, the mana was retracted before he said,

"Done. The results should be there soon. Let's continue with the other two tests in the meantime!"

Nial just nodded his head and began pulling off the electrodes.

He wanted to put on his shirt too, but the young man suddenly remarked.

"Don't bother. You'll have to enter a capsule which we will fill with water that is infused with different types of mana. So it would be best if you remove your pants too.

I can give you a towel if you don't want to enter the capsule naked, but…we don't sell underwear in the Originals association.

I doubt you have a second pair of underpants with you as well."

Nial thought that the young man was having a nice time making fun of him, which was obvious because he was speaking more and more, only to end up in a giggle.

Not giving it even a second thought, Nial pulled down his pants before he approached the capsule, leaving the young man dumbfounded.

'He is definitely not ashamed of anything…' Thinking so, the young man coughed delicately. Meanwhile, Nial had already entered the capsule.

Nial's perception was much better than the young man had first expected, and that made it only more obvious that his mana veins' potential should be above the average.

Thus, the young man had some expectations from Nial, even if there was literally no reason for him to expect anything from a stranger.historical

Yet, somehow, Nial seemed to be quite optimistic and strong-willed to be able to live a normal life without being able to see.

But then again, the young man didn't know anything about Nial's past, or the fact that his entire demeanor and mindset had slowly been conditioned to the changes that awakening an origin brought forth.

Nial didn't feel much until the test was done, and once the capsule opened, his mind felt a bit muddled.

"It will take a few minutes before you will feel normal again. You were bombarded with different types of mana. It is perfectly normal to feel weird the first time! Dry yourself and the test result of your mana veins ranking should be completed by then!"

Throwing a towel to Nial, who had just gotten out of the capsule, the young man seemed to have forgotten for a moment that Nial was blind.

However, oddly enough, Nial was able to catch it as if he was able to see it.

'He can still sense his surroundings...despite his muddled mind?'

Throwing him a surprised look, the young man exclaimed while Nial put on his clothes once again.

"Ohh, very good! Superior mana veins that have yet to be fully matured..that's amazing!!"

Nial was not sure what exactly this meant, but he just nodded his head with a smile because the 'superior' prefix definitely sounded good.

Yet, only a moment later, the young man seemed to turn more serious as he further remarked,

"The test result of your optional test arrived too..you have yet to bind your first ability and you don't have an Innate ability…that's unfortunate."

After that, the young man suddenly quieted down, a little disappointed at the result. Nial could only perceive the outline of the young man who was standing in a confused and disappointing way.

His shoulders were drooping a little but then something piqued his interest.

Suddenly, he threw a lot of questions at Nial who was only stunned at the words.

"Your eyes….are an adverse mutation? Or something like that?! To be honest, I've never seen a chart like this...just what happened to your eyes?"

The young man seemed to be baffled, but Nial couldn't help but feel the most disappointed.

Not only did the young man say that he didn't have an Innate ability, but the test had also failed to detect his Odyssey seed.

As such, it was as if his eyes and the seed didn't exist, which they certainly did!

"It's unfortunate that you're blind and that you don't possess an Innate ability. But with your mana vein's potential, you might be able to get some funding from the government as long as your mana core talent is good!"

The young man seemed to be trying to lift Nial's mood which was not necessary in his opinion.

And, based on the way the young man had been acting for the entire time, Nial couldn't help but ask.

"It might sound rude, but why are you being so friendly to me? We don't know each other, and the Originals association does not think that highly of disabled Originals to begin with…or am I wrong?"

Nial's question was straightforward, but he couldn't help but feel weird about the young man's behavior that was out of the ordinary.

Yet, the young man's answer caused Nial to feel that he shouldn't have even opened his mouth in the first place.

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"To be honest, my elder sister was also blind, just like you. When she awoke from her origin, she was able to visualize all kinds of objects and perceive her surroundings better.

It helped her to live a normal life, but that was not enough for her.

Unfortunately, because of her low talent, she tried to exceed her mana core's limit.

Through this, she had aimed to become stronger and receive the chance to bind one more ability to her core.

Unfortunately...she didn't succeed in breaking through her limit, and her efforts had the exact opposite effect.

As a result, her mana core is now severely damaged!

I hope you don't misunderstand my behavior or intentions. I just wanted to help you. It's not like I have any ill intentions. Please, just don't do the same mistake as my sister if your mana core's limit is not as high as you hope it would be!"

Nial had not expected such a story, and he nodded his head, unsure of what he was supposed to say.

Thus, he blurted out, "Ah...my condolences for your sister's loss?"

'Is that even correct to say to her?' Nial asked himself immediately after, only to hear the young man laughing.

"You're really odd. But I think we shall resume the evaluation, don't you think so?"

Saying so, she guided him through the last of the three tests, which was quite easy.

Doing as instructed, Nial placed his hand on the orb that lay on a cushion in front of him after which Nial inserted mana into it.

Afterward, the orb began to heat up, and through his mana perception, he also noticed that it began to glow faintly.

Not knowing what exactly that indicated, Nial waited for a moment, only to hear the young man sighing deeply.

He had already assumed what this could mean, and the next words of the young man only cemented his theory.

"I'm so sorry to tell you this, but your mana core limit barely reaches the average range...so you will barely be able to enlarge your mana core three times!"

Nodding his head as if he had known it all along, Nial simply smiled at the young man as he asked,

"Alright...when will I get my new Identity card? I wanted to purchase something with the money I transferred into the bank account that is linked to my ID."

Nial didn't want to look up the information of his bank account because it was a hassle with the phone he was using.

Furthermore, he couldn't even read anything but blind language.

Thus, there was a language barrier he wanted to avoid with the use of the Originals ID card.

Meanwhile, the young man was confused about Nial's reaction.

He had expected Nial to be a bit disappointed by the test result.

But instead of asking that right away, he simply kept looking at Nial's face.

He had wanted to see if the reaction was genuine, or if Nial put on a facade.

However, Nial's expression stayed as it was, calm and neutral, which caused the young man to say.

"I can give you your new ID card in a minute. Let's leave the examination room first, and I'll bring you the card while you wait in the hallway!"

That being said, he was led outside the room. While he was waiting for his new ID card to be brought by the young man, he suddenly held out his hand toward Nial.

"By the way, my name is Shana, I wish you all the best for the future, and don't be as reckless as my sister!"

'Wait…that's not a boy's name…?! He is a Girl??' Nial immediately thought, utterly dumbfounded at the unexpected revelation.

Yet, before he could even say something Shana gently placed her hands on his shoulder, and turned him in the direction of the entrance hall while mumbling,

"It's a little secret, so don't tell anyone, alright?"

Her voice sounded amused, but Nial could tell that Shana was doing all of this to console him, in any possible way. Maybe, he reminded her of her elder sister a lot.

This was something that Nial found to be very nice of her, even if there was no need for her to console him, at all.

He was perfectly fine, even though his mana core's limit was not special. Having awoken his origin itself had been a boon for him. As such he was not excessively greedy.

In the end, one could break through limits, even if it was an insane task and required one to risk a lot. And, if he were to be desperate enough, Nial knew that he would try, and overcome it, if necessary!

Fortunately, it was not necessary for him to try something as stupid as trying to endanger his life.

He just wanted to earn enough to improve his family's financial situation, while trying to search for a way to heal his sister.

That was all he wanted, nothing more or less!

Thus, he straightened his back before smiling as he introduced himself yet again,

"It was nice meeting you, Shana. I'm Nial Oran, let's meet again in the future!"

After he said this, he heard a light chuckle before she replied,

"Yeah, let's meet again, bye!"

He smiled while tightly holding the ID card he had been given as he returned to the entrance hall through the small door.

His encounter with Shana was pleasant, but Nial didn't really think that they would cross paths again.

There were more important things for him to achieve now!

However, he then recalled that it would not be further unlikely because she worked at the Originals association which he had to visit to exchange his origin crystals!

While he was thinking about that, he heard his phone ring.

This astonished him, because he had only four numbers saved in his contacts.

The name of the caller was announced through the application for blind people Nial was required to use in the past.

[Incoming call from 'Father']

Hitting the receive button, Nial answered his father while ignoring the looks he received. Meanwhile, he kept walking ahead, paving his way through the crowd of people.

Unfortunately, avoiding other Originals was easier said than done.

Most of the originals did not bother retracting their mana fluctuations, making things more difficult for him.

Countless mana fluctuations of multiple people overlapped, which was quite annoying in Nial's case.

It was quite difficult for him to try to distinguish them and avoid running into people while simultaneously talking to his father.

"Dad...what did you just say? I couldn't understand you!" Nial shouted the moment he finally found a way outside the Originals association.

Taking a breath full of fresh air after leaving the crowded hall, he listened to his father.

However, his words made Nial cough and wheeze when he accidentally swallowed his saliva owing to the news his father told him.

"You found what? Are you serious?? Do you know how high the chances are!? And it's just the second day since the dungeon manifested..that's amazing!"

His excited voice made several other Originals turn around and look at him. But, once they sensed that Nial was just a newly awakened Originals with barely any traces of mana within his body, they thought that he was just shocked about everything new he was learning at the moment.

"I sold the Mana Perception ability crystal at the merchant nearby. He gave us 15,000$ for it! Give me your bank details, and I'll wire you some money!"

When Nial heard this, he instinctively shook his head while disagreeing with his father,

"No, I don't need anything, I got almost 1000$ for the origin crystals I sold. There is no need to wire me more money! Use it to purchase better medicine for Sabrina. That's where the money should go!!"

Nial was of the opinion that his father had to take a good look at his priorities. Yet, a moment later, he heard his father taking a deep breath as his frustrated voice could be heard through the phone.

"Just use the money to purchase a spear, will you?! You never want something from us, not even a proper phone! But don't forget that you are our child, just like Sabrina! AND we do NOT want to see you get injured inside a dungeon just because your equipment is of no real use!

What do you expect to purchase for a thousand dollars, to begin with? Don't tell me you wanted to purchase an unranked weapon! Just because the more expensive unranked weapons are properly forged, you don't necessarily get more value out of them!!

For Originals, it is akin to intentionally crippling your combat prowess! If your mother knew what you planned, she would probably beat the shit out of you!!

Now give me your Bank account information, or I'll tell Maline, and even Sabrina about everything, once she wakes up!! I don't think you want that to happen. Right?

With that in mind, I just decided to transfer you 10,000$. The rest and our savings will be used to purchase medicine for your sister, alright? If you want to help your parents, just earn more money with the equipment you'll purchase!... And don't even try to purchase a cheap weapon, I'll inspect it later!"

'Scary!' Nial could only think as his father rained down orders on him. He had no option but to obey his father and meekly gave him his Identification number.

His father just grunted in response as he wired the said amount to his Originals ID card.

Afterward, his father warned him once again before hanging up, telling him to return home once he had purchased a good weapon.

'To think that he found an ability crystal so soon after I got one. That's good...but I'm sure that I would have found an okay-ish weapon for less than 1000$.historical

Would I not be wasting too much money if I were to purchase a weapon for more than 10,000$?'

Even though Nial didn't know the prices he had to pay for a proper weapon, 10,000$ seemed a bit too much for a normal Low-quality Common grade weapon.

Little did he know that he was in for a surprise, the moment he entered the blacksmith shop he had walked past less than an hour ago.

Visualizing the placards that held the prices of goods placed behind them made Nial freeze in his tracks.

'Those are probably the better ones...right?' His earlier confidence about being able to purchase a weapon disappeared into thin air.

Now, Nial grew worried that he might just have to go home empty-handed.

'Is that some prestigious blacksmithing shop? It must be...right, I forgot...how could a shop that is so close to the Originals association and right in the central district not display and sell some of the most skillfully crafted weapons…'

Nial realized that he wouldn't be able to find anything for him, but somehow, he wasn't able to take his eyes off the weapons, that shone in the soft light falling upon them.

It felt wrong and out of place for him to be there.

Luckily, he was the only customer in the shop at that moment.

Whether this was because the blacksmith's weapons were not as unique as Nial assumed them to be, or because of a different reason didn't really matter.

Nial just needed a weapon, right now!!

'Please let me find something good, but cheap!' Nial hoped, fully aware that he was just challenging his luck.

However, at the same time, Nial had yet to understand what kind of shop he had just entered, and that his luck was a lot more terrifying than he could ever imagine!

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The first weapon Nial's eyes had visualised was a broadsword that was brightly glowing owing to the mana that coursed through the metal it had been made of.

Because of that, he could somehow accept that its price was extremely high.

Yet, when his eyes roamed through the prices listed and visualized the numbers written on the placards, Nial felt somehow lost at the blacksmithing shop.

There was not even a single weapon whose price was below 1,000,000$, which was overwhelming.

But the truly scary thing was that most of the weapons were tens, hundreds, and even thousands of times more expensive.

This made Nial believe that he should just turn around, walk outside the shop, and never set his foot in it again.

Yet, his gut feeling told him that if he were to look carefully, he might just find a weapon that suited him, in both price and combat style!

Nial also knew that the shop owner was present because he seemed to be forging a weapon in the open smithy when the smell of burning and melting had hit his nostrils before.

The rooms didn't seem to be separated because the sound of the hammer striking on heated-up metal was not muffled either. This made Nial wonder if he should just ask the blacksmith for help.

In the end, he decided against it because the blacksmith was still working, and Nial didn't want to interrupt him. At the same time, he wanted to figure out what he had to do by himself.

Unfortunately, he was having trouble testing things on his own.

The mana fluctuations radiated by every single weapon swept through the room, overlapping each other.

This prevented Nial from properly visualizing anything that was more than half a meter away from him.

Thus, the best option for him was to walk slowly through the shop.

Focused on the heated up ingot, and his forging process the middle-aged blacksmith didn't even notice Nial first.

And, and it was only when he heard the constant noise of muffled footsteps near him, that he spared a second to scan through Nial's body in order to figure out why he was loitering around.

"Brat, are you a newly awakened Original? If so, you will find some cheaper, used weapons in the right corner, next to the counter!"

Nial wasn't wearing any mana-intertwined equipment, and it looked like he was a late-bloomer because he was already a young man, yet the amount of mana inside his mana core was not worth mentioning.

As such, the blacksmith could easily guess that the young man did not possess much money.

Trying to find his way to the counter, and afterward the right corner, Nial took some time.

He had his hands outstretched to feel around for obstacles.

His mana perception was heavily influenced by all kinds of weapons and other equipment that released strong mana fluctuations.

This was noticed by the blacksmith who heard Nial fumbling through the shop.

It annoyed the blacksmith, who wanted to continue working without any disturbance.

As he shook his head and was about to strike the ingot with the hammer again, Nial's voice reached him from the corner of the shop.

"Am I allowed to touch the used weapons? I want to tes-..."

Yet, before Nial was even able to finish his sentence, and give a proper explanation for his request, the blacksmith yelled at him in a hoarse voice.

"You are not allowed to! I don't want anyone to touch my goods without the desire to purchase them. And it doesn't really feel like you want to buy anything!"

These somewhat insulting words frustrated Nial. It was true that he didn't want to purchase used daggers or similar weapons, but in order to understand the merit of a specific weapon, he had to understand the value of other weapons first!

That was something Nial understood, which was the reason why he wanted to test all kinds of things with other weapons.

Doing so would give him an idea if the prices for spears, glaives, and other weapons he could use with his meager wealth were even feasible.

There were all kinds of prerequisites one had to pay attention to when purchasing a weapon, and Nial had once been taught about them by his father.

Unfortunately, in order to figure that out, he would have to touch the weapons, and he was sure that the blacksmith knew it very well.

However, somehow, it seemed like the blacksmith either had something against him, newly awakened Originals, or just the fact that he might look poor!

What Nial didn't know, however, was that the blacksmith hadn't even taken a single glance at Nial, since he had entered the shop, which would have frustrated him only more.

"If that's the case, I cannot purchase anything. I will take your leave, I'm sorry for interrupting your business, mister."

Nial's sudden change in behavior was unexpected, and the blacksmith stopped working. He had just finished the shaping process of the weapon's blade and would have to work on something different now.

Yet, instead of starting the next task, he took a good look at Nial, only to see that he was walking past him from the narrow space between the two lowered shelves.

At that moment, the blacksmith saw a glimpse of something, which caused him to subconsciously blurt out.

"Brat...are you blind?"

Somehow, this question annoyed Nial a bit, realizing that the blacksmith had just looked at him for the first time since he had entered the shop.

As such, he couldn't help but frustratingly think, historical

'Why is nobody paying attention to others...like what the hell is wrong with everyone?! Am I blind or are they?'

Through this incident, Nial understood that the majority of Originals would simply be minding their own business, and not bother about others, which was something that baffled him.

He and his family were always supporting each other, and his parents were always attentive to him and his sister. No way would they just mind their own business as if it had nothing to do with them.

Because of that, Nial's mindset had been conditioned to think that others would pay at least a little bit of attention to others, which was evidently not the case.

This realization made him blurt out his thoughts which were filled with sarcasm.

"I certainly don't wear contact lenses…"

Afterward, Nial had almost reached the door of the shop, only to hear a loud voice ordering him, "Stop, right there!"

Trying to ignore it, Nial was about to turn the doorknob when he noticed that he had suddenly been rendered incapable of moving.

His waist was enveloped in a dense amount of mana that was shaped just like a fist.

'Ability?' That was the first thought to cross his mind as he felt that he was being pulled backward.

This was a bad sign, and Nial realized that he had almost thrown a tantrum, only to hear the blacksmith's voice once again.

"You probably had your origin awakening less than a week ago, right? Are you using a special ability to be able to walk through my shop, or do your mana veins have an extraordinary quality?"

Nial was confused to be asked these particular questions, but sensing that he might get punished for being rude to the blacksmith, he decided to stay honest...to some extent.

"I awoke my origin three days ago, early in the morning! So you can say it has almost been four days now. And my mana veins are extraordinary, yes...unfortunately that's the only unique thing that the Originals association found about me…"

Inclined to avoid talking about the Odyssey seed, Nial behaved as if he was frustrated that only his mana veins were great.

He had realized that it might be too dangerous to expose something not even the Original association could detect.

His revelation told the blacksmith that Nial's mana core's limit was not high, which seemed to affect him much more than it was for Nial.

"Low mana core limit, blind and great mana veins…" He just mumbled before continuing to pull Nial towards him with his affinity.

Meanwhile, Nial only felt how the heat around him increased as he was dragged towards the smithy, which made him want to avoid getting scorched.

"If it's not too much to ask for...can I be released, please?"

Not realizing what he had done, the blacksmith only now saw that he had activated his affinity to pull Nial, which caused him to dissolve the arm within an instant.

"Sorry, for that. I instinctively pulled you back. You reminded me of someone."

Nial didn't expect to receive an apology, but instead of throwing an angry retort he just nodded his head as a weird thought popped in his mind.

'Why am I reminding everyone of someone today? That's weird…'

However, what he heard afterward was even more confusing as the blacksmith continued,

"Without being able to look at the weapons, you obviously have to touch them in order to know what are they made of and what kind of engravings I've done on them. Feel free to test out everything!"

This statement was the most suspicious in Nial's opinion because the blacksmith's behavior seemed to have changed completely.

Because of that, he couldn't help but mumble to himself, apparently puzzled at the abrupt change.

"Why is everyone being so nice to me today? It's not like my blindness affects me a lot?! I thought crippled Originals would be bullied, but first Shana, now the blacksmith too..."

This was not exactly the truth, but Nial didn't like the way in which the blacksmith's attitude had changed.

He was not mistreated or looked down upon, but the pity which the blacksmith had for him annoyed Nial extremely. It was clearly noticeable based on the expressions he bore.

"How do you know…." The blacksmith stopped midway and left the sentence hanging and instead added,

"Don't overthink it, Brat! Just take a look at the weapons!"

Nial felt like the blacksmith had wanted to say more, but instead of pressuring him to speak his mind, he fell quiet. He was simply relieved to be able to take a look at the used weapons because there were quite a few weapons that seemed affordable to him.

They had been the worst of the worst amongst the batches of weapons, but even the worst was incomparably better than the crude spear he had used before.

Returning his attention to the weapons, Nial perceived one particular weapon he wanted to take a good look at, even if it would be too expensive for him.

There was something about the weapon that attracted his attention, and it might be something Nial was able to save up for!

Picking up the said weapon, Nial wielded it around, before inserting the traces of mana he had accumulated within his mana core to test out its capabilities.

Seeing him wield and inspect the weapon made the blacksmith ask him out loud.

"You...like that weapon?"

"You...like that weapon?"

The blacksmith sounded oddly affected by the fact that Nial had picked the spear to swing around in short movement sequences.

As such, he stopped swinging it around, and turned around, smiling lightly as he nodded his head in response.

Somehow, Nial felt a unique connection to the spear as if it was perfectly suitable for him.

After touching and inspecting the other weapons, he had not felt this connection which he felt to the spear, as if it was beckoning him.

Because of that, he felt a little bit restless as well as hopeful.

It made him ignore the blacksmith's weird question as he asked,

"It has no price tag...how expensive is the spear? It should have been a custom weapon...so I know that I won't be able to purchase it right now, but...if possible...can you let me save up for...a while to earn enough to purchase it?"

Nial knew that he had planned to support his family financially, but that was exactly why he wanted to get his hands on the spear that lay in his hands as if it had always belonged to him.

It was almost as if it had become a part of Nial, even though he had just wielded it for a few minutes.

What Nial didn't notice was that the blacksmith looked at him with an extremely sad expression.

"Do you like the Viper spear that much?"

His words were filled with agony, which was not difficult to notice, and Nial instinctively halted in his tracks.

He understood that the blacksmith had a deeper connection to the spear than he had expected.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but lightly caressed the cold metal staff, trying to figure out every single characteristic of it as he mumbled.

"Viper spear...it's a good name…"

While Nial's thoughts were focused around the Viper spear, the blacksmith couldn't avert his attention from him, recalling a faint, –old memory.

'He is just like her...if she were still able to wield mana, would she be as joyous as this young brat? I...don't think so…'

Clenching his fist, he recalled his daughter's greed and desperation. It took him some time to forget the painful memories but he managed to shake his head to get back to his senses.

'They're not the same!' Trying to get his act together, the blacksmith took deep breaths.

His gaze never left Nial, and once he had calmed down he suddenly asked,

"Do you want the Viper spear?"

Arnold, the blacksmith, had always wanted to sell the Viper spear, but to date, he had never been able to muster the courage to let go of it whenever a customer had expressed an interest in purchasing it.historical

Because of that he had moved it to the farthest corner of his shop which was an area designated for used goods.

None of his customers so far had bothered sparing a glance at used goods.

Only Nial, the blind young man, who had just undergone his origin awakening had done so.

It seemed as if fate was playing into his hands, and Arnold felt oddly relieved seeing the bright smile on Nial's face while he held the Viper spear.

Even though Nial knew that he couldn't purchase the weapon, it was evident that he was extremely keen to purchase it.

As such, the moment Nial heard what the blacksmith said, he reacted instinctively.

"Of course! But I don't have enough money...if possible, can I come back later and purchase when I have enough funds...we are not exactly rich, you know. So it might take a while, Sir."

Nial was clueless about the Viper spear's value, which the blacksmith had noticed.

As such, he couldn't help but smile seeing how Nial acted like a little kid who had found his favorite treat.

It was almost like he had given the young man a treat, only to hold it too far away for him to reach.

In the end, Arnold had never intended to keep the Viper spear, to begin with.

It had only been his selfish desire to keep something that had both good and bad memories of a time that had long since passed.

Because of that, and the fact that the Viper spear would continue to simply collect dust, if he wouldn't sell it, Arnold decided to give it to someone.

But, he wanted the owner to be someone who valued it even more than his beloved daughter, who had been consumed by greed.

"I didn't ask you if you wanted to purchase it, but if you want to have it!" Arnold thus repeated himself in a clearer way.

This made Nial's expression change from his initial joy to be able to purchase it to confusion, and even more confusion.

Soon expressions of astonishment, and shock chased each other before doubt settled on his face yet again.

"Sir...are you sure...This is not a simple Lowest quality Common grade weapon, right? I cannot take something so valuable for free… Why would Sir give me something so valuable..there is no reason…?"

Nial was utterly dumbfounded because it made no sense for him to receive such a valuable gift.

He didn't even know the blacksmith less than half an hour ago either!

Upon hearing his remark 'lowest quality common grade weapon', the blacksmith suppressed a chuckle as he thought of a proper solution.

A second later, he got an idea.

"You said something about Shana before, right? The boyish girl working at the Originals association?"

Nodding his head, he stared at the blacksmith in astonishment.

He was taken aback by the revelation that the blacksmith knew that Shana was a girl.

This told Arnold that his earlier assumption was right. Thus he simply added further,

"Let's say it is thanks to her and the fact that you made me recall the pleasant memories of someone, that I consider it to be payment enough for me."

Arnold stopped for a moment, awaiting Nial's adamant refusal upon seeing that the doubt was still lingering in his eyes.

Wanting to reassure him, the blacksmith offered,

"If that's not enough for you, just give me a tip, and help Shana if she were to need help in the future!"

The 'tip' was just something he said to make Nial feel better, while the latter held more ground.

Nial was stunned to hear the blacksmith's generous offer, quite literally.

He seemed to have frozen on the spot and it took him several minutes to articulate a hesitant response.

"Okay...It would be stupid to deny the offer...I guess?" He was confused all the same and was still struggling to understand what kind of opportunity lay in front of him.

But then, he realized that it would be extremely stupid to reject it. Nevertheless, Nial felt uncomfortable about paying nothing. Thus he used the entire accumulated wealth of 10,960$ in his Originals ID card to tip the blacksmith, who had introduced himself as Arnold Birg.

After the deal, the blacksmith even gave Nial his contact details, which were simply stored in the Originals ID card.

Finally having completed his purchase, and bought a nice weapon Nial went home.

On the way, he continued to wield the Viper spear, whose blade was retracted. It had an additional feature wherein the blade on the tip of the rod could be controlled to a certain extent.

That was as long as one inserted mana. Meanwhile, the main function of it acting as a rod, and a simple spear with a seemingly simple blade were usable without the need to use up a large amount of mana.

This was extremely beneficial for Nial.

In the end, the spear could be used as a rod, halberd, glaive, and spear, which was, in fact, perfect for Nial.

It had an additional ability, but Nial didn't have enough mana to activate it. The only thing he knew was that there was a unique crystal that was embedded at the top of the staff, right below the freely adjustable blades.

The crystal had unique mana in it and seemed to have been engraved with some unique words or runes, which Nial was unable to decipher.

Because of all the unique features the weapon had, Nial was confused why this weapon was placed in the section for used goods, even more so because it seemed as if nobody had used it before.

Yet, the moment he arrived at home, he left the blacksmith shop with a bright expression on his face.

It felt like he had only taken a second to reach home.

Nial didn't even think about the unique encounters he had today as he wanted to brag to his father, confident that he had made an extremely good purchase!

'I have to test the Viper spear as soon as possible!! Hopefully, the respawn time would be over soon!' Nial thought, only for his smile to vanish with a sad expression to replace it as he entered the house.

'Until the timer runs out, let me have some fun teasing dad!!'

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Seeing Nial's expression and the spear which he was trying to hide behind his back, Miles looked at his son in doubt, the moment he saw him entering the living room.

"Hello Nial, you are back earlier than I thought. How about you show me what you bought?!"

By giving Nial 10,000$ Miles wanted to teach his son how to handle his finances.

Nial never had the need to do anything with money as he would seldom leave his home.

At most, he would only toil in his backyard while the sun scorched his back as he practiced with his now broken spear.

It was because of this, that his fundamental knowledge about saving money and efficiently using it to earn even more was restricted.

Miles had wanted to teach his son about all of this in the past, but it had been much harder than one could expect.

Not only was Nial occupied with all kinds of other things his mother taught him, but even his wife seemed to have sided with their son and betrayed him.

"He doesn't need to use money. We will take care of him, forever!"

Unable to say anything to his overprotective wife, Miles had been forced to obey her.

As such, Nial had just experienced his first business deal, and that too with an amount of money that was high for their family's standards.

Even if Nial bought something bad, it would be a good lesson.

Though an expensive one, it would be even better because Nial would try to never make the same mistake again!

As such, Miles didn't say anything even after seeing his son's expressions which told him that something was not good.

Yet, the moment Nial handed Miles the spear, an involuntary gasp escaped his lips.

Nial could only sense his father almost tearing the spear out of Nial's hands as he inspected it, full of shock.

"You got that for 11000$...? Are you sure...like seriously...you didn't rob a bank or so?! It have a unique function and even a special effect? Do you even know what that means?" Miles' voice climbed an octave with every question and there was no mistaking the disbelief and dumbfounding in it.

Letting his father marvel at the spear, Nial smiled innocently as he asked,

"I have no idea! What do the unique function and special effect mean?"

This was the truth because Nial just knew that the Viper spear was extremely good, and something he had only received because of his great fortune.

He was also thankful to the blacksmith who had simply handed him the best weapon he could have ever laid his hands on.

It caused a bright smile to emerge on his face, replacing the sad expression Nial had tried to maintain.

Miles saw this, and he felt like punching his son for the first time in his life. Not only was Nial playing with him, he didn't know what kind of magnificent weapon he had obtained!

"So, you want to tell me that you were able to purchase a Myth weapon for 11,000$, and you had no idea what you were doing? Where the hell did you buy it?!"

Unable to hide his envy, Miles almost shouted at Nial, whose lifeless eyes were staring straight at his father.

Seeing his innocent expression, Miles couldn't help but sigh and try his best to calm down as he reluctantly returned the weapon to his son.

Nial accepted the weapon with a faint smile and he was just about to answer his father's question when he heard him explaining the big difference between Myth weapons and normal weapons.

"Son, I know that we slacked off a bit in teaching you, but how can you not know what Myth weapons are? With 11,000$ you should have already been glad about being able to purchase a Common grade weapon at the lowest quality.

The quality of a weapon determines how much mana you can insert into it, and how sharp, durable, and tensile the raw ingredients used to forge a weapon had grown.

Meanwhile, a Myth weapon is something completely different! Even the blade adjusting and retracting function alone is already a complex mechanism that is connected to the use of profound engraving on the spear.

One indicator for a Myth weapon are its engravings.

When you insert mana in the engravings, a weapon becomes much stronger than the material's limitations are.

Additionally, functions like the retracting and readjusting of blades are unique.

That means the blacksmith, who forged this weapon must be extremely talented. However, the spear you purchased for...less than 11,000$ has an additional effect. There is an extremely rare poison crystal embedded into the tip of the weapon, and the entire staff is connected to it, including all blades!

By injecting mana into the poison crystal, you will be able to poison every foe as long as you manage to scratch them! The poison crystal is also not a simple one. I cannot even figure out its maximum capabilities because my mana is not enough to test its potential to the max.

As such, the crystal alone should be worth more than everything we own!!"

Nial had expected a boring explanation, but what he heard shocked him to the core. "Just the crystal...more than everything we own? Even our house and the dungeon?!"

Even after seeing Nial's flabbergasted reaction, Miles didn't think that it was enough yet.

It seemed as if his son was still oblivious to what he had brought back home.

"The entire Myth weapon you brought back might only be at the common rank, but in order to wield it properly, you need to have undergone 9 enlarging processes and manifested at least 1 origin ring additionally!

Its value is tens of times everything we possess and had ever possessed in our entire life!

Just where did you get this weapon from?!?"

Nial's mind went blank upon hearing his father reveal everything he had been oblivious to.

They had been so engrossed in discussing the weapon that he even forgot to tell his father about the result of the evaluation of his mana core limit and mana vein's talent.

Even Miles forgot about it momentarily because he was utterly bewildered to see his blind son carry a treasure as if it was an ordinary dagger.

'Was that why he laughed like this?!' Nial suddenly asked himself, recalling Arnold Birg's reaction. This made him feel embarrassed because he realized that he had made an utter fool of himself due to his lack of knowledge back at Arnold's shop.

There were too many things he was currently lacking, and time seemed to be running away from him.

While he was deep in thoughts, Nial didn't even notice that he had subconsciously answered his father's question which he had repeated for the third time.

"I was given the Viper Spear in the blacksmith shop which is located in the Central district, and is close to the Originals association!"

There was no reason for Nial to lie about the fact that he had been given the spear by Arnold Birg, even less in front of his family.

Yet, his father seemed to misunderstand him once again.

"This stingy geezer sold the Myth weapon for less than 11000$?!?! How is that possible?! He forged it himself too?"

Nial didn't know the real reason for Arnold's generosity either, but before he was even able to say a single word, his father added with an incredulous look.

"Are you the God of fortune himself or what?!"

It was evident that his father was jealous of him, but Nial could understand this.

He was still struggling to come to terms with the truckload of information his father had dumped upon him.

And, it shocked him no less than anyone else to learn about the spear's true value.

He had been under the impression that the spear was of a slightly higher quality, and not something that was worth more than anything they possessed, by several times.

At that moment, Miles recalled something, which caused him to calm down within an instant.

"Ahh, now I remember!! I heard that one of the blacksmith's daughters was blind and that she is now bedridden...maybe it's because of that! Did he possibly ask you weird questions?"

While his father awaited an answer from him, Nial couldn't help but be shocked as his mind began to rattle wildly.

'Wait...don't tell me that the blacksmith was Shana's father?'

This seemingly simple realization cleared every single doubt he had.

Now everything fell into place as he finally understood what was going on.

Yet, it caused Nial to feel weird.

'Does that mean..the Viper spear belonged to Shana's sister? Is that also why the blacksmith was so oddly emotional?'

Nial was just about to give his father a proper answer when Maline, his mother, entered the living room.

"Why are you two creating such a ruckus? Was your evaluation at the Originals association that good...or is it worse than ours?"

Her sudden question made both Milan and Nial look at her and smile dryly, recalling that there had been something they completely forgot about- Nial's evaluation as an Original!

Calming down, Nial decided to tell his parents everything that happened from the moment he left home up to the point he returned, attempting to not leave out anything important that could shock them.

It took a while, but both his mom and dad were flabbergasted when they comprehended what had happened to their son in such a short amount of time.

"So, the girl that tested your talent was one of the daughters of the blacksmith Arnold Birg? What kind of coincidence was that? You really are lucky that they seemed to like you…

I heard that the blacksmith has a bad temper and that he is stingy. If rumors are to be believed, he does not sell weapons to people if he doesn't like them.

But he is said to love his daughters over everything, so maybe you made him recall his sick daughter?"

Maline said with a shrug and Miles could only nod his head.

"That's likely...either way, the dungeon should have reseted...do you want to slaughter some slimes with your new weapon?!"

Hearing this, Nial jumped up from his seat, while Maline could only sigh deeply as she worried about her son even before he entered the dungeon.

However, now that he had received an extremely strong weapon, killing the slime boss should be relatively easy and it was only Nial's strength that was lacking.

Despite that, Maline was especially worried about Nial's confidence that would rapidly soar owing to the weapon he used, which might be the reason for him to overestimate his capabilities.historical

Unfortunately, she knew just how stubborn Nial was.

As such, she told him to be careful, and to retreat if it was necessary.

After that, Maline added all kinds of warnings, but Nial couldn't hear them anymore because he was already rushing toward the portal.

"He is really fast...it's good that he has great mana veins to perceive his surroundings...he is almost unrestricted…"

Miles could only nod at his wife's emotional and a bit proud comments on her son.

Upon hearing her, his envy about Nial's weapon dispersed, recalling the hard times Nial had undergone.

"To think that he grew up so fast after awakening his origin...it is as if his entire demeanor changed...It doesn't look like he is forcing himself to smile for us…not anymore"

Holding each other, Miles and Maline looked at the retreating figure of Nial, who disappeared inside the permanent slime dungeon.

Their expression was filled with joy, pride, and relief.

At least Nial was able to overcome the disability that had been holding him back all this time.

He had finally awakened his origin, even if it was pretty late.

Now, they could pay their complete attention to Sabrina, which was more than necessary because the medicine she took was being used up much faster than they could replenish it!

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First, Nial had thought that his father had simply exaggerated how extraordinary a Myth weapon is.

However, after entering the slime dungeon several times during the following days, Nial understood that the present he had been given by the blacksmith was much more terrifying than he had assumed.

That was also why he had also dialed blacksmith Arnold's number with the intention to return the Viper spear, thinking that the present was just too much of a burden to accept.

Yet, the blacksmith's reaction upon hearing his words confused Nial.

"I can understand how you feel, or at least I think I do, but the moment you insult me by returning the Viper spear, you will get to know my temper!

If you dare step in my shop with the thought of returning the Viper spear, I will break your neck! If you want to thank me, accept the gift, be quiet and let me never see the spear again! And don't you dare sell it because it will always find a way back to me!!"

Nial was utterly dumbfounded about the sudden harsh words he had to listen to.

The unexpected and aggressive words of the blacksmith caused him to flinch because only his mother had been so loud in lecturing him before.

Yet, he understood that the anger was masking the trace of sadness in the blacksmith's voice.

Realizing that Nial fell silent and calmed down while trying to not shout back an angry retort.

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But it looked like the blacksmith was not far from done as he continued with his outburst.

"This fucking cursed spear, I should have never forged it!"

Yet, a moment later, he heard a familiar voice talking to Arnold from behind him.

"Dad, calm down! You know that it was not the spear's fault! Didn't you want to keep it for the day Jenny wakes up? She will definitely survive the coma caused by the mana overload!"

Not understanding anything, Nial kept silent and simply waited for the blacksmith to reply.

Because of that, he heard the blacksmith's low voice.

"You know that it's just an unattainable dream. She should give up on healing her mana core while being partially in a coma and instead focus on recuperating!"

Afterward, the blacksmith's voice turned louder as he spoke to Nial.

"Either way, Nial, never mention the Viper spear, if you ever plan on entering my shop again!.. I was just able to let go of it…"

With the final words of warning, Arnold Brig hung up, leaving Nial dumbfounded, not sure what he should expect from the Viper spear.

It was now his weapon, and his parents, who knew that he wanted to return the spear he had been gifted, had heard his entire conversation.

After that they had simply exchanged glances before shrugging their shoulders.

"If he doesn't want it back, just keep it. With your mana core talent, you won't be able to exhibit its entire capabilities, but it's more than enough to take care of the lowest and low ranked Rookie dungeons!

You shouldn't have problems conquering them once your Origin rank increases!"

Nodding his head, Nial understood that there was no need to return the Viper spear to the blacksmith.

As such, he spent his days utilizing it to his heart's content without neglecting the other things he had to pay attention to.

Since he was able to do many more things than before, owing to his awakening as an Original, a shortage of time was what held back Nial the most!

Acquiring knowledge about Originals, dungeons, and other things, and learning how to read and write were among his high priority tasks.

What followed next was his practice with the Viper spear, getting to know his new weapon, how much mana was required to utilize all of its functions, and how to wield mana properly.

However, that was not all, and Nial tried to maximize the effects of his [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability without the need to use up any mana.

Instead, he tried to balance out the natural absorption rate of mana with the utilization of his ability.

Unfortunately, this was not exactly worthwhile, and Nial had to discard this step.

Mana gathering techniques existed, and there was also the chance to absorb origin crystals owing to the fact that he conquered the slime dungeon once a day.

Despite that, Nial handed every single origin crystal to his parents, knowing that they required the money for Sabrina's medicine.

With every single passing day, her situation was becoming worse, and Nial knew that he had the capabilities to change their financial situation.

He might still be blind, but with the mana weapon he was wielding, his combat strength might even soar higher than that of his parents.

That sounded weird to Nial, but he realized that the Viper spear was strong and sharp enough to pierce through his parents' weapon and armor without any issues.

It was because of this that he thought of giving the Viper spear to his parents instead, but they had rejected it, telling him that he had been gifted the spear, and nobody else.

Both his mother and father wanted him to have the best possible weapon while fighting beasts in the dungeon and as such vehemently disagreed to take it from him.

As such, Nial had proposed to enter the nearby goblin dungeon, which was called one of the lowest ranked dungeons.

According to the government's laws, every dungeon spawned on their property belonged to them.

Meanwhile, the others would naturally belong to the government, guild, and Originals association.

There was only one way that ordinary citizens could enter a dungeon which was through public dungeons!

Every 4th dungeon that spawned on the government's lands would be open for public use.

As such, the public also had the chance to enter such dungeons as they were not restricted to only the government or private individuals.

At the same time, if Originals were not satisfied with this, they could still look for other dungeons in the wilderness.

The immediate surrounding of the shelter was still protected, yet, overflowing with Rookie dungeons.

However, nobody would be responsible for the death of anyone, if something were to happen in the open!

As such, Nial wanted to focus on public dungeons or dungeons that belonged to private individuals who charged a relatively low fee from individuals looking to enter them!

His mother didn't like Nial's idea of him entering a different dungeon than their slime dungeon that was extremely safe.

After all, it was almost impossible for Nial to be injured while fighting slimes, but Miles held his wife back from dampening their son's spirits.

After awakening his Origin, Nial was becoming more responsible than he had ever been and his entire personality was slowly developing, which was extremely late for his age.

Yet, considering how he had lived in the past with his confidence getting crushed every other day as his peers advanced while he struggled to even complete the most basic tasks, he had now turned a new leaf.

Being able to sense mana and much more instilled him with newfound confidence.

Thus, Miles wanted his son to take responsibility for his own life, and become independent and strong enough to not end up like them.

They did not want their rotten luck to cast its evil shadow on their beloved children wherein they would be too poor and powerless to protect and help the ones they loved the most!

Nial's mana core limit might not be high, but there were always ways to overcome obstacles as long as one was determined enough to give their best!

With enough willpower and money most problems could be solved, and amongst them, breaking through their limits was possible.

There were quite a few problems that could occur which Nial was aware of, but being fully focused on something worked wonders in multiple ways, such as overcoming one's limit!

Using his mana to perceive the different types of notifications about public dungeons on the official Originals website, Nial figured that there were quite a few dungeons that had manifested on the government's grounds.

That was not at all surprising, but it was quite annoying because the military and other organizations belonging to the government were given the first priority to enter governmental dungeons.

Thus, Nial knew that he had to make an appointment at a private dungeon despite their high entrance fees, or he would have to figure out the best way to enter one of the larger, lowest Rookie dungeons that belonged to the government.

'Because I'm blind, the military will exempt me from the mandatory duty… that would require me to be employed by the Originals association and attend a three year apprenticeship… what else can I do?!'

Trying to figure out ways on how to earn money the fastest way would be to leave the shelter, but that was not feasible.

Not only was he too weak, but he would have to pay a fare for a shuttle to drive him around in the wilderness.

Either of the above ways was way too expensive and dangerous for someone who just wanted to enter lowest Rookie dungeons.

Suddenly, just as Nial wanted to avert his attention back to studying as there were still many things he didn't understand, his old phone rang.

[Pseudo Merchant]

Hearing the name, Nial couldn't help but smile.

Leaving everything else he had been doing, Nial accepted the call of the one and only friend he had still retained after all these years.

"Hey Melvin, how are you? I haven't heard from you for ages!"

Nial was excited to hear from his old friend, who hadn't been in the shelter for almost an entire year.

He belonged to a merchant family that were on a business trip to one of the new shelters that was further away from Katu.

Katu was one of the calmest shelters that faced the fewest beast tides, dungeon breakouts and manifestation of overly powerful dungeons.

As such, many Originals would leave the shelter if their talent was high enough, and their hunger for strength equally high as well.

Other than Originals, merchants who wanted to make business deals with the other shelters to keep all of them thriving, and well-maintained were required to travel through the wilderness.

Because of that, he was glad that Melvin was not only alive but apparently also back in Katu!

"Hey Nial, I'm obviously fine. My family just came back from Merc, and it was amazing!! You're home, right? I cannot wait to see you. There are so many things I have to tell you.

Miles and Maline are fine with me coming over, right?"

Nial only smiled, and before he could reply, he heard the overlapping voice of a ringing doorbell, both through the phone and also from outside his front door.

"You're already here? That's great. I have something amazing to tell you too!"

Excited about meeting his old friend after a long time made Nial feel extremely happy, which Melvin noticed.

It had been a long time since he had seen his best friend so excited, and when he stressed his memory a little, he was a little bit flabbergasted to realize that it had not only been a long time but more like Nial had never sounded as excited as today.

Hearing Nial's joy felt good and Melvin felt even better now than he had shown up outside his door to surprise him.

As such, the moment Nial opened the door, he immediately blurted out the reason for his own joy.

"Nial, I awoke my Origin!"

This caused Nial to freeze in place for a moment, only to smile slyly as he replied,

"What a coincidence, me too!"

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Melvin simply stared at his best friend wide-eyed, who smiled at him innocently. The shock was apparent on his face as he blurted out.

"You too?! You had a natural origin awakening??"

He seemed to be more shocked than Nial was astonished about his friend's revelation.

When Nial nodded his head to answer Melvin's question, he could only hear his best friend mutter under his breath.

"...and I had to nag my father to get me a medicine to forcefully awaken my origin…"

Nial knew that there were certain medicines that could increase the chance of being able to become an Original, but they cost a fortune.

As such, these medicines were well beyond the reach of ordinary citizens.

Before, he believed that Melvin's family were ordinary merchants, but Nial could probably not even guess the price of such medical treasures.

His visit to the blacksmith shop had left him stunned as it is when he had checked the prices of common grade Myth weapons.

Nevertheless, he smiled at his friend, happy that he got to awaken his origin too.

"Why does it matter how you awoke your origin. Nobody will ask about that later, right? We should definitely venture into dungeons in the future together, alright?!

Now come inside!"

Melvin noticed it too late that he had complained out loud.

As such, he quieted down before entering the house.

Walking into the living room as if he had been living in the house for years, the first thing Melvin noticed was the backyard and Nial's parents.

"Oh, your parents are home. I should greet them, and sis Sabrina!"

This caused Nial to freeze in place before he exclaimed,

"Wait!"

Nial's smile had instantly disappeared and Melvin noticed this when he turned around to see the abrupt change in Nial's expression.

"Don't talk to my parents about Sabrina...her illness has worsened in the last few months… She is now bedridden and most of the time asleep because the illness leaves her with no energy to even move.

My sister even needs an oxygen mask to breathe…The medicine to barely keep her alive is expensive too, and her situation is becoming worse with each passing day..."

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Hearing this, Melvin's face turned ashen, before he turned angry.

Rushing towards Nial, he held him by the collar before shouting,

"WHY didn't you call me!! I can help you, even if it's only financially! What the hell is wrong with you? I know that you don't socialize and that you don't like asking people for help, but it's your sister we are talking about!"

Nial knew that Melvin was concerned about his sister a lot, and in their childhood, they had always played in a group of three.

As such, his friend's reaction was perfectly normal which made Nial sigh deeply as a specific memory flashed through his mind.

It was a memory of the secretary of Melvin's father visiting their home, only to threaten them to never bug his son for financial aid.

He threatened all his family members that if they would ever ask Melvin for money, he would make their life a living hell!

Maybe this had been for Melvin's sake to prevent his friends from exploiting him, or it had a completely different reason.

But in the end, neither Nial nor his parents had ever thought of asking for Melvin's family's help, to begin with.

They were righteous and always believed that exploiting their friends and family was wrong!

But, Sabrina's declining health hit them the worst and it might have made Nial's parents think of asking Nial to request help from Melvin.

If that thought had crossed their minds, they never spoke it out loud, fearing that Melvin's father's anger could worsen their situation.

Because of this, Nial was not sure how to respond to his friend's questions.

So, he only let Melvin rant and vent out. Meanwhile, he felt at a loss and his frustration about the entire situation was threatening to escape through his lips in the form of some very harsh words.

He pushed his friend's hands away that had grabbed him by the collar, only to do the same to his friend.

"What were we supposed to do, huh? Did you expect me to ask for your help, just to end up in an even worse state?!"

Their nice reunion seemed to have taken on the form of a fierce debate that was now escalating towards mild violence, but Nial couldn't help himself anymore.

He was frightened about his sister's situation which had worsened in the last few days.

Yet, his parents had told him to wait while farming other dungeons than the permanent slime dungeon in their backyard.

It was frustrating and made him angry like nothing else. Thus, he didn't hold back when Melvin, his one and only friend, tried to find fault with him without knowing the truth in its entirety.

Meanwhile, Melvin was astonished for a moment to see the way Nial's movements were smooth and perfectly executed as if he could see everything around him.

It took him a second to recall what his friend had just said as his words replayed in his mind multiple times.

"What...are you even talking about??...Wait...My family did not come to threaten yours...right?"

Loosening the grasp around Melvin's collar, Nial lowered his head with a sigh, but he didn't say anything. In the end, his sister's worsening condition was not Melvin's fault, and asking for financial help was only something they would do if they were extremely desperate.

This would happen soon, but Nial knew that his parents would apply for a loan from the Originals association. The loan Originals could take was high and with a comparatively low-interest rate. Yet, it was restricted to the talent one had.

As such, without the ability or resources to accumulate enough to pay back, his parent's loan would only eat their money without relieving Sabrina of her pain for a long time.

"Let's just forget about that, alright? I will start earning money by conquering dungeons, helping my family, and continuing to improve so that I can earn more!

Only that way will I be able to help my sister, and fighting with you won't help me, right?

Just forget whatever I said..."

Nial didn't want Melvin to quarrel with his family because of the incapability of his and his parents to look after Sabrina.

As such, even after asking several times, Melvin was unable to get to know an answer.

This was frustrating, but at the same time, Nial understood that Melvin just wanted to help him and that he was even more frustrated about their situation.

Awakening his origin should be something to celebrate, but because of their financial situation, they were unable to do so.

Instead, Nial seemed to be desperate enough to enter dangerous dungeons if necessary.

Initially, Nial seemed to be happy about having awoken his Origin and finding the Viper spear, but recalling their situation forced him back to reality, and his mood plummeted.

Melvin felt the same, and the two of them gave each other a brief overview of what had happened to them during the last few months before Nial heard that his parents returned.

Miles had visited the surrounding dungeons to earn some more money, while Maline had been inside the slime dungeon.

Upon seeing Melvin, they felt happy, and they invited him for lunch, but Melvin wanted to politely decline the offer.

However, Nial's parents insisted, and thus he was forced to stay.

After their short quarrel, both Nial and Melvin felt a little bit at odds with each other.

The tension between the two was clearly visible and was noticed by Nial's parents as well.

This was also another reason they had insisted Melvin stay.

They knew that Melvin was Nial's only friend, and somehow, it felt weird that their reunion was not happy as both had awoken from their origin, but they were staring in opposite directions with sulky faces.

Yet, after catching some of the words of their quarrel where it seemed like Melvin spoke about lending Nial money in order to allow him 'purchase new equipment', they could roughly gauge what must have happened.

Melvin's expression was not that of belittlement or pity about their financial situation but filled with determination to help, which was not something one would normally do.

His best friend never discussed the financial situation of his family so Melvin had never spoken about lending them something because it was rude.

Yet, upon learning about Sabrina's condition, he was willing to do everything.

"We are merchants who are directly employed by the government, so we have quite a bit of money and additional rights, like prioritized access to government dungeons and potent medicine!

There are also specific discounts we get, so the government's additional fee is not applicable to us, and sometimes we receive even more perks!"

Melvin suddenly shared this information, which caused the others to stop eating for a moment.

Looking at Nial for a moment, his parents averted their attention back to Melvin, as his father sarcastically added.

"That's great for you. We have a dungeon in our backyard too…"

Yet, Melvin was not even focusing on Miles anymore and he was simply staring at Nial, who felt his stare on him as he fidgeted with his spoon.

"Nial...let's go to one of the largest, lowest ranked Rookie dungeons. We should be able to earn a fortune, even without the knowledge of my family, right? Do you think you can cope with that, Nial? There are multiple types of beasts, like slimes, goblins, but also kobolds and so on!"

Hearing this, Nial instinctively looked up and stared at Melvin with his lifeless eyes. He was unsure if he was doing the right thing as he asked him.

"Permanent dungeon?"

Melvin assumed that he had piqued Nial's interest because entering a dungeon together wouldn't make his merchant family suspicious about anything.

It was perfectly normal to enter a dungeon with other fellow Originals after all!

"No, it's an instance dungeon with active respawn times, so it's even better, isn't it?!"

Nial seemed to be astonished, but he took his time formulating a response as he was not sure whether his and Melvin's definition of an instance dungeon were the same.

He was reluctant about doing anything that could offend Melvin's father and the rest of his family.

"I also have a spatial ring, let's just store the origin crystals and so on inside them. I already have everything I want, so you can even have the gains!"

Somehow, Melvin seemed to have arrived perfectly prepared to depart right off the bat, and Nial hastily shoved the food down his throat as he exclaimed,

"Alright, let's go then!!"

Following that Nial stood up while Melvin finished his plate with a bright smile on his face that seemed to say 'Finally, I got you!'

Rushing towards the corner of the room, where he had placed the Viper spear, he held it in his hand and beckoned for his friend to hurry up.

Melvin eyed the spear for a short moment, before nodding his head, which only looked like a rod to him as its blades were retracted.

"The rod has quite a few engravings...and a special function at the tip...I didn't think Uncle Arnold improved that much… Either way, let's leave and earn a fortune for sis Sabrina!!"

Filled with vigor that seemed to have disappeared after their small scuffle, Melvin felt much more relieved to be able to help in any way.

And, even Nial figured that Melvin had found a great way to help him and his sister without irking his merchant father.

Leaving the house in a hurry, they sprinted through the front yard as Maline and Miles stared at each other.

"Did Nial tell Melvin about his father's threat, did I miss something, or are they simply suicidal?"

It was Miles, who asked this question, the confusion visible on his face.

Yet, a moment later, Maline slapped him on the back of his head gently as she answered him.

"Nobody is suicidal here!! They'll return soon!"

After saying this, she mumbled the last few words to herself, "...hopefully without an injury…"

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Nial was a little bit embarrassed about his earlier behavior because Melvin had no idea what had been going on or that his father had threatened his best friend's family.

As such, his friend's reaction had been perfectly normal.historical

Nevertheless, the tension that had accumulated within Nial was unintentionally released when his friend started to complain.

Fortunately, Melvin didn't seem to be that bothered about his outburst anymore and it even seemed that he had realized that his family was involved, somehow.

At least that was what Nial assumed after he noticed Melvin's change in attitude.

Instead of trying to force Nial to accept money, he quickly adjusted his stance during lunch, changing to speaking about dungeons.

It was not weird for Melvin to enter dungeons, and with Nial's awakening as an Original, it wouldn't look suspicious if they were to enter any kind of dungeon together.

"You should be at the 1st Origin stage, right? Can you already visualize things in your mind? If so, how far is the range up to which you can do that?"

Dragged out of his train of thoughts by Melvin's sudden questions, Nial took a moment to answer them, while simultaneously running after Melvin.

This was more difficult than Nial had expected because his friend seemed to be much faster than he was, and only by using his entire focus on sensing his mana fluctuations could he follow him.

"Slow down first!" Nial thus shouted, which Melvin immediately did upon realizing that he had been running too fast.

Nial reached him while gasping for breath as he added,

"I awoke my Origin not too long ago, and without absorbing an origin crystal or owning a mana gathering technique, it will take a while before my mana core is filled! My range of visualization is around two meters, so it's decent!"

Nial refrained from mentioning his Odyssey seed, or the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability for now.

He didn't think that was really necessary because the ability was not something that would help in their combat.

It was just for completing their daily tasks...at least for now.

Melvin had slowed down, nodding his head in approval of Nial's visualization range which was exceptional in his opinion.

Meanwhile, Nial decided to focus more on perceiving everything in his surroundings.

He didn't want to be lost, which was only logical when roaming through an unknown place.

Meanwhile, Melvin had forgotten that Nial was blind for a moment because he had acted just like anyone who could see.

However, he didn't comment on that, and neither did he mention his family again.

The way Nial had abruptly stopped himself from revealing more was proof enough that his family had done something to make Nial and his parents feel reluctant to accept his financial help, despite their desperate situation!

The dungeon was thus the best choice, and he had become too eager to conquer any kind of dungeon as long as he could help Sabrina!

However, helping Sabrina by risking their life and limb would result in more loss than gains. As such, Melvin began to bombard Nial with a series of questions that would help them to fight later.

"What's your talent? How many beasts have you killed yet? You don't have any martial art training or technique yet, right? You shouldn't have an ability either...Maybe we should just enter the first floor of the dungeon, otherwise, it will be too dangerous.."

Nial was glad that Melvin had let go of their previous quarrel and was discussing things with a rational mind.

Rather, he had grown increasingly positive, and his determination to enter a dungeon further increased the more he spoke.

In the end, Melvin didn't notice that his words had indirectly indicated that Nial was poor and did not have the necessary resources to grow strong either.

The moment he realized this, he bit back his tongue, but before Melvin was able to say anything, Nial answered the questions.

"My mana veins are superior and have still not matured, which is why I can visualize everything in a radius of around two meters. Unfortunately, my mana core limit is three enlarging processes, so it's just the average. As for the rest, you know it already.

Nevertheless, I got an ability crystal for the first slime I killed so I have th-..."

Before Nial could even finish his sentence, Melvin cut him abruptly as he exclaimed in surprise.

"You didn't bind the ability that dropped from one of the slimes in the Lowest Rookie dungeon that manifested in your backyard, right? Please don't tell me that's true...you would have wasted your precious ability spot if you did so!!!"

Now that they were running slowly, there was no problem for Nial to speak while moving, but that didn't help him in enduring his friend's sudden lecture.

However, Nial could only smile as he realized his friend's concern and reassured him.

"My ability slot for the Origin stage is still there, don't worry! Either way, even without sufficient combat experience, I shouldn't have too many issues fighting weaker beasts in close combat.

My reflexes are decent and I have a good weapon to make use of! By the way, what's your talent, and current rank?"

At this, Melvin sighed in relief before he nodded his head and answered Nial's question with a pride-filled voice.

"I'm at the 3rd Origin stage, and I have a high talent for my mana core limit and mana vein. I already have an ability, but let me surprise you later...hehe!"

Melvin sounded much more joyous than before and eager to reveal his ability to Nial in a dramatic way.

His joy and excitement were infectious and Nial couldn't help but feel the same.

However, in his case, it had multiple reasons.

First, his friend had returned from a far away shelter to meet him after a long time, and second, they were about to enter a large Instance dungeon with active respawn times.

It would be extremely dangerous if too many beasts were to be lurking inside the dungeon at a time.

But it was actively regulated by the government so the chances of this scenario occurring was a lot less.

With that in mind, Nial hoped that he would be able to make a huge fortune in the next few hours, even more so with Melvin's help.

His friend had always been exceptional at everything he did. As such, he must have a great ability too, while his combat prowess should be extremely high as well!

"The Viper Spear is a Myth Weapon, so you won't have too many problems killing slower beasts, but tackling long-range attacks will be quite a hassle… I should take care of everything that can attack us via long-range before they can react. That's probably the best!"

Melvin was mumbling all the ideas popping up in his head as he shared the tactics and other stuff he was preparing in order to advance through the dungeon at a rapid speed.

Meanwhile, Nial was only listening to him half-heartedly while he simultaneously tried to use his mana more efficiently.

With the Viper spear in one hand, he tried to time his moves so that the blade would be released and retracted when he wanted it to.

Fighting with a rod was exceptionally useful, even more so if he released a hidden blade that could create a second impact.

It had not been difficult for Nial to realize that the force and speed at which the blade was normally released was several times more than what Nial would currently execute with his entire strength combined.

As such, using the rod, while subtly controlling the release and retraction process of the spear's blade would allow him to fight much more efficiently.

Only the focus he had to use to actively retract and release the blade was a little bit high.

Thus, Nial had to either let it be or train it.

Because both young men were in their own world, they didn't even notice how much time had passed as they reached the district that lay between Nial's home and the central district.

Only when Melvin was done computing a plan allowing his mind to stop working furiously did he realize that they were near their destination.

Thus, Melvin tapped gently on his shoulder to make him change his direction to take a shortcut, dragging him out of his thoughts.

In the end, it took them more than an hour to reach the dungeon, and they could have taken a shuttle to shorten the time to a large extent.

Yet, the time was well spent as, during their journey on foot, the two of them were able to make up their mind about everything they had been thinking about.

As such, by the time they reached the front of the gate, Nial was sweating profusely, while Melvin took a heavy breath as he tried to raise his friend's spirits.

"Let's first earn as much as possible for Sabrina. Afterward, you should really increase your strength, while I will try to find out as much as I can about her disease!"

Nial knew that Melvin liked Sabrina, but for him to be so concerned about her meant that she was probably more important to his friend than Nial had expected.

Even if he didn't assume it, that was not something Nial could be bothered about right now...maybe later if Melvin's family would bother them once again, but definitely not right now.

As such, he just nodded his head before thanking Melvin for his kindness.

It had been almost a year since he had last seen him. And, sometimes friendships could change within days or even hours.

Despite that and the fact that they had had a small scuffle, Melvin was still eager to be of some assistance. There was no need for him to help their entire family, after all.

However, Melvin just shook his head before he mumbled.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help earlier...but my family would have probably prevented me from doing something either way…"

Sighing deeply, Melvin was growing increasingly sure that someone from his family must have visited Nial's family, and threatened them to not ask for favors.

Otherwise, they would have definitely told him that Sabrina was ill!

Anger for his own family, particularly his own father, flared up within him, but he knew that there was no way for him to do anything.

Rather, if he were to throw a tantrum and disobey the family, his father would send him away, which was definitely not something that could help Sabrina!

As such, they had to act passively, which prevented Melvin from sending a doctor straight away to check Sabrina.

Even if it was annoying, the most he could do was to search for a cure and earn a fortune by entering dungeons!

Nial didn't say anything to Melvin's apology, knowing that it was not his fault and he had been in the dark all this time.

Instead, he slapped his friend's back before smiling brightly and spoke in a determined voice,

"You're the best friend I could ever get, and I think Sabrina will be happy to see you too, once she wakes up.

Let's earn a fortune and find a way to allow her to stay awake longer!"

Both were determined to give their all to protect and heal Sabrina, even if that meant they had to exceed their limits and enter dangerous fields.

Yet, what both didn't know was that the dungeon was currently used to train newly awakened teenagers of the military middle school.

A new batch of young teenagers of the military was currently approaching the gate.

They were led by their extremely young instructor, who looked at Melvin and Nial with doubt as she mumbled while shaking her head.

"They're gonna die!"

While the female instructor of the military pointed out at both Nial and Melvin to make an example out of them and show the trainees how one should not enter any kind of dungeon, the two ambitious young men were oblivious to what was going on.

They were fully focused on themselves and the dungeon in front of them.

Joining the queue outside the dungeon to allow interested folks to enter it, they found themselves right in front of the Military instructor and her young students.

The large group was busy discussing in excited voices, talking about all kinds of things concerning the mana gathering techniques, dungeons and so on.

At the same time, they were staring at Nial's weapon, which seemed to be extremely interesting in their eyes.

Their collective gaze made the female instructor curious and even she flitted her eyes to look at what her students were intently staring at.

Yet, before she saw the spear, her eyes were drawn to Nial's face because she sensed something from his mana fluctuations that confused her.

'There is not a single trace of mana around his eyes...oh! He is blind?'

From the way Nial had been moving, nothing indicated that he was handicapped in any way.

As such, she was a little bit astonished to find out that Nial was blind. However, this made her believe that her earlier assumption was correct.

'They will definitely die...he is blind and seems to be a late bloomer in his origin awakening, while his friend...I don't have high hopes from him either'

Melvin didn't show any signs of being exceptional, but to her eyes even he seemed subpar like his friend. In the end, he was just a blank piece of paper for the female instructor, who realised that it was the duo's turn to enter the dungeon.

But before entering, they had to pass the soldiers that governed the government's dungeons and complete the security check.

"Name, Originals ID card, and appointment certificate please!" One of the soldiers said in a dry tone.

He gave the two young men a quick onceover, before averting his attention to a holographic screen, manifested through the bracelet he was wearing.

"We don't have an appointment, but please take a look at this Sir!"

Melvin's first few words were enough for the soldier, who was busy looking through a list with all appointments, to send them away.

But, when he looked up his eyes fell on the token Melvin had taken out from his spatial ring.

It was a seemingly ordinary symbol engraved on the token in a platinum color.

'The government's emblem.' Nial realised as he perceived the token with his mana, and so did the soldier, who looked at Nial and Melvin for a moment before nodding his head.

"You guys can go in! Don't die and follow the government's dungeon rules!"

The soldier's eyes remained on Nial for a moment, while he said this which meant that the warning was especially for Nial. But without bothering about it, Nial nodded his head in a polite manner before following Melvin, who had already passed by the soldier as if he was familiar with the entire procedure.

Standing next to his friend, Nial couldn't help but smile as he poked his friend.

"I never knew you can act so shamelessly prideful, did you learn to walk around with your chest pushed out in Merc?"

Making fun of Melvin with the things he was able to visualize thanks to the mana he was able to control, Nial asked him cheekily.

Thus, he didn't even notice that one of the young awakened children from the group of the military middle school children, asked the female instructor a very important question.

"Ms. Melion, how come this blind man was able to move around like anyone else? Haven't we been taught that such Originals don't enter dungeons? Was that wrong?"

Looking down at the young girl, Nina Melion, their young instructor, maintained a neutral expression as she corrected her student.

"That's why you should listen properly if I teach you something. You've got it all wrong! Blindness may be a handicap, but with enough training to control their own mana and perceive the surroundings with unannexed mana, blind people can overcome their restrictions to a large extent, even if it's not a perfect solution!

In some scenarios, it might be a disadvantage, but sometimes, being unable to use one sense, can give you the proficiency to sharpen your other senses to a relatively higher degree. At least as an Original this is possible. It's hard, but not impossible!"

Nodding her head, the girl fell silent so as to not be subjected to a long lecture and embarrass herself more in front of her peers.

Her expression signified her thoughts, 'If only I had not asked…' before she turned around with a head that was filled with knowledge she would forget in less than half an hour.

While the female instructor lamented about the punishment of being forced to temporarily teach at a military school, Nial and Melvin had already appeared in the middle of a large plain.

Unable to perceive anything but the surrounding mana flow in addition to the loose soil that squished below his feet softly, Nial immediately figured out another big disadvantage of being unable to see.

'I will get lost in dungeons that lead me to big plains…what would happen if a dungeon throws me into the depths of an ocean...that would be even worse…'

Shaking his head, Nial wanted to prevent his mind from running wild.historical

He tried to get his act together and told himself to focus on the given scenario.

"Is the entire area a plain? If so, you'll have to provide me with intel, otherwise, I won't be of any real use!"

Quickly analysing the situation, Nial sensed the dangers that could crop up and didn't even hesitate to ask for Melvin's help.

Meanwhile, Melvin had already realized that the plain area they had emerged in, was one of the worst places to be.

At least if he were to consider Nial's situation.

"We have emerged on the first floor's plain area. More than a dozen meters above us is a wall, so they won't attack you from above that altitude.

There is currently no beast around us, and the forest, which is right at the center of the Instance dungeon's first floor, is approximately 100 meters behind you.

However, on the outskirts, we can find the weakest beasts, especially inside the plains…"

Nodding his head, Nial showed that he had understood his friend as he tightened his grip over the spear and replied,

"Alright, let's stay here. Just tell me when beasts appear around us. You will see them before I can sense them, let alone perceive them with mana!"

Yet, Nial's ears twitched and he instinctively turned around before the words had even left his mouth.

A fraction of a second later, he had launched himself in the direction he had turned to, and pierced the Viper spear into the ground as he stopped a few meters later.

Melvin frowned at this sight, only to hear a painful squeal followed by the sickening sight of blood splattering all around.

"Maybe...I can hear them before you can even see them!" Nial commented.

He then wiped his face which had turned ghastly pale with his free hand to get rid of the warm blood splattered on his face.

Killing a single beast that was made of flesh and bones caused different emotions to surge up within Nial than killing hundreds of slimes had.

Thus, he retched while feeling disgusted with himself.

Yet, only a few moments later, Nial realised that he was acting like a hypocrite.

'What is even the difference between slimes and beasts made of blood and flesh? Am I really acting like a softie right now?'

Nial was not sure how exactly he was able to calm down his mind that fast, but it was definitely advantageous.

Nevertheless, the disgust on his face didn't disappear immediately, and Melvin noticed that Nial was fighting with himself.

However, that didn't matter to him right now because he was too flabbergasted to realize that Nial was way better than him.

This fact made him ignore the fact that his friend seemed to have killed a beast other than slimes, for the first time in his life.

'His other senses are heightened and better than mine...by leagues!'

This was the realisation that shook Melvin made as he watched Nial nonchalantly pick up the origin crystal that had materialized the moment the Lesser Earth Mole disintegrated in a daze.

Afterward, Nial threw the crystal in Melvin's direction, indicating to him to store it inside the spatial ring, which he did.

At the same time, Nial cleared the negative thoughts in his mind, convincing himself that he had to kill in order to save his sister.

However, a small voice in his head repeated that this was just the excuse of a hypocrite.

He mercilessly shoved that voice down and concentrated on the task at hand.

Shaking his head, Nial realised that he had to come to a consensus with his mind that seemed to play a tug of war, pulling him back from doing what was necessary at the moment.

He knew he had to quickly come to terms with the fact that killing beasts without feeling guilty, every single time he took a life, was the best way forward.

If it had been before the awakening of his origin, even killing slimes would have been impossible because he was against violence.

It was already odd that his demeanor had changed, which Melvin had also noticed.

Despite that, it was a well-known fact that many Originals changed after their origin awoke, giving them enough confidence to turn into their real selves, without being forced to change for others.

Meanwhile, researchers stated that some Originals might change according to specific emotions that had been sealed within them from a young age, and that they were only released with the origin awakening.

Feeling these awakened emotions made those unique Originals stronger than the rest, particularly if they were feeling a specific emotion from the depths of their conscience.

Because of that, young children that seemed to be unable to respond with the use of emotions were observed by the government, unsure whether they would awaken their origin, how talented such Originals were, and if the Emotion-amplification theory was true!

Having watched Nial mercilessly kill a beast, Melvin stared blankly at Nial, not moving a single inch.

"Melvin? Is there something on my face? Can you stop staring at me? I'm fine now. Let's start our hunt!"

Dragged out of his thoughts, Melvin couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking that his friend's disadvantage of not being able to see, might not be as bad as he had thought.

However, that was just wishful thinking because Melvin didn't want to accept that he hadn't been vigilant about his surroundings. On the other hand, Nial's body had been trained to hear his surroundings 24/7 because his life depended on it!

That was the big difference between Nial and Melvin- one of them used only a portion of his senses, and relied mostly on his eyesight to spot opponents, while Nial tried to maximize the utilization of every single of his senses!

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In the following minutes, Melvin had calmed down before sharing his intel about the Miland Dungeon, which was the name of the dungeon they were currently in.

Apparently, the dungeon was divided into four layers, with the weakest beasts living on the lowest floor which was the one Nial and Melvin had entered.

All four layers inhabited the same type of beasts, but the difference in them was the amount of mana they had accumulated in order to strengthen themselves.

As such, the first layer was suitable for young children who had just awakened their origin, or those who were already at the 2nd Origin stage.

Afterward, they would enter the 2nd and subsequent layers, where the inhabiting beasts were much stronger.

However, corresponding to their increase in strength, either the drop rate of origin crystals would increase, or the quality of the dropped origin crystal would be better.

Thus, many would decide to make quick money once they reached the required rank.

Nevertheless, the dangers were not to be underestimated because there was a wide variety of beasts.

Amongst them were the Lesser Earth moles, Melvin and Nial had already encountered, followed by Slimes, Goblins, Kobolds, Ferocious Dodos, and Vine Wolves.

Vine Wolves were said to be the strongest owing to their racial advantage as agile predators, but Nial felt that Kobolds and Goblins were much more dangerous.

Much like humans, they built their societies, hunted in large groups, and had a decent combat lineup with archers, or those who used blowpipes with poisoned arrows!

As such, after Nial digested the information provided by Melvin, he could roughly gauge what opponents would be the biggest threat for them, and who he could finish off without even the slightest issue.

While the Moles and Slimes were easy to fight and kill, possibly also including the Ferocious Dodos, the remaining three types of beasts were slightly more problematic.

And, the human-like beasts were the most annoying of all.

However, Melvin said that he would take care of them, and Nial believed that his friend would be able to do this.

They would remain in the open plain after all not giving attackers any chance to hide and launch a surprise attack.

Because of that, even smaller groups of Kobolds and Goblins should be easily visible.

historical

There was only one thing that caused Nial to feel a little bit confused.

Instead of taking out a bow and arrows to launch a long-range attack, Melvin wielded a wand that looked similar to his Viper spear.

The only difference was that Melvin's wand was much shorter than the Viper spear. Furthermore, there was a sphere at the top of it, marked with unique runes, and materials that were rich in mana.

Through the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability, Nial was even able to perceive tiny electric currents within the wand's sphere, which caused him to open his mouth in astonishment.

Melvin noticed this, only to smile proudly.

"The Electra wand is a Myth weapon, just like your Viper spear. The only difference is that it has a lightning sphere embedded into it with a special type of engraving that enhances lightning.

They're enhancing my [Lightning affinity(Comprehension)] ability!"

The more Nial heard, the less believable his friend's words became.

"Your family is really… rich and generous, I guess?"

Smiling ruefully, Nial didn't even want to imagine how expensive a common grade Lightning ability crystal of the poorest quality was.

Yet, his friend had a Lightning affinity with the [Comprehension] tag, which meant that the limit of Melvin's ability was directly related to his understanding of Lightning.

Thus, the more Melvin would learn about the essence of Lightning, the stronger his ability would become.

This also meant that it was a limitless affinity without any restrictions, and had an infinite potential, which, in turn, meant that it was extremely foolish to underestimate it!

After adding the price for a Myth Wand that was solely focused on enhancing a single, rare ability to this sphere, Nial's head began to spin.

Calculating the price for both the wand and affinity was simply impossible, and he felt slightly jealous of his friend's luck and impressive family connections that made him have the best of the best.

However, shaking his head, Nial decided to nip the issue in the bud.

He had long since known that everyone was born with different family background and fate.

Hence, there was no way someone would be the same as others.

As such, it had been forever since he had accepted that some were more fortunate than others, and were born with a silver spoon in their mouth while others had to work for years, tirelessly, to just hope to receive the same benefit.

If he were to be unable to accept such a simple fact, Nial knew that he wouldn't have overcome his disability that would have otherwise crippled him along with the fact that he had been unable to even sense mana.

Those who said the world was fair, had never been at their lowest, and it was only obvious that they would believe and trust the fair world.

However, it was because Nial knew that no fairness existed in the world that he was able to accept killing living beings, much easier than expected.

While Melvin was bragging about his affinity and the Electra wand, they were walking over the plains.

He was making use of his eyesight which was further enhanced by small traces of mana he circulated through them.

On the other hand, Nial was walking with his eyes closed almost entirely.

He was unable to see but didn't really like closing his eyes.

It was simply uncomfortable because something seemed to strike on the back of his eyeballs the moment he closed them.

This sensation would vanish when he was gathering mana or going to sleep which was odd.

Initially, he had tried explaining to his parents who had taken him to the best doctors they could afford, but there had never been someone who could answer his questions about his blindness.

There was no reason for him to be blind, everything was perfectly fine with his eyes...or so Nial had been told.

At least until the Originals association had tested his limitations, and traits!

It was only then that he figured out that the incident that had occured15 years ago had caused an irreversible mutation in his eyes.

However, even the Originals association couldn't give him a reason for this, or any kind of solution that would help Nial figure out what had caused the mutation.

In the end, he alone had to figure out what was happening to his body, and it would take some time to procure the necessary pieces of information to solve this mystery.

But for now, this was unimportant because Nial was more worried about his sister.

,m Healing her was a priority over finding faults in his own body, and possible issues that could occur by not knowing what was going on.

Her pale face with a bright smile would keep flashing before his eyes which made him determined to stabilize her current condition, before improving it slightly.

Afterward, Nial would start with his own research, even if Melvin said that he would help in finding a cure for it.

Nial knew that two researchers were better than one, and even if it was his friend, he never knew when his family would get to know what Melvin was doing.

As such, trusting that he would find a cure, without his family's intervention was something he shouldn't do.

He was already happy enough that his friend had given him the opportunity to enter the government's dungeon, and hunt alongside him with the aim to help his sister.

With that in mind, Nial's entire focus returned to the dungeon as he heard faint sounds from a particular direction while Melvin cautioned him.

"A group of Goblins seems to have rushed outside the forest. There are at least fifteen in total! Four of them are archers."

Having understood everything, he nodded his head, as Melvin materialized a small ball of lightning.

However, it was just a moment later that he could hear his friend's labored breathing.

It was a strong indicator of the fact that controlling an affinity that relied on the wielder's comprehension was extremely difficult.

Nial had not taken this into his calculations while designing his plan because he had assumed that Melvin was a genius at using the lightning affinity.

Everything he did always worked out, after all.

Unfortunately, Nial's overestimation of Melvin's capabilities was his own fault, and he immediately entered a combat stance.

Gripping the Viper spear tightly, he held the pointed end towards the Goblins that gave a high-pitched squeal in their grotesque voice, making the hair stand on the back of his neck.

"I'll stall the close combat units, just kill the Archers first please!" Nial stated clearly before catapulting himself towards the Goblins. At the same time, he inserted a tiny trace of mana into the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability.

Rushing towards the Goblins, he was ready to fight with his life on the line, just as Melvin roared out. A fraction of a second later, an immense amount of mana was suctioned towards him.

Nial felt this subtle change, and his body instinctively moved towards the left.

He felt a sting of heat on his right arm for a short while as a bolt of lightning shot past him with a shocking velocity.

This caused Nial's eyes to widen, and he cursed out loudly.

"What the fuck?! Don't kill me, but the Goblins!" Nial had reached the first Goblins while exclaiming angrily.

He was about to raise his Viper spear and stab them, only to realize that three of them had already been pierced by the lightning bolt Melvin had fired.

As he watched in shock, the bolt continued with its advance before reaching its final target- one of the Goblin archers.

'Is he unable to accurately control it, or is he an insufferable show-off?!'

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When Nial realized that Melvin was unable to accurately control the strength of his Lightning affinity, he felt extremely lucky to be alive.

Rushing further to the left, he realized that it was best if he were to clear a path for his friend so that he could attack freely, without hitting anyone accidentally.

While he did so, the Goblins that were proficient in fighting at a close range followed him, but that was not further bothersome.

There were only eight Goblins left, and Nial could clearly perceive half of them around him.

He could only visualize the closest one, but that was more than enough for him to thrust the Viper spear out in its direction.

With a breakneck speed, the Viper spear pierced through the closest Goblin that had lifted its daggers to deflect his attack.

Unfortunately, the spear's released blade cut through the stone weapon as if it was made out of butter before advancing further.

As the spear's sharp tip penetrated the hide of the Goblin, Nial could clearly feel how the spear cut through flesh, organs and even bones.

He only met a slight resistance when his weak strength wouldn't let the spear pierce entirely through the body.

With a higher physical strength, Nial would have been easily able to cut the Goblin in half or pierce through it in its entirety, but for now, this was impossible.

After a fraction of a second in which he was too stunned to move, and filled with disgust, he could finally think again.

Luckily, this crucial second didn't cause a major disadvantage as it took the other Goblins the exact same second to reach him.

Just at that moment, an extremely loud sound echoed through the surrounding, amplified by the dungeon walls it bounced off. And, even without being near Melvin, Nial knew that his friend had fired another of his lightning bolts.

This caused him to sigh inwardly because Melvin took way too long to fire a single attack.

Nevertheless, he couldn't stay focused on his friend because there were pressing matters that needed his attention.

While the tip of the Viper spear was still lodged inside the Goblin he had just killed, the three other Goblins had initiated their attack.

Meanwhile, the other Goblins had entered the range at which he was able to tell that something was moving around him.

Through this, he knew that the next few seconds were extremely important.

Firmly holding the Viper spear with both hands, he smoothly pulled it out of the Goblin's corpse before he took half a step backward, allowing himself more room to move freely.

Because of that, Nial was able to enter a suitable position to defend and attack.

Yet, instead of acting defensively, he ignored the disgust he was feeling about himself as he pushed forward, thrusting out the spear at the Goblin.

Within seconds, the spear pierced into the Goblin too as Nial's entire demeanor had changed.

He was no longer the timid youth who would hesitate to take a life, he now realized that it wouldn't do that, his opponent for sure would not bat an eyelid before taking his life!

And with his death, Melvin would be further endangered too.

As such, he had to kill in order to survive. It was as simple as that.

Thus, he let his survival instinct kick in as the Goblins surrounded him, but there were fortunately only three who were extremely close to him, while the others would need at least one, or probably two seconds before they reached him.

With the Goblin in front of him slowly succumbing to its injuries, Nial didn't even hesitate as he retracted the blade.

This allowed him to move the Viper spear without the need to pull the blade out of the dying corpse of his opponent.

Such an advantage was tremendous in the face of several opponents.

It gave him the necessary moment to use his entire force to pull back the spear.

Nial did this in order to shove the other end of the Viper spear into the abdomen of the Goblin that had wanted to attack him from behind.

With a painful squeal, it slumped to the ground, leaving Nial with only one unscathed Goblin in his direct range.

Twisting his body while moving forward, he almost lost his balance. But that was fine as long as he could narrowly evade the Goblin's spear thrust that had almost pierced into his upper body.

Through his high mana perception which was further enhanced by the [mana Perception(Poorest)] ability, Nial was able to sense certain attacks the moment they were issued.

Unfortunately, this was more difficult against weapons that didn't radiate any mana because to him they simply looked like mana-less spots.historical

But it was exactly this that allowed Nial to understand that those seemingly empty areas he visualized were, in fact, also objects!

Because of that, he was able to perceive the movement of the spear that had been thrust toward him.

After Nial evaded it, he quickly swung the Viper spear towards the mana-less spear, pushing it away.

Immediately after, he pulled back his leg towards his stomach a little before exerting as much strength as possible to kick the Goblin.

His impactful kick flung the tiny beast away along with the one behind it.

The Goblin was hurled like a weightless feather and it collided with the one that was struggling to get up after Nial's spear had knocked it out earlier.

Only moments after Nial had killed the Goblin, the remaining Goblins reached him.

However, now he had already adjusted to their fighting style, moves and was better prepared.

That was one and a rather massive advantage Nial had, he could quickly determine his opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

At least that was how it had worked until now, even when he had sparred with his father!

In the end, Goblins were relatively less threatening creatures, and so was their combat style, which was focused on attacking straightforwardly without any scheming.

The only tactic they could use was a numerical advantage which they would use to surround their opponent in order to slowly wear him down.

Unfortunately, this was not something they were able to accomplish while fighting the blind youth. Nial was preventing them from splitting up, to begin with, as he adjusted his grip on the Viper spear, before inserting the majority of his mana into it as a blade emerged on the side of the tip.

Utilizing the Viper spear in order to slash horizontally, Nial decimated three Goblins at once, only to continue the massacre he had started earlier.

As the Goblin's bodies collapsed on the ground one after the other, a simple thought flashed through his mind.

'This spear is...amazing!!'

After he had defeated all the Goblins, Nial took a deep breath, only to flinch before he instinctively jumped backward.

Even though he was not sure what was happening, it was barely a moment later that he heard something whip through the air. His mana perception sensed something approaching him with a rapid pace.

Unable to move further, the arrow that had been shot towards him, missed Nial by a hair's breadth as it lodged itself into the ground and vibrated before going still.

Just a second later, the fourth bolt of lightning resounded through the surrounding before Melvin shouted excitedly, "I got all of them!"

Yet, Nial couldn't be happy about his friend's exclamation as he pulled the arrow out of the ground.

With a serious expression, he approached his heavily sweating friend, not sure what he should say as he grasped the arrow tightly, only to hear Melvin trying to explain himself.

"Well...I have only comprehended the lethality of the lightning affinity...not its speed and neither how to control it…"

Even though Nial didn't ask a single question, Melvin felt the need to explain himself.

That spoke volumes of the fact that he was guilty of his actions and the two young men were aware of the mistake Melvin had done.

As such, Nial didn't want to shout at his friend who had already accepted one fault.

Unfortunately, the situation forced him to say something, even if it might hurt his friend's pride. Nial valued his life, after all!

"You don't have to tell me that, I could feel it!! Don't you have a bow and arrows? That would be less dangerous and more useful right now, because I cannot see if the Goblin Archers ignore your attacks, and focus on shooting at me….…."

Nial didn't want to sound harsh, but Melvin's attacks were simply...devastating and way off the mark if Nial were to put it nicely.

If there were dozens of opponents in a straight line, Melvin could kill them all, but if they were surrounded by beasts, he wouldn't even be able to release Lightning currents from his body owing to the huge pressure.

That was bad, to put it simply, and Nial could clearly tell why Melvin's family was able to purchase the Lightning affinity crystal with the (Comprehension) tag.

It was simply too difficult to learn everything about the Lightning affinity that was labeled as one of the most dangerous and difficult to comprehend.

At least that was what Nial remembered from the few days he had been in school.

'Well, Melvin is still young, and if his family hires an instructor, it shouldn't be an issue for him to learn to make use of the (Comprehension) tag!'

Yet, in the end, Nial couldn't help but feel uncomfortable fighting Goblins and Kobolds that had more than three long-range units.

Not only did it exhaust Melvin, and use an extremely large amount of mana, but Nial's safety as well was also endangered.

That was obviously not something anyone would want.

Thus, Nial forced Melvin to have a serious discussion about their teamwork because it couldn't go on like that!

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Hours passed after Nial had lectured Melvin, and his best friend was still sulking because he was not allowed to use his affinity anymore despite his repeated protests!

Instead, Melvin was forced to use bow and arrows as Nial found it to be a safer option!

However, that was exactly what increased their hunting speed by several times as Melvin's archery skills were quite decent.

This made it possible for him to kill every opponent with long-range weapons before they were even able to shoot at them twice.

Afterward, Nial entered close combat, while Melvin covered him, while accurately shooting all dangerous opponents.

This allowed them to defeat and kill numerous groups of beasts that dropped an origin crystal once in a while.

Unfortunately, both Nial and Melvin were still somewhat new to the feeling of killing as well as the distinct utilization of mana.

As such, they wasted lots of mana that could have been employed differently. For example, mana that had once been annexed and stored within the mana core would naturally replenish after it was used up.

It wouldn't even take long and allowed Originals to increase their strength without actively doing it.

The speed would be relatively fast as well if they were to pay more attention to their mana replenishing rate.

Because Nial didn't know this beforehand, he tried to actively replenish the mana he had used up after every fight.

Melvin found this to be odd, but only when they got a breather did he ask why Nial was doing this, before explaining the alternative clearly.

Getting to know more about mana, and the mana core enlarging process, along with tips about how and when to absorb and annex mana made Nila feel exhilarated.

He felt that he was not only improving in terms of combat experience but also in other aspects and broadening his horizons.

More questions popped in his head as he intently listened to Melvin answer him about everything related to mana. Simultaneously, Nial started to absorb and annex mana instead of trying to replenish the used-up mana!

Through this, Nial was able to increase the amount of mana inside his mana core while partially increasing the speed at which his mana replenished owing to the large amount of mana that coursed through his entire body.

In the end, Nial had a superior mana vein that was still growing.

Thus, he had been astonished to know that his strength was increasing so slowly.

However, coming up with excuses by saying that he couldn't absorb the mana from origin crystals or that he didn't have a proper technique to absorb and annex mana had prevented him from finding faults with himself.

Blaming the entire world for one's problems or incapability to achieve something was easier than introspecting and understanding that one was flawed, after all!

Fortunately, Melvin had given him a nudge in the right direction.

Through this, Nial was even able to regain his stamina at a much higher pace, which meant that he didn't slow down their hunting trip anymore.

Melvin wanted to continue experimenting with his Lightning affinity, but he realized that his control or understanding of it was simply too shallow.historical

Right now, instead of focusing on growing stronger, beyond the past self, their immediate focus should have been on procuring more origin crystals.

Yet, while Melvin was just using a common-grade bow to hunt all kinds of beasts, he noticed that Nial was growing more confident with every fight.

His start had been rough, and even though his first opponents had been the nasty but relatively weak Goblins were opponents, Nial could barely defeat them without being injured.

However, that had been mostly because of the Viper spear that was sharp enough to cut through everything on the first floor of the Miland dungeon.

Nevertheless, over the short course of a few hours, his blind best friend seemed to have adapted himself well to the combat style of all beasts they had encountered.

Using his mana perception and sharp senses, Nial had absorbed everything like a sponge, learning their opponents' attack pattern in every single scenario.

This frightened Melvin a little bit because he had never realized how talented Nial truly was.

Sometimes his best friend seemed like a genius, but on other occasions, he was a fool, yet, his talent to fight was superb, to put it simply.

It was also because of this that Melvin was frustrated about Nial's blindness, possibly even more than Nial himself!

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a way to help Nial, who had told him about the adverse mutation, which was frustrating.

Because of that, he wanted to release his frustration about his incapability to help both of the Orin siblings, who he liked the most.

Nial was his best friend, and Sabrina...was Sabrina!

As such, Melvin had first started to hunt using his affinity, thinking that the lethal lightning bolts were the best way to earn a huge fortune while releasing his frustration.

Unfortunately, hunting with a bow and arrows was much better, especially while Nial was entering close combat.

It was because of this that they were able to acquire a total of 52 origin crystals of the poorest quality!

This was a great gain, given that it had been their first hunt and not something they could obtain from many dungeons in a matter of a few hours!

At least not with their current expertise, rank, and multiple other factors that were holding them back for now.

Even the permanent slime dungeon had much lower gains than what they had procured because the drop rate of the Slime Boss had decreased significantly after Nial had defeated it for the first time.

In permanent dungeons, the first loot was always the best, and it would already be astonishing if conquering the entire slime dungeon would fetch them a total of more than 15 origin crystals in one go.

The amount of origin crystals they had already procured in comparison to the slime dungeon's loot was large. This made Nial wonder about the exact size the Miland dungeon's first floor.

Not even once had they left the outskirts of the dungeon, and he had no way of telling where exactly they were right now.

The only thing Nial was able to do if he were to be lost was to walk in one particular direction until he encountered a dead end.

Fortunately, with Melvin by his side, getting lost was almost impossible as his best friend would not leave him stranded in an unknown territory.

They had planned to advance together and as such he could see the forest they would have to conquer in order to leave the dungeon, but also to enter the second floor.

After five hours, they were overly exhausted and Nial knew that his mother must be already worrying about him.

Because of that, he felt that it was better to leave the dungeon and call it a day.

Melvin was of the same opinion and turned towards the direction of the forest before he started to approach it.

They were likely to encounter a few more beast groups, but that was fine as long as it wouldn't take several hours to leave the dungeon.

Just as they were walking through the plain, they encountered the female military instructor, and the young Originals, whose faces were ashen pale, and smeared with blood.

Tears and blood had been mixed together and their previously clean clothes were blotched and smeared with sweat and blood. W

When Nial walked past them, he could feel their trembling mana fluctuations that reflected their fear, disgust, and multiple more emotions they had to overcome after killing beasts.

A few of the children were even injured, which astonished Nial because their Instructor was more than strong enough to easily protect all of them.

However, that was not something the Instructor had done. Instead, she had just protected them to a certain extent, and let them tackle the beasts while preventing them from being seriously injured.

Originals had to learn how to kill beasts, whether they were small children, old, or disabled senior citizens.

Mankind's survival relied on Originals, and it was a given that dungeon breakouts were devastating occurrences that should never occur within one of the few shelters that were still standing strong.

In the end, mankind's situation was far from good, and Nina Melion had long since learned about the cruel world that had changed in the worst possible way since the dungeons had appeared out of nowhere.

It was exactly because of this that her teaching methods were cruel, yet extremely efficient.

Because of her mindset, she didn't care who it was, or what family background did one belong to. As long as they were working hard to become stronger, and never backed off in the face of danger, they were worth being nurtured.

Unfortunately, the government didn't have the same opinion because some disabilities were simply too disadvantageous.

These shortcomings were not worth the effort to nurture some Originals as they would restrict them tremendously.

Nevertheless, Nina couldn't help but feel curious when she saw Nial and Melvin.

They were sweating profusely but not a trace of their previous nonchalant attitude which they had showcased before entering the Miland dungeon was visible.

'Oh...they're still alive. Well, I guess they're more serious than I expected...and their mind is steadier than these little brats I have to teach...but I guess that's normal. These two late bloomers are much older, after all.'

With that thought in mind, she averted her attention for a moment, before sensing faint mana fluctuations from Nial's direction that distracted her a little bit.

'The mana fluctuations are...weird…'

In the end, Nial had inserted a little bit of his mana into the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability to enlarge the radius at which he could visualize everything around him.

He wanted to visualize the instructor because he had only heard her voice before. Furthermore, she had been staring at him, so Nial wanted to roughly visualize how she looked if he was already being stared at.

Yet, before he was able to do anything like that, his ear twitched, while Nina's mind was distracted as well.

A weapon manifested in her hand, and she was just about to issue a warning as Nial's voice echoed through the surrounding area.

"Attention, attack from below!!"

Nial had faintly heard the earth far below him being pushed away as if something was digging its way up towards them.

And, by averting his entire focus towards the ground, he was able to perceive mana fluctuations that rushed towards them at a fast pace.

Because of that, he had instinctively shouted out that someone was attacking them from below, only to grasp Melvin with his free hand as he pushed him backward.

It was just a moment later that Melvin figured out what was going on while trying to break his fall.

Looking at Nial, who was fully concentrated, he couldn't help but curse his friend.

'Who the hell are you to save me, if you cannot even hold your weapon properly?!' Melvin thought the moment he saw Nial's trembling hand.

Merely a fraction of a second later, the earth next to Nial shook before it crumbled as large pincers pierced out of the ground.

Soon after, the ten-meter-long mud-smeared body of a beast crawled out of the ground.

Just as it was opening its wide and gaping mouth to let out a roar, Nina's voice reached Nial and Melvin.

"Fuck, that's a Sekyr Sound Centipede! Immediately seal your ears with mana!!"

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Just as Nina's shrill voice warned everyone of the incoming attack, a thunderous roar shook the entire surrounding, making the ground below them violently tremble as a shockwave radiated from the Centipede's entire body.

Nial, who had noticed that something was off from the beginning, didn't even hesitate a quarter of a second.

He used the entire mana left within his core to tightly seal his ears, only to realize that he was way too weak.

Piercing through the layer of mana, the shockwave reached Nial's ears that felt as if a hundred gongs rang at a time creating a horrifyingly high pitched noise that would make his ears bleed.

Just a moment later, he was unable to hear anything as his eardrums began to ring, almost bursting them open.

Without being able to see and hear, Nial's situation was extremely dangerous because even his mana perception seemed to grow shaky through the ear-piercing sound.

Yet, just as he wanted to enter a defensive stance to protect himself as well as possible, blood splattered over his face.

This confused him because he was not injured at all, and it took him a few moments before his perception realized something that shook him to the core.

A crescent blade manifested out of pure and compressed mana had pierced through the Sekyr Sound Centipede's body, killing it immediately!

Following the flow of mana, Nial realized that the Female Instructor had manifested this crescent blade of pure mana.

This astonished him, but now he was wondering why she didn't attack the Centipede even before it could issue the shockwave.

However, it was just then that Nial perceived a thick membrane of mana enveloping everyone around the young female instructor.

Her priority had been to protect the children she taught before doing anything else.

Meanwhile, Nial was not quite sure how long it would take him to hear something again.

For now, he felt as if his hearing senses had either gone numb or left him for good.

This was extremely bad, even more for someone who couldn't even see.

As such, he was currently forced to solely rely on his touch and taste senses, with the most focus on his Mana Perception.

Because of that, he didn't even realise the commotion that was going on, and the only thing he felt was that his ears were bleeding.

Touching his ear, Nial couldn't help but grimace while he sensed that Melvin was rushing towards him.

A moment later Melvin grasped his shoulder, shaking him wildly, but Nial was unable to hear even a single word uttered by his friend.

Thus, Nial told him the same in an extremely loud noise as he was unable to hear that he was almost shouting.

His loud voice attracted the attention of Nina and her small group that was perfectly fine and unharmed.

"Ms. Melion, is he now also deaf??" One of the younger girls asked, shocked to see his ears bleed because she had heard him shouting a warning earlier.

It was due to this that she felt the situation was unfair, only to feel her instructor's hand ruffling through her hair.

"He will be fine, don't worry too much, little troublemaker!"

Looking up, the little girl saw her instructor's serious expression as she approached the corpse of the Sekyr Sound Centipede that disintegrated into countless particles, turning into a small crystal.

Picking up the crystal, Nina couldn't help but feel that her luck was quite good, yet, she stashed it away and averted her attention to Nial and Melvin.

Melvin seemed extremely worried, and extremely anxious, thinking that his friend had just lost his hearing sense permanently.

Meanwhile, Nial was quite calm despite being unable to hear, and see, which was the worst combination.

This made it clear that Nial was fully aware of what had happened to his body, and the fact that he had only temporarily lost his hearing sense.

Instinctively turning his body to face Nina, the moment she approached them, even Melvin followed suit.

Bowing deeply, Melvin thanked her for defeating the Sekyr Sound Centipede.

Afterward, he lifted his head once again, only to see that the woman was holding out a vial and a crystal.

"Give the vial to your friend. It will help him recuperate much faster. He should be able to hear shortly after taking it. As for the crystal, give it to your friend.

Consider it as a thank you note for warning me to save these little troublemakers behind me!"

Melvin was confused, but after he got the hang of the situation, he quickly thanked her before taking the vial and the crystal.

Yet, even before examining the contents, he almost shoved the vial into Nial's mouth, overwhelming the young man, who could barely grasp the situation through his mana perception.

Forced to gulp down the sweet liquid, Nial could feel an effect kicking in just a moment later.

The mana rich serum within the vial invigorated his body, while simultaneously boosting his cells to work faster.

This allowed him to recuperate from his exhaustion, and his mana recuperation accelerated tremendously too!

After his mana core was filled to the same extent he had annexed mana before, he felt that the healing property of the serum was slowly circulating through his entire body, soothing the pain and repairing his damaged ear veins.

historical

In the end, he was perfectly fine, if one were to exclude his ears, and the dull high pitched ringing voice that made him feel dizzy as it reverberated through his mind over and over again.

Fortunately, this noise began to die down, a few minutes after Nial had gulped down the sweet serum.

Only shortly after that, he was finally able to hear once again as he sighed in relief.

"The female instructor just left, right?" Nial suddenly asked, dragging Melvin out of his train of thoughts.

Hearing that Nial wasn't shouting anymore, Melvin hoped that his friend could hear once again.

Thus, he answered with a slight trace of joy in his voice.

"Yes, she handed me the vial of healing serum and the ability crystal that dropped from the Sekyr Sound Centipede and left with her group immediately after!"

Nial was astonished to hear that the Centipede had dropped an ability, but even more shocking had been the Military instructor's strength.

"I wonder how strong she truly is… she didn't sound old either, probably around our age...Melvin, do you know if everyone in the Military is as strong as she is?!"

Somehow it was odd. Melvin thought that Nial would ask about the ability crystal's grading, but he was more interested in the Military's instructor.

However, after thinking about it for a moment, it was understandable. The young woman had been around their age, but much more powerful, and had easily obliterated the Sekyr Sound Centipede with one smooth flick of her wrist.

But that was not all, because Melvin could faintly sense Nial's desire to find out more about the Military.

That was something Melvin had noticed earlier, but it made him rather sad to think about it because Nial would never be accepted into the Military, not even the mandatory service!

Upon entering the military, one would receive tremendous benefits as an Original from the government, and one's background or social status wouldn't matter either.

As such, only strength would determine how many resources one would receive, in addition to the rights to enter the majority of the government's dungeons!

The advantages of being recruited into the military were many more, and the few benefits Melvin had named in his mind were just the tip of the iceberg.

Noticing Nial's expression, Melvin knew that he had to distract his friend, which he started to do by stating simple things.

"Do you even understand how lucky we were? The Sekyr Sound Centipede is a Rare Boss! They're even stronger than the Boss on the same Floor!!"

Afterward, he looked at Nial's expression that seemed slightly interested, before Melvin continued to share excitedly.

"Well, that is probably the reason it dropped an ability crystal, to begin with. Rare Bosses are stronger but have a higher chance of dropping more origin crystals, other unique drops, or an ability crystal.

Still, we were quite lucky, even more so that she handed us, or rather you, the ability crystal!"

It was only now that Nial truly realised that they had survived the attack of a Rare Boss, and that it had dropped an ability crystal.

Because of that, he couldn't help but ask curiously.

"What kind of ability did it drop? The shockwave or is it something else?"

The rarer an ability the greater would be its selling price. As such, it was obvious why Nial became so interested in the ability crystal.

Melvin knew the price of rare ability crystals, but he had misunderstood his friend's excitement.

'Does he want to know if it's the Shockwave ability, so that he can bind it? That cannot happen!' Melvin thought as he answered Nial.

"The ability crystal is called [Shockwave barrage] and it is a Low quality Common grade ability. That means its quality is above the norms of the Low Rookie Miland dungeon.

At least if we were to only take the first three floors into consideration. I think the ability is strong, but I wouldn't recommend you to bind it!"

Melvin didn't want to lie to his friend, which was also the reason for him to honestly review the ability.

If Nial were someone he didn't know, the ability might have been useful to him, but not only was Nial his best friend, whose best interests were always on his mind, but he was also blind, which was a terrifying disadvantage that Nial had to compensate first.

Thus, the first ability had to be something that could balance out his disadvantage completely!

What Melvin didn't know was that Nial had already learned an ability that would achieve this.

However, it would take some time for the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability that was bound to the Odyssey seed to grow and become stronger.

Despite that, Nial wanted something different to become the one and only ability he could bind at the Origin rank.

"Oh, don't worry, I just wanted to know if we can sell the ability crystal for more because this [Shockwave Barrage] seemed to be extremely powerful! I don't want to bind it to my mana core!"

Nial's nonchalant rejection of the ability caused Melvin to stare at his friend in doubt, wondering what had made him change so much.

Not only did he not hold back in doing anything anymore, including violence, but Nial's entire demeanor and mindset seemed to have undergone a big change.

'Just what happened to you when I was away?'

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Melvin was sure that the sudden change in Nial's entire behavior had something to do with his awakening as an Original.

However, at the same time, it was not like an emotion of his had been sealed before.

As such, Nial was not one of the unique Originals who could become stronger by feeling a specific emotion.

Rather, Nial's personality, and attitude had changed a little bit, which in return, changed his behavior, and even mindset.

Nevertheless, Melvin couldn't complain because this new version of his friend was much better than the old, easily frightened Nial.

He used to behave as if he was optimistic and put on a mask of happiness to hide his true feelings, just to make his parents worry less about him.

Unfortunately, they could see right through his pretense.

In the end, the new Nial was much better, and someone Melvin could respect a lot, even if they hadn't been best friends.

Being blind, yet still being able to fight properly, or even better than some newly awakening Originals was not easy, but Nial seemed to work hard to make that possible.

It was just for his sister's sake, but that was more than enough in Melvin's opinion.

In the future, his friend would have tended to Sabrina's illness, and only then Nial's first trial to find more about himself and assess his strengths and weaknesses would start.

However, for now, Melvin was glad that Nial was not restless or anything like that, and they could leave the Melind dungeon without any more issues.

There were a few beasts that attacked them every now and then but Nial was determined to fight them, even though his hearing sense was still a bit weak.

This had astonished Melvin, yet, after his friend explained to him that he wanted to train his mana perception in that way, Melvin simply accepted it.

Once they reached inside the forest, Nial was able to make use of his mana perception much better than before.

Nina's healing serum had helped him overcome his exhaustion to a large degree and now he was feeling completely fit and confident of fighting everyone without any issues.

In the beginning, he thought that the [Shockwave Barrage] ability was extremely strong, which made him want to bind the ability for a fraction of a second.

However, this random thought had only popped up in his head in a moment of greed and jealousy and not something he would ever do as long as he could think properly.

Right now, he had many other things to pay attention to, and the [Shockwave Barrage] ability was definitely not suitable for him, not in his current strength.

At least, it didn't increase his combat prowess to an extent that allowed him to make up for the money he could procure by selling the ability crystal.

Nial knew that he had yet to learn how to control mana properly, including the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability, while his combat experience was severely lacking, as well as his capabilities to fight overall needed improvement.

He required proper training, but without anyone's help or guidance this was extremely difficult.

As such, he hoped that Melvin would come back to their house in the following days so that they could enter the Melind dungeon.

Other than that, sparring with Melvin would probably help him even more than doing the same with his father. Owing to his father's connections and wealth, Melvin had attended special training conducted by extremely powerful war veterans.

Meanwhile, Nial knew that his father was not exactly known for his high combat prowess. To be precise, Miles' combat talent was even below his mana core's limit which was already below average!

Because of that, Melvin was his best chance to be trained by someone knowledgeable enough as he hardly had any money to hire an instructor.

Sparring and clearing the dungeon with Melvin would help him hit two birds with a stone.

It would increase his combat awareness while simultaneously allowing him to procure a huge fortune every single day too!

In a few hours, they had procured a total of 52 origin crystals and a rare ability crystal, after all.

This was exceptional, and not something Nial would be able to retrieve from the dungeon, without paying a hefty fee, but Melvin's social status made it possible!

While Nial had already been astonished about the amount of origin crystals they had amassed, the ability crystal at the low quality was even better.

The origin crystals would fetch them a fortune of more than 1500$, while the single ability crystal was worth tens of times that fortune.

His eyes glinted with greed and excitement as he thought of the wealth they had collected.

As such, there was no way that Nial could be frustrated with himself, but that was exactly what was going on.

They would have died against the Sekyr Sound Centipede if the female Instructor hadn't rescued them!

To be precise, she had just protected her students, and nothing else.

In the end, it was only because she was thankful for his warning that they had gotten their hands on the ability crystal.

As such, it was luck, and Nial didn't think that they deserved the ability crystal.

However, right now, he had no other choice but to take it. His sister was in dire need of money so he couldn't afford to be righteous.

Time passed slowly, and Nial didn't even notice that they had already left the dungeon and were on their way back to the shelter.

Both him and Melvin were subjected to weird gazes of the other people who wanted to enter the dungeon.

And there was a good reason for them to be stared at.

Their clothes were drenched in blood and dirt, while a trail of dried blood was visible on the side of his face that went down his ear and neck, disappearing beneath his shirt.

As such, Nial looked as if he had been severely injured while massacring his way through a horde of beasts, only to be somehow fine at the same time.

Meanwhile, Melvin's clothes were completely clean, which created a stark contrast between Nial and Melvin's appearance.

There were many young men and women standing in the queue while waiting for their turn to enter the dungeon.

Several of them belonged to families that worked for the government and nobody could grasp what exactly had happened to Nial and Melvin to look like that.

Nial was evidently blind, but his weapon painted a different picture making him look like he was filthy rich, misleading others into believing that he was just another spoiled brat though disabled.historical

Thus, seeing two rich youths that seemed to have awoken their origin extremely late, the others thought that it was forcefully awoken.

All of this created misunderstanding within the minds of the people that stared at them, but neither Melvin, who saw this, nor Nial, who felt their stares, cared about them.

Melvin called a shuttle before handing him a wet and a dry towel that had been stored in his spatial ring.

"At least clean your face, otherwise Maline will kill you for having been injured, and me immediately afterward…"

Imagining his mother's reaction upon returning home, Nial immediately grabbed the towels and began to rub his face thoroughly.

Afterward, the shuttle arrived and they entered it to drive back home.

Only 20 minutes passed before they arrived home, and when Nial left the shuttle he felt a chilly wind brushing into his hair.

Through this he realized that they were a lot late to return than they had hoped.

Dread filled his heart at the thought of his mother's face scrunching in worry and anger and thus Nial slowly tiptoed through the front door.

But, it proved to be futile as shortly after he heard the hurried footsteps of his mother and father rushing towards him.

They appeared in front of them a moment later and were staring at Nial and Melvin.

Initially, they had wanted to say something, but looking at the shocking difference in Nial and Melvin's appearance, they were taken aback.

To say that they were utterly shocked would be an understatement and Nial could feel the intense gaze of his parents upon him.

Melvin immediately figured out what was going on, which caused him to explain the entire situation in a matter of mere seconds.

"Don't misunderstand the situation!! I didn't use Nial as bait or something like that!! Let me explain everything

…

..

So to put it simply, I acted as an archer and hunted all the beasts while Nial entered close combat!"

Wiping off the sweat on his forehead, Melvin finished his retelling of their first hunt while he felt the stare of Nial's parents weighing him down.

And if he were to be honest, the stare of angered and worried parents was the worst.

It made him feel even more pressure than the hellish combat training he had undergone. Thus, he quieted down the moment he finished speaking.

Fortunately, Maline didn't say a word, and she simply stared at Nial, who felt her gaze lingering on him. It was uncomfortable, but he forced himself to smile lightly as he heard his father's voice.

"OK, but how can there be such a large amount of blood all over him? And what's this green fluid, weren't you guys inside the Melind dungeon?"

After hearing this, Melvin understood that he couldn't hide the incident that had occurred at the end of their hunt, but fortunately, Nial's parents listened to him rather quietly.

As such, he explained the situation in a detailed manner, while Nial was enduring his mother's gaze that grew more burdensome the more time passed.

Yet, instead of scolding him for his recklessness, she just sighed deeply, relieved that nothing had happened to the two of them before she said in a resigned voice.

"Alright, as long as you two are fine, there is nothing I can complain about."

A moment later, she mumbled to herself as her shoulders drooped a bit, "..even if I would like to…"

Afterward, Maline regained her composure, and tried to hide her worry as she ordered her son,

"Nial, go take a shower, you smell like a trash can!"

This sudden change in their topic confused Nial, but escaping his mother was a welcome move. As such, he exited the living room quickly, leaving behind Melvin, who stared at him with a betrayed expression.

Just a moment later, Maline stared at Melvin with a serious expression.

"I want you to be honest with us! How dangerous is it to let Nial enter a dungeon independently? Is he just risking his life trying to support his family financially?

Do you think he can really survive without relying on anyone other than himself?"

Melvin had expected a similar question because he was worried about the same thing as Maline. It was evident that someone with a problem like Nial faced more issues in a dungeon that required the entrant to bet on his skills and his life every single time he stepped inside, let alone kill beasts.

And as Nial's friend, and his best friend, it was obvious that he didn't want Nial to sacrifice his life needlessly.

As such, he tried to recall the events of the last few hours in the finest detail, before thinking about a proper answer. Yet, what he recalled was one fight after another, and the subtle changes in Nial's fighting style.

This caused Melvin's eyes to widen because he hadn't realized something very important beforehand- Nial had never received any professional combat training, let alone tips on how to fight any kind of living being properly!

'How...did I not notice that?!' Melvin thought, shocked as realization struck him deep.

'Did I miss something, or is it truly as frightening as I think?'

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As the memories of every single fight inside the Melind dungeon flashed past his eyes, Melvin involuntarily shuttered.

Goosebumps appeared all over his body, and it was only then that Melvin noticed how Nial's parents were staring at him worriedly, anxious about his answer.

Because of their expressions, he didn't even think about tweaking his answer a little to appease his parents.

Neither did he plan on exaggerating, to begin with.

Instead, Melvin was beginning to grow envious of his friend, which was not something he was ought to do, not in this situation, and not about his best friend!

Thus, he answered truthfully without holding back.

"I don't know about the dangers he will have to face once he fights alone but he...is definitely talented. Without being blind and the restriction of his mana core's limit, Nial would definitely turn into a true monster.

He might have awoken his origin late, but his reaction speed, in addition to the way he perceives his opponents and remembers every single habit of theirs...it's frightening!

To achieve something like that without any previous combat training, or a long adjustment period in which he learned how to perfectly control mana makes him no less than a freak… and even that is definitely an underestimation in my opinion."

Nial's parents had already assumed that Melvin would exaggerate their son's progress, but seeing the sincerity in his voice coupled with the faint trace of jealousy in Melvin's eyes, made Miles feel flabbergasted.

'Is Melvin… really jealous of Nial? Melvin has everything, yet…' Miles was not even able to finish comprehending the reason behind Melvin's envy.

That was how confused he had just become.

However, Maline didn't look any better. She was not sure what she had hoped for, but hearing her transform into a freak was the least expected.

Thus, she turned quiet for some time, trying to digest the information while figuring out a way to help her son in the best possible way.

She didn't like or support that he wanted to enter dungeons on a daily basis, but there was nothing she could do about it.

As such, Maline figured that it would be best to support him instead of holding him back from experiencing the dangers of the world.

At the same time, she wanted Nial to clearly understand that he should not overestimate himself.

However, Maline doubted that her little kid wouldn't know that! She had raised him and knew that he was responsible and reasonable enough to understand the consequences of his actions.

Because of that, she voiced out an idea she just got, astonishing both Miles and Melvin, unsure if her idea was truly as good as she thought it was.

Yet, Melvin couldn't complain as he smiled brightly before taking a look at his bracelet as a semi-translucent holographic screen emerged in front of him.

Scrubbing himself well to get rid of the soot and blood, Nial left the shower, and quickly brushed his teeth before putting on some clothes.

Afterward, he walked downstairs, only to notice that his parents and Melvin had suddenly quieted down as if they had a secret he shouldn't know.

Frowning, Nial wanted to talk about going to a merchant tomorrow because they had to sell the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal for some good money.

However, before he could even say something, Nial was interrupted by Melvin who sounded quite happy.

"I will be staying here for the next few days! My father agreed too!"

Even though Nial was suspicious about his mother's behavior before, and the fact that Melvin was now suddenly staying with them with the permission of his father at that, he couldn't help but feel even more confused than before.

"What the hell did you even tell your father to make him agree?!" Nial thus asked, clearly recalling the day on which the secretary of Melvin's father had barged into their house, and threatened them.

In that sense, Nial was not in a mood to care about his friend's privacy, at all! His family's well-being was much more important than a little bit of privacy, at least to him!

"Eh…"

That was all Melvin said before the room went completely silent once again and Nial realized that Melvin didn't want to answer him.

However, seeing Nial's serious expressions, he seemed to have changed his mind, as he heard him answer reluctantly.

"I just said that I will stay out for a few days...and hung up afterward..."

Somehow, Nial felt that Melvin was brave to not fear his father's wrath, but that didn't mean that he was not worried about the aftermath that may come forth with his friend's decision.

However, after averting his attention to his parents, he realized that they seemed to be aware of what his friend had done.

He could easily sense that because they were quiet and their mana fluctuations were stable too.

As such, they didn't seem to be surprised, enraged or anything like that even after hearing Melvin.

Thus, Nial simply shrugged his shoulders, deciding that it was Melvin's business of how he dealt with his father and that he should take responsibility for everything that may happen before replying,

"In that case, we should sell the ability crystal and origin crystals first thing in the morning tomorrow, before purchasing some more of Sabrina's medicine. After that, we can either enter another dungeon or spar a little bit.

I still feel my movements are too stiff, and I have no idea how exactly I should move in some situations! I can visualize almost everything, but the more opponents I have to fight against, the more sluggish my movements become owing to the focus I have to use to even visualize every single movement."

There were many more things that Nial was still lacking, and he was fully aware of this.

But that was exactly how the first step was taken- accepting that one was flawed and that one could always improve.

Nial's situation was obvious, and even if he knew that he had improved quite a lot during the last few hours, his combat prowess was far from being average, let alone great.

What he had done was simply fighting against a few of the weakest possible beasts in the dungeon.

And, the fact that he had already been exhausted after fighting a few beast groups like them showed clearly that not only his mana core was of a low rank, but also the amount of movements he wasted while fighting was pretty high.

Sparingly using his stamina was important inside a dungeon, even more so in unknown dungeons that could be larger than estimated.

If one were to waste their stamina unnecessarily, death was inevitable.

As such, Nial was determined to fix his mistakes as quickly as possible, and Melvin noticed this.

"If you really want to change something, you'll need to learn a combat technique, also known as a martial art technique.

Right now, you might think that they're a waste of precious money, but they will clearly show you how you can use every muscle in your body to fight properly.

Your current physique is pretty good, but the way you use it, makes you look like a stiff log that is unable to move.

Your movements were more smooth and refined towards the end of our dungeon trip, but it was still far from good.

As such, I would recommend that you apply for a copy of a basic body movement technique. A single copy may cost tens of thousand of dollars, but it's definitely worth it. All of you can use it together too, so it's not wasted if you want your parents' combat prowess to increase as well.

If I could, I would just give you the technique, or one of the few I'm currently learning, but I cannot share them with you, and if I do...well, it won't end well...let's just say that...sorry!"

Melvin gave him a forced smile after ending his short explanation, and Nial realized that Melvin had changed a lot during the time he hadn't been in Katu.historical

However, he knew that he, himself, had changed a lot too.

As such, there was nothing to say about that. Instead, Nial began to think about his friend's words.

Shelling out tens of thousand dollars didn't sound nice, but Nial had also heard a lot about martial art books, and that everyone sought rare techniques.

Such techniques were extremely expensive, and could apparently only be found in unique types of dungeons.

Because of that their price was enormous, and in comparison being able to get a copy of a basic body movement technique for only a few tens of thousand dollars could be considered to be a gift.

Even though the technique was bound to be one of the weakest possible the government possessed, it would be much better for Nial than having nothing.

Nevertheless, Nial shook his head as he suggested,

"First, we will have to tend to Sabrina's illness. I'm not selfish enough to prioritize small gains that may increase over a long duration with the possibility of Sabrina's illness that might backlash! Even if the possibility of her illness becoming worse is infinitely small, it's never zero, and I don't really want to take that risk...not anymore…"

Melvin didn't know what Nial meant with 'not anymore' but his parents clearly understood what Nial meant.

'Is he really feeling guilty because he used the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability crystal on himself?'

They felt that Nial was being too harsh on himself by thinking of the benefits they had missed by letting him use the 15,000$ the ability crystal he had absorbed would have gotten them.

And that was the highest possible price they would have received. With Nial's business proficiency, it would have been at most 10,000$ if he would have sold it.

Adding the gains he got from binding the ability to the Odyssey seed, there was no way that the benefits didn't outweigh the cost.

Nial and Melvin had gotten their hands on a Rare type of Low Common ability crystal, and they were unscathed!

Who knew if that would have been the case without the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability?

Miles and Maline were not sure about that, and even Nial would never be able to find out whether or not it had been luck or his ability that had saved their lives.

Because of Nial's words, both his parents and even Melvin realized one more issue Nial had to face in the future- He worried a lot about past events, and if the decisions he had taken had been correct, or not!

However, due to this, Miles had something to tell his son, even if he hadn't been asked to.

The responsibility of a father was to take care of his children, and to turn them into better people than he and their mother was.

Thus, he said a few simple words to his son.

"Don't let the past haunt you! You are living in the present and you do everything in the present to create a better future!

Always remember that, Nial!"

After a lengthy discussion with his parents during dinner, Nial had become convinced that a basic body movement technique was necessary for him to become stronger.

Through this, he would be able to earn more money, protect himself better, and even more important, his parents could also use the technique he would purchase from the Originals association.

It was not limited to be used by just the buyer and the entire household could use it.

This was extremely advantageous, and Nial wouldn't be so worried about his parents either.

Both his parents would enter dungeons every single day without fail and would return home bruised and injured but they would still get up the next day and re-enter a dungeon.

At least, by purchasing this technique Nial could assure himself that his parents would be safe to some extent.

Because of that, his opinion had slowly changed from using the entire money they would receive from selling the origin crystal and the Low Common ability [Shockwave Barrage] for his sister, to using a majority of it for her.

As such, when both Nial and Melvin retired to their respective beds, they were satisfied with how the day had progressed and what they had achieved.

Waking up early in the morning the next day, Nial felt refreshed even though his entire body felt sore.

Getting up from the mattress he had laid on the floor, he perceived that Melvin was still sound asleep in his bed.

Based on the light snores he could hear, Nial could tell that Melvin was exhausted as well, even though the amount of mana Melvin had stored was much higher than his own.

Shaking his head, he decided to let him sleep a little bit longer.

Thus, he went out of the room without making any noise, freshened up, and entered the kitchen afterward.

Preparing a simple breakfast for himself and Melvin, Nial ate his own portion before placing the rest on the table for Melvin to eat.

Changing into a trackpant and a simple t-shirt, Nial thought it was best to train his spearmanship and learn how to improve the fluidity in his movements without being forced to have some short intervals in which he had to change his stance to attack from a defensive position.

This was what he had been struggling the most the day before, which was also the reason why he focused the most on it right now.

Fixing mistakes was important in order to prevent turning them into habits.

Thus, Nial wanted to make as few mistakes in the early stages of his practice as possible.historical

It was difficult, but attempting it until he perfected himself was important.

As such, Nial was determined to improve and didn't even care how early it was, or that his parents were still sleeping soundly.

This was uncommon because they were normally the first ones to get up, and Nial had assumed that they were already out, entering other dangerous dungeons while leaving him the slime dungeon behind.

Because of this assumption he had beforehand, he didn't pay attention to his surroundings, and only began to move around with the Viper spear.

Nial felt extremely comfortable while wielding the Viper spear, and did not want to let go of it even for a minute.

It was weird as he had gotten the weapon just days ago, but he felt comfortable holding the spear, knowing that he would be able to use it in order to protect himself.

Furthermore, when he retracted its blades to make it look like a simple rod, it was not even illegal to walk around the central district with it.

That meant, he didn't even need a storage device, such as a spatial ring for it.

Spatial rings were extremely difficult to craft, and the materials they were made of were rare too.

As such, only citizens with a high social status or wealth were able to procure them.

Not being one of them, Nial was even more glad that the Viper spear had the function to retract its blades, which made many things much easier.

Moving around with it made him feel at ease, and this exact feeling was something rare to encounter with weapons one wielded.

There were rumors that Myth weapons had a certain degree of compatibility with their wielder, meaning the higher their compatibility was with the wielder, the better one would be able to fight using that weapon.

However, this was just a rumor and not something Nial had ever believed.

Yet, perceiving the Viper Spear as an extension of his arm made him feel surreal as the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

It was a weird sensation, but extremely satisfying, and not something bad at all.

He didn't know how high his compatibility with the Viper spear was, but it was definitely not low, which was something that made Nial extremely happy.

Nial was so engrossed in his training, and the fact that he had to improve a lot because he was lacking behind everyone else, that he didn't even notice that it was not even 4 am. It was still dark outside, and his parents had yet to wake up.

The wind was chilly, but Nial didn't notice that at all.

Instead, he felt that the soft wind currents were showing him ways in which he could move better.

Trying to use every single means to his advantage, Nial began to sweat despite the chilly wind. There were many things Nial could comprehend from his surroundings.

Nevertheless, it didn't help him to fix his issues, which only practice could do.

He had yet to learn to read and understand all words, which was why Nial took short breaks between practicing spearmanship before using his Mana Perception to learn the written language.

In the end, learning to write and read was less difficult than he had assumed and the biggest issue was to link the written words to the respective object, or specific meaning of said words.

Fortunately, this was not much of a problem because he could speak and listen well, which was why he used the speaking function of the children's books in order to connect the written words to the spoken ones.

Hours passed and Nial's sore muscles were aching even more than when he had woken up from sleep.

What he didn't notice was that both of his parents had now woken up too, and Melvin had just entered the living room. Rubbing his drowsy eyes, he found Miles and Maline looking out of the window, staring into their backyard.

Confused, yet also curious, Melvin had an assumption about what they could see, but after thinking about it for a moment, he shook his head, thinking that it was impossible.

His arms were sore after shooting arrows for hours, and Melvin didn't think that Nial felt any better.

Yet, the moment he stood next to Miles, Melvin's jaw dropped to the ground, looking at Nial, whose clothes were already drenched in sweat.

Seeing his best friend taking deep breaths while gasping for air, all the sleep in his eyes disappeared.

He peered his eyes trying to ensure that it was in fact Nial who was clutching the Viper spear in its rod form tightly while his other hand was placed on his knee as his shoulders drooped a little.

Blinking his eyes rapidly, Melvin couldn't help but blurt out his confusion.

"How...long has he been training for?!"

Miles and Maline didn't even have to look at Melvin to know what his expression looked like because it was evident that he was as dumbfounded as they were.

By the time they woke up, it was 6 am and they had wanted to do their usual chores, preparing breakfast for everyone, and tending to Sabrina for some time before leaving for the dungeons.

Maline had wanted to enter the slime dungeon before paying more attention to Nial, Melvin, Sabrina, and the entire household.

Meanwhile, Miles wanted to enter the Goblin dungeon, where he had made an appointment.

However, after seeing a dish of breakfast that had gone cold on the dining table while crumbs of bread in the sink as if someone had gulped down some food in a hurry, they had a premonition.

Because of that Miles had looked into their backyard, only to see that Nial was practicing his spearmanship, trying to improve even the simplest movement.

But, weirdly enough, Nial was fully soaked in sweat and panting at that time, so Miles couldn't answer Melvin's question properly.

"We woke up at six, and he already appears to be exhausted...maybe a little bit less sweaty, but...well...I think I sort of agree with your evaluation of my son...without the blindness and mana core limit, he would definitely be a freak…"

Miles had never thought that his son would be talented. To say this as his father might be cruel, but that was how reality seemed to him.

Nial had never been a very bright student or interested in studying a lot, even if he had the necessary intelligence.

There was simply no need for Nial to learn because most well-paying occupations were already occupied by Originals.

As such, even without good grades, he wouldn't have been able to land a prestigious job as those were not awarded to cripples.

It was sad, but that was how the world had become, a sad place where Originals, and able bodied ones, received everything!

Because of that Miles had never seen his son being invested in anything which was sad, but not something he could change as he was occupied with earning money to improve his family's financial situation.

Thus, Nial's abrupt change in attitude was shocking to him, and even Maline couldn't help but be flabbergasted.

Initially, she had wanted to retort something to her husband's comment.

However, in the end, she remained quiet, reluctantly agreeing with her husband after she had seen how quickly Nial was improving.

But that was not all!

Not only was Nial quickly improving, but he was also working hard to reduce the amount of mistakes.

As such, Maline felt that the seemingly tireless will of her son was the most shocking attribute of a youth who had been mocked by society for his disability.

She had never seen him work so hard for something and was amazed to see his tenacity.

Nial was not even taking proper breaks because he was studying how to write and read properly using his mana perception.

As such, tears trickled down her cheeks seeing that her son, who had forced happiness and optimism upon himself since he had lost his eyesight, was finally blooming, and revealed a spark of interest in something he was eager to obtain!

'Finally!'

While they all were observing Nial work relentlessly, Miles was notified that his permission to enter the Goblin dungeon would soon expire.

As such, he quickly left the house, to earn money instead of wasting the dungeon's appointment fee.

Meanwhile, Maline decided to enter the slime dungeon and use the respawn timer efficiently, while reminding Melvin to eat the breakfast Nial had prepared for him before doing their stuff.

The day before, Melvin had been told that he can stay at the Orin family's house for as long as he wanted, which was something he didn't expect to happen after what he assumed to have happened years earlier.

His family must have threatened them, but the Orin family wasn't inclined to hold a grudge against him.

Neither did they comment on the incident except for Nial's unintentional slip of tongue when he had been angry nor did they scorn him in any way because of what happened in the past.

Rather, Melvin had been welcomed with open arms which was something that wouldn't happen in his family, if Nial were to show up unannounced.

Seeing their heartwarming welcome gave him even more reason to help Sabrina.

Not only did he like her and care about her a lot, but Melvin felt that such kind people as Nial's entire family, should not be allowed to suffer in any way.

Thus, he readied himself and suppressed the feeling of envy in the depths of his conscience as he left the house, and entered the backyard.

Nial had already heard his parents' footsteps from behind him, and he had been astonished about that.

Before, he assumed that they were already awake and outside the house, entering some dungeons together.

However, that had not been the case. Yet, instead of thinking about that any longer, Nial simply decided to focus on himself, and everything he had wanted to do.

This was mostly to improve his combat prowess, or to be precise, his movement, control over mana, spearmanship, and how to properly make use of the effects of the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability.

At the same time, Nial wanted to focus on learning to read and write because his parents and even Melvin had instructed him to take a look at a basic body movement technique after selling everything they had acquired the day before.

Not knowing what was written somewhere would be a hindrance if he wanted to progress further.

At the same time, it would make many things much more difficult because he wanted to find out more about his sister's disease in the shelter's Library.

He might be able to find something there, but without being able to read, entering would be more than rude, not only to himself but to the librarian too.

Even if it was not considered rude, wasting his own and others' time, definitely was.

Not wanting to waste his time, he practiced tirelessly and sensed that his best friend was approaching him with a set of daggers in his hands.

Entering a combat stance, Melvin simply handed him over the daggers. He didn't say much, but the choice of his weapons made it clear that he had already figured out Nial's biggest disadvantage.

Under the pressure of surviving the horde of beasts, Nial had made too many mistakes the day before, and a barrage of attacks overwhelmed him enough to force him, a spear wielder, to retreat.

This was not something that should happen if he wanted to fight and defeat his opponents, and Nial was fully aware of this.

As a spear wielder, he should be fast, agile and able to hold back his opponent, even more so because the Viper spear could be used as a rod, glaive, halberd, spear, and possibly even as a trident.

In the end, the Viper spear was an extremely versatile weapon that felt as if it was tailor-made for him.

Nonetheless, as he was unable to wield it perfectly, Nial's combat prowess was much worse than it could be if he were to be properly trained.

And it was exactly this task that Melvin wanted to take over for the next few hours. He knew that Nial was able to overcome the hurdles by himself, but they didn't have enough time to let him test everything on his own. Besides, Nial was way too impatient, which was obvious.

His sister was bedridden, and her disease was worsening by the day.historical

As such, the expenses for her medicine had shot through the roof and their meagre earnings fell short of the required amount to heal her.

They had yet to find a cure, and even if one existed, it would be extremely expensive, considering that the medicine that barely slowed down her disease from getting worse was already overly expensive!

Despite the change in his behavior, Melvin knew his best friend well enough.

Because of that, it would be best to exhaust Nial to the extent that he would not be in the condition to even think about entering a dungeon, knowing that he would die inside.

Thus, Melvin didn't even think of holding back.

Instead, he decided to inflict shallow injuries on Nial which would force him to pay more attention to himself.

With that in mind, Melvin circulated mana through his body, increasing his speed that was already further enhanced than Nial's as he rushed towards his best friend.

Slashing at Nial without hesitation, Melvin showed how serious he was, and it was at that moment when Nial realised that his friend was not going to be nice and sweet while showing him his mistakes.

Rather, Melvin chose the cruel path to make Nial never forget his mistakes, which was something he understood almost instantly.

Comprehending what was about to happen, Nial forced his worn-down body to move, and let out a roar.

Staring at Melvin, who beckoned him to come forward, he pushed himself to overcome the limits he had already broken through hours ago as he thrust the Viper spear forward.

Yet, instead of completing the thrust, Nial retracted the Viper spear's blade before he switched the movement, and moved the rod in the direction at which he had predicted Melvin to move.

Nial's combat experience might be low, but he knew his friend and his tactics extremely well.

As such, Nial knew that Melvin wouldn't want to face his attack directly.

Instead, Melvin would want to show him in the cruelest possible way what kind of flaws he had.

His best friend was the nicest person he knew, but when it came to pointing out mistakes, he was harsh and didn't beat around the bush!

Knowing this, Nial didn't even try to slacken.

Rather, he wanted to learn as much as possible to prevent facing a second cruel lesson when Melvin pointed out his mistakes.

Bombarding him with attacks, Nial tried to hit Melvin in any possible way, obstructing his smooth attacks.

Yet, he was unable to even scratch Melvin's clothes, and he emerged in front of Nial with his body leaned forward that almost reached Nial's calves.

Slashing out, he inflicted a handful of shallow cuts close to Nial's knees. Through this, Melvin wanted to clearly show that he could have rendered Nial unable to continue fighting if he wanted to.

Just a moment later, Melvin jumped to the side, before twisting his body and turning it towards Nial as his hand began to glow in a bright light.

At that moment, even Nial's mana perception perceived the bright light, and his brows furrowed, perceiving the lightning currents that shot out of his friend's hand.

Ignoring the throbbing pain around his knees, Nial knew that he had to move, otherwise, he would have quite a few more issues than just dealing with the pain.

Not knowing whether Melvin could control his Lightning affinity the way he wanted to, Nial could only recall the first battle that had happened the day before.

Chills covered his entire body by the mere thought of being hit by a ball of lightning.

Moving instinctively, Nial used the movement he had already attained by swinging the Viper spear at Melvin. This made it possible for him to increase his own speed, if only by a fraction as he simply continued the swing.

He might not have hit Melvin like that, but the subtle boost he received was enough to evade Melvin's attack that was inaccurately shot at him.

The lightning currents were drastically weaker than the one Melvin had shot with the Myth wand, and even if he would have been hit by the currents, they would have, at most, burned Nial.

Nevertheless, having avoided the lightning currents by a hair's breadth, Nial's entire side was left defenseless.

Unable to move aside owing to the movement he had just made use of, he could already tell what Melvin would do, which caused him to grit his teeth.

At that moment, he perceived Melvin roll on his back which allowed him to stand on his two feet in the quickest time.

This had strained his body a lot, but Melvin had been trained in making quick decisions since a young age.

As such, he had waged the advantages of being quicker in getting up to initiate a new attack in comparison to having to get up slowly, giving Nial enough time to enter a defensive stance once again.

With that in mind, Melvin rushed towards Nial once again, without giving him a single breather that may allow him to think of a way to gain an upper hand again.

Having been trained professionally, Melvin knew that a single fraction of a second, as well as a subtle motion with which one executed one's ability could be enough to end someone's life.

Because of that, the young man was fully alert and ready for any kind of attack, only to realise that nothing happened when Nial's entire sports clothes were cut open, hundreds of cuts inflicted to his best friend.

Initially, he had planned to teach Nial a lesson, but the situation seemed to have turned in Nial's favor after he had been able to avoid the electric currents.

Something in the seemingly simple move Nial had executed at that moment caused Melvin's instincts to be triggered, it was something that made his entire being believe that his opponent was more terrifying than one could perceive at the first glance.

This realization made Melvin freeze in his tracks only to curse out.

"Fuck, I went overboard…"

"Was that really necessary, Melvin?" Nial asked with a frustrated expression, knowing that his friend could have lectured him without inflicting dozens of light cuts on his body.

Melvin heard Nial's complaints but instead of acknowledging his mistake, he remained stubborn and made no effort to soothe the situation.

"Well, you now know what you are lacking Nial, remember that!"

Hearing this, Nial felt like punching Melvin, but being forced to focus on enveloping the dozens of cuts with his mana to heal them gave him no time to do so.

A few minutes passed and once Nial stopped the bleeding of all cuts he had sustained, he walked in his room to change his clothes.

Afterward, he felt like punching Melvin as he heard his teasing voice.

"Nial, are you afraid to spar with me now? Hehehe…did you finally accept that I'm stronger than you?!"

His friend's abrupt change in behavior confused Nial once again, and he was unable to understand how Melvin could switch from being serious to being childish that quickly.

However, if Nial knew that Melvin was trying to savor the days in which he was still stronger than his friend, he would think differently.

The more Melvin thought about it, the more terrifying his friend's natural instincts seemed to become.

His combat awareness, perception, movement, and so on were simply too fearsome and he was working on it tirelessly to polish himself even further.

And that was just a few weeks after he had awoken his origin.

Nial had yet to learn how to control mana as if it was something natural to him. At the same time, Melvin knew that Nial's first ability would be a crucial point in his friend's development path.

It could either open the pathways to a broad future or seal off his entire future, destroying the potential he had!historical

That was not something Melvin wanted, which was why he had planned to be extremely harsh and strict with Nial, while trying to feel happy about winning against his friend as long as possible.

Unfortunately, Nial was not happy with his plan, and instead of bothering to answer his question he simply asked him pointedly.

"Instead of trying to kill me by covering it up as training, how about we let several merchants take a look at the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal, and see who is willing to pay us the most?

The origin crystals have a standardized price, so it doesn't matter who or where we sell them, but I don't want to lose out on profit with the ability crystal!"

Melvin thought that Nial would comment on his harsh way of teaching things, but instead of doing so, he kept a straight face.

Thus, Melvin calmed down too, hiding his discomfort about the spar against Nial that was much more fearsome than he liked to acknowledge, as he smiled slyly.

"Why do we need to search for the best merchant, if you have me by your side? I have connections to the best merchants, and they won't dare to con us. Otherwise, they will have to fear the wrath of my family, which everyone avoids, and that has a good reason!"

It was not like the idea of approaching Melvin's father had not crossed his mind, but he had discarded the idea a moment later.

Even though he trusted Melvin, his family was extremely fearsome, and Nial felt that it would be best to avoid them.

From the looks of it, Melvin understood Nial's thoughts and the situation they were currently in pretty well, otherwise, he would have said that they should directly visit their shop.

With that in mind, he comprehended that his friend was probably not as oblivious to his family matters as he first thought.

At least that was what Nial assumed as he pulled Melvin towards the door of their backyard.

Melvin's family was far more foreboding than he had initially thought, and if Nial had even the faintest inkling of how the entire Tyr family was already looking for Melvin, he would feel even more burdened than it was already the case.

In the end, Melvin had just told his father's butler that he would not be home for the next few days before hanging up. He hadn't even called his father directly, knowing that he would throw a fit.

Because of that, the entire shelter was about to be combed through and turned upside down just to find Melvin, which was something neither of the two young men expected.

Only Maline thought that Melvin's father was a tad bit overprotective in a sense she was familiar with.

As such, she had decided to do something Nial and Melvin didn't know about yet.

Thus, without letting others know, she secretly wrote a message to the Tyr family that Melvin was doing fine, and that he was currently staying with her son in their house.

Because she assumed that Melvin's father would just storm into their house upon reading the note, she scribbled in the words stating that nothing happened to Melvin, and that he was just worried about his friend and trying to help him.

Afterward, she added a few more bits of information, including the location they lived, with the request to do nothing that would make Melvin hate his family because it looked like he had figured out what happened a few years prior.

Upon reading through the message his butler had forwarded to him, Melvin's father's first reaction was to become enraged, but the further he read, the calmer he became.

Recalling that in the past his son had made friends with a pair of siblings, he also remembered that he had sent his butler to them in order to threaten them.

This caused his expression to sour after reading about the incident of the Orin family's son that had occurred years before Melvin had befriended them.

He also clearly recalled hearing about another incident that happened a short while after they had threatened their family to bring hell upon them if either of them were to try exploiting his son.

Maline had clearly written that they never mentioned anything about the incident that had occurred a few years ago, but it was possible for her son to have been a little bit too emotional. As such, she couldn't promise anything that her son might do, for which she apologized multiple times in the letter.

Procuring more information about the Orin family, Serl Tyr, Melvin's father's expression turned grave, and the emotions depicted in the letter clearly showed how the writer's turmoil while writing those words.

Adding the facts written in the few sheets of information their information department had acquired in a matter of minutes, to that of the contents of the letter, Tyr grew certain of one fact- the financial situation of their family was not at all good. They were in huge debt.

And all of that seemed to be because of the expensive medicine they had bought to try tending to the son's blindness as well as their daughter's unique and unknown disease that seemed to be lethal.

However, even after their miserable situation and extreme financial crisis, they didn't ask for any help from Melvin, knowing that something worse would happen.

Serl had already been confused about why Melvin was so happy when they had arrived in Katu, only to call in the evening, saying that he won't come home for the next few days.

Yet, after recalling how he had threatened the Orin family while seeing the information about their current condition in front of him, Serl Tyr could already tell what his son had seen, heard, or comprehended about his family's doings.

Understanding this, Serl couldn't help but hold his head in his hands as he placed his elbows on the table he was seated in front of.

"What kind of mess is that even?! How can a family be so naive and selfless while facing so many tragedies…"

Serl was one of the merchant tycoons, who was sly and knew what he had to do in order to receive what he wanted, but the moment the situation switched from making business, to personal matters, Serl turned into a useless and clumsy man, who was known for saying and doing wrong things at the worst possible timing.

As such, he was currently trying to figure out what he should do in order to mend his relationship with Melvin, which he seemed to have almost cut off unintentionally,

In the end, Serl hadn't even thought about what he did years before to his son's best friend's family.

The only thought he had in mind when it was something concerning Melvin was to protect him.

Because of that, he had assumed the Orin family to be leeches, which was the first mistake he did, followed by the second, which was to threaten them without even knowing them.

Fortunately, an idea popped up in Serl's head, the moment he received a call from one of the merchants in Katu, who was a distant business associate.

At first, he had wanted to reject the call, but when the butler, who had forwarded the call told him that it had to do with his son, and a blind friend of Melvin, Serl received it without hesitation.

Even if Serl looked like a tall, cold man, with an athletic physique, short brown hair, and ice-cold brown eyes, his core was soft.

The only issue was that he had been betrayed and exploited too often, from every possible side, which made it difficult for him to trust anyone easily.

Other than that, he wanted to protect his family from all kinds of possible harm before anything could even happen to them.

That was also why he had special attention to Melvin's training and turned him into someone who knew how to fight, while having a calm mind in face of adversity, even if a friend, his family, or a lover were to betray him.

Melvin's only problem was his comprehension of the Lightning affinity. Other than that, there was nothing Serl could complain about because his son was simply perfect.

Yet, that was also the reason why his sudden announcement of him staying away from home irked Serl the most.

Trying to calm down, Serl looked at the holographic screen in front of him, where he saw a somewhat familiar chubby face of a craftily smiling middle-aged man who was shouting excitedly through the holographic screen.

"Your son, Melvin, and his friend are really unique kids. It looks like they obtained a [Shockwave Barrage] ability inside the Melind dungeons. Are you trying to let your farm team of Originals grind rare bosses in Katu?

What are you even teaching your son to not know the value of the [Shockwave Barrage] ability? Or did you try to lure me into your honey trap by sending your kid to make business?

Either way, if you need something, just tell me. I offered your son a price higher than most people would get, but I doubt he knows that other shelters would pay a fortune for the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal!"

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Having entered one of the most prosperous stores in Katu, Melvin didn't hesitate to reveal his identity to the secretary.

This caused the secretary to stare at him for a moment before rushing towards the manager who immediately called someone as if something huge was just about to happen.

Perceiving the sudden change in the atmosphere their arrival had caused astonished Nial.

He only knew that Melvin belonged to a rich and somewhat powerful family.

But he had no idea just how influential and wealthy his family actually was until he saw the way everybody in the shop scurried towards Melvin as if he was some sort of elite of the elite.

That was even more evident as a chubby, brightly smiling man arrived in front of them only a few minutes later. He was sweating profusely and greeted Melvin heartily.

Throwing a short glance toward Nial, the chubby man quickly decided to ignore him which didn't bother Nial at all. He was used to being ignored by now.

Instead, he was able to use his mana perception to figure out more about his surroundings.

In the end, they were somewhere in the central district after spending just half an hour riding the shuttle.

Using the shuttle, Nial never actually knew where they would land. A single mistake of the shuttle, and he might end up at the other end of the shelter.

As such, he liked going on foot much better as he could trace back the path he had walked or run along to travel home.

This was not possible with a shuttle, but also not further problematic right now.

Rather than minding this minuscule issue, Nial reverted his attention back to the chubby merchant and Melvin who were already in a heated debate about the price of the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal.

Meanwhile, Nial had decided to occupy the vendor and exchange the 52 poorest Common origin crystals with money.

Through this transaction, a total of 1560$ were now transferred to his Originals ID card.

This was a small fortune for their family, but considering that Sabrina's medicine for an entire week cost about 10,000$ it was far from enough.

Going out hunting every two days given the risks they take and receiving such small gains in return, wouldn't even be enough to generate the required money to cover up the expense of his sister's medicine.

That was also the reason why his parents had been going out to hunt every single day, for more than 12 hours a day, if possible.

Considering that he and Melvin went only out a few hours while trying to adapt to each other's fighting style, in addition to familiarizing themselves with the dungeon's interior and specific characteristics.

As such, Nial couldn't complain, but he was still not satisfied.

Because of that, he slowly noticed that he was becoming greedier and for the first time in his life, thinking about money. But it was something that normally occurred with Originals who were making their first huge gain by selling an ability crystal.

However, even after selling an ability crystal, Nial didn't think that they would be able to make a huge fortune.

Little did he know that the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal was highly demanded by one particular shelter that had many issues with dungeons inhabiting Bat beasts.

In the end, the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal might only be a Low ranked Common ability, but it was one of the strongest sound attack abilities for Origin ranked Originals that had been found by humanity!

Melvin knew this because he had learned a lot from his father, and the numerous tutors he had received knowledge from along with many other influential individuals who imparted lessons to him.

As such, he was able to increase the price of the ability crystal he was holding by manifold.

Yet, Nial noticed something that made him feel uncomfortable about the way both of them were stringently negotiating with each other, which was somehow entirely one-sided.

'Why is the merchant just accepting the high price Melvin quotes without even trying to lower the price in any way? It's almost as if the starting price was way too low to begin with!'

Realizing this, Nial approached his friend and the merchant to understand more but realized that they were already shaking their hands, and had already concluded the deal.

Initially, Nial had wanted Melvin to complete the business transaction because he seemed to be a better businessman than him.

After all, the only business transaction Nial had ever completed in his life was with Arnold Birg which he doubted if it could be even called that.

However, now, when he looked at the two men in front of him, he was not sure of that anymore.

He furrowed his eyebrows to see the chubby merchant walk past Nial with the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal in his hand, only to murmur to himself.

"That's a true treasure...perfect for the Bat plague in Titur!"

Hearing the merchant's whisper caused Nial's mood to sour even further, only to grasp Melvin's arm as he quickly said,

"You do know that we could have gotten more. The chubby merchant just said something about a Bat plague in Titur. Isn't the ability we sold perfectly suited to make a huge profit if transferred and sold to Titur? You cannot tell me that you didn't know about this, your dad is a merchant?!"

Nial was confused about Melvin's attitude, and he almost shouted at him for making them receive a far lower profit than possible.

Yet, instead of throwing an angry retort at him, his friend remained calm, and he seemed to be even smiling at that as he tried to reassure Nial.

"I've planned something Nial, just trust me!... And don't be so restless, why wouldn't I know about Titur...and that the biggest Merchant who supplies resources to Titur is in fact, Juan, the chubby merchant, we just sold the ability crystal to!"

Nial's mouth opened and closed several times before he fell silent, calming himself stupid for not trusting his friend, and he apologized quickly.

However, rather than holding a grudge against Nial for not trusting him, Melvin simply pushed him with his shoulder as he added in a hushed whisper.

"By the way, register a platinum membership with your Original ID card. As a new member, who directly purchases a platinum membership, you will get a 30% discount for the first 5 items you purchase!"

Nial was not sure what exactly Melvin was planning, but instead of doubting his best friend like before, he simply did as he was told.

Yet, before he could even purchase it, the vendor apologized after checking his card's limit and stated that Nial didn't have enough money in his bank account.

"I'm sorry sir, but you need to have 10,000$ in your bank account to purchase the platinum membership. It's a monthly subscription that costs 10,000$ after all!"

This caused Nial to feel a little bit off, but no sooner had the chubby merchant disappeared and reappeared in a moment, everything changed.

The chubby merchant seemed to have been busy with his holographic screen a moment earlier, but had heard his words. Thus, he quickly whispered something to the vendor, who nodded his head while holding out his hand for Nial to hand in the card again.

"Sir, please give me your Originals ID card for a moment, I will immediately transfer the entire money for the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal to your bank account! After that, I'll deduct 10,000$ and you will be registered as a premium member of our store!"

After hearing that Melvin nodded his head, and Nial just threw him a curious look before proceeding to do as asked without knowing what exactly his friend was planning.

Yet, hearing his friend's voice that was directed toward the merchant, he slowly comprehended something.

"Sir, you told me that If I sell you the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal, we will be able to get a 10% discount for all products we purchase this week, right? That doesn't affect the discount Nial receives on his new membership or does it?"

Looking innocently at the chubby merchant, Melvin just wanted to hear him clearly state his affirmation, which happened only a few moments later.

"A merchant...keeps his promises…"

Nial could clearly hear that the chubby merchant was already displeased based on the tone of his voice. But owing to the profit he made from purchasing the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal, he reluctantly accepted everything.

However, the moment he saw Melvin's scheming smile, the merchant knew that he had made a mistake. Just a second later, Melvin lifted his hand as an overly familiar emblem around the size of a baby's fist manifested in it.

"Your store has a merchant agreement with the Tyr family, is that correct? In that case, this emblem is proof that I belong to the Tyr family, and I would like to have another 10% discount on all items I purchase!"

Somehow, the chubby merchant felt as if the Tyr family was on a mission to drain him of his wealth.

First, Serl Tyr was laughing when he had tried to ridicule Melvin in front of his father, and now the little Tyr heir was doing exactly what the chubby merchant had been trying to avoid- amassing discounts!

In order to get their hands on more Originals that would prefer shopping at their store over every other competitor outlet, they had implemented some exciting schemes such as handing out memberships, and the profits one can gain by subscribing to them.

Sometimes people tried to make use of them, and find loopholes one could exploit, but this didn't work in most cases.historical

Unfortunately, Melvin had found one of the flaws his store had yet to figure out.

Thus, he had to reluctantly nod his head, even if he didn't want to.

"That is correct…"

With the merchant's verbal agreement and the vendor and Nial as witnesses, the deal was completed.

Once that was done, Melvin began to search for all kinds of things, leaving behind an utterly dumbfounded Nial, who didn't even realize what was going on.

"What are you doing Nial? Is my almightiness dumbfounding you?" Melvin asked with a scheming smile when he returned to the counter with exactly five items.

Looking at Nial, he instructed him like he was his loyal sidekick.

"Pay for them, you got our entire money, and the membership!"

Handing Nial the emblem of the Tyr family as if it was worthless, the young man turned around and tried to figure out what else they could purchase when they were to return.

Meanwhile, Nial paid for their purchase had a total price of 2,000,000$, which was reduced to 900,000$ after all the discounts.

This shocked Nial extremely, but instead of letting his surprise show, he just handed the vendor his Original ID card once again while trying to keep a straight face.

However, the sweat trickling down his cheeks clearly showed how nervous he was because there was one particular question in his mind.

'Just how much did Melvin earn through the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal?? I think I grossly underestimated its price...just how much of a problem is the bat plague for a common ability crystal to be worth at least 1,000,000$?!?'

Yet, Nial didn't notice that Melvin had still been nice to the merchant because influential individuals on Titur would pay up to 3 million dollars for that ability crystal.

Considering that amount, the chubby merchant had made a huge profit, even if one were to deduct the transportation costs, and risks.

As such, nobody should complain about the resulting situation as the Tyr family had no cheap means of transportation like the chubby merchant, who had also the necessary connections to make everything possible.

Unfortunately, Melvin was not yet done, as he dealt the finishing blow, once they had purchased a total of five goods.

"Sir, we would like to cancel the platinum membership after the purchase has been completed! Thank you very much!!"

Only a few minutes later, the mentally exhausted merchant slammed his fist on the table in front of him and dialed Serl Tyr's number.

"I take everything I said back, Serl...your son is a little trickster!! He tricked me into paying much more than I wanted to!! The majority of my profits have now disappeared into thin air!!"

While ranting to Melvin's father, the chubby merchant had hoped to hear something reassuring, yet, instead of getting an appeasing answer, the chubby merchant could only hear a loud laugh as Serl Tyr commented,

"You know, there is a reason I teach my children properly so that they won't get scammed by older people who cannot take young lads seriously!"

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After Nial had paid for the five items, Melvin stored them away without allowing Nial to get a good 'look' at them.

Instead, Melvin dragged him outside the store and they turned to their left. After walking for more than ten minutes, they entered a side alley where a gigantic gate appeared in front of them.

It looked ancient, and based on the mana fluctuations, Nial was able to sense that the wooden gate had been intertwined with mana since the appearance of the first dungeon ever, or so he assumed.

The density and purity of the mana leaking from the gate were astronomical, and Melvin had to continue pulling him so that they would finally enter the pagoda that was surrounded by flourishing greenery.

Nial didn't see anything, but he could smell the fresh grass, and lush trees, and his sensitive ears picked up the noises made by various beasts.

This astonished him, but oddly enough he didn't feel threatened at all.

Everything seemed extremely calm, and it was almost as if the dangers of the outside world didn't exist in the place they had entered.

"Where...are we?!"

Nial had remained quiet since Melvin had dragged him out of the shop. However, he couldn't remain silent anymore.

The surroundings were way too extraordinary, and considering that they had passed by soldiers that were hidden under the shadows of the gate, the place they had entered seemed to be difficult to enter under normal circumstances.

Yet, Melvin entered it as if it was his home, which astonished Nial.

"Oh…did I forget to tell you? We are in Junades' Dojo. I trained under him, and he sells copies of the techniques he invented! Other than that, it should be possible to rent certain techniques from him if we ask nicely!

If I'm not wrong he is should have returned home from the expedition he started when I left Katu."

Nial just nodded his head, intrigued about Melvin's teacher, whose name was Junades. The name rang a bell, but Nial had never really been interested in news, let alone magazines or any kind of social media. As such, other than the fact that the name felt familiar, he didn't have much to go on.

But then he realised something that astonished him.

"He went on an expedition, wow! That means he must be strong to search for special dungeons and other survivors of the dungeon's descent…Wait, do we even have money?! I thought we utilized every single penny to purchase Sabrina's medicine?"

Earlier, he had been able to barely perceive the outlines of the five items Melvin had instructed him to purchase.

As such, he knew that there was one bow, an armor, and a total of three medicinal solutions among the items they had purchased.

Even though he didn't have the time to figure out what kind or rank the purchased items belonged to, considering that they costed a total of 900,000$ even after the discount of more than 50%, each item had to be extremely expensive.

Thus, Nial had expected that the [Shockwave Barrage] ability crystal to not only is extremely valuable but that its selling price was around a staggering sum of a million dollars.

After deducting the 10,000$ for the platinum membership at the store, they should have slightly more than 90,000$ left.

Yet, Melvin was acting as if they could easily purchase some techniques from a master who was strong enough to leave the shelters and return without any issues!

"Didn't we want to purchase a basic technique from the government...what are we doing here?!" Nial thus asked aloud when Melvin had dragged him inside the pagoda that smelled like old, yellowed paper.

Unfortunately, his friend continued to ignore him and didn't answer any questions.

As such, Nial fell silent and tried to assess his surroundings to understand where he was being taken.

Right now, he was not even able to think properly as his mana perception was severely restricted the moment they entered the pagoda.

The surrounding mana weighed him down, infiltrating his pores, and invigorated him.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been great, and Nial would gladly start gathering and annexing mana in order to fill his small Mana core.

However, Nial was unable to sense his surroundings at the moment. His mana perception was restricted owing to his incapability to release his mana fluctuations to the outside which was annoying.

Because of that, he had to rely on his other senses while slowly adjusting his mana perception to the extremely dense mana.

While following Melvin, who kept walking briskly, Nial had a hard time memorizing the paths they were taking, while simultaneously adjusting to the surrounding mana.

Thus, he gave up on keeping track of the paths after some time and focused on the adjustment process instead.

While walking behind Melvin like a little duckling, it took Nial only ten minutes before he could finally use his mana perception once again.

Afterward, he was finally able to sense his surroundings much better once again.

Thus, he could focus his attention on the area around him, and the fact that they were currently at the highest layer of the pagoda.

"Why didn't we look at the manuals at a lower level? Even if your teacher is back, there is no way I can afford one of the more expensive techniques!"

Nial assumed that the higher the floor he had reached in the pagoda, the rarer the books and techniques available for purchase would become.

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This assumption was also supported by the fact that the mana radiating from the books and manuals increased with each floor they had walked through in order to reach the stairs that led them to the next floor.

Yet, what Melvin said nonchalantly caused him to freeze for a second.

"Nial, since when have you become so restless? We still have more than 300,000$ left! With that and my relationship with Master Junades, it shouldn't be a problem for us to rent one of the stronger manuals for an indefinite time!"

"We...have 300,000$ left?!" Nial almost screamed in astonishment, only to shout out "MELVIN! Why didn't we purchase another Medicinal solution for my sister then? We would have a lot more time to save some money then…."

Upon hearing him, Melvin seemed to become annoyed in the way Nial thought only about his sister. It was almost as if Sabrina was the only reason for Nial to be still alive.

Thus, he turned around and yelled at him.

"If you don't start to use that brain of yours, I'm gonna get angry!! The three medicinal solutions I choose are exceptional and will be more than enough to help Sabrina to maintain her current state for several months!

If we want to improve her situation, the medicinal solution should also be helpful. It might decrease its potency at a faster speed, but even then, we will have more than three months to take care of everything!!

During that time, do you want to become stronger, or do you want to remain as weak as you are right now? If its the latter we should leave and mindlessly conquer dungeons.

Just try to conquer the Melind dungeon's fourth floor without a single technique… Why did you think I negotiated so much with the merchant? For fun? Definitely not! The medicine your sister got is from Titur, the place with the best alchemists. So Sabrina will be fine, and the merchant might be displeased for a moment, but he will still make a profit, so he shouldn't complain.

Rather than being so annoying and selfless, become stronger and improve your strength so we can move on. The treasures that we can find in the first layer of the Melind dungeon don't bring enough money to earn enough to even hire an ordinary Originals doctor...and your sister has a weird disease so we need to start saving up!!!

I have already chalked out a plan, but what the hell are you doing? If you don't start thinking about your own situation, or that of your parents, I will be mad!!"

Staring at Melvin with his lifeless, white eyes, Nial, was not even sure what he should say. He was utterly dumbfounded and was not even able to move a muscle.

He thought that Melvin had already been angry when he had found out that Sabrina was ill, and that nobody had called him to help them.

Yet, right now, while standing in the center of the highest layer of the Pagoda, his best friend had given him a lecture, and the more he thought about it the more reasonable Melvin's way to approach the situation seemed.

He had just thought about the momentary gains that were the medicinal solutions for Sabrina, while Melvin had even thought about Nial's parents, and purchased a few goods for them to protect themselves much better, in addition to the three medicinal solutions Sabrina required.

Thus, Melvin had thought about every single step he would take which allowed him to purchase a strong bow for Nial's mother, who was a bad close combat fighter, and an armor for his father, who was known for injuring himself easily if he had even the slightest chance of defeating a boss or strong opponent through this.

Yet, now that Melvin wanted to purchase a martial art technique that could be used by the entire Orin family, Nial was complaining, and this had annoyed his best friend to the extent that his anger erupted.

"I'm sorry….I was just worried that we might be making a mistake by purchasing an expensive martial art technique."

Sighing deeply, Melvin wanted to launch yet another lecture but saw that Nial was already feeling guilty. Thus, he refrained from saying anything about that topic, except for two sentences.

"Just stop being so selfless and look after yourself too. What would your parents think if you were to be severely injured or even worse, die inside a dungeon just because you cared about others more than yourself?"

After taking a deep breath, Melvin changed the subject as he ordered Nial with a sly smile on his face.

"Now take a look at the techniques, and tell me if you find a suitable one!! If we are still short of money, we shall beg Master Junades to give us a discount...hehe!!"

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