Odyssey of the Blind God

Chapter 3 Dungeon

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.

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.

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!