Odyssey of the Blind God

"Is there something else I should be careful of?" Nial asked as he began to laugh lightly.

His mother had purchased various things to prepare Nial for all kinds of situations that could occur when he was alone in the Elven territory with Master Crevian, or when he would be all by himself in the Golden City, where the U21 Runicier tournament would happen.

p The Golden City was the only neutral place on the Ximatra. Ximatra was a large planet governed by more than 10 races officially with separate territories for each of the ten races but more races lived there unofficially with no claim to the planet's land or resources.

The High Elves had a small territory on Ximatra, which was where Nial would end up when it was time for him to find his way to the Golden City.

Nial's hands trembled but that was not only due to his nervosity but mostly because he was excited. The corner of his lips curled upward and if the Maline and Miles hadn't been sure that their dear son was sane, they would be certain that Nial had gone crazy.

"Haha, funny…not… now you are laughing but when you need everything I've purchased, you will be thankful!" Maline scoffed before she turned her head away.

"Mom, don't be like that. I'm always thankful for what you do!" Nial excused himself, flashing a bright smile to his mother.

Maline melted a bit when she heard his response and despite having told herself that she shouldn't act like this, a tear trickled down her cheeks.

"You are…such a hassle…" Maline blurted out which caused Nial and Miles to laugh at the same time.

"I know, Mom, I know," Nial uttered before he sighed deeply as he quietly added, "I think it's time for me to go…"

As Nial said this, he approached his parents and hugged them tightly. He had already noticed that Master Crevian and Meryl were patiently waiting for him as he said his goodbyes.

It was time for them to leave and they couldn't waste anymore time. They were already a bit behind the schedule because Nial required a few more days to test a few things which he had wanted to complete before leaving.

He handed his parents a spatial ring when they separated without saying anything else. Miles, who accepted the spatial ring, looked at Nial in confusion.

"When I return, I hope you will have reached the 10th Origin rank and created your 1st Advanced Origin ring. The stronger your foundation, the higher your life force… I want you to live as long as possible, mom, dad!" Nial said wistfully without thinking about explaining what was inside the spatial rings.

He turned around and left his wooden hut to not give himself enough time to feel sad, let alone to start crying.

'I will return and everything will be fine. Don't worry so much!' Nial told himself over and over again as he joined Master Crevian and Meryl. He took a deep breath while walking down the small flight of stairs to reach the ground. They reached the center of the Forest of Life within the next few minutes without speaking a word to the others.

Nial was trying hard to control his emotions, which was more difficult than he would have expected. Since his memories were spiked with that of Damian, things had gotten more difficult. Sometimes, it was hard for Nial to distinguish the memories and occasionally, he felt pity for other races, while he hated the human races he had seen in his memories.

Nial was not even sure why there were so many different human and human-like races in the universe but it was a fact that they existed.

Under normal circumstances, Nial would have hoped for humans and himself to get an opportunity to befriend them and feel a connection as fellow humans. Belonging to the same race would allow many humans to feel that they were more trustworthy.

However, Nial didn't feel like this at all. His emotions and memories were fueled by Damian's hatred and it was already a wonder that all the memories in his mind didn't turn him against the humans and Elves on Jundra. Sometimes Nial really wondered if he was slowly turning into Damian, or if he would be able to accept his memories just to prevent repeating the same mistakes as him.

The God of Darkness was not a good person, but Nial didn't think that he had been a bad person either. He was just broken and forced to do things others found controversial. But he had done those things to survive and to protect his own race; the same race that abandoned him when he became too powerful.

He was labeled a monster, sometimes a devil, sometimes the tumor of the Universe, and even worse things. However, he just wanted to live in peace and be left alone.

Nial hadn't seen many memories of the God of Darkness' private life or the people he had been close to, but he knew more than enough not to hate Damian, even if his memories would influence him slightly.

"So…I just need to step through the portal and then I will arrive in your Hall of the Summon in Yggdrasil?" Nial asked when he appeared in front of the green portal.

The portal ring created out of the Divinity Fragment of the Empress shone in a bright green color, while the liquid mass inside was emerald-colored with flecks of a faint golden color.

Nial was not able to see this but he could perceive the various altered energies that were merged in order to activate and sustain the portal.

Every minute the portal was activated, lots of energy was used up and it was a waste of time for them to stay idle.

However, Nial didn't hurry to jump inside because one Elf after another emerged from the portal, holding various goods.

Today, the green portal would be activated for the whole day, allowing close to a thousand Elves to come to Jundra. They couldn't bring much equipment and resources with them but what they were able to bring in large quantities were books and their own knowledge.

This was more than enough, especially since the foundation to accumulate resources was already present; knowledge and more manpower!

"You will be teleported to a different hall than us because you'll enter it for the first time. The portal was configured in a way so as to bring all newcomers to a more secure place that was safe for both the Elves and the newcomers. That means, we will be separated for a moment until Meryl or I catch up to you," Master Crevian explained the process to Nial once again.

Nial nodded his head in understanding, not hiding that he had forgotten everything Master Crevian had told him about the portal before. He was simply too excited, which was clearly visible.

"Well, I guess there is no need to be worried about anything. Your arrival has already been announced and someone else might even catch up to you to bring you to your temporary stay," Meryl said, trying to reassure Nial that everything would be fine and that he would not get lost.

However, Nial was not worried in the slightest. He wanted to emerge on Yggdrasil and the only worrisome part was the Golden City, and the U21 Runicier tournament.

"Waiittt, Nial!" A weirdly high-pitched voice reached them just when Nial was about to step forward to enter the portal. He didn't like wasting more of his precious time, especially now that his heart was racing rapidly.

It was Mathias who rushed up to Nial, which caused Meryl to frown deeply,

"Did you just scream like a little desperate girl, Mathias?" She asked in a puzzled tone, ignoring Mathias' embarrassed expression as she shook her head.

"Take this! It is my first successful [Sharpness] runic constellation with a 100% perfection grade. I used it as a good luck charm during the last few months and I think it works pretty well! Use it and come back victorious!" Mathias said with a prideful expression on his face.

In the last few months, Mathias had improved a lot as a Runicier. It was actually remarkable to know how much Mathias had improved and Nial knew that it meant a lot for his friend to hand over his first successful drawing of a perfect runic constellation.

"Thanks a lot…you can take this in return then," Nial said, picking out another spatial ring, which he had prepared for his friend. Miranda was not around because she had something else to do, so Nial removed a second spatial ring from his fingers and handed it to Mathias as well.

"One is for you, the other one is for our master. You will know which one is for whom. Use it wisely and don't fall too much behind me, otherwise, you will only be able to bite the dust when I charge forward!" Nial teased his friend in an effort to hide that he was actually serious.

Mathias had to improve much faster, otherwise, he would be left behind on the battlefield.

That was the bitter reality and a fact Mathias knew very well. He may have created his 2nd Advanced Origin ring and he would soon create his 3rd Advanced Origin ring but that didn't change the fact that it was not only humans who had gotten stronger.

The beasts on Jundra were constantly increasing in strength and they didn't give the human race much time to feel relaxed!

Mathias nodded his head in response to Nial's light 'teasing'. He could tell that Nial was worried about him and that he had to become stronger. All of this was something he already knew about and Mathias would give his utmost not to disappoint Nial and those important to him.

He clenched his fists, bid Nial farewell, and returned to work, determined to become stronger than Nial.

Meanwhile, Nial could only smile as he averted his attention away from Mathias. He approached the green portal and stepped through it without hesitation.

It was time for him to give his all and to strive toward becoming the strongest human on Jundra. When he would achieve that, nobody would be able to force him to obey them or act as if they could control everyone as their puppets.

It was time to change something and to allow mankind to make use of the vast opportunities they had by living on Jundra and Nial wanted to make this possible.

This was not for the sake of the human race, or for himself but to protect his family. That was the most important for him and everything he had worked for; to ensure the safety of his family, and to make sure that his sister wouldn't have to face too many dangerous situations.

Even if she was bound to become powerful, Nial was still not ready to expose her to danger!

"Yggdrasil, I'm coming for you!"