Odyssey of the Blind God

There was not much for Nial to do to finish the registration. He paid the participation fee and handed over his temporary Identification pledge and Health certification while the attendant did the rest.

It was quite easy and there were no problems, which relaxed Nial a lot.

"Is there something else I can help you with, Sir?" The attendant asked when he completed the registration, which led Nial to his next topic.

"I've heard something about a 'Golden Challenge'. What exactly is this challenge?" Nial asked the attendant, and the Stilak in the queue next to him turned their heads to him.

They realized that Nial had heard their conversation but they could only smile weirdly because the young Original didn't seem to know about the most basic things about the Golden City.

"The Golden Challenge is a special event held in the Artisan Arena. Every month a new Golden Challenge will be issued and if someone can solve it, they will be rewarded. Even if a challenger manages to complete half the task required to complete in the Golden Challenge, or reaches a certain threshold, he or she will be rewarded accordingly.

This month's Golden Challenge seems quite simple at the first glance because you have to decipher all the runic constellations engraved on a weapon. However, don't be fooled! Some challengers, who were able to decipher more than 300 runic constellations that had been engraved on the weapon, were barely able to receive a consolation prize! Only the most knowledgeable Runiciers may be able to name all the runic constellations!

But the rewards are not something that should be of interest to these Runiciers…" The attendant noticed that he was blabbering unnecessarily, so he decided to cut it short.

Nial seemed to be contemplating something before he discarded his thoughts a moment later.

"Artisan Arena? What is that? And what is the first prize for deciphering all runic constellations?" Nial asked in curiosity.

He knew that his knowledge wouldn't help him in fulfilling the Golden Challenge. He knew a few runic constellations but they were all Basic or Intermediate ones. The number of runic constellations he knew was also fewer than 300, which meant that it was not necessary for him to give the Golden Challenge a try.

Nonetheless, what he heard was quite interesting.

"You don't know the Artisan Arena?...Hmm…to put it simply it's like a normal arena where people fight, just that you are fighting as Artisans. That means you and your opponent have a certain amount of time to create a specifically requested runic armament. The winning side with the better runic armament will receive money, knowledge, and prestige," The attendant explained in easy words before he threw a glance behind Nial to see how long the queue had gotten.

"As for the task to secure the first place in the Golden Challenge, it's a Spiritual Tool, an Engravic Knife for runic constellations," He hastily added, secretly hoping that Nial wouldn't ask anymore questions. The queue behind Nial was increasing, which was a bit bothersome.

Nial noticed this as well but he didn't move hastily. He sorted his thoughts and nodded his head.

"So it's like that? Thank you very much, have a nice day," Nial said once he was ready to leave. The attendant placed his right hand on his heart before he bowed lightly. This seemed to be the traditional way of thanking someone and wishing them a nice day.

Nial merely smiled before he left the Golden Armaments Union's headquarters. His task had been completed and he had also gotten to know quite a few pieces of important information.

The old human with a long beard kept looking at the retreating figure of Nial, who easily evaded the fast Originals of various races, who strode past him.

The Originals didn't even see Nial as they rushed through the ginormous hall. Nial paved his way through the crowd as briskly as possible without looking up as it wouldn't help, either way.

"Great reflexes…or did he perceive where they would go before they actually moved?" The old man mumbled. He was lost in thoughts while he caressed his beard. Half of his mind was inclined to abandon his position in the queue to follow the young man, but before he could act on it, he heard the attendant's voice from next to him.

"Hello Sir, how may I help you?...Oh…?Siegfried…is that you?" The old man turned to the attendant with a frown, but the young man seemed oblivious to what he was doing.

"Why would you be here? Just go to the VVIP counter, or call your manager if you need something…" the attendant seemed to be lecturing Siegfried, which caused the old man to glare at him.

The young man turned quiet in an instant and he bowed deeply to apologize. Siegfried frowned and he shook his head when he understood that his cover and act had been blown up.

"Just call your President, and tell him that he shouldn't exhibit my weapons for entertainment. I am fully aware of what he is trying to achieve with the Golden Challenge this month!" Siegfried's voice was low but his eyes pierced straight through the young attendant's soul.

The young man flinched and he began to tremble as his hand moved slowly to the messenger crystal that looked just like one of the old office phones with a cord.

Siegfried was not to be taken lightly and all the Artisans and Originals, who were beginning to realize that the old man was anything but a commoner, looked at him once again.

"Is he really Siegfried?" A few Originals wondered as they couldn't sense anything special about the old man.

However, others trembled as they shook their heads.

"Don't underestimate him. He is the one, who created the runic armament that is used for the Golden Challenge…" One of the more knowledgable Runicier said, his voice shaking in excitement.

"Does that mean he is here to stir trouble? I wouldn't feel great if someone were to use my masterpiece to test the talent of challengers participating in the Runicier tournament. I would be fuming in anger…" A Stilak spoke in an enraged tone as if he was in place of Siegfried, who was being 'exploited.'

"You think they're testing the Runiciers with the Golden Challenge?" The oblivious voice of a few low-ranked Runiciers and Originals resounded through the big hall, causing a commotion.

The voices within the hall started to get restless and it was quite obvious that this was exactly what Siegfried had intended to achieve. A faint smile appeared on his face as he smiled at the pale attendant in front of him.

The young man was sweating buckets as he saw the old man's eyes twinkle in excitement.

"So that's why the Golden Armaments Union was willing to hand over a Spiritual Engravic Knife to the Runicier, who was able to decipher every single runic constellation on the weapon!" Not even a moment elapsed before the voice of a young woman echoed through the surroundings, making Siegfried chuckle.

"How long do I have to wait? Does he want everyone to know that the Golden Armaments Union is trying to steal the Runicier prodigies from all the races who participate? This would be funny, wouldn't it? Becoming the common enemy of all 10 races…sounds fun doesn't it?" Siegfried asked, donning a stoic expression.

"H-h-he will be here soon…t-the President I mean…p-p-please stop this now…" the young attendant was cowering in fear and sounded genuinely concerned about what was going to happen. Siegfried didn't feel like pulling someone innocent in his scheming after looking at the youth's pitiful face. Thus he lifted his hand and released a trace of mana.

Moments later, everyone quieted down and a bunch of Originals left the Union's headquarters without saying another word. They were the Originals, who were instigating the crowd, and manipulating everyone in the hall.

The young attendant noticed this but he didn't say anything. A mere glance toward Siegfried was more than enough to tell that the old man was showing mercy.

"Just consider yourself lucky," Siegfried said in a warning tone before he turned his head in the direction of the headquarters' entrance.

'A blind Runicier…how long has it been since I met one like them?' Siegfried wondered with a faint smile on his face.

"We will see how much potential you have, little human…at least it should be better than your innate talent with Mythic energies…." He mumbled quietly, further confusing the young attendant.

Meanwhile, Nial had no idea what had happened in the Union headquarters ot that he could have met the creator of a high-ranked runic armament.

"To think that it's possible to create a runic armament with hundreds of runic constellations. If the Golden Challenge is to decipher the runic constellations, all of them have to be connected and overlapping as well, otherwise, the challenge wouldn't be difficult. So interesting!" Nial was quite excited and he looked forward to the U21 Runicier tournament.

It may not be packed with action like conquering dungeons but it was certainly interesting.

Nial had heard a few rumors about the U21 Runicier tournament and that it would have some rounds that were quite action-packed but he couldn't really imagine it to be overly interesting to forge a weapon and engrave runic constellations on it. It was a different type of action, at the very least.

"Maybe we will have to fight each other with the runic armaments we created? No..that cannot be… Something like that would mean that one's mana core rank would determine the winner…or it would be a major advantage for them, at least," Nial shook his head when he finished mumbling to himself.

It was quite obvious that there were a few things that worried him a bit. The fact that his mana core rank was so low was one of the most apparent and frustrating things. He would have advanced to the 3rd Ancient Mirae rank when the U21 Runicier tournament started.

Others would have advanced to the Prometheus rank by then, or they would be at the peak of the Mirae rank at the very least.

Nial was pretty sure that he would be disqualified if such a round were to be held during the U21 Runicier tournament and he knew that it would be impossible for him to do anything against it.

That was why his mind was rather calm despite his helplessness.

Fate was against him if he would lose in the Runicier tournament just because of an unfair round. There was no need to think too much about it, and searching for a good place for a temporary stay was much more important.

Nial quickly found a unique hotel where one could rent an apartment complex that was connected with a smithy and a rather wide area where one could engrave runic constellations or concoct potions.

There was no need for him to concoct any potions because he had more than enough stockpiled but Nial concocted potions nonetheless.

This was necessary for him to get more accustomed to the concoction process of various runic solutions. They were not hard to create but it was still better to get accustomed to the process. The exact same could be said about forging.

Nial was not very proficient in it and he couldn't refine metals well, meaning that he was not adept at decreasing the impurities within metals but that was also something he was fine with.

He couldn't be perfect, especially since practice led to improvement, not perfection.

And the time he had to study concocting potions and forging of weapons hadn't been long, 13 months that were mostly occupied with engraving runic constellations, to be precise!

**

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