Odyssey of the Blind God

Nial's expression changed drastically when Siegfried unveiled that most of the runic constellations he used had either been created by Elves, with their cooperation or that they'd been altered by them.

"I never thought about that…" Nial groaned, feeling a sudden headache.

For a moment, he thought about abandoning his mission because it would be way too dangerous for him to continue participating in the Runicier tournament if everyone could tell that he used only the runic constellations of Elves.

That would draw suspicion onto him and it wouldn't be really difficult to figure out that his temporary identification pledge was riddled with lies.

"There is no need for you to worry about anything, junior," Siegfried suddenly said in a calming manner.

I am probably one of the only few Runiciers, who can tell that your body reeks of your association with the Elves, that you use various techniques related to elves, and that you use their runic constellations as well. Others don't really bother which technique they use, where it comes from, or if these techniques are even compatible with them!" The old man explained calmly before he added,

"They don't even know who created the runic constellations they're using…in fact, most don't think that's important, which is not the case for me, though!"

Nial was not really sure what to think about the old man right now. The situation seemed to be even more confusing than before and he began to doubt that Master Crevian hadn't considered the fact that some people would link the origin of his engraving technique, or the origin of the runic constellations he was mostly using to the Elves.

"What do you want from me?" He asked, doubting the old man, who could only smile weirdly.

"There is no need for you to be so hostile to me. I'm just interested in you, your relations with the Elves, and a few more things related to you. But it's not really something bad, otherwise, I would have already done something to you, don't you think so?" Siegfried asked as he could slowly get a rough understanding of the mystery called Nial.

He could tell that the young blind Original was different because he wasn't familiar with the traditions of the human race of Ximatra. This was quite interesting, especially since it seemed like Nial's connection with the elves was far stronger than expected.

"How about you tell me where you actually come from, and I will help you improve some of your flaws during the next two days?" The Old man suggested, however, Nial could tell that Siegfried's eyes were boring into his head.

"I'm sorry, but I want to be honest," Nial replied before he proceeded to answer, "I don't really know if I can trust you, Sir…"

Siegfried just nodded his head before he pointed out something quite simple.

"I can just tell the Jerk of the Union's President that you are affiliated with Elves, and you will be disqualified from the tournament, imprisoned, and severely punished for being affiliated with the Union's enemy."

The old man sounded calm but it was obvious that he was lowkey threatening Nial to obey him. If Siegfried wanted, he could throw Nial in the pits of hell, whether he used his own strength to achieve this or someone else's.

"To put it simply, you don't care whether I trust you or not, but you want me to fix my flaws by all means…that sounds even weirder…" Nial mumbled in frustration, gritting his teeth.

He could tell that there was not really a way out for him, which was why he chose to accept the fact that he was being blackmailed.

"I come from Jundra. Is that enough to answer your question?" Nial had to control his emotions while attempting to answer calmly.

"Jundra? You mean the Origin? I never knew that it awoke from its deep slumber…" Siegfried lost his composure and almost shrieked while the mana he had perfectly concealed inside his body slipped out for a second or two.

The old man's mana was overwhelmingly powerful, and it forced Nial on his knees before nearly taking him out. Nial would have lost his consciousness a second later if not for the old man who quickly retracted his mana after a moment.

"It didn't awaken," Nial answered in a small voice. He didn't want to answer the old man but something seemed to have forced him to speak out his thoughts.

His expression turned ugly when he realized what had just happened.

'He used some sort of technique on me to force me to reveal more than I wanted to say? I really cannot trust him!' Nial nibbled nervously on his lower lip. He was trying hard to control his emotions but that was hardly possible. The Old man was getting on his nerves.

"So you're here despite coming from the Origin? That's pretty interesting," The Old man remarked. He clearly noticed Nial's expression but ignored it easily. Siegfried merely smiled, not bothering to explain himself further.

Nial had no idea what exactly the term 'the Origin' meant, let alone how it was connected to Jundra, but that was his smallest worry right now.

"I won't answer any more questions. Just because you're stronger than me, doesn't mean that I would allow you to treat me however you want," Nial suddenly said with determination in his voice.

Siegfried merely smiled at this, not taking Nial seriously.

"Is that so? What if I threaten to kill you?" He asked in an amused voice and a huge greatsword manifested in Siegfried's hand as if he wanted to make sure Nial understood that he could be killed at any moment.

The weight of the Greatsword caused the floor of his small apartment to crack but Nial didn't seem to be very impressed.

"Then just kill me. I mean what is this annoying charade? Either leave me alone or treat me fairly. Everything you've done since you barged into my room is disrespectful and the behavior of a savage barbarian, not a civilized human, and certainly not a highly regarded Runicier!!" Nial cursed, his dislike for the old man growing more and more.

"If you want to improve my flaws, behave like a normal human being and offer your help, and don't force me to accept your 'good-will' in such a way! I really hate that!!! Get down from your throne and start treating others the way you want to be treated!" His voice was accompanied by the dark energy that had accumulated deep inside his body.

It reverberated through the entire soundproof apartment ought to prevent any blacksmithing noises from leaking outside. However, at this moment, the soundproof apartment trembled as if caught in an avalanche and his voice could be heard through the entire building.

Precisely, it was the anger and frustration in his voice that reverberated through the entire building. Siegfried raised an eyebrow at this sight and he seemed to be contemplating something as the huge greatsword that rested calmly in his hand disappeared.

He sighed deeply and sat down on a chair he retrieved from his spatial ring.

"I guess, I have been too long with overbearing races which is why I became like them…" Siegfried acknowledged before he spoke to Nial.

Nial was still wary of Siegfried, but he thought that accepting one's misbehavior was a first step in the right direction.

For the following two days, they talked a lot and Nial slowly grew accustomed to the idea of learning a bit under Siegfried. He got to know a lot but that didn't mean he had taken a liking to the grumpy old man.

The old man was still overbearing and he tried to force his ideals on Nial, who refuted this with all his might. In the end, both characters were the complete opposite. They were not compatible with each other and Siegfried quickly noticed that his true agenda for coming over to Nial had failed miserably.

'He can never become my disciple. I would probably kill him accidentally if he keeps disobeying me…' he thought, ignoring that Nial's talent and persistence as a Runicier were quite exceptional.

Nial's affinity to mana was the most exceptional but that was not of any use for Siegfried if the student was someone as bothersome as Nial.

According to Siegfried, he was stubborn, felt like he needed to get treated equally, cherished his 'right or privacy' against getting harmed, and so on.

However, on the other hand, Nial fixed his flaws quickly and he learned at a terrific speed.

The old man was in a conflict with himself but he chose against trying to turn Nial into his disciple. The trouble was not worth the result, especially since the result was likely to be Nial's death.

Siegfried left Nial's apartment for the first time in three days, and there was only one hour left before the second round of the U21 Runicier tournament would start.

"Finally…he left…" Nial sighed in relief before he slumped to the ground.

He had learned a lot in the last two days but the presence of the old man around him was simply too frustrating.

Nial used the last hour before the tournament to freshen up and calm down before he went back to the Colosseum.

200 participants were supposed to be in the Colosseum, but oddly enough there were less than 150 participants at the end of the day when the tournament started.

[Dear participants, dear guests, it looks like we have a small…problem.] The voice of the Golden Armaments Union's President resounded through the Colosseum shortly after the appointed time of the second round.

[It seems like a few participants have not arrived yet. That being said, we will change the rules of the second round.

Instead of starting the second round immediately, we will give everyone present a total of six hours to equip the runic armaments you created to ten runic puppets!

Their data is precisely the information you've received about the 10 mysterious Originals in the first round.

Equip your runic puppets and prepare them for war!]

Card Melphy didn't really sound concerned about the participants, who didn't arrive, but he gave them a grace period of six hours to join.

The spectators thought that this was pretty nice of him, which was why they began to cheer loudly.

While the spectators were cheering, a total of 10 tall puppets created out of metal manifested in front of each of the participants. The puppets were of different sizes and they had various runic constellations engraved on them.

They were of humanoid form and their heads were numbers, ranging from one to ten. Every participant had the exact same puppets in front of them, and their strength was also at the Mirae rank, just as it had been mentioned in the information sheet of the first round.

"Basically, that means I was right? This will be a combat round…just fought by puppets of the same rank and our runic armaments…"