Odyssey of the Blind God

Nial realized too late that Ophelia had left the Colosseum shortly after she pranked him.

He was still holding the Vial with the Dryad Queen's tear in his hand and looked dumbfounded.

Only after some time had passed and everyone had left the Colosseum did he regain his senses.

Card Melphy was the first one to leave the Colosseum and the spectators felt weird staying back when the host had already left.

The U21 Runicier tournament had been the weirdest of all the tournaments the Golden Armaments Union had ever hosted, and it was quite clear that the image of both the Union and the tournament would change quite a bit.

All the incidents that had occurred should have never happened. The image of the tournament was still a thing that could be improved over the passage of time as the incidents would fade from memory.

However, families who lost their loved prodigious child in such an unexpected and terrifying manner would never be able to make up for that loss.

Nial could tell that many reporters would tear the Golden Armaments Union's image into shreds and leave a scathing review the moment they picked up the pen but it was not as if he was really bothered about it.

"Are you satisfied with the Dryad Queen's Tear?" An old voice reached his ears, but Nial knew who it was. He smiled wryly as he turned in Siegfried's direction.

His first reaction was to feel like cursing the old man. However, Nial recalled that Siegfried sent Card Melphy to the Colosseum when Finn, the prince of the Balgris, had caused a tiny bit of trouble

"I got what I wanted. I'm more than satisfied, yeah…" Nial answered carefully, disliking the underlying tone in Siegfried's voice.

"Well, then I am sorry to tell you that this is not the tear of the Dryad Queen," Siegfried smiled as he exposed the truth of the vial Nial had just stored away.

"Wait…what the hell are you talking about?!" Nial asked in confusion, clearly feeling that something was off. He was pretty sure that he could perceive the life essence inside the vial. There was a single droplet of a liquid inside the vial and it was full of vigor.

Even the Ankh reacted intensively in presence of the droplet that ought to be a tear!

Siegfried had to be lying…

"Don't doubt me so quickly," Siegfried added in his unnaturally calm voice as before. He was even smiling a bit.

"The tear you received is the tear of a Dryad Princess, not the Queen. It has been enhanced artificially in the attempt to recreate the Dryad Queen's tear. The final result was surprisingly great but the enhanced Dryad Princess' tear is still far from being comparable to that of the Dryad Queen!" Siegfried explained while watching the changes in Nial's expression in amusement.

He was thoroughly enjoying the current situation and the fact that Nial could hardly control his emotions right now.

"But…why are you telling me this? I mean, I would have never found out about it if you wouldn't have told me just now?" Nial was baffled but he digested the information quickly.

Trying to keep a calm head, he figured that it might be for the best to ask Siegfried for his reasoning to reveal this particular piece of information.

The old man looked at Nial with interest. Siegfried had expected Nial to turn desperate or to start cursing the President of the Golden Armaments Union but to his dismay, neither happened.

"I just wanted to see your reaction, and tell you the truth before you return to the Elven territory, where they will definitely sense that you weren't able to get your hands on a genuine Dryad Queen's tear," He shrugged his shoulders as if he was not really concerned about that like he was doing whatever he wanted just for fun.

"Were the Blaze Dragon's Heart and the Silvergaerd Unicorn Horn genuine then?" Nial asked another question, but Siegfried shrugged his shoulder once again.

"That I don't know, but it might be possible that they're also fake. I merely researched the authenticity of the Dryad's tear because I predicted that the Elves wanted you to get it.

And considering that you live on Jundra, the Empress must have succeeded in merging the Descending Plateau with Jundra. She is definitely a quirky woman!" Siegfried was still smiling but Nial was starting to get annoyed.

Even if he was trying his best, Nial couldn't force himself to take a liking to Siegfried. His instincts told him that the old man was a douchebag and from what he perceived, Siegfried did whatever he liked, whether it affected others negatively or not.

He was self-centered and arrogant and he acted as the entire Universe revolved around him.

Thus, Nial was trying hard not to make it seem as if he hated Siegfried and to end the chat with the old man as quickly as possible.

"Thank you for telling me the truth, but I will have to go now," Nial bowed slightly to Siegfried and abruptly cut off the chat. Siegfried had expected this to happen, which was why he didn't say anything.

He merely smiled as if everything was going according to his plan before he disappeared. Nial had to take a few deep breaths so as to not release all his frustration in a roar that would attract too much attention.

'Finally he left!' He thought in relief after a while before he left the Colosseum as well.

It was past midnight but the streets were still brightly illuminated. Business never stopped and it would flourish when rich Originals didn't need to sleep much anymore. The further their mana core advanced, the more pure mana they could hold.

This would slow down their aging, increase their lifespan, and with time, allow them to live without mortal needs such as food, water, and sleep for ensuring their continued survival.

Nial was still far from reaching such a state but he could stay awake for over a week without feeling too tired out. Thus, even after he finished the U21 Runicier tournament, he quickly rushed through the bustling streets.

He was wearing a cloak over his Tier-2 runic mantle and entered various merchant shops to take a look at their offered goods.

'I have yet to use up all the Origin crystals I was given…so I might as well splurge them a bit, right?' Nial thought, trying to improve his bad mood.

He had worked so hard to get his hands on the Dryad Queen's tear and had even succeeded against all the odds, just to find out that he had been scammed.

It may not be a complete scam and Nial didn't actually know how worse the artificially enhanced Dryad Princess' tear was in comparison to the Dryad Queen's tear, but Nial feared that the difference was big enough.

This was annoying but Nial knew that crying over spilled milk wouldn't help. Having something was already better than sitting around with empty hands.

Despite all the frustration, Nial wanted to make use of the situation as well as he possibly could.

He had enough Origin crystals to spend, had still one free spot to bind an ability to his mana core, and it was only a matter of time before he would create his fourth Ancient Origin ring, thereby opening a new vacancy to bind just another ability.

"Two new ability crystals…and both will have to be compatible with the Odyssey seed at best…wait..that's not entirely true…" Nial mumbled to himself when he recalled something.

Nial had learned the most crucial point of someone's rank advancement after the Prometheus rank. When he got to know a few facts about Deux Originals, he learned a crucial piece of information; abilities could be trained, nourished, and upgraded!

The Prometheus rank opened the last vacancy to bind an ability to the mana core. Humans from Jundra would be able to bind their 5th ability to their mana core by then.

While being at the Prometheus rank, the Origin rings would combine, forming a crystal around the Mana core. The Mana core would slowly be transformed into a seed, called Origin seed.

The Origin seed would slowly remove the bound ability from its body. In this process, the abilities wouldn't be destroyed or their connection to the Original harmed in any way.

Once someone advanced to the Deux rank, the abilities would turn into stigmata that revolved around the crystal around the Origin seed.

The Origin seed would metamorph, liquefy the crystal that enveloped it, and turn into a Mana sea. In the end, the Mana sea would form the moment one reached the Peak of the Deux rank, allowing the Original to gain the opportunity to progress even further.

The size of the Origin seed was directly proportional to the Original's talent, and the entire progress one made when one was at the Origin, Mirae, and Prometheus rank respectively!

The number of enlargements, the quality of the Origin rings, and how carefully the Origin seed had been created were the most crucial factors one could influence with hard work and an unbreakable will.

Through this, one's innate talent may be a factor that determined the beginning of one's journey but the hard work, one's opportunities, and unbending will could change an Original's future as long as they were able to reach the peak of the Deux rank!

By advancing to the Deux rank, one can use special means to train one's Ability Stigmas. That would mean, Nial wouldn't have to stubbornly search for compatible abilities that were well-suited to be used with his Odyssey seed.

'But having more ways to advance my abilities would be better as well…If my abilities become stronger as long as my rank advances, I wouldn't have to waste my time training my Ability Stigmas once I advance to the Deux rank…' Nial was contemplating which path he should choose.

It was good that he didn't have to search for compatible abilities but it was certainly better to bind them.

"Whatever…as long as there is no ability I want badly enough to disregard its compatibility with my Odyssey seed, I will search for compatible ones…" Nial concluded quietly as he spent one hour after another, combing through different merchant shops in search of suitable ability crystals.

Nobody was scared that a youngster at the Mirae rank would steal from them. Thus, merchants were even willing to provide Nial with the opportunity to closely inspect all the ability crystals they had in their warehouse.

Merchants in the Golden City were very nice. Their service was good, and they trusted all their customers to an almost excessive degree.

Nial didn't understand that at first before he asked one of the merchants why everyone was being so nice.

The answer baffled him, especially since he had been cloaked, hiding his entire appearance as well as possible.

"The moment you enter a shop, your mana fluctuations will be registered in the city's AI. If you try to run without paying, you will immediately be registered as a wanted criminal by the AI, and you won't be able to leave the city in any way. The higher your mana core's rank, the more severe the punishment will be.

Once, the entire Golden City had been locked down and the space all around sealed, preventing even DemiGods from using spatial abilities.

When you try to steal something, just know that death is one of the nicer punishments!"