Odyssey of the Blind God

There had always been instances in which the number of newly manifested dungeons suddenly increased.

It would just be a random and sharp spike that would last only for a short period of time.

As such, nobody was concerned about the growing number of manifesting dungeons.

However, that was not completely true, because Nial felt that it was odd.

At first, the two-element dungeon had appeared, in which many incidents happened, and now he learned about the huge number of dungeons that had manifested as if they had appeared out of thin air.

The news about some of them was not really terrifying but there seemed to have been a few untoward incidents.

This was worrisome, and the only positive thing he could determine was that most dungeons seemed to be cleared after being conquered a single time.

Given that, there was even less reason for anyone to be worried, except Nial, who suddenly felt goosebumps appear all over his body.

Despite that, he also felt excited because this meant that there were many public dungeons that he could enter.

That was great and gave him the opportunity to test the effects of the Curse.

Getting up from the chair, he left the library.

Searching for the shortest route to the closest public Rookie dungeon, he didn't waste much time and paved his way to his destination through the crowds of people.

No sooner had he neared the crowd did he feel his senses being overwhelmed once again.

His excitement disappeared for a moment, forcing the reeking stench of sweat that seemed to have been compressed over and over again, followed by the thunderous noises of the surrounding people talking with each other.

His expression stiffened, and he felt himself incapable of moving for a moment but forced himself to adjust to the differences in the surroundings.

From the quiet and less reeking library, it was almost as if worlds had collapsed when he pushed himself into throngs of people.

Everything felt different, and when he accidentally bumped into someone, his entire body felt the vibrations reverberating through him.

It was odd, but he could tell that he was adjusting to his enhanced senses, which was great.

In fact, it seemed as if he could actively restrict them, while the other way around was also possible by making use of his curse.

[Hodur's Heir] was a unique type of curse which, in Nial's case, meant that it was a curse and an ability at the same time.

At least that was what Nial assumed because he believed that he could activate [Hodur's Heir].

Unfortunately, even after he had inserted his entire mana into the Curse, only his senses had received a momentary enhancement.

To his fortune, he had tested activating the curse inside the library, and not outside, otherwise, he would feel much worse now.

After adjusting himself to the new circumstances, Nial arrived at the closest public Rookie dungeon.

There, he perceived that nobody was present, which astonished him.

This confused him as the Map of the shelter was actively updated every five seconds.

It was comparable to a live update, where the mana radar determined the fluctuations of a newly emerged dungeon.

Thus, the government might not have reached the dungeon in front of him yet to check and verify its existence.

It had very little mana fluctuations and was considered a Lowest Rookie dungeon, which was perfect for him.

His goal was not to earn a huge fortune, nor did he aim to increase his martial art proficiency by fighting powerful beasts that would pressurize him.

Instead, he wanted to test the limit of his senses, his enhanced physique, and how powerful his mana perception had now become.

Being able to sense, circulate and release mana at a rapid pace was essential to being a great fighter.

This was not a strength but a bare minimum that you needed to possess in the Era of Dungeons and mana.

Knowing that very well, Nial had chosen to learn the [Control of the Ancient Monarch] technique.

And that was even more so the case now that his senses had been enhanced!

After all, being better at controlling mana would increase his strength only further.

Determined to adapt himself to everything as quickly as possible, he entered the dungeon in front of him.

There was no hesitation in his movements, and the Viper spear appeared in his hand, which he tightly gripped.

He was ready to kill and to learn more about his strengths and weaknesses.

Thus, Nial released his mana perception to the highest possible level. Hed even inserted some of his mana to activate the [Mana Perception(poorest)] ability, allowing him to sense everything in his surroundings.

Because of the enhancements he had received and his Innate ability, he was prepared to face the dangers lurking in the dungeon ahead.

Right now, he was in a large plain without many plants. The temperature was extremely hot, making Nial feel like taking off his clothes.

Yet, instead of doing something as stupid as running around naked, he bent down to touch the ground he was standing on.

'Is that…ash?' He wondered, not sure what exactly he was feeling.

It was somewhat warm, but not to the extent that he would burn himself.

At the same time, when he took a pinch of ash and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger, he felt something distinct and odd.

By perceiving everything in a radius of close to 150 meters, Nial was able to tell that there were a total of two beast groups in his surroundings.

None of them had noticed him, but it wouldn't take long before that was bound to happen.

As such, he quietly turned in the direction of the smaller beast group that was slightly further away from his current position before he set off.

Only now did he sense that the purity of his mana seemed to have increased while he circulated it through his body.

'Is it really the purity of my mana, or certain characteristics of it that changed? Why does it feel more powerful…'

Nial was sure that the Curse [Hodur's Heir] was at fault for all of this, but he couldn't really tell how strong the difference in strength he received was.

At first, he had no idea how much his physical strength had elevated, while the same could be said about his mana.

However, that was not something he could pay too much attention to as the beasts radiated even more heat than the surrounding had noticed him.

They came in all shapes and sizes, and the groups of beasts inside the dungeon seemed to be different from the ordinary packs of beasts that would mostly roam around with their own kind.

This was interesting, but not to the extent that he would start researching them.

Making use of the information he received through his heightened perception of senses, Nial's mind was quickly flooded with intel.

Most of it was useless, and sorting useful information from useless stuff was amongst the most difficult, even more so in a life and death fight, where he could die at any moment.

Thus, given the data he had acquired even before his first clash with the group of beasts, Nial was able to figure out new things he had to pay attention to.

Oddly enough this was something he looked forward to, thinking that his strength would increase even more as long as he was able to make the most out of the things he had.

After becoming the best version of himself, absorbing and annexing mana would only continue to make him stronger leaving him no problems to fix.

However, this was easier said than done, and doing everything simultaneously would yield the best results.

At least in this case.

After all, perfection was something one could acquire if one were to change and adapt, which meant comprehending the truth behind absorbing mana, improving one's understanding, and altering the body in a perfect way in order to become stronger!

Determined to excel, Nial emerged in front of the closest beast and faced a canine, which he killed with a simple thrust of his Viper spear.

It hadn't even been able to evade, let alone attack him as the Viper spear had already been retracted.

Nial's instincts were on high alert, his physical state much stronger than before, and the mana circulating through his body was pulsating powerfully.

Thus, he had no problem moving through the hordes of the beasts, which he decimated with precise, yet also powerful thrusts and slashes of the Viper spear.

It was much easier than he first imagined, and every single beast fell to the ground, with a loud, almost metallic sound.

This made him curious, and when he noticed that the tip of the Viper spear was a bit warm, Nial stopped his onslaught to properly inspect the bodies of the beasts he had killed.

However, before he could finish his inspection, he sensed an eruption of searing hot metal masses that were flung toward him.

At first, he was confused by this attack tactic but making use of his senses to perceive the noises, the smell, and his mana perception allowed him to understand what was going on.

He was being attacked by a beast that could throw blazing metal masses around the size of a ping pong ball.

Evading them was not difficult because he was able to sense them clearly, which was a great advantage.

Making use of everything he perceived, Nial turned in the direction of the second beast group that had noticed him.

They had already spread out and were trying to surround him, while a bipedal being was firing the blazing metal clumps at him.

The metal clumps were fast, and if not for his range of perception, Nial would have much bigger issues evading them.

It almost looked like the beast was trying to distract him, but that was hardly possible owing to the non-existent difficulty it took him to evade the attacks.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel that the blazing metal clumps were weird, almost as if two elemental affinities had been merged together, or that the ping pong ball-sized metal clumps were sentient.

It was truly weird.

His mana perception clearly detected that something was odd, but Nial had yet to figure out what it was.

However, before doing so, he catapulted himself towards his left in the least crowded area of beasts.

With a sharp thrust, he killed an ape, by crushing its skull…or so Nial thought.

The moment his spear touched the skull he heard a loud clang as if metal clashed against metal, and that was exactly what happened.

He had no idea that the beasts he was attacking were called Machnam. Under normal circumstances, one could easily detect them according to their appearance.

But, because Nial was unable to see, his senses had only been able to tell him that something was wrong, such as the fact that not a single drop of blood had spurted out of the wounds of the beasts he killed.

Simultaneously, he could clearly sense that the metal-like brain was more liquefied than solid which further confused him.

Rather, it was the bitter truth..or to be precise, the bittersweet truth!

Not only were the bodies of Machnam beasts precious because they were used to create various potions but their brain was utilized to create specific parts of the Originals bracelet too!

The moment, Nial perceived the somewhat familiar metal clumps, he figured out what type of beasts he was facing.

'Machnams? That's amazing!'

The realization about what the beast he was facing would have made Nial extremely happy, if not for an issue, which he figured out only now.

'If the metal clumps are the brains of Machnam beasts…why is that beast firing blazing Machnam brains at me?!?'

**

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