Odyssey of the Blind God
Chapter 18 Public Dungeons

First, Nial had thought that his father had simply exaggerated how extraordinary a Myth weapon is.

However, after entering the slime dungeon several times during the following days, Nial understood that the present he had been given by the blacksmith was much more terrifying than he had assumed.

That was also why he had also dialed blacksmith Arnold's number with the intention to return the Viper spear, thinking that the present was just too much of a burden to accept.

Yet, the blacksmith's reaction upon hearing his words confused Nial.

"I can understand how you feel, or at least I think I do, but the moment you insult me by returning the Viper spear, you will get to know my temper!

If you dare step in my shop with the thought of returning the Viper spear, I will break your neck! If you want to thank me, accept the gift, be quiet and let me never see the spear again! And don't you dare sell it because it will always replace a way back to me!!"

Nial was utterly dumbfounded about the sudden harsh words he had to listen to.

The unexpected and aggressive words of the blacksmith caused him to flinch because only his mother had been so loud in lecturing him before.

Yet, he understood that the anger was masking the trace of sadness in the blacksmith's voice.

Realizing that Nial fell silent and calmed down while trying to not shout back an angry retort.

But it looked like the blacksmith was not far from done as he continued with his outburst.

"This fucking cursed spear, I should have never forged it!"

Yet, a moment later, he heard a familiar voice talking to Arnold from behind him.

"Dad, calm down! You know that it was not the spear's fault! Didn't you want to keep it for the day Jenny wakes up? She will definitely survive the coma caused by the mana overload!"

Not understanding anything, Nial kept silent and simply waited for the blacksmith to reply.

Because of that, he heard the blacksmith's low voice.

"You know that it's just an unattainable dream. She should give up on healing her mana core while being partially in a coma and instead focus on recuperating!"

Afterward, the blacksmith's voice turned louder as he spoke to Nial.

"Either way, Nial, never mention the Viper spear, if you ever plan on entering my shop again!.. I was just able to let go of it…"

With the final words of warning, Arnold Brig hung up, leaving Nial dumbfounded, not sure what he should expect from the Viper spear.

It was now his weapon, and his parents, who knew that he wanted to return the spear he had been gifted, had heard his entire conversation.

After that they had simply exchanged glances before shrugging their shoulders.

"If he doesn't want it back, just keep it. With your mana core talent, you won't be able to exhibit its entire capabilities, but it's more than enough to take care of the lowest and low ranked Rookie dungeons!

You shouldn't have problems conquering them once your Origin rank increases!"

Nodding his head, Nial understood that there was no need to return the Viper spear to the blacksmith.

As such, he spent his days utilizing it to his heart's content without neglecting the other things he had to pay attention to.

Since he was able to do many more things than before, owing to his awakening as an Original, a shortage of time was what held back Nial the most!

Acquiring knowledge about Originals, dungeons, and other things, and learning how to read and write were among his high priority tasks.

What followed next was his practice with the Viper spear, getting to know his new weapon, how much mana was required to utilize all of its functions, and how to wield mana properly.

However, that was not all, and Nial tried to maximize the effects of his [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability without the need to use up any mana.

Instead, he tried to balance out the natural absorption rate of mana with the utilization of his ability.

Unfortunately, this was not exactly worthwhile, and Nial had to discard this step.

Mana gathering techniques existed, and there was also the chance to absorb origin crystals owing to the fact that he conquered the slime dungeon once a day.

Despite that, Nial handed every single origin crystal to his parents, knowing that they required the money for Sabrina's medicine.

With every single passing day, her situation was becoming worse, and Nial knew that he had the capabilities to change their financial situation.

He might still be blind, but with the mana weapon he was wielding, his combat strength might even soar higher than that of his parents.

That sounded weird to Nial, but he realized that the Viper spear was strong and sharp enough to pierce through his parents' weapon and armor without any issues.

It was because of this that he thought of giving the Viper spear to his parents instead, but they had rejected it, telling him that he had been gifted the spear, and nobody else.

Both his mother and father wanted him to have the best possible weapon while fighting beasts in the dungeon and as such vehemently disagreed to take it from him.

As such, Nial had proposed to enter the nearby goblin dungeon, which was called one of the lowest ranked dungeons.

According to the government's laws, every dungeon spawned on their property belonged to them.

Meanwhile, the others would naturally belong to the government, guild, and Originals association.

There was only one way that ordinary citizens could enter a dungeon which was through public dungeons!

Every 4th dungeon that spawned on the government's lands would be open for public use.

As such, the public also had the chance to enter such dungeons as they were not restricted to only the government or private individuals.

At the same time, if Originals were not satisfied with this, they could still look for other dungeons in the wilderness.

The immediate surrounding of the shelter was still protected, yet, overflowing with Rookie dungeons.

However, nobody would be responsible for the death of anyone, if something were to happen in the open!

As such, Nial wanted to focus on public dungeons or dungeons that belonged to private individuals who charged a relatively low fee from individuals looking to enter them!

His mother didn't like Nial's idea of him entering a different dungeon than their slime dungeon that was extremely safe.

After all, it was almost impossible for Nial to be injured while fighting slimes, but Miles held his wife back from dampening their son's spirits.

After awakening his Origin, Nial was becoming more responsible than he had ever been and his entire personality was slowly developing, which was extremely late for his age.

Yet, considering how he had lived in the past with his confidence getting crushed every other day as his peers advanced while he struggled to even complete the most basic tasks, he had now turned a new leaf.

Being able to sense mana and much more instilled him with newfound confidence.

Thus, Miles wanted his son to take responsibility for his own life, and become independent and strong enough to not end up like them.

They did not want their rotten luck to cast its evil shadow on their beloved children wherein they would be too poor and powerless to protect and help the ones they loved the most!

Nial's mana core limit might not be high, but there were always ways to overcome obstacles as long as one was determined enough to give their best!

With enough willpower and money most problems could be solved, and amongst them, breaking through their limits was possible.

There were quite a few problems that could occur which Nial was aware of, but being fully focused on something worked wonders in multiple ways, such as overcoming one's limit!

Using his mana to perceive the different types of notifications about public dungeons on the official Originals website, Nial figured that there were quite a few dungeons that had manifested on the government's grounds.

That was not at all surprising, but it was quite annoying because the military and other organizations belonging to the government were given the first priority to enter governmental dungeons.

Thus, Nial knew that he had to make an appointment at a private dungeon despite their high entrance fees, or he would have to figure out the best way to enter one of the larger, lowest Rookie dungeons that belonged to the government.

'Because I'm blind, the military will exempt me from the mandatory duty… that would require me to be employed by the Originals association and attend a three year apprenticeship… what else can I do?!'

Trying to figure out ways on how to earn money the fastest way would be to leave the shelter, but that was not feasible.

Not only was he too weak, but he would have to pay a fare for a shuttle to drive him around in the wilderness.

Either of the above ways was way too expensive and dangerous for someone who just wanted to enter lowest Rookie dungeons.

Suddenly, just as Nial wanted to avert his attention back to studying as there were still many things he didn't understand, his old phone rang.

[Pseudo Merchant]

Hearing the name, Nial couldn't help but smile.

Leaving everything else he had been doing, Nial accepted the call of the one and only friend he had still retained after all these years.

"Hey Melvin, how are you? I haven't heard from you for ages!"

Nial was excited to hear from his old friend, who hadn't been in the shelter for almost an entire year.

He belonged to a merchant family that were on a business trip to one of the new shelters that was further away from Katu.

Katu was one of the calmest shelters that faced the fewest beast tides, dungeon breakouts and manifestation of overly powerful dungeons.

As such, many Originals would leave the shelter if their talent was high enough, and their hunger for strength equally high as well.

Other than Originals, merchants who wanted to make business deals with the other shelters to keep all of them thriving, and well-maintained were required to travel through the wilderness.

Because of that, he was glad that Melvin was not only alive but apparently also back in Katu!

"Hey Nial, I'm obviously fine. My family just came back from Merc, and it was amazing!! You're home, right? I cannot wait to see you. There are so many things I have to tell you.

Miles and Maline are fine with me coming over, right?"

Nial only smiled, and before he could reply, he heard the overlapping voice of a ringing doorbell, both through the phone and also from outside his front door.

"You're already here? That's great. I have something amazing to tell you too!"

Excited about meeting his old friend after a long time made Nial feel extremely happy, which Melvin noticed.

It had been a long time since he had seen his best friend so excited, and when he stressed his memory a little, he was a little bit flabbergasted to realize that it had not only been a long time but more like Nial had never sounded as excited as today.

Hearing Nial's joy felt good and Melvin felt even better now than he had shown up outside his door to surprise him.

As such, the moment Nial opened the door, he immediately blurted out the reason for his own joy.

"Nial, I awoke my Origin!"

This caused Nial to freeze in place for a moment, only to smile slyly as he replied,

"What a coincidence, me too!"