Odyssey of the Blind God
Chapter 5 Empty Innate Ability

The mysterious seed inside Nial was slowly beginning to transform, pushing out some of the traits he hated the most about himself.

Amongst this was his fear of the unknown.

Though he was not the only person to have this fear.

Almost everyone had this deep-rooted fear and it was extremely common.

However, for him, almost everything fell under the unknown category as he was blind.

Thus, he would always prefer staying at home and seldom dared to venture out alone earlier.

He might be deemed as an optimist by his family, and would always portray his happy self in front of them.

But, in reality, he had faced too many ugly incidents owing to his condition his family didn't know about.

In the past, his trust had been broken and his confidence shattered.

Yet, right now, his entire baggage of emotions and cruel experiences of the past seemed to become less significant. They felt nothing more than distant and fleeting memories.

Through the repulsive energies that seemed to be stored within the mysterious seed, it seemed to gradually transform.

One of the energies seemed to be the Divine energy he had taken from the goddess.

But that wasn't the only energy stored in it. He could sense the presence of another unknown energy that seemed to alter Nial's entire being, including his mindset and specific traits about his personality.

This was scary, but at the same time oddly reassuring because it made him feel much better and comfortable in his own body.

'Maybe if I wouldn't have become blind, I would be different, like what the changes are doing with me? Braver and without that many worries?' He wondered. Though, he quickly discarded the thought only a moment later.

What could have been or what he could have done was not important anymore.

In the end, Nial became who he was through everything he endured and overcame.

As such, Nial would never forget his past and how he had been treated.

Though painful, he would retain these memories to serve as a glaring reminder of how far he had come and from where had he started.

He was of the belief that while aiming for the sky one should never lose sight of the ground below

With a mysterious smile on his face masking the complex emotions he was currently feeling, Nial pocketed his phone.

Leaning towards the ground, he picked up the origin crystal, picking it up without any hesitation.

There was no definite reason as to why it happened, but all kinds of beasts that emerged from dungeons had a small chance to leave behind origin crystals moments after being killed.

Some researchers said that these crystals were the accumulated energy of the deceased beast's origin.

Meanwhile, others were of the opinion that the dungeons had been sent over by something unfathomable to nurture mankind.

This mysterious existence wanted to make them stronger, and prepare them for something terrifying they couldn't even imagine.

And then, there were those people who genuinely believed that everything was nothing but a game!

However the number of people who believed so was low, and only a handful to be precise.

Mankind had suffered a lot, and the dungeons' dangers seemed to be endless.

As such, nobody sane would even think that the dungeons were used as some sort of a game, and mere toys designed for the entertainment of higher existences.

Yet, there were also otherworldly beings that made everything even more difficult than it already was.

In the end, Nial felt as if he didn't know anything. Everything seemed new to him and he was thoroughly confused to have seen and met a true goddess.

And the worst was that her face had been filled with fright at the end of their encounter!

Recalling the look on her face, the moment something within his conscience had deprived her of a part of her divine energy made him shiver involuntarily.

Nial could only shake his head as discomfort surfaced from the depth of his mind.

It was something unforgettable, but at the same time, unbelievable, which caused him to tightly clench his fist around the origin crystal.

However, at this moment he felt that something was weird.

'There is no mana inside it?'

Confused, he frowned deeply, only for realization to strike Nial as a bright smile appeared on his face.

Without a single moment of hesitation, he inserted some of his mana in the crystal, and felt a stream of information entering his mind.

[Mana perception(Poorest)]

"An ability crystal?!" Nial exclaimed in shock as he brushed his fingers on the crystal carefully.

He knew that the first beast one killed had a higher chance to drop an origin crystal.

However, the fact that the origin crystal he held in his hand was, in fact, an ability crystal shocked him greatly.

After all the chance to get an ability crystal was extremely rare and only 5 in 1000 origin crystals!

He almost felt giddy at his fortune and felt that somehow someone was trying to help him end his misery.

Perceiving the words that seemed to be engraved on his mind, Nial was overjoyed.

Because of the high probability of receiving an origin crystal for someone who was killing dungeon beasts for the first time in their life, many people were exploited. Some were even forced to kill beasts, despite not even being Originals.

However, that was a different topic.

In the end, it was odd.

​ Mana perception was exactly what Nial required because it would indirectly help him sense his surroundings much easier.

Yet, the 'Poorest' tag was what caused Nial to hesitate in his pursuit to bind the ability to his mana core.

'I won't be able to bind another ability for a very long time...should I really choose this one?' He asked himself, not sure whether it was better to sell the ability or bind it.

The price for ability crystals was massive and would go up to 50,000$ for the poorest quality of common ranked ones.

Even if the ability crystal he held in his hand was useless for most people, the lowest possible price he could get was likely to be at 10,000$!

While Origin crystals were very expensive because powerful weapons, potent potions, endurable armors and all kinds of unique devices were produced by them, ability crystals had only one use- they strengthened all the Originals who made use of them!

Originals were the wealthiest, but also the pickiest about the choice of their abilities because they could only pick a few in their entire lifetime.

As such, Nial knew that 10,000$ was what he would most likely receive in exchange for the crystal, even though most abilities were more expensive.

However, 10,000$ was already enough to purchase medicines worth two months for his sister!!

Torn between the choice he had to take, Nial didn't even notice that he was grasping the ability crystal so tightly that its sharp edges had cut into his palm.

This caused fresh droplets of blood to trickle on the ability crystal which began to glow faintly.

At that moment, something in the depths of Nial's conscience began to rumble. It dragged him out of his thoughts as he realised what was going on.

"The...seed is showing signs to be willing to bind the ability to it...are they compatible?..Wait, is the seed possibly...an empty innate ability?!"

He was confused, but his hand was trembling in excitement.

Nial's mind was bombarding him with a lot of thoughts and a moment later, he forgot about every single worry he had just a moment earlier.

Shaking his head, he focused on the opportunity in front of him which was worth so much more than a few thousand dollars.

'If this is really what I think it is...I…'

Yet, before Nial could even finish his train of thoughts, his body began to creak, while the ability crystal shattered into thousands of tiny fragments.

Almost instantaneously, tremendous pieces of information flooded his mind, only to pave their way to the seed that had fully transformed.

It almost looked like the seed had finally merged with Nial.

From its initial black color, it was now dyed into a multitude of colors that seemed to repulse each other.

While the seed's base color was crimson-black, it was intertwined with white-silverish strand-like veins, creating a huge contrast.

The seed felt weird, but the binding process of the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability was even more uncomfortable.

In the end, he assumed that the black seed was something Originals usually called 'empty innate ability' which would mean that Nial was an anomaly.

He had not only awoken as an Original but he had two free ability slots to bind to him, instead of one.

There was only one distinct difference in empty innate abilities when compared to normal abilities; one had to search for a compatible ability to bind it to the empty slot!

Originals that had awoken an Innate ability were extremely rare because innate abilities would grow according to the Original's strength.

This made them much stronger in comparison to others.

And as of today, Nial seemed to have transformed into someone like that...an Original with an Innate ability!

It would take some time before the ability settled down, but Nial could already notice a change.

'It is both..a passive and an active ability?'

While passive abilities were constantly activated, active abilities required a specific amount of mana in order to be activated first.

However, he felt that his perception of mana increased without him doing anything, which confused him at first.

Not even the faintest traces of mana within him were consumed to achieve this, either!

Only after several minutes passed did the enhancing process stagnate, leaving Nial with a significant increment in his mana perception!

With a few quick tests, he had easily figured out that his perception of mana had increased, including his control and accuracy over it.

It was only then that Nial realized how strong abilities and Originals truly were!

Before, it had been hard for him to grasp the difference between Originals and unawakened humans, but now, he understood it better.

As such, he couldn't help but gulp nervously, only to insert a little bit of mana into the Odyssey seed, which was the name he gave to the mysterious seed.

In the end, the Odyssey seed was what caused his biggest misfortune.

But at the same time, Nial felt as if it was also the start of a journey that would be filled with adventures, joy, but also pain, sadness, and numerous life-threatening dangers.

Because he felt that this seed was an embodiment of all the above things, he simply called it 'Odyssey', even if it might sound big for a seed.

However, that didn't bother Nial, who had inspected his surroundings with a newfound interest.

Feeling how everything around him was vibrant and full of life force, Nial subconsciously smiled as he turned towards the small training area his father had set up for him.

With the crude spear still in his hand, Nial took slow but confident steps in a specific direction as he carefully picked up the pouch he always carried along. Attaching it to his belt, he turned his attention back to the dungeon portal.

After that, he took a deep breath.

"I didn't make a mistake, right?" He mumbled to himself as his insecurity began to resurface.

However, only a moment later, Nial was overwhelmed by a weird sensation.

All of a sudden, he got a feeling that his decision had been correct and he shouldn't doubt himself about it.

Thus, by telling himself that he had just 'wasted' 10,000$, Nial knew that he had to at least earn the same amount in the following days and weeks.

And the best way to earn such a fortune, in the shortest amount of time, was either gambling, selling his organs in the black market, or conquering dungeons!

Of all the choices available, only the latter sounded rational to him.

With that thought in mind, Nial used the passive effect of the mana perception to observe the slime dungeon before giving his family a quick heads-up.

They would be away for a few more hours and return home quite late from their dungeon trips.

Only after leaving the dungeons would his parents be able to use their phones as there would be no signal inside.

Thus, he had more than enough time to prove it to his parents that his choice to take responsibility for the dungeon and to bind the ability crystal to him had not been a mistake.

It was also enough time to prove himself, and show everyone that the blind person they made fun of was not as useless as everyone believed!

With that in mind, and recalling the humiliation he had to endure from his former classmates, old relatives, and everyone else, who was not his closest family, Nial's resolve turned firm.

He grasped the crude spear with both hands, ignoring the slight pain in his hand that was still bleeding as he stepped through the dungeon portal.

There was not a single trace of hesitation left within Nial.

Just a moment later, he felt as if his surroundings were twisted.

It felt as if he was being pulled through something at a tremendous speed before his senses recognized that his entire surrounding had changed all of a sudden.

As he tried to understand where he had been suddenly dragged to by making use of his extraordinary senses and mana perception, Nial couldn't help but smile weirdly.

"Is...that a cave? Quite ironic, isn't it? Neither I nor the slimes can see...so why do we need light to begin with!"