Odyssey of the Blind God

While standing next to the cadets, Nial felt like a giant, which caused him to subconsciously sigh.

There was no standard age at which one had to awaken their Origin. As such, there were toddlers that became Originals only a few months after being born as well as old people whose prime-age had already passed in waiting for their awakening.

Nevertheless, the vast majority would awaken their origin between the age of 8 to 10 years.

Thus, the cadets next to him were around 12 years old at the 3rd Origin stage.

With that in mind, Nial knew that they would act rather childish, even if they had been trained for a few years already.

Military school was a place for families that were not poor, but also not wealthy enough to enter one of the influential schools that had connections everywhere around the nine shelters.

Nevertheless, owing to the fact that the military belonged to the government, it was always in need of more soldiers to clear as many dungeons as possible.

Traumatic incidents such as deaths or permanent disablement of soldiers who would enter such dungeons were fairly common.

Hence, it would allow enrollment of a large number of students as long as they showed some inclination to fight and train hard.

Because of that, military school might only be considered above average, but if one worked hard enough, it should be possible to be transferred to one of the greater military schools in the other shelters, or even to a prestigious university with the help of recommendation letters.

This was something most average families wished for their children, but Nial had already figured out that most younger Originals were too full of themselves.

At least that was the case if the other students of the military school were to be as idiotic as the small group of students around him.

He didn't say anything but he felt their angered gazes on him which made no sense.

Nial hadn't done anything to them so they shouldn't have any bias or prejudice against him.

That was under the assumption that they didn't label him a weakling already for being blind and a late bloomer!

However, in the end, it didn't really matter because he would go his own way once they would enter the dungeon.

Fortunately, this didn't take too long, and Nial used the time in which they had to wait to receive the government worker's approval to scan the spatial ring that blacksmith Arnold had given him.

He had never really liked wearing any accessories, so he had half-expected the ring to be uncomfortable to wear, but luckily that was not the case.

It was rather comfortable and after inserting some of his mana into it, he felt as if an entire dimension had opened up and expanded in his mind, allowing him to visualize the various items stored inside the spatial ring, followed by an even larger empty space.

'So that is how a spatial ring looks from the inside!' He thought with a faint smile on his face before he began to investigate the items inside the spatial ring.

At that moment, the soldiers requested blacksmith Arnold to leave which he reluctantly did.

Meanwhile, Nial didn't even notice anything. He was simply staring at the contents of the ring in fascination because none of them were of a low rank and grade.

The lowest ranked item he found were Mid rank Common quality vials because they were the most potent serums Nial was able to drink without damaging his body.

Additionally, there were various types of flash grenades, at least a hundred liters of water, preservable food for an entire month, and much more.

Other than that, the Fang spear, which was the prototype of the Viper spear, was also stored inside the spatial ring.

In fact, the Fang spear was exactly the same as the Viper spear, in terms of looks and ability to release and extract its blades.

The only thing it was lacking was the poison crystal but it was not much of a jarring difference for now.

He was not able to use the crystal either way. As such, the Fang spear was as good as the Viper spear, even if Nial felt that his connection was not as good with the Fang spear as it had been the case with the Viper spear.

However, that was negligible and nothing he would fuss about.

Satisfied with the inspection, Nial turned his attention to the government worker, whom he had just perceived walking towards them.

"Because this is the first mission of the Junior military unit #243, survival will be the highest priority, followed by gathering of information, and the students' rescue! The laws of the government and military won't change just because you will enter the dungeon, so I expect everyone to behave properly!

I hope I have expressed myself clearly enough and you all would behave, otherwise, we might encounter each other again, but not in a dungeon, or anywhere near it, but in the court! Last but not the least, do not look into the eyes of the petrification rats as instructed earlier.

Now, go!"

While the loud, yet high-pitched voices of the cadets shouting, "Yes, Sir '' resounded in Nial's ear, he couldn't help but turn towards the government worker.

He didn't feel that the middle-aged man was friendly and approachable enough for him to ask a doubt.. Nevertheless, Nial was confused by his words.

'Is the order really like that? Information before rescue?'

However, even if that was the case, his priorities were different than the military's, to begin with.

With that in mind, he followed the kids that ignored him as they went through the dungeon portal without a sliver of hesitation.

He was amazed by their confidence but apart from that, there wasn't anything else that he found interesting about the bunch of kids so he simply stepped through the portal with them.

Just before entering the dungeon, he had taken the Fang spear out of his spatial ring, followed by a belt with a few vials that he strapped across his waist to make use of in emergencies.

After stepping inside the dungeon portal, he felt the two intertwining energies of the dungeon enveloping him tightly, and it did not take long before he emerged on the other side of the dungeon portal.

However, during the short moment in which he was transported to the designated position, Nial couldn't help but feel odd.

Somehow, he felt as if the darkness and light energy that enveloped him were something he was familiar with.

Yet, it was much weaker than he thought it should be, and just as he stressed his memory to recall something about the darkness energy, his mind went blank.

He remained in that state just for a second but that was more than enough to give him the chills as it felt like he should definitely know what exactly the darkness energy truly was.

Unfortunately, he couldn't remember where exactly had he heard of the darkness transmuted before, or where he had sensed something that felt similar to it which bothered him, even more so as he heard the young cadets' annoying voice.

"It's so cold here…why did we have to come to this God-forsaken place? It's muddy and it doesn't look warm inside the cave either… I should have remained in school..."

Following that comment, Nial frowned, only for his frown to deepen as one of the young cadet's friends nodded in approval while lamenting further.

"Why did these stupid students have to enter the two-element dungeon…they're really fools, and Ms. Melion even says that some of the students that are still missing are older than us..hahahha!"

Nial realized that the young cadets didn't take the dungeon seriously. As such, he ignored their rant and diverted his attention to trying to recall where exactly he had felt the darkness transmuted mana before.

However, even after a few minutes had passed, he had no idea, which was different for the light affinity.

It was not the same as he recalled, but how could he forget the divine energy of the Goddess who had awoken his Odyssey seed as well as his origin?

The divine energy had been much more profound, but he could clearly feel a trace of holy energy within the minuscule amount of light energy that was intertwined in the seemingly endless darkness transmuted mana!

As such, he was intrigued by the dungeon.

Nevertheless, he didn't let his excitement make him forget his mission and the fact that he had entered the two-element dungeon in order to rescue Shana.

That was his only mission, and given the fact that the petrification rats were unlikely to be around the open field they had entered, they must be inhabiting the cave, of which the young cadets had spoken about earlier.

Nial might not be able to see anything, and even his mana perception didn't allow him to perceive anything beyond the range of ten meters, but that was no problem because he could hear, sense and smell his surroundings.

As such, he knew that they were in the plains that had turned into a muddy and slightly marshy field owing to the rain.

Other than that, he heard the rustling of trees from behind and next to him.

The almost inaudible sound of the faint gust of wind blowing through the leaves came to him from far away, but he was able to hear it.

Given the information provided by the young cadets, he could also pick up the faint scent of mold and ammonia that became intenser the closer he approached the cave.

In the end, he simply followed the young cadets that approached the cavern entrance without any hesitation as if it was just an ordinary school trip.

They were complaining about their situation and gossiping with each other, but by focusing on the young cadets, Nial noticed something interesting.

'They're just nervous?' Given the fact that it was their first mission, that should be the case.

However, because all of them had put on a rather brave and nonchalant expression, Nial had simply disregarded this possibility.

Despite that, the closer they came to the cave, the quieter they became, and Nial was able to clearly perceive their mana fluctuations that were stiffening at every single noise that came from the interior of the cave.

There were many noises he could hear, and after sensing their mana, which exposed how they actually felt, Nial couldn't help but feel that the kids were simply being childish and might not be as bad as he had thought before.

They might be ignoring him, but that was possible because they had always been trained to work with their small team.

Other than that, trusting a stranger was something almost everyone was taught not to do.

As such, he was not only a blind person at the 1st Origin rank to them but also an unknown variable that could most probably turn into unnecessary baggage.

With that in mind, they had unanimously decided to simply ignore Nial as their teacher had told them that it was fine to do so.

Because of that, Nial followed them but kept a certain distance from them, knowing that he shouldn't throw a fit right now.

In the end, he wasn't too keen on being a part of their group either, but he had to get to know more information about the dungeon too, and given the fact that not a single beast had shown up until now, something was definitely wrong!

Yet, just as he thought about the scarcity of beasts, numerous squeals resounded through the walls of the cave, reaching the cavern entrance in no time, only for a thunderous roar to follow suit, alarming Nial and the young cadets.

'And…that is where I'm supposed to go down?''

**

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