Odyssey of the Blind God

Just like announced earlier, Nial completed the ten F-rank missions within a few hours. He completed them quickly enough for the receptionist in the Guild hall to upgrade him to an E-rank Adventurer without hesitation.

Afterward, Nial required a day to finish 25 E-rank missions that were interlinked to one another. In addition to that, he took four days to complete 25 D-rank missions.

Once he completed the D-rank missions, he ought to get ranked up to a C-rank Adventurer. However, most C-rank adventurers were already at the Deux-rank, meaning that Nial had to pass the assessment exam to be eligible to advance to Rank C!

"When you're ready, please inform me or my colleagues. We will let you challenge another C-rank Adventurer and if you can defeat him or her you will advance!" The receptionist told him, which caused Nial to question something.

"What if I challenge one of the C-rank Alcam or Keril?" He thus asked the receptionist, who looked at Nial with a faint smile on her lips.

"You can challenge them but don't underestimate them. They might have advanced to a higher rank because they completed missions related to their profession but their strength might as well be higher than that of a normal C-rank Adventurer!" The receptionist warned while subconsciously handing Nial information that he had yet to figure out.

"Does that mean I can also use my profession as a Runicier to advance through the ranks?" Nial asked with a meaningful smile on his face as the receptionist nodded his head slowly.

"That is correct…but you would have to be acknowledged by the Alchemy or Runicier association and show me the official document that you are either a Master Runicier or Alchemist to advance to C-rank," The receptionist explained and Nial's smile widened.

"Is that why I never saw any missions related to runic armaments and potions? Because I don't have access to the catalog for those missions?" Nial assumed, which the receptionist affirmed.

This was enough for Nial to keep smiling and to leave the Guild hall.

"I will come back soon. Prepare my C-rank badge!" He stated in a confident voice before he took his leave.

Ryu had no idea what was going on but the wingless Gryphon followed Nial quickly. The receptionist was left behind with a confused expression as he looked at the fleeting image of the young human Original.

"Should I really prepare everything already? Why do I feel like he will come back in a few hours with a bunch of certificates?..." He mumbled to himself before he discarded this thought and went back to work.

Meanwhile, Nial left the Guild hall before rushing to a place that was mostly occupied by the Keril race and a bunch of customers that were trying to buy various runic armaments.

"How may I help you, Sir? Are you in need of new weapons, or do you plan to purchase new armor, maybe some accessories with unique effects?" A young attendant of the Keril race asked when it was finally Nial's turn.

"Is this Tier-2 runic armament something only Master Runiciers can create? If not, what type of runic armaments do they usually create?" Nial asked as he retrieved the Tier-2 Eclipse Spear from his spatial ring.

The Eclipse Spear was one of his best runic armaments, which was why Nial wanted to know how he was faring with respect to the others.

Master Crevian had never told him the ranking system of Runiciers because he thought that it was not important. Nial had been pretty sure that it was not important either, until now at least.

"That is a Tier-2 Runic armament…Usually, only a master should be able to create something at that rank, but there are exceptions because a master has to be able to create a wide variety of Tier-2 runic armaments in order to be considered a True Master of his work, not just an Expert!

So—..." The young Keril was just about to keep explaining what the difference between an Expert and a Master was when he heard a small commotion in front of him.

He had been observing the Eclipse Spear with interest because it had been created with a wide variety of runic constellations. Most runic constellations were quite simple and not exceptional if they weren't connected to all the other runic constellations, creating an elaborate and properly working network like a spiderweb.

That was why he was so interested in the Eclipse Spear, especially since the connection between runic constellations was perfect. Yet, upon looking up, the young receptionist of the Keril race found himself in front of a batch with more than 10 Tier-2 runic armaments created out of a wide variety of runic constellations.

"Would that be enough to be considered a Master Runicier?" Nial asked, flashing a smile at the receptionist, whose mouth opened and closed several times as he struggled to form a response.

He had stopped moving and looked helplessly at all the Tier-2 runic armaments before his head turned back to the end of the room. His eyes sought help and one of the Runiciers, who passed by, approached his colleague, who explained the situation.

The young Keril spoke quickly and the Runicier grasped the Eclipse Spear before he took a look at it.

"That's definitely the work of a Master Runicier. I can tell that the spear has been forged by an expert but that doesn't really matter because the runic constellations were engraved in a near-perfect manner," The Runicier of the Keril race switched to the universal language as he eyes flicked over to Nial. He noticed Nial's lifeless and milky white eyes, which caused him to look at the young man with bits of interest.

"Did your Teacher ask if his work is already on par with a Master Runicier? or Why are you bringing all the runic armaments to us and bombarding us with these questions?" The Keril Runicier asked while keeping his eyes on the young-looking human Original.

"I created all of them, and just wanted to know if I'm already on par with a Master Runicier. Now that I figured that I am actually on par with Master Runiciers, I would like to conduct some sort of test and get a certificate to show the Guild hall, if that's possible," Nial spoke quite nonchalantly as he retrieved his runic armaments.

Bits of his Essence of Darkness shot out and he shrouded the Eclipse Spear that vanished out of the Runicier's hands, whose eyes squinted.

The young receptionist was about to say something about Nial's comment but the Runicier lifted his hand, preventing the receptionist from saying a single word.

"How old are you, human?" He asked instead of showing any discontent for Nial's ridiculous comment. Nial was only at the Prometheus rank and he didn't seem old as well.

The higher the rank of the mana core the longer one could live. That was also why it was quite difficult for many people to gauge the age of others. However, there were still certain indicators that showed inexperience of life, whether it was someone's behavior, way of thinking or something else.

"I should be around 22 years and six or seven months. I have not been keeping track of time ever since I began traveling around a bit before I spent some time in seclusion," Nial answered with a shrug, understanding that he gained some suspicious looks because of his vague answer.

"You say that you're a Master Runicier at the age of 22? That sounds like lots of bullshit!" The receptionist suddenly exclaimed while the Runicier who was standing next to him kept looking at Nial.

"Are you sure that you want to take the test? You'll have to create three different Tier-2 runic armaments of the same quality as the ones you revealed earlier," He said after a while, and Nial thought about it for a moment.

​ "I'm not a very good blacksmith or Alchemist…so if you want me to create the runic armaments from scratch, I might need a little bit more time, and the aesthetics won't be pleasing either. But yeah, I want to take the test," Nial answered honestly, which made it seem like he was actually sincere about his request.

The Runicier nodded his head before he gestured Nial to follow him. Nial did as requested and the two left the receptionist behind, knowing deep down that he was being glared at.

"You won't be required to forge or create the runic solutions during the exam. Just engrave runic constellations on any type of equipment you want using whatever runic solution you desire!" The Runicier said as he led Nial to a large room that was filled with everything Nial could wish for.

"Is this place a Heaven for Runiciers?"