Odyssey of the Blind God

Nial clearly remembered Dilan, the Undying, easily enduring the pain of getting killed thousands of times while retaining his sanity to a certain degree.

This was something Nial was clearly jealous of since he did not have that level of patience or endurance. His mind was being fogged by the desire to switch off his pain receptors and turn into a madlad that was not afraid of pain or affected by it anymore.

He was not sure how long it took before the reinforced dark energy was solidified and anchored inside the Sea of Darkness, but Nial felt extremely exhausted.

In fact, he even gave in to exhaustion and decided to lie down on the ground of the isolated room for a few hours despite its appearance of having sustained an earthquake. Even the runic constellations that were supposed to repair everything that had been damaged failed to function correctly after a while.

That was something Nial realized only when he regained his consciousness after an awfully long time in which his Sea of Darkness regenerated from the wear and tear caused by the pressure and damage it had sustained during his breakthrough process to the Keltia rank.

The foundation of the first Darkness Pillar had been completed, indicating that he had advanced to the Keltia rank, and he could clearly feel that his strength was still increasing.

'50%?...The foundation of the first Darkness Pillar increases my raw physical strength by more than 50%?'

Nial was trying to sense how much stronger he had gotten after advancing in his rank but that was easier said than done. The isolation room didn't provide him with enough means to test his strength and it was not as if his mind was accustomed to the changes that had occurred. It would take a few hours, or possibly even days before his body and mind would be in sync once again.

With that in mind, Nial chose to leave the isolated room and return to the surface where he met up with Melheim Zorn, Michael Ignis, the Dracos Leader, and Master Crevian.

"Evalyne is still in Yggdrasil with that nasty Dragon youngling, or will she come over later?" Nial asked when he noticed that he couldn't visualize the Royal Princess nor the Greater Forest Dragon youngling that had hatched more than three years ago.

The Greater Forest Dragon youngling feared Nial but it felt a pull toward the blind Original nonetheless. It was almost as if its body was naturally inclined to stay in Nial's surroundings while its mind wanted the exact opposite.

Nial didn't really understand why the Dragon youngling feared him, or why it was attracted to him, or possibly his dark energy either, and the same was the case with the others. They had no idea what was going on with the Greater Forest Dragon youngling, which was one of the many reasons for it stayed in Yggdrasil and was raised there.

The Royal Princess was trying to become the partner of the Greater Forest Dragon youngling and get it to trust her simply because she was the heiress of the Elven races. She would inherit the Empress' entire empire in the future and it would make things much easier if she were to be a Dragon rider. It would be even more impressive to be a Dragon rider of a fully matured Greater Dragon.

Nobody would even think about challenging her for the right of the throne if the Empress passed away, or stepped down from the throne.

"She is in Yggdrasil, but I brought over something very interesting!" Master Crevian said with a tinge of jealousy and excitement.

Nial didn't say anything in response to Master Crevian's comment because he was baffled about the object the Old Elf revealed from within a small jade box.

A tiny splinter of a wooden branch was instantly visualized by Nial. It didn't seem like anything special at the first glance but Nial could instantaneously tell that it was something of immense value based on the way Crevian's eyes twinkled.

"A fragment of Yggdrasil's branch?" Nial wondered while he was still exhausted from his breakthrough. Apparently, two months had passed since he had left to advance to the Keltia rank and all necessary resources had been procured.

The working force was also ready to give their all, whether it was Elves, Dracos, or even some members of the Shelturion's rebel army!

At first, everyone was against taking in the Shelturion race's rebel army since it was a clear declaration of war against the Shelturion race's government. It showed that the new shelter would protect the rebel army and that the shelter sided with them.

However, that was not what Nial intended to do. His opinion of the entire situation was completely different since he had come up with a detailed plan in mind beforehand.

"War refugees are accepted by the shelter, no matter who they are or what race they belonged to. As long as they didn't do anything that is unforgivable, I will accept them. The shelter will have a tribunal of life and death where you can challenge someone to a life-and-death battle, either way. To boot that, there is also my Dominion ability through which I can figure out what kind of bad things newcomers have done," Nial had explained at that time, not wanting to make a big fuss out of it and calm everyone down. The Shelturion race's rebel army was very helpful with its various pills and potions.

At the same time, they could create various complex mechanical systems that were incomprehensible for someone like Nial, who had no idea how to create high technologically advanced systems within a shelter.

The Dracos and Elves could hardly gauge what the Shelturion was capable of either. Thus, to replicate and create an even better system than the Alliance City had used, they would need the Shelturion.

In the end, everyone accepted the rebel army of the Shelturion who was overjoyed to find a new home, a home that was above the surface and where they could let lose their unfathomable intelligence without fearing getting found out, and brought back by their government.

There was no need to fear being tortured for years before they would show mercy to you and end your life!

Nial knew that the Shelturion would stay loyal to him since he raided their underground laboratory without killing any of them even if he could have done so easily and instead gave them great opportunities to get funded and even regain some of their power.

They were weak in terms of combat prowess but that was only fair since their talent lay elsewhere. Accepting them into the shelter despite knowing the possible risk of being attacked by the rest of the Shelturion race was something far more valuable to the rebels than Nial could fathom. He could only guess that they were thankful to him, but not exactly the extent to which they felt grateful for his act.

As for the Elves and the Dracos, they helped him without actually stating any conditions. The Dracos Leader had returned from meeting his superior with a Dragon Crystal, a crystal that purified all kinds of metals in the forging process. It was an extraordinary item that was also very rare, yet the superiors of the Draco race chose to support Nial's creation of a new shelter that allowed all kinds of races to cohabit.

They didn't even demand anything in return, not even the authority to control a district in the shelter or to have some additional rights over other races once the shelter was to be completed.

It was almost as if they trusted Nial and that he knew how to repay goodwill with even more goodwill.

However, the Elves were not so favorable to the Dracos and did not want them to strengthen their relationship with Nial easily, which was also why Master Crevian ended up coming over with the shard of Yggdrasil's branch stored in the jadebox.

"That is a branch of Yggdrasil, a small fragment of it to be precise, your guess was right! If you plant it in the center of your shelter with enough space left around to let it grow and blossom further, it will turn into an indispensable treasure for your shelter!" Master Crevian said while maintaining his expression that showed some of his excitement and a trace of jealousy.

'So that's really Yggdrasil's branch? Looks like the Sacred tree and the Empress want to have some influence in my shelter as well…' Nial figured quite easily. It was not as if he had something against their wishes because it was beneficial for him as well. However, there were certain issues that had to be addressed to avoid misunderstanding from emerging all of a sudden.

He cleared his throat and smiled lightly.

"Can you explain how exactly the fragment of Yggdrasil's branch can turn into an indispensable treasure for my shelter?" He asked in return, which caused both Michael and the Dracos leader to frown lightly.

It was quite obvious that the Dragon Crystal was valuable but it looked like the Elves went above and beyond with their gift to one up the Dracos!

The moment Master Crevian heard Nial a beaming smile blossomed on his face. He shot a glare at the two Dracos for a moment, just to smile brightly at Nial as he launched himself into an elaborate explanation.

"The fragment of Yggdrasil's branch is directly connected to Yggdrasil. It will be easier for you to create spatial portals to Yggdrasil and the other branches of Yggdrasil. The fragment of Yggdrasil will inevitably give birth to sentience that can connect to the shelter's system and manage the entire shelter on its own. Of course, that is only if you wish that to happen.

Since Yggdrasil had linked to you in the past, the branch's fragment will also naturally link to you if you desire so. The fragment will grow into an actual branch of Yggdrasil with the passage of time and you will be able to do much more with it actively. Managing the shelter is just one of the many functions.

The surrounding mana will be pulled toward the shelter and the flora and fauna within and outside the shelter will flourish as well. This will result in Fairies, and Nature Spirits getting pulled to your Shelter. Maybe there will be Dryads as well. You may not realize how exceptional it is to have Dryads, Nature Spirits, and Fairies around you but believe me when I tell you that your shelter will flourish more and become much more secure once Faes come to you!

You may need to consider leaving some space for nature spots but it will be worth it once the fragment has grown into a small branch!" Master Crevian added with a proud expression.

While speaking, Master Crevian's jealousy disappeared. It was almost as if he had never been jealous, to begin with.

Nial smiled a little when he perceived the change in the old elf's expression and demeanor which was also why he accepted the gift without saying too much. He could show his gratefulness in the future. There was no need for him to speak words since actions were worth more than ten thousand words.

While Nial touched the fragment of Yggdrasil's branch lightly which allowed him to sense the tremendous life force that had been amassed within it, Michael Ignis cleared his throat in an attempt to attract Nial's attention.

Nial didn't turn his head to Michael but his ears perked up, which had to be enough for Michael.

"Ophelia will come over soon, and she mentioned something about Saint Siegfried as well!" He said all of a sudden.

Nial's head turned in response, followed by a confused expression that appeared on his face.

"The Saint Runicier Siegfried…the old and annoying geezer, or someone else?" Nial couldn't help but ask as he recalled the old man who had infiltrated his room without permission when he participated in the U21 Runicier tournament in the Golden City.

The memories caused him to shudder whenever he thought about it and he didn't even realize that Michael, the Dracos Leader, and even Master Crevian were staring at him with bewildered expressions.

"The Saint Runicier…yes…" Michael answered carefully after a while. He was not sure where Nial got to know Siegfried but he shook his head after a moment in an attempt to clear his head.

"Ophelia was taught a little bit by Saint Runicier Siegfried, but she will still come over to help you create the best possible shelter!" He added which Nial responded with a nod.

"That sounds nice, but she probably planned to run away from that annoying old geezer, either way!" Nial remarked which earned him a few complicated gazes.

"..."

"...If you say so…"

**

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