Odyssey of the Blind God Chapter 4 Backyard

"Extremely weak fluctuations... That should be a low-Rookie ranked dungeon. A very small and weak one, if I'm not wrong..." Nial mumbled as he spent several minutes sensing the mana fluctuations of the dungeon.

During the last few days, he had learned how to use mana. This allowed him to perceive a few things in his surroundings.

His control was extremely crude, but the most basic aspects of learning to control were something that Nial, a blind person with extraordinary senses, was able to get the hang of, in just a few days.

Because he was not distracted by the additional burden of suddenly being able to see as well, it didn't take long for him to understand how to perceive his surroundings.

This also included the thin, unstable, and liquefied membrane of the portal that had manifested in their backyard.

When he first sensed the dungeon portal, it caused his entire body to stiffen.

Nial had subconsciously stepped back several meters as the blurry memories of the incident 15 years ago started to flash through his mind.

Fortunately, the mana fluctuations of the dungeon portal were extremely weak, and a beast had yet to emerge from it.

This confused him a little bit.

However, Nial knew that he was even more clueless about dungeons and their various types than mankind in general.

Through countless experiments, humanity was able to find out a few things about the existence of dungeons.

Among the few pieces of information they had acquired, one of them was the fact that the strength and the number of beasts inhabiting a dungeon portal could be easily assessed.

For that one had to simply observe the mana fluctuations of the said portal. The stronger the fluctuation, the stronger the beasts residing in it.

Through this, they learned how to categorize Dungeons into several grades that were further divided into sub-ranks, which made things much easier.

The weakest grade for a dungeon was called 'Rookie' and the sub-ranks ranged from Low, Mid, to High. These were a rough indicator of the beasts that harbored the realm, planet, or a separate space that was connected to the portals.

Nobody knew what one would find on the other side as it could vary a lot.

But in most cases, Originals entered a small mystic space that harbored one specific kind of beast.

Once all hostile living beings were killed, the dungeon would disappear, and never reappear again.

At least that was what happened in most cases.

There were also special dungeons with various unique features, but that was not something Nial could bother thinking about right now.

His mind was filled with doubts and his thoughts were one giant mess that he tried to unravel while thinking of a plan or something.

'What am I even supposed to do now?' He asked himself.

Right now, he was completely overwhelmed by the situation.

His parents were out, conquering dungeons, and his sister was bedridden, kept alive through the expensive medicine and life-support machines.

As such, he was alone... as always.

However, now it was different. His life had changed and a dungeon had emerged in their backyard!

Because of that, he did the only logical thing he could think of- he called the Originals association.

Others might think that he was stupid for not entering the dungeon before doing anything else.

After all, he had initially believed to be able to fight some weaker beasts.

Under normal circumstances, he wasn't even supposed to think about the association that governed the majority of dungeons inside all human shelters.

At least, not considering their financial situation!

However, Nial didn't care about that as he heard the ringtone of his phone that he had picked up from the table near his training spot.

Nial was not a big fan of using his phone, but that was also not something he could bother about.

Using the seemingly ancient phone that still had keys, Nial punched in the number of the Originals association.

The line connected as he entered a waiting queue made him frown deeply.

"Great 'emergency' hotline..." He mumbled quietly while trying to not be annoyed.

Having nothing else to do, he decided to divert his focus and tried sensing every single change in the dungeon portal.

It made him uncomfortable to be around a newly emerged dungeon portal, and it was only the extremely weak mana fluctuations that allowed him to remain relatively calm.

Despite that, he should feel much more desperate than he was actually feeling right now.

After all, beasts could suddenly emerge from the portal at any moment, and he would not have even the faintest idea of their numbers and actual strength.

His current reaction was weird and different from how he would usually behave.

All of a sudden, Nial heard the voice of a young woman introducing herself, breaking his chain of thoughts.

"Welcome to the Emergency hotline of the Originals association. This is Rebecca Karls on the phone. How may I help you?"

Strange as it may seem, Nial’s usually tranquil heartbeat began to race the moment he heard the woman’s voice on the phone. He was momentarily lost in a daze before he shook his head and explained the backyard situation as simply as possible. “Hello, Ms. Karls, I need to report a low-Rookie ranked dungeon that has appeared in our backyard. It happened just… about five minutes ago!” Nial listened intently to every sound on the phone, expecting to be told that reinforcements would arrive to clear it. However, the young woman’s subsequent words were far from his expectations. "Okay, Sir. So there's still some time left... excellent! Is the backyard your private property, or do you or your family lease it?" Hearing this, Nial couldn't help but be rendered speechless, his mind racing. 'How on earth is our backyard important, girl??' "The entire area we reside in belonged to our late grandparents… and we inherited it… but how is that relevant… right now?" Uncertain of what else to say, he chose to remain silent, patiently awaiting the next words from the young woman who appeared remarkably calm. It was as if his predicament held no significance to her whatsoever. "If the dungeon is situated on private property, the landowner has the prerogative to decide whether to utilize the dungeon for personal use. In such instances, the association will not intervene or interfere in any capacity. Concurrently, the landowner assumes complete accountability for any events transpired on their property. Should an individual perish due to a dungeon breakout or any stray beasts emerging from it, the offense will be deemed committed by the dungeon’s owner! Alternatively, you have further options – you may sell the dungeon to the Originals association, other interested organizations, families, or individuals. Upon such a transaction, all responsibilities are transferred to the buyer." Nial found this information somewhat familiar, as if he had encountered it before, though he couldn't quite recall the specifics. Regardless, the information conveyed was critically important at this juncture. Yet, he wasn't the legal owner of the property, so the decision shouldn't fall to him. At that moment, however, he remembered a specific law that afforded him certain liberties in situations similar to his own. Consequently, Nial was empowered to make the choice! "If Sir wishes to sell the dungeon, kindly inform me immediately. We shall dispatch personnel without delay to implement necessary precautions." Hearing the young woman's reassuring tone, Nial was strongly tempted to sell the dungeon, even without knowing its potential value. Dungeons were known to be immensely profitable, as everything obtainable within their confines could be sold at a high price! Nevertheless, despite the lack of further details, Nial felt compelled to accept the offer due to a persistent nagging feeling. This was not solely because he couldn't risk endangering his ailing sister; they were also in dire need of funds. However, before he could even voice his decision, the dungeon had fully materialized. This occurred much faster than anticipated, and he now feared that a dangerous entity might emerge from the portal. Such an event would spell disaster for Nial and his sister. If the dispatched personnel failed to arrive in time, they would be torn to shreds by the beasts. Yet, this impending disaster transformed into an emotional rollercoaster for Nial, astonishing him in a positive way. A beast had indeed emerged from the portal! Through his heightened senses of sound and smell, coupled with a rudimentary perception of the surroundings' mana currents, Nial gleaned more details about the creature. By utilizing the mana currents, he could even form a rough mental outline of the beast. Though imprecise, Nial managed to discern the type of creature that had emerged from the dungeon portal. With this newfound, albeit faint, understanding of the impending foe, Nial's apprehension vanished instantly. In a split second, he made his decision and replied, "I apologize, but we wish to keep the dungeon for personal use. I will call back later… perhaps." With that, Nial ended the call, without waiting for Rebecca's response. He gazed forward, excitement surging through his entire being. It was a peculiar sensation, one he hadn't experienced since… he couldn't pinpoint the exact time. Perhaps he had never felt it before, or perhaps he simply couldn't recall it.

However, what Nial remained unaware of was that he had ended a call with a stunned woman, who couldn't help but stare at the holographic display before her as if it were malfunctioning.

"Did he just... hang up? How is it possible my ability didn't work? Was he completely unfazed? Perhaps he is... gay... or a eunuch?! That must be it!"

She grumbled in frustration, but it proved to be futile.

Unbeknownst to Nial, the young woman had employed a charm-based ability, which typically compelled men to react and behave according to her desires.

This particular ability could even function through phone calls, provided she was the one conversing with the other party.

This was precisely why she often handled the majority of incoming calls for the emergency hotline, which was inundated with inquiries similar to Nial's.

Ultimately, Nial had only been momentarily distracted by her ability.

Subsequently, he remained unaffected, as if he had developed an immunity to it.

While sensing the creature before him, Nial found himself intrigued because it was, in fact, a slime!

'Is this a basic slime dungeon? That would at least account for the faint mana fluctuations... slimes are among the weakest beasts, after all…'

When the dungeon portal had first materialized, he had experienced a flicker of fear.

Yet, Nial remained oblivious that this sensation had long since vanished.

He had always been prone to fear when confronted with the unknown.

However, his perspective and demeanor had somehow begun to shift following the awakening of his origin.

'Is it the influence of the seed?' Nial pondered, only to dismiss the thought with a shake of his head.

He had no time to dwell on such matters.

His focus needed to be on perceiving the slime, which was merely a meter away from him.

It was advancing towards him at a surprisingly sluggish pace, one that even a crawling infant could easily outpace.

This astonished Nial, as he hadn't anticipated slimes to be so slow.

As he observed the slime, Nial attempted to utilize his mana to glean more information about the beast.

Subconsciously, he activated the mechanism that transformed the white cane he was gripping tightly.

It morphed into a crudely fashioned spear, which Nial then thrust forward.

Nial didn't even register that he had moved instinctively.

It was only after the spear had effortlessly impaled the slime's body that he comprehended what had transpired.

The tip of his spear had pierced the slime's core in a single, decisive strike.

Through this action, the peculiar, sticky fluid, held together by the core, spilled onto the ground before being absorbed into it.

With that seemingly simple thrust, Nial had vanquished the slime, a feat that greatly shocked him.

He wasn't particularly fond of violence, let alone killing, yet oddly, Nial felt no remorse as he dispatched the small slime.

'Is it because I don't perceive a slime as a living being?' he wondered, perplexed by his lack of emotional response.

Just a moment later, Nial was jolted from his musings as something peculiar occurred.

Suddenly, he heard strange sounds emanating from the slime, and Nial sensed the corpse of the fallen beast being torn apart.

His mana perceived its disintegration into countless minute particles, which then began to levitate in the air.

Slowly and steadily, these particles converged around the destroyed mana core, merging with it.

Through his mana, he could sense the formation of something that brought a radiant smile to Nial's face, dispelling the shock he had felt moments before.

"An Origin crystal!!"