Odyssey of the Blind God

The dungeon portal to the ancient ruins was much bigger than any portal they had ever seen.

With a radius of more than 10 meters, it was not only the biggest portal within the cave but also the only dungeon in the deepest parts of the cave.

It took Nial and the others almost two hours to reach the large cavern hall in which the ancient ruins dungeon was located.

And just by looking around, one could quickly tell that there were more than a dozen smaller and larger tunnels that led upward to different cavern halls.

Some of them connected to the surface after going through several cavern halls and tunnels, allowing beasts from the surface to find a way down into the deeper parts of the cave towards the ancient ruins dungeon.

That was also the essential factor that led to more than a hundred Elite Soldiers being employed as protectors of the ancient ruins dungeon.

However, Nial was not actually that interested in the Soldiers, the tunnels that lead to the surface, let alone the beasts that may attempt to enter the ancient ruins dungeon.

His entire focus was on the dungeon portal, which he approached with confident steps.

Especially because he was so focused, Nial didn't even realize that there were more than a hundred dead-tired, and injured young Originals lying on the ground around the portal.

After Nial, Bella, and Mathias had slept for a few hours, they were full of vigor and ready to enter the dungeon.

By picking up the necessary intel one could procure from the other Originals that had entered the dungeon, Bella could tell that the dangers in the ancient ruins were higher than expected.

'Did they probably try to enter the inner sanctum directly?' She wondered, only to notice that her steps had slowed down.

When she regained her senses, Bella noticed that the others were already further ahead.

With fast strides Bella caught up to them just to step through the dungeon portal with her head turned backward.

'Something is weird…'

But even if Bella believed that something was odd, she was not able to make up her mind because Mathias was too excited, while Nial seemed to be absent-minded.

However, Nial was actually fully aware of what was going on in his surroundings.

It was just not necessary for him to react in terms of turning his head in any direction to actually 'see' something.

His Mana sense perceived everything he needed to know.

Thus, it was not even required for him to slow down his steps as he had processed everything moments after he perceived it.

Content with his analysis, he emerged on the other side of the dungeon portal mere seconds later.

Using some mana to enlarge the range of his perception, Nial sensed everything in his surrounding area in an instant.

He absorbed the information his Mana sense and other highly enhanced senses perceived.

This took a few more seconds because there were too many new noises in the surroundings, smells in the air, and vibrations all around him.

It took him a moment to adapt to the influx of information but once Nial was done adjusting himself, he smiled faintly. Several hundred tired or injured Originals were in his immediate surroundings, resting or tending to their injuries.

They made use of the military camp mission's 'loophole' as the passing condition was to stay in the ancient ruins dungeon for 10 hours, not to procure anything, or to do something else!

Due to the non-existent additional requirements, many young Originals chose to focus on simply passing the mission by sitting idle rather than doing anything special.

However, that was only something they would pay attention to for a short period.

"Aren't they a little bit too weak? How can they look exhausted already?" Mathias asked innocently, not hiding his confusion about the seemingly 'weak' constitution of the Originals who were all resting in the surroundings.

Nial just smiled at this, while Bella merely shrugged her shoulders, not really feeling like answering the question.

"If you haven't noticed it yet, the temperature in the dungeon is more than 30 degrees Celsius, and it's extremely humid.

Now imagine running around the ancient ruins for hours, fighting against dungeon beasts, or trying to survive ruins' traps!"

A a voice answered from behind them, making them turn around, just to note that Yves was standing there. The young Original looked perfectly fine as if he had entered the dungeon just now as well.

His gaze lingered on their small group of three, and Mathias suddenly recalled who the young Original was.

"Ahh, I remember…the Originals with the plant controlling ability…my earth wall was reinforced a lot through the vines and roots he controlled!"

Even though Mathias didn't speak in a loud voice, Yves had heard him. He frowned deeply, as he had hoped for a better reaction.

Unfortunately, none of the three young Originals were overly joyous, let alone excited to see him.

There was simply no reason for Nial and the others to feel like this.

Because Yves had not expected such a lukewarm response upon his arrival, he frowned at first, just to take a few deep breaths.

"How about we team up to explore the ancient ruins? I saw that you guys just emerged from the portal, so I could provide more information about the ruins we explored for the last few hours, and you guys could help us out!"

Mathias didn't have anything against Yves. As such, he was willing to team up with the young man, whose abilities were quite compatible with theirs.

They could become a terrifying force if they joined hands Since Mathias' social interactions were limited to Bella and Nial, he wanted to figure out if his social anxiety had lessened after he got comfortable with his two friends.

Thus, he was just about to nod his head and agree, when Bella suddenly interrupted.

"How many people are in your team? And why are you asking us for your support? Your face is oddly familiar to me, so my guess is that you belong to one of the privileged families.

That means you shouldn't require our help in the first place. Or you need us because your team is simply incompetent?"

Bella was suspicious about Yves' sudden approach.

She had seen him once or twice the week before, with more than 50 Originals gathering around him each time.

This was more than enough to understand that he was not only someone with important connections that were most likely due to his family's background but also that he didn't need the help of three unknown Originals.

There were more than enough other Originals who would be more than willing to help him out, after all!

Like Bella, Nial felt that Yves' sudden offer was weird. He believed that there was something wrong with the way he sought their help.

Not only were his mana fluctuations way too stable for someone, who spend roughly half a day in the ancient ruins, exploring them, but it was almost as if Yves was not even a living being.

At least that was something one could think while perceiving his unmoving mana fluctuations that didn't even move while he was speaking, and gesturing with his arms.

This was quite weird, to put it simply, only for Yves to make things even weirder as he said,

"We are quite a few people, but everyone is trash, that's correct! There is nobody comparable to the three of you! Fighting by the side of you all was quite reassuring, so I believe it would be great to explore the ancient ruins together!"

Yves didn't even bat his eyelids while calling his team members trash.

Even if the situation wouldn't be suspicious, Nial didn't feel like spending more time with Yves.

After all, you were supposed to trust your team or venture out alone, otherwise, you might be betrayed by your team, or betray it yourself.

And in dungeons trust was the only thing that kept a team alive, not insulting or trashing it for whatever reason.

That was why he wanted to politely reject Yves' offer, but before he could do so Mathias intervened all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry Yves, but we want to explore the ancient ruins by ourselves. With too many people that we don't know, procuring treasures and distributing them will be difficult!"

Mathias wanted to say a lot more, but he held himself back from saying something stupid.

This was only normal because Mathias knew that his next words would have been an insult.

'Someone who trashes his own team without feeling guilty about it doesn't have a spine! He is just like the bullies in my past life, and probably relies on his family background to order everyone around!!'

At first, Mathias was under the assumption that Yves might be a good person, and that he might even help him to figure out the extent of his social anxiety.

For that, he required other people than those he was already comfortable with.

However, Yves was the kind of person Mathias hated the most. Thus, he said whatever he wanted, just to hold back at the right time.

But even if he was holding back, both Nial and Bella were quite astonished that Mathias dared to clearly state his opinion.

'Looks like he is slowly coming out of his shell?' Nial just thought while Bella chose to back up Mathias.

"I'm more comfortable in small groups as well. The three of us are a good team, to begin with, and others might disrupt the teamwork we have built with our hard work.

I hope it is not rude if we reject your invitation, but we would like to explore the ancient ruins dungeon alone!"

Nial didn't even have to say anything because both Mathias and Bella said everything necessary.

While Mathias' rejection sounded rather harsh, Bella tried to maintain a certain degree of politeness.

However, even her rejection made Yves feel as if blazing hot needles pierced through his stomach.

It angered him to have been pushed back like this. They had outright denied him and not even left room for further negotiation.

To add salt to the injury Nial and the others turned around to wander off toward the ancient ruins.

They didn't say anything else but "Good luck" before leaving an angry Yves behind.

'Did…they just toss me in the bin?!?' Yves wondered, his eyes turning cold as he understood the meaning behind each of their actions.

'They didn't find out, right?'

It was impossible for them to have found out what he had planned. However, this was even worse in Yves' opinion.

"These fucking bastards…" he couldn't help but mumble when he saw that Nial and his group really left him.

They didn't even bother with small talk, and completely disregarded his authority, and family background.

However, the moment he finished speaking, Yves felt an ominous feeling sweeping all over him.

At that instant, Nial turned around as dark energy swept out from his entire body, shrouding him for a second, only for his lifeless eyes to stare straight in the depth of Yves' soul.

Yves felt that the darkness Nial radiated would shroud and devour him at any moment.

His eyes went wide in fear and he instinctively backed off to increase his distance from Nial.

'What the hell was that?!?'