Odyssey of the Blind God

"We should leave the dungeon to sell a portion of our loot, right? Otherwise, if the other Originals too show up with their procured goods, the price we can get will only deteriorate!"

Mathias was slightly worried about the fortune they could procure.

As such, he wanted to return to the Teradan military camp as quickly as possible.

Nial was pretty sure that his friend's worries were for naught and that the runic armaments they procured wouldn't fetch them a low price.

However, even a slight decrease in the price of every single runic armament was more than enough to possibly end up with much less than they were predicting right now.

"Well, even if we want to sell them right now, the ungraded armaments won't be worth as much as before. On the other hand, the Tier-0 runic armaments might be sold for a slightly higher price than the runic armaments we sold before.

There should already be a much bigger supply of all types of runic armaments we have. But we can still leave to make a higher profit." Bella summed up the situation quite well.

It was highly likely that some Originals had already sold various Runisciers' books and runic armaments to the government.

That being said, the fortune Mathias wanted to obtain ought to be a mere dream.

He expected too much, which was discernible in his brightly gleaming eyes.

"Let's leave then." Nial suggested so as to not further trample on Mathias' shattered dream.

Leaving the half-destroyed tower, the group of three returned to the dungeon portal. Their mind was at ease as they walked through the huge jungle.

They passed by numerous Originals wearing military uniforms. At first, this astonished Mathias a little bit.

However, after some time had passed, he remembered the report of the military, and that they had announced to send more junior Soldier candidates to the ancient ruins dungeon.

This was their means to secure the runic armaments, books, and other pieces of information without the need to use massive amounts of military merit points, or millions of dollars in exchange.

But even then, what Nial and the others didn't expect to encounter was that a small military base had been constructed. It was set up in the open area around the dungeon portal that led them back to the nameless island.

Dozens of huge tents that looked just like transportable houses flocked the surrounding area of the dungeon portal.

And the most interesting in this situation was the fact that a huge fence was constructed around the base.

There were only four entrances, one for each direction, with more than 10 Soldiers guarding each entrance.

None of the junior Soldiers exceeded the age of 20 or the 7th Origin rank.

However, even if their rank was similar to the majority of participants of the Teradan military camp, their presence came off as strong and unyielding.

From a single look, one could tell that the Soldiers, who guarded the base, had been tempered in the deepest parts of hell.

At least that was what it looked like. Their facial expressions were ice-cold, and their presence terrified even the most prodigious Originals.

This was a simple demonstration on how much of a difference actual combat experience was compared to what the prodigious Originals had gathered until now.

Other than securing the safety of the base in the ancient ruins dungeon, the military wanted to show off their strongest junior Soldier Units.

Understanding this was not difficult, and rather obvious because the dangers from within the ancient ruins dungeon were minuscule, to put it simply.

Not a single beast would want to leave the ancient ruins dungeon. At least, Nial didn't sense a single beast in the proximity of the dungeon portal.

Rather, it was more likely for them to keep a safe distance from the military base, either because of the dungeon portal or the soldiers.

The longer Nial observed the junior Soldiers' mana fluctuations, the deeper his understanding of them got.

They were incomparably stronger than most prodigious Soldiers despite possessing a much lower talent.

Nial felt that this was the best demonstration of how powerful Originals could become as long as they gave their utmost to become stronger.

Limits only existed to allow Originals to break them, learn more about their body's needs, and comprehend what it would take to overcome even more terrifying hurdles in the future!

While most Originals sensed a terrifying pressure radiating from the junior Soldiers, Nial could only smile faintly. These soldiers had been tempered to endure and released something called mental suppression.

He felt the mental suppression as well, but it didn't affect him that much. At most, it weakened his senses a little bit, while preventing him from being fully focused on the surroundings.

This sensation was quite weird, but it interested Nial, which was why he kept approaching the nearest gate.

The 10 Soldiers were currently whisking a few prodigious Originals. They released their mental suppression straight at the young Originals, who were utterly dumbfounded.

"10% of all loot procured inside the ancient ruins will be handed over to us as a protection fee!!" The tallest of the ten junior Soldiers suddenly announced, astonishing Nial quite a bit.

"W..What kind of bullshit are you spouting?" One of the younger Originals, who had been asked to stop at the entry point asked, utterly dumbfounded.

They only entered the ancient ruins dungeon because they had been ordered to do so.

They didn't earn a lot by entering the ancient ruins dungeon. In fact, most larger groups of Originals had entered the towers, and looted everything they could get their hands on within the first two days before leaving the towers.

Only small teams were left behind in the ruins of the towers in order to pilfer through the scraps left behind on the fourth and fifth floor.

Most prodigious Originals understood the value the runic armaments held. They had been taught in business, how to determine whether a certain object was valuable and much more.

But that was especially where their greed manifested as the said prodigious Originals could tell that their time was better used in entering the palace.

It would have taken them, at least, two weeks to clear the fourth and fifth floor of the towers they had entered.

That was why they left behind some of their people to clear these two floors while going ahead to the palace.

Little did they know that the fifth floor of every tower could be compared to barracks or highly valuable storage for all kinds of runic armaments which they had missed out on. After all, the first three floors had only been filled with books or other similar items.

However, even if they were to know about it, it was quite obvious that they would find even more treasures in the palace.

But what everyone seemed to forget was the fact that more treasures indicated more dangers, and facing more intelligent beasts such as HobGoblins that resided there!

This was something Nial had already perceived within his range of perception quite a while ago.

Though none of this would matter in the situation that unfolded right in front of them.

The junior Soldiers acted in an overbearing manner while demanding 10% of all gains they procured in the ancient ruins dungeon.

This was quite weird, considering that there was no need for protection and that they had been told to enter the ancient ruins dungeon by the military itself.

"If your team doesn't want to give us what we want, we will take it from you by force! Endure our attacks for one minute without collapsing on the ground, and you are free to leave without paying the protection fee."

The moment Nial heard this, he understood what was going on.

"So that's how it is!" He merely mumbled, making Mathias and Bella turn to look at him.

"What do you mean? They're just too overbearing, yet you're so calm?! What if they really take 10% of our gains? That will allow them to become wealthy tycoons in a matter of seconds!"

Nial just laughed when he heard Mathias' comparison.

His expression turned serious once he calmed down. The corners of his mouth curled upward as he began to approach the soldiers once again.

While he approached them, they had already beaten up the first group of prodigious Originals.

"Spare us, please!! We will give you the protection fee, but stop beating up our people!!" It was the voice of the leader of the small group of five that had been surrounded by the junior Soldiers.

Bella could only knit her brows at this sight. The junior Soldiers did only stop hitting and kicking the Originals once they collapsed on the ground.

This was not only a harrowing sight for everyone, who saw this as a bystander but also humiliating for the young Originals who were subjected to the cruelty.

They didn't even have the necessary time to think about initiating a fight. Instead, they had been forced to try enduring attacks that caused their bones to crack as if they were about to break into thousands of tiny pieces.

While Bella was disgusted at this sight, Nial couldn't help but be a little bit intrigued.

'Is that a martial art technique?' Nial was pretty sure that the thin membrane of mana that shrouded the junior Soldiers' fists and feet was something special, something that couldn't be created just by enveloping one's body with a thin layer of mana.

Nial could tell that even enveloping his hands with the black miasma wouldn't give him the same result.

After all, the mana released by the junior Soldiers seemed to be directly connected to their fists. His range of perception could clearly detect the things that occurred around him.

Thus, Nial was also able to tell that all junior Soldiers were using the same technique with the sole difference being their comprehension.

This was quite interesting, which was also why Nial's hands began to itch.

He was eager to find out how powerful the junior Soldiers truly were. Nial didn't even think of paying the protection fee.

There were multiple reasons for him not to feel like paying the protection fee, with one of them being the simple fact that he was stronger than the junior Soldiers, to begin with!

None of them needed the junior Soldier's 'protection'. But that was especially the reason why he was eager to find out what they were doing here in the first place.

After all, there was something interesting Nial had sensed when 'looking' at the way the junior Soldiers used their mental suppression to intimidate the others.

Some of them seemed reluctant and as if they had acted against their principles.

That being said, Nial was quite intrigued when the prodigious and beaten-up Originals from before entered the base.

Their expressions were filled with regret and frustration, but there was nothing they could do against it.

Meanwhile, the junior Soldiers had already turned to Nial and the others, a devious smile creeping up the lips of the tallest Soldier as he saw the expression on their faces.

It was obvious that they were reluctant to give up their procured items in exchange of some absurd protection fee.

But that was exactly what the tallest of the junior Soldiers had hoped for!

"10% of all loot procured inside the ancient ruins wi–.." However, even before the junior Soldier could finish his sentence, Nial's fist was shrouded in dark energy.

In an instant, he disappeared from his earlier spot. Nial appeared right in front of the junior Soldier with an expression that terrified everyone who saw him at that moment.

A moment later his fist blasted forward, connecting with the abdomen of the unguarded junior Soldier.

**

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