Chapter 8 Boss
Freed of the shackles he had put on himself in the past, Nial was able to ignore his blindness for the first time in a very long time.
While carefully walking over the slippery ground, he collected all the origin crystals from the ground before storing them away.
He noticed that his small pouch was almost filled to the brim which caused him to smile wryly.
Having enough origin crystals to fill the pouch was good, but he was running out of storage space.
There were several more crystals but he had nothing to store them in.
And, he had just begun clearing the large cave that had yet to end.
Stretching his exhausted body, Nial decided not to think much about it and rest for some time instead.
The last traces of adrenaline that had been coursing through his body vanished, leaving him in an even more tired state.
'Let me sleep for an entire week!' He thought while stifling a yawn, knowing that this was not how his body worked.
Leaning against one of the cave's walls, Nial rested for a while though he still clutched his spear tightly.
There could always be beasts roaming through dungeons, or lurking in the dark which was why Nial remained vigilant.
It was unlikely for something to happen in the slime dungeon.
Nonetheless, he had heard many cruel stories, which made him believe that it was better to be careful than too full of himself.
Time seemed to pass slowly, and he had no idea how long had he been in the cave.
So, once he felt a bit more invigorated, he decided to end his short rest.
Moving the crude spear around his body made his muscles groan.
It was not difficult for him to figure out that his body was not accustomed to the arduous movements he had repeated more than a hundred times.
Practicing spearmanship and fighting against beasts was vastly different, and Nial had yet to adapt himself to everything perfectly.
Fortunately, his mind had already adapted to the change, which was mostly owed to the Odyssey seed.
Feeling much better than he had initially thought, Nial assumed that his stamina had replenished much faster than usual as well.
'Is that another perk of being an Original?'
Nial had heard many rumors about Originals and their superhuman capabilities, but until now, he had never truly believed them.
After all, he had never witnessed any superhuman fights.
Meanwhile to him, his parents were just ordinary people who overworked themselves to provide for their children.
They had never looked like superhumans to him, but just any other ordinary parents who would sacrifice everything for their children, even if they would have to walk on a path filled with pain and blood.
Having sensed their hardships all his life, he had been under the impression that mana was just a means to activate abilities, but that was wrong.
Not only did Nial feel much stronger than before, but all of his extraordinary senses had been enhanced.
To put it simply, his entire being had become stronger because mana coursed through his body.
Nial took a long time to realize this, and it was only inside the dungeon that he truly grasped everything.
As such, he was slowly understanding why many Originals felt that the sensation of cultivating mana was addictive.
It made them stronger, and unique amongst ordinary people. Being able to sense mana allowed them to become powerhouses who could earn huge fortunes without too much effort.
Many dangers were involved in procuring wealth, but if one paid attention to the dungeons they entered, it was difficult to die or be fatally injured.
Nial was an exception because he had simply entered the slime dungeon without actually testing its rank.
Additionally, he had just awoken his origin.
With a newly awoken origin, one would, under normal circumstances, accumulate some mana in order to enlarge their mana core before entering even the lowest ranked dungeon.
However, Nial did no such thing.
He was still at the 1st rank of the Origin stage, and his tiny mana core was almost as empty as a hollow shell!
As such, he was far away from the first breakthrough that would allow him to reach the 2nd Origin rank, which would in turn, enlarge his mana core by using the gathered mana as energy supply.
Nial hadn't even thought about absorbing mana yet, and it was only his mana vein that had subconsciously gathered some of the mana around him.
Because of that, he was able to actively use the [Mana Perception] ability.
There were also other things Originals were able to do with their mana such as circulating it through their body to reinforce it, but Nial had yet to learn how to do this.
He was still a beginner and a late-bloomer at that.
Under normal circumstances, if nothing went wrong, those with the necessary talent would awaken their origin at the age of 10.
There were also prodigies, or those belonging to an influential family who could awaken their origin earlier.
However, the norm to awaken the origin was at the age of 10!
Thus, he was late, which was why he was labeled a late bloomer, but that didn't worry Nial.
In the end, he was glad because it was still countless times better to awaken his origin late than never.
Nial had many things to learn in order to catch up to his peers. Sadly, that had always been the case since the day he had lost his eyesight.
His blindness made him the bullies favorite pick and he would often be harassed and made fun of by the other Originals.
Yet, now that he recalled those days again, Nial was able to remain oddly calm.
His thoughts averted to his sister as he faintly touched the origin crystals in his pouch.
This caused a rattling noise, and Nial smiled faintly in response, sensing that there were more than 15 crystals inside.
These 15 poorest quality, common grade origin crystals were the cheapest one could find, but each of them was worth 30$, nonetheless.
As such, he had earned 450$ without the need to deduct even a dime to the dungeon owner, let alone the fee the Originals association demanded from everyone who entered their dungeons.
The slime dungeon was theirs, after all.
Secretly, Nial hoped that the slime dungeon was one of the few permanent dungeons that had manifested in their small shelter.
It would make many things easier for himself, and his parents, who could save a lot on fees, and time to travel.
However, the most important fact would be that the slime dungeon was less dangerous and perfectly suitable for a single, slightly stronger individual to conquer without issues.
Unfortunately, the probability for a permanent dungeon to appear was small, and the odds that the slime dungeon that had appeared in their backyard to be a permanent dungeon were minuscule.
In the end, Nial thought that a permanent slime dungeon would only be an additional bonus on top of everything he had already been rewarded with.
That's why he wanted to focus on clearing the dungeon first before anything else.
Nial was confident of defeating large numbers of slimes without getting himself into trouble.
As such, he slowly got more confident in his capabilities, which included defeating the slime boss that should be a larger version of the ordinary slimes.
As such, it would be slightly more dangerous, but that was not really something he was worried about anymore.
With a danger level that was almost non-existent in his previous kills, Nial had been way too worried about sustaining injuries.
This had been an unfounded worry of his which ended up being a great training course for him and a foundational level to help him assess his strengths and weaknesses.
Because of that, Nial couldn't complain.
Feeling prepared to fight more beasts, Nial actively attacked the smaller and larger slime groups he encountered, killing them quickly.
His aim had improved over the last few hours and the spear thrusts pierced accurately. Nial's precision in both attacking and sensing the exact position of the slimes' cores had increased drastically.
This would be useful for the future too as every living being had vital spots.
Accurately sensing and targeting them was something Nial wanted to be able to do at any time.
Though he had no idea about the exact time, he assumed that his parents would soon return from their trips into different dungeons.
Maybe they had already returned, which was something he didn't hope for.
After all, he could already imagine how his mother would react when she would realise that he had really entered the dungeon that manifested in their backyard.
Visualizing her reaction was dreadful, and Nial didn't really want to encounter that.
Nevertheless, he had already reached the end of the cave that was, in fact, a single but lengthy pathway.
He couldn't be certain if he had reached a dead-end, but something in front of him blocked the sound.
Thus, Nial simply assumed that there was a wall and the end of the dungeon.
Entering a combat stance, he held the spear in front of him while his senses were on high alert so as to not miss even the slightest noise or movement around him.
Through this, he figured out that there were still a few batches of slimes within the radius of a few meters.
However, the loudest noise seemed to come from the front as something approached him at a pace ten times faster than the ordinary slimes could reach.
This caused a vibrant smile to emerge on Nial's face, without him even realizing it. Determination flickered in his eyes as he swung around his spear, wielding it as if it was the extension of his arm.
Now, he would be facing the first of numerous challenges that awaited him on his thorny path.