Odyssey of the Blind God

[23], [25], [23], [31], [39], [51]

The final results were displayed on the enlarged screen, accompanied by a picture of the participant, who attained the results.

While many faces shown on the screen were well known, the most astonishing fact for most participants and spectators was the fact that both the participants who had secured first and second place in the third round were unknown Runiciers.

The one who had bagged second place had never been extremely high in the rankings but she had started to rise all of a sudden. It was a young woman from a race that had a tiny territory and presence on Ximatra.

They were not well-known by others but their slightly reddish skin clearly showed their unique trait of being able to control fire precisely.

The woman looked just like a human, just that she had golden reptilian eyes and her skin was red. Her skin was covered in an additional layer of tiny, nearly inconspicuous scales.

Until now, the woman hadn\'t dared to show off her true power, especially since she feared facing attacks the moment she would reveal her trump card. Her worries grew even worse when the mysterious murderer had appeared and slaughtered some of her competitors.

However, now that it was the last day of the tournament, and that the murderer had been caught, the young woman, who belonged to the Draco race, felt relieved and was ready to go all out.

She gave her best and ended up creating 39 correct Tier-0 runic armaments.

This was a shocking result, to have answered 39 questions with the proper Tier-0 runic armament, in only eight hours at that.

"What is her name? Why did I never hear about her earlier!?" One of the spectators asked in awe of the beauty, who had shown up in the ranks out of nowhere.

"She must be the pride of the Draco race! Beautiful and talented…amazing! I\'m so jealous…" A female spectator mused, sighing deeply. She was not even close to being as beautiful as the female Draco, who was also talented enough to rank second in the 3rd round of the U21 Runicer tournament.

"Oh my goodness! That is Ophelia Narit, isn\'t it?!? Was she hiding the whole time?? No wonder that someone was able to answer almost 40 questions correctly!!" A renowned Runicier, who had won the U21 Runicier tournament a long time ago exclaimed.

He had learned a lot about runic armaments from the Draco race during his long life, and he was grateful to them for imparting him knowledge and wisdom. Of course, he knew about the talented Runiciers of the Draco race, the only race that had never bothered to participate in any of Ximatra\'s Runicier tournaments…until now.

Not many civilians knew about the Draco race as they preferred to stay away from the limelight, and the minority who had heard about them didn\'t know that they were the best Runiciers on Ximatra.

As for the majority of Runiciers, they knew the Draco race, the fact that they were exceptional Runiciers, and that Ophelia Narit was said to be one of the highest talents in the way of a Runicier the Draco race had seen in the last ten thousand years.

This was something the renowned and knowledgeable Runiciers began to unveil one after another. The commotion that reverberated through the Colosseum got louder and louder, while Nial could only start to frown.

\'One of the Runiciers with the highest talent in the last ten thousand years…yeah, I\'m so lucky…\' Nial nibbled on his lower lip, feeling distressed.

He gained less attention than he thought he would attract with his final result of the third round but that was quite nice. After all, fame wasn\'t the thing he was after.

However, it was certainly nothing to be happy about when he heard how talented his opponent was.

The remaining four Runiciers were already quite dangerous for him, especially since the Union\'s President had already revealed that the last round would be to create a single, and their best runic armament.

Nial might have a great foundation but the best runic armament he had created until now was a top-quality Tier-1 runic saber.

He was not even sure if the other Runiciers were able to create a Tier-2 runic armament of the worst quality if they were to receive enough time to create a single runic armament.

It was unlikely for someone below the age of 21 to be able to achieve this but one could never be certain, now even less than ever before.

"She can definitely create Tier-2 runic armaments," Nial blurted out quietly, sighing in frustration.

His sigh was louder than he had intended it to be, which was why many heads turned toward him. All the participants, who had been disqualified in the third round, stared at him in anger. They couldn\'t believe that they had lost against a blind Runcie, who was merely at the 3rd Mirae rank.

It was beyond their comprehension, and they had trouble understanding how this was even possible, to begin with. However, they didn\'t dare to voice out their complaints because it would turn them into bad losers right in front of all the spectators.

All of them had performed well and achieved a great feat by advancing to the second-last round. This was something that rewarded them with lots of reputation, which they could use to improve themselves further or to settle down and become rich by creating a few runic armaments every now and then.

The latter was the least likely to happen but some would still do it. The Runiciers who had lost the round left the Colosseum\'s arena quietly until only six participants were left.

All of them stared at Nial, who looked totally inconspicuous. Yet, the reality was it had been possible for him to achieve first place in the third round of the U21 Runicier tournament with a total of 51 correct solutions.

It was not even as if he had won marginally by having only one or two more answers correct, but Nial\'s score had a total of 12 more correct answers than Ophelia Narit, who ranked in second place, and 20 more correct answers than the person at the third place!

Winning the third round was not something one could do with luck, and all the Runiciers understood this clearly.

Ophelia\'s golden reptilian eyes stared straight at Nial when his head flicked in her direction. She looked into his lifeless milky white eyes.

Nial felt a bit burdened by her stare, which was why he wanted to avert his attention. He discarded this idea after a moment as the corner of his right lip curled upward.

"Am I pleasing to the eyes? Just why are you staring so hard?" He asked in a low voice that was barely loud enough for everyone in the arena, who focused on him, to hear his remark.

Ophelia kept staring at him and she noticed too late that Nial had spoken to her. This was totally out of her expectations and she blushed as she realized that she almost nodded her head imperceptibly.

Nial was handsome and it was pleasing to the eyes to look at him, especially since he seemed rather cool-headed with all the eyes glued on him as if he was prey that had to be hunted.

Ophelia would get annoyed with all the attention she received whenever someone discovered her real identity. That was also why she had used a cloak to hide her identity until the last day.

It was annoying to be considered a once-in-ten-thousand years prodigy, especially since her race was innately already extremely talented as Runiciers. The only thing they lacked was the talent to create exceptional potions, which was something that could be supplemented with someone else providing the runic solutions they needed.

However, if she understood Nial\'s situation properly, he was a rather new Runicier, which was why his progress was even more shocking for her.

She had kept an eye on all the Runiciers, who had advanced to the second round and Nial had been the most impressive in her opinion. This was not because his runic armaments had been the best, which was definitely not the case, but because he had analyzed the rounds and the most likely future events precisely.

He could advance in the rounds because of his analytical skills. That was something the third round showed very clearly once again.

His forging and concoction skills still needed improvements, but that was something Ophelia took as a sign that Nial\'s teacher had begun to teach him about runic armaments before he would be given proper tutelage in the ways of blacksmithing and alchemy!

This would also hint that Nial hadn\'t been taught for a very long time, which was something only a few Runiciers seemed to realize when looking at his runic armaments. He lacked the practice of someone, who had created Runic armaments for years naturally.

Thus, it was the most surprising fact for Ophelia that Nial was so calm in front of the crowd of legendary Runiciers, who were watching the U21 Runicer tournament.

She blushed subconsciously, which looked like her cheeks had begun to burn brightly when faint sparks were created out of nowhere. They started to crackle and Ophelia required her entire focus to regain control over her body.

She turned away and mentally chided herself, telling herself that it was not good to fall for obvious provocations. Nial was her biggest rival in the final round because he was the least predictable!

As for the others, they were no opponents for her, simply because she was a Draco, whether or not her talent appeared only once in ten thousand years or once in ten years.

\'I will beat you!\' Ophelia swore inwardly before she returned to her artisan space, which she cleaned up to make sure that everything was ready for the final round.

Nial, on the other hand, smiled lightly. He found the situation hilarious, which helped him calm down.

He disliked that he would have to compete against Ophelia because the most likely result was that he wouldn\'t be able to become the first one to pick a grand prize.

\'A once in a ten thousand year prodigy, or whatever she is…a great challenge, I guess!\' Nial thought, feeling that defeating Ophelia would be the biggest challenge he would have to face since his journey as Original had started.

It was ridiculous, especially since he had already fought against the Incarnation of a God and secured a victory. But that was a thing of the past. Now he had to focus on the present which was why he took a few deep breaths before he tried to replenish his mana as quickly as possible.

He cleaned his artisan space as well and averted his focus from Ophelia and the troublesome doubts that squirmed through his mind.

Nial used his range of perception and [Mana Sense] to figure out where the President of the Golden Armaments Union was located but it didn\'t seem like he was even present in the Colosseum.

However, just when Nial found him, Card Melphy\'s voice resounded through the Colosseum once again.

[Dear participants, I\'m honored to announce the six of you as the strongest Runiciers in the newest generation of Ximatra. This is a glorious feat, and we would have celebrated it more under normal circumstances.

Unfortunately, the tournament needs a true winner until midnight today, which will also be the deadline for all of you to create your strongest Runic armament!]

Card Melphy didn\'t say another word, which was frowned upon by many. Usually, the Union\'s President would hold a lengthy speech and some words of encouragement to give every single Runicier in the finale the opportunity to shine brightly.

This was not the case this year, where everything seemed rushed, whether it was the final round, the fact that Card Melphy wanted the final winner of the U21 Runicier tournament today by all means, or simply that the biggest tournament would end in a matter of hours.

Once again, they were given roughly eight hours to complete another round, the final round of the tournament.

Was that even enough time to create the strongest runic armament they could forge?

Was the U21 Runicier tournament not supposed to allow the Runiciers to show off their skills?

Nial was confused but a glimmer of hope ignited within him as he began to doubt that the four other Runiciers would be able to create a Tier-2 Runci armament in eight hours either.

It wouldn\'t be easy for Ophelia either, which was exactly what allowed Nial to have some hope.

\'Maybe I can do it!\'