Odyssey of the Blind God

Eight hours was definitely not a long time to create the strongest possible runic armament, but everyone gave their best nonetheless.

For the first step, Nial created a bunch of runic solutions, which he would need either way. Because he knew that he was not a good alchemist, Nial worked rather fast and focused on quantity rather than quality.

To create a single high-quality runic solution, he would require at least half an hour, and Nial planned to create four runic solutions. He couldn't afford to waste two hours just to create runic armaments, especially not if he had to forge as well.

Forging a high-quality saber would take way too long, which was why he reconsidered forging a small dagger. However, that would require just as much attention because there were many little details he would have to pay attention to.

Furthermore, it was impossible for him to engrave more than 3 runic constellations on an ordinary dagger. Nial was not the best at overlapping runic constellations without letting them influence each other negatively, and he was not particularly skilled in the technique of miniature engraving as well.

Miniature engraving meant engraving the miniature version of a runic constellation on an object. The runic constellation would usually be a quarter of what it was under normal circumstances.

Some high-ranked Runiciers were exceptionally skilled to create miniature runic constellations that were a tenth of their usual size. However, Nial was not exactly adept at miniature engraving, which was why he didn't even think of doing it, to begin with.

This was also one more reason why he let go of the idea of forging a dagger. In the end, Nial created a saber, with above-average aesthetic looks. It was a good saber, made out of Amethyztan, a grade-2 metal with the same shine and color of an amethyst if purified properly.

Nial was not good at purifying metals, which was why he didn't waste his time attempting it. The grade-2 metal was already complex enough for him to create a Tier-2 runic armament with the plan he had in mind. This was also why it was not necessary for him to go out of his way to do something that would take way more time and efforts than he had to out in to create the entire runic armament.

Only around six hours were left when Nial finished concocting the runic solutions and the first few steps of the saber's forging. It was time for him to start engraving the runic constellations he had in mind.

He lifted the engraving pen and wanted to start when he noticed that his hand was trembling and his heart was thudding wildly.

"I can do that…an Advanced runic constellation…even if I will only barely get a 75% perfection grade, I can do it! I was able to create the third Ancient Origin ring with ease as well…that's just as difficult as engraving an advanced runic constellation…well maybe not thaaattt difficult but still!" Nial reminded himself while slowly taking deep breaths to force his body to calm down.

It was possible to create Tier-2 runic armaments with Intermediate runic constellations but that would require more than 10 Intermediate runic armaments, which had to be combined and overlap each other. All the runic constellations would be linked to become one big runic constellation that was extremely complex, and it would be very easy to make mistakes in its creation.

Simultaneously, high-quality materials would make it easier to create runic armaments of a higher tier as well. For example, a highly purified metal and exceptional runic solutions created with materials that had been purified perfectly would gradually decrease the needed requirements to create a runic armament of a higher Tier.

With highly purified Amethyztan, and the same runic solution Nials had just perfectly purified, he would only have to engrave five combined and overlapped intermediate runic constellations, and a bunch of Basic runic constellations to create a Tier-2 runic armament.

But even then, one had to create a great synergy between the used metal for forging, the runic solutions used for the runic constellations, and the runic constellations as well.

Nonetheless, it was said to be easier than engraving an Advanced runic constellation as long as one learned how to engrave overlapping runic constellations. The complexity of advanced runic constellations was on a completely different level and Nial was actually not confident in engraving his first ever successful Advanced runic constellations.

Unfortunately, it was not as if Nial had much of a choice. He could tell that everyone was trying to create Tier-2 runic armaments, which meant that their ranking would be better than his the moment they succeeded.

At least, this would be the case if he were to follow the normal process to create the best runic armaments he was currently capable of creating.

The time he studied being a Runicier was simply too short in comparison to everyone else, and even if his foundation was great, he didn't know many engraving techniques, let alone any techniques that were related to blacksmithing and concocting.

He could only do his best to increase the quality of his runic constellations because his forging and runic solutions were much worse than that of any of the other five finalists!

Nial knew that which was why he forced himself to break through his shackles and advance further! Even if it would just be a fluke, he had to engrave a proper Advanced runic constellation in the saber!

Time slowly passed in which all the six finalists were working hard. The vast majority of finalists created runic weapons because they were the most experienced with weapons. Only Ophelia Narit didn't bother creating a runic weapon. She had created a shield made out of a red ore that nobody could identify.

She spent three hours creating the shield made out of an alloy with the usage of various grade-2 ores. Through this, the best possible shield for her purpose had been created.

After spending three hours forging, she had spent an hour creating the runic solutions with which she would engrave the runic constellations on the front and the back of the metal shield.

The shield's appearance closely resembled a Celtic shield, which made it looks very unique as its form was oval with two rather big indents on each side of the center of the shield.

The indents circled from the front and went all the way to the back, which made it easier for Ophelia to connect the runic constellations on the back with the runic constellations on the front.

This was exactly what Ophelia wanted; to create a runic constellation that was connected with each other from all sides.

She was a fast engraver and didn't have any issues engraving numerous miniature Basic runic constellations that overlapped with each other. Ophelia easily added a bunch of Intermediate runic constellations on the shield that already had dozens of basic runic constellations.

For the following four hours, it looked like she never lifted her head to look at the progress of the others. Her entire focus was on the fiery red Celtic shield in front of her and nothing could distract her.

Meanwhile, Nial was giving his utmost to engrave a purplish runic constellation on the widest area of the saber in front of him. A large number of runic constellations had already been engraved on the saber but they were mostly perfect Basic and Intermediate runic constellations.

The saber could already be considered a peak Tier-1 runic armament, but that was not enough, and Nial knew that very well! His range of perception was solely focused on the saber in front of him, and his [Mana Sense] increased his sensitivity to mana. This allowed him to sense what he was going to engrave with much higher precision.

Nial had to make sure that he didn't make a single mistake while engraving and that he would be able to copy-paste the runic constellation that had been imprinted in his mind. He needed a perfection grade of, at least, 75%, which meant that he could only make a few mistakes.

A single wrong stroke in an important area of the runic constellation would drastically decrease its efficiency, possibly decreasing the perfection grade by more than 10%.

In the worst possible case, it would destroy the weapon altogether. This would be his worst nightmare, and it was something Nial had to prevent by all means.

Nial was fully focused on his task ahead. He didn't even realize that one of the finalists had started to throw a fit, destroying the entire artisan space that belonged to him.

The finalist had made a big mistake and ended up overestimating his capabilities. He wanted to engrave a perfect Advanced runic constellation to make sure that he would win, especially against Ophelia Narit.

Both winning the tournament and being considered a Runicier, who was better than a once in a ten thousand years talent, were things that would increase his reputation drastically.

He had been daydreaming of becoming the best Runicier of the new generation, even better than a prodigious Draco. Not many could say that about themselves, which was why all of his runic armaments would become an exclusive brand, increasing the value of everything he created drastically, just because he was the one to have worked on it.

Unfortunately, he was led by greed and desires that overwhelmed his rational mind. The result was that the Runicier made a mistake by creating a thicker stroke in the advanced runic constellation than he wanted to create, thus, scrapping the runic armament in its entirety!

The runic constellation was damaged and rendered unusable because of a tiny mistake the young Runicier made. However, this slight mistake was enough to destroy the entire runic armament, just two hours before midnight. The final round would end in two hours, and there was no time for him to attempt reforging a new weapon and to engrave itwith all the necessary runic constellations all over again.

He had failed miserably and the young Runicier understood this very well. This was why he lost his cool and began creating a ruckus.

Realizing that now he would humiliate himself and his race by achieving the last place amongst all the finalists, and losing nearly all the prestige he would have gained just by creating a good runic armament in the final round made him murderously angry.

His entire being was overflowing with rage and he couldn't stay composed anymore, which was why he began destroying everything around him.

In the end, he lost his sanity for a few moments until he was knocked out and removed from the scene by the tournament staff.

However, despite having been removed, the fit the Runicier threw affected three of the five remaining finalists who lost their concentration as nervousness crept in.

They began to sweat heavily, and it seemed like they were having problems maintaining their focus. They were at the exact same step as their rival and were about to engrave an advanced runic constellation.

All of them had learned to engrave numerous basic, intermediate and advanced runic constellations, whether it was for the purpose of training or to create runic armaments on their own.

With enough time, all of them were able to create Advanced runic constellations at every 10th attempt. At their age, this was very good, but it didn't help right now, especially with their biggest rival being a prodigious Draco, whose talent was unrivaled and plain as day when their eyes fell on to the Celtic shield.

Looking at the elegance Ophelia demonstrated while engraving runic armaments, they couldn't help but sigh deeply.

They were just about to return their attention back to their own runic armaments when they noticed something that caused their bodies to freeze.

"Is the Celtic shield humming?!"

**

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