Awakened

'I… can sense mana!' Nial realized with a radiant smile on his face.

Through the tiny bit of mana particles that were slowly entering his body, Nial could sense his surroundings precisely!

This was miraculous, and something he had never expected to happen.

His hands began to tremble as he clenched his fingers into a fist.

A single tear that was filled with all the frustration, humiliation, and anger accumulated from the last 15 years trickled down his cheek.

*

Mana, also known as Mythic energy, was one kind of energy that permeated the ground, air, and empowered the majority of living beings within specific areas.

It had first emerged centuries ago as the primal dungeon portal had materialized, releasing mana into the untainted world.

When the first dungeons had appeared in the form of portals, they weren't deemed as dangerous.

Mankind had been curious about the first portals that appeared to be straight out of a science-fiction movie.

However, at the same time, everyone had been anxious about possible and unknown dangers that could be lurking behind, recalling the nightmarish scenarios that were often described in novels.

Unfortunately, it was even worse than what the authors had imagined in their books, and chaos had descended upon the large blue planet.

The majority of humans succumbed to their ill-fated destiny and died a painful death.

Their worries and hardships ended with their life but those who were left behind lived a life of guilt. Despite having survived the dangers, they were neither happy nor relieved as the burden of not being able to save their loved ones weighed them down.

Mankind was on the brink of extinction until the first Originals, that is humans who could absorb and control mana, emerged.

They were able to make use of the mana that permeated the environment and strengthen themselves.

They made use of this strength to kill the beasts that were capable of deflecting bullets, rocket launchers, and in some cases, even nuclear bombs.

By killing beasts that had emerged from dungeons, the Originals were able to reap all kinds of benefits, further strengthening their prowess.

Though later, the tides changed.

From being thrown to the bottom of the food chain, they began to fight desperately to climb back to the top.

Their goal was not only to survive but also to overcome every hurdle that obstructed them from regaining their sovereignty, to be at the top of the food pyramid in the new era!

Through their relentless efforts, they were able to build many shelters in a duration of over three hundred years.

To prevent occurrence of any untoward incident, the number of dungeon portals was strictly regulated inside these shelters.

Or at least that was what mankind had assumed to have achieved until the fateful day when Nial had suddenly disappeared from the face of the planet.

The incident was an anomaly, but it instilled fear in the hearts of every human, nonetheless.

It spoke volumes about the so-called safety that had been reduced to a mere farce, an illusion, after all!

In fact, Nial didn't remember anything that had happened during the incident 15 years ago.

He had only been three years old, after all!

Despite that, there should have been snippets of memories, lodged in the deepest parts of his subconscious. 

But, no matter how many times he tried to reach that, he always returned empty-handed.

Because of that, Nial always felt as if something had happened, and a certain blockage had sealed off the specific memories pertaining to that incident in his mind.

At least, that was the only thing that would make sense, considering that he had lost his eyesight and the ability to sense mana through the incident.

It had scarred him for life and left a repetitive, overly realistic dream that had tortured him every month until he had met the Goddess.

Thinking about the repetitive dream, Nial believed that he would never have it again.

At least, that was what his subconscious told him.

Rubbing the area where the Goddess had hit him, Nial couldn't help but feel weird because his body felt sore at that area, making him feel as if his insides had been twisted.

'Was it really just a dream?' he wondered, not sure about the answer.

Yet, given the fact that he was able to sense mana after more than a decade had passed, something about the dream had to be a reality.

At least it had influenced him somehow though he had no idea what the Goddess had done!

'Even if I'm still blind, as long as I can wield mana, it shouldn't be too difficult to learn how to perceive my surroundings with it, replacing my non-existent eyesight…somewhat!'

Nial had never actually been a pessimist.

Despite their family's social standard, he had always been happy, even if he didn't have many things.

The love and security provided by his family more than made up for material belongings, which he had no interest in either way.

As such, he was glad to have obtained the ability to sense mana once again.

That was much better than anything he could wish for- except regaining his eyesight.

In fact, even if he would have regained his eyesight without being able to sense mana, this wouldn't have been as useful as the other way around!

That was because Nial had researched for a way to replicate his lost eyesight to a certain extent.

Unfortunately, without mana, it was near impossible to achieve this.

Thus, he felt as if he had won the jackpot when he could finally make use of mana and his joy knew no bounds.

'I'll return the favor if anything about my dreams was real!'

He vowed to the Goddess, not knowing what consequences this seemingly nonchalant promise would bring forth.

The Goddess had injured him, but that was not something he could care about right now.

He focussed on the positive aspect where she had tried to heal his eyes, allowing Nial to regain his eyesight.

But something had gone terribly wrong in the process.

This made Nial conscious about something within his body, about which he had been ignorant all this time!

Ignoring the particles of mana he was able to sense in his surroundings, Nial touched his chest, feeling his wildly beating heart.

At that moment, he noticed something else that shocked him greatly.

"Did I awaken my origin?" He shouted out, not realizing how loud his voice had been.

As the realization sunk in, his hand began to tremble in excitement.

Suddenly, he felt hyper-aware of everything in his body along with his shirt that clung to his back that was slick with sweat.

Nial couldn't move as he sensed the grain-sized mana core inside his body.

Every Original had to awaken their origin before they could start absorbing mana to strengthen themselves, wield elements and utilize all kinds of abilities.

Before awakening, one was barely able to sense the mana that swept through one's body.

It would simply pass through the body without doing anything.

Only those that had the necessary innate talent would be able to subconsciously absorb a minuscule amount of the dungeons' mana. This involuntary act would repeat itself, slowly preparing the individuals for a natural awakening of their origin.

This would strengthen them, and turn them into supernatural existences that were a cut above ordinary humans.

Since the emergence of the first dungeons, governments had been toppled, and there was only one permanent rule that applied everywhere- The strong reigns, while the weak obey!

Nial was aware of this, and it was also why his parents, who had never cared about becoming stronger, remained poor for their entire life.

They had to take responsibility of Nial and Sabrina, his sister, who were their priorities and their precious little children.

As such, they were unable to spend their time on becoming stronger even if they wanted to, let alone spending their whole time fighting and killing beasts inhabiting more dangerous dungeons to accumulate wealth.

Everything turned even worse when Nial had been involved in an unforeseen incident that had caused severe mental trauma to Maline, Nial's mother.

After the incident, she became overly protective of him and stayed by his side for several years.

It was only when she saw that his previous joyous personality had returned that she decided to give him some freedom.

They had been in a dire need of money, and Miles, their father, was unable to earn enough to feed everyone.

The medical expenses Sabrina had already seared a giant hole in his pocket, yet he was trying to set aside some funds to look for ways to heal Nial.

However, even the strongest healers they had met during the last 15 years had been unable to help them, leaving them with nothing but overpriced medical bills.

Nial was thankful for the family he had, and he knew that they wouldn't give up on him, no matter what.

Because of that, Nial told them that he had already adapted to being blind, that he was happy, and that they should rather save up to help his sister to awaken her origin instead.

Unexpectedly, before that could even happen, she had been diagnosed with a rare disease, throwing their entire family, which had just recovered from the setback of Nial's incident, a fresh set of obstacles once again.

Even Nial was not sure how to be optimistic in that situation.

Fortunately, Sabrina's situation had been fine for a very long time, and the medicine they were able to procure seemed to prevent her condition from worsening.

However, after a few years passed, her condition began to gradually worsen.

The cheap medicine stopped working and the price they had to pay for the medicine that merely worked as a painkiller for his little sister, skyrocketed.

Because of that Nial had grown desperate, just like his parents, while his little sister was always trying to smile brightly, and try to ease their worry.

Owing to his desire to support his family, Nial had ended up in the current situation, overcoming the pressure of the divine stairs, the encounter with the divine Goddess, and having his origin awakened!

The Divine Goddess was responsible for the recuperation of his malfunction that had prevented him from sensing mana.

At the same time, her intervention seemed to have awakened something that had been sealed deep within him.

This had also served as a catalyst to awaken his origin, the creation of his mana veins, and a small mana core.

Yet, at the same time, Nial was able to sense that something that didn't belong to him was inside him!

It was located between his heart and the mana core that was right in the center of his lower chest.

Even if Nial was not sure what exactly it was, through his perception he was able to tell that it was… a seed!?

'Was that sealed inside me?' He wondered, not quite sure what to do with this recently acquired information.

Nial attempted to perceive more about the mysterious seed within his body, but it was to no avail.

All of a sudden, just as he decided to divert his attention to something else, a weird sensation jolted through Nial's body.

He felt as if his nerves were electrocuted for a short moment when mana within him accidentally came in touch with the seed.

'This...is that the divine energy of the Goddess...and..what even is that?'

Nial was not sure what exactly had happened to his body in that short moment.

He felt invigorated and all too powerful as if he could lift an Ox all by himself.

This made him question his existence, but he was dragged out of his train of thoughts when he heard the loud sound of footsteps rushing toward him.

At that moment his mother stormed inside his room, flinging open the door as her worried voice resounded through the entire house.

"Nial, what's wrong, did you have a nightmare again? Does something hurt??"

Hearing his overprotective mother's tired, but also worried voice, Nial couldn't help but bite on his lower lip.

Soon, his expression transformed as he gave her a radiant smile, the first one he had shown in the past 15 years.

"I think I…just awoke my origin!!"