Several days passed since Nial had entered his large workshop. He was on his seventh attempt to create a specific runic armant, which he customized for the young Original, who was at the 1st Origin rank.
"Sir…are you sure that it will work out?" The young man, called Phillip, asked quietly, looking at the stump of his right arm.
He felt a bit uncomfortable standing in front of Nial, the young Original, who had been officially titled the Dark Lord of humanity.
It was extrely difficult to obtain a title for even grown-ups, let alone for young Originals which was why Nial's achievent was spectacular. Nial was now 21 years old and rumors spread through the shelters that he had gotten control of the strongest Elves in the Forest of Life.
Phillip had seen so Dark Elves running back and forth from the Forest of Life and to the large workshop. They handed over various resources which they had collected from conquering dungeons.
The young Original knew that Nial Orin was a busy man and that he would usually never show any interest in a newly awakened Original, such as himself. That was sothing Phillip was fully aware of.
However, when he had been notified that Nial Orin was searching for people like him, he didn't hesitate a mont and readily accepted the offer to co to his workshop.
It was a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity, and Phillip needed it more than others. His family was dirt-poor, which was why Phillip had started to work from a very young age to support his family financially.
Unfortunately, an accident had occurred and the machine he had been working on pulled his arm inside, smashing it completely. It had to be amputated, which was why he was only left with a small stump of his right arm.
"Of course, it will work out. If not with the seventh attempt, then maybe with the eighth, or 20th, or maybe only after the 100th attempt, who knows?" Nial answered calmly with a kind smile on his face.
His reassurance was nice and it cald Phillip that Nial would give up after a while. In the beginning, he had no idea what Nial was trying with him. In fact, he had expected to get paid for volunteering to be a guinea pig for human experints, which was quite cruel but nothing too rare if one looked at mankind's history.
That was not actually wrong because Nial was quite literally experinting with the human body…or what was missing of it, to be precise.
Nial finished engraving the last runic constellation on the black-colored runic armant. The runic constellations glowed in a faint golden light for a mont, which was enough for Nial's smile to widen.
"This should work…sit down and stretch out your right arm," Nial ordered before he started to move.
Twenty minutes passed and Nial began to sweat a bit. He was not exhausted but it was his nerves that prevented him from calming down.
"It works fine, right? Do you feel any pain while moving?" Nial asked, trying to visualize every tiny detail about the connection of Phillip's arm stump and the runic armant that covered it.
It was a black-colored arm prosthesis, a Tier-2 runic armant Nial had created using every single bit of his knowledge.
"Oh…my good…IT REALLY WORKS!!" Phillips exclaid in shock. His joyous voice reverberated through the entire workshop. Phillip jumped up from the chair he had been seated on and he pulled Nial into a hug.
The arm prosthesis felt a bit weird, at first, but that was only obvious. He had been accustod to not feeling his right arm for quite so ti after all.
Yet, right now, he could feel sothing. It was different than feeling his left arm made of flesh and bones but Phillip was overjoyed, nonetheless. The governnt never cared about creating proper arm prostheses for the disabled. The authorities had other things to take care of and their focus had never been to create arm prostheses for civilians who were in dire need of one.
Even Originals were usually ignored in this regard, and the only way to tend to their injuries was to use miraculous treasures with which they could regrow their limbs.
Unfortunately, these miraculous treasures were extrely rare, even for the Elven race. So of their healers could regrow limbs but that was only possible once in a month, and that too by using the vast majority of their lifeforce. It would take an entire month before they would regain their peak state.
Nial knew that it was not possible to ask the Elves to aid all crippled humans, and he didn't even think about asking the governnt to help him out.
That was not necessary, either way. Nial had the capabilities to create all kinds of runic armants and even if he was not a great blacksmith, he was slowly getting better. The arm prosthesis had been tough to create but Nial had succeeded in making it work.
He was a bit astonished that Phillip hugged him so tightly but he embraced him as well. If soone would have been able to help him out when he had just awoken his Origin, Nial would have felt grateful as well.
After all, one only learned to value what they had when they lost it. That was how it would usually be in various scenarios and Phillip felt the sa with his arm right now.
To the young Original, who was barely 16 years old, it was like he was finally getting a chance to live his life fully and achieve his dreams again. This made him feel euphoric and it caused his emotions to overflow.
"You are the best!!" Phillip exclaid even louder than before when he slowly let go of Nial.
He looked at the blind Original, who was deed as Dark Lord. Nurous rumors about the Dark Lord had spread through the shelters and most of them were exaggerated facts about his fight against the Dryx, how he defeated a few Elves when they spared with him, and his 'dominance' over the brats of the Nightshadow Elven race.
Phillip's parents had worried a lot about their son because of these rumors, especially because he was an amputee. They imagined the worst possible things, and never once thought that the Dark Lord would think of helping their son.
Thus, they felt the worst when Phillip ran away from ho one day to co to the newly build shelter, where the once-in-a-lifeti opportunity had been waiting for him.
"I will improve the prosthesis in the future but it should work fine right now, right? Tell if sothing is missing or feels odd, I will keep improving it," Nial said and Phillip nodded his head, sharing everything he felt while moving his right arm.
The day passed and Nial ended up altering a few configurations to fix the runic prosthesis for Phillip. The young man was confused about how soone like the Dark Lord could waste so much of his precious ti on a newly awakened Origin like him.
There must be a deeper aning behind his actions, which was what Phillip was trying to find out.
"Are you helping others to find a way to restore your eyesight?" He thus asked straightforwardly, while looking at the milky white lifeless eyes of the Dark Lord.
"Not really, my eyes are beyond saving, but others can be helped. For many years, before I awoke my Origin, I felt helpless because I had to rely on others to do the most basic things. It is not easy to live properly while being blind, not in the current Era, at least.
That's one of the reasons I want to help a few newly awakened Originals, who have been crippled or have been born with issues that can be solved with my runic armants," Nial explained calmly.
He wanted to help the other disabled people but he didn't want to make it seem as if he thought of himself as so sort of Saint because he knew that he was far from being considered one.
"I an it is not difficult for to create runic armants as long as I know what to do, so I might as well help…and I don't work for free either, which you should know," Nial added while stretching his body.
Phillip was fully aware that he didn't get the prosthesis for free. It was not necessary for him to pay millions of dollars for the arm prosthesis that could exhibit the brute force of a being at the 3rd Advanced Mirae rank without the use of a trace of mana which was a relief.
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It would already be a wonder if Phillip were to reach the Mirae rank in the next 12 months. To Nial, soone at the Origin rank was useless but he wanted to nourish his own group of Originals, loyal ones at that.
And by saving Phillip's life in an indirect manner, he had taken the first step in that direction.
"Let be completely honest, by creating runic armants for those, I can get the loyalty of Originals, who have been abandoned by the governnt. You can beco stronger than the governnt if you follow willingly after you serve your ti in my organization.
I will provide upgrades and enhancents to your prosthesis whenever it is necessary, and nourish you while you will follow my commands. I make fair deals, and I don't treat my people badly, don't worry! Take the one year you will spend in the Onyx Association to see how I am doing before you make your final decision," Nial spoke a lot. He was trying to poach Phillip as the first mber of his Originals organization, called [Onyx].
After he would get his first mber, the following would join on their own. Nial was pretty sure that his marketing strategy of creating a Tier-2 Runic prosthesis for Phillip would hit the nail on the head.
As long as Phillip gained enough mana to use the prosthesis to its highest capabilities, it would be possible to injure Protheus Originals. The raw materials used for the prosthesis ca from a dungeon only Protheus Originals could enter and survive, and the runic constellations strengthened the materials only further.
It would be hard to destroy the prosthesis, which ant that killing Phillip would be the easiest way to defeat him. Nial made sure that the prosthesis would attract the most attention, and that it was strong enough to ensure the young Original's safety in a life and death battle.
"Even if I have to join your Onyx Association, don't you think that you are making a big loss by giving the prosthesis and proposing to nourish ? I an…my mana veins are the only strong point about …I won't even be able to reach the 10th Origin rank…" Phillip was still not sure what Nial had in mind, which was why he sounded uncertain as he spoke to the Dark Lord.
However, Nial just waved his hand.
"This is a long-term investnt. You may not understand it fully yet because you didn't have the chance to show your determination until now, but humans who have had it harder than others are more desperate to beco strong. I will give you the resources and the opportunities to grow and I hope you put it to good use," Nial said with a confident smile on his face as he added,
"Humanity needs powerful Originals, and I believe that you can beco one!"
"I can?...."
**
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