(50) Making a deal

"You will face small trials along the way, but they will not be as difficult as the main trials. They can start anytime, so stay on your toes." Bukeren swept his gaze across the five survivors, before opening his mouth for the last time. 

"You will be called upon soon." 

Stating these last words, Bukeren along with the other robed cultivator vanished into the shadows. 

Seeing this scene, Mangrel looked around himself silently. 

Deep stillness spread across the whole free space. The lamps hung on the side walls were destroyed in multiple places, creating a bleak darkness in the surrounding area. 

Blood stains were visible on the walls on the other end, which were not affected by the array's suction force. Showing the carnage that went by. 

Disappointment appeared in Mangrel's eyes before vanishing. 

'In the end, I was only able to eat eleven providence plant wolf hearts. Which increased my body's potential by two percent. My body should have the capability of absorbing thirty percent of Origin essence now.' 

All the dead providence wolves had their body absorbed into the death soldier array, which vanished a while ago. 

'The troll bull had a strong charge power as I had expected, I would have died no doubt if I faced it. Giving up on all their corpses was the best option. Opportunity can be created by oneself and through surviving.' 

Mangrel didn't bind himself to the one percent of potential and instead checked on his body. 

A surprise greeted Mangrel almost immediately, the second ring of death was faintly being born. Because of the tremendous strain it went through, it had already begun taking shape. Once the ring was born, Mangrel's origin essence storage would increase by a lot. 

'I can at most perform three to four martial arts before running out of Origin essence right now. But after obtaining the second ring, I should be able to perform twice as much as that. Or I can perform even stronger arts as my body would grow stronger then.' 

Mangrel's eyes sharply shifted to the three survivors in the distance, 

Jagrel stood up with fresh blood visible on his lips, pain spread across his lower abdomen as if his whole internals were skewered. 

This was just the difference between a beginner cultivator and a Rank one cultivator. A rank one cultivator could easily kill someone below them with just a simple punch. 

Jagrel's eyes turned to the dead soldier who stood at a corner of the room. It didn't move even once after it stopped receiving Jagrel's command. 

"You can store that puppet in the ownership mark, behind your palm," Mangrel spoke to Jagrel before walking past him. 

Jagrel's eyes greedily moved to the death soldier, he felt very excited thinking he could store it within him. 

Mangrel walked up to the three survivors who stood blankly in one place. 

The cultivator who lost his arm flailed around in pain even now. He was filled with despair because he knew that fixing his arm would be very hard. And, neither would anyone help him in the demonic inauguration. 

The future appeared bleak in his head. 

"Are the three of you the only survivors?" 

A voice attracted all three of Their attention. 

'Number 1000...' 

They didn't look down on Mangrel in the slightest, as they had all seen him fight and they had survived thanks to him and Jagrel too. 

"Yes...Everyone spread across the area once we watched you kill number 807. If we held the formation...it might have been different." Regret filled the eyes of the cultivator who spoke....now there were low cultivators, decreasing his survival chances. 

Mangrel had predicted they would move like that. Nevertheless, it didn't matter to him as they would have brought him some time either way.

'If there was someone smart enough...they would have followed through the hole Jagrel created. Anxiety played a role, but it shows their level of competence...' Mangrel made sure to remember their temperament. 

'First...' Mangrel's eyes swept the cultivator who lay on the ground clutching onto his missing arm. 

Mangrel kneeled while taking a glance at the blood loss. It was a serious injury, but no one bothered helping the cultivator. 

"What is your name?" Mangrel asked with an emotionless expression. 

"kartelf..." A weak voice left the injured cultivator. 

"So Kartelf, are you aware that you are going to die soon from blood loss?" Mangrel questioned with a cold voice. He could see deep within the injured cultivator's eyes, Kartelf just wanted to believe that he was alright.

However, Mangrel drilled the truth into Kartelf's mind. 

"N-no way...how can that be...." Kartelf's voice sounded like he was taken over by despair and desperation. 

"You can only be saved by burning that injury, in other words, Cauterization." Mangrel's eyes flickered with an ominous light. He was aware of what kind of cultivation module kartelf used, he was a water path cultivator. 

From how Kartelf had not used any fire spell on himself yet, it was apparent that he didn't know any fire-type spells either. 

And more than anything, they were all extremely exhausted. 

Looking at Kartelf's hopeless face, Mangrel opened his mouth with a chilling voice: "Hence, I have a deal for you. Hand over your reward for completing the first trial and half of all the rewards you will receive in the next three years. In exchange, I will save your life." 

Mangrel's endless black eyes coldly stared right into Kartelf's eyes, causing him to feel chills deep within him. 

Mangrel's demands were absolutely unreasonable, It made Kartelf grit his teeth in burning fury. However time was ticking by, and he had to decide quickly. 

"The demands..."

"I won't change them. You accept it if you want to or just die." Mangrel stayed adamant. He could just take the reward from Kartelf's room later on. 

Nothing was holding Mangrel back from killing Kartelf. The demonic inauguration was a ground where killing and stealing were normal. 

Kertelf understood this point, making him resigned to his fate in the end. 

"I will accept your deal..." Kartelf spoke, gnashing his teeth in resentment. 

"Good choice." 

The cultivators who watched the conversation felt Mangrel's ruthless attitude again. It made them stay on guard automatically. 

Mangrel turned to Jagrel who naturally stood behind him: "How much spiritual energy do you have left?" 

Jagrel closed his eyes, before replying: "Enough for a single rank zero spell."

Jagrel has just exhausted his origin essence while supplying the array, hence he still had a little spiritual energy left, unlike Mangrel. 

"I will pass you a rank zero spell, use it upon this guy." Mangrel tapped on Jagrel's shoulder after giving him a signal. 

Feeling surprised initially, Jagrel concentrated on the spell module that appeared before his spiritual body. 

"....an oath spell..." Jagrel was shocked to find such a useful spell. 

'It's useless unless the other person accepts the deal, but it's still very useful. However, it's a disappointment that he only passed the rank zero module...' Jagrel looked at Mangrel who easily gave him such a spell. In his heart, Mangrel had already been shrouded in the light of an heir of some huge organization.