51 (51) Flaring palm

The oath spell. 

It was one of the few orthodox spells that Mangrel had in his arsenal. Learning rank zero spells was not hard, with its simple design, it could be used almost immediately.

The real challenge began from rank one. The spell modules at this level were so complicated that the human mind cannot comprehend them unless studying deeper into them. The strengths such spells displayed were in a league of their own from rank zero spells. 

Rank zero and rank one spells were like a candle fire compared to a forest fire. 

The reason Mangrel passed on the oath spell to Jagrel was just to show his resourcefulness. That would cause Jagrel to misunderstand his background. 

'I like forcing others to make a contract, however, that's quite impossible for me now. Therefore, I can only resort to negotiating. Keeping them alive is for the best, the next trial might be my end if it were a game of numbers.' Mangrel chuckled with rationality. 

"I have an offer for you two too." Mangrel let Jagrel comprehend the oath spell further, while he talked to the other two survivors. 

Hearing Mangrel's words, both of them increased their vigilance to an all-time high. 

"An offer...?" Doubt appeared on the face of the cultivator. 

"Yes. But there's no need to worry, I won't force you if you decline." Mangrel spoke in a light tone, making the other stop frowning. 

"Then...please continue." The cultivator did his best to speak in a way that won't be offensive. 

"I will lead you just like how I did in the first trial. I am sure this way you would have a higher chance of survival. In exchange, you will have to give me a portion of the reward you receive throughout the next three years."  Mangrel spoke with confidence, giving off an atmosphere like he was stating facts. 

The surrounding grew silent as the two cultivators began contemplating. They had of course seen Mangrel's leadership, this made them consider the offer carefully.

Was the deal worth it?

Absolutely!

Mangrel only asked for a portion of the reward, not even half. The two cultivators were indecisive, feeling some resistance from giving what belonged to them. 

Mangrel leisurely opened his mouth: "The offer will only stand till you use the reward you received for clearing the first trial. I shall only say one last thing — You can't gain anything without sacrifice." 

Mangrel stared deep into their eyes, before walking beside kertelf, who breathed raggedly through his mouth. 

Truthfully, Mangrel considered kertelf a garbage through and through. Not being able to think rationally and accept reality were the worst traits to have in this cultivation world. The only reason Kertelk survived was thanks to his luck and nothing else. 

'He is not worth anything, leaving aside the resources he will provide me. The fact he doesn't know of many spells means he is not from a very well-known organization either.' Mangrel was expressionless while staring at Kertelf. 

'And if he were to survive a few more times through luck...that means he is special.' Mangrel began instructing Jagrel about the specifics of the oaths. 

There were always people who were special compared to others. They were called the heavenly children at one point. 

The world loved these children, helping them throughout their life. They had a high chance of becoming someone renowned throughout the world. 

Mangrel had crossed paths with a few such people in his past life. They didn't have anything special about them, but they still rose to the top as if they had the world supporting them. 

'Though coming across even one of them in your whole life is very rare.' 

Jagrel activated the oath spell while touching Kertelf's head. Soon the oath was formed where Kertelf could not hurt Mangrel in any way for the next three years. 

'The oath spell will be broken once he advances to become a one-star spiritualist. In other words, a year or two at most, and then Kertelf would be free.' Mangrel planned on placing another strong oath on him before that. 

After the oath was formed, Kertelf could not be patient and became screaming. 

"Quickly....Do it quickly please...My head is going blank." Kertelf had already grown ghastly pale at this point. 

Splat~

Stepping on the puddle of blood around Kertelf, Mangrel walked beside him and gazed at the missing arm. 

Calculating the amount of origin essence Mangrel had, he could only perform one martial art at most. 

'I can't cast a spell in my current condition. Spiritual energy takes a lot of focus to recover unlike origin essence, so I don't even have a drop of spiritual energy in me right now.' This point made Mangrel feel bitter. 

Using Spiritual energy roughly can be very dangerous for the current Mangrel. His spirit was still weak, like an infant a year old. 

If it were someone else, they might have already suffered some damage to their spirit, which would have taken weeks to heal. His impeccable control saved him this time around. 

"Turn to the side, opposite direction, and take off your hand from the injury," Mangrel ordered coldly, not bothered by Kertelf's piercing gaze. 

"Kuhh!" Grunting in pain, Kertelf did as Mangrel had ordered. 

Removing the clothes stuck to the injury, Mangrel lifted his right hand and concentrated. 

Within seconds, his palm turned golden red, giving out a wave of heat. 

Fire path art, rank zero — flaring palm. 

The flaring palm was not a sustainable type of art like the ones Mangrel performed recently. This art was more like a one-time-use item, and a very destructive type one at that. 

'As long as it's one-on-one, The flaring palm is very useful.' Mangrel thought to himself while clutching Kertelf's injury with his scorching hand.

"Ahhh!! S-stop!" 

Mangrel held the squirming Kertelf down with his body weight. 

"Hold him down." 

"Ah, yes." Jagrel walked with a frown and held Kertelf's head and the other hand down. Blood splatters around his body, making him bathe in blood again. 

The smell of human flesh burning traveled through the air, causing the other two cultivators to flinch. 

Wheeze-wheeze

Kertelf breathed through his clenched teeth, almost as if he was dying. 

"It's over." Mangrel deactivated the art, by cutting off the origin essence supply. The injury was fully closed with slight smoke rising from it.

"Let's go." Mangrel signaled Jagrel to follow. 

Having kept his side of the deal, Kertelf will have no choice but to follow the agreement.