The battle between the Earthly Fire Dragon and the young warriors had come to a deadlock. They stood in place now, not yet advancing back into the fray. The dragon also did not hurl fire at them anymore. It just paced there and roared fiercely at them, warning them not to come any closer to the lake full of magma behind it. It was protecting the lake.
At first, they had felt rather thrilled when Karl claimed that he knew of a way to defeat the dragon. But his proposal of drawing ten drops of blood essence was quite ridiculous. They looked at him with disbelief in their eyes.
After all, blood essence was the most essential and vital part of a creature. It was as important as a creature's life. Generally speaking, a warrior of Blood Purification had six to eight drops of blood essence. But what did Karl just say? That he needed ten drops of blood essence from warriors at the eighth grade of Blood Purification!? Preposterous!
For a warrior of Blood Purification, losing one drop of blood essence meant that he would lose nearly a sixth of his strength. He would become quite weak and his life would be endangered!
No wonder Pompeo and Aiden were feeling shock and trepidation! It was understandable for them to have such mixed feelings.
"Karl, why do you need them? Feel free to explain, please!" Theo asked after he had been silent for a while.
"Everyone, I'm sure all of you know what we could find in that lake. This is a grand opportunity for all of us. If we miss it today, we won't be able to have such a big opportunity anymore,"
Karl stepped forward and explained. "I'm well aware that the blood essence is of extreme importance to all of you. But the dragon blood is of even greater importance. Once we succeed, I can assure you that we are all going to gain more than enough to pay off the blood essence we contributed."
He then took a deep breath and continued, "I need ten drops. Five from us and five from you. So, what do you think? Think carefully and make a wise decision, please!"
Hearing Karl's speech, Theo, Pompeo and Aiden began to calculate carefully. In Ricky's team, only the three were at the eighth grade of Blood Purification. They were now expected to donate the blood essence.
The dragon blood? Or the blood essence? They were struggling with this dilemma. On one hand, they were eager to defeat the dragon. But then again, they did not want to take the risk of losing their blood essence by giving it to a man they had just met.
"Karl, let me ask a question. Why are you so confident that you will kill the dragon with the blood essence?" Pompeo finally said. It seemed as though he had begun to trust Karl and wanted to know more.
"Check this out!" Karl said, not answering him directly. Instead, he began to do something.
He closed his eyes and gathered his internal strength for a few seconds. Then he opened his eyes and stretched out his right palm. Immediately, crimson spiritual energy appeared, creeping on the palm. Soon, a complex array was shown on his palm.
"Th... This is an array! You are an array deployer!" Theo blurted out in shock. His companions were also surprised.
Although array deployers might not enjoy as high a reputation as casting masters or pill refiners did, they were still respectable. They could form arrays in advance and thus could fight against a large number of enemies at the same time.
What was more, many clans and organizations constructed their buildings with the help of array deployers because they were able to form advantageous arrays as the foundations.
Generally speaking, an array deployer was even more powerful than a casting master at the same level.
"Yes. As you can see, I'm an array deployer at the intermediate level!" Karl announced boldly, raising his chin up. Obviously, he was proud of his identity.
'An array deployer at the intermediate level!?' Ricky muttered to himself silently, in surprise. He had heard quite a few things about array deployers.
Array deployers were divided into different levels. There were array deployers at the inferior, intermediate, and advanced levels. Respectively, they were as strong as the warriors of Skin Refinement, of Blood Purification, and of Bone Reinforcement.
In addition, there were array deployers who were even more powerful than those at the advanced level. They were called array deployers of king level.
'It seems that he is quite strong and is not as ordinary as he has presented himself. I have to be more cautious from now. He is a difficult one to deal with. It's just a good thing that he doesn't know my real strength, ' Ricky thought to himself, growing more alert.
"The array in my hand is a higher array of intermediate level. It's called the Bloodsucking Array. It can defeat a creature at the ninth grade of Blood Purification when it's formed successfully. However, it's not easy to form one. I need blood essence from the warriors. Otherwise, it won't come into effect," Karl explained.
"It needs the support from the blood essence. Even with ten drops, the array would only maintain its power for about one hour."
"You mean, we only have one hour to defeat the dragon?!" Pompeo blurted out.
"Yes, that's right!" If you are unwilling to denote your blood essence, it's fine. You can leave. We will try to find other warriors. I'm sure there are people out there who would take the risk to get the dragon blood," Karl stated.
Now, Theo, Pompeo, and Aiden began to consider his offer.
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