"Your names are Kleiman, Fendi, Ted, and Toby, right?" Andrew asked with a smile.
The four were very excited and replied in unison, "Yes, Your Highness."
Andrew said, "You must be very curious, wondering why I left you here."
The four nodded in unison. In their view, their strength was certainly not enough to catch the Duke's eye. Nowadays, the Lance Duchy was wealthy and powerful, and had recruited many strong individuals. High-Level Warrior accounted for one-tenth of the army alone, not to mention the Duke's guards.
Andrew hesitated, wondering if he should speak up. These people's souls had weaker repulsion, making them much more likely to successfully fuse with the essence of blood than others. However, there was still a risk involved; failure would mean certain death. Andrew could disregard the deaths of death row inmates, but he couldn't risk his own men.
"Fine, let them choose for themselves."
Andrew sighed and told the four everything, including the number of deaths. He didn't need to hide it, nor did he care to. As a powerful figure and a lord, it would be a failure to use such tricks on even the most ordinary taxi drivers under his command.
"Therefore, it's up to you to decide whether to participate in this experiment. In my assessment, your chances of success are not low, but I can't guarantee it..."
"My lord," Toby, whose stat was fifteen, spoke first after a moment of silence, "Once we successfully fuse with the Dragon Essence Blood, will we become stronger?"
Andrew nodded and said, " Dragon are generally far more gifted than humans. Leaving aside magic, just in terms of physical strength, even a human at the Saint-level cannot compare to an ordinary Dragon. I estimate that if you succeed, your physical strength will be greatly enhanced, and you might even be able to transform into Dragon. It's also possible that your talents will be improved... These are all benefits of success. However, if you fail, I cannot guarantee your lives, so you must think carefully!"
Toby gritted his teeth. "Your Grace, I've made up my mind, I'll participate!"
Andrew was surprised. Of the four, Toby was the one he least favored, but he was also the first to make up his mind.
"And you?" Andrew asked, looking at the other three.
The youngest player, Kleiman, was in a dilemma; his score was only three, and he was Andrew's favorite.
"Your Grace, what will happen to our families if... if we die?" Kleiman whispered.
Andrew looked at him seriously. " Kleiman, you don't need to worry about anything. Whether you participate or not is your decision. Once you participate, regardless of success or failure, I will make proper arrangements for your families!"
Kleiman looked up and said, "Your Grace, I will participate! You are a benevolent nobleman, and I believe you!"
With Kleiman's encouragement, Fendi and Ted also agreed.
Andrew was unsure whether to be happy or sad, but he was still quite satisfied with the result. Before conducting the final experiment, he tested the soul repulsion values with the four again to confirm that he hadn't made a mistake.
" Kleiman, out of the four, you have the highest chance of success, so let's start with you!"
Andrew took out a drop of the Golden Dragon's essence blood and handed it to Kleiman. Looking at the drop of essence blood, Kleiman swallowed hard.
"My lord, is this the essence blood of the invincible Saint-level Dragon, the Gold Dragon?"
Andrew nodded and said, "That's right. The Gold Dragon is a Light Element magical beast with a powerful physique and immunity to all kinds of magic. In addition, its regenerative ability is second to none among all magical beasts. If you can fuse with it, your future achievements will be limitless!"
A resolute glint flashed in Kleiman's eyes as he swiftly swallowed the blood essence.
"You three, step back!" Andrew was extremely nervous. Kleiman's success or failure was related to whether his conclusion was correct, and even determined whether he could fuse with the Azure Dragon Essence Blood!
Toby and the other two were also nervous, but they still stepped back.
Andrew stepped forward and pressed down on Kleiman with his hand. At this moment, like the previous test subjects, Kleiman's whole body began to swell, his face contorted, and he screamed, clearly in extreme pain.
However, to Andrew's delight, Kleiman's expansion was much slower than those of the others.
"The fluctuations of soul rejection are becoming increasingly intense, and the values are starting to rise!"
Andrew suppressed Kleiman, who was enveloped in a cocoon of light, and held a testing device in his hand. On the device, the value of soul rejection kept rising, and in a quarter of an hour, the value rose from three to twenty!
"Twenty! This is terrible!"
Andrew had a bad feeling, but there was nothing he could do but wait for the result. To his surprise, the number didn't stay at twenty and then continued to rise.
thirty...
forty...
Forty-five...
As time went by, the number was about to exceed fifty, but Kleiman's swollen body stopped expanding. At this point, he was three meters tall, his entire body covered with golden scales, two sharp dragon horns grew from his head, and a long tail hung down to the ground behind him.
"This is a transformation! Did Kleiman succeed?"
Andrew stood to the side in astonishment, looking at the half- Dragonform Kleiman. From his appearance, Kleiman no longer resembled a human.
After waiting for more than two hours, Kleiman's aura finally stabilized, and the fluctuation value of his soul rapidly decreased from fifty to zero. Andrew, which meant that Kleiman had successfully overcome the soul rejection and fused with the Gold Dragon Essence Blood!
"Boom!"
The giant dragon-man fell.
Looking at the imposing-looking Kleiman, Toby and the others felt a chill run down their spines as they recalled Kleiman's painful howls just now.
"Sir, Kleiman, he..." Toby cautiously stepped forward and asked.
Andrew beamed with joy. "Don't worry, Kleiman succeeded! From today onwards, he is Golden Dragon Warrior! With just his physical body, Kleiman's strength is comparable to Warrior of the Seventh Rank!"
"You succeeded?" Toby and the two behind him looked at Kleiman, their eyes filled with an indescribable mix of envy and something else.
" Golden Dragon Warrior, comparable to a level seven warrior! Just a moment ago, Kleiman was only a Fifth-level Warrior..."
Kleiman's success greatly Vibration the three of them, and they were even more eager to try fusing their blood essences.
"Next up, Fendi!"
Having gained confidence from his successful experience, Andrew gave Fendi a drop of Thunder Dragon Essence Blood and asked him to fuse with it.
Andrew discovered that fusing blood essence had little to do with talent. Kleiman had previously cultivated Wind Element Battle-qi, yet he was still able to successfully fuse with the blood essence of a Light Element Dragon. Fendi, on the other hand, was Water Element warrior, and his rejection of the Thunder Dragon Essence Blood was the lowest.
The experiment went smoothly, taking more than three hours. Fendi successfully fused with the bloodline of the Lightning Dragon and transformed into a half-dragon.
" Fendi is stronger than Kleiman. After transforming, his aura reached the peak of level seven. As long as he can break through level seven, even a Eighth-level Warrior would be no match for him."
Ted and Toby watched their companions succeed one after another, filled with envy.
" Ted, it's your turn!" Andrew gave Ted a drop of Tyrant Wyrm Essence Blood. Tyrant Wyrm is also Earth Element magical beast, and its strength is the strongest among the Dragon Clan.
I hope you're alright.
Andrew was somewhat worried. Clayde and Fendi both had scores below ten, giving them a high chance of success. However, Ted and Toby had scores of twelve and fifteen respectively, making Andrew less confident.
However, seeing the envy in their eyes for Clayde and Fendi, Andrew said nothing. In this world where strength reigns supreme, there are countless people who would fight to the death for power. Besides, they already had successful examples of this...
Ted succeeded without major incident. However, it took him much longer. Andrew also discovered that when he fused with the blood essence, the fluctuation value once approached sixty. Clayde and Fendi did not experience this. Their highest values were only fifty.
"It seems that in addition to the minimum value, everyone also has a maximum value. Judging from Ted's case, the safe range should be a minimum of twenty and a maximum of sixty. Exceeding this range will be dangerous when fusing blood essence."
Andrew was somewhat worried about Toby. In his view, of the four, Toby was the one most eager for strength. Ironically, he was also the one in the greatest danger. However, looking into Toby's eyes, Andrew didn't try to dissuade him. Even if he did, it wouldn't make a difference.
" Toby, it's your turn! You saw what happened to Ted, it was extremely dangerous. And you're definitely in even more danger than him. Think it through, if you fail, I can't save you!"
Andrew thought about it and decided to offer another word of advice.
Toby shook his head firmly. "Sir, I've made up my mind. Even if I die, I won't regret it!"
Without saying anything more, Andrew handed him a drop of inky blood essence. This was the blood essence of a Darkness Element Dragon, Black Dragon. Black Dragon are considered anomalies among the Dragon Clan, their combat power rivaling that of Golden Dragon, but due to their brutal nature, they are disliked by other Dragon Clan.
Toby swallowed the blood essence and sat cross-legged. Unlike the previous three, Toby's muscles twitched all over, and he was sweating profusely, but he gritted his teeth and did not cry out.
Beside him, Andrew watched the testing machine with concern; the readings were rising rapidly, quickly surpassing the fifty mark.
"I hope you can stick with it..." Compared to the previous three, Andrew valued Toby more.