Chapter 265: The Warrior Summoning Array
Inside the secret realm, Jim didn't know about any of this.
The moment he took the array design from Hector and sent the latter out, he started studying and memorizing it deep into his mind.
'You don't need to be this vexed over this,' the old man said in a bored tone, 'you can engrave these over any wall you want.'
"No, it's best for me to memorize it."
The two circles or the five long lines inside weren't a hurdle for him. However those letters were. Each letter had a unique shape, specific curves, lines, and even dots for each one.
And he didn't notice any similar letters or ones repeated there.
"Fifty-five symbols... That's quite the number," Jim slowly said while feeling lost at some point. "What language is that?"
'It's not language,' the old man said, 'these are rune letters.'
"Then it's a language," Jim said, "what do these letters mean anyway?"
'They aren't a language,' the old man was slightly annoyed, 'they are letters with no meaning.'
"I doubt that," Jim said while scanning the letters again, "if so then they wouldn't be able to summon a chicken."
'Each letter holds a magnificent amount of energy, or you can consider it as a portal that's linked to a very great power.'
"And writing them together like this will help me drain from these powers, right?"
'Correct.'
"Then it's a language."
'...'
The old man felt helpless speaking with him about this issue. So during the next hour he didn't bother speaking with Jim at all, giving him the space to think, memorize, and revise.
Jim stayed like this for an hour before he memorized it.
"How can I draw such a drawing?" he asked while leisurely walking through the corridor towards the upper secret segment of this place.
'You can think of an ink or pen, but the best thing ever is using your blood.'
"What?!" Jim was speechless for a moment, "don't tell me it's like the first time I activated my powers."
'Oh, that was so long ago,' the old man laughed in embarrassment, 'you can't still be resentful towards me about that incident, right?'
"I am," Jim firmly said before reaching the secret upper segment.
'You need to use your blood,' the old man said, 'it's the only way to control those maniacs without any problems.'
Jim stood silently there without doing anything else but thinking of his options. He just passed through the door to this segment, which was formed of a semi-transparent layer like membrane.
"So I have to link my blood with their bodies, right?"
'Smart kid,' the old man said before adding, 'you need to start collecting your blood now.'
"Screw you."
Despite that, Jim started to draw on the ground what he memorized in his mind using his blood. He used his sword to injure himself and used the blood to write over the ground.
For him things seemed much easier in his mind than doing it. "Sigh, I thought it would be a piece of cake drawing such letters," after some attempts and many failures, he finally managed to draw the first array right.
'That array is something complicated,' the old man said, trying to encourage him, 'so don't feel that bad from failing a few times.'
"I feel bad for my blood," Jim took a deep breath, "now what?"
The two circles and the letters in between them were now ready. 'Stand in the center and put both hands on the ground. Don't forget to use your blood.'
"On which finger?"
'On all of them.'
"..."
Jim started to feel that the old man had a thing towards his blood. Yet he did as the old man said and touched the ground with both hands.
"Rumble!"
The moment he did that, the entire space trembled. It seemed like a very frightening force was applying its might over this space, trying to crush it.
'Don't worry,' the old man shouted, 'it's the defensive array of the academy.'
"Then why are you shouting like that?"
'That's nothing,' the old man calmly said, 'this won't last long. Just keep that position and maintain the array.'
Jim didn't break the formation or say anything while gazing around in doubt. He felt that the ceiling of that space would crumble and fall over his head at any moment given the violent trembles occuring now.
However as the old man said, and after two minutes of violent quakes, the world regained its composure and calm like nothing happened.
But the array wasn't the same anymore.
"It's vanishing!" Jim said in an alarmed tone while watching the blood lines he drew on the ground grew fainter.
'That's expected,' the old man reassured him, 'the array is summoning the warriors now.'
Just as the old man spoke, five clouds of fog started to rise from the array. They were made entirely of red fog, like Jim's blood. Yet he could see faint golden sparkles everywhere in the clouds plus some deep black dust.
"Is it normal to take this long?"
Jim was feeling impatient and alerted. He heard a lot of comments regarding those incoming warriors; all shared the knowledge of how crazy and brutal they were.
And now he was just standing in the center of all this. Five red clouds were rising up slowly from the ground like growing mushrooms. They surrounded him and he had no other option but to think of getting out of this dangerous situation.
'No, you need to stay there until they all arrive,' but the old man asked for something insane.
"Do you want me dead this badly?" Jim couldn't help but say in panic while the clouds around started to grow in sizes larger than the size of the dragons he once met.
And they didn't show any signs of stopping growing despite that.
'You have to establish your dominance over them,' the old man said in a serious tone, 'if you missed that then they will see you as a weak boss... someone they can dispose of.'
"Didn't you say that using my blood will restrain them?"
'No, your blood will only help,' the old man corrected, 'but the true and effective way to dominate them is through the first moment they are born into your world.'
"Born? Wait a minute, do you mean they aren't... summoned?" Jim suddenly realized something.
'If they are already part of this world, they would be living inside a clan or a tribe. They are just wisps of energy that can be summoned using this array and in response to your energy.'
"Oh... so my blood..."
'Will help in forming up their bodies while your energy will be used as their soul,' the old man said, 'and from the first breaths they take they need to see you as their prime.'
"Father you mean?"
'No, we call it prime.'
"I'll call it father," Jim stubbornly said while trying to distract himself from any of this, "never thought something born to this world would be in such a giant state."
'That's just the beginning,' the old man said, 'if you are lucky enough and manage to raise one of them, then you would be able to see how giant these creatures can reach.'
"Hmm... How can I level them up?"
'Don't take me wrong,' the old man said before adding, 'however without the support from the academy and privilege you got as the new king, you wouldn't be able to summon even a single one of them.'
"Oh," Jim realized what the old man meant, "so I'm only able to summon them because of the privilege of the king... What about the period after losing that title? What about... leveling them up?"
'The moment you lose the right of the king, all of them will vanish,' the old man said, 'except if you have enough energy to sustain their presence, which is something I highly doubt.'
"I can work hard to keep them," Jim stubbornly said.
'If you lose them once, then they'll die. Any warrior you summon once again will be a new birth if you reclaimed the king title again.'
"Don't be this pessimistic," Jim said while the fog around started to stop growing and began to clear up.
'I'm just telling things based on your odds of success,' the old man said before adding, 'that dean must have learnt his lesson quite well. Next year won't be easy for you to gain the same rank again.'
"I will," Jim said before adding, "I promise you that."
The next moment he heard the sound of a soft crack. It was like five egg shells got cracked open before all the fog around dissipated fast without a trace.
At first Jim didn't see anything through the thick veil of red fog. However the moment the fog got cleared, he managed to notice the frightening shapes of the five warriors he summoned.
"Hell me... What are those...?!!!" Jim was totally speechless and awed by what he just saw.