The Rise of the Black Plain

After finishing the identification of the group of five people, the two soldiers immediately distributed their IDs.

That was a kind of rectangular card, transparent and as thin as a sheet of paper. However, this item was quite heavy for its volume, weighing about a kilogram!

Anyway, this was the identification card that each soldier carried, through which they could access the headquarters, accumulate points, take missions, in short, manage their activities in the army.

And as the five people looked at the little transparent card in their hands, old Grant spoke again. "When you go to use this identification, you will find that your authority within the army will be in suspension. Consequently, you will not be able to lead any teams or take on missions on your own."

Hearing this, Barbara was the first to react, already frowning tightly. "What does this mean?"

"Each position in the local army has a minimum time that soldiers must stay. For example, a Student has to spend six months in the army to have a chance to be promoted to the rank of Recruit."

"A Recruit needs one year to become a Soldier. Then, a Soldier needs two years to become a Corporal, and finally, a Corporal needs four years to become a Sergeant." The other old soldier who was there explained.

After that, Grant spoke again. "You guys just joined the army, so obviously, there's no way you can gain as much power as a Sergeant would have. Therefore, your functions will be frozen until you reach part of this minimum required time."

"But, of course, we're not going to make powerful and talented people earn less or be under the supervision of people of lower ranks. You have been given almost all the same rights as a Sergeant, but you will not have the right to lead anyone in the army, at least until you complete that period."

"Finally, in the meantime, in any event that happens, you will have to join the groups of properly Sergeants, who will be your short-term leaders."

Upon hearing this, the five people seemed to understand the reason behind this rule. However, they still felt a little uncomfortable about it. After all, no one would be satisfied to be led by someone they don't know and who is perhaps not even stronger than they are!

And as she thought about it, Abby realized something crucial and then asked. "If that's indeed true, how can these current army Sergeants be able to fulfill their roles fully? I'm sure Minos didn't come for more than three years! That in itself would prevent you from even having Corporals!"

Grant and the other old soldier then nodded their heads in agreement, and one of them answered her. "Mrs. Abby is right. But in this regard, the young master approved a temporary measure to resolve this situation. All army soldiers who were already registered in the first selection would have their ranks equal to what they should have, considering only their levels."

"As for later, for ten years since the creation of the army, that is, we will still have another seven years, a special rule would apply. According to it, a soldier who enters the army with rank 'x' will be eligible to advance to the next rank with full rights once they reach the minimum required level."

"Mrs. Eda, for example, has recently joined the army as a Sergeant and would normally have to remain in that rank for more than 14 years before being promoted to Lieutenant, the equivalent of a Spiritual King. However, due to this measure that the young master released, if Mrs. Eda reaches level 50 by the end of these ten years, then she will become a Lieutenant immediately!" Grant explained with satisfaction.

He knew that temporarily, all five of these people would have no power in the army, but they would become leaders in less than seven years with such a measure!

Grant knew very well the speed of cultivating people with Black talent and Black-grade techniques, given the presence of Lee and Alison. For this reason, this old man could predict the level that these people would be in a few years.

Finally, upon hearing such an explanation, the five of them were somewhat reassured about this matter. Even though the time of about seven years was not too long for them to become Spiritual Kings, that wasn't too little either!

With the possibility of learning Black-grade cultivation techniques, aside from Joey, who was already at an advanced age, they all hoped to reach level 50 within this time!

On the other hand, they also understood the need for these rules. As much as Minos invited them to join the Black Plain Army, that would not mean they would receive special treatment!

After all, no one with the slightest conscience would allow a newcomer to do as he pleases, using his authority to do so!

Because of this, it made sense that at first, they would not have many powers within the organization while learning about how it works.

At the same time, they could meet the soldiers and critical figures in the army. They could even gain the trust of future subordinates or partners.

Such a thing would not be resolved overnight, with just one order.

Even if Minos said that, for example, Abby could lead them, no soldier would be satisfied with it. This young woman was a stranger who has never proved her worth to them and who they have no prior respect.

In this case, even if they obeyed an order like that of Minos, deep in their hearts, the soldiers would never accept it without good reason!

And the young Stuart understood that mentality very well. He knew how hard it could be for a person to push themselves hard at something when they didn't trust their own leader!

A great leader could bring out the best in every soldier because of his well-thought-out strategies and his subordinates' trust in him. However, if there were no trust, even with good plans, the chances of something going wrong would be exponentially greater.

As such, Minos didn't believe that forcing his soldiers to take orders from people they don't know or trust, just because that person has a higher level, would be a good thing. Anyway, this could easily be resolved with the interaction of these individuals, as long as they had similar status within the army.

At the same time, these new soldiers, as in the case of these five, could learn the army's conduct so that when they had powers, they would not make mistakes.

Finally, Eda then asked. "So, does that mean I'm going to be led by a level 42 or 43 person?"

Hearing this, the two old men looked at each other in doubt, and then one of them said. "In theory, yes, but it never happened that someone of Mrs. Eda's level entered the army. So we're not sure."

Grant then completed. "But I believe you will be directly under the orders of the young master or the butler Dillian."

"That's less bad…" Eda muttered in a low voice.

The issue here was not having the same rights as senior soldiers but being led by someone weaker!

If being led by someone stronger but that was unknown to you was bad enough, having a weaker leader than yourself would be many times worse!

It was easy for a subordinate of a prominent noble family like Eda to accept the orders of a nobleman like Abby, but that was only because those powers had long been established. But, on the other hand, each of these nobles from these large organizations had the potential to pass the level of these subordinates.

So, it was not humiliating for Eda, or any subordinate of great power, to obey the orders of youths weaker than themselves. In fact, this was a credit to them, as they could get influential contacts in the future!

However, it was different for these soldiers in this army. Most of them only had the Blue talent... Because of that, these five would hardly be surpassed by them!

And that was something that went directly against the pride of each of them.

That was not something personal, from the personality of these five, but something cultural, coming from the millions of years of cultivation history in the Spiritual World.

With such influence by powerful people, 'one-man armies,' the people of this world had learned to value individual strength. So, even if it weren't ideal for taking orders from strangers, if these people were much stronger or with greater talents, then that would at least be acceptable!

And this kind of thinking had already merged with popular thought in this world a long time ago. That had created a particular pride that made these people question whether they truly needed to go through such 'humiliation' of being commanded by weaker people and of inferior potential...

Anyway, after receiving all this guidance, the group received bags containing some items before finally leaving that place to see the rest of the headquarters!