The Rise of the Black Plain

After the couple entered that property, the two quickly made their way to the large furnace used by the owner of this place, the medium-level grade-2 blacksmith that Minos had previously met.

The two of them had no intention of making new purchases in this place or trying to lure the smiths from this place to the Dry City, so they went straight to this man without wasting any time.

When they arrived in that place, the two found that a man with massive muscles and tanned skin finished hammering a particular item, which was still orange due to the high temperature.

The blacksmith then quickly used an object that looked like large tweezers to move that item, placing it on a cold surface.

Ssss!

After doing this, a large amount of water vapor was produced simultaneously as the heat dissipated in nature.

"Hahh, I'll let you rest for a while…" The man muttered under his quick breath while he used his right forearm to dry the sweat on his forehead. "Oh? You two came early, huh?"

Obviously, this man had sensed Minos and Abby's energy fluctuations just as the two had approached him as he was finishing a part of forging that item from before.

"Hehe, we're leaving this town soon, so we came a little early." Minos commented with a sincere smile as he held back his anticipation to receive his weapon.

Minos could have inherited many experiences through the legacy left by Henricus Longus, but that didn't take away the individuality of this young man!

And it was truly hard for the young ruler of the Black Plain not to be eager to get a weapon he'd been craving for about six months!

From the moment he had killed the Spiritual King of that base of the Chambers family, Minos had felt limited because he couldn't display his full power. After all, he might have many resources, but he couldn't keep damaging low-level grade-2 weapons, as if these things were cheap or common!

So, Minos had all this time trained and fought with only a part of his strength. And, of course, that wasn't pleasant. It was frustrating, and whenever he had to fight using a low-level grade-2 weapon, he would remember that annoyance as if it were a memory of a mistake or a humiliation.

And because of it all, young Stuart was looking forward to finally being able to hold a weapon that would take him to new heights!

"And then? Is it ready?" Minos asked as he took one of Abby's hands and looked expectantly at the man in front of him.

Seeing Minos' expression, this old blacksmith couldn't help but smile for a moment.

This old man was already used to seeing people having the same reaction as Minos, as he had witnessed such a thing dozens of times. In fact, it was pretty standard for cultivators to feel highly confident and satisfied after acquiring a higher-rated item.

It was not uncommon for some powerful old men to even hold banquets to commemorate and display such things...

"Hahaha, of course, young man. I finished forging it yesterday afternoon. Do you want to sense how it feels in your hands?"

"Of course!"

After saying these words to each other, that old man pulled a sword about 130 centimeters long from his spatial ring.

That weapon had a very noble appearance and seemed to have its own arrogance, as if it were something made to become famous.

It started with its completely golden blade, which had small red markings on its surface, which made this item extremely beautiful to see. Finally, the cross-guard and the sword's pommel combined, forming what resembled a root, which ran from the blade to the pommel, where was the symbol of the Black Plain.

Anyway, Minos soon received his sword from that man and began to make some gestures with it, trying to know that sword's 'behavior.'

'This sword can increase the power of attacks launched by the user by about 32%...' Minos thought to himself, after unleashing an attack once while wielding this new sword. 'Hmm, I can probably face common opponents of level 54, but I wouldn't defeat him... As for opponents with complete sets of Black-grade techniques, I can fight and win with some ease, people of level 52.'

"As for level 53 nobles, it would be even harder to fight such opponents than against an ordinary level 54 person…" He murmured in a low voice, realizing how strong his current attacks were.

And it didn't take long for Minos to finish his examination session. He hadn't used much of his spiritual energy on this test, as he had only released one attack. As for the other movements, he had only used his power to get the sword handled.

Thus, he had not exhausted himself, as had happened during the test proposed by that blacksmith.

"Looks like you truly got stronger with this sword, huh?" Abby commented to him, already with a beautiful smile on her face.

"So, young man, is the sword to your preference?"

Hearing this, young Stuart nodded in agreement, with a satisfied look on his face. "It's great, hehe."

"Good! Hehe, you'll probably need a high-level grade-2 sword before I get to level 56, so I'd like to give you a hint. Don't just order your artifact when you need it!"

"Even for this weapon you just received, I would say you were lucky to get it. Apart from me, only six other blacksmiths in Athela could produce such an item for you, as everyone else has busy schedules at the moment."

"But with the situation in the Kingdom of the Waves rising in 'temperature,' even blacksmiths without affiliations, like my case, will be busy with the requests made by people involved in the local schemes."

"I already received 30 orders in the days I was producing your weapon and will not receive any more for the next 20 months."

After hearing this, Minos felt a shiver down his spine, realizing that even knowing the regional reality, he still underestimated things a little.

He had heard from a worker at the hotel that he and Abby were staying, that the blacksmith who owns The Weapons House was currently available and was one of the best for forging medium-level grade-2 weapons.

This old man was one of the blacksmiths unrelated to noble powers or organizations, so it would generally be more accessible to buy weapons from him.

But even for someone like that, it would be hard not to be influenced by the stiff competition for the local royal throne. And in fact, this man who usually had to handle only 5, 7, 9 orders at a time had now received 30 of them!

"And the situation for high-level grade-2 blacksmiths is even worse. Not only that, individuals in this classification are always busy, even in times of peace!"

"Then I advise you to find a suitable blacksmith already and order a high-level grade-2 sword!"

"For now, you won't be able to take the test for the blacksmith to produce a special weapon for you, but you can join the waiting list." He finished speaking, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at Minos with an earnest expression.

Minos had been lucky. Not only was this man finishing forging the last batch of weapons that he had in his schedule, but the necessary materials were also available in this man's shop.

And this blacksmith wasn't even accepting orders until that day when the young Stuart came here.

This man had only accepted Minos' request because of the unusual strength that this young man had displayed. Otherwise, the ruler of the Black Plain might have had to wait over a year to get his sword!

Finally, after hearing all this, Minos sincerely thanked this figure and then left that place, heading towards Athela's exit, where he and Abby had left that big beast.

After more than a month, the two were finally leaving Athela!