The Rise of the Black Plain

"And why would he want to see me?" Minos asked with a sincere look on his face as he stared at that beautiful woman beside him.

"Uh? Don't you remember?" Mendy's eyes narrowed as she asked him that. "Have you forgotten how you severed one of Davy's arms during the Spiritual Tournament?"

"I haven't forgotten. I remember that day well." He said without changing his expression. "But what does that have to do with the question from before? He and I are not friends, so there's no reason for him to come to visit me."

Minos was allied with the Hayes family, the noble house Davy had been born in. But this brother of Vivian's was a member of one of the sects of the Flaming Empire, which meant that he was not someone from that family that was part of the alliance with the Black Plain.

And as much as Minos had promised Vivian to solve the problem of Davy's arm eventually, they were still far from achieving that.

So, for this sovereign of the Black Plain, there was no reason for Davy to want to see him, even if that person comes to the northern region of the Central Continent in the coming months.

Anyway, listening to Minos' manner of speaking, Mendy was surprised at this, seeing the coldness with which this young man treated former rivals.

She knew some things related to Davy because of her friendship with Vivian, who had contacts with that young man who was in the Flaming Empire.

And knowing certain things about Davy, Mendy thought he would want to revisit the person who mutilated him. Especially considering that he had gotten much stronger in his time, having reached level 51 recently.

On the other hand, with Minos' regional fame, once Davy set foot in this region, he would find out about the shocking news regarding his former rival.

And this would undoubtedly motivate him to revisit Minos, something that young people like them liked or sought very much to do.

That was what Mendy thought, which is why she had asked the previous question.

But listening to the answers of that sovereign, she realized that Minos did not attach much importance to rivalry with those competitors from the last edition of the Spiritual Tournament.

'Well, he's on a completely different level than those people now...' She thought about it, as she understood her mistake. She then said. "In any case, even if you think you have no issues with your former rivals, I believe they won't think the same way you do."

"Some of them will probably come here or even try to stand in your way..."

"Oh?" Abby exclaimed, realizing that although Mendy had very libertine preferences in her opinion, this ally of Minos still knew how to give advice. 'She is the daughter of the Stokes patriarch, after all... She has her qualities.'

But as Abby thought about those things, Minos' eyes sparkled after he heard Mendy's advice. "That..."

"That actually might turn in my favor." He said in a low voice as he thought of a young red-haired woman who was now in the same sect as his mother and Ruth.

Mendy then made an expression of strangeness, not understanding his mentality. "What? These people will probably try to provoke you, challenge you to fights, bring trouble..."

"Hahaha, Mendy, I don't care about these things of challenges, small things related to honor. Do you think I need to prove myself to these people?"

"There are few people in our world with whom I feel I have to give such attention..." He said as he smiled and squeezed Abby's waist.

"As for the rest, rivals or not, I don't care what they think of me."

"But if they come to the Black Plain, then I feel I will have to use them to my advantage!"

...

While Minos and those two women continued their conversations about such matters, Lee and Alison's group were returning to the Black Plain on a large cargo ship.

That ship was currently passing through the territorial sea of the Kingdom of the End, in the vicinity of the western part of this state, shortly after they had finished circumventing the northernmost side of this territory.

After all these months of traveling through the Snow Kingdom, their group had finally finished their mission!

In this period, they had acquired a lot of copies of Blue-grade and Black-grade techniques, had made contacts with several beast tamers, as well as purchased many specimens.

After having finished their business in that kingdom a few months ago, they had hired this cargo ship, which had been taking them to their destination ever since.

At first, the journey between the Brown and Snow Kingdom was much shorter to make across the continent. But due to the difficulty of entering the Black Plain with their cargo in these times of war, these people had decided to make such a trip by sea.

Thus, they could, at the same time, distance themselves from most of the dangers on the mainland and enter the Black Plain more smoothly.

That's why they had opted for the longest route, the one that could take up to 40% longer to travel.

In any case, at this moment, the two young people who had led this mission were in one of the many rooms of that ship, lying on the same bed.

Lee and Alison were very sweaty at this moment, both under the silk sheets of that bed, which covered their bodies.

She had messy black hair, and Lee had a frivolous look on his face while his chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Was it good for you?" He asked as he looked at the woman who had her head resting on one of his arms.

"Hmmm." She smiled as she made a sound of agreement, still feeling the fatigue in her body, which was just as great as the one Lee felt, even though she was one level below his.

Lee and Alison had grown up as friends within the Black Plain Army. But they were no ordinary friends.

As such, they had both thoroughly enjoyed these months traveling through the northern part of the Central Continent!

However, they had not only enjoyed themselves in bed during the intervening period. With the many advantages of being members of the Black Plain Army, they had both grown stronger during this period.

Lee had reached level 46, already being almost as strong as the strongest people of this stage of cultivation in this region. But, on the other hand, Alison was one level below him since, besides being a few weeks younger than him, she was not as meticulous as he was.

In any case, they were both between 16 and 17 at this point, and if they had participated in the Spiritual Tournament that Minos had fought in, they would be considered unprecedented geniuses in this region!

But luckily, neither of them needed to go through such a thing, and they continued to live peacefully, without drawing too much attention, acting for the good of the Black Plain.

Alison turned sideways, letting her young, medium-sized breasts rest against Lee's muscular body. She then asked. "When should we reach the Black Plain, Lee?"

"Well, I think it will still take us about three or four months." He said, giving the matter some thought. "After the things master has done in the last few months, we don't need to worry about the safety of Dry City."

"We can travel calmly to the naval base, protecting this precious cargo and also getting stronger!"

And this ship was indeed carrying precious cargo. That was because, in addition to the techniques in the spatial rings of the two and the presence of some beast tamers, the total value of the beasts in transport was not small!

To be precise, considering the number of beasts there on that cargo ship, as well as the levels they were at, the total value of this cargo was over 100 million low-grade crystals!

Hence, even if they were returning to the Black Plain, they still had much to do to get this cargo safely to Dry City!

...