The Rise of the Black Plain

Time passed quickly, and it had already dawned in the Dry City.

After talking for several hours the night before, Minos had gone to the Spatial Kingdom to have a training session while the young Abby was resting in that same apartment as before.

She took advantage of the rainy weather and slept peacefully until dawn.

After that, Abby left to meet Eda right after eating to get out in the city and get to know the place better.

Previously, they had arrived in the city of Minos and came directly to the mansion without having a chance to get to know this place better.

Both were very curious about how much better this region was after the arrival of the young Stuart, so they both wanted to understand what had happened here.

Anyway, after leaving the apartment where she was staying, Abby soon located her bodyguard through her own spiritual sense.

Eda was wearing a simple green dress, different from the usual Miller family armor. After all, there were no immediate dangers in the place where they were.

Anyway, she was sitting in front of a small fountain that was in the guest area of ​​Minos' mansion while her hair was loose in the air.

As she approached her bodyguard, Abby could feel something different from Eda, as if she were less 'stressed' or something... There was a smile on her face and a unique sparkle in the eyes of the young woman's bodyguard.

'What happened to her?' Abby asked herself. However, she soon put that thought aside when suddenly she heard Eda's voice.

"Miss Abby, do you want to go out and see this place? I'm curious to understand what happened here." She said as she got up, as soon as she saw the arrival of the young woman with blue hair.

"Yes, let's take a walk around the city."

After that, they left the Dry City government mansion, following the streets of the central region of this town.

They saw the public buildings they had noticed the day before during that brief passage through the city streets. At these establishments, they stopped to talk to some inhabitants and observe the movement in some places.

But they found nothing crucial.

After all, the average population of the Dry City did not know how Minos made possible all the changes that happened here. What they knew was that the changes were happening in the city, starting with agriculture and going on from there.

After a while, they finally stopped in a public garden, where several trees were scattered, a water mirror in the middle of that place, with a small waterfall at the west end of that garden.

A lawn stretched over almost half the land, with some paths made of stones of different types, where people could walk.

They sat down on a wooden bench near the water mirror and began to talk.

Eda sighed in astonishment and then began to speak. "I never thought that one day there would be cultures growing in these lands of the Black Plain..."

"Hmm, it's truly unbelievable. If I didn't see all of this with my own eyes, I would never believe it at all!" Abby exclaimed.

She had tasted the fruits sold in the Central Market and felt for herself the spiritual richness of the foods sold in the Dry City.

She had even eaten the food produced in the Black Plain in the early morning, but she would never have thought it was a local product!

She had found it strange that Minos would offer this kind of luxury to her since even in the Miller family, it was not common for people to have this type of daily food!

But she thought it was just a polite gesture from one friend to the other. Not in Abby's wildest dreams would she think that was standard in the Dry City!

As a result, discovering this reality had deeply shocked Minos's young friend, who at this moment did not understand how all this was possible.

"But that is not all, miss Abby. Butler Dillian has also had his cultivation speed significantly increased!" Eda remembered this and promptly started reporting this information.

She hadn't immediately felt Dillian's level. Still, after spending time together, she had finally had the curiosity to probe the butler's spiritual power. And in doing so, Eda had been entirely shocked!

Previously, the last time she had been with Dillian, he was only at level 44, while she was already at level 48 at that time. But surprisingly for Eda, Minos' butler had already passed her and was already approaching level 50!

This cultivation speed was particularly remarkable even for members of wealthy families in the north of the Central Continent. However, for just one subordinate, as was the case with Dillian, this was a ridiculous speed!

With so few resources, lower-ranking techniques, and with so many responsibilities, subordinates of large families, like Eda, had a much harder time reaching the 6th stage of cultivation, Spiritual King.

Abby then asked in surprise. "What? Did the butler Dillian also improve his cultivation speed?"

She didn't know about Dillian's previous cultivation level, so she hadn't realized it before. Because of this, Abby was increasingly surprised.

'Has Not only Minos' speed improved but also that of his subordinates!' She thought about it for a brief moment, coming to the following conclusion. "I think they must have gotten a Silver-grade cultivation technique!"

"This... Is it even possible?" Eda asked in disbelief. Such a thing was precious, and even wealthy families with whom Abby came could not afford to have more than one of these Silver-grade techniques!

But it seemed that this was not the case for Minos.

And for an instant, Eda was envious of Dillian. 'Ahh, how lucky he is!' She thought about it briefly.

Abby then started to speak seriously. "Eda, you can't talk about this place or anything related to Minos to anyone, okay?"

"Why is that, Miss Abby? The Miller family would undoubtedly be happy to do business with the young Minos."

"Hmm, but Minos doesn't want that to happen, at least not for now." She said as she looked in the direction in which some children were playing and running in this garden where they were.

"We're going to be here for a while, so we'd better send word to my family that I'll be in training for the next few months. But don't mention anything about this place or about Minos, do you understand?"

Eda then nodded in agreement and said. "Okay, Miss Abby. I will send a message that you will be training as we travel through the Kingdom of the Waves for the next few months."

"Hmm, this is going to work." She agreed in satisfaction. Abby initially didn't plan on staying in the Dry City for long, maybe just a few weeks.

But after seeing the improvements that this place had undergone and the mystery involved in Minos' achievements, she was now very interested in staying longer.

But not only that, there were several services in the current Dry City that could improve her stay in this place a little while she could find out more about her old friend.

And even though the city was still way behind where she came from, it wasn't as much of a disadvantage for her to stay here longer than usual.

As a young lady from a wealthy family, Abby had many crystals and good techniques, which allowed her to have a comfortable lifestyle, even here on the Black Plain. If she needed something, it would be enough for her to buy it at the Cohen family store.

Abby was also a girl who liked to be with her friends, going out to dinner, and things like that. So, staying in a place with an old friend like Minos seemed pretty good to her.

She was not yet at a point in cultivation where she could stay training for a long time without stopping. Because of this, she liked to enjoy her free time in the best possible way, having fun with a friend.

But since Mona had gone to the Flaming Empire, Abby had lost her closest companion, with whom she went out to have fun.

"Let's take a look at these fields of culture. I heard that they are on the west side of the city." Abby said that just before getting up from the wooden bench she was sitting on.

...

While Abby and Eda were gradually getting to know the Dry City, a group of men were sneaking around at different points of what appeared to be a seaport.

There were some old boats moored on a wooden pier from which not far from there was a pier, with a small lighthouse.

Other than that, there were several aged buildings on the opposite side of the coast from that place, as if it were a place abandoned by humanity.

However, many people were passing through this place, dressed in old clothes, dirty to the point of driving people away with only the stench of sweat.

But this was not commonplace at all. Screaming sounds could be heard from time to time, as well as strange laughter.

And at this point, one of the people who were sneaking around in that place finally said. "Come on, that person has information about Sergeant Peter's whereabouts!"