The Rise of the Black Plain

It was hot in Athela today, and the local sky was completely blue, without a single cloud.

Although it was hot, the city's residents were not bothered by the heat, thanks to the shade provided by the buildings and trees and the occasional breeze.

And amid this climate, typical of summer days, Minos and Abby were walking along the busy streets of Athela.

He wore a white, loose outfit, with a large hat on his head, as he walked hand in hand with his friend. And Abby was wearing a white dress that reached her knee and had a low-cut cleavage.

The blue-haired young woman was also wearing a hat at the moment, as she took advantage of the day with Minos to finish collecting the pills they had ordered. In addition, they also walked and went to other places in their free time, to relax and enjoy the day.

And today, a weekend day, naturally the movement in the city streets was more intense, with many people coming and going from shops and restaurants.

At the same time, the squares and public parks were all very lively.

In some spots, people were performing outdoors, telling legendary stories of the region, while in other places, professionals like musicians showed their abilities, filling the air with musical notes that were pleasing to the ears.

Such a circumstance was, in a way, contagious.

A person could be on a business trip or a tourist trip, but when passing through a place that was in a pleasant, lively, festive mood, it was tough not to feel connected to it.

At least walking around town and being in the middle of this whole thing would have a whole different meaning at times like this.

And Minos and Abby wouldn't miss out on those opportunities!

Neither of them could spend the entire day cultivating and training, as their bodies were not yet capable of doing so. Therefore, taking the opportunity to discover a new place, which they would not usually go to, was one of the good alternatives for them.

Of course, the two of them had to try to do the business that was the reason for this trip, but they could do other activities in the remaining time.

Eating in different places, listening to a local musician play, strolling through the city's parks, among other things, were what the couple had been doing in their free time.

Finally, during the nights, they wasted no time. They enjoyed themselves intimately with each other until they were tired enough to fall asleep embraced...

And this time together was making them even closer, unlike what usually happened between Minos and other women. With Abby, instead of being a relationship based only on sex, something more made the two want to be with each other in more ordinary moments.

And they were both pleased about it!

Minos was enjoying this new way of being with a woman, which he hadn't had much interest in before. At the same time, Abby was having the best days of her life.

She was not only feeling the bright side of passion, but she felt a unique sensation every time she saw the way Minos looked at her. Even if young Stuart did not speak, this young woman knew perfectly well that their relationship was completely different from his one with Elena.

She could understand that Elena was just a person with whom he would casually have fun. But in her case, in addition to having fun in bed, the two of them genuinely enjoyed the rest of their time together!

And seeing this difference made this young woman's days much better.

It was okay for Minos to have fun with others occasionally, as long as he got back to her. And Abby saw in his eyes that this was what he wanted, to be with her, not just in intimate moments.

Anyway, the couple soon finished their tour on that part of the city, collecting all the missing pills. So, now they would only have to collect the medium-level grade-2 sword in 2 days and buy the techniques for spiritual judges.

After that, it would be time to leave Athela!

...

"Minos, will we be lucky this time?" Abby asked him as the two of them stood in front of a building that looked like a cylindrical mirror.

In that place, there was a sizeable luminous symbol at the highest point that looked like an '8' lying down, completely golden.

That was the symbol of the Spiritual Judges Association of the Kingdom of the Waves!

The two had visited this place almost every day since their arrival in Athela. Still, they had not been lucky enough to find those responsible for the negotiations at this place so far. Because of that, they still hadn't bought the techniques they wanted so badly.

"Who knows... Let's try one more time. If we're not lucky, we'll try again tomorrow." He said as he used the fingers of the hand that held Abby's to massage her lightly. "Come on."

After that, they quickly entered that building, heading to the reception that the two already knew very well. In fact, seeing the arrival of these two visitors once more, one of the people in that place smiled at them.

After all, everyone who stayed at the reception in this place already knew Minos and Abby.

It was unusual for people to come to this place so often, and because of this, these individuals soon got to know this couple.

"I think the 38th time is lucky, Mr. Minos…" A young woman said to him as the couple approached the reception desk.

Hearing this, Minos' pupils twitched as he exclaimed in surprise. "Oh? So today, I can meet one of the elders here?"

"Yes, one of our elders has just returned from a trip and is here right now. You want to do business with him, right? Give me a minute, and I'll let him know." The young receptionist said this just before leaving that place to go and notify the available elder about the matter.

"Hmm, thanks." Minos thanked her, then smiled happily and looked into Abby's beautiful face. "Looks like we can leave this town after we get my sword."

"That's nice. But tell me, what business do you have in the Cohen family town? Aren't our crystals close to running out?" Abby asked.

She didn't know all the details about Minos' trip. In fact, she only knew those more obvious things related to the urgent need for weapons and some spiritual arrays. Other than that, the conversations she had participated in with him and Elen were basically about the places, information, and characteristics that could help the two on this trip.

So, she was curious to understand what else Minos wanted to do in the Kingdom of the Waves.

She naturally understood that he would still buy the techniques focused on alchemy during their trip back to the Black Plain. But as for business with the Cohen family, she was in the dark.

Minos then smiled at her and replied. "At first, what I'm going to do there doesn't involve spiritual crystals. At least there will be no need to make payments for now."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to order the spiritual arrays that will be used to expand the capacity of the Dry City Cultivation Tower. Unfortunately, it's a huge amount, so I can't pay for it all at once."

"So, I'm going to order, and the Cohen family will gradually send them to the Black Plain while I collect the crystals with the Nash family."

After hearing Minos' explanation, Abby nodded her head, indicating that she understood, and said. "Then that's it! But couldn't you already do that through that shop in the Dry City? Why travel to this city?"

"This is because I intend to attract some professionals to the Dry City. But to do that, I have to talk to these people myself, as it's harder to get deals like these through third parties."

"And in the Cohen family town, I won't have to hide as much as I would have to do elsewhere. After all, the sovereign of those lands is already my ally, and he naturally already knows that I will try to take some people with me..."