The Rise of the Black Plain

Zum!

After hearing Minos' voice, Celeste suddenly felt the space around her vibrate as she slowly noticed her surroundings changing from a standard office to a forested region.

She, Minos, and Abby quickly arrived in the Spatial Kingdom, not far from that big lake house.

"What? What place is this?" She asked aloud, feeling extremely shocked at being teleported to this place.

She was looking from side to side and probing her surroundings with a frightened expression on her face, as if she were in a dangerous position, surrounded by enemies. And in doing so, Celeste hadn't been slow to feel the more than 50 spiritual fluctuations of humans and beasts in this location.

Presently, the 50 soldiers from the Elite Squad were around, in addition to Emlyn, who was taking care of this place as usual, as well as Ebba and Kyla.

Finally, there was no one else there at the moment, as the other soldiers with permission to enter this place were taking care of their own affairs, whether in the Dry City or elsewhere.

As for Ruth, well, she still didn't know about the Spatial Kingdom, as Minos hadn't told her so far. Consequently, she was in some part of the Dry City right now, having no idea of ​​Celeste's arrival at this location.

Anyway, after perceiving such fluctuations, this woman realized that there were some people she recognized, such as Viola and Neal, who had recently passed the Elite Squad test.  However, she didn't pay much attention to these two for a long time.

That's because she soon realized the spiritual richness of this place and the abundant presence of medicines!

"What a paradise!" She muttered, just before finally turning to Minos and saying something. "No wonder... That's why the Black Plain has developed so much in such a short time!"

"Hmm, you're right. But anyway, I won't formally introduce you to this place. You can talk about it with Neal or anyone else around here." Minos said this with a slight smile on his face.

He then continued. "But I want to tell you a few things. First, do you see that big fox?"

"Yes." Celeste nodded, looking in Emlyn's direction. That fox was calmly waving its six tails as it looked towards the group of Minos, specifically this newcomer.

"Yeah, well. She's in charge here when I'm not around. So, if she tells you to jump, you don't ask why. What do you do? You jump."

"You understood?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Furthermore, don't touch any of the medicines in this place and just train in the specific places where these fighting platforms exist." He said, pointing in the direction of one of these places close to where they were. "But you can cultivate wherever you want. Finally, I want you to train with these soldiers who are here."

"I don't think I need to explain how to do this, right?"

She then nodded her head, indicating that she understood what needed to be done. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"The rest you can learn from these other people around here. Then, let's not waste time on this." He then took a silver scroll from his spatial ring and threw it towards Celeste. "Learn this Silver-grade cultivation technique."

Gulp!

Celeste's pupils immediately contracted, and she felt her heart pound as her hands gripped the parchment as if it were a valuable treasure. 'That notice didn't lie!' She thought about it, with her face already red.

This woman had seen the Elite Squad advertisement. Still, she doubts that the Minos army could offer the soldiers a complete set of Silver-grade techniques!

However, despite the fact that Minos had delivered only one of these to her, he had done so casually that this woman had set aside her disbelief and recognized the vastness of the world.

She then continued to hear Minos' young voice. "Quickly learn this technique and return the scroll to me. Then train in this place for a while and get used to this new technique."

"You'll be living here for a while, so don't worry about having to do short-term missions... As long as you don't have a complete set of Silver-grade techniques, I don't intend to let you out of here."

Hearing such a thing, Celeste smiled in satisfaction and then asked. "And when will I learn the other techniques?"

Minos then waved his hand and explained. "There is a room in this lake house, in which there is a book describing each of the Silver-grade techniques I have. So, I want you to read this book and start thinking about which ones best suit you and your goals as a warrior."

"Anyway, after you've adapted to this first change, I'll give you the next one. And so on..."

"I see…" Celeste nodded in satisfaction while she felt eager to start learning that new cultivation technique.

"Lastly, I want you to fight Emlyn once a week. That will be a good opportunity for both of you. Still, I want you to take it very seriously because after I reach level 50, you will constantly fight me too."

"Really?" She asked in surprise.

Celeste knew that with her Black-grade techniques, she couldn't beat Minos at her current level. However, she felt that things would be very different if she had a complete set of Silver-grade techniques.

After all, such a thing would significantly increase her combat proficiency!

So, she was naturally surprised to hear that Minos intended to fight her constantly when he only reached level 50.

That doesn't sound impressive, as he would only do it after making such an advance. But the truth was, Celeste herself was not far from making a breakthrough. And by adding the improvement in the quality of her techniques, the difference to be overcome would not be slight!

"Hmm. Don't underestimate me so much, hehe. When I advance to the next stage, my strength will increase considerably. And even if you still have the upper hand, this will be a good challenge for me."

"Anyway, keep this in your mind and try to learn this technique quickly. I don't have all day!" After saying this, Minos saw that woman walk away from him and Abby.

Celeste didn't go far and soon sat down on a cultivation pad she'd taken from her spatial ring. After that, she began to understand the text of that scroll while feeling the spirituality of that technique.

While she was doing that, Minos and Abby were watching this woman from afar.  They were talking about their private affairs, waiting for Celeste's first contact with this new cultivation technique to end.

The two of them intended to settle a specific army issue after this matter with Celeste. So, they were both standing there waiting for this woman to return the silver parchment Minos had given her earlier, so they could go back to the Dry City.

"Don't you think this woman is going to cause trouble here?" Abby asked as she hugged young Stuart.

"Impossible. Aside from the Soul Contract, she signed with me, Emlyn is stronger than she is. And even though this woman is close to a level advance, so is Emlyn."

"She will soon reach level 54, while Celeste will take several months to master the six new techniques she will learn here."

"Hmm, you're right..."

As the two talked, Kyla and Abby's beast ran towards those two as if they were two children running towards their parents.

...

After some time, the couple finally left the Spatial Kingdom after Minos took that technique. They had also talked and played a bit with the young Nine-tailed Fox, who was close to reaching the 5th stage.

She still couldn't have a conversation in human language, but Ebba had translated everything for Kyla and those two humans.

Finally, after leaving that location, Minos and Abby headed towards the Dry City Prison, where they would deal with the Gill family issue, which was already at the deadline.

'It's time to act!' So, Minos thought firmly, as he walked towards his goal....