The Rise of the Black Plain

After giving his order to Joey, Minos saw this old man get up from where he was previously and then leave that area. 

The two had already finished their daily business, and as such, this Sergeant of the Black Plain Army had to return to the headquarters to fulfill his duties related to the previous matters or other things.

At the same time, Minos had taken the opportunity and immediately went to the Spatial Kingdom.

Zum!

After the space around him vibrated rapidly and he appeared not far from the Spatial Kingdom's lake house, Minos immediately saw dozens of people in that place.

Some people were cultivating between that house and the lake, sitting on cultivation cushions while circulating their techniques, causing the spiritual energy around their bodies to condense.

On the other hand, another group of people was around the area made explicitly for fighting and training. There, some of these Elite Squad soldiers were individually training their battle techniques, while others were fighting among themselves.

At the same time, some of the stronger soldiers were fighting Celeste or Angela, something that happened routinely around here and that each of those 100 soldiers needed to do at least once a week.

The Elite Squad had doubled its numbers in the three weeks that had passed during the selection process for new soldiers. In that period, Sergeants had had the chance to compete for 50 spots on this special team.

And since nothing had disrupted Minos' plans, all these people were already here in the Spatial Kingdom, learning new techniques and training in this cultivation sanctuary.

But besides these 100 individuals, a few more beings were here but were not part of the Elite Squad, nor were they Spiritual Kings. These were Abby, whom Minos usually sent here during this time of day, and also Lee and Alison.

None of those three were part of the Elite Squad since they all shared some advantages with Minos that ordinary soldiers did not have. 

Those two had already been frequent visitors to the Spatial Kingdom since they were 10-years-old. So, they didn't need to compete for the few spots of this group with the ordinary soldiers. As for Abby, well, that goes without saying.

On the other hand, besides these three humans, there were three beasts in that area at the moment.

Abby's huge spiritual beast, Ebba, was there, training with the young Nine-tailed Fox, Kyla, who at this moment had five graceful tails waving on top of her butt.

That's right, young Kyla had finally reached the 5th stage of cultivation and was already able to speak the human language!

And not far from Kyla and Ebba, Emlyn was lying on top of a thick branch of one of the largest trees in the Spatial Kingdom, from where she could see almost all the people in this place.

She was quietly there eating some apples while scanning the surroundings, with her vast aura, typical of Nine-tailed Foxes that had already reached level 54!

"Oh? Did you just advance your level?" Minos said in a satisfied tone as he came close to where Emlyn and the two other beasts were at the moment.

"Hehe, I leveled up after you left the Spatial Realm earlier today." That big fox said that while briefly closing its big eyes and making an expression that looked a lot like a smile.

"Hmm, that's great!" Minos said in satisfaction as he looked at Emlyn and then in the direction where those two beasts were fighting. "In less than a month, I will reach level 50. At that time, we will have our next duel."

"Sounds like you are very anxious, eh? This time I shouldn't be able to keep beating you..."

"Probably... But that's because you lost one of your paws. If it weren't for that, it would probably still take me more than a year to get this."

As these two were talking, 'little' Kyla and Ebba stopped fighting, and then the two of them ran towards Minos.

"Big brother!" Kyla shouted in a joyful tone, at the same time, as she jumped on top of Minos.

After that, she immediately started licking this young man while each of her tails waved in different ways.

This fox had become very talkative after reaching the 5th stage of cultivation. Every time she had the opportunity to talk to Minos, she took the opportunity to spend as much time with him as possible.

And even though she was already officially an adult fox, due to the distinctive way in which she had grown up, this young fox still behaved rather immaturely in Minos' presence. As such, she often still played pranks on young Stuart, and despite calling him 'big brother,' she treated him more like a father than a brother.

"Did you see me earlier, big brother? I am much stronger than before! I can't wait to travel the continent and visit my tribe in the future!" She excitedly  said while breathing hurriedly.

"Hmm, you are stronger. But you will have to wait for a little longer to meet the Nine-tailed Foxes tribe." Minos said as he smiled under Kyla's massive body, which, although enormous, gave a warm and soft feeling to him.

"How much longer?" Kyla asked as her big eyes sparkled.

"Not long... How about this, when I go to the Continent of the Beasts, I promise to go to the tribe of you and your mother. What do you think?"

"Really?" She asked, as her big eyes shone in satisfaction...

"Sure!" Minos said as he massaged Kyla's large neck. He then said. "But in the meantime, why don't you go call your two friends for me?"

"Fine!" 

After saying that, Kyla jumped off Minos and ran in the direction where Lee and Alison were standing.

...

"Master, did you summon us?" The two simultaneously said as they stood in front of Minos, next to the tree where Emlyn was standing.

"Hmm, congratulations to you two. You both have already reached level 43, even though you are only 15!"

Upon hearing this, immediately, the two smiled while feeling a sense of pride deep within their beings. They usually did not link their levels to their ages, as they were too busy training or dealing with local problems. 

But upon hearing Minos' words, they couldn't help but be proud of their current positions.

"You are probably among the top regional geniuses in this age group and are invincible against those of the same age. And since you are both adults now, I want to pass on a special mission to you." Minos said as he looked in the direction of those two and saw Seargent Peter dozens of meters from there.

"As soon as I reach level 50, I will send you two and Sergeant Peter to the Snow Kingdom."

"There, I want you to perform some tasks that could help the Black Plain in the distant future, as well as for us to conquer some things that are needed..."

Upon hearing this, the two immediately showed thoughtfulness while feeling a mixture of anxiety and fear. After all, they had never gone further than the City of Waters, but now Minos was saying that they would travel to such a distant place... 

And as young people, these two had a desire to get to know other parts of the northern Central Continent and meet other talented young people like themselves.

Both of them had grown up as geniuses in Dry City, without any rivals of the same age as them. So, they both felt a need to meet other people.

On the other hand, they had a particular fear due to the tumultuous time that the Black Plain was already experiencing. Therefore, they couldn't help but worry about such a mission.

"Master, we have to do something urgently in the Snow Kingdom? Is that why we will go there so early?" Lee asked while having his two hands behind his back, something he had learned to imitate from some army elders.

"Well, it's not that it's urgent. It's just that if I don't send you now, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it for a few years."

He hadn't planned to do this so soon, but since the shadows of war were almost entirely under the Black Plain, then he could only adapt to reality!

Hence, he had decided to take advantage of the remaining peace time left for the Black Plain so that the group of those three would leave the Brown Kingdom and head towards the Snow Kingdom safely.