The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon receiving those bags, each person immediately observed their contents as they walked through the corridors of that part of the headquarters where they were.

The bags that these two soldiers had given to these five contained the official uniform of the Black Plain Army, along with some basic local information.

The uniform was made of a fabric that fit people's measurements, so there was no need for any previous measures. As for its usefulness, for the time being, it was merely aesthetic as a way of indicating the position of soldiers in the Dry City.

And its use was only mandatory for specific functions, as in the case of city patrol and city wall entry posts. Other than that, inside headquarters, the soldiers could or could not wear their uniforms. After all, in this place, they could use their ID cards to access the services, so there wasn't a significant need for that.

However, almost all soldiers wore the uniform daily, even within headquarters, where they were not required to do so. That was like pride for them, and many of these people followed this unwritten rule...

And well, maybe other people just wore the uniform so they wouldn't draw attention, like the only ones different...

The army's uniform could be worn over armor, which made this item appear to be the armor itself. It was gold and silver, with some symbols on the shoulders and chest.

Anyway, after checking their uniform at the same time they were walking, the group of five people finally arrived in front of the library of this place.

The library was in the same building where they had made their identifications, which was also the army's administrative building.

That place wasn't as big as the Dry City Public Library since thousands of people didn't pass by this place every day. After all, most soldiers would only come here when they could learn new techniques or replace old ones.

But this obviously didn't happen very often!

And because of that, the place was small, smaller than a single section of the local public library.

Other than that, there were several small rooms, divided into three floors, where soldiers could learn these techniques in this place.

That was due to the fact that the army did not allow the removal of techniques from such a place.

There were few copies in Minos' current army, and there wasn't even a single original version. Without it, Minos' forces could not create new copies, and this left them with no options but to hold onto these techniques and prevent them from being lost!

But that wasn't so bad. After all, these soldiers could learn them without having done any merit.

It was different from what happened in noble families. When a subordinate earned the right to a technique of Black-grade, they would gain ownership over that copy!

Anyway, when they arrived at that place, the five realized that there weren't many people around at that time. In fact, most were just the administrative staff who ran this place.

Some soldiers were cleaning the place, coming and going from six aisles of shelves that were there, which were lined up in front of the entrance to that place.

There was a large hallway at the entrance that connected the six shelf aisles, while a small reception was next to the door. In this reception, there was a large glass partition, which separated the entrance to the library from the reception.

Other than that, one could see an ample space over that area where the shelves were, from where one could see on the sides, the various rooms in this place.

Finally, a lady who was at that little reception in that place then looked at the group and said with interest. "Good morning, are you by any chance new soldiers?"

This lady was unsure whether they were just new soldiers or people coming on a different shift. After all, she was only in this place for 8 hours a day, so she naturally didn't know all the soldiers in this place.

On the other hand, it was unusual for soldiers from the local army not to wear uniforms. So, she had asked them if they were new soldiers and not something else.

And hearing this, Robin was the first to speak. At the same time, she nodded her head. "Yes, we just made our identification."

"Oh? I see. If that's the case, I don't think you know about library rules yet, right?" The receptionist at this place asked with a gentle smile on her face.

Hearing that, Joey smiled back at her and answered. "In fact, we've only been briefed on the identification procedure so far."

"Hmm, this is to be expected. Well, then I will explain to you. It's not hard to follow." She then began to speak while looking at the five people who had entered there, making occasional hand gestures.

"First, every time you come to the library, you need to identify yourself here at reception. Second, if this is your first time here, you have to hand over all of your Blue-grade techniques to us. Such a thing is the minimum requirement for you to earn the right to learn Black-grade techniques here."

Some of them found it a little interesting upon hearing this, but only Robin had asked why. "Why do we have to deliver Blue-grade techniques? What use can it be for the army?"

Right after Robin's question, that elderly figure smiled as if she had seen it hundreds of times. She then said. "These techniques will be donated to the local public library."

'Oh? So that's what this was for…' The other four thought about it. They had forgotten for a moment about such a place. After all, none of them needed it, and they had only been in this town for a while.

Another problem was that no one had told them that the soldiers' Blue-grade techniques were going to that location too...

Because of this, the five had found this strange for a moment.

"Ahh, that's why!" Robin exclaimed in a low voice.

After that moment of doubt, the old figure spoke again. "The same goes for your Black-grade techniques. Obviously, we're not going to force anyone to do this, but you will also lose the right to use this location."

"What?" Barbara exclaimed in a low voice.

And seeing their reaction, that soldier spoke again. "The army still has few Black-grade techniques, less than 100. That's why we need to gather more techniques of this quality so that our soldiers have better options."

"And that too is a fair trade. While you'll be giving us one or two techniques of that degree, you'll be able to choose from the dozens we have here, without limits." She explained.

'Tsh, Minos is smart to think this…' Abby thought for a moment as she pondered about the situation.

It indeed seemed to be an excellent exchange for both sides, especially for the soldiers.

On the other hand, Eda looked at Abby for a moment while she had different thoughts in her mind. 'That young man is very clever. With this alone, he can gain the five Black-grade techniques Ms. Abby has...'

Eda then looked at Abby and asked. "Ms. Abby, what are you going to do? These are the Miller family's techniques. It could cause problems for you in the future."

And hearing that, Abby shook her head in denial when she said it firmly. "Since I've decided to join Minos' forces, I won't be petty. Our family doesn't need to know about any of this!"

And at the same time that those two women were talking, the other three people were much more supportive of the subject. So, even though Barbara had questioned this before, she understood the idea behind this rule. 'Well, this is an action that mostly benefits the soldiers. It's not like they're trying to rob us...'

As for Robin and Joey, the latter didn't have any technique of that degree, so he wasn't worried about that. As for the young woman coming from Stone Island, she had only one copy of her family's Black-grade technique. That's why she thought this exchange was very fair!

Finally, the group immediately handed over all of the Blue and Black-grade techniques to that lady to complete that prerequisite of this place.

After that, she quickly registered them in the library, using their IDs, leaving a reminder that this step had already been taken.

She then finished talking about the rules there. "Finally, the last rule in this place is that you can't go out with techniques here. You need to learn them in one of the individual rooms on the floors above."

Hearing this, Abby asked. "What if some soldier tries to force one of the techniques out of here? How does this place handle situations like this?"

"Well, it's pretty hard to do something like that. First, we check every person who goes in and out of the library, not allowing objects like spatial rings with their owners either."

"On the other hand, even if a person loses his senses and tries to steal some technique from this place, three Spiritual Generals are protecting this place 24 hours a day. And finally, the penalty for treason in the army is death, together with the expulsion of the family of the soldier of the Black Plain's territory."

'The punishment is pretty heavy, huh... But such a thing is to be expected, a place like this is important for any organization...' The five of them thought about it as they understood the workings of this place.