The Rise of the Black Plain

The night passed peacefully in Athela, and by this time, it had already dawned.

The sky was completely blue, with no clouds in the local atmosphere, while the temperature was pleasant, around 20 degrees Celsius (68ºF).

And amid this pleasant weather in the early morning, the typical noise of big cities already sounded through the prominent places of this town. The most common was the sounds emitted by the wheels of the carriages, which came and went along the main avenues, pulled by small and medium-sized spiritual beasts of the most varied types.

The noise made by the beasts was not slight either. After all, this was definitely the favorite mode of transport for the part of the population that could afford it!

People who used such an alternative did not have to use any of their energies and could still reach their destinations more quickly. Therefore, mounts were very popular beings among cultivators.

And along with the sounds produced by the beasts and carriages that already filled the most important streets of this kingdom's capital, the noise of people walking was also particularly noticeable. In fact, apart from the central regions of the residential districts, in all other parts of the city, there were already many people on the street, moving towards their responsibilities.

Children could be seen walking alongside their parents. Guards were patrolling on top of their beasts, people dressed in all sorts of ways, coming and going on the wide sidewalks of this town.

And in the midst of this, two youths were walking hand in hand in the central part of the city, on an extensive avenue, from which they could see a large palace in front of them.

That place had several columns on its facade, as if it were a large temple, in a rectangular shape, which extended over thousands of square meters. And even from a distance, the two youths could see the various glass walls of that place, where groups of guards in the same type of uniform passed from time to time.

Also, on the outskirts of that place was a large lawn, on the side, the two youths were looking at, where a large fence separated that area from the street's sidewalk. On this fence, there was the same kind of pattern repeating itself, which looked like a blue wave amidst silver circles.

That was the royal palace of the Kingdom of the Waves!

And as Minos and Abby walked through that region, they watched this grand palace from afar in awe as they made their way towards the store in which they could do business.

Both had woken up very early, and right after breakfast, they had sought information at the reception of that hotel. Finally, after discovering the locations they wanted to visit, they left the hotel, arriving at this moment when they were only a few meters from their destination.

The first spot Minos wanted to visit was one of the most important for him, a medium-level grade-2 blacksmith shop, where he could find new weaponry.

Such a thing could mean the success and defeat of the Black Plain. Thus, he couldn't delay negotiations on this item!

...

Not long after, a young man with brown hair, wearing a blue shirt and beige shorts, along with a beautiful woman with blue hair and a green dress, arrived in front of a certain building.

This place was relatively large, with high walls surrounding its outdoor area and a single entrance, wide enough for 15 people to pass side by side. At that place, there was a golden plaque with the name of this place, 'The Weapon House.'

Seeing this, Minos and Abby wasted no time outside that wall, which had nothing more to show despite being high.

Upon arriving at the internal area of this place, the two finally saw that there was a lawn with three paths in front of them, with a small sign indicating the ways.

'Forge area.'

'Shop.'

'Training rooms.'

Upon reading this, the two immediately followed the central path, which led directly to the shop, where they could place their orders.

...

Finally, after walking about 200 meters from the entrance of this place, the two arrived in front of a building that looked like a house. There were several windows and a large wooden door in this place, which were all open now.

A few people were around, some sitting on wooden benches outside the building, and others coming and going.

This area wasn't crowded, but there was still an intense movement, making Minos and Abby realize the importance of such a place in a big city. After all, there weren't many medium-level grade-2 blacksmith shops!

And when they entered that building, the two immediately came across a large hall full of weapons of all kinds.

There were hammers of about four different models, swords with curved and straight blades, bows, daggers, axes, and so on.

'There's no defense equipment... It's truly the weapons house.' Then, Minos thought to himself as he had a slight smile on his face.

It wasn't uncommon for a blacksmith to want to produce only certain types of equipment, so he didn't find this store's collection strange.

And as they looked at the windows and weapons on display in that hall, they could see that there were weapons of four different classifications here, from low-level grade-1 to low-level grade-2.

As for the desirable medium-level grade-2 weapons, none of them were available.

But that was part of how these stores worked. In general, they did not produce much of this equipment in advance, as the materials were expensive and the blacksmiths' labor would not be small.

Thus, such items would usually have to be ordered, and on a few occasions, one would be lucky enough to find a store with such items ready for delivery!

Anyway, while the couple walked through that place, researching the prices of guns and waiting for customers' queue to decrease, some people were talking near them.

Two elderly men were cleaning and replacing some weapons in the windows near Minos and Abby while they spoke in grave tones.

"Ahh, what happened to King Walker is a real disgrace... And to think that someone so powerful until a short time ago could wither away in such a short time..." One of them commented to the other as he dusted off a set of arrows in one of the windows.

"Yes, but the worst thing is this competition. None of the princes have the necessary level to control the great families of the kingdom!"

"I fear that even after one of them ascends to the throne, it will take a few decades before he is respected for his own strength and not because of the ancestor..."

"Truth. But the third prince is very talented. So, when he becomes king, maybe he won't have much trouble."

The other man then placed some swords on a wall, climbing a ladder, and then saying. "Speaking of which, I heard that Prince Charles already has the support of four large regional families and one from our kingdom."

"I know. These powers are rapid in their actions. My cousin informed me that the Allen family had already sent someone to the city of the third prince before sending a representative to send a message of support to King Walker!"

"Ahh, poor King Walker, he was always a powerful individual, but now that he's in his last moments... What a shame!"

"But with such rotten nobility, it wouldn't be a surprise if they buried the king still alive..." The other commented in disgust.

"Hmm, it's true. But in addition to this family from Stone Island, there is also the Silva family from the Brown Kingdom, the Reid family, and the Hargraves family from the Kingdom of the End."

"But I heard that other high-level powers are still negotiating with the third prince."

"Apparently, there won't be any competition, ahh, that's too bad..."

The two workers continued with their tasks, at the same time that Minos and Abby had listened carefully to the whole conversation of these two. They didn't know much about this local news, and even if they weren't going to get involved in anything, learning about such things wouldn't do any harm...

'Looks like the situation of these other two princes is truly bad…' Minos pondered as he tried to remember what he'd learned from Elen.