The Rise of the Black Plain

From what Minos had learned with Elen, of the three princes of this kingdom, in addition to Charles, the other two were named Wilfred and Blake.

Wilfred Walker was the first prince, 27-years-old, with a Black talent, and was already at level 48. He was the strongest of the three and had the support of his mother, the Queen of the Kingdom of the Waves.

Blake Walker was the middle son of King Walker, the son of one of the king's 30 wives, a woman from the prominent Woods family. And besides having the obvious support of that family, the second prince had already reached level 47, with his 25-years-old and Black talent.

Finally, Charles Walker, the enemy of Peter, was the son of the 2nd wife of King Walker, being the grandson of the current patriarch of the Collins family, a noble house of this state. Furthermore, he had already reached level 47, with his 22-years-old and Black talent. Therefore, he was the fastest in terms of cultivation of the three princes.

In fact, Charles had been considered the future heir to this since the beginning of his journey into the cultivated world due to his speed of understanding above that of the other two princes. That's because, while those two had both combat proficiencies and similar cultivation speeds, King Walker's youngest son had surpassed them in both things since a young age!

And over the years, finally, Charles was about to catch up with his two older brothers in terms of cultivation level.

He was already on the same level as his second brother, but he still hadn't wholly surpassed Blake. However, such a thing was just a matter of time!

But even though he was the favorite of the kingdom and somehow created an internal dispute between the princes, Charles and his brothers maintained a certain balance of influence in the royal family.

Such a thing happened because no one knew what could happen to them until the heir was defined. Because of this, no one dared to expose their preferences...

Obviously, people talked about how Charles was the most talented and would probably be the favorite. Still, most regional powers were neutral about that until recently.

Kings were generally not known for their mercy but rather for the iron fist, who often mercilessly smote their foes. Thus, as there were many variables and many years before the competition between the three began, there were not many powers openly supporting these individuals, so the three brothers lived in a certain 'harmony.'

Each of them managed their respective cities while acting behind the scenes to garner more strength and support.

However, all that had changed when King Walker had failed to succeed in his level promotion...

Before that happened, the imbalance between the three was tiny and could be changed easily with small movements. However, after this event took place, the talented Charles had directed the situation in the region in his favor, leaving his two brothers in challenging positions.

The three were pretty much in the same strength range, so support mainly was going to the youngest of the three, the one who could probably hit level 50 first. Thus, while Charles received support from different regions and powers with each passing week, his two older brothers struggled to get help.

In fact, aside from the evident support they received from their mothers, only those lesser powers, who were betting on trying to gain something, had supported them both.

Wilfred had strong financial support from his mother, one of the wealthiest people in the kingdom. With that, he could be considered the second favorite in this dispute for the throne.

After all, crystals could still be considered the most important thing to convince people in the Spiritual World.

And he was using that advantage to the fullest, having already gathered several Spiritual Kings on his side, almost as many as on Charles's side!

But that didn't mean they were in the balance of power, of course not. After all, several of these Spiritual Kings supporting Wilfred were not nobles but individuals from small organizations, people who could not guarantee noble house support to the first prince.

As for Blake, he could be considered in the worst position, having only the support of his mother's family, one military power of the Kingdom of the Waves.

Such a thing was not small, but it put this second prince in the last position in the competition for the crown.

However, even though each of these three was in different positions, none wanted to renounce the right to the throne!

Each of them was smart enough to know that if one of them died, everything would change...

And as for that, anything could happen!

Officially, one prince was forbidden to act militarily against another. Still, as long as there was no alarming evidence, the royal family would turn a blind eye to these developments.

And as for the Spiritual Kings members or subordinates of the Walker family, well, even if some of them had their preferences, none were allowed to get involved in these matters.

Especially those Spiritual Kings above level 56, the strongest in the family!

With this, since the strongest elders of the royal family would not take sides with anyone, these princes could still act against each other and settle their affairs with their fists.

Perhaps one side didn't have more support than the other, but it would be enough for a single killer to succeed for everything to change.

And because of that, Wilfred and Blake hadn't given up!

Anyway, Minos had heard all this from Elen in the days before his and Abby's trip to here, the capital of the Kingdom of the Waves.

After hearing the conversation between those two men, Abby turned to Minos and then whispered something. "Are you concerned about this matter?"

"Not. In the short term, this cannot affect me, and as I cannot influence this issue, it makes no difference to me what will happen next." He commented in a low voice as he looked at some weapons in that spot.

He honestly didn't want Charles to succeed King Walker. Minos didn't want one of his allies making deals with his potential enemies, so he asked Elen to keep the Nash family out of it!

And even if the other two princes also had the potential to become Minos', he wouldn't mind the Nash family supporting them. After all, this would somehow be like hampering the chances of the worst of the three being successful in his endeavor.

That's because, while with these two princes, Minos would have rational problems, due to the Counter-Revolutionary Statute, with Charles, there would also be the unbalanced emotional factor of that person!

And that was a big problem!

After all, people like that could be the most dangerous, because they don't listen to the voice of reason and take their problems to the end...

Anyway, the best scenario for the Black Plain was one where all three sides would wear out as much as possible, weakening noble powers from different parts of the region!

But Minos couldn't interfere with that yet. He would still need to keep his head down for a while longer, and only then would he show his claws and get involved in the regional schemes.

Gathering resources and people was what he could do right now!

As for acting directly to increase regional chaos, that would be pretty difficult for him right now. But at least that was the reality for the next 12 months...

"It's true unless the Black Plain is exposed, I doubt that any of these princes will cause any problems for us..." Abby was talking to Minos when finally, one of the shop assistants had finished serving a customer and was free to speak to both of them.

"Come on."

After a few steps, the two stopped beside a wooden bench, where there was a young man with black hair wearing a typical blacksmith costume. "Good morning. How can I help you?" He said as he scratched his head and yawned.

"I would like to place an order." Minos said with a smile on his face.

"To place an order, huh? We have a lot of weapons in stock. Why don't you tell me each one?"

"Oh? Then fine. First, I'll want 20 swords, 10 war hammers, 6 spears, 5 bows, 4 axes, all of them of high-level, grade-1."

"Second, I also want 4 swords, 2 war hammers, and 1 spear of low-level grade-2."

"Finally, I'll also want a medium-level, grade-2 sword. Do you have it all here?"

"What?" The young man exclaimed in shock.

He couldn't sense Minos and Abby's cultivation level, but given their appearance, he'd thought these two were just here to buy grade-1 weapons.

After all, who besides the old monsters would buy grade-2 weapons this way?