The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon feeling the energetic fluctuations coming from that bag of crystals, the man dressed in white with no hair on his head coughed for a moment and then responded to Minos. "This... Can you truly spend almost a thousand medium-grade crystals with this?"

Alex's confusion was that Minos and Abby were only at level 43. At the same time, there didn't seem to be anyone else accompanying them. So, he found it strange that these two had such a fortune in their possession.

He even had more significant amounts than that in his spatial ring, but he's been a Spiritual King for over 500 years!

As a result, he had made a very comfortable fortune, to the point where he could even pay for the protection of a level 54 Spiritual King!

'These two must come from a wealthy power…' He wondered to himself, trying to understand what organization would give so many medium-grade crystals to juniors of the younger generation.

He then responded to Minos without delay. "Young master, that amount is more than enough. I have five copies of different techniques here with me..."

After that, he and Minos began to talk about the basics of each of the techniques, so that young Stuart could choose the most appropriate ones for him. And so, in less than 5 minutes, they had completed the deal.

Alex then looked at them once more before heading back to that restaurant's kitchen and asked. "Young master, the power behind you is not involved in gastronomy, right?"

"That's right. We're not." Minos agreed at the same time as he and Abby got up to leave that place.

"Why would a power unrelated to gastronomy spend so many crystals on such techniques? Most noble families, as far as I know, only have Blue-grade techniques in professions other than their specializations." He asked, standing halfway to his kitchen, looking at the two youths with a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

Minos then smiled and said, before leaving that place. "The power that I represent has an ambition, which is autonomy. So, we're just trying to achieve this little goal."

"The shade of a golden tree will cover over several states. In the south, you can witness such an event..."

After saying that, Minos disappeared from that place, leaving behind the figure of that cook and a man in black clothes, who had left his previous position and stopped beside his contractor.

They stood there, standing and thinking about what Minos had said for a while, when finally, one of them said something. "The shade of a tree? What was that brat talking about? Did you understand something?"

"No, perhaps the power he represents is an agricultural type. Anyway, there aren't many golden trees, but maybe that's not literal..."

"A power that craves autonomy, huh? Maybe they want to start their own culinary school…" Alex commented in a low voice to his guard.

'It's not bad, with more cooking schools, it won't be long before new flavors emerge…' He thought to himself, with a slight smile on his face.

For him, someone who had always loved to eat, having more competitors wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, the higher the level of a cook, the more distinguished he would become from his peers.

Even cooks who had the same techniques would not necessarily be identical. That's because their taste could make them more involved with specific sorts of dishes, as in the case of Alex, with his cuisine based on marine life.

On the other hand, instruments refined by cooks could have different purposes, affecting more or less some types of food. And not only that, but the quality of these items was also variable, which could further distinguish dishes between cooks with the same sets of techniques.

Anyway, there would be people who would prefer dishes made in the 'A' style, others who would have the 'D' style as their favorite, and so on. Therefore, one cook would hardly lose his clientele to the other.

Besides the obvious fact that it wouldn't be easy for someone to reach his level, a high-level grade-2 cook!

So, Alex didn't think it would be bad for him if more culinary schools appeared in this region. But, instead, this was something that could 'give birth' to new geniuses, with ideas that could perhaps create combinations never seen before, something he would like to try himself!

"Let's get back to work... It doesn't matter to us what two juniors do." Alex said, looking at that man and then returning to his kitchen.

"OK."

Neither of them was interested in the crystals Minos and Abby might have. Or rather, Alex had a much more significant amount than the one negotiated earlier, so he would not believe that those two could yield him considerable gains.

And consequently, the man who served as a guard in this restaurant could not simply leave his post to chase two youths who had probably spent all they had...

Such a thing would be petty and dangerous for both of these men. One of them couldn't fight those youths and had his own work to do. The other had to protect the first from possible problems that could happen in the restaurant.

And even if he left quickly, without risking Alex's business, who would guarantee these juniors were truly alone? Both had already lived for several centuries and would no longer be affected by attractions like this so readily.

The Spiritual World had never been safe, so risking too much for small gains would make no sense to people so experienced!

Unless it were something shocking, people like these two men wouldn't let their greed get out of control!

...

Quickly, another month passed...

After leaving that restaurant in Jalene City, Minos and Abby had stayed in such a city for another whole day to get to know the place better and understand a little more of the regional reality.

Even if this information wasn't going to be very useful to Minos in the short term, he could still use it to his advantage in the future.

And as this region of the Kingdom of the Waves was one of the most populous in the vicinity of the Black Plain, he couldn't help putting this place in his plans. After all, his territory needed more inhabitants, and when the time came for that place to open up to the world, this region could become one of the most attractive for Minos.

In regions such as the Gulf of Waves and the Peninsula of Waves, there were always smaller towns, villages, small urban concentrations polarized by large and medium-sized cities. And with such places, in a kingdom with more than 400 million inhabitants, if Minos attracted a few hundred thousand, no one would care...

After all, even in this region of the Central Continent, many of the states and powers did not prevent their populations from coming and going. If someone wanted to leave a location, no one would stop him unless that person was very unlucky.

But that didn't happen because the regional powers were democratic or something like that.

No, far from it!

The main reason for such a reality is that most people did not dare to venture into the Spiritual World. And unless the situation in a given location were very desperate, like a city facing war, for example, then most likely, the populations of that location would not move.

'The problem I already know is better than the unknown...' That was a famous maxim in the Spiritual World!

Of course, there would be exceptions. For example, unemployed people, individuals in their last years of life, people desperate for opportunities, for whatever reason. Individuals from these and other groups could take risks, such as leaving Stone Island and going to the Dry City after discovering this location...

Finally, as long as people moved on their own, it would be difficult for an organization to stop these groups from leaving. Few did such a thing, and in some instances, it wasn't negative that some unoccupied citizens left for other locations.

Many could be law-abiding people, but some could cause problems in situations like these.

Anyway, after staying in Jalene City for that time, Minos and Abby had headed north, continuing their journey to the central region of the Kingdom of the Waves.

And after the month that had passed, the two had experienced a lot on their trip and were slowly getting closer to that state's capital.