The Rise of the Black Plain

"Yes, it's true. I plan to go to the North Sea after making some preparations in the Black Plain Empire. That should take a few years, but before the ice age even begins, I should have finished exploring that area..." Minos said before smiling with a more humorous remark. "If I survive, of course."

But as much as he had joked about it, that was a risk that not only he but also Kolvar and Levis recognized.

"So your fears about that area are real?" Levis asked soberly, aware Minos had disturbing theories about the world's future.

The elves were very close to the Sea Folk. After Minos had stood out in this meeting, even though he was the weakest of the many individuals in the camp, they had sought out their old friends to talk about Emperor Stuart.

Through it, the elves learned of the agreements Minos had made today, as well as his fears and the agreement he had made with the Sanctuary of Visions.

But unlike many beings in this world who would doubt Minos at first, the elves knew something serious was coming long before they noticed the ice age!

An ice age, or any chaotic age, would be enough to worry the elders of the elven tribe. However, these were phenomena that happened in the Spiritual World from time to time, something that was predictable and part of reality. As such, one catastrophic era shouldn't have been enough to make some of the strongest elders of the elven tribe feel uneasy years before the signs of the ice age appeared.

The elves knew something else would affect the world in the near future, which not even their strongest seers could tell what it was, where it would come from, or when it would appear.

It worried them!

Having learned Minos had similar fears to theirs but with much better-developed theories about where the threat would come from and what might be behind it, these elves wanted to discuss the matter with him.

Minos didn't hide his thoughts, "I think so. I can't say for sure, but my suspicions seem to make more and more sense as I grow stronger and learn more about the truth of our world.

I feel the North Sea is not supposed to be the way it is now. What's more, some reports from survivors of shipwrecks in the area agree with my theories, which makes me think perhaps there is a problem there that everyone is ignoring.

I intend to travel to gather evidence and alert the world to the possible existence of extraterrestrial beings in the North Sea."

"Extraterritorial beings?" The two realized Minos' theory put living beings behind such a threat.

"Yes, I believe that we are not alone in the universe. The Spiritual World is just one of many other places where life can exist." Minos said. "I say this considering the distant history of our world, especially the great skeletons scattered around the world."

As he spoke, Minos made the two elves move their eyes and look at each other as they realized he knew things and had a theory that went toward the secret truth of the elves.

Like the Dragons, the beings of that tribe also had their primordial ancestor, to whom they attributed their origin and whom they secretly worshipped on their island.

Throughout history, they had never revealed the truth about it, but Minos had come up with a theory that was very close to their own, considering it!

Minos knew more than the elves, but even without talking to a soul fragment like Fah'um of Dunov, the elves had an idea that in the prehistoric past of the world, a larger world existed in place of the Spiritual World.

Such a primitive world was definitely of a higher level than the present one. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for such great beings to have existed, capable of leaving mysterious skeletons behind.

The Spiritual World was definitely not capable of supporting the cultivation and existence of such beings!

That presupposed that there was something more prominent than the Spiritual World in the past, and this world was a small part of that great realm.

That was the elves' theory about the giant skeletons around the Spiritual World, which they believed could be related to Minos' theory about life outside their planet.

The two elves came up with different theories to Minos' words.

'Does he think there could be other fragments like our world with life equal to or greater than ours?' Levis thought.

Kolvar pondered. 'Perhaps there are other places similar to the world of the time of the ancestor. If that's the case, we could be in big trouble. A single living being with the power of our ancestor's corpse would be enough to decimate the Spiritual World!'

"This is really worrying..." They both agreed.

Levis said. "If what you think is true, the ice age ahead of us could be much worse. Why didn't you try to warn the other powers at this meeting?"

"I don't want to cause panic. The ice age is already enough to stop people from sleeping well. I don't think it would be appropriate to talk about it openly before it's certain." Minos replied. "But if I find proof that I'm right, I'll present it to the world during the Continental Tournament."

"Hmm, you're right. It's not good to make an unnecessary fuss."

The two elves agreed, seeing Minos had good plans for the short term and his goals were in line with those of the elves.

Their goal was not to find Minos to get the resources of the Black Plain Empire. The Elves Island was too large for the size of the tribe and their numbers, with production far exceeding local demand. What they wanted from Emperor Stuart was to understand whether or not he would be on their side when the adversity ahead reached them.

Seeing that Minos was on their side, they saw no problem with this promising young man and his growing plans.

"Very well, Minos. I hope you make your voyage to the North Sea and return safely. Suppose you can prove your theories, good. We'll see what we can do about that area in the future." Levis said, but without the willingness to go to the North Sea.

It was possible for people to go to the North Sea and come back alive. It was the least likely to happen, but there were stories of survivors all over the world. However, the situation in that area was complicated even for high-level cultivators.

Under the current circumstances in the Spiritual World, with wars raging on the seas and on the Central Continent, a catastrophe looming, no high-level expert who was indispensable to their people would go on a scouting expedition through the dangerous North Sea.

Even after discovering Minos' theories, the elves, like their other contacts who were aware of his concerns, would not go there to investigate.

If Minos didn't return from his voyage, there was a good chance his theories were correct. If he did return, he would certainly have more than just hypotheses to talk about.

At that time, if he could prove the danger in the north, they and others would try to deal with the problem. But until then, they could only pledge their future support to Minos in his fight.

"In the meantime, don't worry about your deal with one of our tribe members. If possible, we'll help you finish the deal when you come to our island during the Continental Tournament." One of them said before dismissing Minos back to his people and preparing to return to the final talks of this meeting of world leaders.