The Rise of the Black Plain

The group followed in Minos' footsteps, listening to his recommendations to watch their step and not do anything without a very good reason.

They weren't supposed to touch anything without sensible reasons. A mere underwater plant floating in the water could change and become a danger to their group if someone tried something they shouldn't have.

There were beings who would only act against other individuals if they felt threatened, which was standard in the wild. So, as long as they were careful, they could avoid much trouble.

After a few minutes walking cautiously along what had once been one of the main avenues of that ancient city, the group would come across valuable items in the vicinity.

"Minos..."

"No!" Minos shouted when he heard his name being called, aware that someone in his group had taken an interest in the items in the rubble of what appeared to be the remains of a wrecked vehicle.

Someone there would soon see a suit of armor that matched his body and show interest in it.

"On the right leg of this armor is a special parasite. Anyone who tries to take over this parasite's home will be infected by it and become an enemy to us all." Minos said as he warned the individual that he would die and even cause the death of one of them if he went ahead with his plan to collect that compatible item for himself.

Minos didn't just speak. He used his mental technique to make that individual see the terrible vision that showed how his body would be used to give rise to a monster from that parasite.

Gulp!

That being swallowed his saliva as he quickly saw the scenes of a fate that Minos was trying to avoid.

The others saw the change in that level 99 individual's expression, imagining that they had better give up some opportunities on their way, as Minos seemed to suggest.

They kept walking until they came to what looked like a square.

Once there, Minos stopped and pointed to the other side of the square, where there was a building that led underground.

"That's where some of the opportunities we can access are. But we can't go there directly. That square in our way is like a minefield. There are various dangers around it."

"Which way can we go?" asked one of the individuals allied to Minos' group.

Minos indicated. "Let's go around. There's a level 102 underwater snake on the path I want to take, but we can beat it without too much trouble."

"A low-level Sovereign? Isn't that risky?"

Most of them couldn't fight Sovereigns, nor did they know how strong Minos was at fighting. He seemed to have useful skills for avoiding trouble, but was that synonymous with him being a good warrior?

"It won't be as risky as going through that square," Minos said, not wanting to expose his powers too much to these individuals since, at some point in the future, they might turn against his group.

Their allies saw how confident Minos' guild mates looked and looked at each other, thinking it was worth the risk.

"I hope you're right." Said one of those eight level 99 beings allied to Armhands' group.

The leader of these aliens asked Minos. "How much longer do we have to ignore opportunities? There are certain things worth risking, Minos. Dodging all the dangers won't make us stronger."

"I'm not avoiding all dangers. There are opportunities we can access, but that doesn't mean it won't be dangerous or there won't be challenges to overcome. I'm just deflecting the possibilities that will lead to our deaths." Minos thoughtfully said as he walked ahead of his group.

"That..."

Ruth asked him. "Is there an opportunity for our group in this place?"

"Yes, one of us could advance a level if we put in the effort and have some luck."

Minos could not guarantee the group's absolute success in this place, that fate in which everyone would survive.

Two of the possibilities he had seen were very similar to the best possibility, the one in which everyone survived. The difference was that in those situations, the men in the group would fail at specific moments, and those moments could lead to between 0 and 3 deaths for the group.

Just because he was leading this journey didn't mean that there were no dangers in their way, and these individuals wouldn't have to give their best in the exploration!

"There are also things in that place that are interesting for us to take back to our organizations." He commented as he looked at one of their temporary allies. "Let's divide this information equally. It's cataloged in books, charts, and parchments. We'll choose what we take and keep it in our spatial storage devices until we leave this place.

We'll only check what we get out of The Obsidian Shore."

There were no tags with information on these items, so if they chose without looking at what they were choosing, they could ward off the chance of one being interested in stealing from the other.

"What kind of information is that?" The alien asked curiously.

"All I know is that they have value and are associated with the time when the civilization that lived in this place still existed. We'll divide up the materials as follows: you choose one material, and then I'll choose another, and then we'll repeat the cycle until we've finished with everything in the area."

"All right."

That said, they would soon turn a corner of that lost city and see the level 102 snake that Minos had warned them about.

When they came face to face with the apparently sleeping creature, the whole group would stop, with Minos' allies raising their guards and preparing to defend themselves.

They would have to overcome this being to get to their place of interest, which would require Minos to expose more of his powers.

He didn't want to show everything he could, so he didn't intend to use his wings or fusions. He had already shown his innate ability, so he intended to keep at it.

Before moving against that golden-red-scaled serpent, he said to the group, "I need the strongest combatants among you to help me. The others will lend me their energy."

Three level 99 individuals put themselves at his disposal before Minos quickly used his ability again, raising his powers to level 99 while making those individuals feel their strength increasing as well.

They were amazed to feel their cultivations being taken to the peak. Even though they didn't reach level 100, they all felt their strength improving three to four times!

With this increase in power, those most worried quickly became more confident, understanding why Minos had chosen to come all this way and risk a fight against a level 102 being.

With these three individuals feeling practically on the same level as Minos, they smiled as they moved together, no longer hesitating to act against the level 102 creature!