The Rise of the Black Plain

From where the two men from the City of Waters were standing, there was a large rectangular room, which on opposite sides had glass facades, facing different sides of the city center.

In addition, there were several wooden shelves around, like the ones you would typically find in a common goods store, like those that sell furniture.

Each of these shelves formed several aisles, wide enough for four people to walk side by side and about 30 meters long. Each of them had different types of items packaged correctly and a few samples out of the boxes for customers to analyze the objects.

The two men were in front of one of these shelves, on which there was a set of 10 small white spheres. Each of these spheres had some hooks at the top, while the bottom was perfectly smooth.

Besides this set, there was a small poster, which presented the product and its price.

'Set of 10 lamps, 5,000 low-grade crystals; each lamp can work separately and can illuminate up to 50 square meters. When buying 5 sets like this, you only pay the value of 4!'

Upon reading this, the two old men found this promotion interesting, but they couldn't pay that much right now. Moreover, they had just arrived in the Dry City a few days ago, so they hadn't even received their first wages.

"Ah, these lamps are truly cheap! I hope it doesn't change the price when we can pay for it." One of them commented.

And in fact, the price was not as high as it might appear on the surface. That is, there was a considerable difference between the 5,000 low-grade crystals for a set of just ten bulbs and the maximum farmer's wages, 334 crystals.

However, the poster did not pronounce all the benefits of these lamps, as there was no need to state the obvious to these people of the Spiritual World.

Every person in this world knew that a spiritual array could function without the supply of crystals by using free energy in nature. In other words, there would be no need to spend crystals to keep an array operating!

All one would need to do is activate the array, and it would naturally convert free power into a different form of energy!

But the benefits didn't stop there. No, the durability of each array was extraordinary. As long as the item wasn't purposely damaged, even those of the lowest rating, like these bulbs, could function perfectly for a few hundred years!

And if they were used well, taking proper care, such as not using them all the time, then an array could still reach a thousand years old, working without significant problems!

Precisely because of these two factors, the price charged for this item was not expensive, in the view of the two old men.

Assuming they could buy a lamp separately, for 500 crystals, and that item would last 500 years. That would cost them only 1 crystal per year, while in a year working in agriculture, they could earn hundreds of times that amount!

So, buying an item like this would not be costly when someone looks at these values for the long term.

However, they could not buy just one light bulb, as these items were sold in sets of 10.

Such a thing was just a sales strategy to guarantee the earnings of the array masters, as there was not a great appeal for these professionals to produce such items. After all, a low-level grade-1 array master would already be able to make these products.

However, it wouldn't be worth the effort to make just one light bulb at a time, as they could develop other types of arrays, which cost more. In other words, this was an attractiveness issue.

For the array masters to continue to produce these items on large scales, there was a need for their earnings to be guaranteed.

Making a single light bulb wouldn't be worth it, so they did it in sets of 10, which matched the price of these items with other arrays of the same rating.

Other than that, these lamps had to be installed close to each other due to the collective creation procedure. In addition, they worked on an energy-sharing scheme, which ensured the best functioning of the set.

Of course, that didn't preclude the use of this item individually. In other words, they would not need to work simultaneously. Instead, each would function as if it were independent.

That could be considered a defect or an unwanted feature of these products, and it indeed was. But there was nothing to do, to be worthwhile for the array masters, they developed the whole set of lamps at once, so there was this need for the lamps to be close to each other.

And consequently, these lamps were sold in sets.

But this was nothing exaggerated. As long as the other bulb was within the range of the others, 50 meters, then it would work. In addition, it was possible to use one over the limit of the other, extending the maximum distance between the opposite end lamps to 450 meters.

Finally, the lamps could not be sold separately due to all this, as there would be no guarantee that these items from the same set would be used within the limit.

However, if two or more neighbors got together to share the price of this set, then it could work, making this purchase less expensive!

Anyway, after hearing his friend's comment, the other one smiled and said. "Let's see with the neighbors in the building that we moved. I believe it won't be difficult to get another nine people to share this amount."

"Hmm, let's see this later."

After that, they continued to learn about the items from this Cohen family store while reading the prices of each one.

'4 flame cooker and 100-liter oven, one unit for only 4,999 low-grade crystals.'

'Residential air conditioner, heats and cools, one unit for only 4,999 low-grade crystals.'

'Dry washer, 10 kilograms, one unit for only 3,999 crystals.'

'Spatial ring, 10 square meters, 5,000 crystals.'

And while they knew the values of the products sold in this store, the two men talked about other matters. Both had recently arrived in the Dry City, but they had already heard a lot about what was happening here.

They had 'financed' apartments in residential buildings built by the local government, and because of that, they had become neighbors to some of the former captives from that base of the Chambers family.

And by becoming neighbors to these people, they had naturally made contacts and learned things from the former captives, who had been living here for a few weeks.

Soon, the two men had learned about the selection of the army that was going on at present. And this was by far the most exciting subject for the two, who had a particular interest in this subject, given the possibilities for their respective families!

Even if they couldn't join Minos' army, maybe a grandson or granddaughter could do it.

"Old Morton, it's a shame that we're at the end of the penultimate phase of the army selection. Because we only got here three days ago, we lost a lot of fights..." One of them complained to the other.

"Do not tell me that. The day I arrived here with my family, there was still a day of fights to go. However, when I found out about this, it was too late." The other commented in regret.

"Ah, there's nothing to do. I heard that the last part would not be open to the public... So, it seems that now we can only wait to see the next competition."

"Hmm, I heard that too. In less than a week, these final fights will take place at the headquarters of the local army. After that, hundreds of new soldiers are expected to register in the army."

"And the local sovereign himself will watch part of the fights." Morton commented as the two started down the stairs from where they were.

"Hmm, I know. It will be an honor for the candidates who get him to witness their fights. Maybe even someone will be able to get Mr. Minos' attention and gain his support!"

After that, the two returned to their chores, leaving the Cohen family store behind. There were many products they wanted to buy, but it would still take a few months for them to be able to do such a thing.

...

And quickly, a whole week had passed, and now it was time for the last part of the selection to begin!